2015 Oscars: Budapest, Boyhood, Birdman head nominations

Two cult comedies, Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel, have tied for the most Oscar nominations with nine nods each, including best picture.

They are joined in best-picture nominations by Boyhood, Whiplash, The Theory of Everything, The Imitation Game, American Sniper and Selma.

The Imitation Game trailed close behind with eight nominations. Clint Eastwood's Navy SEAL drama American Sniper did especially well, landing six nods including best actor for Bradley Cooper.

Also with six nominations was Richard Linklater's coming-of-age epic Boyhood, which remains the best-picture favourite after winning the Golden Globe for best dramatic film this week.

The Grand Budapest Hotel edged out Birdman as best comedy or musical at the Globes.

New Zealand screenwriter Anthony McCarten is nominated for his adaptation of The Theory of Everything, based on a book by physicist Stephen Hawking’s first wife, and for best picture as one of the film's producers.

Queenstown-born producer Tim Bevan, who’s had a stellar career in the UK film industry for many years, also shares the best picture nomination for The Theory of Everything.

The other nominations with a Kiwi connection are best visual effects for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes for a team from Miramar-based Weta Digital (Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett, Erik Winquist) and best sound editing for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (Brent Burge and Jason Canovas).

There are few surprises in the list compared with those for the Golden Globes but some notable omissions. 

Among them are nominations for Selma – the movie about the 1965 voting rights marches on Selma, Alabama. Selma received a Best Picture nomination, as well as Best Original Song, but no acting or writing nominations.

By the same token, Foxcatcher and Mr Turner, both based on real-life characters, failed to gain Best Picture norminations though Foxcatcher has Best Director and Best Supporting Actor nominations. 

The Academy Awards will take place on February 22 (February 23, NZ time)  at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles, with Neil Patrick Harris as host. 

The full Oscar nominations are:

Best Picture
Boyhood,
 Birdman,
 Selma,
 American Sniper,
 The Grand Budapest Hotel,
 The Imitation Game,
 The Theory of Everything, 
Whiplash
Best Director
Richard Linklater, Boyhood; 
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman;
 Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel;
 Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher;
 Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game
Best Actor
Michael Keaton, Birdman; 
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything; 
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher;
 Bradley Cooper, American Sniper;
 Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Best Actress
Julianne Moore, Still Alice; 
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything; 
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night;
 Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl; 
Reese Witherspoon, Wild
Best Supporting Actor
JK Simmons, Whiplash;
 Robert Duvall, The Judge;
 Ethan Hawke, Boyhood; 
Edward Norton, Birdman;
 Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood; 
Laura Dern, Wild; 
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game;
 Emma Stone, Birdman;
 Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best Original Screenplay
Richard Linklater, Boyhood;
 Alejandro Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr, Armando Bo, Birdman;
 E Max Frye and Dan Futterman, Foxcatcher;
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel; 
Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
Best Adapted Screenplay
Jason Hall, American Sniper; 
Graham Moore, The Imitation Game; 
Paul Thomas Anderson, Inherent Vice;
 Anthony McCarten, The Theory of Everything;
 Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
Best Animated Feature
Big Hero 6,
 The Boxtrolls,
 How to Train Your Dragon 2,
 Song of the Sea,
 The Tale of Princess Kayuga
Best Foreign Language Film
Ida (Poland),
 Leviathan (Russia),
 Tangerines (Estonia),
 Timbuktu (Mauritania), 
Wild Tales (Argentina)
Best Documentary – Feature
Citizenfour,
 Finding Vivian Maier,
 Last Days in Vietnam,
 Salt of the Earth
, Virunga
Best Documentary – Short
Crisis Hotline,
 Joanna,
 Our Curse,
 The Reaper,
 White Earth
Best Original Score
Alexandre Desplat, The Grand Budapest Hotel;
 Alexandre Desplat, The Imitation Game; 
Hans Zimmer, Interstellar
; Gary Yershon, Mr Turner; 
Johann Johannsson, The Theory of Everything
Best Original Song
Shawn Patterson, Everything Is Awesome (The Lego Movie);
 John Legend and Common, Glory (Selma);
 Diane Warren, Grateful (Beyond the Lights);
 Glen Campbell, I’m Not Gonna Miss You (Glen Campbell…I’ll Be Me);
 Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois, Lost Stars (Begin Again)

TECHNICAL AWARDS
Wellington’s Weta Workshop has picked up two nominations – for sound editing (The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies) and best visual effects (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes).

The front-runner is Christopher Nolan’s space adventure Interstellar, which earned five nominations, including Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Editing and Best Production Design.

Best Sound Editing
American Sniper,
 Birdman, 
The Hobbit: Battle of the Five Armies, 
Interstellar,
 Unbroken
Best Sound Mixing
American Sniper, 
Birdman, 
Interstellar, 
Unbroken,
 Whiplash
Best Production Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel, 
The Imitation Game, 
Interstellar, 
Into the Woods, 
Mr Turner
Best Cinematography
Birdman,
 The Grand Budapest Hotel, 
Ida,
 Mr Turner, 
Unbroken
Best Makeup and Hairstyling
Bill Corso and Dennis Liddiard, Foxcatcher; 
Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, The Grand Budapest Hotel; 
Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, Guardians of the Galaxy
Best Costume Design
The Grand Budapest Hotel,
 Inherent Vice,
 Maleficent,
 Mr Turner, 
Into the Woods
Best Film Editing
American Sniper,
 Boyhood,
 The Grand Budapest Hotel,
 The Imitation Game,
 Whiplash
Best Visual Effects
Captain America: The Winter Soldier, 
Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,
 Guardians of the Galaxy, 
Interstellar, 
X-Men: Days of Future Past
Best Live Action Short
Aya,
 Boogaloo and Graham,
 Butter Lamp, 
Parvaneh,
 The Phone Call
Best Animated Short
The Bigger Picture, 
The Dam Keeper, 
Feast,
 Me and My Moulton,
 A Single Life