You’ve probably seen this by now since it’s all over every news outlet, but Azharuddin Ismail, the kid who played young Jamal in Slumdog Millionaire, recently had his shanty torn down.  According to some reports, the same thing actually happened a few months ago, so it’s not actually that big of news, but you know these media hippies. They love a good third-world sob story.  Waaah, my one-room shack got torn down.  Waaaah, I live in the sewer.  That attitude’s the reason you’re not making the big bucks like me.

Ismail’s tarpaulin-covered home in a teeming slum was one of several shanties, illegally built along a drain, that were demolished by local authorities in Mumbai, India’s financial capital and entertainment hub. “When they came I was sleeping, they shook me awake and one policeman even threatened me,” Ismail, surrounded by half-broken suitcases filled with clothes and utensils, told Reuters. “What can I do if they have demolished my house? I will sleep out in the open.”

A poster of “Slumdog Millionaire,” signed by director Danny Boyle, fluttered from the only wall of Ismail’s shanty still standing. Open sewers run nearby and it had no running water.  [mmm, that's some good poverty porn.  You guys might wanna leave me alone for a few minutes. *fap fap fap* -Ed.]

“The shanties are all touching a drain that has to be cleaned before the advent of the monsoons,” said U.D. Mistry, the local official in charge of the demolition drive.

Just a few months ago, the filmmakers and the Indian government were literally fighting over who’d get to buy this kid a house and paying rickshaws to take him to school (I’m not making this up).  And now this.  Why, it’s almost as if Hollywood people and government of India were just full of empty promises.  Danny Boyle isn’t going to hear the end of this until he adopts the kid.  Oooh, I smell reality show!  Wait, false alarm, it’s just the sewer.

_{Fox makes Schadenfreude Sloth want to c-walk}

A full-length, DVD-quality workprint of 20th Century Fox’s Wolverine has reportedly leaked online (you can check the comments section from two posts ago if you want the link), though the film isn’t set to be released until May 1st.  ThePlaylist speculates that it could be the work of someone angry over the WB/Fox Watchmen fiasco, while I’m content to merely pleasure myself chuckle at their misfortune.

In other Fox news, there was a bad batch of Slumdog Millionaire DVDs sent out that were missing the special features promised on the box, such as deleted scenes and featurettes. Fox has set up a hotline to replace the faulty DVDs, but no word yet on how much this will end up costing them.  Man, it must be awesome working for Fox.  The way I picture their board meetings, one guy wearing a blindfold walks around the office and shouts “Marco!”  And all the other guys have to shout “Polo!”  And then the blindfolded guy will take an orange out of his orange sack and throw it in the direction of the shouts, and anyone who gets hit has to make more popcorn.

As expected, Watchmen kicked ass at the box office this weekend against basically non-existent competition.  Its $55.7 million dollar take, however, wasn’t quite up to studio estimates in the $60s, nor was it as big as Snyder’s $70 million opening for 300.  People will now probably blame the fact that Watchmen was dark and violent for it not quite living up to expectations, even though that was the film’s saving grace. Overall, film revenue is up 16% over last year.

Elsewhere, The Jonas Bros in 3-D shot from number two to number 9 (with a bullet), dropping 78% in its second weekend and proving that the NAMBLA crowd doesn’t have the box office clout they once did. 

Slumdog Millionaire landed in the four spot.  The film has gotten a bigger Oscar bump than any other movie in history, making it that much more surprising that Fox has announced a DVD release on March 31st.  Seems odd that they’d rush the DVD of a film that’s still doing solid business at theaters.  Then again, being surprised by something Fox does is like going to the zoo and being surprised when one of the monkeys masturbates to completion in front of your daughter.  Put a dumb beast in a cage or a business suit, anything can happen.

Read the rest of this entry »

This is the latest video from Landline TV contains an important message about not assuming that all Indian people liked Slumdog Millionaire.  It’s true, you should never generalize. It’s demeaning and it’s dangerous.  Likewise, never assume every hooker has a heart of gold.  Trust me, dollars to donuts it’s just blood in there.
Read the rest of this entry »

Man, the Slumpuppies‘ lives keep sounding better and better.

“Slumdog Millionaire” child star Azharuddin Mohammad (left) reportedly was beaten by his father Friday just days after attending the Oscars.
His father, Ismail Mohammad, got enraged when his son tried to avoid media in front the family’s home in the Dharavi slum.
He punched Azharuddin’s face and kicked him while the child cried and covered his face in pain.
The boy’s mother looked on in horror, crying out to her husband to stop, but the elder Mohammad kept delivering the punishing blows until his son fled.
“Azharuddin’s father was upset that he was asking to be left alone because he was tired,” an onlooker said. “It was like a scene out of ‘Slumdog Millionaire.’”
The father apologized after the incident became public, saying he was “very sorry.”
“I was so confused and stressed by my son’s homecoming that I did not know myself for a minute,” he told the Sun. “I love my boy and I am very happy to have him home,” he said. [NYDailyNews]

What a f-cking dick.  Guy’s kid does one movie and he’s already acting like a stage parent.