Conmen caper American Hustle and space thriller Gravity led the race for the world’s top film prize yesterday with 10 Oscar nominations each, including best picture.
Historical drama 12 Years a Slave received nine nominations, including one in the best picture category, in a year crowded with high-quality films.
Those three movies will be joined by six others in the best picture competition: Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences may nominate up to 10 films for best picture, but only chose nine this year. A notable exclusion was the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis, which had won some top critics’ awards.
The Somali piracy thriller Captain Phillips, which was partly shot in Malta, the Aids activism tale Dallas Buyers Club and heartland comedy Nebraska each secured six nominations. Director Martin Scorsese’s cautionary tale on financial greed, The Wolf of Wall Street, followed with five, as did the quirky computer-age romance Her.
Eight individuals in the acting categories are first-time nominees, including Chiwetel Ejiofor as the free man sold into slavery in 12 Years a Slave. He will compete in the best actor race with Matthew McConaughey, the Golden Globe winner last Sunday for his role as the unlikely Aids crusader in Dallas Buyers Club.
Meryl Streep extended her lead as the most nominated performer with her 18th, this year for best actress as the matriarch in August: Osage County. She goes up against fellow Oscar winners Sandra Bullock as the astronaut lost in space in Gravity and Cate Blanchett as the riches-to-rags socialite in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
The Academy will hand out the Oscars at a ceremony hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres in Los Angeles on March 2.
Best picture
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years a Slave
The Wolf of Wall Street
Best actor
Christian Bale in American Hustle
Bruce Dern in Nebraska
Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor in 12 Years a Slave
Matthew McConaughey in Dallas Buyers Club
Best actress
Amy Adams in American Hustle
Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock in Gravity
Judi Dench in Philomena
Meryl Streep in August: Osage County
Best director
David O. Russell for American Hustle
Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity
Alexander Payne for Nebraska
Steve McQueen for 12 Years a Slave
Martin Scorsese for The Wolf of Wall Street
Best supporting actor
Barkhad Abdi in Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper in American Hustle
Michael Fassbender in 12 Years a Slave
Jonah Hill in The Wolf of Wall Street
Jared Leto in Dallas Buyers Club
Best supporting actress
Sally Hawkins in Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence in American Hustle
Lupita Nyong’o in 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts in August: Osage County
June Squibb in Nebraska
Sandra Bullock is in the run for best actress for her role as a novice astronaut lost in space in Alfonso Cuarón’s Gravity.
Matthew McConaughey was nominated for best actor for playing a hustler who gets Aids in Dallas Buyers Club. Right: Captain Phillips, which was partly filmed in Malta, received six nominations, including best picture. Tom Hanks was not nominated in the best actor category, but US-Somali actor Barkhad Abdi (right) got a nomination for best supporting actor.
Cate Blanchett and Sally Hawkins (left) were nominated for best actress and best supporting actress respectively for their roles in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.
Chiwetel Ejiofor was nominated for best actor for his role in Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, which garnered nine nominations in all.