'Blood' and 'No Country' Ruled 2008 Oscar Noms

Nailing 8 nods each following the nomination announcement on Tuesday, January 22, 'There Will Be Blood' and 'No Country for Old Men' led the race for the 80th Annual Academy Awards

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"There Will Be Blood" and "No Country for Old Men" once again show their dominations at awards events as the two movie critics' favorites led the 80th Annual Academy Awards with 8 nominations each. The two violent indie dramas gathered nods for Best Picture and will be contending against the British drama of betrayal and lost love "Atonement", the dark legal thriller "Michael Clayton" and the wise-cracking pregnant teenage drama "Juno".

On the announcement made at Academy headquarters in Beverly Hills on Tuesday, January 22, by Kathy Bates and the Academy president Sid Ganis, it was revealed that Cate Blanchett earned herself a double nods for her leading performance in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age" and for her supporting role as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There". In the Best Actress category, the 2004 Academy Award-winner for Best Supporting Actress would be joined by Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Laura Linney and Ellen Page, while the other nominees for Best Supporting actress were Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan and Tilda Swinton.

The Best Actor category would display the race between a cold-blooded oil baron in "Blood" Daniel Day-Lewis, a ruthless barber in "Sweeney Todd" Johnny Depp, a war veteran in search for his son in "In the Valley of Elah" Tommy Lee Jones, a burned out former criminal prosecutor in "Michael Clayton" George Clooney and a mysterious and charismatic driver in "Eastern Promises" Viggo Mortensen. In the meantime, the supporting actor would showcase stiff rivalry between Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hal Holbrook and Tom Wilkinson.

Further, though BAFTA's strong contender "Atonement" nailed 7 counts for this prestigious award and got the Best Picture gong, it didn't manage to bring recognition for its director, Joe Wright. The achievement in directing prize instead was given to Julian Schnabel for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly". Joining "Diving Bell", the other contending directors were Jason Reitman for "Juno", Tony Gilroy for "Clayton", Paul Thomas Anderson for "Blood", and the Coen brothers for "No Country".

Final ballots will be mailed January 30 and are due February 19. The awards ceremony will be held on February 24 at the Kodak Theater. Additionally, while the complete list of the nominees can be read at oscars.org, the partial list can be seen down below.

The partial list of the 80th Annual Academy Awards' Nominees:

Best motion picture of the year:

• "Atonement"
• "Juno"
• "Michael Clayton"
• "No Country for Old Men"
• "There Will Be Blood"

Adapted Screenplay:

• Christopher Hampton, "Atonement"
• Sarah Polley, "Away from Her"
• Ronald Harwood, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
• Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Original Screenplay:

• Diablo Cody, "Juno"
• Nancy Oliver, "Lars and the Real Girl"
• Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
• Brad Bird, "Ratatouille"
• Tamara Jenkins, "The Savages"

Achievement in directing:

• Julian Schnabel, "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"
• Jason Reitman, "Juno"
• Tony Gilroy, "Michael Clayton"
• Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, "No Country for Old Men"
• Paul Thomas Anderson, "There Will Be Blood"

Performance by an actor in a leading role:

• 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 of Elah"
• Viggo Mortensen in "Eastern Promises"

Performance by an actress in a leading role:

• 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"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role:

• 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"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role:

• 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 animated feature film of the year:

• "Persepolis"
• "Ratatouille"
• "Surf's Up"

Best documentary feature:

• "No End in Sight"
• "Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience"
• "Sicko"
• "Taxi to the Dark Side"
• "War/Dance"

Best foreign language film of the year:

• "Beaufort" (Israel)
• "The Counterfeiters" (Austria)
• "Katyn" (Poland)
• "Mongol" (Kazakhstan)
• "12" (Russia)

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