'Slumdog' has its very big day (VAR, THR, SCR)

By Nancy Tartaglione-Vialatte

"Slumdog Millionaire" was the big winner at last night's Oscars with 8 prizes out of a possible ten including Best Picture and Best Director for Danny Boyle. The film, which nearly ended up as a straight to DVD title, bested "Shakespeare in Love's" seven prizes in 1999 - the last British-produced film to dominate the awards. Sean Penn took the Best Actor trophy in a tight race while Kate Winslet finally made it to the podium after 5 previous acting nominations.

"Slumdog's" other wins were for screenplay, cinematography, score, song, sound mixing and editing. The Best Picture prize marks the first for Fox Searchlight which has had several films nominated over the years including "The Full Monty," "Sideways," "Little Miss Sunshine" and last year's "Juno."

The $14 million indie has earned roughly $160 million in worldwide grosses to date.

Accepting "Slumdog's" best picture award producer Christian Colson said, "Together, we have been on an extraordinary journey." Boyle told the Academy, "You've been so generous to us this evening," and reserved special thanks for the people of Mumbai as he hoisted his statuette, exulting, "You dwarf even this guy, thank you so much indeed."

Sean Penn, winning for the second time, may have deprived audiences of a potentially raucous Mickey Rourke speech but he gave the "Wrestler" favorite a shout-out in his own thank-yous. "Mickey Rourke rises again and he is my brother," Penn said.

He did provide his own brand of levity, however, when he remarked, "You Commie, homo-loving sons of guns...I want it to be very clear that I do know how hard I make it to appreciate me, often."

Turning serious, Penn added, "I think it is a good time for those who voted for the ban against gay marriage to sit and reflect and anticipate their great shame."

Dustin Lance Black won in the original screenplay category for "Milk" and gave an impassioned speech about equal rights.

Winslet won for her turn as a former Nazi prison guard in the Weinstein Co.'s Holocaust drama "The Reader." Her time onstage was punctuated by a whistled shout-out from her dad in the audience.

Studio specialty labels dominated the 81st Academy Awards, with Searchlight winning eight awards, followed by two for the Weinstein Co. and Focus Features, and one each for Paramount Vantage, Magnolia and Regent Releasing.

The night's most-nominated film, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," ended up winning just three awards in technical categories, for art direction, makeup and visual effects.

Heath Ledger, as widely-anticipated, earned a posthumous Oscar for his supporting turn in "The Dark Knight," making him the second actor ever to do so. Peter Finch previously won after his death for "Network."

Ledger's father Kim - along with the actor's mother and sister - accepted the prize and said, "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 so loved."

Penelope Cruz became the first Spanish actress to win an Academy Award for her role in Woody Allen's "Vicky Cristina Barcelona."

The French-themed Japanese-entry "La Maison en Petits Cubes" won for animated short; Germany's "Spielzeugland" won live-action short; and James Marsh won feature-length documentary for "Man on Wire," about French tightrope walker Philippe Petit. Petit's short acceptance speech ("Yes!" followed by a quick magic trick in a nod to Werner Herzog) ended with him balancing the Oscar upside-down on his chin.

The big surprise of the night came courtesy of Japan's "Departures" which won the foreign language Oscar beating out favorites "Waltz With Bashir" and "The Class." On Friday, "Departures" had taken 10 Japan Awards bringing its total before the Oscars to 60 wins this season.

Pixar was the winner in the animated feature category with "Wall-E" giving the studio its fourth trophy in that group. The honor was a timely response to a jibe by Jack Black earlier in the show. When asked by fellow presenter Jennifer Aniston how he made his money, Black, who provided the lead voice in the Oscar-nominated "Kung Fu Panda," said: "I do one DreamWorks movie, and then take all the money from the movie, and bring it to the Oscars, and bet it on Pixar."