Boyhood and Birdman continued to rule as the darlings of the awards show season — at least in the major categories, but American Sniper came on strong. And The Grand Budapest Hotel emerged a leader in Thursday`s Oscar nominations.

Birdman and Budapest lead the Oscar pack with nine nods each.

Fresh off its Golden Globes wins for best drama, best director and supporting actress, Boyhood, the $4 million movie filmed over 12 years with the same cast, snagged director, picture, supporting actor and actress Oscar nominations.

Birdman, starring Michael Keaton as an actor desperately hoping for a comeback, earned best picture, best actor, supporting actor and supporting actress and best director, along with original screenplay, sound mixing, sound editing and cinematography.

Budapest, the quicky movie starring Ralph Feinnes, got nods for picture and director, along with cinematography, costume design, film editing, hair and makeup, original score, original screenplay and production design.

Chris Pine, J.J. Abrams and Alfonso Cuaron were up early to read the names of this year`s nominees in 24 categories (a first in Academy history).

Here`s what happened in some of the key ones.
Of the 10 slots available to get nominations for best picture, only eight were filled: Boyhood, Birdman, Selma, Whiplash, American Sniper, The Grand Budapest Hotel,The Imitation Game and The Theory of Everything. Obvious omissions: Foxcatcher, Gone Girl and Angelina Jolie`s Unbroken.

Boyhood, Birdman and The Imitation Game have been front-runners this awards season. This trio received best-picture nominations from the PGAs, BAFTAs, Golden Globes and the Critics Choice, and all three films received SAG nominations for best cast.

In the best-actor category, Globes winners Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything), Michael Keaton (Birdman) and Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game) all got nods, as were expected. Steve Carell (Foxcatcher) and Bradley Cooper (American Sniper) filled out the category.

Again, many of the awards show names we`ve been seeing all season are on the best-actress list: Golden Globe winner Julianne Moore (Still Alice) was joined by Reese Witherspoon (Wild), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl) and Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything) Surprise: Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night. One obvious snub: Jennifer Aniston in Cake.

J.K. Simmons, who took home the Golden Globe for best supporting actor, got a nomination. No surprise there. He is joined by Edward Norton (Birdman), Mark Ruffalo (Foxcatcher) and Ethan Hawke (Boyhood). And the Academy showed its love for Robert Duvall`s gruff old dad character in The Judge.

Best supporting actress followed this season`s awards show trends in many ways. Boyhood`s Patricia Arquette, who won a Globe, got an Oscar nomination. With her in the category are Meryl Streep (Into the Woods), who now has 19 Oscar nominations on her resume, first-timer Emma Stone (Birdman) and Keira Knightley (The Imitation Game). Stone and Knightley grabbed SAG, Globe and BAFTA nods. And, surprise!, Laura Dern for her work in Wild.

And in the best-director category: Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Alejando G. Inarrito (Birdman) Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum for The Imitation Game. Immediate snubs: Ava DuVernay for Selma and David Fincher for Gone Girl.

Earning nods in the best animated feature category: Big Hero 6, Box Trolls, How to Train Your Dragon 2, The Tale of Princess Kaguya and Song of the Sea. (One glaring omission: The Lego Movie.)

The 87th Academy Awards take place on Feb. 22 and will be hosted by Neil Patrick Harris.

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