MPR's Movie Maven Stephanie Curtis joins Steve Seel and Jill Riley to talk about the Oscar nominees in the categories of Best Picture, Best Actress, Best Actor and Best Director.

Stephanie also notes some names and titles that seem conspicuously absent from the list of nominees, such as Selma director Ava DuVernay, actors Jake Gyllenhaal and David Oyelowo, and the film Nightcrawler. Listen to the full audio above to hear more insights.

The list of Best Picture Nominees: American Sniper, Birdman, Boyhood, The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Imitation Game, Selma, The Theory of Everything, Whiplash.

The list of nominees for Actress in a Leading Role: Marion Cotillard (Two Days, One Night), Felicity Jones (The Theory of Everything), Julianne Moore (Still Alice), Rosamund Pike (Gone Girl), Reese Witherspoon (Wild).

The list of nominees for Actor in a Leading Role: Steve Carrell (Foxcatcher), Bradley Cooper (American Sniper), Benedict Cumberbatch (The Imitation Game), Michael Keaton (Birdman), Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything).

The nominations for best director: Alejandro G. Inarritu (Birdman), Richard Linklater (Boyhood), Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher), Wes Anderson (The Grand Budapest Hotel), Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game).

The winners will be announced Sunday, Feb. 22.

MPR's Movie Maven, Stephanie Curtis, joins The Current's Morning Show to talk about films every Friday at 8:30 a.m.