Oscars: 10 nominations for Slumdog Millionaire | Film | The Guardian Close This article is 7 years old The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, the curious movie about a man who ages backwards, headed the Oscar nominations announced today in Los Angeles. Slumdog Millionaire , Danny Boyle's Mumbai-set tale, which took best drama at this month's Golden Globes, continued its own rags-to-riches story with a total of 10 nominations. For another British hopeful, the nominations were a mixed tale: Kate Winslet, heavily tipped to be nominated for both best actress and best supporting actress following her Globes triumph, received just one nod from the academy. Curiously, her best actress nomination was for The Reader, the film for which she won best supporting actress at the Globes. The Reader's British director, Stephen Daldry , received a nomination for best director. Her omission for Revolutionary Road means that Oscar viewers will have to settle for the possibility of just one gushing acceptance speech from the actress. The other leading British contender was Frost/Nixon, which received five nominations including best picture.

"It's very good timing for this film," said Working Title's Eric Fellner, the producer of Frost/Nixon, which opens in the UK on Friday. "This will give it the pedigree that will hopefully propel it into another dimension. I'm really proud of this film; I think it's brilliant." Other than Winslet missing out for Revolutionary Road, the morning's big surprise was the omission of Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino. The film had been tipped as a strong contender in the major categories, its themes and star considered a likely favourite among the members of the Academy of Motion Pictures. The Dark Knight also missed out in the major picture categories, although Heath Ledger did receive a nod as best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker. The announcement came a year to the day after the Australian actor's death from an overdose at the age of 28. Nevertheless, The Dark Knight did receive eight nominations, mainly in technical categories. Milk, Gus Van Sant's biopic of the gay rights campaigner Harvey Milk starring Sean Penn , also received eight nominations, including best film, director, actor and supporting actor. "It's just as good as the first time," said Van Sant. "Well, almost as good.

It's huge that we were able to get so many nominations for a story that we felt was so important. It's really great for the movie and for the progress of Harvey's efforts as a gay politician." But the early morning announcement was dominated by Button. The film snagged 13 nominations including best film, best director for David Fincher, best actor for Brad Pitt and best supporting actress for Taraji Henderson. Pitt will be accompanied to the ceremony by his wife, Angelina Jolie , who received a best actress nomination for The Changeling. She is joined by awards veteran Meryl Streep, who consolidated her position as the most-nominated actress in Oscar history with another nomination. Other nominees include Anne Hathaway for Rachel Getting Married and Melissa Leo for Frozen River. The best actor category features a quartet of heavy hitters and an outsider. Sean Penn, Frank Langella and Mickey Rourke were all expected to be nominated alongside Pitt, but the inclusion of Richard Jenkins for his performance as a college professor in The Visitor was a surprise. Another surprise was the best supporting actor nomination for Michael Shannon for his standout performance in Revolutionary Road.

Winslet and her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio had been tipped for nominations for the Sam Mendes-directed drama, but both missed out. Elsewhere the nominations went to form: WALL-E will be favourite in the animated feature section and Waltz With Bashir will be strongly tipped in the foreign language category. The team behind Slumdog was ecstatic at the news of the film's 10 nominations. "Secretly – and sometimes not so secretly – this is the nomination that floats in every screenwriter's dreams," said writer Simon Beaufoy. "I am fantastically happy and honoured – not just for myself but for Vikas Swarup's wonderful novel without which I would have never started my journey to the world's Maximum City, Mumbai." One of the film's young stars, Dev Patel, concurred. "It's just amazing," he said. "For Slumdog Millionaire to be included in the nominations for the Oscars is a huge honour. When we first began working on the film I don't think any of us ever imagined that we might end up attending the Oscars ceremony as a result." The Oscars ceremony takes place on 22 February in Los Angeles, hosted this year by the Australian actor Hugh Jackman .

David Thomson: The morning after its seven-Bafta triumph, here are 10 reasons why Danny Boyle's crowdpleaser is unsurpassable in the race for the little gold men Published: 9 Feb 2009 Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor on why Slumdog Millionaire is a feelgood movie with a difference and why the future belongs to India Published: 18 Feb 2009 Oscar-tipped film's creators accused of paying their child actors paltry sums Published: 30 Jan 2009 Charles Gant: Week-on-week takings for Danny Boyle's melodrama jump 44%, while Seven Pounds fails to cash in Published: 20 Jan 2009 2008 Academy Awards® Winners and History Kung Fu Panda (2008) Actor: SEAN PENN in "Milk," Richard Jenkins in "The Visitor," Frank Langella in "Frost/Nixon," Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Mickey Rourke in "The Wrestler" Actress: KATE WINSLET in "The Reader," Anne Hathaway in "Rachel Getting Married," Angelina Jolie in "Changeling," Melissa Leo in

 "Frozen River," Meryl Streep in "Doubt" Supporting Actor: HEATH LEDGER in " The Dark Knight ," Josh Brolin in "Milk," Robert Downey, Jr.

in "Tropic Thunder," Philip Seymour Hoffman in "Doubt," Michael Shannon in "Revolutionary Road" Supporting Actress: PENELOPE CRUZ in "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," Amy Adams in "Doubt," Viola Davis in "Doubt," Taraji P. Henson in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Marisa Tomei in "The Wrestler" Director: DANNY BOYLE for "Slumdog Millionaire," Stephen Daldry for "The Reader," David Fincher for "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Ron Howard for "Frost/Nixon," Gus Van Sant for "Milk” 2008 represented the continued rise of smaller studios and development companies, proven by the dominance of the Best Picture-winning independent film Slumdog Millionaire. The low-budget film was made for only $15 million, had no American superstars, lots of foreign-language dialogue, and it struggled to find a distributor. It also had a 'feel-good' theme and romantic sub-plot, a song/dance finale, an Oscar-winning song "Jai Ho," while at the same time exhibiting the extreme poverty of India.

Its major competitor, the big-budget The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, was produced by a major studio (a co-production between Warner Bros. and Paramount), featured major stars, an extensive marketing campaign, a well-respected director, and expensive CGI-effects. And it suffered a record loss among films with 13 nominations -- it had the fewest wins for any film with that many nods. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, a Warner Bros./Paramount Film co-production Frost/Nixon, from Universal The Reader, from The Weinstein Company Slumdog Millionaire, from Fox Searchlight All five titles of the Best Picture-nominated films referred to the film's characters (this also occurred in 1964), and were mostly tales from the past.

