I have not seen it yet. People enjoy it because its NOT IMPORTANT. I enjoyed Little Miss Sunshine. It is in the same stream. I hate it how people try to take film seriously all the time. Read this
http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081111/REVIEWS/811110297
I liked it quite a lot. Possibly my favorite of this year, though TDK and Vicky Christina Barcelona were good as well, and I haven’t gotten to see the rest of the Oscar bait yet. I thought it was interesting in the way that it dealt with the fact that the main character just happened to know those particular answers, but probably couldn’t have answered questions most people would have considered easier. It was also nice in that it mixed the grim unpleasantness with humorous and hopeful parts.
I think you should see it first and then let me know what you think not Roger Ebert.
I have seen it. Too bad I was trying to multi task at the same time. :P
It’s one of my favorites this year. Altho it’s been a fairly lean year. But David I would not compare to the dreadful Little Miss Sunshine which was nothing more than a tv sitcom stretched out to 90 minutes.
Oh come on! I loved that movie. It was innocent joy of a little girl trying to accomplish something that in reality was not natural and she in the end would not fit the mold. I thoroughly enjoyed it. One of my favorite movies of all time. I’m a sucker for innocences and happiness, and the purest form is that of a child.
You’re right, it’s over hyped. You’re right, the plot’s fairly straightforward and feels like it was written by a grad student. What makes it special is that it’s a departure from whatever else that typically comes out from Bollywood, and also from non-Bollywood films that capture India. I can point out at least three things that are original — the story, the music (it’s actually groundbreaking), and the cinematography, in parts.
Sorry David but I can’t agree with you. I thought Little Miss Sunshine was way too contrived altho I liked the performances. The idea that the Grandfather would teach her a striptease was incredibly stupid and when the family all joined her on stage-ridiculous.
I have not see it yet. so I cannot comment.
But one thing I can comment on is the music, because I have heard it, A.R.Rahman is a genius.
@David K, while I agree with you about “I hate it how people try to take film seriously all the time” and little miss sunshine being a enjoyable film, but it missed my favorites list by a million miles.
I haven’t seen it (yet), but it seems to me that this is gonna be a love-it or hate-it film, with the majority of viewers falling in the former category. I think David K is on the money, though…people are gonna like it because it’s not important. I’d rather watch some nicely-made fluff instead of poorly conceived or overly-worked seriousness. But I’ll reserve final judgement for when I actually see it.
I think I should point out that I in fact do not take film serioulsy all the time. I just like good films. The case with slumdog that bothers me so is the amount of attention it is getting when it is nothing more then a harmless film much like little miss sunshine was two years ago and much like Juno was a year ago. The whole game show question flashback device is contrived. As I said before, it’s a gimmick. There are much more deserving films this year then slumdog.
I’m ambivalent about Slumdog Millionaire. While the plot, like you say, is harmless and maybe even mundane to an extent, the filmmaker deserves every word of credit there is. Diving straight into Bollywood like this and coming out victorious with a beautifully cinematized film, a large part of which is set in the actual slums of Bombay, is a feat not many filmmakers can accomplish. I say Bollywood, because all but one of his actors, the extras, and a large part of the crew were from the local film industry. Essentially, at the heart of it, this film is pure Bollywood. And if you’re familiar with the world’s most-prolific film industry, you’ll understand why Slumdog Millionaire is special, and a rarity almost. I’m not saying there’s no talent there, in fact there’s plenty of it, but for Danny, a Brit who started from scratch by auditioning actors for each role in every corner of the vast country, then slogging it in the slums among frenzied, uncontollable dwellers trying to capture its essence, this finished product is a great achievement. Wes’ Darjeeling Limited, although beautifully cinematized, was a pure lie. Slumdog Millionaire is the real present-day India – the slums, the city, the construction sites, all of it. There’s a lot more to say about the music and cinematography, but I’ll save that.
I don’t know if many are familiar with this, but this film could have easily been locked up in Warner’s repository. It’s release was made possible by a coming together of the two rivals – Warner and Fox Searchlight – so that the world can see, and thoroughly enjoy it. It’s not ‘best-picture’ material, but hey, if we’re analyzing this film seriously and technically, it does live up to the hype.
im really looking forward to slumdog millionaire, mainly due to the fact that its boyle’s follow up to sunshine, another fantastic film, so im interested in seeing his next work. i think that far too many people from all sorts of varied websites have loved it for it to be a case of hype over substance. little miss sunshine and juno both had there detracters at the time of release whereas this seems to be universally adored.
