Show business satire "Birdman" and colourful caper "The Grand Budapest Hotel" led the Academy Awards nominees on Thursday with nine Oscar nominations apiece, including best picture.

The other best picture nominees are "American Sniper," "Boyhood," "The Imitation Game," "Selma," "The Theory of Everything" and "Whiplash." The Academy chose only eight films, although it can nominate up to 10.

British World War Two biopic "The Imitation Game" garnered eight nominations, including best actor for Benedict Cumberbatch, while Iraq war portrait "American Sniper" and Golden Globe winner for best drama, "Boyhood," each earned six.

The Oscars are given out by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. This year's winners will be announced at a ceremony hosted by actor Neil Patrick Harris in Los Angeles on February 22. 

Following is a list of nominees in leading categories.

BEST PICTURE: American Sniper; Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance); Boyhood; The Grand Budapest Hotel; The Imitation Game; Selma; The Theory of Everything; and Whiplash.

BEST ACTOR: Steve Carell -Foxcatcher; Bradley Cooper - American Sniper; Benedict Cumberbatch - The Imitation Game; Michael Keaton - Birdman; Eddie Redmayne - The Theory of Everything.

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 DIRECTOR: Alejandro G. Inarritu - Birdman; Richard Linklater - Boyhood; Bennett Miller - Foxcatcher; Wes Anderson - The Grand Budapest Hotel; Morten Tyldum - The Imitation Game.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR: Robert Duvall - The Judge; Ethan Hawke - Boyhood; Edward Norton - Birdman; Mark Ruffalo - Foxcatcher; J K Simmons - Whiplash

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS: Patricia Arquette - Boyhood; Laura Dern - Wild; Keira Knightley - The Imitation Game; Emma Stone - Birdman; Meryl Streep - Into The Woods.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY: Jason Hall - American Sniper; Graham Moore - The Imitation Game; Paul Thomas Anderson - Inherent Vice; Anthony McCarten - The Theory of Everything; Damien Chazelle - Whiplash.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY: Alejandro G Inarritu, Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris Jr., Armando Bo - Birdman; Richard Linklater - Boyhood; E  Max Frye, Dan Futterman - Foxcatcher; Wes Anderson, Hugo Guinness -The Grand Budapest Hotel; Dan Gilroy - Nightcrawler.

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM: Ida (Poland); Leviathan (Russia); Tangerines (Estonia); Timbuktu (Mauritania); Wild Tales (Argentina)

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM: Big Hero 6; The Boxtrolls; How to Train Your Dragon 2; Song of the Sea; The Tale of the Princess Kaguya.

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE: CitizenFour; Finding Vivian Maier; Last Days in Vietnam; The Salt of the Earth; Virunga. - Reuters