The Screen Actors Guild announced their nominations for the best acting performances of 2007 on Thursday. Into the Wild, which is showing up on a lot of top 10 lists but has been mostly forgotten in the No Country for Old Men love fest, led all movies with four nominations. I guess someone finally appreciates that Emile Hirsch nearly starved himself to death for the sake of a movie. He was nominated for the youth-on-the-road drama as were Hal Holbrook, Catherine Keener (both as supporting players) and the entire cast in the ensemble category. Also, Cate Blanchett pulled down two nominations, one for lead actress in Elizabeth: The Golden Age and one for the Bob Dylan sorta biopic I’m Not There.

The nominations are watched somewhat closely as they can be a predictor of Oscar glory. Of the 20 nominations in the best lead and supporting actor and actress last year, 19 of those chosen were also nominated for the big cheese prize. That’s good news for films like Into the Wild as the film critics groups seem to be unable to pick a top film or actor that wasn’t in a movie released within the last three weeks. Into the Wild was released back in September and deserves to be sitting at the table with the top dogs come awards time.

The more recent films were not left out, of course. No Country for Old Men picked up an ensemble nomination along with expected nods to Javier Bardem (the eventual winner I’m sure) and Tommy Lee Jones. American Gangster picked up a best supporting actor nomination for Ruby Dee and an ensemble nomination. The borefest Michael Clayton scored for George Clooney, Tom Wilkinson, and Tilda Swinton. Some big pictures did get left out, though. Atonement, Sweeny Todd, and The Savages did not get any nominations.

The SAG Awards will be held on January 27th. There shouldn’t be any peskly labor trouble as the Writers Guild has already granted the show a waiver. While they could still picket, it seems unlikely and stars won’t have to skip the show in order to not cross a picket line. Everyone should be on hand to see Javier Bardem and whoever else wins grabbing their little statues.

A full list of nominees in the movie categories is below:

ACTOR
George Clooney - Michael Clayton
Daniel Day-Lewis - There Will Be Blood
Ryan Gosling - Lars And The Real Girl
Emile Hirsch- Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen - Eastern Promises

ACTRESS
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

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Casey Affleck - The Assassination Of Jesse James By The Coward Robert Ford
Javier Bardem - No Country For Old Men
Tommy Lee Jones - No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook - Into the Wild
Tom Wilkinson - Michael Clayton

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Cate Blanchett - I’m Not There
Ruby Dee - American Gangster
Catherine Keener - Into the Wild
Amy Ryan - Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton - Michael Clayton

ENSEMBLE CAST
3:10 to YumaChristian Bale, Russell Crowe, Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, Dallas Roberts, Vinessa Shaw, Ben Foster, Alan Tudyk, Logan Lerman
American Gangster - Armand Assante, Josh Brolin , Russell Crowe, Ruby Dee, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Idris Elba, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Carla Gugino, John Hawkes, Ted Levine, Joe Morton, Lymari Nadal, John Ortiz, Rza, Yul Vazquez, Denzel Washington
Hairspray - Nikki Blonsky, Amanda Bynes, Paul Dooley, Zac Efron, Allison Janney, Elijah Kelley, James Marsden, Michelle Pfeiffer, Queen Latifah, Brittany Snow, Jerry Stiller, John Travolta, Christopher Walken
Into the Wild - Brian Dierker, Marcia Gay Harden, Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook, William Hurt, Catherine Keener, Jena Malone, Kristen Stewart, Vince Vaughn
No Country for Old Men - Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin, Garret Dillahunt, Tess Harper, Woody Harrelson, Tommy Lee Jones, Kelly Macdonald

OUTSTANDING PERFORMANCE BY A STUNT ENSEMBLE IN A MOTION PICTURE
300
The Bourne Ultimatum
I Am Legend
The Kingdom
Pirates Of The Caribbean: At World's End