Only a week after fans of Let the Right One In complained that the retail copies of the DVD offered an awful translation of the film's original Swedish, now Best Picture Oscar winner Slumdog Millionaire has been released to the masses sans special features.

That's right: The DVD has only -- gasp! -- the movie itself and a couple of trailers. The nerve of Fox Searchlight!

Apparently retailers will be remedying the situation. Amazon offers this message:

DVD Alert: We are aware that special features were missing from a number of Slumdog Millionaire DVDs. Fox has set up a hotline telephone number (1-888-223-4FOX) for those consumers who may have purchased a version that does not contain special features. Upon calling the hotline, these consumers will be able to have their disc replaced for one containing special features. Fox regrets any inconvenience this has caused.

Thank God there's a hotline. Crisis averted!

Did the entire country get snowed in over the weekend? Could bad reviews have really kept JoBro fans away? The mind boggles.

The box office Top 10, courtesy of Rotten Tomatoes:

1. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail $16.5M
2. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience $12.7M
3. Slumdog Millionaire $12.2M
4. Taken $10M
5. He's Just Not That Into You $5.9M
6. Paul Blart: Mall Cop $5.6M
7. Coraline $5.3M
8. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li $4.7M
9. Confessions of a Shopaholic $4.5M
10. Fired Up $3.8M

I'm always excited about the Academy Awards -- yeah, there are still a few of us left out there -- but I'm guessing there won't be a whole lot of thrilling and/or shocking moments this year. (Most any upset would go thusly: Oooh, the frontrunner didn't win! Which means...someone or -thing completely undeserving did.)

But for the record, here are my predictions anyway. And tune in at 8:30 when, give or take some DVR-shifting, I'll be live-blogging the entire ceremony. Or at least for as long as my cold medicine holds out.

BEST PICTURE
WALL*E. Not nominated? The Dark Knight. Sigh! How about The Wrestler? OK, I'll stop. It's gonna be Slumdog Millionaire, though between the five that were chosen I loved Milk the most.

Read More "Oscar Picks (No Surprises Here)" »

You know it's the same every year: You swear you're going to see all the Academy Award-nominated films before the big day. You put the chosen ones on your to-do list as soon as awards season kicks off. You've got plenty of time!

Then suddenly it's Oscar night, and you're left shrugging at all the opening-monologue jokes because you chose to spend your weekends with Paul Blart and warring brides instead of watching Brad Pitt age backward.

It doesn't have to happen again. AMC Entertainment is offering its annual Best Picture crash-course on Sat., Feb. 21, a five-film marathon that for $30 grants you a daylong pass, a "souvenir lanyard," and a bottomless bucket o' popcorn.

So slack all you want if you really feel up to catching all the Academy's good-but-not-great anointed ones in a single sitting. (Apologies to Milk and Slumdog Millionaire, in my opinion the only films that deserve such accolades.)

The schedule below is the same for every theater, which this year includes Loews Georgetown 14, AMC Hoffman Center 22, AMC Potomac Mills 18, Loews Rio Cinemas 18, AMC Owings Mills 17, and AMC Tyson's Corner 16. Advance tickets can be purchased at AMC Theatres.

Milk
10:30 a.m.

The Reader
1:05 p.m.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
3:45 p.m.

Slumdog Millionaire
7:15 p.m.

Frost/Nixon
9:45 p.m.

Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle and distributor Fox Searchlight released a statement today responding to accusations that the filmmakers did not adequately compensate Rubiana Ali and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, the adorable kids who played two of the main characters as youngsters.

The Mumbai-set film is up for 10 Academy Awards, including Best Picture, but has been criticized for exploiting the area's poverty. Boyle and producer Christian Colson had this to say:

From the moment that we hired them and long before the press became interested in this story, we have paid painstaking and considered attention to how Azhar and Rubina's involvement in the film could be of lasting benefit to them over and above the payment they received for their work.

The children had never attended school, and in consultation with their parents we agreed that this would be our priority. Since June 2008 and at our expense, both kids have been attending school and they are flourishing under the tutelage of their dedicated and committed teachers. Financial resources have been made available for their education until they are 18. We were delighted to see them progressing well when we visited their school and met with their teachers last week.

