Birdman, Budapest Top Oscar Nominations

The Oscar nominations are out - and again a New Zealander's film is up for best picture.

But it's not Sir Peter Jackson's final Hobbit film, it's Anthony McCarten for The Theory of Everything.

He's the writer/producer of the biopic of Stephen Hawking - it has five nominations.

If the movie upsets best picture front runners Boyhood and Birdman, the London-based McCarten will be on stage in Los Angeles on February 22 to collect an Academy Award.

Birdman and The Grand Budapest Hotel top the nominations with nine each, while The Imitation Game came third with eight.

Birdman's Michael Keaton is the favourite for best actor, while Julianne Moore for Still Alice heads the race for best actress.

Lorde's song 'Yellow Flicker Beat' from The Hunger Games: Mockinjay - Part 1, hasn't made the Academy's cut.

Full list of nominees:

Best picture:
American Sniper
Birdman
Boyhood
The Grand Budapest Hotel
The Imitation Game
Selma
The Theory of Everything
Whiplash

Best director:
Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, Birdman
Richard Linklater, Boyhood
Bennett Miller, Foxcatcher
Wes Anderson, The Grand Budapest Hotel
Morten Tyldum, The Imitation Game

Best actor:
Steve Carell, Foxcatcher
Bradley Cooper, American Sniper
Benedict Cumberbatch, The Imitation Game
Michael Keaton, Birdman
Eddie Redmayne, The Theory of Everything

Best actress:
Marion Cotillard, Two Days, One Night
Felicity Jones, The Theory of Everything
Julianne Moore, Still Alice
Rosamund Pike, Gone Girl
Reese Witherspoon, Wild

Best supporting actor:
Robert Duvall, The Judge
Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
Edward Norton, Birdman
Mark Ruffalo, Foxcatcher
J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best supporting actress:
Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
Laura Dern, Wild
Keira Knightley, The Imitation Game
Emma Stone, Birdman
Meryl Streep, Into the Woods

Best foreign language film:
Ida (Poland)
Leviathan (Russia)
Tangerines (Estonia)
Timbuktu (Mauritania)
Wild Tales (Argentina)

Best animated feature:
Big Hero 6
The Boxtrolls
How to Train Your Dragon 2
Song of the Sea
The Tale of the Princess Kaguya

Best documentary feature:
Citizenfour
Finding Vivian Maier
Last Days in Vietnam
The Salt of the Earth
Virunga

Newstalk ZB