The British drama Atonement leads the nominees for the Golden Globe Awards, announced early Thursday in Los Angeles. The honors are presented by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, and they mark the start of the award season in Hollywood. Mike O'Sullivan reports, 'Atonement' earned seven nominations, including best drama.

Based on a best-selling novel by Ian McEwan, Atonement is the story of a teenage girl, an aspiring writer, who changes people's lives when she wrongly accuses her sister's fiancé of a crime. She recounts the events in a work of fiction, which she describes in the film.

"It's about a young girl, a young and foolish girl who sees something from her bedroom window which she doesn't understand, but she thinks she does."

The film earned acting nominations for stars Keira Knightley and James McAvoy.

Other drama nominees include Daniel Day-Lewis for his role as a ruthless oilman in There Will Be Blood.

The Golden Globe nominations mark the beginning of the annual competition for awards in Hollywood. There are seven nominees for best drama this year, up from the usual five.They include the crime tales No Country for Old Men, Eastern Promises, and American Gangster, with Denzel Washington.

Other drama nominees are the inspirational college tale The Great Debaters, and the legal story Michael Clayton, with George Clooney as a corporate lawyer known for fixing problems.

Cate Blanchett is a nominee for best dramatic actress for her title role in the period film Elizabeth: The Golden Age. She also earned a nod as supporting actress for her role as folk-singer Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.

Golden Globe nominees for best musical or comedy include the tale of political intrigue Charlie Wilson's War, which earned five nominations, including acting nods for Tom Hanks, Julia Roberts, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Other musical-comedy entries include the film adaptation of the Broadway hit Hairspray and the tale of a murderous barber, Sweeney Todd.

The Kite Runner poster

Foreign-language nominees include entries from Romania and Taiwan, the French film Persepolis, a coming-of-age tale set in Iran, and the U.S.-produced The Kite Runner, set in Afghanistan.

The Golden Globes will be presented in Los Angeles on January 13.  Hollywood pays attention because they sometimes suggest winners in the more prestigious Oscars, presented in February.