There’s been a lot of controversy surrounding the children who were featured in “Slumdog Millionaire”, one of the most popular and celebrated films of last year grossing more than $340 million worldwide.

A little while ago, the father of one of those outrageously cute and innocent children was accused of trying to sell his child like some sort of commodity. Slumdog director Danny Boyle was accused of exploiting the already poor kids, which he has strongly denied. It’s been in the news for a while.

To ease some of the tension, the film’s makers set up education funds for the children and donated nearly $800,000 to a Mumbai charity that aids slum-dwelling children in Mumbai, India’s cultural hub.

But many of kids featured in the film, though just a small fraction of India’s immense poverty-stricken landscape, still live the slums.

This morning I was trolling the online news world as has become a routine for me. I usually come across at least one story that really, really interests me and that’s the one I choose to relay on to the faithful readers here at Blast.

So when I was reading BBC news I came across an article about the child actor Azzharuddin Mohammed Ismail, who played the youngest version of Salim in Slumdog, and his family.

His home, located just outside a Mumbai slum, is comprised of just plastic sheets supported by long bamboo sticks. It was torn down recently by the city to make room for a “public garden.” They said his family were squatters and were living there illegally.

“We are homeless, we have nowhere to go” said Azharuddin. He told BBC that he was sleeping when the demolition group, funded by the city, came and ripped his house apart, apparently giving his family no advance notice.

What’s really sad is Azharuddin and his co-star Rubina Ali, who played the youngest Latika in the film, were both apparently promised housing by local housing authorities. However, a decision on whether or not to actually honor their word is still pending.

Azzharuddin’s mother, Shamim Ismail, said that the promises made to her by the housing authorities and the film’s makers had not yet materialized. She also, according to BBC, vocalized a serious doubt that the promises would ever be fulfilled.

This would be a good time for Boyle and the studio to step in and help these two families. The film, in addition to its eight Oscars, made more than $340 million at the box office. Add rentals and purchases to that and the thing is a powerhouse that cost very little to make. And while the contributions that Boyle and the studio have made are formidable and noble, they need to swing more than just $800,000 and some educations funds the kids’ way. It wasn’t their responsibility to help the kids until they were put in front of a camera.

Now it’s very important that they do.

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“Slumdog Millionaire” struck it rich at the 81^st Academy Awards Sunday. The Danny Boyle film about life in the slums of Mumbai garnered eight Oscars, leaving its competition “Milk” and “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” in the dust.

Boyle, upon taking the stage to receive his award for Best Director, jumped up and down furiously. He then said that he’d promised his children that “if this miracle ever happened, that I would receive it in the spirit of Tigger from ‘Winnie the Pooh.’” After presenter Stephen Spielberg announced that “Slumdog” had won, the stage was besieged with cast and crew from the movie, including several children who appeared in the film.

There were few surprises in terms of the winners this year. The only bit of disappointment was that the Academy gave Sean Penn Best Actor for his role in “Milk,” instead of sealing fellow nominee Mickey Rourke’s fabulous comeback in “The Wrestler.” But Penn was gracious towards Rourke in his speech: “Mickey Rourke rises again, and he is my brother!”

To the surprise of no one, Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor for “The Dark Knight.” Ledger’s family took the stage to accept the award on his behalf, giving a simple, eloquent and heartbreaking speech about their lost loved one. “We proudly accept this award on behalf of your beautiful Matilda,” Ledger’s sister Kate said, referring to Ledger’s three-year-old daughter.

The event was cast as a “scaled down” Oscars this year, in view of the recession, but host Hugh Jackman and the evening’s architects made it look far more like the Tonys than the Oscars on a budget. There were several musical numbers, involving Jackman (in a wonderful duet with nominee Anne Hathaway, among other things), Queen Latifah, John Legend, Beyonce, A.R. Rahman (who won best song for “Slumdog”), and a coterie of dancing girls and boys.

