Julianne Moore, Patricia Arquette and J.K. Simmons are probably as close as you can get to being “locks” on Oscar night, but the battle for best actor at Sunday’s ceremony is still a toss-up, while “Birdman” and “Boyhood” are in a tight race for best picture.
Looming over the best picture race, however, is the late-season box office smash “American Sniper,” which didn’t earn a best-director nomination for Clint Eastwood, but has gained momentum in recent weeks and even pushed Bradley Cooper into a more prominent position in the best-actor category.
However, it will still be a tough battle for “Sniper” to upend “Birdman” or “Boyhood,” which top a best-picture category that also includes “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” “The Imitation Game,” “Selma,” “The Theory of Everything” and “Whiplash.”
“Birdman,” starring Michael Keaton as a one-time blockbuster film actor trying to revive his career on Broadway, has been neck-and-neck in the front-runner race with “Boyhood,” the coming-of-age tale filmed over 12 years with the same cast.
Keaton, once considered a front-runner for best actor, has found himself in a tight battle with Eddie Redmayne, who gives a spot-on portrayal of physicist Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything.” Redmayne has already collected Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild awards. Keaton won the Golden Globe for best actor in a comedy.
Also battling for the best-actor Oscar are Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch for “The Imitation Game” and Steve Carell for his against-type dramatic role in “Foxcatcher.” Except for Cooper — who was nominated for best actor for 2012’s “Silver Linings Playbook” and supporting actor for 2013’s “American Hustle” — all the best-actor hopefuls are first-time nominees.
Moore has swept virtually all of the pre-Oscar awards shows for her portrayal of a linguistics professor dealing with early-onset Alzheimer’s disease in “Still Alice.” Hoping to pull off an upset are Marion Cotillard for “Two Days, One Night,” Felicity Jones for “The Theory of Everything,” Rosamund Pike for “Gone Girl” and Reese Witherspoon for “Wild.”
Moore is a five-time Oscar nominee, but has never won.
The supporting-acting awards also appear to be locks, with Arquette and Simmons collecting an armful of awards-season prizes for their roles in “Boyhood” and “Whiplash,” respectively.
Arquette, a first-time Oscar nominee, will compete for supporting actress with Laura Dern of “Wild,” Keira Knightley of “The Imitation Game,” Emma Stone for “Birdman” and Meryl Streep for “Into the Wild.”
Streep is a 19-time Oscar nominee, and a three-time winner.
Simmons is looking to best Robert Duvall of “The Judge,” Ethan Hawke of “Boyhood,” Edward Norton of “Birdman” and Mark Ruffalo of “Foxcatcher.” Simmons is the only first-time nominee in the category.
Moore, Arquette and Simmons have all won Golden Globe and Screen Actors Guild honors for their work.
“Birdman” and director Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” each have a leading nine nominations for the 87th Oscars, which will presented at the Dolby Theatre. “The Imitation Game” is close behind with eight, while “Boyhood” has six.
Alejandro Inarritu, who won the Directors Guild of America award for feature film directing, has the upper hand in the Oscar race, although “Boyhood’s” Richard Linklater remains a strong contender for helming his cast over 12 years.
Since 1948, there have only been seven times that the winner of the DGA Award for feature film directing has not gone on to win the Oscar for best director.
The field also consists of Bennett Miller (“Foxcatcher”), Anderson (“The Grand Budapest Hotel”) and Morten Tyldum (“The Imitation Game”).
Inarritu, Linklater and Anderson will also square off in the original screenplay category for their films, leading a category that also features writers of “Foxcatcher” and “Nightcrawler.”
Up for adapted screenplay are “American Sniper’s” Jason Hall, Graham Moore for “The Imitation Game,” Paul Thomas Anderson for “Inherent Vice,” Anthony McCarten for “The Theory of Everything” and Damien Chazelle for “Whiplash.”
Anderson and Moore won the Writers Guild Awards.
Neil Patrick Harris will host the Oscar ceremony for the first time.
Sergio Mendes, will.i.am, Jack Black, Common with John Legend, Rita Ora, Tim McGraw, Tegan and Sara with The Lonely Island, Lady Gaga, Anna Kendrick and Jennifer Hudson are among those expected to perform during the event.
