Common sense would assume no, as the cost of filming a game show live is gargantuan compared to filming 20 episodes over a week and airing them in an order of your choosing later. If India for whatever reason does their WWTBAM live, then I'll eat my shoe. But even if they do, that doesn't excuse the laziness of the scriptwriter's choice to make the last question disproportionately easy, or to make the quiz host inexplicably feed an answer to a contestant in an attempt to make him lose for no apparent reason other than to kickstart an integral plot point.

I laughed at the kid-covered-in-shit scene. The thing to hold onto in that scene is the kid's excitement level and the realization of his dream. It's a complex element of the movie and I can see why people react to it in different ways, but in a way it's like laughing at Redneck jokes.

I laughed at that scene too. I actually love the mix of all the realism and the fairytale storyline where you sometimes have to suspend belief with all the coincidences. And the visuals, especially in the first hour, are just exhilarating.

I think some people haven't been exposed to very many Indian films (ie Bollywood), but there will be something sad that happens, and then people often break out into song. That's what often happens from the ones that I have seen, where the songs come at awkward times. It doesn't always make sense or feel right by Hollywood standards, but its the norm in a lot of those movies.Slumdog Millionaire was made by a Brit, but it was certainly influenced by Bollywood, and the Bollywood style. Bollywood films have a melodrama to them. I think we can see quite a bit of that in Slumdog Millionaire, but it works.

Much of India suffers from poverty and hard times, but Bollywood, the Indian film industry is full of films full of romanticism that almost seems unrealistic but still that a lot of people attach themselves too. You can see remnants of that in this film, where it goes from a sad scene, but then on to something happier spur of the moment. I don't think this is a reason to fault Slumdog Millionaire. I simply think this is just a different way movies are told, that people outside of India might not be familiar with, and might seem strange, because they're so different from how our films are told here. Obviously for a Hollywood familiar audience, they couldn't make a full musical, but they included the montage at the end to tie it in with tradition.

The Indian one seems to be pre-recorded - when the host took time out for surgery, they screened less shows per week to make the ones they already had last longer. I believe it is screened live in some countries tho'.

Finally saw it, I plan to write a long review later but right now I'll just say, 4th best this year.


A+

I don't mind the whole contrast between unrelating shittiness and then sudden OMG DREAMS MUST GRAB FOR HAPPINESS!! Anybody can dream or wish for something rather corny the circumstances of the surroundings shouldn't matter much, hell a horrible surrounding makes dreaming even more logical.

The shit scene definetly wasn't one I laughed at, it did show the rather nutty level of actor adulation that seems to occur in Bollywood rather well though I must say.

The one thing I may change is the outcome of the final question. It'd have been a nice twist if he hadn't answered it correctly. It may go against the tone of that point, but at that time he already found his childhood love and achieved the reason he was on the show to begin with. It'd have created a better contrast with his brother dying in the bath full of money and him not winning the ultimate prize but finding the one that's worth millions to him personally. Basically, at that time, winning or not was no longer an issue for him. Also, one of the choices in the initial question the film posted is "he's lucky," and the idea is "it's written" instead of him being lucky, but by making him answer the last question correctly by randomly choosing an answer, a 25% odd, it put luck back into the equation. So instead of going with an all-out happy ending, I'd go with a more realistic one but still capturing the central idea and plot of the film.

I don't mind that either. But this film gets the mix incredibly wrong genre-wise.

Look at Pretty Woman. Now there's a film that could've been taken down two entirely different directions. Imagine, for example, it being directed by Martin Scorsese. And Vivian (Julia Roberts) is a hooker who steals from her tricks to fund her crack addiction and has a pimp who beats and rapes her. And the world she lives in is filled with grey areas, where tacky Hollywood clichés have no place.

Now, imagine if that film suddenly and without warning decided to follow the same, cheesy, romantic plot points that the actual Pretty Woman had. And that the whole film tonally criss-crossed between something like Leaving Las Vegas and Sleepless in Seattle. Then you'd have something appropriating the bizarre Frankenstein's monster that is Slumdog Millionaire... the bleakest/cheesiest feel good/bad film you're ever likely to see.

Except, at least Leaving Las Vegas stuck to it's laurels when presenting stereotypically bleak scenes of alcoholism and prostitution... and thank fuck Sleepless in Seattle didn't try to shoehorn in shaky-cam and a tackily handled real world message.

That would be one amazing version of Pretty Woman to watch on drugs I must say!

I don't mind tonal shifts like that in context of this film, it works and flows naturally for me, yes if I'm being a rigid its not very real or believable but I don't think the film is that jarring. Even thru all the low points you are given a glimpse of hope (I'll give you the mothers death thats just 100% crappy) so in essence its distilled lows and that much more manageable.

I thought about the same thing too. I didn't care if he won or not, either way I think would have worked for the movie. Maybe they did it for some idiots who were watching the movie, like my dad and brother for example. They're sittin' there in the theater guessing out loud the answer to the final question and talking to eachother. I'm trying to get them to shut the hell up but they keep going. I asked them why does it even matter? And they said well it's the million dollar question! Because apparently they were too braindead to understand the whole idea of the movie.

A powerful and moving film. This film is not about Jamal Malik's quest for the money but more of all the hardships he encountered to try and find his one true love and how these events connect to the questions. Dav Patel shines as Jamel and so does his love interest played by Freida Pinto. Also Jamel's brother Salim (played by Madhur Mittal) is also a powerful sub-plot to the film. The entire film is very gripping not losing its touch at any moment through and should balst through the Oscars, most likely taking Best Picture on top of many others. This film is so close to being my favorite of 2008.

