As expected, three films dominated when Chris Hemsworth read out the Oscar nominations in Los Angeles at lunchtime.
Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave, Alfonso Cuáron’s Gravity and David O Russell’s American Hustle, all among the nine nominees for best picture, still look to be the horses to beat. American Hustle and Gravity scored 10 nods. McQueen’s film managed nine.
Hustle achieved the very rare feat of taking nods in all major categories: best picture, best director, best actor, best actress, best supporting actress and best supporting actor.
Stephen Frears's Philomena, the impressive drama about an Irish woman searching for her lost son, also did well, picking up nominations for best picture, best screenplay, best music and – for Dame Judi Dench – best actress in a leading role.
There was further Irish interest with Michael Fassbender scoring an expected nomination in the best supporting actor race for 12 Years a Slave. A recent winner at the Golden Globes, U2's Ordinary Love, from Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, is in the running for best original song.
There were no enormous surprises. But, as ever at this point in awards season, some fancied films find their stock falling, whereas others have done better than expected.
With that astonishing finish in the prestige races, American Hustle – a con-man drama set in the late 1970s – must now be seen as marginal favourite for best film.
Dallas Buyers Club, starring Matthew McConaughey as a Texan fighting for access to drugs during the early years of the Aids crisis, also did somewhat better than expected, picking up six nominations, including best picture.
Veterans Robert Redford, tipped for All is Lost, and Tom Hanks, seen as a near sure thing for Captain Phillips, will be disappointed to lose out in the best actor race.
That category now looks to be a fight between Chiwitel Ejiofor, harrowing in 12 Years, Leonardo DiCaprio, energised in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street, old timer Bruce Dern in Alexander Payne’s Nebraska and the newly revitalised McConaughey.
The Coen brothers' Inside Llewyn Davis also disappointed, registering only for editing and cinematography. Saving Mr Banks, of which much had been hoped, placed only in the best music category.
Cate Blanchett, star of Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine, has been favourite for the best actress gong since that film was released last summer.
Sure enough the Australian's name is on the list. Competition comes from Dench, Amy Adams in American Hustle, Sandra Bullock in Gravity and – something of a surprise – Meryl Streep for the indifferently reviewed August: Osage County.
The conspicuous omission here was Emma Thompson for Saving Mr Banks.
Dedicated cinephiles will note a few other oddities in the less well-publicised categories. Gabriela Cowperthwaite’s Blackfish – a study of the mistreatment of Orca whales in sea parks – was seen as a potential favourite in the documentary race.
In the event, that film did not even secure a nomination.
With those top three films all scoring so highly, there is much to play for before the ceremony on March 2nd.
BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
American Hustle
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Nebraska
Philomena
12 Years A Slave
The Wolf Of Wall Street
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Christian Bale AMERICAN HUSTLE
Bruce Dern NEBRASKA
Leonardo DiCaprio THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Chiwetel Ejiofor 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Matthew McConaughey DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Barkhad Abdi CAPTAIN PHILLIPS
Bradley Cooper AMERICAN HUSTLE
Michael Fassbender 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Jonah Hill THE WOLF OF WALL STREET
Jared Leto DALLAS BUYERS CLUB
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Amy Adams AMERICAN HUSTLE
Cate Blanchett BLUE JASMINE
Sandra Bullock GRAVITY
Judi Dench PHILOMENA
Meryl Streep AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORT ING ROLE
Sally Hawkins BLUE JASMINE
Jennifer Lawrence AMERICAN HUSTLE
Lupita Nyong'o 12 YEARS A SLAVE
Julia Roberts AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY
June Squibb NEBRASKA
ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
THE GRANDMASTER Philippe Le Sourd
GRAVITY Emmanuel Lubezki
INSIDE LLEWYN DAVIS Bruno Delbonnel
NEBRASKA Phedon Papamichael
PRISONERS Roger A. Deakins
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Song)
Alone Yet Not Alone ALONE YET NOT ALONE
Music by Bruce Broughton, Lyric by Dennis Spiegel
Happy DESPICABLE ME 2
Music and Lyric by Pharrell Williams
Let It Go FROZEN
Music and Lyric by Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez
The Moon Song HER
Music by Karen O. ric by Karen O and Spike Jonze
Ordinary Love MANDELA: LONG WALK TO FREEDOM
Music by Paul Hewson, Dave Evans, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen
Lyrics by Paul Hewson
ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
AMERICAN HUSTLE Michael Wilkinson
THE GRANDMASTER William Chang Suk Ping
THE GRE AT GATSBY Catherine Martin
THE INVISIBLE WOMAN Michael O'Connor
12 YEARS A SLAVE Patricia Norris
ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
AMERIC AN HUSTLE David O. Russell
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón
NEBRASKA Alexander Payne
12 YEARS A SLAVE Steve McQueen
THE WOLF OF WALL STREET Martin Scorsese
BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
THE ACT OF KILLING Joshua Oppenheimer and Signe Byrge Sørensen
CUTIE AND THE BOXER Zachary Heinzerling and Lydia Dean Pilcher
DIRTY WARS Richard Rowley and Jeremy Scahill
THE SQUARE Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer
20 FEET FROM STARDOM Nominees to be determined
BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
CAVEDIGGER Jeffrey Karoff
FACING FEAR Jason Cohen
KARAMA HAS NO WALLS Sara Ishaq
THE LADY IN NUMBER 6: MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE Malcolm Clarke and Nicholas Reed
PRISON TERMINAL: THE LAST DAYS OF PRIV ATE JACK HALL Edgar Barens
ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
AMERICAN HUSTLE Jay Cassidy, Crispin Struthers and Alan Baumgarten
CAPTAIN PHILLIPS Christopher Rouse
DALLAS BUYERS CLUB John Mac McMurphy and Martin Pensa
GRAVITY Alfonso Cuarón and Mark Sanger
12 YEARS A SLAVE Joe Walker
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM OF THE YEAR
BROKEN CIRCLE BREAKDOWN Belgium
THE GREAT BEAUTY Italy
THE HUNT Denmark
THE MISSING PICTURE Cambodia
OMAR Palestine
ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (Original Score)
THE BOOK THIEF John Williams
GRAVITY Steven Price
HER William Butler and Owen Pallett
PHILOMENA Alexandre Desplat
SAVING MR. BANKS Thomas Newman
For full list see: oscar.go.com/nominees
