KEY POINTS:
New Zealand-raised actress Anna Paquin has been nominated for a Golden Globe award for her role in the television movie Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee.
Paquin is up for best actress in a supporting role for the film, which tells the story of the massacre of hundreds
of Native American Sioux men, women and children by the 7th Cavalry at Wounded Knee Creek on December 29, 1890.
Paquin plays the role of schoolteacher Elaine Goodale who, prior to the massacre, worked to improve the quality of life for the Sioux.
The 25-year-old actress won an Oscar for Best Actress in a Supporting Role in Jane Campion's 1993 film The Piano, making her one of the youngest Academy Award winners in history.
She has also starred in the X-Men movies as well as The Squid and the Whale and Almost Famous.
Paquin is nominated in the category alongside Grey's Anatomy's Katherine Heigl and Australian actress Rachel Griffiths from Brothers & Sisters, as well as Rose Byrne for Damages, Samantha Morton for Longford and Jaime Pressly for My Name is Earl.
Two movies set against different wars, Atonement and Charlie Wilson's War, dominated the nominations, with Atonement earning seven nods, including a bid for best drama, to lead all film contenders.
The World War Two saga also earned best dramatic actor and actress nominations, respectively, for Scottish performer James McAvoy and his English-born leading lady, Keira Knightley, for their roles as lovers torn apart by a family lie and the conflict in Europe.
The filmmaker behind Atonement, Joe Wright, was nominated for best director, and the 13-year-old actress Saoirse Ronan earned a nod for her supporting role as the younger sister who betrays Knightley's character. Other nominations came for best screenplay and musical score.
In a first for the Golden Globe awards, which are given out by some 90 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA), the top category of best film drama was shared by seven nominees instead of the usual five.
"That tells us it was a very good year for dramas, and it was very difficult for us to pick the nominees," HFPA president Jorge Camara said. He said that three movies tied for the fifth position among dramas, leading to the seven nominations.
Three of the remaining five were crime dramas - American Gangster, Eastern Promises and the latest from Joel and Ethan Coen, No Country for Old Men. Rounding out the category were two period pieces - There Will Be Blood, about the rise of an oil baron in the early 1900s, and The Great Debaters, a Depression-era story of race relations and hope.
Charlie Wilson's War, a wry tale of political intrigue starring Tom Hanks, was the second-most nominated film with five nods overall, including a bid in the category for best comedy or musical.
Hanks was nominated as best comic actor for his role as a US congressman raising funds to fight the 1980s-era Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, while co-stars Julia Roberts and Philip Seymour Hoffman earned bids for their supporting parts. Aaron Sorkin was nominated for his screenplay.
Hoffman also picked up a nomination as best actor in a comedy for his role opposite Laura Linney in The Savages.
Three movies clinched four nominations each: Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, and the musical Sweeney Todd.
THE ROAD TO OSCAR
The Golden Globe Awards are a key stop on the road to Hollywood's top film honors, the Oscars. But unlike the awards given by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the HFPA film honors are divided into dramas and musicals/comedies. Separate awards are also given to television shows.
In acting categories, Atonement's McAvoy is joined among drama nominees by George Clooney in Michael Clayton, Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood, Denzel Washington in American Gangster and Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises.
Competing with Knightley as nominees for best dramatic actress were Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Julie Christie for Away From Her, Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart and Jodie Foster for The Brave One.
Relative newcomer Amy Adams of Enchanted will compete for best actress in a musical or comedy against Nikki Blonsky of Hairspray, Helena Bonham Carter from Sweeney Todd, Marion Cotillard in La Vie En Rose and Ellen Page for Juno.
Joining Hanks and Hoffman in the race for best actor in a movie musical or comedy are Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd, Ryan Gosling for Lars and the Real Girl and John C. Reilly in Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story.
Best foreign-language film nominees were Romanian entry 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, the U.S.-made drama set in Afghanistan, The Kite Runner, French animated film Persepolis, Taiwan's Lust, Caution, and The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, a U.S.-French production.
For TV, the best drama nominees were four cable network shows - Big Love, Mad Men, The Tudors, and Damages - and two from the major broadcast networks, Grey's Anatomy and House. Entourage, Californication, 30 Rock, Extras and Pushing Daisies will vie for best TV comedy.
The 2008 Golden Globe Awards will be given out on January 13 in Beverly Hills in a ceremony set to air on US television network NBC.
But the show could be threatened by the writers strike. Camara said the HFPA had requested a waiver from the Writers Guild of America to produce the show, and he was "hoping everything will work out".
