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!

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

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.

BEST ACTOR
I'd love to see Mickey Rourke get this, but Sean Penn's performance as Harvey Milk was so completely transformative, it's gotta be recognized.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Please. (In this usage, "please" is defined as "Heath Ledger.")

BEST ACTRESS
I'm going with Kate Winslet, though her speech better include shout-outs to the makeup crew and her nipples for help making her turn remotely remarkable in The Reader.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Penelope Cruz has the buzz, but c'mon, she could be passionate and sensuous in her sleep. Would be nice if D.C. native Taraji P. Henson got it, but my guess is Viola Davis for her brief role in Doubt. The Academy loves those incisive knock-outs.

BEST DIRECTOR
I'm torn. My gut says it'll go to Danny Boyle in a Slumdog lovefest. But I wouldn't be surprised if David Fincher won for his technically proficient handling of Benjamin Button.

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
WALL*E would be a nice upset, and Frozen River and In Bruges were great stories. but I'm thinking this is where Milk will get its love.

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Slumdog.

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
Please. (In this usage, "please" is defined as "WALL*E.")

BEST ART DIRECTION and CINEMATOGRAPHY
Both to The Dark Knight.

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Period pieces = Oscar. The Duchess.

BEST DOCUMENTARY
Man on Wire.

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT
Total blind guess, but I'm going with The Witness - From the Balcony of Room 306.

BEST FILM EDITING
Slumdog.

BEST FOREIGN FILM
I've only seen two of the nominees, but I can't imagine a doc more imaginative and affecting than Waltz With Bashir.

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
Ben Button.

BEST ORIGINAL SCORE
Slumdog.

BEST SONG
The popular opinion is that the two Slumdog noms will split the vote. But really, have you heard anything more catchy in a movie this year than Jai Ho? Sorry, Peter Gabriel, but Down to Earth is kind of a snooze.

BEST ANIMATED SHORT
Presto was adorable, the Academy doesn't really do adorable. Going with La Maison en Petits Cubes.

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT
No idea, but Auf der Strecke seems to be getting the praise.

BEST SOUND EDITING and BEST SOUND MIXING
Considering it's nearly dialogue-free yet still the most engaging film of last year, WALL*E's gotta win both.

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Benjamin Button, because if you're honest about it, the film's strongest characteristic is its looks.

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.

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

(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.

Not all the time, of course. There were plenty of deserving (or at least herd-approved) noms and wins: Slumdog Millionaire took all four categories for which it was nominated (best picture drama, best director, best screenplay, and best original score). I was thrilled that Mickey Rourke, looking totally gangsta, won Best Actor for The Wrestler, and although I was generally zipping through the television categories, I had to stop to watch the love for 30 Rock, my only must-see show that I can admit to adoring without shame. (As opposed to Rock of Love, whose every incarnation I got sucked into. There, I said it.)

But Burn After Reading and Mamma Mia! for best comedies? Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson for their (literally) walk-in-the-park performances in feel-good romance Last Chance Harvey? I wasn't blown away by Sally Hawkins' Globe-winning turn in Happy-Go-Lucky, but I'm glad she won the category, because between her, Thompson, Meryl Streep (Mamma Mia!), Frances McDormand (Burn After Reading), and Rebecca Hall (Vicky Cristina Barcelona), Hawkins was the only actress who actually had to break a sweat.

That said, here are some of the show's highlights:

1.) Sting, presenting Best Song but looking like he should be slaying vampires with a dark beard and goth-y black coat;

2.) Bruce Springsteen's win for his contribution to The Wrestler, because I'm just as happy to hear him talk as sing;

3.) Andrew Stanton, who said that his wife and kids "inspire every emotion I try to capture onscreen" in his acceptance speech for the lovely WALL*E;

4.) Colin Farrell, who was funny when he blamed his sniffing on a cold and "not the other thing it used to be" while presenting an award and touching when he talked about love while accepting one for In Bruges;

5.) Renee Zellweger's crazy-person dress, which narrowly beat Maggie Gyllenhaal's fashion disaster;

6.) Rourke giving a loving shout-out to his pets, because "sometimes when a man's alone, all you got is your dog;"

7.) Darren Aronofsky, so seemingly mild-mannered, caught on camera giving Rourke the finger;

8.) Tracy Morgan announcing that "I am the face of post-racial America. Deal with it, Cate Blanchett!"

and, perhaps my favorite,

9.) Tina Fey telling her Internet haters to "suck it":

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

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?

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.