KEY POINTS:
Cate Blanchett will get two shots at an award and Russell Crowe stars in a movie in line for best film when the Golden Globes are handed out next month.
Blanchett has been nominated for best actress for her reprisal role as England's virgin queen in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and is in line for a best supporting actress award for playing Bob Dylan in Todd Haynes' I'm Not There.
American Gangster, co-starring Crowe, is in the running for best film and a Golden Globe best actor award for star Denzel Washington.
Two movies set against different wars, Atonement and Charlie Wilson's War, dominate the nominations, with Atonement earning seven nods including best drama.
Experts said the Golden Globe nominations did little to define leaders in the Oscar race.
Still, there were clear winners such as drama Atonement, comedy Charlie Wilson's War and musical Sweeney Todd, and one chief loser, Into the Wild.
David Poland of website Movie City News was pointed when asked what the Golden Globe nods did to narrow the list of serious Oscar candidates. "Nothing. Of the 15 or so contenders, they got 14. The only one left out was Into the Wild, but given the recent history of the Golden Globes with Crash or Munich, that doesn't mean anything."
