Oscar nominations revealed
BRITISH blockbuster Atonement is up for seven Oscars including best picture but there’s disappointment for the British film industry with both Keira Knightley and James McAvoy out of the running.
Instead Cate Blanchett will represent Britain with a double nomination for her roles as Queen Elizabeth I in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There.
She’ll battle it out with Julie Christie as Alzheimer’s sufferer in Away From her and Laura Linney in The Savages for the coveted title of best leading actress.
The Coen Brother’s film No Country For Old Men and Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood are in the lead with eight nominations each.
Irish actor Daniel-Day-Lewis has been shortlisted for best actor in There Will Be Blood and is pitted against George Clooney, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones and Viggo Mortensen for the Academy statuette.
Atonement’s young rising star Saoirse Ronan is just 13-years-old but she’ll be competing with British actress Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton. Both will be hoping to take home the golden trophy for best supporting actress.
The Coen Brothers’ are on the directing shortlist with their film No Country For Old Men. For Joel Coen, the red carpet walk will be a trip down memory land as it will be his sixth Academy Award nomination.
The pair is up against the makers of French film The Diving Bell and The Butterfly, the story of a paralysed fashion editor who painstakingly dictates a book by blinking his left eye.
Also in the running for best direction is Jason Reitman’s acclaimed teen pregnancy film Juno that deals with the turmoil of adoption. And the makers of Michael Clayton and There Will Be Blood complete the shortlist for the 24-carat gold plated gong.
All-star fantasy The Golden Compass will contend with CGI masterpiece Transformers and the last in the swash-buckling trilogy, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End for best visual effects.
And in the animated category, political feature film Persepolis will challenge rats and penguins in box office hits Ratatouille and Surf’s Up.
The countdown has begun until this year’s glittering 80th Academy Awards opens on February 24 at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles. Jon Stewart, who has also fronted the Grammys, will lead the awards in his second stint as Oscar host.
BEST ACTOR
George Clooney in Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones in In The Valley in Elah
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises
BEST ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie in Away From Her
Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose
Laura Linney in The Savages
Ellen Page in Juno
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem in No Country For Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook in Into The Wild
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement
Amy Ryan in Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
BEST PICTURE
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
DIRECTING
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country For Old Men
There Will Be Blood
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Transformers
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Persepolis
Ratatouille
Surf’s Up