Globes nominations to signal Oscar field

Clear front-runners have yet to emerge in Hollywood's awards season, though Golden Globe voters have no shortage of fine films and performances to choose from with their nominations at hand.

Among big contenders for Thursday morning's nominations are the crime saga "No Country for Old Men" and the historical drama "There Will Be Blood," both films anointed by major critics groups as Hollywood's awards season starts to shape up.

The Golden Globes, the second-biggest film honors after the Academy Awards, has a category for best comedy or musical along with best drama, so Johnny Depp's bloody musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street" also could get an Oscar boost Thursday.

Days before the Globe nominations, Joel and Ethan Coen's "No Country for Old Men" was picked by the New York Film Critics Circle as the year's best film, while Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" earned the same honor from the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

Both groups picked "There Will Be Blood" star Daniel Day-Lewis as best actor, while the New York critics gave their supporting-actor prize to Javier Bardem for "No Country for Old Men."

Other possible nominees for best drama at the Globes: Ridley Scott's crime tale "American Gangster"; Joe Wright's literary adaptation "Atonement"; Mike Nichols' foreign-policy romp "Charlie Wilson's War"; Sean Penn's road drama "Into the Wild"; and Julian Schnabel's French drama "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Along with Day-Lewis, Depp and Bardem, acting nominees could include Brad Pitt for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford," Julie Christie for "Away From Her," Marion Cotillard for "La Vie En Rose," Keira Knightley and James McAvoy for "Atonement" and Ellen Page for "Juno."