I have to admit, I did not go see this in the theater. I watched it online instead, because I've been deathly sick for two days now, and when I would wake up from my fever-induced delirium I would watch this.
You know, I'm trying to get in as many movies as possible before Sunday.
But honestly ... I really don't understand what all the hype is over this movie. Will someone explain it to me? Kate? Please?
It's not that I didn't like it. It was okay. I just was expecting something much more, I suppose. I didn't particularly like the directing (Danny Boyle), and nothing about the cinematography was impressive to me (however, I did watch this on my computer, so that might have something to do with it). The acting was mediocre. The storyline was a bit of a let down. I wasn't really invested in any of the characters, even to the point where I didn't care if Jamal won or was cheating or whatever.
So ... I just don't understand why this this nominated for 10 Oscars. Really.
Many of the flashbacks that showed Jamal and Salim in the slums as children struck me as incredibly similar to the movie City of God, which was about Brazilian slums and corruption and hustling and gangsters. City of God was an amazing film, and I felt like Slumdog Millionaire was trying to be like that movie, in many ways, but it ultimately failed.
The only thing I particularly liked about the movie was the colored subtitles. It added a nice aesthetic dimension.
And the Bollywood ending was a little much, for me. Really? Dancing in the train station? No thanks. A little heavy-handed.
But ... that's about it.
18.2.09
Slumdog Millionaire
Posted by leigh vandebogart at 6:16 PM
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2 Comments:
I have been waiting for this post. I could not agree with you more. The movie wasn't bad. You could say I even liked it. But Best Picture? No no no no no.
My brother made the point that the fact that a major factor of the film was Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. What the fuck? I thought that show ended like 10 years ago, so it has sort of an out-of-touch vibe to it already and it just came out.
I really wanted to love this movie, and it HAS gotten so much hype. It's a good movie, but I just don't know what other people are loving so much about it that I just don't see. The acting? Who can ever tell when you are busy reading subtitles? The script? Fine, but let's not get crazy. The fact that we see an impoverished country and personalizing it which makes it more meaningful? If so, yuck.
I could rant about this forever so I will stop. But I'm glad you saw it and share my opinion because I'm pretty sure it's going to win Best Picture and I just don't understand why.
PS I watched There Will Be Blood the other day. Now that is a movie.
Seriously! Best Picture?! What the hell. Absolutely not.
(Speaking of Best Picture, I watched the beginning to Milk the other day, and I really liked it. I need to finish it soon. Judging from the first ten minutes I saw, I wouldn't be upset if that won - I'd be happier if Milk won over Slumdog, at least. Despite my raging hatred for Sean Penn.)
And yeah, I thought the same thing about Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Maybe it's all the rage in India? I have no idea, but that was really odd. Even though I loved how the host pronounced it. "Who wants to be ... a millonare!"
I really wanted to love it, too, but like you, it just wasn't there. Nothing about it really stood out to me - so I'm left thinking that it's mostly about seeing an impoverished country and personalizing it, like you said. Which is really yucky. Really.
I can rant about it forever, too. Oh, slumdogs.
I think it's going to win, too. Gross.
OOh, There Will Be Blood! That is a movie, you are right. I re-watched the ending a couple weeks ago. That movie is amazing. Last year's Oscars had so many better contenders. This year it's all slumdogs and doubt and milk. WHATEVER.
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