Selma, Boyhood Get Best Picture Oscar Noms

The 2015 Academy Award nominations are out today. After last year’s Best Picture winner “12 Years a Slave,” the South’s racial tensions are once again on display in Best Picture nominee “Selma.” In theaters now and starring Cuba Gooding Jr. and Oprah Winfrey (a producer along with Brad Pitt’s Plan B), “Selma” — named after the Alabama city known for “Bloody Sunday” — is the story of a three-month period in in 1965 when Martin Luther King Jr. led a campaign to secure equal voting rights for African Americans. The epic march from Selma to Montgomery (pictured) led to the signing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, a huge victory for the Civil Rights Movement. David Oyelowo, recently seen in “Interstellar,” plays Dr. King. “Selma” is also nominated for its original song “Glory” by John Legend and Common.

While “Selma” will certainly be a powerful picture in this year’s running, Richard Linklater’s “Boyhood” probably has the best chance of sweeping the Oscars. With six nominations (Actor, Actress, Best Picture, Directing, Film Editing and Writing), this groundbreaking film was shot over a 12-year period in Houston, Texas, and surrounding areas. Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette and Ellar Coltrane (the boy), age as the movie progresses, an amazing thing to see on film and resulting in a sweet story about family and relationships you won’t soon forget.

For our book fans, Gillian Flynn’s “Gone Girl” garnered one nomination for Rosamund Pike as Best Actress — well-deserved if you’ve seen David Fincher’s film — and Texan Wes Anderson’s “The Grand Budapest Hotel” ties “Birdman” with nine nominations, including Best Picture.

We’ll be bringing you more on “Selma” and “Boyhood” as the February 22 air date for the Oscars nears, including our annual Oscars menu and some travel guides for visiting locations from these films. For now, the “Selma” website has a trail of locations