The Best Picture winner became more strongly favored as the Oscar season progressed: director Danny Boyle's dark horse crowd-pleasing Slumdog Millionaire (with 10 nominations and 8 wins), based on the novel Q and A by Vikas Swarup, about an impoverished, 18 year-old orphaned slum thief Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) who is arrested for cheating (presumably due to his unsavory, lower-class background), when only one question away from winning the top prize of 20 million rupees in the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire"; the film's other wins included Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Sound Mixing, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Original Score, and Best Original Song ("Jai Ho"); [Note: Slumdog Millionaire was only the fifth film in the past 50 years to win without any acting nominations, repeating the feat of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) , Braveheart (1995), The Last Emperor (1987), and Gigi (1958).

It was one of only eleven films in all of Academy history that have won Best Picture without receiving a single acting nomination.] The other Best Picture nominees were: director David Fincher's sweeping 2 3/4ths hour, big-budget fantasy epic The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (with 13 nominations and only 3 wins, including Best Visual Effects, Best Makeup, and Best Art Direction), based on F.

Scott Fitzgerald's 1922 jazz age short story (from Eric Roth's screenplay from a screen story by Roth and Robin Swicord) that followed the life of 'curious' everyman Benjamin Button (Brad Pitt) and was set in New Orleans - the title character was born in his 80s and aging in reverse, growing younger rather than older; the film was one of the most nominated films in Academy history, and had the largest box-office revenue of the five nominees, just over $100 million, although it lost in most of its categories - [Note: Out of eight films from the past with thirteen nominations, five films have won Best Picture, including: Gone With the Wind (1939) , From Here to Eternity (1953) , Forrest Gump (1994), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and Chicago (2002). Those that lost were: Mary Poppins (1964), Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?

(1966) and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001) .] director Gus Van Sant's Milk (with 8 nominations and 2 wins, including Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay), a historical biography about California's first openly-gay, openly-elected public official, mayoral aide Harvey Milk (Sean Penn) who was assassinated alongside San Francisco's mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) director Stephen Daldry's The Reader (with 5 nominations and 1 win), the story of a young German teen Michael Berg's (David Kross and Ralph Fiennes) complex relationship with an illiterate train conductor/ex-Nazi concentration camp guard Hanna Schmitz (Best Actress-winning Kate Winslet) in the 1950's, and his dealing with her past decades later, based on Bernhard Schlink's best-selling and controversial 1995 novel director Ron Howard's Frost/Nixon (with 5 nominations and no wins), an adaptation of the successful Tony-winning Broadway drama about the famous series of interviews of Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) conducted by British talk show host David Frost (Michael Sheen) that aired on May 19, 1977,

 during which Frost memorably had Nixon admitting complicity in the Watergate scandal ("When the President does it, it's not illegal") For the first time in three years, all five Best Picture directors were nominated for Best Director – a rare occurrence!

This happened only four other times in Oscar history: 1957, 1964, 1981, and 2005.

The nominated directors included two first-time nominated directors, one of whom won the Best Director Oscar: 52 year-old British director Danny Boyle (with his first nomination and win) for Slumdog Millionaire, who had previously directed such films as Trainspotting (1996), A Life Less Ordinary (1997), and 28 Days Later (2002) The four other Best Director nominees included: 46 year-old former music video director David Fincher (with his first nomination) for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, after directing such films as Se7en (1995), Fight Club (1999), Panic Room (2002), and Zodiac (2007) 54 year-old Ron Howard (with his second directorial nomination) for Frost/Nixon, previously winning two Oscars: Best Picture (as producer) and Best Director for A Beautiful Mind (2001) 47 year-old Stephen Daldry (with his third nomination) for The Reader, previously nominated for Billy Elliott (2000) and The Hours (2002) - he became the first director ever to receive Best Director nominations for his first three films 

56 year-old Gus Van Sant (with his second nomination) for Milk, previously nominated for Good Will Hunting (1997) All of the nominated Animated Feature Films were CGI creations.

The winner was the overwhelming favorite: Wall-E (Disney Pictures/Pixar Animation) (with six nominations and this sole Oscar win), Pixar's 9th film and their 4th Best Animated Feature Film Oscar win -- a science fiction tale about a lonely garbage-compacting robot Wall-E stranded on post-apocalyptic, trash-laden Earth who encounters a sleek metallic female robot Eve who seeks plant life to signal a colony ship's return after 700 years of exile [Note: It tied with Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the most nominated animated film.] The other two nominees in the category were: Bolt (Walt Disney Pictures), about dog actor Bolt (voice of John Travolta) who believes the science fiction/action television show he stars in is real, and learns he has no superpowers when lost from the set Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks Animation), a martial arts comedic fantasy about a slovenly, fat kung fu-obsessed giant panda named Po (voice of Jack Black) who is thrust unwittingly into the role of Dragon Warrior to save the countryside from a dangerous villain snow leopard Tai Lung (voice of Ian McShane) A bit of an upset occurred in the category of Best Foreign Language Film.

The overwhelming favorite was the animated documentary Waltz With Bashir (Israel) (the Golden Globe winner for Best Foreign Language Film), the first animated film ever to be nominated for Best Foreign Language Film. But the category was won by Departures (Japan) (aka Okuribito), a film about an unemployed cello player who became a mortician preparing bodies (and "assisting departures") for funerals and burials. It was the first Japanese film to ever win a competitive Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. [Note: Three Japanese films were previously given honorary Oscars before the official category of Best Foreign Language Film was created in 1956 - Rashomon (1950, Jp.), Gate of Hell (1953, Jp.) (aka Jigokumon), and Samurai I: Musashi Miyamoto (1954, Jp.).] There were nine first-time nominees in the 20 acting performance slots. Five of the acting nominees were previous winners: Sean Penn, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Meryl Streep and Marisa Tomei. Sean Penn became the ninth actor in Academy history to win a second Best Actor Oscar.

All four Oscar-winning performers this year: Penn, Winslet, Ledger, and Cruz, had been nominated at least once before, something that hadn't happened since 1994.

