'SLUMDOG' NIPPING AT 'BUTTON'S' HEELS; CAN THE FEEL-GOOD FAVORITE BE STOPPED? (HF, ENV)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

Now that a movie without one recognizable actor, let alone any Hollywood actors, has overcome pretty hefty odds to win the Producers Guild's top award as well as the Screen Actors Guild's ensemble cast prize, is there any stopping "Slumdog Millionaire" at the Oscars?

The SAG nod is especially important given that the largest branch of the Academy is comprised of actors and almost all of them are in the Screen Actors Guild.

While the door isn't closed shut on Oscar-nomination leader "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," it would be a big surprise if it beat Danny Boyle's crowd pleaser, say pundits today.

As The Envelope points out, SAG is where "Crash" managed to halt the "Brokeback Mountain" gravy train on its way to an Oscar upset over the seemingly unstoppable momentum of Ang Lee's cowboy drama.

Still, a major "Slumdog" defeat at the DGA, WGA and BAFTA awards could give pause, but right now the odds are overwhelming. It is becoming clear Hollywood is determined to honor a movie just about all of the executives voting would have (or did) reject, notes The Envelope.

The film has been met with some controversy in India - a Mumbai film professor was quoted in a Los Angeles Times story negatively calling it a "white man's imagined India" and a "poverty tour." But that story doesn't seem to be having a strong effect on awards season voters.

At the PGA party Searchlight President Peter Rice told The Envelope he could have "lived without" the story, but director Danny Boyle was said to be fine with it.

Meanwhile, publicists for rival films were trying to stir things up by spreading the same story late last week, but reaction should be tempered by the news that "Slumdog" is indeed turning out to be a rags-to-riches story at the Indian box office with the third biggest opening day ever for any Hollywood studio release and great press reviews.