Oscar lovers, it’s that time of year again….

Today saw the nominations for the 87th Academy Awards revealed, with the lead being shared by both the Broadway satire Birdman and the period comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel with nine nods each, including the all-important Best Picture spot.

Birdman, which centres on a washed-up Hollywood actor trying to rebuild his career on Broadway, received three acting mentions for recent Golden Globe winner Michael Keaton (as Riggan Thomson), Edward Norton (as Mike Shiner) and Emma Stone (as Sam Thomson) as well as directing and writing nods for filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu.

Released back in the spring, The Grand Budapest Hotel, which centres on a charming hotel concierge caught up in a caper involving a renowned painting, was recognised in various technical categories while filmmaker Wes Anderson scored mentions in both Best Director and Original Screenplay.

Elsewhere, the factual drama The Imitation Game picked up an impressive eight nominations, including Best Picture and a Best Director nom for Morten Tyldum. Additionally, British performer Benedict Cumberbatch (as Alan Turing) receives his first Oscar mention in Best Actor, while co-star Keira Knightley (as Joan Clarke) is recognised in Best Supporting Actress.

Despite being the current Oscar favourite, the epic coming-of-age drama Boyhood scored fewer nods than some of its rival nominees, with six. Unsurprisingly, the film is up for Best Picture, while filmmaker Richard Linklater earns two nods for his writing and directing.

Additionally, cast members Patricia Arquette (as Olivia Evans) and Ethan Hawke (as Mason Evans, Sr.) are both in contention for the supporting gongs.

The rest of the eight-film Best Picture field also consists of the war thriller American Sniper (six noms), the music-based drama Whiplash (five noms) and autobiographical dramas Selma (two noms) and The Theory of Everything (five noms).

After victory at the Golden Globes on Sunday, British star Eddie Redmayne receives a Best Actor nod for his portrayal of renowned physicist Dr. Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, with co-star Felicity Jones (as Jane Wilde Hawking) contesting the Best Actress field.

On top of facing Cumberbatch and Keaton in his category, Redmayne also has to deal with Steve Carell (as John Eleuthère du Pont) in Foxcatcher and Bradley Cooper (as Chris Kyle) in American Sniper.

Meanwhile, Julianne Moore will be seeking to end her long wait for Oscar success after earning a Best Actress nomination for her role as Dr. Alice Howland in the drama Still Alice.

Her fellow nominees include Rosamund Pike (as Amy Dunne) in Gone Girl, Reese Witherspoon (as Cheryl Strayed) in Wild and surprise contender Marion Cotillard (as Sandra Bya) in the French drama Two Days, One Night.

Elsewhere, the great Meryl Streep earns her TWENTIETH Oscar nomination for her supporting turn as the Witch in the fantasy musical Into the Woods and is joined in Best Supporting Actress by shock nominee Laura Dern (as Bobbi Grey) in Wild.

In contrast, J. K. Simmons leads the Best Supporting Actor category for his powerhouse role as Terence Fletcher in Whiplash and is joined by Mark Ruffalo (as Dave Schultz) in Foxcatcher, and Robert Duvall (as Joseph Palmer) in The Judge.

At the age of 84, Duvall becomes the oldest male acting nominee in Oscar history!

In one of the more unusual nominations of the day, Bennett Miller earns a Best Director nod for Foxcatcher despite the fact that his film failed to make the Best Picture shortlist.

More shockingly, The Lego Movie was overlooked for Best Animated Film despite being a hit with critics and audiences. Thankfully, the film garners a Best Original Song mention for the catchy song ‘Everything is Awesome’ with Selma’s ‘Glory’ the heavy favourite to win the category.

Instead, the Animated Film line-up sees Disney’s Big Hero 6 and How to Train Your Dragon 2 go head-to-head alongside The Boxtrolls, Song of the Sea, and The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

Meanwhile, the Best Foreign Language category is contested by the likes of Poland’s Ida, Russia’s Leviathan and Argentina’s Wild Tales.

The films that are up for technical awards are Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, Guardians of the Galaxy, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, Interstellar, Maleficent, Mr. Turner and X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Once again, the Academy overlooked a number of key performances, including Amy Adams (Big Eyes), Jennifer Aniston (Cake), Jessica Chastain (A Most Violent Year), Ralph Fiennes (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Jake Gyllenhaal (Nightcrawler), David Oyelowo (Selma) and Timothy Spall (Mr. Turner).

