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Day 6 Friday, December 14, 2007 10newsDay 6 Friday, December 14, 2007 11news“Michael Clayton”“No Country For Old Men” “There Will Be Blood” “Across the Universe” “Charlie Wilson’s War”“The Great Debaters”“Eastern Promises”“Atonement”‘Atonement,’ ‘War’ leadnoms at Golden GlobesBy Gregg Kilday“Atonement,” the tony British drama of loveand war, led the pack with seven nominations,including best drama and acting noms for its twoleads, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, as theHollywood Foreign Press Assn. announced itsnominations for the 65th annual Golden Globeson Thursday morning.“Charlie Wilson’s War,” a comic look at theroots of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan, followedwith five nominations, including bestcomedy or musical.On the TV side, the top contenders are the FXdramatic series “Damages,” which revolvesaround a lethal legal case, and the HBO TVmovie “Longford,” which looked at a crime andits punishment in Great Britain, with four nominationseach. NBC’s comedy “30 Rock” andABC’s freshman entry “Pushing Daisies” bothscored three noms, as did the HBO movie “BuryMy Heart at Wounded Knee.”But this year’s wide-open film awards seasondidn’t get much narrower as a result of the Globenominations as the HFPA chose to include awhopping seven films in its best drama category.In addition to “Atonement,” the crowded listincludes several looks at criminal behavior,“American Gangster”“American Gangster,” “Eastern Promises” and“No Country for Old Men”; two very differenttakes on American business, the oil-struck“There Will Be Blood” and “Michael Clayton,”full of corporate intrigue, and the inspirationalcollege drama “The Great Debaters.”That should make the competition for primetables even tougher when the Globe ceremony,broadcast live by NBC, is held Jan. 13 at the BeverlyHilton.In the case of the best comedy or musical category,the HFPA was a little more discerning,nominating three musicals — the Beatles-inspired“Across the Universe,” the ’60s-inflected “Hairspray”and the bloody “Sweeney Todd” — alongwith two comedy/dramas, “War” and “Juno,” awry look at an unexpected teen pregnancy.With just five nominations in the best directingcategory, the contest suddenly got fiercer. On thedramatic side, brother filmmakers Joel and EthanCoen were nominated for “No Country” alongwith Ridley Scott for “Gangster” and Joe Wrightfor “Atonement.” The only director with a filmfrom the musical category is “Sweeney Todd’s”Tim Burton. The fifth nominee is Julian Schnabelfor “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly,” whichalso was nominated for best screenplay and bestforeign-language film.Cate Blanchett scored a doubleheader, pickingup a best dramatic actress nom for her regal turnin “Elizabeth: The Golden Age” and supportingactress recognition for her Dylanesque performancein “I’m Not There.” Clint Eastwood,though he didn’t appear on film this year, alsoearned two nominations for his score and songfor “Grace Is Gone,” the study of an Iraq Warwidower.Still, for all their largesse, the sometimes quirkyGlobe voters ignored a number of possible nominees.Sean Penn’s “Into the Wild” was left out inthe cold, save for score and song nominations forEddie Vedder. “Knocked Up” and “Superbad,”which were both critical and commercial hits,also got the cold shoulder. Tommy Lee Jones,lauded by critics for performances in both “In theValley of Elah” and “No Country” wasn’t mentioned.And the 3-D “Beowulf” didn’t make anappearance in the Globe’s new animated featurecategory, which encompasses just “Bee Movie,”“Ratatouille” and “The Simpsons Movie.”Blanchett’s fellow best dramatic actress nomineesare “Atonement’s” aristocratic Knightley,Julie Christie, who portrays an Alzheimer’s suffererin “Away From Her,” Jodie Foster, whogoes on a vengeful rampage in “The Brave One,”and Angelina Jolie, who portrays Mariane Pearl,whose husband was assassinated by Pakistani terrorists,in “A Mighty Heart.”The best dramatic actor lineup includesGeorge Clooney for his legal fixer in “MichaelClayton,” Daniel Day-Lewis, who plays a ruthlessoil baron in “There Will Be Blood,” ViggoMortensen, who battles Russian gangsters in“Eastern Promises,” Denzel Washington, whoportrays a drug kingpin in “American Gangster,”and “Atonement’s” McAvoy, for playing a manaccused of a crime he didn’t commit.Providing comic relief, nominees for bestactress in a comedy or musical are Amy Adams,who shines as a displaced princess in “Enchanted,”Nikki Blonsky, who made her screen debutas a plus-size dance contestant in “Hairspray,”Helena Bonham Carter, who adds a touch of themacabre as the pie-making Mrs. Lovett in“Sweeney Todd,” Marion Cotillard, whoembodies French chanteuse Edith Piaf in “La Vieen Rose,” and Ellen Page, who finds herself burdenedwith pregnancy in “Juno.”In the category of best actor in a comedy ormusical, only John C. Reilly, who struts his stuffas a troubadour in “Walk Hard: The Dewey CoxStory,” plays it for big laughs. Striking darkernotes, his competitors are Johnny Depp for theknife-wielding title role in “Sweeney Todd,”Ryan Gosling, who falls in love with an inanimatedoll in “Lars and the Real Girl,” Tom Hanks,who plays a hard-drinking congressman in“Charlie Wilson’s War,” and Philip SeymourHoffman, who struggles with an ailing father in“The Savages.”In addition to Blanchett, supporting actressnominees are Julia Roberts (“Charlie Wilson’sWar”), Saoirese Ronan (“Atonement”), AmyRyan (“Gone Baby Gone”) and Tilda Swinton(“Michael Clayton”).Supporting actor nominees are Casey Affleck(“The Assassination of Jesse James by the CowardRobert Ford”), Javier Bardem (“No Countryfor Old Men”), John Travolta (“Hairspray”) andTom Wilkinson (“Michael Clayton”).The screenplays that earned noms are DiabloCody’s “Juno,” the Coen brothers’ “No Country,”Christopher Hampton’s “Atonement,”Ronald Harwood’s “Diving Bell” and AaronSorkin’s “Charlie Wilson’s War.”For foreign film, the nominees range from theRomanian “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,”one of this year’s big award winners, to “DivingBell,” which is set in France, to the Afghanistantale “The Kite Runner,” the Shanghai-set“Lust, Caution” and “Persepolis,” an animatedlook at Iran.Nominated for original score are “Into theWild,” by Michael Brook, Kaki King and Vedder,Eastwood’s “Grace Is Gone,” “Kite Runner,”by Alberto Iglesias, “Atonement,” byDario Marianelli, and “Eastern Promises,” byHoward Shore.For best original song, the nominees are:“Despedida” from “Love in the Time ofCholera,” music by Shakiraand Antonio Pinto andmusic by Shakira; “GraceIs Gone” from “Grace IsGone,” music by Eastwoodand lyrics by CaroleBayer Sager; “Guaranteed”from “Wild,” music andlyrics by Vedder; “That’sHow You Know” from“Enchanted,” music andlyrics by Alan Menken; and“Walk Hard” from “WalkHard: The Dewey CoxStory,” music and lyrics byMarshall Crenshaw, Reilly,Judd Apatow and Jake “Hairspray”Kasdan. •“Juno”“Sweeney Todd”