The whole show had a scrappy, off-the-cuff feeling that was quite a nice surprise after years of pretentious montages and extended acceptance speeches. When Bill Maher announced that “Man on Wire” had won Best Documentary, Philippe Petit, the subject of the film, ran onstage, gave a shout-out to fellow nominee Werner Herzog, did a magic trick, and then balanced the Oscar statuette on his chin. Steve Martin and Tina Fey had a terrific exchange of scripted banter to introduce the nominees for Best Screenplay. Judd Apatow and actors Seth Rogan and James Franco filmed a skit in which the two actors get high with famed cinematographer Janusz Kaminski and laugh hysterically through “The Reader.”

And so it would seem that this evening, unlike many that had proceeded before it, was truly about artistry, humility and, above all, having one hell of a good time.

With a little more than 24 hours left until the big ceremony, I decided to throw in my own picks for who should and will win of the six big Oscar categories.

Best Picture:

Will Win: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Should Win: “Milk”
“Slumdog Millionaire” is an excellent film and the Oscar favorite, but “Milk” was a solid little film and one of the most hopeful and timely films to be released in 2008.
“Milk” doesn’t deserve to be overshadowed in the “Best Picture” race by “Slumdog,” no matter how good a film the latter may be.

Best Director:

Will Win: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Should Win: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
I’m 100 percent behind “Milk” for the Oscar’s this year — and just as peeved at how badly the Academy will snub it — but Danny Boyle did the best job of any directors this year with “Slumdog.”

Best Actor:

Will Win: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Should Win: Sean Penn, “Milk”
Rourke was the unexpected star with his role in “The Wrestler” and, like the down-on-his-luck character he played, he deserves the award to truly mark how he turned around his career. If Sean Penn hadn’t won “Best Actor” for “Mystic River” in 2003, though, this could be a completely different picture. It’s not until the final scene of “Milk” where video of the real Harvey Milk was shown that you realize how perfectly Penn captured the man who revolutionized our political system.

Best Actress:

Will Win: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Should Win: Anne Hathaway, “Rachel Getting Married”
It is partly because the Academy forgot that Winslet was performing a supporting role in “The Reader” that makes me say the win should go to Hathaway (the Golden Globes did not make this same mistake). Winslet deserves her long-withheld Oscar — and between “Revolutionary Road” and “The Reader,” 2008 should have been her year — but Hathaway gave a powerful and unexpected performance that deserves more credit than it’s been given.

Best Supporting Actor:

Will Win: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Should Win: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
With or without the tragedy of his death, Ledger’s performance in “The Dark Knight” is the best performance we had the pleasure of seeing from any of the films released in 2008. There will be no question that he won the Oscar for his performance and not out of sympathy.

Best Supporting Actress:

Will Win: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Should Win: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Unlike when the Academy awarded Judy Dench the Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her 15 minutes in “Shakespeare In Love” to make up for their snub the year before, Viola Davis’ brief two scenes in “Doubt” are powerful enough to make her undoubtedly deserve this win.

Here, for what it’s worth, are my 2009 Oscar predictions in the six major categories:

Best Picture:

Will Win: “Slumdog Millionaire”
Should Win: “Frost/Nixon”
Common consensus is that Sunday night will belong to the Little Movie That Could from India, but for my nerdy journalistic sensibilities, the best movie of the year was Ron Howard’s engaging adaptation of “Frost/Nixon.”

Best Director:

Will Win: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
Should Win: Danny Boyle, “Slumdog Millionaire”
The British director’s crafting of this Indian fairytale into the feel-good movie of the year makes him the favorite, and deservedly so.

Best Actor:

Will Win: Mickey Rourke, “The Wrestler”
Should Win: Frank Langella, “Frost/Nixon”
The Academy loves a comeback, and Mickey Rourke certainly seems to have reinvented himself with his utterly sacrificial turn in “The Wrestler.” Keep an eye on Sean Penn though, who might emerge as a dark horse victor for voters who might use their ballot to make a political statement in light of Proposition 8′s passing in November.

