Will it be Daniel's day as Brits lead Oscars line-up

Day-Lewis, 50, has been nominated for best actor for a searing performance as an oil prospector in There Will Be Blood. Victory would be his second Oscar win after My Left Foot in 1989.

But he faces stiff competition from Johnny Depp, for his role in Tim Burton's adaptation of the musical Sweeney Todd, Viggo Mortensen for the Russian mafia movie Eastern Promises which was filmed in London, and George Clooney for Michael Clayton.

Christie, 66, who first won an Academy Award in 1963 for Darling, is also storming towards her second. She makes the grade this year for her portrayal of a woman with Alzheimer's in Away From Her.

Her return, after a decade away from the big screen, sees her pitted against Cate Blanchett for Elizabeth: The Golden Age and Ellen Page, the young star of indy hit Juno, for best actress.

The nominations were announced in Hollywood where a beleaguered film industry remains hamstrung by the effects of the current writers' strike.

Atonement, the wartime tale of love and redemption adapted from Ian McEwan's acclaimed novel, is up for best movie in a strong year against the multi-nominated No Country for Old Men and There Will Be Blood.

But there was disappointment for most of its stars. Keira Knightley, 22, and James McAvoy, 29, who play the central lovers, were overlooked for best actor and actress.

But newcomer Saoirse Ronan, who plays Knightley's younger sister, gets a chance for best supporting actress.

Her rivals include Cate Blanchett, in with a second chance of a gong for her portrayal of Bob Dylan in I'm Not There, and British actress Tilda Swinton for her performance opposite Clooney in the legal drama Michael Clayton.

British actor Tom Wilkinson, who also appears in Michael Clayton, is nominated for best supporting actor. More Brits are up for awards in the screenplay categories. Christopher Hampton is in with a chance for best adapted screenplay for Atonement, but his rivals include Ronald Harwood for the foreign movie The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

Best director will see the artist Julian Schnabel in with a chance for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly against more mainstream talents including Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood and the Coen brothers for No Country for Old Men.

The big question now remains whether the Oscars ceremony itself will go ahead on 24 February. Producers are said to be adamant a show will happen in some form, even if it is padded with clips.

Academy spokesman Leslie Unger said: "We are planning to have our show at the Kodak Theatre with an audience of 3,300 people and a television audience significantly larger than that."

Many remain hopeful that the writers and studios can reach a deal on the writers' demands for a greater share of profits from movies on the internet, on mobile phones and other new media.

There was widespread disappointment when the Golden Globes were reduced to a half-hour press conference.

The disarray in Hollywood - which reduced the Golden Globes to a half-hour press conference - is expected to boost Britain's own ceremony, the Orange British Academy Awards, at the Royal Opera House on 10 February.

THE 2008 NOMINATIONS

Best film
Atonement,Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country For Old Men, There Will Be Blood

Best director
Paul Thomas Anderson: There Will Be Blood, Julian Schnabel: The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Joel and Ethan Coen: No Country for Old Men, Tony Gilroy: Michael Clayton, Jason Reitman: Juno

Best actor
Johnny Depp: Sweeney Todd, Tommy Lee Jones: In The Valley Of Elah, George Clooney: Michael Clayton, Daniel Day-Lewis: There Will Be Blood, Viggo Mortensen: Eastern Promises

Best actress
Julie Christie: Away From Her, Marion Cotillard: La Vie En Rose, Ellen Page: Juno, Cate Blanchett: Elizabeth: The Golden Age, Laura Linney: The Savages

Best supporting actor
Javier Bardem: No Country For Old Men, Casey Affleck: Assassination of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford, Tom Wilkinson: Michael Clayton, Hal Holbrook: Into The Wild, Philip Seymour Hoffman: Charlie Wilson's War

Best supporting actress
Amy Ryan: Gone Baby Gone, Saoirse Ronan: Atonement, Cate Blanchett: I'm Not There, Tilda Swinton: Michael Clayton, Ruby Dee: American Gangster