I really liked the film, I think it’s not as good as Millions, But certainly one of the best films of the year.
It’s a feel good film and that what I got from it. Boyle captured the frenetic pace of India quite well. I did not care for the romantic strings but it was overall enjoyable.
after watching it last night here’s what I feel,
- while it may or may not miss oscar contention by a whisker, it is a nice movie and Danny Boyle did a great job, special thanks to Lovleen Tandon who canned the scenes in India in an amazing fashion. AR Rahman’s music spells magic, something for the world audience to experience.
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When I went to the theaters a few weeks ago they sold out like 5 different showings of Slumdog in the 15 minutes I was in line to get tickets for Synecdoche. It seems like one of those movies that college kids and twenty-somethings flock to so they can say they watch “indie” movies which makes it hard to be objective about how good the movie actually is. It was an alright movie, but the reaction and interest in it has been quite disproportionate, and I’m sure it’ll be the same way with another movie in a month or so.
@Michael- I was at a “SlumDog Millionaire” showing last night, surprisingly 40+ folks and no youngsters from what I could see were ecstatic at the end of the movie clapped their way out of the theater.
It could be a random thing.
Slumdog was an excellent film. It leaves you with one of those exuberant feelings that only simple movies can. And even though the plot is basic and maybe even a little cliche, the actual film making is very very solid.
alright well i’m seeing the film soon.
I saw it last night and felt it was one of the most overrated films I’ve seen in quite awhile. Seriously, Juno was better then this.
Good film, but I can’t help but feel that a more daring or passionate filmmaker would’ve done better. The words “magical” and “buoyant” keep getting thrown at this flick, but it kinda just lays there at the end, and the dance finale feels forced. No knock on Boyle, per se; he keeps choosing interesting projects and you always wanna see what he’s working on next. But with the exception of Trainspotting, he’s a fairly formulaic storyteller who can never quite nail the third acts of his films. As a side note, I’m happy to see the increasing infiltration of Bollywood into American/European film, even if it’s only in the art houses for now.
nope. not overrated. how do you rate “overrated”? who determines that?
I thought it was a great film with a classic story. Slumdog Millionaire is the kind of movie the world loves. There is a place for the arthouse, the experimental, the documentary, the portrayal of ‘realism’ — but the ideal movie is summed up in films like Slumdog. Films that inspire hope, love, and freedom — the triumph of the human spirit (sometimes with the help of a little bit of ‘magic’).
The previews make it look ridiculous i hope it is different then what it looks like.
I thought it was one of the best movies I’ve ever seen! I’m still on a high from it. I guess it just depends on what you want from your movies. I love inspiring, feel good, shamelessly entertaining movies that happen to be made with great craft. I loved E.T. and Crash too, both of which I’ve seen criticized on this forum as being too manipulative or facile. If you feel a movie has to challenge you or achieve a high level of verisimilitude than I can see why you wouldn’t like this but for me and I imagine a lot of the people in my theater who applauded not just as the credits came up but after the musical credit sequence (I’ve never experienced that before), I imagine it’s the kind of film that made them fall in love with movies in the first place. I couldn’t disagree more but that’s the fun of forums I think.
I do not think “cute” is a word I ever would have used to describe SM. I thought it was quite good, one of the better films this year, and to compare it to LMS seems wrongheaded. They are very different kinds of film. The only thing I would fault SM for is it’s simplistic “chapter” system…ask a question, get a flashback, repeat. However, as films went this year, that was a minor flaw in my opinion.
Does it have a VANGELIS soundtrack?
vangelis???
Vangelis (Evangelos Odysseas Papathanassiou) soundtrack? No.
The film’s score was composed by the famous Indian composer A. R. Rahman. An Oscar nod is very likely.
A popular track used in the film is Paper Planes by M.I.A.
Number 2
I feel like I’m in some type of daze. That I woke up and the majority of critics have gone mad. I simply can not believe the hype and accolade this film is getting. It’s not the worst film of the year. It’s cute and harmless. Nothing great. Nothing in time that will prove to be important. In fact the whole movie is just a gimmick. The plot is something you will read in a how to write a screenplay book. Everything is so nicely laid out for you it becomes mundane and uninteresting. I hope I’m not the only one.