The Best Actor winner was: 48 year-old Sean Penn (with his fifth nomination – all for Best Actor -- winning for Mystic River (2003) and now for his role as openly pioneering San Francisco gay camera store owner Harvey Milk who successfully was serving in public office as mayoral aide, and was killed in 1978 at the same time as the assassination of San Francisco Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber), in Milk; Penn was also previously nominated for Dead Man Walking (1995), Sweet and Lowdown (1999), and I Am Sam (2001) The other Best Actor nominees were: 61 year-old Richard Jenkins (with his first nomination and his first leading role) as lonely widower college professor Professor Walter Vale, who finds two squatters (Haaz Sleiman, Danai Jekesai Gurira) living in his little-used Manhattan apartment, in writer/director Tom McCarthy's The Visitor (2007) (the film's sole nomination - the film debuted in Canada in 2007, but was Oscar eligible only after its 2008 US release) 71 year-old Frank Langella (with his first nomination) for

 his reprised Tony-award winning role (in 2007) as shamed ex-President Richard Nixon who was a talk show guest on Frost on America, where he battled wits with host David Frost (Michael Sheen, reprising his stage role as well), in Frost/Nixon [Note: Langella is the second actor to be nominated for Best Actor for playing Nixon (Anthony Hopkins was also nominated for Nixon (1995) but lost to Nicolas Cage for Leaving Las Vegas (1995)) 45 year-old Brad Pitt (with his second nomination, previously nominated for his supporting role in 12 Monkeys (1995)) for his role as Benjamin Button, who is born an elderly man and grows younger through the years, in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 56 year-old Mickey Rourke (with his first nomination) as Randy "The Ram" Robinson, a broken-down, formerly famous 80s headliner pro wrestler who now fights in the small circuit 20 years later; the role is best known for his inspiring closing speech ("I'm still standing here and I'm The Ram"), in Darren Aronofsky's The Wrestler (with 2 nominations including Best Supporting Actress

, and no wins); [Rourke had been a longtime Oscar snub, being overlooked for such roles as Diner (1982), Rumble Fish (1983), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), 9 1/2 Weeks (1986), Angel Heart (1987), and Barfly (1987).] The Best Actress nominees included two oft-nominated Oscar favorites - Meryl Streep and Kate Winslet, with the latter winning her first Oscar: 33 year-old British actress Kate Winslet (with her 6th nomination, her 4th Best Actress nomination and her first win!) for her role as Hanna Schmitz, an illiterate train conductor/ex-Nazi concentration camp guard who had an affair with a fifteen year old boy, in The Reader; Winslet was previously nominated in a leading role for Titanic (1997), Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) and Little Children (2006), and in a supporting role for Sense and Sensibility (1995) and Iris (2001) [Note: With her sixth nomination, Winslet became the youngest individual (at age 3

3) to have six Oscar nominations.

She was one year younger than Bette Davis who (at age 34) received her sixth for Now, Voyager (1942) ] The other Best Actress nominees included: 26 year-old actress Anne Hathaway (with her first nomination) as Kym, a recovering drug addict who is given a day pass from her rehabilitation clinic to attend her sister Rachel's (Rosemarie DeWitt) wedding, in Rachel Getting Married (its sole nomination); Hathaway had memorably been snubbed for her supporting role in Brokeback Mountain (2005) 33 year-old actress Angelina Jolie (with her second nomination, having won for her supporting role in Girl, Interrupted (1999)) for her role as real-life Christine Collins, a desperate Los Angeles single mother during the Great Depression whose son vanishes, and is given another boy who is claimed to be the missing son by the corrupt police department, in director Clint Eastwood's Changeling (with three nominations and no wins) 48 year-old Melissa Leo (with her first nomination), the former NBC-TV star of Homicide: Life on the Street, in her role as Ray Eddy, a struggling, cash-needy lower

-class single mother of two in upstate New York who becomes involved in a people-smuggling ring across the US/Canadian border in an attempt to avoid losing her home, in the independent drama Frozen River (with two nominations and no wins) 59 year-old Meryl Streep (with her astonishing 15th nomination - an all-time record, and her 12th Best Actress nomination (tying her with Katharine Hepburn), and a winner in 1979 and 1982) for her role as Sister Aloysius Beauvier, the suspicious, domineering strict head of a Bronx Catholic school in New York City in the 1960s who believes that progressive new priest Father Brendan Flynn (Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a pedophile, in writer/director John Patrick Shanley's adaptation of the Broadway play Doubt (with five nominations and no wins, including Best Screenplay Adaptation, Best Supporting Actor, and two Best Supporting Actress nominations) The Best Supporting Actor winner was the heavily-favored 28 year-old deceased Australian actor Heath Ledger (with his second nomination, following a Best Actor nomination for Brokeback Mountain (2005)) as the wildly psychotic villain, The Joker, in

 Christopher Nolan's moody cape-and-cowl superhero sequel The Dark Knight (with 8 nominations and only 2 wins, including Best Sound Editing); this was the seventh posthumous nomination in Academy history (won only once previously by Peter Finch).

The other Best Supporting Actor nominees were: 40 year-old Josh Brolin (with his first nomination after being snubbed for lead roles in No Country for Old Men (2007) and this year's President Bush biopic W.) as conservative former fireman Dan White, an alcoholic who is married with children (and possibly closeted gay), elected to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors along-side openly-gay Harvey Milk; he later murders Milk along with Mayor George Moscone (Victor Garber) in 1978 during a drunken tirade, in Milk 43 year-old Robert Downey, Jr.

(wth his second nomination, following his Best Actor nomination for Chaplin (1992)), in the over-the-top comedic role as obsessive, faux-black white Australian Method actor Kirk Lazarus who has medical surgery to transform himself into a black man to completely immerse himself in a dark-horse role in a Vietnam war movie, in Ben Stiller's comedy Tropic Thunder (its sole nomination) 41 year-old Philip Seymour Hoffman (with his third nomination, following a win for his lead role in Capote (2005) and nominated supporting role in Charlie Wilson's War (2007), this year's only back-to-back nominee) as Father Brendan Flynn, a progressive priest in 1960s New York City whose keen interest in his Bronx Catholic school's first black student inspires suspicion from its head nun (Meryl Streep), in Doubt 34 year-old Michael Shannon (with his first nomination) as John Givings, an unstable mathematician and wrongfully-interred mental institution patient who makes brutally honest, incisive observations about his unhappily-married neighbors and hosts Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reunited in their first pairing since Titanic (1997

