Comedy film American Hustle and space adventure Gravity are leading the contest for this year's Oscar awards with 10 nominations each.
The historical epic Twelve Years a Slave, directed by Steve McQueen, is close behind with nine.
All three movies have been nominated for best picture - setting the scene for a showdown between very different films, the BBC reports. Others in that category are: Captain Phillips, Dallas Buyers Club, Her, Nebraska, Philomena and The Wolf of Wall Street.
Best director: Alfonso Cuaron, Gravity; Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave; Alexander Payne, Nebraska; David O Russell, American Hustle; Martin Scorsese, The Wolf of Wall Street.
Best actor: Christian Bale, American Hustle; Bruce Dern, Nebraska; Leonardo DiCaprio, The Wolf of Wall Street; Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave and Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club.
Best actress: Amy Adams, American Hustle; Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine; Sandra Bullock, Gravity; Judi Dench, Philomena and Meryl Streep, August: Osage County.
Australian visual effects specialist Dave Clayton has been nominated for his work on The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.
The Academy Awards will be held on 2 March in Los Angeles.