Slumdog Millionaire

[Miriel]

<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1010048/" target="_blank"><img src="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v516/hannahgoesrawr/slumdog.png" border="0" alt="IMDB: Slumdog Millionaire"></a>

Hands down one of the best movies I've seen all year long, and very much one of the most beautifully shot films I've seen ever.

The film is equal parts tragic, brutal, realistic, action packed, triumphant, joyful, surreal, and overall, a sweeping love story. Even with some of the darker moments, this film was such a pleasure to watch. Enjoyable through and through.

I think I cried twice while watching the film. Once out of sadness and once out of joy.

It's getting a ton of buzz within the award circles so check out the trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/fox_searchlight/slumdogmillionaire/) and if you can, check out the movie. I find it hard to believe that anyone would be disappointed with it.

[charliepanayi]

I can't wait for this to come out in the UK in a few weeks, I've heard a lot of good things about it.

[DK]

Yeah I've been looking forward to this for a while. Hopefully the new Cinema being built in my town will be finished in time for the release http://img.photobucket.com/albums/1003/sickhappy/wacky.gif

[Shoeberto]

Mike talked about this on his blog and the things he was saying plus the trailer really made me want to see it. There's probably a decent chance of it coming to Fayetteville but I have this feeling I won't get out to see it, most likely it'll get netflixed for me. But, yeah. Really would like to see this one.

[Shiny]

Just the fact that Sigur Ros is in the trailer was enough to make me wanna see it. Not to mention the amazing cinematography by Anthony Dod Mantle.

[Miriel]

Slumdog Millionaire just walked away from the Critics Choice award with a armload of awards:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Writer
Best Young Actor/Actress
Best Composer

Yay!

[Del Murder]

Who won best young actor? The little kid?

This was a very good movie. Perfect movie night movie.

[Rantz]

You built up my expectations a little too much! >:O Nah, I liked it but it didn't exactly leave much of a lasting impression. The dance scene at the end was a little ridiculous, was that supposed to be parodic? :p

[Miriel]

The dance sequence at the end was AMAZING!

It wasn't a parody, it was a homage to Bollywood films, famous for their dance and singing sequences. Apparently, a really reknowned Bollywood choreographer was brought in to do the ending dance sequence. And I loooved it.

[charliepanayi]

The dance sequence at the end was AMAZING!

It wasn't a parody, it was a homage to Bollywood films, famous for their dance and singing sequences. Apparently, a really reknowned Bollywood choreographer was brought in to do the ending dance sequence. And I loooved it.

This sounds like the ending to the Japanese film Zatoichi which also ends with a big dance sequence - I loved that, so I'm looking forward to seeing this even more now :D

[charliepanayi]

Well let's start with what I liked about the film - it looks amazing (and that's just Frieda Pinto!), and has a very good soundtrack. They do a very good job of capturing a lot of the facets of Mumbai. And Dev Patel is very winning and sympathetic in the lead role. The first half of the film is the strongest part, managing to blend comedic and serious moments (which is very hard to do well) to good effect. But the second half isn't quite as satisfying, and the ending though it has a great moment of high tension You are left wondering whether he will actually win the jackpot maybe wasn't as good as I'd hoped. Plus the relationship between Jamal and his brother felt a little City of God-lite at times. But I don't want to let these grievances obscure the fact it's a very good film, always compelling and well worth seeing. The end-credits are great too.

I'm loath to give out marks to films usually, but this was about a B+ for me I think.

In the end I think this is the sort of film which will either you have you grinning like an idiot at the end or rolling your eyes. It just depends how much you buy into its outlook on destiny.

[Miriel]

I don't buy into destiny. :p

It's just that... when was the last time you've seen a movie of this caliber that was truly a joyful experience? I'm so sick of award winning movies that are about death and suicide and mental retardation and scandal or biopics. Look at this year's top contenders.

Doubt - Priest molesting kids
Benjamin Button - Guy aging backward losing everyone he loves as they keep getting older and he's getting younger.
Frost vs. Nixon - Interviewing a corrupt President
Milk - The life of the first openly gay politician who was gunned down by another politician.
Revolutionary Road - 2+ hours of a marriage crumbling. Full of bickering and hatefulness.
Dark Knight - Psychotic terrorist vs. a morose bat man.

Slumdog Millionaire - A celebration of love and life.

It was like a breath of fresh air. The only other movie this year that compares is Wall.E, but I don't think Wall.E has the same kind of joyful spirit that Slumdog has.

[Rye]

Wall-E made me cry!

There's a little theatre near me that's still playing it. It's a weird theatre because it only plays one movie at all for a month or two. And in October, it only plays Rocky Horror Picture Show. xD

I'll go sometime soon.

[charliepanayi]

I don't buy into destiny. :p

It's just that... when was the last time you've seen a movie of this caliber that was truly a joyful experience?

Some examples: Juno, Little Miss Sunshine, Sideways, Lost in Translation, Ratatouille - not all of this are unashamedly upbeat but they all have hope in them. And all were contenders for big film awards. And as mentioned, Wall-E last year.

As for why 'moody' films are always winning the awards, Oscar voters eat that stuff up with a big spoon :D

[Miriel]

Lost In Translation was such a downer! And sooo boring. Juno wasn't joyful, but more... sarcastic and funny (but it was one of my favorites last year). Same with Sideways. Ratatouille was a cute heartwarming story (like most Disney/Pixar/Animated films) but not as spirited as Slumdog. Little Miss Sunshine, that I agree with. But that movie was 3 years ago!

And, uh, I think I watch too many movies. :D

[Rase]

Saw it yesterday and loved it. Shot beautifully, well acted and written, and an awesome way of telling the story.

That is all.

[charliepanayi]

Lost In Translation was such a downer! And sooo boring.

You're off my Christmas card list :D - you don't have to like it, but no way is that film a downer!

[Miriel]

Golden Globes:

Best Picture
Best Director
Best Screenplay
Best Score

Onward to the Oscars!

[charliepanayi]

I think the Best Picture Oscar will be between this and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

[SuperMillionaire]

The movie is a loose adaptation of the novel Q and A by Indian novelist Vikas Swarup.

It should be noted that while Slumdog Millionaire included Kaun Banega Crorepati, the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, the novel did not include a specific game show. Perhaps a possible reason why Millionaire was included in this adaptation was that, in fact, there really was a cheating scandal that took place on the original UK version of the show. In 2001, former British Army major Charles Ingram deliberately cheated to win the UK version's top prize of £1,000,000, after which he and some other accomplices were arrested and convicted for fraud felonies, which are the same charges that the contestant in the film was accused of. See the film again and then watch the video clips of Charles Ingram's run on the show (which are available on YouTube) and read more on the controversy and you'll probably see a few other similarities between the story in this film and the real-life cheating event.