)) and his parents during a dinner party in 1950s Connecticut, in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (with 3 nominations) The Best Supporting Actress winner was: 34 year-old Spanish-born actress Penélope Cruz (with her second nomination and first win) as Maria Elena, a newly-divorced, crazy Spanish artist/temptress, who experienced a menage a trois with her ex-husband painter/lothario Juan Antonio (Javier Bardem) and inquisitive, traveling American photographer Cristina (Scarlett Johansson), in Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona (its sole nomination and win) [Note: Cruz previously had a lead nomination for Volver (2006, Sp.) when she became the first Spanish woman to be nominated for a Best Actress Academy Award for a non-English speaking role; with her win, she became the first Spanish-born actress to win an Oscar] [Note: Cruz' win joined her with two other Woody Allen actresses who have won Best Supporting Actress Oscars: Dianne Wiest (twice) for Hannah and Her Sisters (1986) and Bullets Over Broadway (1994), and Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite (199

5); she was, in fact, the 4th 'Woody Allen' actress to receive an Oscar, if Diane Keaton's Annie Hall (1977) Best Actress Oscar win was also counted; other 'Woody Allen' actresses with Supporting Actress nominations (nine in total) include: Maureen Stapleton for Interiors (1978), Mariel Hemingway for Manhattan (1979), Judy Davis for Husbands and Wives (1992), Jennifer Tilly for Bullets Over Broadway (1994), and Samantha Morton for Sweet and Lowdown (1999)] [Note: Cruz became one of many actors/actresses to receive a nomination for a role performed in two different languages, following after, for example, Ingrid Bergman's Swedish language-role in Autumn Sonata (1978), Robert DeNiro's Sicilian in The Godfather Part II (1974) , Meryl Streep's Polish/German in Sophie's Choice (1982), and Benicio Del Toro's Spanish in Traffic (2000).

Sophia Loren's Italian in Two Women (1960) (aka La Ciociara), Roberto Benigni's Italian in La Vita è bella (1997) (aka Life is Beautiful), and Marion Cotillard's French in La Vie En Rose (2007) were fully in one language.] [Note: If Woody Allen had been nominated for Best Original Screenplay, it would have been his 15th Best Original Screenplay nomination.] The remaining Best Supporting Actress nominees included two nominees for Doubt: 34 year-old Amy Adams (with her second nomination, following her supporting nod for Junebug (2005)) as sensitive and innocent novitiate Sister James, in Doubt 43 year-old Viola Davis (with her first nomination) in a 12-minute scene as African-American Mrs. Miller, the conflicted mother of a student who is suspected of being sexually-abused by a new Catholic priest (nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman) at his 1960s New York City school, in Doubt 38 year-old Taraji P.

Henson (with her first nomination) as African-American Queenie, a New Orleans nursing-home employee who rescues abandoned old man-child Benjamin Button and adopts him ("You are as ugly as an old post but you're still a child of God"), in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 44 year-old Marisa Tomei (with her third nomination, following her semi-controversial win for her supporting role in My Cousin Vinny (1992), and her supporting role nomination for In the Bedroom (2001)) as Cassidy, a middle-aged, tattooed exotic stripper and single mother who forms a bond with has-been wrestler Randy Robinson (fellow nominee Mickey Rourke), in The Wrestler Doubt became the 4th film in Academy history to receive 4 acting nominations WITHOUT a Best Picture nomination. The other three were: My Man Godfrey (1936) , I Remember Mama (1948) , and Othello (1965). Jerry Lewis, who was never nominated for an Academy Award, was presented with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award.

Oscar Snubs and Omissions: Although Doubt had tied the record for four acting nominations, it did not receive either a Best Director or Best Picture nomination and came away empty-handed. Christopher Nolan's box-office blockbuster and popular summer hit - the despairing comic book Batman tale The Dark Knight scored eight nominations (mostly technical areas, and scored two wins for Best Supporting Actor and Best Sound Editing), but was devoid of a Best Picture or Best Director nomination. It became the most nominated superhero film in Academy Award history. [Note: Dreamgirls (2006) also had eight nominations without a nomination for Best Picture or Best Director.] Although Jonathan Demme's innovative and critically-hailed Rachel Getting Married had a single acting nomination (and lost), it had no other nominations (specifically Best Director or Best Picture, and Rosemarie DeWitt's supporting role). And most glaringly, there were no nominations for actor/director Clint Eastwood, either for his dramatic role in Gran Torino or for his directing of Changeling. Remarkably, Slumdog Millionaire was lacking in any acting nominations (for Dev Patel and Freida Pinto), fairly rare for a Best Picture-winning film.

Director Darren Aronofsky was denied an Oscar nomination for The Wrestler, and the film's nominations were unsuccessful. And Oliver Stone's biopic W. starring Josh Brolin as President George W. Bush was devoid of any Oscars' recognition - and it was a surprise that Brolin was nominated for his supporting role in Milk instead. Unfortunately, there were no acting nominations for Saul Dibb's splendid 18th century costume drama The Duchess (with two nominations and one win (Best Costume Design) and Best Art Direction), although they were deserved for Keira Knightley as the title character - a witty and attractive 17 year-old naive aristocrat Georgiana Spencer, who was set up and then trapped in an emotionally-distant, arranged marriage with callous, loathsome, but regal and powerful Duke of Devonshire William Cavendish (Ralph Fiennes). Best Animated Feature Film winner Wall-E was not nominated for Best Picture (although it had six nominations total and only one win), thereby preserving Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the only animated feature to be nominated for the top Oscar.

Wall-E's six nominations tied it with Beauty and the Beast (1991) as the most-nominated animated film. It was a surprise to have Kate Winslet nominated for her lesser role in The Reader (which then became a momentous first Oscar win for her), rather than as a Best Actress candidate for her husband/director Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road, and that her co-star Leonardo DiCaprio for the latter was un-nominated for his portrayal of Winslet's husband. Two glaring acting omissions included Sally Hawkins for her role as North London schoolteacher Poppy in Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky, and Kristin Scott Thomas as released and ravaged murder convict Juliette Fontaine in writer/director Philippe Claudel's debut French film I've Loved You So Long, as well as nominations for Jeffrey Wright (as Muddy Waters) and Beyonce Knowles (as Etta James) for their performances in writer/director Darnell Martin's fictionalized musical biopic of the 1950s-60s Chicago-based Chess Records saga, Cadillac Records.

