Joel and Ethan Coen’s No Country for Old Men, a gory meditation on moral decline, and There Will Be Blood, a gritty drama about a pioneering California oilman, led the nominations for the 80th annual Academy Awards on Tuesday, organisers said.
Atonement, a British period romance revolving around unrequited passion and devastating lies, picked up seven nominations, as did the legal thriller Michael Clayton.
All four films were nominated for best picture, along with the quirky teen pregnancy comedy Juno.
The animated hit Ratatouille earned five nominations, while Juno and the French-language drama The Diving Bell and the Butterfly scored four each.
The directors of No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood, Juno, Michael Clayton and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly were also nominated.
In the lead-actor race, Michael Clayton star George Clooney will compete against Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood, Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street, Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah and Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises.
Australian actress Cate Blanchett received two nominations, for her lead role in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and for her supporting role as Bob Dylan in I’m Not There.
The other lead-actress contenders were British veteran Julie Christie for Away from Her, French actress Marion Cotillard for La Vie en Rose, Laura Linney for The Savages and Canadian actress Ellen Page for Juno.
The 80th annual Academy Awards will be handed out in Hollywood on February 24. The Hollywood writers strike, now in its 12th week, could force organisers to change the format if the walkout is not resolved by then.
The Writers’ Guild of America has said it will protest against the event, and the Screen Actors’ Guild reiterated on Monday that its members will not cross the picket line to attend Hollywood’s biggest night of the year.
FULL LIST OF NOMINATIONS
Best motion picture of the year
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Best performance by an actor in a leading role
George Clooney for Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis for There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones for In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises
Best performance by an actress in a leading role
Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie for Away from Her
Marion Cotillard for La môme (La vie en rose)
Laura Linney for The Savages
Ellen Page for Juno
Best performance by an actor in a supporting role
Casey Affleck for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem for No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman for Charlie Wilson’s War
Hal Holbrook for Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson for Michael Clayton
Best performance by an actress in a supporting role
Cate Blanchett for I’m Not There.
Ruby Dee for American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan for Atonement
Amy Ryan for Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton
Best achievement in directing
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood
Ethan Coen, Joel Coen for No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton
Jason Reitman for Juno
Julian Schnabel for Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly)
Best writing, screenplay written directly for the screen
Juno: Diablo Cody
Lars and the Real Girl: Nancy Oliver
Michael Clayton: Tony Gilroy
Ratatouille: Brad Bird
The Savages: Tamara Jenkins
Best writing, screenplay based on material previously produced or published
Atonement: Christopher Hampton
Away from Her: Sarah Polley
Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly): Ronald Harwood
No Country for Old Men: Joel Coen, Ethan Coen
There Will Be Blood: Paul Thomas Anderson
Best achievement in cinematography
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford: Roger Deakins
Atonement: Seamus McGarvey
No Country for Old Men: Roger Deakins
Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly): Janusz Kaminski
There Will Be Blood: Robert Elswit
Best achievement in editing
The Bourne Ultimatum: Christopher Rouse
Le scaphandre et le papillon (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly): Juliette Welfling
Into the Wild: Jay Cassidy
No Country for Old Men: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen
There Will Be Blood: Dylan Tichenor, Tatiana S Riegel
Best achievement in art direction
American Gangster: Arthur Max
Atonement: Sarah Greenwood
The Golden Compass: Dennis Gassner
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Dante Ferretti
There Will Be Blood: Jack Fisk
Best achievement in costume design
Across the Universe: Albert Wolsky
Atonement: Jacqueline Durran
Elizabeth: The Golden Age: Alexandra Byrne
La môme (La vie en rose): Marit Allen
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street: Colleen Atwood
Best achievement in make-up
La môme (La vie en rose): Didier Lavergne, Loulia Sheppard
Norbit: Rick Baker
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: Ve Neill, Martin Samuel
Best achievement in music written for motion pictures, original score
Atonement: Dario Marianelli
Into the Wild: Michael Brook, Kaki King, Eddie Vedder
Michael Clayton: James Newton Howard
Ratatouille: Michael Giacchino
3:10 to Yuma: Marco Beltrami
Best achievement in music written for motion pictures, original song
August Rush: Raise It Up
Enchanted: Happy Working Song
Enchanted: So Close
Enchanted: That’s How You Know
Once: Falling Slowly
Best achievement in sound
The Bourne Ultimatum: Scott Millan, David Parker, Kirk Francis
No Country for Old Men: Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff, Peter F Kurland
Ratatouille: Randy Thom, Michael Semanick, Vince Caro, Doc Kane
3:10 to Yuma
Transformers: Kevin O’Connell, Greg P Russell, Peter J Devlin
Best achievement in sound editing
The Bourne Ultimatum: Karen M Baker, Per Hallberg
No Country for Old Men: Skip Lievsay
Ratatouille
There Will Be Blood: Matthew Wood, Christopher Scarabosio
Transformers: Mike Hopkins, Ethan van der Ryn
Best achievement in visual effects
The Golden Compass: Michael L Fink, Susan MacLeod, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End: John Knoll, Hal T Hickel, Charlie Gibson, John Frazier
Transformers: Scott Farrar, Shari Hanson, Russell Earl, Scott Benza
Best animated feature film of the year
Persepolis: Vincent Paronnaud, Marjane Satrapi
Ratatouille: Brad Bird
Surf’s Up: Ash Brannon, Chris Buck
Best foreign-language film of the year
Die Fälscher (Austria)
Beaufort (Israel)
Mongol (Kazakhstan)
Katyn (Poland)
12 (Russia)
Best documentary, features
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
Taxi to the Dark Side
War Dance
Best documentary, short subjects
Freeheld
La Corona
Salim Baba
Sari’s Mother
Best short film, animated
Même les pigeons vont au paradis
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Moya lyubov
Peter & the Wolf
Best short film, live action
At Night
Il Supplente
Le Mozart des pickpockets
Tanghi argentini
The Tonto Woman