Dec 16, 2008–The Phoenix Film Critics Society named Danny Boyle's “Slumdog Millionaire” best picture of the year at their 9th annual awards.  “Slumdog” received six of the honors handed out by the group, including director, adapted screenplay, editing, breakthrough performance for Dev Patel and best performance by a youth (male) for Ayush Mahesh Khedekar.

Dec 16, 2008–Slumdog Millionaire” was named by the San Diego Critics Society as Best Picture of 2008.  In addition to the top prize, “Slumdog” also won for director for Boyle, adapted screenplay, cinematography, editing and score.

Dec 14, 2008–The Boston Society of Film Critics voting resulted in several ties.  At the org's annual meeting Sunday , the voting for best picture resulted in Pixar's “Wall-E” and Danny Boyle's “Slumdog Millionaire” sharing top honors.

The American Film Institute (AFI) released the winners of its AFI Awards Sunday, including its annual top 10 list. The top 10 movies of the year, in alphabetical order, are: “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” “The Dark Knight”
“Frost/Nixon,” “Frozen River,” “Gran Torino,” “Iron Man,” “Milk,” “Wall-E,” “Wendy and Lucy,” and “The Wrestler.”

Dec 12, 2008–Australian actor Hugh Jackman will host the 81st annual Academy Awards in February. Executive producer Bill Condon and producer Laurence Mark made the announcement today.  Jackman takes over for comedian Jon Stewart, who has served as Oscar moderator for the past two years.