Two films clear winners in Oscar nominations
No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood led with eight Academy Awards nominations each yesterday, among them best picture and acting honors for Daniel Day-Lewis and Javier Bardem - but it remained in doubt whether any stars would cross striking writers' picket lines to attend the ceremony.
No Country for Old Men, a crime saga about a drug deal gone bad, and There Will Be Blood, a historical epic set in California's oil boom years, will compete for best picture against the melancholy romance Atonement, the pregnancy comedy Juno and the legal drama Michael Clayton.
Atonement and Michael Clayton trailed with seven nominations each, including best actor for George Clooney in the title role of Clayton. The lead players in Atonement, Keira Knightley and James McAvoy, were shut out on nominations, however, with teenager Saoirse Ronin the only performer nominated for that film, for supporting actress.
