The Academy Awards nominations were announced this morning as Best Actor nods went to Johnny Depp, Daniel Day-Lewis and perennial Hollywood favorite George Clooney, while Best Actress category will see Cate Blanchett for "Elizabeth" competing against Ellen Page for "Juno".
It's still in doubt whether the stars would cross striking writers' picket lines to attend the ceremony - if the writers' strike is still going on by February 24.
Two violent films, "No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood," will compete in the Best Picture category against the legal snoozer "Michael Clayton", and the depressing romance "Atonement". The surprise nominee is the teen pregnancy comedy "Juno" which grabbed the fifth spot, beating out "Charlie Wilson's War", "Sweeney Todd" and "American Gangster".
On strike since Nov. 5, the Writers Guild of America refused to let its members work on the Golden Globes, which prompted stars to avoid the show in solidarity. Globe organizers were forced to scrap their glitzy telecast and instead announce winners in a swift, humdrum news conference, without anyone on hand to accept the prizes.
If guild leaders follow through and refuse to let writers work on the Oscars, it would leave nominees and other celebrities forced to choose between attending the biggest night in show business on Feb. 24 or staying home to avoid crossing picket lines.
Viggo Mortensen, who received a best-actor nomination for his performance as a Russian mob member in "Eastern Promises," said he would not go if the strike is still on.
"But I have a feeling they'll solve it," he said. "I hope they do. I'm sure my mom would like to see me on TV and so forth. But if there's a strike I'm not crossing the line."
Here are the major award nominations:
Best Picture
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will Be Blood
Best Actor
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd The Demon Barber of Fleet Street
Tommy Lee Jones, In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Best Actress
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en Rose
Laura Linney, The Savages
Ellen Page, Juno
Best Supporting Actor
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton
Best Supporting Actress
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best Director
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
