'Birdman', 'Boyhood' to battle it out at Oscars

'Boyhood', Richard Linklater's coming-of-age tale about childhood, which took 12-years to complete, initially looked to score some major trophies but has faced tougher battle with 'Birdman', 'American Sniper', 'Whiplash' and Selma's names being thrown in the mix by critics. India's 'Liar's Dice' failed to make the cut in the best foreign language film category where Polish drama 'Ida',Russia's 'Leviathan', Estonia's 'Tangerines', Argentina's 'Wild Tales' and 'Timbuktu' from Mauritania will compete. The Academy faced major flak with #allwhite trending on social media criticising the exclusion of black artists from the 25 people that it nominated in the acting and direction categories.