Fun stuff to know about Thursday’s Oscar nominations: Bradley Cooper’s nomination for his leading role in “American Sniper” is his third consecutive acting nod, following nominations for “American Hustle” in 2014 and “Silver Linings Playbook” in 2013. For the first time since the academy expanded possible best-picture nominees to 10 contenders in 2009, just eight films are up for the top prize in 2015. And In the acting categories, almost half of the nominees are up for their very first Academy Award, including Steve Carell for “Foxcatcher”, Benedict Cumberbatch in “The Imitation Game”, Michael Keaton for “Birdman”.
