BRITISH film Atonement has scored seven Oscar nominations, including best picture.
Its 13-year-old star, Irish schoolgirl Saoirse Ronan, is in the running for the title of best supporting actress. But there was disappointment for Keira Knightley, who missed out on a best actress nomination.
Veteran Julie Christie is shortlisted for her role as an Alzheimer's sufferer in Away From Her. Christie will compete for the best actress crown with Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Marion Cotillard for La Vie En Rose, Laura Linney for The Savages and Ellen Page for Juno.
Cate Blanchett is a double nominee - her astonishing performance as Bob Dylan in I'm Not There is also named in the best supporting actress category, alongside Tilda Swinton for Michael Clayton.
Daniel Day-Lewis picked up a best actor nomination for Texan oil epic There Will Be Blood which is also nominated for Best Picture along with legal thriller Michael Clayton, Coen brothers' drama No Country For Old Men, and teen pregnancy saga Juno.
Day-Lewis, whose role as a turn-of-the-20th-century oil baron earned him a Golden Globe earlier this month, will go head to head in the best actor stakes with Johnny Depp for Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber Of Fleet Street, Tommy Lee Jones for In The Valley Of Elah, Viggo Mortensen for Eastern Promises and George Clooney for Michael Clayton.
Heavyweight offerings There Will Be Blood and No Country For Old Men lead the pack with eight nominations each.
Atonement's seven nominations are for best picture, best supporting actress, art direction, cinematography, costume design, music and adapted screenplay.
Legal drama Michael Clayton also has seven nominations in total, including best supporting actor for British star Tom Wilkinson.
The best director category features few big names but there is no place for Atonement's Joe Wright. Instead the award will go to either Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell And The Butterfly, Jason Reitman for Juno, Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton, Joel and Ethan Coen for No Country For Old Men, or Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood.
The nominations were announced at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre in Los Angeles.
The 80th Academy Awards are due to take place in Los Angeles on February 24.
But with the US writers' strike still ongoing, the fate of the ceremony remains undecided.
Full List of nominees >>>
