Jennifer Aniston, Angelina Jolie, Amy Adams, Clint Eastwood, 'Selma' snubbed by Oscar

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 15 (UPI) -- The Grand Budapest Hotel's extraordinary run continued Thursday when Hollywood's Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences nominated it for nine Oscars.

Although the Wes Anderson-crafted comedy about antics at a posh European resort made the shortlists for Best Picture, Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as for a raft of technical honors, it was not recognized in any of the acting categories. Released last March, its star-studded ensemble boasted Ralph Fiennes, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law, Edward Norton and Adrien Brody.

Budapest's fellow nine-time nominee and Best Picture Oscar rival Birdman also scored nods for Best Director and Best Original Screenplay, as well as Best Actor for Michael Keaton, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Edward Norton and Emma Stone.

Keaton this week earned a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Film for his portrayal of a faded action star mounting a career comeback, but Birdman ultimately lost the Best Comedy Film Globe to The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Boyhood -- another freshly minted Best Picture Oscar nominee -- took the Globe for Best Drama Film. Richard Linklater's portrait of an evolving family was shot over the course of 12 years. It is up for the Best Director Oscar, as well as Best Original Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor and Actress for Ethan Hawke and Patricia Arquette.

Also on this year's Best Picture roster -- which could have included 10 titles, but only featured eight -- are American Sniper, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything and Whiplash.

While American Sniper and Selma will both fight for the top prize, neither of the artists who helmed them -- Clint Eastwood and Ava DuVernay respectively -- were nominated for Best Director. The distinction would have made DuVernay the first African-American woman nominated for Best Director.

Speaking of Selma... The Oprah Winfrey-produced civil-rights drama was one of the best-reviewed films of the year, with David Oyelowo's portrayal of Martin Luther King Jr. widely praised, however, the movie has been largely ignored this awards season, with the exception of recognition for Common and John Legend's song "Glory," which was nominated for the Best Original Song Oscar Thursday and won the Golden Globe earlier in the week. Industry insiders have blamed the lack of recognition for the movie on questions regarding its historical accuracy and the fact that many critics groups and guild members didn't receive DVD screeners of the film in time for their competitions' voting deadlines.

Foxcatcher -- which earned Oscar nods for Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Actor for Steve Carell and Best Supporting Actor for Mark Ruffalo -- was not nominated for Best Picture. Former Olympic wrestler Mark Schultz, whose life is the basis for the movie, recently went on a social-media tirade to condemn the film, which he insists represented him. Channing Tatum, the actor who plays him in the film, was not nominated for an Oscar.

Other noteworthy snubs were Jennifer Aniston and Amy Adams in the Best Actress race. Aniston garnered Oscar buzz for a career-best performance as a woman dealing with chronic pain in Cake, while Adams won a Globe for her portrayal of painter Margaret Keane in Big Eyes. Both women were shut out by surprise nominees Marion Cotillard for Two Days, One Night and Rosamund Pike for Gone Girl. Nominees Felicity Jones, Julianne Moore and Reese Witherspoon -- stars of The Theory of Everything, Still Alice and Wild -- were all considered Oscar frontrunners since early in the season.

Angelina Jolie's World War II picture Unbroken earned mixed reviews and Oscar nods in some of the technical races such as Best Cinematography, Best Sound Editing and Best Sound Mixing, but it missed out on all the major categories, as did Into the Woods, with the exceptions of a Best Supporting Actress wink to perennial nominee Meryl Streep, and Best Costume Design and Production Design nods.

Other than the absence of Oyelowo, the Best Actor race shaped up pretty much as expected with American Sniper star Bradley Cooper earning his third consecutive Oscar nomination. He will compete against Carell and Keaton, as well as Benedict Cumberbatch for The Imitation Game and Eddie Redmayne for The Theory of Everything.