Atonement Ruled in 2008 Golden Globes' Film Nominations

"Atonement" leads the pack on the 2008 Golden Globes nominations. On Thursday, December 13, in the 65th annual Golden Globe Awards' nominees announcement, the drama movie was announced to be the receiver of seven nods, including Best Drama Picture, Best Director for Joe Wright, Best Screenplay for Christopher Hampton, and Best Original Score for Dario Marianelli.

However, unlike on other Golden Globes, this time "Atonement" will have to face hard competitions from six other nominees, including the two film critics' favorite movies, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood", as the Hollywood Foreign Press Association declared that they are breaking the tradition of listing 5 nominees for Best Drama Picture. The remaining competitors are "American Gangster", "Eastern Promises", "The Great Debaters" and "Michael Clayton".

Additionally, in the nomination categories for actor and actress, the movie that is set in the World War II period nailed first nominations for its actor, James McAvoy, and its supporting actress, Saoirse Ronan. It also brought another Globes gong for Keira Knightley, who in 2007 earned Golden Globes nod under the category of Best Musical/Comedy Actress for her role in "Pride and Prejudice".

Still, McAvoy and Knightley's path to take away the prizes won't be easy. McAvoy will be challenged by two times Golden Globes winners, George Clooney and Denzel Washington, four times Golden Globes nominee, Daniel Day-Lewis, and another first timer, Viggo Mortensen. Meanwhile, Knightley has to go up against tougher competitions since she is facing Golden Globes previous winners, Cate Blanchett, Jodie Foster and Angelina Jolie, and two times nominees, Julie Christie.

In the meantime, "Hairspray", "Juno", "Sweeney Todd", "Charlie Wilson's War" and "Across the Universe" will compete in the category of Best Comedy/Musical Picture. Furthermore, the leading actress of "Hairspray", Nikki Blonsky, and of "Juno", Ellen Page, were nominated for Best Comedy/Musical Actress, while Johnny Depp, the lead actor in "Sweeney Todd" has to challenge Ryan Gosling, Tom Hanks, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and John C. Reilly in the category of Best Comedy/Musical Actor.

Under the category of Best Animated Film, "Bee Movie", "Ratatouille" and "The Simpsons Movie" were the chosen nominees. Moreover, "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days", "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly", "The Kite Runner", "Lust, Caution" and "Persepolis" earned nod for Best Foreign Language Film.

The nominees of the 25 categories were carried out by Jorge Camara, the president of Hollywood Foreign Press Association at The Beverly Hilton. In announcing the counts, Camara was also joined by Hayden Panettiere, Ryan Reynolds and Quentin Tarantino. Meanwhile, the Awards ceremony itself will be held on Sunday, January 13, 2008 at The Beverly Hilton. It will be broadcast live on NBC at 8 PM. Further, the complete list of the 2008 Golden Globes can be seen on HFPA's site.