In addition, Michelle Williams was left out for her role as struggling, downtrodden and broke drifter Wendy with her dog Lucy, in director Kelly Reichardt's Wendy and Lucy. Three other performances were overlooked: Benicio del Toro as the revolutionary Ernesto 'Che' Guevara in Steven Soderbergh's two-part epic biopic Che, Philip Seymour Hoffman as regional theater director Caden Cotard staging his magnum opus in New York City in first-time director Charlie Kaufman's black comedy Synechdoche, New York, and James Franco as Harvey Milk's (Sean Penn) pre-election gay lover Scott Smith in Milk. There was some question about Brad Pitt's nomination for his CGI-assisted role as the title character in The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, when his role as unscrupulous gym trainer Chad Feldheimer in the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading was more memorable, while Pitt's co-star Cate Blanchett was ignored for her role as Benjamin Button's romantic soulmate Daisy. Many critics were surprised by the blatant snub-omission of Bruce Springsteen in the Best Original Song category (he won the Golden Globe Award) for the theme song (in the closing credits) for The Wrestler.

BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Oscars | Oscar joy for Slumdog Millionaire Advertisement Highlights from the 81st Academy Awards Hit British film Slumdog Millionaire has won the top prize at the Academy Awards, winning eight Oscars including best director and best picture. In a great night for Britain, Kate Winslet won the best actress Oscar for The Reader, finally clinching the award on her sixth nomination. The big surprise of the night was Sean Penn, winning best actor for his role as gay rights activist Harvey Milk. Heath Ledger won a posthumous Oscar for supporting actor for The Dark Knight. The actor's family received the award on behalf of Ledger, who died in January 2008. "We have been truly overwhelmed by the honour and respect being bestowed upon him with this award," his mother said. Ledger becomes only the second performer to win a posthumous Oscar, following Peter Finch's win for Network in 1977. But the night belonged to Slumdog Millionaire, the rags-to-riches tale that has enchanted audiences around the world.

Director Danny Boyle, 52, bounced up and down in delight as he received his award, telling the audience: "I swore [to my children] if this miracle ever happened I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger." Optimism Winslet was presented her Oscar by five previous best actress winners The film, set in the slums of Mumbai (Bombay), won eight awards in total, including gongs for best adapted screenplay, cinematography, sound mixing, film editing, best original score and best song. "There are certain places in the universe you never imagine standing. For me, it's the moon, the South Pole, the Miss World podium and here," joked British screenwriter Simon Beaufoy, previously best known for writing The Full Monty. Indian composer AR Rahman, who received two Oscars - for best song and best score - praised the city which inspired the book, and subsequently the film. He hailed "all the people from Mumbai and the essence of the film, which is about optimism and the power of hope and our lives". "We had passion and we had belief and if you have those two things, truly, anything is possible," said Christian Colson.

As anticipated - after years of waiting in the wings - Winslet, 33, won her Academy Award for playing a Nazi prison officer in The Reader. "I'd be lying if I hadn't made a version of this speech. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror," she said. "I feel very fortunate to have made it all the way from there to here." In a night of predictable outcomes, Sean Penn's best actor triumph for his portrayal of gay rights activist Harvey Milk seemed to win the A-list audience's approval. AWARDS TALLY Slumdog Millionaire (2008) - IMDb IMDb There was an error trying to load your rating for this title. Some parts of this page won't work property. Please reload or try later. X Beta I'm Watching This! Keep track of everything you watch; tell your friends.

Error From $2.99 (SD) on Amazon Video ON DISC A Mumbai teen reflects on his upbringing in the slums when he is accused of cheating on the Indian Version of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" Directors: a list of 44 titles created 01 Jan 2012 a list of 21 titles created 24 Mar 2013 a list of 45 titles created 28 Aug 2014 a list of 36 titles created 12 Nov 2014 a list of 34 titles created 24 Feb 2015 Search for " Slumdog Millionaire " on Amazon.com Connect with IMDb Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below. You must be a registered user to use the IMDb rating plugin. Won 8 Oscars. Another 143 wins & 120 nominations. See more awards » Videos A seventeen-year-old aristocrat falls in love with a kind but poor artist aboard the luxurious, ill-fated R.M.S. Titanic.

Director: James Cameron The story of King George VI of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, his impromptu ascension to the throne and the speech therapist who helped the unsure monarch become worthy of it. Director: Tom Hooper A young man who survives a disaster at sea is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While cast away, he forms an unexpected connection with another survivor: a fearsome Bengal tiger. Director: Ang Lee A paraplegic marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. Director: James Cameron Two astronauts work together to survive after an accident which leaves them alone in space. Director: Alfonso Cuarón Acting under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film, a CIA agent launches a dangerous operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the U.S. hostage crisis in Iran in 1980. Director: Ben Affleck Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg creates the social networking site that would become known as Facebook, but is later sued by two brothers who claimed he stole their idea, and the co-founder who was later squeezed out of the business.

Director: David Fincher During the Iraq War, a Sergeant recently assigned to an army bomb squad is put at odds with his squad mates due to his maverick way of handling his work. Director: Kathryn Bigelow Illustrated upon the progress of his latest Broadway play, a former popular actor's struggle to cope with his current life as a wasted actor is shown. Director: Alejandro G. Iñárritu A committed dancer wins the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake" only to find herself struggling to maintain her sanity. Director: Darren Aronofsky In the antebellum United States, Solomon Northup , a free black man from upstate New York, is abducted and sold into slavery. Director: Steve McQueen A determined woman works with a hardened boxing trainer to become a professional. Director: Clint Eastwood Edit Storyline The story of Jamal Malik, an 18 year-old orphan from the slums of Mumbai, who is about to experience the biggest day of his life. With the whole nation watching, he is just one question away from winning a staggering 20 million rupees on India's Kaun Banega Crorepati?

(2000) (Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?) But when the show breaks for the night, police arrest him on suspicion of cheating; how could a street kid know so much? Desperate to prove his innocence, Jamal tells the story of his life in the slum where he and his brother grew up, of their adventures together on the road, of vicious encounters with local gangs, and of Latika, the girl he loved and lost. Each chapter of his story reveals the key to the answer to one of the game show's questions. Each chapter of Jamal's increasingly layered story reveals where he learned the answers to the show's seemingly impossible quizzes. But one question remains a mystery: what is this young man with no apparent desire for riches really ... Written by Fox Searchlight Pictures Love and money... You have mixed them both. See more » Genres: Rated R for some violence, disturbing images and language | See all certifications » Parents Guide: 25 December 2008 (USA) See more » Also Known As: Quisiera ser millonario See more » Filming Locations: $360,018 (USA) (14 November 2008) Gross: Did You Know?

