VH1 GOES INTO THE WILD FOR CRITICS CHOICE AWARDS

Into the Wild, Sean Penn’s true story about a man who takes off for the wilderness, led the way in today’s Critics Choice Awards, the first to be televised by VH1, with seven nominations, including Best Picture and Best Actor for star Emile Hirsch. The organization includes leading print and online movie critics from around the U.S.

The nominations were announced this morning by Marisa Tomei, giving Juno six nods, including Best Picture and Best Actress for Ellen Page. Atonement, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd and Hairspray each received five nods.

The L.A. Film Critics have already named Paul Thomas Anderson’s There Will Be Blood, his adaptation of Upton Sinclair's Oil!, as their best picture choice, while the N.Y. Film Critics weighed in with the Coen brothers’ No Country for Old Men, which was also named by the National Board of Review. The Golden Globe nominations will be announced Thursday.

So far, Blood's Daniel Day Lewis and Away From Her's Julie Christie have emerged as the front-runners in the acting categories, while Amy Ryan (Gone Baby Gone, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead) and the great Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men) have dominated the supporting categories. The Coens, Paul Thomas Anderson and Sweeney Todd's Tim Burton all seem to be vying for Best Director with Penn.

The awards ceremony itself will air live on VH1 from the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in California on Monday, January 7 at 9 p.m. Eastern and Pacific.

BEST PICTURE:
American Gangster
Atonement
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Into the Wild
Juno
The Kite Runner
Michael Clayton
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
There Will Be Blood

BEST ACTOR:
George Clooney Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis There Will Be Blood
Johnny Depp Sweeney Todd
Ryan Gosling Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen Eastern Promises

BEST ACTRESS:
Amy Adams Enchanted
Cate Blanchett Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie Away From Her
Marion Cotillard La Vie en Rose
Angelina Jolie A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page Juno

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
Hal Holbrook Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson Michael Clayton

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS:
Cate Blanchett I’m Not There
Catherine Keener Into the Wild
Vanessa Redgrave Atonement
Amy Ryan Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton Michael Clayton

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE:
Hairspray
Juno
No Country for Old Men
Sweeney Todd
Gone Baby Gone
Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead

BEST DIRECTOR:
Tim Burton Sweeney Todd
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen No Country for Old Men
Sidney Lumet Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead
Sean Penn Into the Wild
Julian Schnabel The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Joe Wright Atonement

BEST WRITER:
Diablo Cody Juno
Joel Coen and Ethan Coen No Country for Old Men
Tony Gilroy Michael Clayton
Nancy Oliver Lars and the Real Girl
Sean Penn Into the Wild
Aaron Sorkin Charlie Wilson’s War

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE:
Bee Movie
Beowulf
Persepolis
Ratatouille
The Simpsons Movie

BEST YOUNG ACTOR:
Michael Cera Juno
Michael Cera Superbad (Cera has two separate noms in this category)
Freddie Highmore August Rush
Ahmad Khan Mahmidzada The Kite Runner
Edward Sanders Sweeney Todd

BEST YOUNG ACTRESS:
Nikki Blonsky Hairspray
Dakota Blue Richards The Golden Compass
AnnaSophia Robb Bridge to Terabithia
Saoirse Ronan Atonement

BEST COMEDY:
Dan in Real Life
Hairspray
Juno
Knocked Up
Superbad

BEST FAMILY FILM:
August Rush
Enchanted
The Golden Compass
Hairspray
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

BEST PICTURE MADE FOR TELEVISION:
The Company
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
Tin Man
The War

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
4 Months, 3 Weeks, and 2 Days
La Vie en Rose
Lust, Caution
The Orphanage

BEST SONG:
“Come So Far” Queen Latifah, Nikki Blonsky, Zac Efron, Elijah Kelley Hairspray
“Do You Feel Me” Anthony Hamilton American Gangster
“Falling Slowly” Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova Once
“Guaranteed” Eddie Vedder Into the Wild
“That’s How You Know” Amy Adams Enchanted

BEST COMPOSER:
Marco Beltrami 3:10 to Yuma
Alexandre Desplat Lust, Caution
Clint Eastwood Grace Is Gone
Jonny Greenwood There Will Be Blood
Dario Marianelli Atonement
Alan Menken Enchanted

BEST DOCUMENTARY:
Darfur Now
In the Shadow of the Moon
The King of Kong
No End In Sight
Sharkwater
Sicko