New Delhi: The Oscars will be handed out on February 24 in Los Angeles. The New Year also indicates that the Oscars are just a couple of months away.

It’s close enough for the list of favourites to roll out and leading the pack of Oscar hopefuls is filmmaker Joe Wright's Atonement.

The lead stars of this British film - Keira Knightly and James McAvoy are nominated for the Golden Globes - a definite indication for Oscar nods.

"The way I've tried to approach it is just to be honest with myself and say, 'Of course I'd love to be nominated for everything. Fantastic.' And I would. But it's not why we do it, and it's not why I chose to do this film, and it's not why I chose to be an actor. So, I have some perspective.

If it doesn't happen, I would hope that my pride in this project wouldn't be diminished in any way, " says James McAvoy, Actor.

Knightley's biggest competitor for Best Actress will be Cate Blanchett, already twice nominated in the Globes this year for her part in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, and as a young Bob Dylan in I'm Not There.

Also in the run for best actress is the young Ellen Page, the star of sleeper indie hit 'Juno', a black comedy about a teenager finding out she's accidentally pregnant.

There is also Angelina Jolie who could be nominated for her part as Marianne Pearl in A Mighty Heart. In the best film category, Westerns seem to have captured the imagination of the critics this year, with the Coen Brothers return to form, No Country for Old Men already winning at the National Board of Review.

'There will be Blood' is also another favourite. Topping the favourites list for Best Actor is Tom Hanks & George Clooney.

Hanks for his part in Charlie Wilson's War, a look at how a senator's involvement in the Afghan conflict of the 1980s with the then Soviet Union affected the politics of the country.

And Clooney who played lawyer Michael Clayton, the actor had earlier won a Supporting Oscar in 2006 for Syriana.