‘Birdman’ and usual critical darling suspects lead Houston critics’ nominations

The Houston Film Critics Society has announced nominations, and no surprise, the three-horse race for critical darling of the year led the way: “Birdman” with 10, “Boyhood” with seven and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” with six. They also throw in a Best Poster category and deign to chart the year's worst.

Check out the full list of nominees below, and remember to follow along at The Circuit.

Best Picture
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy”
“The Imitation Game”
“Inherent Vice”
“A Most Violent Year”
“Nightcrawler”
“Selma”
“Whiplash”

Best Director
Alejandro González Iñárritu, “Birdman”
Richard Linklater, “Boyhood”
Wes Anderson, “The Grand Budapest Hotel”
Paul Thomas Anderson, “Inherent Vice”
Damien Chazelle, “Whiplash”

Best Actor
Benedict Cumberbatch, “The Imitation Game”
Eddie Redmayne, “The Theory of Everything”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Nightcrawler”
Michael Keaton, “Birdman”
Tom Hardy, “Locke”

Best Actress
Essie Davis, “The Babadook”
Felicity Jones, “The Theory of Everything”
Julianne Moore, “Still Alice”
Marion Cotillard, “Two Days, One Night”
Reese Witherspoon, “Wild”

Best Supporting Actor
Josh Brolin, “Inherent Vice”
Ethan Hawke, “Boyhood”
Edward Norton, “Birdman”
J.K. Simmons, “Whiplash”
Mark Ruffalo, “Foxcatcher”
Andy Serkis, “Dawn of the Planet of the Apes”

Best Supporting Actress
Patricia Arquette, “Boyhood”
Jessica Chastain, “A Most Violent Year”
Keira Knightley, “The Imitation Game”
Emma Stone, “Birdman”
Tilda Swinton, “Snowpiercer”

Best Screenplay
“Birdman”
“Boyhood”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Nightcrawler”
“Whiplash”

Best Cinematography
“Birdman”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Interstellar”
“Nightcrawler”
“Unbroken”

Best Original Score
“Birdman”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“The Imitation Game”
“Interstellar”
“The Theory of Everything”

Best Original Song
“Lost Stars” from “Begin Again”
“Big Eyes” from “Big Eyes”
“I'm Not Going to Miss You” from “Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me”
“Everything is Awesome” from “The LEGO Movie”
“Glory” from “Selma”

Best Animated Film
“Big Hero 6”
“The Book of Life”
“The Boxtrolls”
“How to Train Your Dragon 2”
“The LEGO Movie”

Best Foreign Film
“Force Majeure”
“Ida”
“Leviathan”
“The Raid 2”
“Two Days, One Night”

Best Documentary
“CITIZENFOUR”
“Glen Campbell: I'll Be Me”
“Jodorowsky's Dune”
“Life Itself”
“The Overnighters”

Technical Achievement
“Birdman” (creation of single long take for bulk of film)
“Boyhood” (filming over 12 years)
“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” (creation of ape characters)

Best Poster
“Birdman”
“Godzilla IMAX”
“The Grand Budapest Hotel”
“Guardians of the Galaxy” (primary theatrical)
“Inherent Vice”

Texas Independent Film Award
“Above All Else”
“Boyhood”
“Hellion”
“Joe”
“No No: A Dockumentary”
“Stop the Pounding Heart”

Worst Film of the Year
“Blended”
“Dumb and Dumber To”
“Left Behind”
“The Identical”
“Transformers: Age of Extinction”