Oscar Nominations Give Props to Quirky ‘Birdman,’ ‘Budapest,’ Stir Up ‘Selma’ Controversy

The 2015 Academy Award nominations are now official, and for those willing to entertain this brand of Hollywood pageantry as a passably noteworthy indicator of sociocultural … whatever, here’s the lineup for this year’s Oscars.

Twee-meister Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” scored big, despite his colorful, pseudo-historical trifle hitting theaters on the early side of the season, a scheduling move which simultaneously offered it a certain freshness and risked voters losing sight of it in the avalanche of releases that followed. Turns out “Budapest” didn’t get buried — far from it — as the film was one of two to score a total of nine Oscar nominations.

Tying for that top honor was Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance),” a trippy, existential flight of fancy (pardon the pun, but that’s actually a fairly straightforward description of the movie), which brought its star Michael Keaton back into focus after a period of lower-profile work following a lengthy winning streak in ’80s hits like “Beetlejuice,” “Batman” and “Mr. Mom.” Keaton is up for an Oscar as one of five Best Actor hopefuls, and Inarritu got the nod, as did Wes Anderson, in the Best Director category.

Of course, as much ink is typically devoted to the subject of which actors and films were left off the list every season, and this year is no exception. Most notable among the omissions for Best Director is “Selma” helmer Ava DuVernay, who would have made history as the first African-American female to be nominated in that group had she been chosen for her work directing Paramount Pictures’ Martin Luther King Jr. biopic.

Other hopefuls that stirred up early Oscar buzz but ultimately didn’t land on the list included “Interstellar” and “Unbroken” among the Best Picture contenders; Jennifer Aniston in the Best Actress category; and “Life Itself” in the Best Documentary lineup.

Variety released the complete rundown of nominees following Thursday’s official announcement:

Best Picture “American Sniper” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan, Producers “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole, Producers “Boyhood” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland, Producers “The Grand Budapest Hotel” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson, Producers “The Imitation Game” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman, Producers “Selma” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, Producers “The Theory of Everything” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten, Producers “Whiplash” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster, Producers

Actor Steve Carell in “Foxcatcher” Bradley Cooper in “American Sniper” Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game” Michael Keaton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Eddie Redmayne in “The Theory of Everything”

Supporting Actor Robert Duvall in “The Judge” Ethan Hawke in “Boyhood” Edward Norton in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Mark Ruffalo in “Foxcatcher” J.K. Simmons in “Whiplash”

Actress Marion Cotillard in “Two Days, One Night” Felicity Jones in “The Theory of Everything” Julianne Moore in “Still Alice” Rosamund Pike in “Gone Girl” Reese Witherspoon in “Wild”

Supporting Actress Patricia Arquette in “Boyhood” Laura Dern in “Wild” Keira Knightley in “The Imitation Game” Emma Stone in “Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)” Meryl Streep in “Into the Woods”

The 87th Academy Awards will take place Feb. 22 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles.

— Posted by Kasia Anderson