FULL LIST OF NOMINEES
Best motion picture - drama
American Gangster
Atonement
Eastern Promises
The Great Debaters
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
There Will be Blood
Best motion picture - comedy or musical
Across the Universe
Charlie Wilson's War
Hairspray
Juno
Sweeney Todd
Best actress in a film drama
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie, Away from Her
Jodie Foster, The Brave One
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Keira Knightley, Atonement
Best actor in a film - drama
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
James McAvoy, Atonement
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern Promises
Denzel Washington, American Gangster
Best actress in a film - comedy or musical
Amy Adams, Enchanted
Nikki Blonsky, Hairspray
Helena Bonham Carter, Sweeney Todd
Marion Cotillard, La Vie En Rose
Ellen Page, Juno
Best actor in a film - comedy or musical
Johnny Depp, Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Tom Hanks, Charlie Wilson's War
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Savages
John C Reilly, Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story
Best supporting actress
Cate Blanchett, I'm Not There
Julia Roberts, Charlie Wilson's War
Saoirse Ronan, Atonement
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton
Best supporting actor
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the
Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Philip Seymour Hoffman, Charlie Wilson's War
John Travolta, Hairspray
Tom Wilkinson, Atonement
Best director
Tim Burton, Sweeney Todd
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Ridley Scott, American Gangster
Joe Wright, Atonement
Best animated feature
Bee Movie
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie
Best screenplay
Diablo Cody, Juno
Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, No Country for Old Men
Christopher Hampton, Atonement
Ronald Harwood, The Diving Bell and The Butterfly
Aaron Sorkin, Charlie Wilson's War
Best foreign language film
4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days (Romania)
The Diving Bell and The Butterfly (France and USA)
The Kite Runner (USA)
Lust, Caution (Taiwan)
Persepolis (France)
Best original score
Atonement Composed by Dario Marianelli
Eastern Promises Composed by Howard Shore
Grace Is Gone Composed by Clint Eastwood
Into The Wild Composed by Michael Brook
The Kite Runner Composed by Alberto Igleslias
Best original song
Despedida From Love In The Time Of Cholera Music and Lyric by Pedro Aznar, Shakira
Grace Is Gone From Grace Is Gone Music by Clint Eastwood Lyric by Carole Bayer Sager
Guaranteed From Into The Wild Music and Lyric by Eddie Vedder
That's How You Know From Enchanted Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Walk Hard From Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story Music and Lyric by Judd Apatow, Marshal Crenshaw, Jake Kasdan, John C. Reilly
The Cecil B. DeMille Award
Steven Spielberg
Best television series - Drama
Big Love
Damages
Grey's Anatomy
House, M. D.
Mad Men
The Tudors
Best television series - Musical or comedy
Californication
Entourage
Extras
Pushing Daisies
30 Rock
Mini-Series Or Television Movie
Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
The Company
Five Days
Longford
The State Within
Best actor in a leading role - Drama series
Michael C. Hall in Dexter
Hugh Laurie in House, M. D.
Bill Paxton in Big Love
Jon Hamm in Mad Men
Jonathan Rhys Meyers in The Tudors
Best actor in a leading role - Musical or comedy series
Alec Baldwin in 30 Rock
Steve Carell in The Office
David Duchovny in Californication
Ricky Gervais in Extras
Lee Pace in Pushing Daisies
Best actor in a leading role - Mini-series or television movie
Adam Beach in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Jim Broadbent in Longford
Ernest Borgnine in A Grandpa For Christmas
Jason Isaacs in The State Within
James Nesbitt in Jekyll
Best actress in a leading role - Drama series
Patricia Arquette in Medium
Glenn Close in Damages
Minnie Driver in The Riches
Edie Falco in The Sopranos
Sally Field in Brothers & Sisters
Holly Hunter in Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer
Best actress in a leading role - Musical or comedy series
Christina Applegate in Samantha Who?
America Ferrera in Ugly Betty
Tina Fey in 30 Rock
Anna Friel in Pushing Daisies
Mary-Louise Parker in Weeds
Best actress in a leading role - Mini-series or television movie
Bryce Dallas Howard in As You Like It
Queen Latifah in Life Support
Debra Messing in The Starter Wife
Sissy Spacek in Pictures Of Hollis Woods
Ruth Wilson in Jane Eyre
Best actor in a supporting role - Series, mini-series or television movie
Ted Danson in Damages
Kevin Dillon in Entourage
Jeremy Piven in Entourage
Andy Serkis in Longford
William Shatner in Boston Legal
Donald Sutherland in Dirty Sexy Money
Best actress in a supporting role - Series, mini-series or television movie
Rose Byrne in Damages
Katherine Heigl in Grey's Anatomy
Rachel Griffiths in Brothers & Sisters
Samantha Morton in Longford
Anna Paquin in Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee
Jaime Pressly in My Name Is Earl
- REUTERS, NZ HERALD STAFF