Trivia The cricket match being shown on television in Javed's house is the 1st one day international of the Future Cup between India and South Africa played at Civil Service Cricket Club, Stormont, Belfast on June 26 2007. As shown in the movie, Sachin Tendulkar , the Indian batsman, was run out on 99. India went on to score 242 and South Africa won the match by 4 wickets with 3 balls remaining. See more » Goofs When Jamal and Salim secretly watch a short section of an outdoor opera, the film is running backwards for a few seconds. The fire and smoke are going the wrong way. See more » Quotes Youngest Jamal : [sings] Darshan Do [stops and commands] Youngest Jamal : I'm a professional now, what to do? Maman : [laughs] Cheeky little bugger! See more » Crazy Credits Several of the cast perform a traditional Bollywood song and dance number set in a train station over the end credits.

See more » Connections City of God Has One Vital Thing Slumdog Millionaire Does Not 30 January 2009 | by alexkolokotronis (Queens, New York) – See all my reviews Slumdog Millionaire is one of the most critically acclaimed movies of 2008 but the hype surrounding it is a bit undeserved. Don't get me wrong, this is at the very least a good movie and is quite a terrific movie 2/3 the way through. What the movie does though in the last 1/3 is make the fatal mistake of turning into a Hollywood or maybe in this case a Bollywood movie. It takes away from that genuine and satisfying feeling. The acting all around was very good particularly from Dev Patel and the small kids. There performance are probably the only thing that is overlooked in this film. Without much of these very good performances the movie would not have been at the level it was at.The directing of Danny Boyle was his best yet. The look of the film was amazing and many screen shots of India were breathtaking. The musical score was very fitting to the style of the movie. It was one of the best scores of 2008.

Where this film fell apart was at the writing. Towards the end its withdrew into a standard romance. It was no longer the great and amazing adventure we had witnessed for most of the movie. The complex relations seemed to be over simplified and it does the safe thing to do in the approach of tone but if taken into a drastically different direction could have lead it to be a real classic. Yet instead of ever peaking or sky rocketing to greatness it had plateaued and didn't deliver the way I had hoped it would, this largely in part by the failure of the screenplay. Many people have compared this film to City of God because the film are actually similar in many ways. Yet City of God has something Slumdog Millionaire does not have which is depth and character motivations. These things are vital to these kind of movies being successful. City of God seemed to have a more plausible story because the story was more linear. Events took place as a result of other events. This did not happen in Slumdog Millionaire, the story was more chopped up and too many of the events just seemed to pop up out of no where. Slumdog Millionaire did take a very ambitious approach in the way it was made which is commendable.

Is this a 1st rate movie though? The answer to that is no. 309 of 544 people found this review helpful. Was this review helpful to you? Yes 'Slumdog' makes history, sweeps Oscars - CNN.com 'Slumdog' makes history, sweeps Oscars Story Highlights "Slumdog Millionaire" wins eight Oscars, including best picture and director Sean Penn named best actor for "Milk" Kate Winslet receives best actress award for "The Reader" Heath Ledger wins best supporting actor for "The Dark Knight" By Todd Leopold CNN (CNN) -- Years from now it may be a trivia question on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Dev Patel and Freida Pinto star in "Slumdog Millionaire," which won eight Oscars, including best picture. more photos » "What 2008 film based around a well-known game show," the question may read, ominous music humming in the background, "won the Oscar for best picture?" The answer -- "Slumdog Millionaire" -- is history. It is East meeting West, Bollywood meeting Hollywood, a film that was going nowhere winning the biggest prize in the movie business.

At Sunday's 81st annual Academy Awards, "Slumdog" won eight Oscars, including best picture, director and adapted screenplay, completing a joyful ride that had carried it to wins at the Golden Globes, Writers Guild, Directors Guild and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts awards. Watch highlights of the Oscar show » "Most of all we had passion and we had belief, and our film shows if you have those two things, you have everything," said producer Christian Colson, surrounded by members of the film's huge cast and crew. Gallery: See memorable moments from the ceremony The film has been called "Dickensian" -- and freely borrows from Indian film traditions, right down to its closing dance number. It is the story of an orphaned, poverty-raised teaboy who goes on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" to connect with his lost love. Don't Miss In Style: On the red carpet The film also overcame great challenges; it nearly went straight to DVD in America after its initial studio folded. "Slumdog's" filmmakers were jubilant at the wins, which also included Oscars for best director (Danny Boyle), best adapted screenplay (Simon Beaufoy), score (A.R.

Rahman), cinematography (Anthony Dod Mantle), song, sound mixing and film editing. Boyle, better know for brash British films such as "Trainspotting," jumped up and down as he accepted his award, saying he'd told his children that if he ever won, he'd bounce like Tigger from "Winnie-the-Pooh." List of winners, nominees Rahman was equally appreciative. "All my life I've had a choice between hate and love, and I chose love, and now I'm here," he said. Gallery: The big winners » "Slumdog's" main competition, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," won just three Oscars, all in minor categories. The film had led the pack with 13 nominations. The rest of the Oscar broadcast alternated between host Hugh Jackman's smooth song-and-dance numbers, some comic moments from Steve Martin, Tina Fey and Ben Stiller, and politics, generally focused on gay rights and California's anti-gay marriage Proposition 8. Gallery: Scenes from the Oscars » Sean Penn won best actor for playing Harvey Milk in "Milk," the story of the first openly gay man elected to major public office. Penn earned laughs and applause for his speech.

"You commie homo-loving sons of guns," the sometimes truculent actor began, to laughter. "I did not expect this, and I wanted to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me often. But I am touched by the appreciation." Watch Sean Penn talk about his win » After a series of thank-yous, he turned serious in talking about gay marriage. "For those who saw the signs of hatred as our cars drove in tonight, I think it's a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect on their great shame and their shame in their grandchildren's eyes if they continue that support," Penn said. "We've got to have equal rights for everyone." Dustin Lance Black, who won original screenplay for "Milk," also gave an impassioned speech in favor of gay rights. "I think [Milk] would want me to say to all the gay and lesbian kids out there tonight ...

that you are beautiful, wonderful creatures of value, and that no matter what anyone tells you, God does love you and that very soon, I promise you, you will have equal rights, federally, across this great nation of ours." Heath Ledger won best supporting actor for his performance as the Joker in "The Dark Knight." His parents and sister accepted the award for the actor, who died in January 2008. "This award tonight would have humbly validated Heath's quiet determination to be truly accepted by you all here -- his peers -- within an industry he truly loved," said Ledger's father, Kim. Watch Ledger's family talk about the award » Ledger is only the second actor to win a posthumous Oscar. Peter Finch won best actor for 1976's "Network" two months after he died in early 1977. Other winners included Kate Winslet , who won best actress for her performance in "The Reader"; Penelope Cruz, who won best supporting actress honor for "Vicky Cristina Barcelona"; and "WALL-E," which won best animated feature. Watch Penelope Cruz's 'magical moment' » Most of the winners, if not foreordained, were expected.

