Â鶹ӰÊÓ

Canadians were well-represented during Tuesday's Oscar nomination announcement with Halifax-darling Ellen Page receiving a nod for her quick-witted turn in "Juno" and Ontario-native Sarah Polley receiving a best-adapted screenplay nomination for "Away From Her."

"It's extremely humbling to be recognized with these other actresses, people I respect and admire -- it's crazy,'' the 20-year-old Page told NBC's "The Today Show" of her first-ever Oscar nod.

"I just feel so grateful to be part of the film and I'm so happy that people have responded to it in the way that they have.''

Montreal-born director Jason Reitman was also nominated in the best director category for "Juno," which is competing for best picture and is the only comedy nominated in the category. Rounding out the best picture category is:

• "Atonement"
• "Michael Clayton"
• "There Will Be Blood"
• "No Country for Old Men"

The National Film Board of Canada's "Madame Tutli-Putli,'' which screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, was nominated in the best animated short category along with Toronto animator Josh Raskin for "I Met The Walrus."

Polley's "Away From Her," which is based on the Alice Munro short story "The Bear Came Over the Mountain," was recognized in the best-adapted screenplay category and the best actress category.

British actress Julie Christie was also nominated for her role in Polley's film, which was shot in northern Ontario, for her portrayal of a woman struggling with the onset of Alzheimer's disease.

Christie is joined in the best actress category by Cate Blanchett for her performance in "Elizabeth: The Golden Age," Marion Cotillard for her role in "La Vie En Rose" and Laura Linney for her performance in "The Savages."

Blanchett will be competing for two golden statues during the 80th Academy Awards ceremony scheduled for Feb. 24. The Australian actress was also nominated for her supporting role as Bob Dylan in "I'm Not There."

Also in the best supporting actress category is:

• Ruby Dee, for "American Gangster''
• Saoirse Ronan, for "Atonement''
• Amy Ryan, for "Gone Baby Gone''
• Tilda Swinton, for "Michael Clayton''

"No Country for Old Men" and "There Will Be Blood" led the pack in total nominations with both films receiving eight nods each.

Actor Daniel-Day Lewis was nominated for his performance in the turn-of-the-century oil drama "There

Will Be Blood." Lewis also picked up a Golden Globe statue for his portrayal of capitalist Daniel Plainview in the gripping drama.

He's joined in the best actor category by George Clooney for the legal drama "Michael Clayton" and Johnny Depp for the murderous musical "Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street."

Tommy Lee Jones will also compete for a best actor statue for his role in the Iraq-war drama "In the Valley of Elah," and Viggo Mortensen rounds out the category for David Cronenberg's Russian-mob thriller "Eastern Promises."

The best supporting actor category includes:

• Casey Affleck, for "The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford''
• Javier Bardem, for "No Country for Old Men''
• Hal Holbrook, for "Into the Wild''
• Philip Seymour Hoffman, for "Charlie Wilson's War''
• Tom Wilkinson, for "Michael Clayton''

Joining Reitman in the best director category is Julian Schnabel for the French film "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly."

Schnabel is considered a heavy hitter in the category after wining a Golden Globe for the moving film, which depicts the true story of former Elle magazine editor Jean-Dominique Bauby and his struggles to communicate after suffering a debilitating stroke that left him paralyzed.

New-York native Tony Gilroy is nominated for his directorial debut in "Michael Clayton" along with Paul Thomas Anderson for "There Will Be Blood." Anderson has been nominated for two other best-director Oscars including 2000's "Magnolia" and 1998's "Boogie Nights."

Joel and Ethan Coen, co-directors of "No Country for Old Men," will also compete for the coveted Oscar statue. The brothers won a shared best screenplay Academy Award in 1996 for "Fargo."

Canadian films were shut out of the foreign language film category this year, which was dominated by European titles. The nominations for best foreign film include:

• "Beaufort,'' for Israel
• "The Counterfeiters,'' for Austria
• "Katyn,'' for Poland;
• "Mongol,'' for Kazakhstan
• "12,'' for Russia

Canadian nominees may not get their chance to bask in the Hollywood spotlight as the ongoing screenwriter's strike threatens to cancel the awards ceremony. Many nominated stars said they wouldn't cross the picket lines for the glitzy affair that attracts a billion television viewers every year.

The strike forced the cancellation of the Golden Globes earlier this month, reducing the annual televised gala to brief press conference.

With files from The Canadian Press