Feature | Lights, Camera, Action! Special – Oscar Nominations 2014

The Best Actor category was, as it has been all season, extremely tight, and almost impossible to call. In the end, Christian Bale, Bruce Dern, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Matthew McConaughey all made the shortlist. Robert Redford and, more surprisingly, Academy favourite Tom Hanks, were left out in the cold, and the big question now is will this be third time lucky for DiCaprio?

Cate Blanchett inevitably made the cut for Best Actress, as did her likely main rival, Amy Adams. It is Adams' fifth Oscar nomination - and her first in the leading actress category - having previously been nominated for her supporting roles in The Master (2012), The Fighter (2010), Doubt (2008) and Junebug (2005) - however, she has never collected a statuette to date. Sandra Bullock, Judi Dench and Meryl Streep are all in contention - but not Emma Thompson. It will be a huge shock if Blanchett doesn't win, though. Adams' co-stars in American Hustle all received nominations: alongside her and Bale, Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper have Supporting Actress and Actor nods, respectively, giving the film the rare distinction of featuring in all four acting categories. American Hustle is just the 15th film in Oscar history to land nominations in all four acting categories.

Jared Leto is still the front runner for Best Supporting Actor, although there was the unexpected inclusion of Jonah Hill from The Wolf of Wall Street to add some interest. Best Supporting Actress is still comparatively open, despite Jennifer Lawrence's win at the Globes, with Sally Hawkins, Julia Roberts, Lupita Nyong'o and June Squibb all strong contenders.

The Academy can nominate up to ten movies for Best Picture; this year, it has gone for nine. There are the usual suspects, like Gravity, American Hustle, 12 Years a Slave and The Wolf of Wall Street, but Philomena, Nebraska, Dallas Buyers Club and Spike Jonze's Her are all there, as well. The chances of the Best Picture and Best Director statuettes going to two different films are sky-high.