'Birdman,' 'Grand Budapest Hotel" top Oscar nods

Dark comedy "Birdman" and stylish crime caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel" topped the Oscars nominations list Jan. 15 with nine each, firing the starting gun on the home stretch of Hollywood's awards race.
      
In second place was World War II code-breaking thriller "The Imitation Game," with eight nominations. Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" and coming-of-age drama "Boyhood" each earned six nods.         The five films were all shortlisted for best picture, along with US civil rights drama "Selma," Stephen Hawking biopic "The Theory of Everything" and jazz drumming saga "Whiplash."        

The golden statuettes will be handed out on February 22 at the Dolby Theatre in downtown Hollywood.        
For best actor, "Birdman" star Michael Keaton and Britain's Eddie Redmayne ("The Theory of Everything") -- Golden Globes winners just a few days ago -- are up against Steve Carell ("Foxcatcher"), Bradley Cooper ("American Sniper") and Benedict Cumberbatch ("The Imitation Game").
      
The best actress race includes two former Oscar winners -- Marion Cotillard for "Two Days, One Night" and Reese Witherspoon ("Wild").
      
They will compete against Globes winner Julianne Moore ("Still Alice"), along with two British actresses -- Felicity Jones ("The Theory of Everything") and Rosamund Pike ("Gone Girl").
      
The makers of both "Birdman" and "The Grand Budapest Hotel," Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu and Wes Anderson, are both in the race for best director along with Richard Linklater for "Boyhood," Bennett Miller for "Foxcatcher" and Morten Tyldum for "The Imitation Game."        

The Oscar nominees -- chosen by the 6,000-plus members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences -- were revealed in a pre...