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Oscars 2015 nominations announced: 'Birdman' and 'The Grand Budapest Hotel' lead pack of Academy Awards hopefuls, The quirky backstage Broadway drama “Birdman” was expected to be a major contender for this year’s Academy Awards, but few thought “The Grand Budapest Hotel” would check into a spot among the favorites.

Wes Anderson’s comedy tied director Alejandro González Iñárritu’s off-kilter film for nine nominations to lead the pack of Oscar nominees announced Thursday.

"The Imitation Game," a biopic about World War II code-breaker Alan Turing, cracked into the mix of top contenders with eight nominations, including best picture.

In a couple of major shockers, the Martin Luther King Jr. drama "Selma" and Angelina Jolie's World War II drama "Unbroken" were snubbed, while Clint Eastwood's "American Sniper" notched a surprising six nominations. "Selma" only received two nominations — best picture and best song for "Glory."

The other seven contenders for best picture are "Boyhood," "Birdman," "The Imitation Game," "The Theory of Everything," "The Grand Budapest Hotel," "Whiplash" and "American Sniper."

Boyhood" is considered by many to be the front-runner for the best picture and director awards.The five nominees for best director are: Richard Linklater for "Boyhood," Iñárritu for "Birdman," Morten Tyldum for "The Imitation Game," Anderson for "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and Bennett Miller for "Foxcatcher."

The surprise inclusion of Miller meant that this year's two highest profile women directors — Jolie, and "Selma's" Ava DuVernay — were left out.

The nominees for best actor are Michael Keaton for "Birdman," Eddie Redmayne for "Theory of Everything," Benedict Cumberbatch for "The Imitation Game," Steve Carell, "Foxcatcher" and Bradley Cooper for "American Sniper."The nominees for best actress are Julianne Moore for "Still Alice," Reese Witherspoon for "Wild," Rosamund Pike for "Gone Girl," and Felicity Jones for "The Theory of Everything" and Marion Cotillard, "Two Days, One Night."

"Big Eyes" star Amy Adams, a winner at the Golden Globes last Sunday, was left off the list, as was Jennifer Aniston, who had received many raves for her anti-"Friends" turn in "Cake."

The five contenders for best supporting actor are Golden Globe winner J.K. Simmons for "Whiplash," Edward Norton for "Birdman," Ethan Hawke for "Boyhood," Mark Ruffalo for "Foxcatcher," and Robert Duvall for "The Judge."

The nominees for best supporting actress are Patricia Arquette for "Boyhood," Meryl Streep for "Into The Woods," Keira Knightley for "The Imitation Game," Emma Stone for "Birdman" and Laura Dern for "Wild."

For best original screenplay, the nominees are Alejandro González Iñárritu, Nicolás Giacobone and Alexander Dinelaris, Armando Bo for "Birdman"; Richard Linklater for "Boyhood"; Wes Anderson and Hugo Guinness for "The Grand Budapest Hotel"; Dan Gilroy for "Nightcrawler"; and Dan Futterman and  E. Max Frye for "Foxcatcher."

In the best adapted screenplay category, the nominees are Graham Moore for "The Imitation Game," Anthony McCarten for "The Theory of Everything," Damien Chazelle for "Whiplash," Jason Hall for "American Sniper" and Paul Thomas Anderson for "Inherent Vice."The best animated feature contenders are: "Big Hero 6," "How To Train Your Dragon 2,” "The Boxtrolls," "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" and "Song of the Sea."

Everything was not quite awesome for "The LEGO Movie," which had entered the morning as a favorite for a nomination in that category, yet ended with just one nomination: best original song.