America
'Birdman', '...Budapest Hotel' in race for Oscars 2015 (Curtain Raiser)
Los Angeles, Feb 21
Who will win filmdom's
most prestigious award is the question figuring in the minds of movie
buffs as the Dolby Theatre readies to host the 87th Oscars Sunday. But
with Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's black comedy "Birdman" and Wes
Anderson's comedy "The Grand Budapest Hotel" leading the race with nine
nominations each, either seems set to take home the maximum of the
coveted golden statuettes.
The final nomination list of the 87th
Academy Awards was announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Beverly
Hills here earlier this year.
Apart from "Birdman" and "The Grand
Budapest Hotel", "The Imitation Game" landed eight nominations while
Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" and "Boyhood" had six each.
There
is a tough fight among directors with "Birdman" (Inarritu), "Boyhood"
(Richard Linklater), "Foxcatcher" (Bennett Miller), "The Grand Budapest
Hotel" (Anderson) and "The Imitation Game" (Morten Tyldum) competing for
the award.
The contenders for the Best Performance by an Actor
in a Leading Role are Steve Carell for "Foxcatcher", Bradley Cooper for
"American Sniper", Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game",
Michael Keaton for "Birdman" and Eddie Redmayne for "The Theory of
Everything".
Those competing for the Best Performance by an
Actress in a Leading Role trophy are Marion Cotillard for "Two Days, One
Night", Felicity Jones for "The Theory of Everything", Julianne Moore
for "Still Alice", Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl" and Reese Witherspoon
for "Wild".
For the Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting
Role, Robert Duvall ("The Judge"), Ethan Hawke ("Boyhood"), Edward
Norton ("Birdman"), Mark Ruffalo ("Foxcatcher") and J.K. Simmons
("Whiplash") are in the race, while the actresses in the same category
include Patricia Arquette ("Boyhood"), Laura Dern ("Wild"), Keira
Knightley ("The Imitation Game"), Emma Stone ("Birdman") and Meryl
Streep ("Into the Woods").
The Achievement in Music Written for
Motion Pictures (Original Score) nominees are "The Grand Budapest Hotel"
(Alexandre Desplat), "The Imitation Game" (Desplat), "Interstellar"
(Hans Zimmer), "Mr. Turner" (Gary Yershon), and "The Theory of
Everything" (Johann Johannsson).
The Foreign Language Film
nomination list has five entries: "Ida" (Poland), "Leviathan" (Russia),
"Tangerines" (Estonia), "Timbuktu" (Mauritania) and "Wild Tales"
(Argentina).
The awards night will be hosted by actor Neil
Patrick Harris while Adam Levine, John Legend and Tim McGraw are
expected to perform live. One will also see special performances from
Lady Gaga, Jack Black, Jennifer Hudson and Anna Kendrick.
Moviegoers
also expect another round of selfies to build on that by last year's
Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres with Bradley Cooper, Lupita Nyong'o,
Jennifer Lawrence, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Julia Roberts, Kevin
Spacey, and Meryl Streep, among others.
And, not to forget some of the fashionable moments at the red carpet that will surely set trends for many to follow.
So are you ready for the big night?
The
Oscars will be live at 7 p.m., ET (Eastern Time)/4 p.m., PT(Pacific
Time) in the US on ABC while Indian audience can see the Oscars live on
Star Movies at 5.30 a.m,, with a repeat at 8.30 p.m. on Feb 23.