The evening's sole shock came with best foreign-language film, which went to the Japanese film "Departures." Among the films it beat were France's "The Class" and Israel's "Waltz With Bashir," two of the best-reviewed films of the year. The Oscars moved at a steady pace, largely thanks to Jackman's brisk, jokey work. Only the introductions to the four acting categories, in which previous winners read tributes to current nominees as if they were about to appear on "This Is Your Life," considerably slowed the show, which ran close to 3½ hours. At various points, Jackman cracked wise about downsizing -- "Next year," said the "Australia" star, "I'll be starring in a movie called 'New Zealand' " -- performed songs about each best picture nominee in various musical styles and paid tribute to celebrities as if pointing out VIPs in a nightclub. He even physically carried Anne Hathaway onstage to play Richard Nixon in a "Frost/Nixon" sendup. Blog: Behind the scenes But it was "Slumdog Millionaire" that carried the evening. At one point, Resul Pookutty, who won for sound mixing, seemed overwhelmed as he accepted his Oscar.

"I dedicate this award to my country," he said. "Thank you, academy, this is not just a sound award, this is history being handed over to me." Given the import of East meeting West, the movie business can say the same thing. Slumdog Millionaire - Film4 Film4 Slumdog Millionaire Synopsis An orphaned Mumbai slum kid tries to change his life by winning TV's 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?' in Danny Boyle's multi-Oscar-winning fable About Slumdog Millionaire opens as Jamal Malik (Skins star Dev Patel) is being beaten by Mumbai police for allegedly cheating on hit TV show Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? One question away from the ultimate 20 million rupee prize, no one, including slick show host Prem (Anil Kapoor), believes a chai wallah (teaboy) like Jamal could know all the answers. As the tough inspector (Irfan Khan) replays Jamal's appearance on the show, it's revealed that each question corresponds to a specific life lesson from Jamal's tragic past.

Raised in abject poverty in Mumbai's grimmest slum along with older brother Salim, then orphaned by a Hindu mob attack, Jamal and Salim are forced to fend for themselves on the streets through opportunistic petty crime. They pick up a young girl, fellow orphan Latika (Freida Pinto), escape the clutches of a vicious Fagin-like crime boss, lose Latika, and continue their picaresque adventures, one step ahead of the law. As adolescents, however, Salim becomes entranced by a life of crime and Latika's unexpected return sets brother against brother. Will Jamal salvage his girl, his fortune and his life on Millionaire? Press Reactions Roger Ebert “The film uses dazzling cinematography, breathless editing, driving music and headlong momentum to explode with narrative force, stirring in a romance at the same time. For Danny Boyle, it is a personal triumph. He combines the suspense of a game show with the vision and energy of "City of God" and never stops sprinting.” Sukhdev Sandhu, The Telegraph “Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire is the film equivalent of Usain Bolt's performance at the Olympics: funny, shocking, spectacularly turbo-charged.

It takes your breath away at the same time as it makes you want to holler with joy or to grab the person next to you: "Yes!"” Todd McCarthy, Variety “Driven by fantastic energy and a torrent of vivid images of India old and new, “Slumdog Millionaire” is a blast.

Danny Boyle’s film uses the dilemma of a poor teenager suspected of cheating on the local version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’’ to tell a story of social mobility that is positively Dickensian in its attention to detail and the extremes of poverty and wealth within a culture.” Actor: Shruti Seth, Anand Tiwari, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Imran Hasnee, Madhur Mittal, Irfan Khan, Anil Kapoor, Freida Pinto, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Mia Drake, Dev Patel Director: Loveleen Tandan, Danny Boyle Screen Writer: Simon Beaufoy After Trainspotting and zombies, a teaboy millionaire is tipped to win Boyle an Oscar | Film | The Guardian After Trainspotting and zombies, a teaboy millionaire is tipped to win Boyle an Oscar Happy-Go-Lucky and Hunger are big winners at independent film awards Sunday 30 November 2008 19.01 EST First published on Sunday 30 November 2008 19.01 EST Close This article is 8 years old An uplifting yet grimly realistic tale of a young chai-wallah scraping a life out of poverty

 was last night being talked of as an Oscar contender after it took three awards at the British independent film awards (Bifas).

Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, the story of a Mumbai teenage boy who astounds all around him by doing well on the Indian Who Wants To Be a Millionaire quiz show, won best film, best director and best newcomer for its British lead. In a night when honours were spread about, there were also three wins for Hunger, Steve McQueen's unflinching portrait of Bobby Sands and the hunger strikes; two for Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky; and one for In Bruges, Martin McDonagh's comedy about two Irish assassins sent to Belgium. But Boyle was the talk of the night. The former artistic director of the Royal Court theatre is already on many pundits' Oscar prediction lists after a film career which has seen him happily flip genres: from Edinburgh heroin addicts in Trainspotting to Leonardo DiCaprio in The Beach to zombies in 28 Days Later. Last night he was named best director at the Bifas and Slumdog Millionaire was best film. The film's young lead, Harrow-born Dev Patel - best known to British audiences as Anwar in E4's Skins - won best newcomer.

Slumdog Millionaire, written by The Full Monty's Simon Beaufoy, tells the story of a Mumbai street child. As he does well on the quiz show, flashbacks chronicle his life, the realities of which Boyle does not flinch from showing. Boyle's film, a third of which is spoken in Hindi, opens in the UK on January 9 but has already gone down well on the festival circuit and opened to fantastic reviews in the US. A Rolling Stone critic said: "What I feel for this movie isn't just admiration, it's mad love." USA Today was similarly won over: "The beautifully rendered and energetic tale celebrates resilience, the power of knowledge and the vitality of human experience. Horrifying, humorous and life-affirming, it is, above all, unforgettable." The Los Angeles Times declared it "the best old-fashioned audience picture of the year". The Turner prize-winning artist Steve McQueen, who represents the UK at next year's Venice Biennale, won the best debut director award for Hunger and the film's cinematographer Sean Bobbit, won best technical achievement.

