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What movie won the 2008 Oscar for Best Picture? The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Slumdog Millionaire, Milk, or The Reader? Final answer? Of course, it was Slumdog Millionaire, and it's this weekend's primetime movie.
The movie, directed by Danny Boyle, who also directed the Opening Ceremony at this year's Olympics, won eight Oscars in 2008, more than any other movie that year. Here are some more tidbits about Slumdog Millionaire:
— The exchange rate for the 20,000,000 Rupees (the Who Wants to be a Millionaire prize in the movie) is $411,600.
— The movie was almost released straight to DVD, which would have made it ineligible for the Oscars, but the studio opted at the last minute to give the movie a limited theatrical run. The movie ended up earning more than $377M.
— First foreign film to win the Best Picture Oscar since 1988's The Last Emperor.
Slumdog Millionaire airs Saturday 11 PM ET/ 8 PM PT and Sunday 8 PM ET/ 5 PM PT.
Slumdog Millionaire Saturday and Sunday
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The ReelzChannel 100 began when we asked Leonard Maltin for his favorite Hidden Gems of the decade. His list led the web team into a general discussion about the best movies of the decade and — after no small amount of debate, arguing, and (we're not proud to say) some petty name-calling — we decided we'd better bring it to an end with a company-wide vote. Then it was just a matter of tallying up the votes and hoping for the best. Lucky for us, ReelzChannel is filled with a staff ranging from movie lovers to movie fanatics. What turned out isn't what you'll find on a critic's best of list — instead it's what movie fans really enjoyed.
In day four of the ReelzChannel 100, we highlight the Top 10 Dramas of the Decade.
Posted 12.24.09 by reelz -
The Academy Awards will be adopting a part of its past when the show airs March 7, 2010. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences president Sid Ganis has announced that the Best Picture category will double to include 10 nominations instead of the standard five.
The practice of nominating 10 movies ended in 1943, when Casablanca beat out 9 other movies to win Best Picture. At a press conference, Ganis explained the change:
After more than six decades, the Academy is returning to some of itsearlier roots, when a wider field competed for the top award of theyear. Having 10 Best Picture nominees is going to allow Academy voters torecognize and include some of the fantastic movies that often show upin the other Oscar categories, but have been squeezed out of the racefor the top prize. I can't wait to see what thatlist of ten looks like when the nominees are announced in February.
Had the Oscars included 10 nominations last year, Slumdog Millionaire might have had some competition from The Dark Knight and Wall-E.
The nominations for the Academy Awards will take place February 2, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, CA.
Posted 06.25.09 by Ryan -
Earlier today, Empire posted a deleted scene that will be featured on the June 1 DVD release of Slumdog Millionaire, which won last year's Oscar for Best Picture.
In the theatrical release, protagonist Jamal (Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and later Dev Patel) and his brother Salim (Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail) make a living as thieves under an opera house when they are children. The deleted scene, which can be found here, is an extended look at this part of the story.
Posted 05.26.09 by reelz -
Remember those late '80s commercials where a victorious athlete would exclaim "I'm going to Disneyland"? Well, that ad campaign could be recast with the young stars of Slumdog Millionaire.
Following the movie's Oscar sweep, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar (who plays middle Latika), Madhur Mittal (older Salim), Azhar Mohammed Ismail (young Salim), Ayush Mahesh Khedekar (young Jamal), Rubina Ali (young Latika), Tanay Hemant Chheda (middle Jamal) and Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala (middle Salim) visited Disneyland on Monday. Making the moment even more adorable/press-op-y, the kids took a ride on It's A Small World. Ahh...now if only Ryan Seacrest would have tried to pronounce their names on the red carpet.
Posted 02.25.09 by reelz -
It was undoubtedly a night of triumph for Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars. And it was a particularly exciting night for the kids in the movie who literally stole the show but have so far come away with surprisingly little monetary reward for their work. They held up pretty well in their little tuxedos and evening gowns for a very awkward red carpet interview with E!'s Ryan Seacrest, who evaded the issue of actually pronouncing their names by flashing a cast list in front of the camera and urging them to shout their names all at once, not realizing that some of them didn't understand him because they didn't speak English. Yikes.
Posted 02.23.09 by reelz -
In the final interview of the night, Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and producer Christian Colson spoke about the tremendous success of their small, independent movie made for only "7 million pounds" in the day of $100-million budgets and the importance of having independent movies in the days of huge blockbusters "The studios -- and it's difficult of course, because they are under pressure -- the studios have got to protect them as well. Because that's where everybody starts, and they go on," said Boyle, who started out with the low-budget thriller Shallow Grave, about which Boyle reminded the press:
The whole film cost a million pounds. That's where you learn your craft, and you don't know what you are doing, you know. And I think that keeping it that way, you don't know what you are doing half the time; it's really important.
Considering Slumdog's almost-$100-million box office and 8 Oscars, it seems like "not knowing what you are doing" worked out well for the uplifting love story, which Boyle described as a "heavily disguised love story."
