“Slumdog” Evening? Oscar Fave Enters Home Stretch
DAVID GERMAIN | February 22, 2009 01:43 PM EST | 
LOS ANGELES — “Slumdog Millionaire” is arriving at the last stop in its rags-to-riches journey, steaming into the Academy Awards as the surefire favorite.
In keeping with its theme of bottomless optimism amid adversity, “Slumdog Millionaire” has led a charmed life, dodging a flirtation with straight-to-DVD, winning over critics and climbing toward $100 million hit status. The film has won top honors at all key earlier awards ceremonies, with one to go.
As Sunday dawned steel-pot gray in Los Angeles, where rain threatened to dampen the red carpet for the second year in a row and Hollywood’s latest labor feud kicked up fresh news of another contract rejection, it seemed like nothing could drag down the year’s most bummer-proof storyline.
Now its cast of unknowns _ from new celebrities Dev Patel and Freida Pinto to kids plucked by director Danny Boyle from the slums of Mumbai, India _ are all getting a trip to Hollywood’s glitziest party.
For best picture, “Slumdog Millionaire” faces off against the romantic epic “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” the Richard Nixon saga “Frost/Nixon,” the Harvey Milk tale “Milk” and the Holocaust-themed drama “The Reader.”
Academy Awards: http://www.oscars.org
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