This movie is an audio and visual treat. The characters are deep and the storyline is well written. Highly recommended for all movie fans.

She said that the constant bombardment of society with sexualised images of young women could be to blame and that it “decreased the extinct that they were seen as human”.
She said the effect was rather like violence on television that studies had shown to desensitise people to the affects of violence.
“I think that there is a parallel in seeing lots of sexualised women,” she added. “You get used to it.”

Supports the point to my comments above.

Eh, I thought the film’s whole central narrative wasn’t compelling. This guy is going through all this suffering because he’s in love with this girl, because… well, because why? She’s a cardboard cutout of a character. The only reason he likes her is because they spent some time begging together as kids and he thinks she’s pretty.

In fact, most all of the characters seemed half-baked, or even contradictory (for example, the brother remaining a “devout” Muslim even unto death). If Boyle could have cut down the childhood begging/stealing montages and spent more time actually developing the characters, the film would have been worth more than its visual flair (which I really disliked, that style of blown-out lights/shaky cam/quick cuts just shows directorial laziness, not skill).

Yeah, it’ll probably sweep the Oscars and help bridge the gap between Bollywood and Hollywood, and I do hope it wins best picture, for it does promote values that the other nominated films would sneer at. However, two, three years from now, nobody’s going to care about it or remember it, for the characters just aren’t that likable.

Who cares – I loved it and can’t remember at least a film in 5 years I thought was as satisfying.

Both films are on my list of favorites. For those of you comparing the two and acting as if Suspects is the first film to bend the narrative timeline, get real. You must not have seen The Wizard of Oz. There’s only so many places you can start telling a story.

The Race Card, you missed the point. Bending the narrative timeline is A Good Thing, as Martha Stewart might say. Pulp Fiction did it in one of the most creative ways I’ve ever seen. Personally, I’ve always thought Sunset Boulevard had the best narrative timeline; it begins with the main character dead in a pool.

But Slumdog Millionaire simply stole the entire SETTING from The Usual Suspects and did so in a blatant manner. They could have avoided the entire issue by simply having the torture/interrogation take place in an empty soundstage on the studio lot. But instead they ripped off one of the better whodunnits of the last 20 years.

Boooooooooooo! Two thumbs down. And as someone else mentioned, that shootout scene with the brother in a bathtub of money was just ridiculous. You don’t make a point by beating people over the head with symbolism.

The only part I truly enjoyed about the film was the boogie they laid down during the credits. ;)

Ed,

You’re a month behind….catch up with all of us in the “in-crowd”.

Tim Burton on February 16, 2009 at 2:57 AM

Agreed…and I saw this two months ago.

But I understand there’s a really good film out called “Ghostbusters.” Can you see it and report back to us?

As a fellow Christian conservative, I would ask that you reconsider by reading my humble review of Slumdog, as well as that of Focus on the Family’s pluggedinonline.com.

jgapinoy on February 16, 2009 at 8:04 AM

Took your suggestion. Here are a few quotes from the latter.

Cultural restraint, though, didn’t prevent Boyle from showing the boys tracking down Latika on a street known for prostitution. They enter a brothel, where audiences see glimpses of half-clothed couples groping each other behind thin curtains, before the siblings finally find Latika, about age 12 or 13, performing in a belly dancing costume…
[Spoiler Warning] When Salim finds a gun, he shoots the orphanage director point-blank in the head…
Elsewhere, the boys’ mother dies after being hit in the face with a pole. On fire, a man runs through the streets while indifferent policemen play cards. A riot takes place near the waterfront; people are beaten. Jamal is beat up and nearly drowned in a bucket of water by police. They later string him up and attach a car battery to his toes, firing a charge of electricity through his thrashing body.

I’ve seen enough. Since when did Christians think this is appropriate? Only since our culture has inundated us with trash in movies and TV. Hello? We have become insensitive to this trash by being bombarded by it and now thinking it’s art! As for the analogy to Dickens, Dickens managed to tell his stories without making them R-rated. So did Hollywood back in the 50′s. But they’ve been pushing the envelope for so long that what would have caused us to walk out of the theater twenty years ago, we now hail as art! I for one, (the only one?) will not.

Christian Conservative on February 15, 2009 at 11:45 PM

As a fellow Christian conservative, I would ask that you reconsider by reading my humble review of Slumdog, as well as that of Focus on the Family’s pluggedinonline.com.

