Oscars 2014: American Hustle, Gravity lead nominees
The Abscam scandal crime caper American Hustle and 3D space saga Gravity lead the race for the 86th annual Academy Awards, Hollywood's top film honour.
Thor and Rush star Chris Hemsworth joined Cheryl Boone Isaacs, president of the U.S. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, to reveal the Oscar contenders Thursday.
American Hustle, set in the disco era, and Gravity, set in outer space, each nabbed 10 nominations — with both included in the coveted best picture category.
Dallas Buyers Club, a biographical drama directed by Canadian Jean-Marc Vallée, is also up for best picture.
Other nominees are
12 Years a Slave
Captain Phillips
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
The Wolf of Wall Street
With the exception of Gravity, the near-future tale Her and road trip drama Nebraska, the remaining best picture nominees are all based on true stories.
The best-actress category was widely predicted, with a strong field: American Hustle's Amy Adams, Blue Jasmine's Cate Blanchett, Sandra Bullock of Gravity, Philomena star Judi Dench and Meryl Streep for August: Osage County.
Similarly, the best-actor contenders have all been widely praised for their performances: American Hustle's Christian Bale, Bruce Dern for Nebraska, Leonardo DiCaprio for The Wolf of Wall Street, 12 Years a Slave's Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew McConaughey for Dallas Buyers Club.
Other key nominees include:
Director: David O Russell, American Hustle; Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity; Alexander Payne, Nebraska; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave; Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Supporting actor: Barkhad Abdi, Captain Phillips; Bradley Cooper, American Hustle; Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave; Jonah Hill, The Wolf of Wall Street; Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club.
Supporting actress: Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine; Jennifer Lawrence, American Hustle; Lupita Nyong'o, 12 Years a Slave; Julia Roberts, August: Osage County; June Squibb, Nebraska.
Adapted screenplay: Before Midnight; Captain Phillips; Philomena; 12 Years a Slave; The Wolf of Wall Street.
Original screenplay: American Hustle; Blue Jasmine; Dallas Buyers Club; Her; Nebraska.
Animated feature: The Croods; Despicable Me 2; Ernest & Celestine; Frozen; The Wind Rises.
Documentary feature: The Act of Killing; Cutie and the Boxer; Dirty Wars; The Square; 20 Feet from Stardom.
Foreign-language film: The Broken Circle Breakdown; The Great Beauty; The Hunt; The Missing Picture; Omar.
Other Canadian nominees include Arcade Fire member William Butler, and composer, musician and singer Owen Pallet (who performs as Final Fantasy). The two are nominated in the category of best original score for Spike Jonze's film Her.
Toronto filmmaker Sarah Polley, who had been in the running for her documentary feature Stories We Tell, failed to make the final list of nominees.
The Oscars are the culmination of the annual movie awards season, with the star-studded, lengthy televised gala broadcast live to more than 200 countries and typically watched by more than 30 million people.
Hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, the 86th Academy Awards show is Sunday, March 2, at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles and will air live on ABC.
