'Curious Case of Forrest Gump'

The Curious Case of Forrest Gump - watch more funny videos

And so the "Button" backlash gathers steam.

We'd already described the 13-time Oscar nominee "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" as super "Gump"-y -- while others have less charitably called it bloated, maudlin and overwrought -- but when you put it this way, well, the similarities in the video above are tough to ignore.

It does come from the same screenwriter, Eric Roth, who won an Oscar for the "Gump" adapted screenplay. He just got nominated, with Robin Swicord, for "Button."

Is "Button's" uncanny resemblance to '94 best picture winner "Gump" a good or bad thing, Oscar wise? Discuss.

Oscar pics make bank

It's no "Paul Blart: Mall Cop," but, hey, what is?

That little Kevin James comedy, to give it its due, has racked up two No. 1 weekends and $64.8 million in total boxoffice. Not too shabby for a story about a pudgy Segway-riding security guard who takes a lot of pratfalls.

But Universal's biopic "Frost/Nixon" might've just been the biggest winner at the multiplex this weekend, adding nearly 1,000 screens and seeing its bottom line jump 351%. So that's what an Oscar nomination can do.

Admittedly, we're not talking "Underworld: Rise of the Lycans" kind of grosses here. "Frost/Nixon" added $3 million this weekend and now has a cume of $12 million.

The other Oscar-nominated films also saw the boxoffice bump right away as most expanded their footprint at the multiplex. "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the only one of the five nominees that has already passed $100 million, added $6 million more. (Turning a profit may be another story, but audiences continue to show up).

"The Wrestler" pulled in $6,537 per screen for a total that's now $9.5 million, and it's just now reached about 570 screens. With weekend numbers, "Milk" is now at $21.6 million. The most limited release picture, Holocaust-themed "The Reader," has made $9.7 million so far and likely will see that figure increase dramatically with its wide release on Friday.

And here's what 10 Oscar nominations can do: "Slumdog Millionaire" pulled in $10.6 million this weekend, during which the Mumbai love story also won the Producers Guild of America award and the Screen Actors Guild ensemble cast honor. 

That's about one-fifth of its total take. Cume is now $55.9 million and set to go much, much higher.

Bird's eye view of SAG awards

 

Last night's "15th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards" just made us realize, again, that the bird's eye view from the press room -- oh, sure it comes with a few chocolate chip cookies -- can be rather limiting.

So after the live show was over, we did what we often do these days. We went home and watched it on TV. Boy, the stuff we missed while we were jacking around with the settings on our iBook to get Internet access, trying to make heads or tails of Sean Penn's acceptance speech, and wondering just how good those "cheesy eggs" are on the "House" set.

And never mind sitting through the innumerable lame fashion queries from the assembled reporters, along with the long-winded pronouncements about the winner and his/her project. Was there a question in there? Anywhere? Those were the lowlights.

Some highlights:

Jane Krakowski nearly popped out of her gorgeous red dress during the preshow, and later, she cracked an anorexic "Ally McBeal" joke while accepting "30 Rock's" comedy ensemble trophy from a skeletal looking Claire Danes.

This was Sally Field's first SAG Award after six nominations and 45 years in the biz.

It was Penn's first SAG award after three noms ("Dead Man Walking," "Mystic River" and "I Am Sam").

It was Meryl Streep's second SAG award after 11 noms (the other win was for "Angels in America").

In a moment worthy of the ongoing SAG labor dispute, a montage clip of Heath Ledger as the Joker in "The Dark Knight" had prescient words for the actors: "If you're good at something, never do it for free."

Say, did loose cannon Josh Brolin just reach over and pinch James Franco's arse? Sure looked that way. Maybe that's not an inappropriate onstage intro for "Milk."

"The dude playing the dude disguised as another dude" sounds even funnier when it's spoken by the proper British actress, Kristin Scott Thomas.

Number of standing ovations: 5 (Ledger's win for best supporting actor, Penn and Streep's wins, James Earl Jones' accepting the Lifetime Achievement Award -- where he gave shout outs to both the Book of Genesis and the late Paul Newman -- and the energized, pogo-ing cast of "Slumdog Millionaire").

For more details, including the full list of winners and THR video, go here. And for some background on the SAG civil war, which was largely set aside for last night's festivities, check this out.

 

'Slumdog' star sightings

Second best moment tonight for Anil Kapoor -- meeting international star and smokin' hot babe, Angelina Jolie.

Second best moment for Dev Patel -- meeting his big-screen first-love Kate Winslet. "And she knew who I was!"

Or then again, maybe those were the best moments for the "Slumdog Millionaire" actors. They're Hollywood newbies after all.