Here is a complete list of nominations announced for the 87th Academy Awards, which will be presented Sunday at the Dolby Theatre:
Best Picture
— “American Sniper,” Clint Eastwood, Robert Lorenz, Andrew Lazar, Bradley Cooper and Peter Morgan
— “Birdman,” Alejandro Inarritu, John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole
— “Boyhood,” Richard Linklater and Cathleen Sutherland
— “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
— “The Imitation Game,” Nora Grossman, Ido Ostrowsky and Teddy Schwarzman
— “Selma,” Christian Colson, Oprah Winfrey, Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner
— “The Theory of Everything,” Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner, Lisa Bruce and Anthony McCarten
— “Whiplash,” Jason Blum, Helen Estabrook and David Lancaster
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”
Supporting Actor
— Robert Duvall, “The Judge”
— Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
— Edward Norton, “Birdman”
— Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
— J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Supporting Actress
— Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
— Laura Dern, “Wild”
— Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
— Emma Stone, “Birdman”
— Meryl Streep, “Into the Wild”
Animated Film
— “Big Hero 6,” Don Hall, Chris Williams and Roy Conli
— “The Boxtrolls,” Anthony Stacchi, Graham Annable and Travis Knight
— “How to Train Your Dragon 2,” Dean DeBlois and Bonnie Arnold
— “Song of the Sea,” Tomm Moore and Paul Young
— “The Tale of the Princess Kaguya,” Isao Takahata and Yoshiaki Nishimura
Cinematography
— Emmanuel Lubezki, “Birdman”
— Robert Yeoman, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Lukasz Zal and Ryszard Lenczewski, “Ida”
— Dick Pope, “Mr. Turner”
— Roger Deakins, “Unbroken”
Costume Design
— Milena Canonero, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Mark Bridges, “Inherent Vice”
— Colleen Atwood, “Into the Woods”
— Anna B. Sheppard and Jane Clive, “Maleficent”
— Jacqueline Durran, “Mr. Turner”
Director
— Alejandro Inarritu, “Birdman”
— Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
— Bennett Miller, “Foxcatcher”
— Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Morten Tyldum, “The Imitation Game”
Documentary Feature
— “CitizenFour,” Laura Poitras, Mathilde Bonnefoy and Dirk Wilutzky
— “Finding Vivian Maier,” John Maloof and Charlie Siskel
— “Last Days in Vietnam,” Rory Kennedy and Keven McAlester
— “The Salt of the Earth,” Wim Wenders, Juliano Ribeiro Salgado and David Rosier
— “Virunga,” Orlando von Einsiedel and Joanna Natasegara
Documentary Short Subject
— “Crisis Hotline: Veterans Press 1,” Ellen Goosenberg Kent and Dana Perry
— “Joanna,” Aneta Kopacz
— “Our Curse,” Tomasz Sliwinski and Maciej Slesicki
— “The Reaper (La Parka),” Gabriel Serra Arguello
— “White Earth,” J. Christian Jensen
Film Editing
— Joel Cox and Gary D. Roach, “American Sniper”
— Sandra Adair, “Boyhood”
— Barney Pilling, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— William Goldenberg, “The Imitation Game”
— Tom Cross, “Whiplash”
Foreign Language Film
— “Ida,” Poland
— “Leviathan,” Russia
— “Tangerines,” Estonia
— “Timbuktu,” Mauritania
— “Wild Tales,” Argentina
Makeup and Hairstyling
— Bill Corso annd Dennis Liddiard, “Foxcatcher”
— Frances Hannon and Mark Coulier, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Elizabeth Yianni-Georgiou and David White, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
Original Score
— Alexandre Desplat, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Alexandre Desplat, “The Imitation Game”
— Hans Zimmer, “Interstellar”
— Gary Yershon, “Mr. Turner”
— Johann Johannsson, “The Theory of Everything”
Original Song
— “Everything is Awesome” from “The Lego Movie,” music and lyric by Shawn Patterson
— “Glory” from “Selma,” music and lyric by John Stephens and Lonnie Lynn
— “Grateful” from “Beyond the Lights,” music and lyric by Diane Warren
— “I’m Not Gonna Miss You” from “Glen Campbell … I’ll Be Me,” music and lyric by Glen Campbell and Julian Raymond
— “Lost Stars” from “Begin Again,” music and lyric by Gregg Alexander and Danielle Brisebois
Production Design
— Adam Stockhausen (production design); Anna Pinnock (set decoration), “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Maria Djurkovic (production design); Tatiana Macdonald (set decoration), “The Imitation Game”
— Nathan Crowley (production design); Gary Fettis (set decoration), “Interstellar”
— Dennis Gassner (production design); Anna Pinnock (set decoration); “Into the Woods”
— Suzie Davies (production design); Charlotte Watts (set decoration); “Mr. Turner”
Animated Short Film
— “The Bigger Picture,” Daisy Jacobs and Christopher Hess
— “The Dam Keeper,” Robert Kondo and Dice Tsutsumi
— “Feast,” Patrick Osborne and Kristina Reed
— “Me and My Moulton,” Torill Kove
— “A Single Life,” Joris Oprins
Live Action Short Film
— “Aya,” Oded Binnun and Mihal Brezis
— “Boogaloo and Graham,” Michael Lennox and Ronan Blaney
— “Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak),” Hu Wei and Julien Feret
— “Parvaneh,” Talkhon Hamzavi and Stefan Eichenberger
— “The Phone Call,” Mat Kirkby and James Lucas
Sound Editing
— Alan Robert Murray and Bob Asman, “American Sniper”
— Martin Hernandez and Aaron Glascock, ‘Birdman”
— Brent Burge and Jason Canovas, “The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies”
— Richard King, “Interstellar”
— Becky Sullivan and Andrew DeCristofaro, “Unbroken”
Sound Mixing
— John Reitz, Gregg Rudloff and Walt Martin, “American Sniper”
— Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and Thomas Varga, “Birdman”
— Gary A. Rizzo, Gregg Landaker and Mark Weingarten, “Interstellar”
— Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montano and David Lee, “Unbroken”
— Craig Mann, Ben Wilkins and Thomas Curley, “Whiplash”
Visual Effects
— Dan DeLeeuw, Russell Earl, Bryan Grill and Dan Sudick, “Captain America: The Winter Soldier”
— Joe Letteri, Dan Lemmon, Daniel Barrett and Erik Winquist, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”
— Stephane Ceretti, Nicolas Aithadi, Jonathan Fawkner and Paul Corbould, “Guardians of the Galaxy”
— Paul Franklin, Andrew Lockley, Ian Hunter and Scott Fisher, “Interstellar”
— Richard Stammers, Lou Pecora, Tim Crosbie and Cameron Waldbauer, “X- Men: Days of Future Past”
Adapted Screenplay
— Jason Hall, “American Sniper”
— Graham Moore, “The Imitation Game”
— Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
— Anthony McCarten, “The Theory of Everything”
— Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”
Original Screenplay
— Alejandro Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr. and Armando Bo, “Birdman”
— Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
— E. Max Frye and Dan Futterman, “Foxcatcher”
— Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
— Dan Gilroy, “Nightcrawler”