The 2015 Oscars will be held at the Dolby Theatre on Sunday 22 February, with comedian actor Neil Patrick Harris hosting the ceremony.

The full list of nominees are below (winner predictions in blue):

BEST PICTURE
AMERICAN SNIPER
BIRDMAN
BOYHOOD
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
SELMA
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING
WHIPLASH

BEST DIRECTOR
Wes Anderson, THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
Alejandro Gonzalez. Iñárritu, BIRDMAN
Richard Linklater, BOYHOOD
Bennett Miller, FOXCATCHER
Morten Tyldum, THE IMITATION GAME

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 ACTOR
Steve Carell, FOXCATCHER
Bradley Cooper, AMERICAN SNIPER
Benedict Cumberbatch, THE IMITATION GAME
Michael Keaton, BIRDMAN
Eddie Redmayne, THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Patricia Arquette, BOYHOOD
Laura Dern, WILD
Keira Knightley, THE IMITATION GAME
Emma Stone, BIRDMAN
Meryl Streep, INTO THE WOODS

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Robert Duvall, THE JUDGE
Ethan Hawke, BOYHOOD
Edward Norton, BIRDMAN
Mark Ruffalo, FOXCATCHER
J. K. Simmons, WHIPLASH

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
AMERICAN SNIPER (Jason Hall)
THE IMITATION GAME (Graham Moore)
INHERENT VICE (Paul Thomas Anderson)
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Anthony McCarten)
WHIPLASH (Damien Chazelle)

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
BIRDMAN (Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris, Jr & Armando Bo)
BOYHOOD (Richard Linklater)
FOXCATCHER (E. Max Frye & Dan Futterman)
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Wes Anderson)
NIGHTCRAWLER (Dan Gilroy)

BEST FILM EDITING
AMERICAN SNIPER
BOYHOOD
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
WHIPLASH

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
BIRDMAN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
IDA
MR. TURNER
UNBROKEN

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
THE IMITATION GAME
INTERSTELLAR
INTO THE WOODS
MR. TURNER

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
INHERENT VICE
INTO THE WOODS
MALEFICENT
MR. TURNER

BEST MAKEUP AND HAIRSTYLING
FOXCATCHER
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

BEST SOUND MIXING
AMERICAN SNIPER
BIRDMAN
INTERSTELLAR
UNBROKEN
WHIPLASH

BEST SOUND EDITING
AMERICAN SNIPER
BIRDMAN
THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES
INTERSTELLAR
UNBROKEN

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER
DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES
GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY
INTERSTELLAR
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
THE GRAND BUDAPEST HOTEL (Alexandre Desplat)
THE IMITATION GAME (Alexandre Desplat)
INTERSTELLAR (Hans Zimmer)
MR. TURNER (Gary Yershon)
THE THEORY OF EVERYTHING (Jóhann Jóhannsson)

BEST ORIGINAL SONG
BEGIN AGAIN (“Lost Stars”)
BEYOND THE LIGHTS (“Grateful”)
GLEN CAMPBELL…I’LL BE ME (“I’m Not Gonna Miss You”)
THE LEGO MOVIE (“Everything is Awesome”)
SELMA (“Glory”)

BEST ANIMATED FILM
BIG HERO 6
THE BOXTROLLS
HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON 2
SONG OF THE SEA
THE TALE OF THE PRINCESS KAGUYA

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
IDA (Poland)
LEVIATHAN (Russia)
TANGERINES (Estonia)
TIMBUKTU (Mauritania)
WILD TALES (Argentina)

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
CITIZENFOUR
FINDING VIVIAN MAIER
LAST DAYS IN VIETNAM
THE SALT OF THE EARTH
VIRUNGA

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
CRISIS HOTLINE: VETERANS PRESS 1
JOANNA
OUR CURSE
THE REAPER
WHITE EARTH

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
AYA
BOOGALOO AND GRAHAM
BUTTER LAMP
PARVANEH
THE PHONE CALL

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
THE BIGGER PICTURE
THE DAM KEEPER
FEAST
ME AND MY MOULTON
A SINGLE LIFE