Backstage, the quartet of actors who'd just accepted the best cast award for the rags-to-riches Mumbai-set love story shared their star sightings (Kapoor enlisted his co-star Irfan Khan to do the Angelina intro) but said perhaps the most meaningful result of the mounting "Slumdog" pile o' kudos is that India and its entertainment crews are poised for more opportunity.

It couldn't come at a better time.

A real 'Slumdog' thank you

Could these guys be any more gracious and genuine in the face of continued, steamroller, runaway victory? And could Freida Pinto be any more stunning?

Anil Kapoor could barely catch his breath, and not in a practiced Hollywood (or even Bollywood) "We had no idea we were going to get this award" kind of way.

The only thing more endearing would've been if they'd actually brought up all the little street urchin actors they thanked.

Apolitical Penn?

It may come as a shock to those who follow his often controversial world views, but it wasn't necessarily politics that made Sean Penn choose to portray gay activist Harvey Milk.

It was more director Gus Van Sant, who's "incapable of making an irrelevant movie," Penn said backstage after winning the best actor SAG award. It was the rest of the cast and the writing, which Penn said he felt could touch audiences.

Even so, too bad it wasn't released before the Prop. 8 vote when it might've actually swayed some folks.

Penn and 'Slumdog' take trophies

 

Our batting average on the film side just got better, but that's not saying much. Thank goodness for TV! We did OK there (6 out of 8).

Sean Penn, somewhat predictably, is SAG's best actor for his uncanny portrayal of slain gay rights activist Harvey Milk in the biopic, "Milk."

We fully expect to see this again on Feb. 22.

And what we're beginning to think will happen that night, too, just happened here. The cast of "Slumdog Millionaire" has taken the trophy for best cast in a film, the sort-of SAG equivalent of best picture. This momentum -- and palpable love -- can't be underestimated.

So, guess that means we'll have to back down from our stubborn support of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," which we've chosen as best picture because, and only because, we've thought that's what the Academy voters will get behind. It's just that kind of epic drama.

But it seems to be shaping up more like a "Crash" or "Chariots of Fire" year, with an indie underdog taking the bone. (Not incidentally, "Slumdog" took the Producers Guild of America award last night, another decent harbinger of Oscar). 

We ended the night with 3 out of 5 to which we say, "Meh." Could've been worse. It was that Kate Winslet that tripped us up -- pick one category and stick with it, would ya?

Streep's surprise win

It wasn't exactly an Adrien Brody/Halle Berry moment, but Meryl Streep just planted one on Ralph Fiennes. Square on the mouth.

You go, girl.

And she didn't even go out and buy (or borrow) a fancy new frock for the occasion. She must not have thought she'd win against the Kate Winslet juggernaut. But there you have it -- the most Oscar-nominated actress in history who just picked up her 15th nod seemed genuinely surprised at the trophy for best actress in a film.

Though, to hear her tell it, there's no such thing as The Best Actress or The Greatest Living Actress. Some people may beg to differ.

The Ledger streak

We've seen it already at the Golden Globes, and most likely we'll see it again at the Oscars. Why should SAG be any different?

The late Heath Ledger just won for best supporting actor for his unforgettable, sociopathic villain in "The Dark Knight," and co-star Gary Oldman stood in for filmmaker Christopher Nolan this time in accepting on behalf of the actor who died a year and a few days ago of an accidental drug overdose.

It's reverent all around, as it should be.

No matter the quality of the other performances -- Philip Seymour Hoffman, et al. -- this is the way the race will play out on Oscar night.

Hamm on labor

It's a solid wall of "Mad Men" in the front of the press room, all tuxedo bedecked and devilishly handsome. Emphasis on the devil part.

But where are the women of "Mad Men," the reporters want to know.

"They're out making sandwiches," one of the crew said. "They're making drinks," somebody else joked.

Oh, those guys. The stunning women showed up shortly, after some photos.

And finally, a timely question about winning an award against the backdrop of SAG's labor unrest.

Hamm took the bait: "It's challenging. It's a difficult time for the union and for unions in general."

With the new presidential administration and its softer stance on labor unions, maybe some of that love will trickle over to Hollywood, he speculated. 

"We will continue to negotiate in good faith and in solidarity," Hamm said rather hopefully, since there's been a bitter split among some actors who think SAG should continue pushing for Internet residuals and strike if necessary and others who want the matter settled.

But just to be reminded of where we are, the next question was about Jon Hamm's hair, which gave him a chance to talk about his Don Draper 'do that held up one time when he got clocked with a piece of scenery on the set. Seven stitches, but not a lock out of place.

Bless that Brylcreem.