'Grand Budapest Hotel', 'Birdman' tie at Oscars nominations

In a competitive year for films, period crime caper 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' and dark comedy 'Birdman' cemented their chances by scoring nine nods each at the 87th Academy Award nominations announced today.
British World War II drama 'The Imitation Game' closely followed with eight nominations while real-life inspired drama 'American Sniper' and coming-of-age story 'Boyhood' won six nominations each for the Oscars, to be held here on February 22.
The Academy, which generally favours more recent releases, did not forget much-earlier released 'Budapest'. The film was one of the nominees in the best picture category along with 'Birdman', 'The Imitation Game' 'American Sniper', 'Boyhood', 'Selma', 'The Theory of Everything' and 'Whiplash'.

'Budapest', a whimsical tale about a colourful hotel concierge, also scored Wes Anderson a best director and original screenplay nominations.
'Birdman', by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, too spread its wings by getting nominated in a number of key as well as technical categories.
Inarritu is nominated as the best director alongside Richard Linklater for his 12-years in making 'Boyhood', Bennett Miller of 'Foxcatcher', Anderson for 'Budapest' and Morten Tyldum of 'The Imitation Game'.

Michael Keaton, who plays the role of a washed up actor seeking to resurrect his career in 'Birdman', scored a best actor nomination while Emma Stone was nominated for best supporting honours for the same film.

He will fight it out with Benedict Cumberbatch's portrayal of World War II code-breaker Alan Turing in 'Imitation Game', Bradley Cooper from 'American Sniper', Steve Carell for 'Foxcatcher' and another British star, Golden Globe winner Eddie Redmayne for his role as scientist Stephen Hawking in 'The Theory of Everything'.
The best actress category is led by Golden Globe winner Julianne Moore for her performance in 'Still Alice', Marion Cotillard 'Two Days, One Night', Reese Witherspoon for 'Wild', Felicity Jones for 'The Theory of Everything' and the lone nomination to 'Gone Girl' for Rosamund Pike for her brilliant role as a murderous wife.