Leading man Michael Fassbender won best actor for his astonishing - not least in the 33lbs of weight he had to lose - performance as Sands. Hunger is not a film for a cheery romantic night out. It shows the reality of the dirty protests in the Maze prison in stomach-churning detail. Nothing from the Sands story is stepped away from: the brutality, the torture and the alarming effects starvation has on a man's body. At the other end of the movie spectrum, Mike Leigh's Happy-Go-Lucky , which follows a relentlessly cheerful London teacher called Poppy, won two acting awards. Eddie Marsan won best supporting actor for his role as the crazed racist driving instructor, and Alexis Zegerman won best supporting actress as Poppy's best mate, Zoe. The well-fancied In Bruges, featuring Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson as a pair of chalk-and-cheese killers sent by their psychotic boss (Ralph Fiennes) to Bruges, came away with the best screenplay award for its writer and director Martin McDonagh. It was the playwright's film debut.

Vera Farmiga won best actress for her role in concentration camp drama The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas, while the Israeli animation Waltz With Bashir won best foreign film. At the ceremony in Old Billingsgate Market, London, special awards were also given out. The actor David Thewlis was rewarded for his outstanding contribution to British film, while Michael Sheen - best known for being able to pass himself off as Kenneth Williams, Tony Blair and David Frost - was given the Variety award. It was the 11th Bifa ceremony, with the awards seeming to grow in stature each year. Co-directors Johanna von Fischer and Tessa Collinson, said: "It's been another stellar year for independent film in Britain, as represented by the diverse spread of nominations across the board.

The winners Best director Danny Boyle , Slumdog Millionaire Best debut director Steve McQueen, Hunger Best screenplay Martin McDonagh, In Bruges Best actress Vera Farmiga, The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas Best actor Michael Fassbender, Hunger Best supporting actress Alexis Zegerman, Happy-Go-Lucky Best supporting actor Eddie Marsan, Happy Go Lucky Most promising newcomer Dev Patel, Slumdog Millionaire Best achievement in production The Escapist Raindance award Zebra Crossings Best technical achievement Sean Bobbitt, cinematography for Hunger Best documentary Man on Wire Best short Soft Best foreign Waltz With Bashir Outstanding contribution to British cinema David Thewlis Variety award Michael Sheen Directors Guild names Danny Boyle best director for "Slumdog Millionaire" Directors Guild names Danny Boyle best director for "Slumdog Millionaire" [bold]It's the first guild nod for the director of "Slumdog Millionaire."[/bold] By Susan King February 1, 2009 The Directors Guild of America named Danny Boyle the best director of 2008 for "Slumdog Millionaire" on Saturday night. It's the first guild win for the 52-year-old British director.

Boyle has won critics' groups honors, as well as the Golden Globe, Critics Choice and the British Independent Film Award for "Slumdog Millionaire." He's also nominated for an Oscar for best director for the drama about an Indian teenager who grew up in poverty and reflects upon his life while competing on a TV game show. The DGA Awards have become one of the most reliable indicators for the Academy Awards, scheduled to be held Feb. 22 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the guild have disagreed only six times in their selections in the last 60 years. The 61st annual DGA ceremony was held at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza with Jon Cryer of "Two and a Half Men" filling in as host for Carl Reiner, who was forced to cancel his emcee duties after he became ill from food poisoning.

Other winners announced Saturday night: * TV drama series: Dan Attias for "The Wire" (HBO) * TV movie: Jay Roach for "Recount" (HBO) * TV comedy series: Paul Feig for "The Office" (NBC) * Musical variety: Brent "Bucky" Gunts for the Opening Ceremony Beijing 2008, Olympic Summer Games (NBC) * Daytime serials: Larry Carpenter for "One Life to Live" (ABC) * Reality TV: Tony Croll for "America's Next Top Model" (CW) * Documentary: Ari Folman for "Waltz With Bashir" * Children's programming: Amy Schatz for "Classical Baby (I'm Grown Up Now): 'The Poetry Show' " (HBO) * Commercials: Peter Thwaites Oscars 2009: Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Academy Awards including best picture and best director - Telegraph Oscars Oscars 2009: Slumdog Millionaire wins eight Academy Awards including best picture and best director Slumdog Millionaire has swept the Academy Awards, winning eight Oscars including the coveted best picture and best director.

By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles 6:48AM GMT 23 Feb 2009 The night of triumph sealed the Mumbai-set British film’s unlikely dominance of Hollywood’s glittering award season. The Oscar haul equals that of Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi, which scooped eight Oscars in 1983, though falls short of The English Patient, Anthony Minghella's Second World War romance, which won nine Academy Awards in 1997. Slumdog, a rags-to-riches fairy tale about an orphan who appears on India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, had already accrued a wealth of awards in the build-up to the Oscars, including seven Baftas and four Golden Globes , and was favourite in most of the 10 categories in which it was nominated, including best picture. It beat fellow nominees The Curious Case of Benjamin Button , Frost/Nixon , Milk , and The Reader to win the award, the last of the night, which was announced by Steven Spielberg. Accepting the best picture statuette, Christian Colson, the film’s British producer, said the production was “a collaboration between hundreds of people”.

Related Articles 23 Feb 2009 He made reference to the fact the low-budget film almost failed to get released. "Together we've been on an extraordinary journey,” he said, surrounded by members of the cast and crew. “When we started out, we had no stars, we had no power or muscle. "We didn't have enough money, really, to do what we wanted to do. But what we had was a script that inspired mad love in everyone who read it. "We had a genius for a director, we had a cast and a crew who were unwavering in their commitment and whose talents are up on the screen for you to see." “Most of all we had passion and belief. And our film shows that if you have those two things, anything is possible.” Earlier Danny Boyle picked up the coveted best director Oscar for Slumdog, which has made around $150 million worldwide since its November release. The film also won Oscars for best adapted screenplay, best original score and song, best sound mixing, film editing and cinematography. Only seven other films in the 81-year-history of the Oscars have won eight or more awards.

Slumdog’s haul overtook that of Shakespeare in Love, which won seven statuettes in 1999 and was the last British film to dominate the Oscars. Start your free 30 day Amazon Prime trial»

Question: Who won the Best Director Oscar for the 2008 film, ‘Slumdog Millionaire’?
Answer: DANNY BOYLE