And all the success sure feels good. Boyle described the night by quoting W.H. Auden:
He talks about Americans 'putting jukeboxes on the moon.' I love that expression, and that's what tonight feels like. Just amazing like that. The bringing together of things that are just so unlikely, and yet wonderful, and about entertainment and pleasure and exploring things and changing things.
Posted 02.23.09 by Ryan -
Posted 02.22.09 by reelz -
8:02 Heath Ledger's family spoke backstage about the late actor's Oscar going to his daughter Matilda. According Heath's father, Kim Ledger: "With the Oscar you're all aware what they do in this specialcircumstance for somebody when somebody passes away, then the nextof kin, in this case Matilda, will be the recipient really. But shecan't sign for it until she's 18, so it stays in trust here or inAustralia. We'll work that out, but possibly in trust here untilMatilda turns 18." Onstage, Slumdog wins for the 6th time, this time with Best Song winner "Jai Ho."
8:08 Backstage, Richard King, winner in Sound Editing for the Dark Knight said those who worked on the movie "wanted director Chis Nolan to be nominated." Onstage, Japan's Departures wins for Foreign Language Film. Domo Arigato again, Mr. Roboto. Wherever you are.
8:15 Resul Pookutty, Sound Mixing winner for Slumdog, talked about the "history" he spoke of in his acceptance speech. "No technician from India has been nominated," he said. "I am the first technician from India to be nominated and to win. It is an honor." Another feel-good story from the feel-good movie on a hot streak of wins.
8:23 Best Director presenter Reese Witherspoon, whose dress made it look like she was wearing a backpack, gave out the award to...Danny Boyle for his incredible work on 28 Days Later, er, Slumdog Millionaire, making the tally a strong 7 awards, clearly the movie with the most awards. Sorry, Button. There's still the Actor in a Leading Role and Best Motion Picture awards.
8:29 Time for the big run-out of awards, with both Leading Actor and Actress awards, and Best Motion Picture. First up, Leading Actress. And the Oscar goes to...Kate Winslet for The Reader, winning over 15-time nominee Meryl Streep."I'd be lying if I didn't say I'd practiced this speech before, I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror. This [the Oscar] would have been a shampoo bottle. Well, it's not a shampoo bottle now," said Winslet.
8:37 Now it's time for the men. This year's version of clips from the actual performance, the round table of big name presenters, here included Michael Douglas, Ben Kingsley, Robert DeNiro, Anthony Hopkins and, well, Adrian Brody, as well. Sitting behind Mickey Rourke is Twilight's Robert Pattinson, who could not look more bored. And the award went to...Sean Penn for Harvey Milk. "You commie, homo-loving sons of guns," Penn told the crowd. " Then Penn went political, talking about the "signs of hatred" which were held by protesters near the Oscars saying such loving quotes as "God Hates Obama" and had no love for the gay community. Penn ended with a shout-out to "brother" Mickey Rourke, who many thought would be the winner tonight, a small reward for the upset.
8:50 The Best Motion Picture category went back to clips, before handing the award to the clear favorite...Slumdog Millionaire. Hope you enjoyed a great Oscars. Stay tuned to Reelz.com for Oscars wrap-up!
Posted 02.22.09 by Ryan -
6:45 The unofficial sequel for Pineapple Express added some levity to the proceedings, as James Franco, Seth Rogen, and 2-time Academy Award winning cinematographer Janusz Kaminsky poked fun with the rather dramatic-ness of the Best Film nominees.
6:52 More singing and dancing with Hugh Jackman! Nothing makes a comic book fan more excited for X-Men Origins: Wolverine than seeing a full Broadway display from Wolverine himself.
7:07 Another quorum delivers the award for Actor is a Supporting Role. For those curious about Philip Seymour Hoffman's tuxedo and knit cap outfit, it is chilly in the Kodak theater. And the award goes to...Heath Ledger, who joins Peter Finch as an actor to receive an Oscar posthumously. Ledger's father, mother, and sister accepted the award for him.
7:12 Best Documentary Feature goes to Man on Wire, the movie about Philippe Petit's high-wire act, and the speech ended with Petit balancing the head of the Oscar on his chin, sure to join Roberto Benigni's insanity and Jack Palance's push-up in a future "Crazy Moments of Oscar Speech History" montage.
7:27 Another win for Benjamin Button, this time for Achievement in Visual Effects. That's 3 for Button and 2 for Slumdog. The Award for Sound Editing went to The Dark Knight.
7:31 Slumdog evens the score at 3, winning over Button for the second time (Slumdog beat Button for Cinematography as well) with an award for Sound Mixing. Wow, make that 4 for Slumdog, with the win for Film Editing.
7:55 Jerry Lewis wins the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, and Slumdog continues its onslaught with another win for Best Score. That's 5 now for Slumdog.
7:58 Animated Short Film winner Kunio Kato spoke backstage about his favorite part of the Oscars. "Meeting Jack Black. I've always wanted to be as funny as him." Well, saying "Domo Arigato, Mr. Roboto" in your acceptance speech is a good start.
Posted 02.22.09 by Ryan