Best Actress:

Will Win: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Should Win: Kate Winslet, “The Reader”
Backlash against “The Reader” and, in turn, Winslet’s performance has been building ever since it surged ahead of (presumably) “The Dark Knight” and “Wall-E” to nab a Best Picture nomination. Behind “Frost/Nixon” it was my second favorite movie of the year. Between this and her un-nominated performance in “Revolutionary Road” Winslet cemented herself as the best actress working today.

Best Supporting Actor:

Will Win: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Should Win: Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”
Even setting aside the tragedy of his untimely death as a factor in this race, Ledger’s performance is undeniably the standout of the bunch. It’s inconceivable that the Academy would give the award to anyone else. Our condolences, Michael Shannon!

Best Supporting Actress:

Will Win: Viola Davis, “Doubt”
Should Win: ????
Penelope Cruz seems to be the favorite here for her turn in “Vicky Cristina Barcelona” which I can’t comment on, not having seen the film. But the Academy always reserves it’s WTF vote for one of the supporting categories (see: Alan Arkin, Tilda Swinton), and since Heath Ledger is the closest thing this year to a lock, you can bet this race will end up being a crap shoot. My reasoning is that if voters thought enough of Davis’s 15 minutes of screentime to reward her with a nomination, there’s no reason she can’t take home the prize.

Just on the coattails of the Golden Globe Awards two weeks ago, the 2009 nominees for the Academy Awards were announced Jan. 22. Films “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” and “Slumdog Millionaire” were top dogs in the nominee list.

Academy President Sid Ganis, along with Oscar-winning actor Forest Whitaker, announced the awards at a live news conference. “Benjamin Button” led the pack with 13 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Brad Pitt) and Best Director (David Fincher). The film, based on an F. Scott Fitzgerald story, is about a man (Pitt) who ages backwards.

“Slumdog Millionaire” wasn’t far behind “Button” with 10 nominations, also including Best Picture and Best Director (Danny Boyle). “Millionaire,” about a young Mumbai man who gets on the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be Millionaire,” won Best Picture at the Golden Globe awards on Jan. 11. It’s considered the biggest surprise hit of the year.

One of the bigger surprises was the nomination for “The Reader” for Best Picture, Best Director (Stephen Daldry) Best Actress (Kate Winslet) and Best Adapted Screenplay. The film has gotten seriously mixed reviews, and despite garnering a Golden Globe for Kate Winslet, was largely believed to be inferior to Winslet’s other film this year, “Revolutionary Road”. The latter film received a Supporting Actor nod to Michael Shannon in the acting categories.

As predicted, Heath Ledger was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his role in “The Dark Knight.” The announcement came on the one year anniversary of Ledger’s death from an accidental overdose. Ledger received a posthumous Best Supporting Actor award at the Golden Globes.

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences distributes the awards. The academy is made up of professionals in all aspects of the film industry, who judge the nominees in their respective categories. The Academy Awards themselves will take place at the Kodak Theater in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC network on Feb. 22.

Complete list of nominees on the next page.

“Slumdog Millionaire,” actress Kate Winslet and mini-series “John Adams” raked in the accolades at the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards on Sunday.

“Slumdog” won best picture in the drama category at this year’s Globes, held at The Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, and telecast live on NBC. The film won every category it was nominated in, which included Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Screenplay (by Simon Beaufoy) and Best Original Score (by A.R. Rahman).

It was also a good evening for Kate Winslet, who snagged a Best Performance by an Actress award for her portrayal of a desperate housewife in “Revolutionary Road” and Best Performance by a Supporting Actress for her role in “The Reader.” When she won for “Revolutionary Road,” Winslet thanked both co-star Leonardo DiCaprio and her husband Sam Mendes, who directed the film, in her acceptance speech, calling them “two incredible men who are such special people in my world.”

One of the big surprises included Mickey Rourke’s triumph in the Best Performance by an Actor category for drama, for his role as a down-and-out fighter in “The Wrestler.” Rourke’s career had been considered dead before this performance, now one of the most critically acclaimed of the year.

“It’s strange,” Rourke said in a press conference after winning the award. “I was out of the game for so many years. I really appreciated the second chance to work again.”

