( CNN ) '' Birdman '' flew high and `` The Grand Budapest Hotel '' was truly grand at the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards , each earning nine nominations to top all films . `` Birdman , '' subtitled `` The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance '' -- which led to many multisyllabic mouthfuls during the Oscar announcements -- stars Michael Keaton as a former superhero actor trying to revive his career and his life by mounting a Broadway play . It earned nominations for best picture , best actor for Keaton , director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu , supporting actor ( Edward Norton ) , supporting actress ( Emma Stone ) , original screenplay and cinematography , as well as some technical nods . Others receiving nominations for best picture are `` American Sniper , '' `` Boyhood , '' `` The Imitation Game , '' `` The Theory of Everything , '' `` Selma , '' `` The Grand Budapest Hotel '' and `` Whiplash . '' Complete list of Oscar nominations . The rush of honors for `` Budapest , '' about the denizens of a European hotel in the years between the world wars , was somewhat unexpected , though the film had won best comedy/musical at the Golden Globes ( defeating `` Birdman , '' among others ) . The film was nominated for best picture and director ( Wes Anderson ) , along with original screenplay , cinematography , score and a host of other awards . `` The Imitation Game '' received eight nominations . The drama stars Benedict Cumberbatch as British mathematician Alan Turing , who helped break the Germans ' Enigma coding machine in World War II and was a pioneer of computer science . Cumberbatch earned a best actor nomination to go along with the film 's nods for picture , director ( Morten Tyldum ) and supporting actress ( Keira Knightley ) . `` Boyhood , '' which won the Golden Globe for best drama , also performed well , earning six nods . Director Richard Linklater picked up a nomination , as did supporting performers Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette . The movie follows the maturation of a child over 12 years and was filmed for a week or two each year so that audiences could see the actors age in real time . Overlooked . A number of favorites were left off various lists . Though civil rights drama `` Selma '' did get a best picture nomination , actor David Oyelowo was snubbed despite earning raves for his nuanced portrait of the Rev . Martin Luther King Jr. Director Ava DuVernay , who would have been the first African-American woman to receive a best director nomination , was also overlooked . Jennifer Aniston had received a Golden Globe best actress nomination for `` Cake , '' and had been widely expected to get her first Oscar nomination . But she did n't make the list . Critical and commercial hit `` Gone Girl , '' adapted from the best-seller , did earn a best actress nomination for Rosamund Pike , but struck out in all other major categories . And then there were the lack of nominations for `` The Lego Movie , '' one of the biggest hits of the year both with critics and audiences . Widely seen as a favorite among animated films and a possibility for original screenplay , it earned just one nomination , for best song ( `` Everything Is Awesome '' ) . The nominees for best animated feature are `` Big Hero 6 , '' `` How to Train Your Dragon 2 , '' `` The Boxtrolls , '' `` The Song of the Sea '' and `` The Tale of Princess Kaguya . '' Some surprises . On the other hand , though `` Foxcatcher '' missed out for best picture , the tragic story of a du Pont heir and two wrestling brothers scored in a number of other categories , including director , actor ( Steve Carell ) , supporting actor ( Mark Ruffalo ) and adapted screenplay . Also exceeding expectations : `` American Sniper , '' director Clint Eastwood 's film based on the life of Navy SEAL Chris Kyle . It earned nominations for best picture , actor ( Bradley Cooper ) and adapted screenplay . Glen Campbell picked up a nomination for best song , `` I 'm Not Gon na Miss You , '' from the documentary `` Glen Campbell : I 'll Be Me . '' The musician is suffering from Alzheimer 's , a battle depicted in the film . And though not really a surprise -- she 's been here many , many times before -- Meryl Streep earned her 19th acting nomination Thursday morning . This one was for best supporting actress for her performance as the Witch in `` Into the Woods . '' Streep was the movie 's bright spot among the major categories , as `` Woods '' missed out on a best picture nomination . The announcements of the nominees drew some inadvertent laughs when Academy President Cheryl Boone Isaacs mispronounced the name of cinematographer Dick Pope , nominated for his work on `` Mr. Turner , '' as `` Dick Poop . '' The malaprop quickly became a Twitter meme . The 87th Academy Awards will take place Sunday , February 22 , at Hollywood 's Dolby Theatre . Neil Patrick Harris will host . The show airs on ABC .
`` Birdman , '' `` Grand Budapest Hotel '' lead all Oscar nominees with 9 nods apiece . The film is the first in a trilogy of films that have been nominated for Best Picture, and it will be up against two other movies from this year --