I trust you Ed, but I’m still angry at Danny Boyle about Sunshine. That movie’s third act infuriated me beyond belief because it was so awful and the rest of the film, excellent. If somebody could make a version where Pinbacker was edited out, I’d be set.

darclon on February 15, 2009 at 7:47 PM

I loved Sunshine. I thought it was a great movie, but I agree with you on the ending. I don’t know why Boyle had to insert that gratuitous weirdness into a film that was going so well. I wasn’t ticked about Pinbacker, just that they made him into some sort of a superhuman, ghost figure instead of just a psychotic. His speech about the “last man” in the observation room was a classic.

There were also some problems with the computer not being able to identify a new, extra person on board (after the computer was doing all that other stuff on its own) or the need for typing when the computer speaks, but these sorts of minor issues are to be expected. And the ending, though fun to watch, made no sense.

But I still loved the film and even recommended it for “Best conservative movie” – not because it was conservative, but because it showed the idiocy of liberal emotion-driven decision-making so clearly (and also left a strong message never to take a liberal on a critical mission).

All in all, I still love the movie. Great story.

Also they could have said Kaiser Souce about 100 less times. It became like a bad pop song you couldn’t get out of your head.

But it’s not half the film Memento is.

Rocks on February 15, 2009 at 8:24 PM

I worked at very large entertainment website around the time Usual Suspects was released. IMHO the numerous mentions of Keyser Söze was probably a result of marketers having too much say in final production. Big-ass web movie promotions were still relatively new at the time and our job was to beat consumers over the head with the phrase “Who is Keyser Söze?”

We were swimming in studio swag imprinted with the phrase. It was really overdone. But web promos were a relatively new thing and the synthesis of new media marketing and old Hollywood ways was still working itself out.

Both films are on my list of favorites. For those of you comparing the two and acting as if Suspects is the first film to bend the narrative timeline, get real. You must not have seen The Wizard of Oz. There’s only so many places you can start telling a story.

An imbecile could have wrote this script.

Rocks on February 15, 2009 at 8:12 PM

An imbecile might have used proper grammar. Maybe you were just trying to employ irony as proof of your literary acumen.

My wife and I were interested until we saw the movie was R rated. I refuse to watch anything that Hollywood puts out under the R rating (although I made one exception: The Passion of the Christ). Most of the time, even if the story line is good, the junk they throw in these movies, demeans integrity, sexual purity and God. It’s just another way of Hollywood degrading our culture. If Christians would quit being like the world and simply avoid the stuff that tears down our moral heritage, then Hollywood might wise up and start making more inspirational movies without the coarseness,violence or the gratuitous sex. We have many more inspirational stories than Hollywood has in everyday heroes of the faith.

Christian Conservative on February 15, 2009 at 11:45 PM

It is a harsh look at life and the sinful nature that occurs apart from God. It is no worse than if you watched a movie on David or Abraham or many other stories of those who are listed in Hebrews as being faithful. Rahab sure wasn’t a PG life, yet she is praised in Hebrews as being righteous.

Ever wonder why Lot is listed in Hebrews as being faithful, but was last seen having sex with his daughters?

For example, Fight Club is a violent nasty movie, but is a great explanation of why Post-Modernism is self-destructive and ultimately meaningless. No matter how bad he acts, he is still desperate to find any sort of meaning and utterly fails.

You’re a month behind….catch up with all of us in the “in-crowd”.

I’ve been to Mumbai (Bombay), and I’m here to tell you that it is one of the most horrible places I’ve ever been.

And that’s supposed to be the wealth/business capital of India.

Disturb the Universe on February 15, 2009 at 9:06 PM

I just watch that 30 minutes ago. It was good.
Liam issued some serious pain.

I am looking forward to “Taking Chance”

TheSitRep on February 15, 2009 at 8:23 PM

…….. I agree.

I just enjoy a dramatic movie where the local children of a culture different from me give excellent performances (and there’s not an alien or dinosaur in sight). The little girl in the rain made me choke up.

I am amazed it got green-lighted in Hollyweird.

I guess I’ll give Slumdog a chance since Ed thinks it’s good.

The production number during the closing credits was an absolute delight, and a tribute to the fantastic DESI filmmakers of Bollywood.