The Envelope In Print: The Oscar Nominees Issue (January 28, 2009)

January 28, 2009

'Slumdog Millionaire' overcomes the odds

It's a rags-to-riches story, one that snatches victory from the jaws of defeat and teeters from the brink of tragedy to barrel back toward triumph. While that's an accurate description of the story told in the movie " Slumdog Millionaire," it is also the behind-the-scenes story of the film itself. When the film's initial distributor, Warner Independent Pictures, was shut down by corporate parent Warner Bros. last spring, the fate of the film became uncertain, with the possibility of it even going straight to video. Directed by an Englishman, set in Mumbai and partly in a foreign language with no American stars, the film is at first glance a tough sell. But Fox Searchlight stepped in and has carefully directed the film to widespread acclaim and growing awards heat. The success it has been enjoying seems to be for the best of reasons -- people are seeing it and liking it. Here's a partial timeline of the unusual course the film has taken in making its way to potential Oscar gold.

January 28, 2009

Spot the filmmaker's obsession

Joyful, choreographed dance numbers staged in crumbling Mumbai train stations are not how most American films end. Yet when just such a scene crops up in " Slumdog Millionaire," the moment is perfectly apt.

January 28, 2009

STYLE

Jacqueline West designs 'Benjamin Button'

" The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," a haunting and unsettling film fable, stars Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett in a tale that spans from 1919 to 2005. Covering so many decades is no easy task for the actors, to be sure, but harder yet, perhaps, for the woman who had to come up with the clothing to match all those eras.

January 28, 2009

No 'Doubt': Meryl Streep is a contender

Did former presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani influence Meryl Streep's portrayal of conservative avenging nun Sister Aloysius in "Doubt"? Consider, there is that moral certitude, the strange pursing of the lips, the occasionally maniacal righteousness. "I'll never tell," giggles Streep, then she slyly suggests a certain affinity between the two, that like Sister Aloysius, who's quite convinced of her own rectitude, Giuliani "is one of these people who is sure. He's sure. It's a great quality in a leader. People don't like vacillation. You know, if you trust your life or your children to this person, you want a hard . . . there in charge at St. Nicholas," the Bronx school where "Doubt" is set. Well, yes, maybe you did in 1964, when the movie takes place.

January 28, 2009

IN CONTENTION

Oscar best picture; animated, foreign language and documentary features; director; screenplays; and costume design

With so many heated races in the derby, let's start by taking the inside track on some of the key races: picture, director, original screenplay, adapted screenplay, animated film, foreign film and costume design. We'll break out the four acting contests next week.