'American Hustle,' 'Gravity' lead Oscar nominations

'Dallas Buyers Club': underdog film turned scrappy Oscar contender

Among those receiving their first Oscar nods Thursday were Chiwetel Ejiofor, up for best actor in 12 Years a Slave, Michael Fassbender (best supporting actor, 12 Years a Slave), Matthew McConaughey (best actor, Dallas Buyers Club), McQueen, and best supporting actor hopefuls Barkhad Abdi, a limo driver before being cast in Captain Phillips, and Jared Leto, who played a transsexual in the Texas HIV drama Dallas Buyers Club.

"Yesterday, I was doing jury duty; today, I woke up with an Academy Award nomination," said Leto.

Martin Scorsese's The Wolf of Wall Street, a nearly three-hour Wall Street extravaganza of money, sex and drugs, landed big nominations: best picture, best actor (DiCaprio), best director (Scorsese, his eighth for directing) and best supporting actor (Jonah Hill).

One of the day's biggest winners was the 27-year-old producer Megan Ellison, daughter of billionaire Larry Ellison. Her Annapurna Pictures produced two of the best-picture nominees (Her and American Hustle) as well as The Grandmaster, China-born Wong Kar-Wai's martial arts drama.

She celebrated by tweeting "17!" - the total nominations her films received.

American Hustle has ridden a wave of enthusiasm for its manic performances, all draped in 1970s style. It's a success for director David O. Russell, who got his third directing nomination, just a year after his Silver Linings Playbook received eight Oscar nominations, with Jennifer Lawrence winning best actress. She was again nominated this year for best supporting actress for Hustle.

The global box-office hit Gravity topped the nominations thanks partly to its strength in technical categories like cinematography, production design, editing and visual effects.

Cuaron's innovative depiction of being lost in space has been praised for reinvigorating the spectacle of the big-screen experience. Having taken in more than $670 million worldwide, it's easily the most popular of the best-picture nominees.

Though historically the most-nominated films also take home the best picture award, that has not been the case in recent years.

In six out of the past 10 years, the most-nominated film hasn't won in the end, including last year, when Steven Spielberg's Lincoln, with 12 nominations, was beaten by Ben Affleck's Argo.

The Associated Press