entertainment Broadcast critics go Wild for Penn Alaska drama

Oscar prospects for Into the Wild have been revived and those of Juno bolstered in Critics’ Choice Awards nominations by the Broadcast Film Critics Association.Sean Penn’s extreme adventure saga Into the Wild received a leading seven nominations for the Jan. 7 prizes by the association, the largest film critics’ group in North America. The nods are for Best Picture, Director and Writer (both for Penn), Actor (Emile Hirsch), Supporting Actor (Hal Holbrook), Supporting Actress (Catherine Keener) and Song (Eddie Vedder’s %26#34;Guaranteed%26#34;).It’s the first significant showing for Into the Wild in the current run-up to the Academy Awards.But the much-honoured Juno, directed by Montreal-born Jason Reitman, was right behind with six nominations for Best Picture, Actress (Canada’s Ellen Page), Acting Ensemble, Writing, Comedy and Young Actor (fellow Canuck Michael Cera).The 10 films vying for Best Picture also include: American Gangster, Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, Sweeney Todd and There Will Be Blood.The Critics’ Choice Awards are historically the most accurate predictor of Academy Award nominations, to be announced on Jan. 22. For 2006, the association chose The Departed as Best Picture, weeks before its Oscar triumph.

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