'ATONEMENT' NABS SEVEN GLOBE NOMINATIONS IN CROWDED FIELD (AP)

By Nancy Vialatte

�Atonement� leads the Golden Globe nominations with 7 including Best Drama and acting honors for Kiera Knightley and James McAvoy. The other top contenders in an unusually crowded field of 7 - are �American Gangster,� �Eastern Promises� and �No Country for Old Men,� �The Great Debaters,� �Michael Clayton� and �There Will Be Blood.� Seven movies were picked instead of the usual five.

Nominated for Best Comedy or Musical are �Across the Universe,� �Charlie Wilson�s War,� �Hairspray,� �Juno� and �Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street.�

�Atonement� also had nominations for Saoirse Ronan as supporting actress, director for Joe Wright, screenplay for Christopher Hampton and musical score for Dario Marianelli.

Joining Knightley in the dramatic actress category is Cate Blanchett for her role in �Elizabeth: The Golden Age.� Blanchett also nabbed a supporting-actress nomination for her incarnation of Bob Dylan in �I�m Not There.�

Also earning two nominations was Philip Seymour Hoffman, for lead actor in a comedy or musical for �The Savages� and supporting actor for �Charlie Wilson�s War.�

�Charlie Wilson�s War� ran second to �Atonement� with five nominations including Hanks for Best Actor in a comedy or musical, while Roberts was nominated as supporting actress.