In addition to their educational requirements, a fund is in place to meet their basic living costs, health care and any other emergencies. Furthermore, as an incentive for them to continue to attend school a substantial lump sum will be released to each child when they complete their studies. Taking into account all of the children's circumstances we believe that this is the right course of action.

Since putting in place these arrangements more than 12 months ago we have never sought to publicize them, and we are doing so now only in response to the questions raised recently in the press. We trust that the matter can now be put to bed, and we would request that the media respect the children's privacy at this formative time in their lives.

- - Danny Boyle and Christian Colson

An odd thing occurred to me as I was watching the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards last night -- I wasn't all that excited. Maybe it was because I was tired from an evening spent running around. Maybe it was because Thursday's Critics Choice Awards had sapped some of my I LOVE MOVIES! gush.

(Seriously. I expected to FF through it underwhelmed, a la the common man's trophyfest, the People's Choice Awards. But I was enraptured, unable to skip a single "thank you" or moment of the brilliant Mingle Cam.)

But it's probably just because the Hollywood Foreign Press has terrible taste.

Read More "The Golden Globes" »

The Washington, D.C. Area Film Critics Association today announced its pick of Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire as Best Film of 2008, additionally awarding it Best Director (Danny Boyle), Best Breakthrough Performance (Dev Patel), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Simon Beaufoy).

Other notable nods include a posthumous Best Supporting Actor win for Heath Ledger, whose creepy, mesmerizing Joker in The Dark Knight more than compensated for Two-Face's limp storyline and Batman's phlegmy growl, and Best Actor going to Mickey Rourke as The Wrestler's charming titular fuck-up.

The rest:

Best Actress: Meryl Streep (Doubt)
Best Supporting Actress: Rosemarie DeWitt (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Original Screenplay: Jenny Lumet (Rachel Getting Married)
Best Animated: WALL-E
Best Documentary: Man on Wire
Best Foreign Film: Let the Right One In
Best Ensemble: Doubt
Best Art Direction: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Well, depending on how you look at it: Danny Boyle's latest about an Indian teenager who hits it big on his country's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is not likely to bring in $900+ million before it even hits DVD.

But according to indieWIRE, Slumdog Millionaire's per-screen box office over its opening weekend is comparable to the summer's -- and possibly the decade's -- biggest blockbuster, earning $35,043 per house versus Dark Knight's $36,283 July average.

Not bad for a film without its own action figures. Wonder if execs are already sketching Slumdog Idol?

Lots of new movies this week. Click on titles to visit each film's roundup of reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with the exception of Quantum of Solace and My Name Is Bruce, whose blueness will lead you to my own humble opinions. Shockingly, the majority of these releases are receiving several upward thumbs; must be Oscar season.

THE CANDY:
Quantum of Solace -- Not only is the line "Bond, James Bond" never uttered here, dude has to check with the bartender when someone asks what he's drinking. A refreshing new direction in the decades-old franchise, if not quite as spectacular as Casino Royale.
My Name Is Bruce -- Bruce Campbell directs and stars as...Bruce Campbell. Cheesy fun for diehard fans, but not nearly as entertaining as Campbell's similarly toned Bubba Ho-tep.

THE MEDICINE:
Momma's Man -- Its title and summary -- stunted middle-aged man moves back in with his parents -- screams that wackiness will ensue. But, surprise, this is a drama, and a highly praised one at that.
Ballast -- A drama about a man's suicide in the Mississippi Delta region; IMDb's synopsis contains the words "embattled," "emotionally devastated," "fury," "bitter," and "conflict." So it's not quite the ticket if you're looking for something uplifting, but it's gotten solid grades nonetheless.
Pray the Devil Back to Hell -- A documentary about women fighting to end civil war in Liberia.
Stranded: I Have Come From a Plane That Crashed on the Mountains --A documentary whose title pretty much says it all regarding the 1972 crash of a plane containing a rugby team from Uruguay.

MEDICINE WITH A SPOONFUL OF SUGAR:
Slumdog Millionaire -- Danny Boyle's drama about an impoverished Indian teen who wins big money on his country's version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? A thoroughly uplifting story, with a side of social commentary on the hardships facing kids growing up in Mumbai.