It surprised no one, however, to see Heath Ledger’s postmortem win for his role as The Joker in “The Dark Knight.”

“After Heath passed on, you saw a hole ripped in the future of cinema,” said Christopher Nolan, the film’s director, who accepted the award on behalf of Ledger. “But with the extraordinary response to his work that we’ve seen all over the world, I for one start to look a little bit less in that gap in the future and a little bit more at the incredible place in the history of cinema that he built for himself with his talent and his dedication to his artistry.”

In the television categories, the HBO mini-series “John Adams” emerged as the biggest victor of the night, winning Best Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television. Paul Giamatti, Laura Linney, and Tom Wilkinson also won for their performances in the biopic.

The NBC comedy “30 Rock” was the other big television winner with three awards, including Best Television Series in a Musical or Comedy, a best actress accolade for Tina Fey, and best actor win for Alec Baldwin. Actor Tracy Morgan spoke for the show as they accepted their award.

“Tiny Fey and I had an agreement that if Barack Obama won, I would speak for the show from now on,” Morgan said. “Welcome to post-racial America. I am the face of post-racial America- deal with it, Cate Blanchett!”

“30 Rock” was the only network winner this year, with all of the other television awards going to cable programs on either HBO or AMC.

In television drama the awards were more mixed. AMC’s “Mad Men” won Best Television Series, but failed to garner wins for either lead actor Jon Hamm or actress January Jones. Anna Paquin won Best Performance by an Actress for her role in the new HBO vampire soap opera “True Blood,” and Gabriel Byrne won for his performance on HBO’s “In Treatment.”

Much like senior editor Liz Rafferty said in her review of the top 10 music hits of 2008, it was hard to pick out a top 10 best movies of the year. Consider it a top 6, with those being the ones that were absolutely phenomenal and final four being decent runner ups. However, 2009 looks like it could be a much better year for movies after the remaining issues caused by the 2008 writer’s strike have faded away. And for anyone who criticizes the fact that “The Dark Knight” is number four instead of number one, go see the top three movies and you will understand.

1. Milk

In a year of few standout films, “Milk” was by far the best. Gus Van Sant directs a masterpiece about one of the greatest men and greatest accomplishments in the gay rights movement that, had it been released a month earlier, could potentially have stopped one of the biggest setbacks in the movement’s history – the passing of Proposition 8 in California – from occurring. With standout performances from James Franco, Emile Hirsch, Josh Brolin and – above all – Sean Penn, this was the movie to see.

2. Slumdog Millionaire

This little film almost slipped completely under the radar. Based on the novel “Q&A,” this film is about Jamal Malik and how he went from being a “slumdog” to winning 20 million rupees on the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” – all for the sake of his lost love. A truly moving story that mixes elements of “City of God” with the classic “Cinderella” tale, “Slumdog Millionaire” made everyone want to get up out of their seats and dance at the end.

3. Wall*E

“Wall*E” was Pixar’s last hurrah before being taken over by Disney, and they really stepped out on the line to make their best animated film to date. In a movie that is both touching and chilling, hopeful and catastrophic, Pixar made a film about a little robot with a heart that could end up being the first CGI-animated film to be nominated for a Best Picture Academy Award.

4. The Dark Knight

Who’s to say what “The Dark Knight” would have been if Heath Ledger hadn’t died, but this film catapulted through the box office to be the biggest hit of the year, and the second largest grossing movie of all time (behind “Titanic”). Ledger’s performance was by far the best element of the film, but in the summer of superhero movies, “The Dark Knight” showed that a comic book movie can be more than just fluff, but a serious movie with an important message.

5. In Bruges

Colin Farrell sure as hell can play an Irish man. Nominated for a Best Actor Golden Globe for his work in “In Bruges,” Farrell gives his career’s best performance as a hit man who screwed up and is stuck with his partner (played by Brendan Gleeson) in Bruges, Belgium until their mob boss (Ralph Fiennes) deems that it’s safe for them to come home. Though not widely known, “In Bruges” is definitely a film to see and by far one of the best films to be released in 2008.