The Oscar Nominations 2014

Today the nominations for the 86th Oscars were announced. Three movies dominate the nominations: American Hustle and Gravity both earned 10 nominations while 12 Years a Slave garnered 9. Just two weeks ago American Hustle and 12 Years a Slave picked up the top movie honors at the Golden Globe Awards and they seem to be the two main contenders for top film here.

Here are the nominations in the top six award categories:

Best Picture

• American Hustle
• Captain Phillips
• Dallas Buyer's Club
• Gravity
• Her
• Nebraska
• Philomena
• 12 Years a Slave
• The Wolf of Wall Street

Best 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)

Best Actor

• Christian Bale (American Hustle)
• Bruce Dern (Nebraska)
• Leonardo DiCaprio (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Chiwetel Ejiofor (12 Years a Slave)
• Matthew McConaughey (Dallas Buyer's Club)

Best Actress

• Amy Adams (American Hustle)
• Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
• Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
• Judi Dench (Philomena)
• Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)

Best Supporting Actor

• Barkhad Abdl (Captain Phillips)
• Bradley Cooper (American Hustle)
• Jonah Hill (The Wolf of Wall Street)
• Michael Fassbender (12 Years a Slave)
• Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club)

Best 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)

Some fun facts:
In the acting nominations, Matthew McConaughey, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbinder, 84 year-old June Squibb, Jared Leto and Barkhad Abdl all earned their first ever nomination. As for Leto, he had devoted himself to his musical career and had not been in a film for 4 years. Most surprising is that Abdl was a limo driver before being cast as the leader of the Somali pirates in Captain Phillips. Not surprising is Meryl Streep's nomination. Her total now stands at 18. Blanchett has her sixth nomination (and should be favorite to take home the golden trophy), and Dench has her 5th nomination. American Hustle is the only film to have nominations in all four acting categories.

In screenwriting, Woody Allen scored his 16th nomination for Blue Jasmine, but will likely not be present at the event, just as he missed the Golden Globes despite being honored for lifetime achievement.

You can find the full list of Oscar nominations on the Oscars site.