A+

Predictable, 'too-much-melodrama', cheesy main-plot or how it was dreadfully dragged in the middle; didn't prevent me from loving it. A flawed film that has too much weight on 'the good part' (the sets, the craziness, Amitabh's scene, the Jaiho sequence), to really hate it. A-

That says it all for me.

A+

BTW - the show was filmed live here in Oz.

I've decided that this is my favorite film of 2008!

I agree for the most part, was rather unimpressed and somewhat disappointed but I have different reasoning.
First of all this film did have tons of warmth and energy, it was vibrant and beautiful, and even in the dark and negative scenes it came as both brooding and energetic; how Boyle did this I will never understand, it was quite shocking that he could combine those two effects so thoroughly.
Having said all that I felt the film was almost two different things forced into one. It displayed so much dark and disturbing imagery and story lines yet never really gave the characters the time or inclination to react properly upset. Some may call this dodging melodrama but to me it was avoiding human emotion. However Boyle did not make it look intentional and necessary like the Coen Brothers did with No Country for Old Men, or even Fargo. Instead it simply felt as if the cast, especially the younger kids that subbed for the flashbacks just couldn't handle it, or Boyle didn't have the skill to delve into emotional and realistic aspects. This inability or unwillingness, whichever it was, made the whole movie feel partially artificial and somewhat imaginary.
Also despite the comic and dark scene that were thorough enough to actually work, (including the tour guide scene, the sequence where he jumps to the bottom of the stall, the parts where he's tortured at the beginning, and the scene where Jamal and Latika are finally rejoined) the rest of the movie can't find a way to make these memorable as more than simply parts of a less than worthy whole.
The film is a long way from being bad or unworthy of being viewed, I would definitely encourage anyone who asked to watch it, however in a film landscape with masterpieces like doubt, wall-e, Benjamin Button, and even the Dark Knight, all have been realeased this year, the fact that critics everywhere are calling this the year's best just seems unfair. It is a very satisfactory but very flawed film and I was for the most part disappointed more than pleasantly surprised. Had I seen it before all the hype reached me I'm sure I would have a different impression, but in this day and age a film has to deal with the hype it receives and Slumdog simply did not.

SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE (2008)

This is a shockingly flawed film. I expected something more from a movie that is getting such praise. Visually it's fantastic, and I loved the music. There are a couple of impressive scenes in this. But the whole thing is such an awkward mix, and I'll jump on the bandwagon of people who thought it was kind of in poor taste. It's pretty goofy and unbelievable overall. It reminds me of "Crash," another manipulative and far-fetched awards contender (and eventual Best Picture winner). It didn't help that the middle of the film dragged beyond belief. It was so un-involving. I liked it in the beginning when the kids were younger, and I liked the ending, which is the first time I was even remotely moved by the romance aspect, but during the middle I couldn't wait for it to be over. The characters are so two-dimensional (some even one-dimensional) and I didn't really care about them. And give me a break with the end credits dance sequence. It's admittedly fun, but so out-of-place. This isn't Mamma Mia!

I'm certainly disappointed. And it's even more disappointing that this is a front-runner this awards season. The only reason I wouldn't be completely annoyed by this winning Best Picture is because it's a foreign film and more people will watch it then. But does it deserve it? Definitely not. I think I'd rather almost any other current front-runner win than this. It's overrated fluff, despite its (failed) attempts to be deep. I'll be listening to the soundtrack though, which is better than the film itself.

Grade: 6/10 (C+)

Manupulative. That's a good word for this movie. Good job Mike.

i'm not too familiar with Bollywood, but I've heard that this sequence was a throwback to the popular films of Indian cinema.

I just realized why I liked this movie even despite many of its flaws. It's a modern day Rocky in a way. I was watching Jay Leno, and he made that comparison. Both films have their flaws, but they're ultimately crowd pleasers, where the main event (Game show, boxing match) is really driven by someone else. I am a huge fan of Rocky, and this is a twist on that. Except with Rocky, there was much better character development. Granted, the 70's brought out some of the best of the best picture winners, so the scales to measure best picture of the year then and now are much different.

I think if he had gotten the question wrong than it would have been a clear statement that the only thing they needed was each-other's love, which would have been even more corny than the all out happy ending and an annoying final statement IMO, besides they offset the happy ending with the death of the brother.

Overall, I really enjoyed it, but I felt like the first half was just so much better than the second.

Once they became older, the film lost a little bit of its charm. Until that point, I loved it. But yeah, it doesn't take away from the fact that this had a great screenplay and awesome, awesome direction. I love Danny Boyle's style and it shines here (most notably, the way the subtitles were presented - cool stuff). And some scenes are truly memorable in this (the "young Jamal covered in shit" scene, etc.). The film is a tad overrated, but still a great flick. It put a smile on my face, for the most part.

I wouldn't necessarily mind if this won BP.

That was my original reaction, but on the way out my dad's observation made the ending a lot more right/perfect for me, that Jamal "just knew he was going to win". With Jamal getting so far as it stands and now believing this act of unbelievable luck must be written, he just knew this win must be in the cards, and it was. Moreso than that though having him win and the happy/magical ending adds to the destiny/story/fairy tale(?) tone of the film, Jamal's win ending fits in with the "written" stories he read or movies he idolized when younger. Slumdog is very conscience of being a story and being told in a cinematic story way, both through the events and Boyle's direction, and stuff like the Bollywood ending add to that.

That's also why unlike Magnus I don't have a problem with it borrowing conventions like the gangsters, the destiny pillow talk, the underdog character who rises, the inspirational big ending, etc. because Jamal's story is intentionally supposed to be blown up to that story like, movie like, way. If that makes any sense.

Cheesy and schmaltzy, and a total out of the blue ending that almost made me gag. Whoever compared this to Juno is only semi-right, at least Juno had some intentionally funny moments.

C