Slumdog Millionaire

Pretty damn good flick. Reminded me a lot of "City of God", but not as strong as that film.
Totally turns you off going to India for a holiday though.

The first third of the film was superb, the rest of the film was loaded with cliches and contrivances.

I didn't see the big deal around the film.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

Pretty damn good flick. Reminded me a lot of "City of God", but not as strong as that film.
Totally turns you off going to India for a holiday though.

I have yet to see a film so narrative and naturalistic as "City of God". Great movie, great soundtrack. I am gonna watch slumdog this week but I am a bit sceptic about it because of all those uberpositive reviews. In Czech Republic, Grindhouse - Deathproof was the most hyped film ever and I have never seen such crap in my whole life. But from what I have heard, Slumdog will be one of those "good one, maybe watch again someday" movies.

Salman Rushdie hated it.

City of God was good, did you see the TV series by the same guys, "City of Men"?
Guns, filth, 11 year olds.

Slumdog was good, but nothing to write home about. If it won an Oscar, it's because the vast majority of movies this year were shit, and god forbid they give a comic book movie an big award.

Also, thirding City of God being incredible.

Slumdog Millionaire sounded very contrived to me, so I skipped it.

I haven't seen City of God yet, but I saw the sequel City of Men (the movie, not the tv series), and that was great.

Seems "hip" to be down on the Slumdog, but I am an unabashed fan!

While I accept that you can call it "contrived" based on how they unfold the story, the very fact that such a heartfelt and, at the same time, bleak narrative be played out against something as inane as a TV game show...well I think that it very clever indeed.

Rarely have I been on such a knifes edge of simultaneous joy and despair in a film.

I am not sure that it has a depth of story that demands multiple viewings, but as a one off cinema experience, I had a truly great evening and would not hesitate to recommend it to my friends.

Oh, I am also never going to go to India!

ozjesting wrote:

Oh, I am also never going to go to India!

After reading Song of Kali (by Dan Simmons), I too will be avoiding India.

ozjesting wrote:

Seems "hip" to be down on the Slumdog

I have heard nothing but raves about the film, in the media and from people around me, my comment about the film is of my own doing. Fuck being "hip".

I have enjoyed Danny Boyle's films in the past but this one came up short for me. Part of it was the "destiny of love" angle (my own hang-up around destiny) but the other parts had a lot to do with the lack of believability in plot points and overused narrative cliches.

drmabuse00 wrote:

The first third of the film was superb, the rest of the film was loaded with cliches and contrivances.

Name a film that isn't.
Besides, I thought looking at the current state of film the ending was actually the NON CLECHE option.

Mad Malthus wrote:

City of God was good, did you see the TV series by the same guys, "City of Men"?
Guns, filth, 11 year olds

Saw a few episodes, quite good stuff.

lollocaust wrote:

Slumdog was good, but nothing to write home about. If it won an Oscar, it's because the vast majority of movies this year were shit, and god forbid they give a comic book movie an big award.

I thought this year was quite a good year for film. What films didn't you like?

Or is this claim just a nerd bitch because the dark knight didn't get a nom? Is their anything worse than nerds with an internet connection scorned?
The reason why comic book films don't get a nod is because as a whole they don't deserve it. I can think of a grand total of 2 comic book films that deserved oscar nods, hardly a great number.

ozjesting wrote:

Seems "hip" to be down on the Slumdog, but I am an unabashed fan!

While I accept that you can call it "contrived" based on how they unfold the story, the very fact that such a heartfelt and, at the same time, bleak narrative be played out against something as inane as a TV game show...well I think that it very clever indeed.

Rarely have I been on such a knifes edge of simultaneous joy and despair in a film.

I am not sure that it has a depth of story that demands multiple viewings, but as a one off cinema experience, I had a truly great evening and would not hesitate to recommend it to my friends.

Exactly. It's one of those films that gets better the more I think about it.
I just shake my head at the fact people bitch about this but then give a pass to Hulk because it had Tony Stark in it.

I thought it was great. As far as films that win Oscars go, this one was in the good column. The DP was amazing. That shot in the skyscraper with the slum reflected in his mirrored shades was dynamite. The intro scene with kids running through the slum was great too. There's tons to like in this film.

I'm trying to think of comic book films that deserve an Oscar. THE INCREDIBLES is one. What's the other? I assume we're talking Best Picture nod.

Mr Skeletor wrote:

drmabuse00 wrote:

The first third of the film was superb, the rest of the film was loaded with cliches and contrivances.

Name a film that isn't.
Besides, I thought looking at the current state of film the ending was actually the NON CLECHE option.

Wandafuru Raifu

Barton Fink

No Country for Old Men

I just shake my head at the fact people bitch about this but then give a pass to Hulk because it had Tony Stark in it.

What the fuck? Please tell me where Salmon Rushdie, lollocaust or myself said anything about Hulk.

This is far from a hatefest for this film. I wasn't blown away by it. I say again to the best of my knowledge I have hard nothing but raves over this film.

I still haven't seen it, but I'm definitely a Danny Boyle fan- I've liked most of his pictures, and even the bad ones (A LIFE LESS ORDINARY, THE BEACH) have at least been interesting and stylish. I think MILLIONS was terribly underrated, that's a sweet little picture that has an honest innocence that I think is very refreshing against all the fake grittiness and contrived darkness of a lot of movies today. SLUMDOG looks dynamite, but mark my words- every movie released next year is going to look like it.

I thought 2008 was a terrible year for movies, actually. The only really notable 2008 releases to me were THE DARK KNIGHT (of course) and SPEED RACER (like Jeff Koons at 500mph, the most underrated and misunderstood movie since TRON). HELLBOY 2 was good but not great, IRON MAN was held together only by RDJ's awesome performance, WANTED was pretty bad ass but in a total trash way...there wasn't anything the caliber of 2007's best films (NO COUNTRY, THERE WILL BE BLOOD, EASTERN PROMISES, ASSASSINATION OF JESSE JAMES). I haven't seen MILK but it looks alright, FROST/NIXON might be interesting...THE WRESTLER could be what I need to see to change my mind about 2008 being a wash though, it looks great.

All this is reminding me that I have a date with destiny next friday...latest clips are making me very, very nervous.

Haven't watched it yet. My girlfriend's aversion to crowds at cinemas and the price of a ticket has rubbed off on me a bit so I don't bother going unless a movie really piques my interest. Honestly, despite the fact that I'm a Danny Boyle fan, I have zero interest in this one. Besides the buzzwords (India, "underpaid" slum kid actors, destiny theme, game show, Oscar winner), I don't really know anything about it. An eventual weekend rental, I guess. (Though the fact that some of you compare it to City of God is starting to get me interested.)

Michael Barnes wrote:THE WRESTLER could be what I need to see to change my mind about 2008 being a wash though, it looks great.

It might just be that rare class of movie that can salvage an entire year. Myself, I rank it among the best two or three movies I've ever seen. Emotionally resonant and truthful.

And I'm glad you liked Speed Racer. It was far and away my favourite from '08 until The Wrestler. Still lots to see, though.

I thought The Wrestler was totally fake. You know the whole thing is scripted, right?