You Must Watch Slumdog Millionaire!
Slumdog Millionaire, released by those geniuses at Fox Searchlight, is playing at select theatres now.
You must watch this movie, you must!
Don't take my word for it.
This is what my old USC buddy Andy Colville said:
"I loved the movie."
And then: "Wow. I loved it. Have you seen?"
Andy went to Harvard and Cambridge(!), you have to believe him right?
And then, to top it all off, my other USC buddy, the great "Bat"Manuel Bermudez just made my year!
Why?
This is what he wrote to me recently:
"I saw Slumdog Millionaire tonight based on your recommendation.
"I drove half an hour to get to the theater and waited in line for an hour to see the movie. I spent as much time getting to and from the movie as I spent in the theater watching it.
"And you know what?
"It was worth it. You were right: it really is a terrific movie.
"Thanks for turning me on to it."
And he went to Stanford, you have to believe him, right?
What a guy! Sigh, makes me so happy!
Everyone should watch Slumdog Millionaire!
cheers!
The basu! Guide to the Movies
(The All-Hail-The-Indian-Cricket-Team Edition)
14 November 2008
Movie: The Best Movie, Ever!
Slumdog Millionaire
Directed by: Danny Boyle
Starring: The Great Anil Kapoor, The Great Irrfan Khan, Dev Patel, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Freida Pinto, Rubina Ali, Madhur Mittal, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Sanchita Choudhar
Written by: Simon Beaufoy
Cinematography by: Anthony Dod Mantel
Plot: A boy from the slums shakes things up when he does really well on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. Talk-about-a-real-rags-to-rajah*-story type complications ensue.
The basu! Buzz: Here is what I wrote on my blog immediately after I watched the movie:
I just got back from a special screening of Slumdog Millionaire.
It's 10:32 pm PST out here in Southern California.
What did I think?
Let's see, if there was a checklist to make a "third-world" movie a Hollywood-sized hit (City of God, Born Into Brothels, etc.), this is how Slumdog would do:
Slums? Check.
Abject poverty? Check.
Poor street kids? Check.
Poor, cute, street kids? Check.
Living in filth and squalor? Check.
Getting by with their wits and small-time mischief? Check.
Outrunning the law? Check.
Violence? Check.
Communal (or is that religious?) violence? Check.
Violence against kids? Check.
Kids with guns? Check.
Predators? Check.
Beggars? Check.
Prostitution? Check.
Child near-prostitution? Check.
Poor children filled with the kind of saintly exuberance, naivete and hopefulness that the West objectifies to help it deflect the shattering reality of the situation? Check.
But yet, here I am, my synapses firing, my heart soaring, my legs twitching, my soul throbbing to the pulse of a truly visceral cinematic experience.
(Yeah, I know, cliched, but then again, it's not like I'm a professional critic or anything).
I heart Danny Boyle.
He is a master craftsman, and boy does he make this film run, dance, and sing. True, he has a lot to work with here, a huge canvas to paint on; we are talking about the mythical, exoticland known as India.
I have to admit that I was getting mad in the beginning. It was one thing after another after another after another after another after.... well you get my drift. And when they added in some good old secular (or is it communal? religious?) violence into the mix, well I was ready to give up.
I'm so glad I didn't.
Because, you see, Danny boy has a way of keeping things going; this energy pulsating through a film, of a throbbing, propulsive, kinetic life-force (these are the cliches you'll see in the movie's marketing campaign) that eventually makes you drop your guard and give into the fairy tale.
Because that is ultimately what we have here, a fairy tale, an ultimately life-affirming fairy tale based in the sort of heightened reality that Bollywood has come to embody (as so expertly analyzed by The Better Half). Danny uses all the tricks in his sizable bag (including perhaps the greatest time lapse I have ever seen, when the boys are on the train and...well, you'll have to see), but really it's Simon Beaufoy's expert puzzle of a script that brings it all home in the end.
[The movie is based on Vikas Swarup's debut novel, Q&A. Yes, that's right, I said debut novel. Makes you crazy doesn't it? A British director goes to India, where he had never been before, never!, and adapts the debut novel of a part-time writer, (Swarup was a diplomat before the novel was published). Pretty crazy, huh? Makes you wish that you could, you know, do something like that...]
And yes, even though I could see it coming from a mile away, even though I knew what was about to happen in the end, my heart was in my throat and I got a wee...bit...choked...up...
What can I say? I tend to get sentimental in my old age.
Any "propulsive" movie "throbbing" with energy needs a pulsating soundtrack, a soundtrack with the "pulsing rhythm of life" (see how I did that...nice, no?) and everyone from A. R. Rahman to Shankar Ehsaan Loy, to even M.I.A. herself (wonder if she is going to become Irrfan Khan-like de rigueur for these Hollywood/Bollywood movies?) contribute mightily to this effort. I don't think there was ever a more appropriate place for "Paper Planes" (that great Pineapple Express trailer notwithstanding) than how it was used in this movie.
If the now-great (yes, I have dubbed him a "great" so I will use that little prefix every time I mention him in the future, and yes, great will be italicized) Anthony Dod Mantle is not nominated for Best Cinematography come Oscar time, then that will be a tragedy of Emmanuel Lubezki proportions!
The acting is good, with a stellar turn by the great Anil Kapoor (I hope this puts him in the Irrfan Khan category where, by law, every "Hollywood" movie made in India has to give him a part...). Thank god Shah Rukh Khan reportedly turned down the role.
Irrfan, as always, was good, with some nice work turned in by the likes of Raj Zutshi, Saurabh Shukla, and the very frightening Ankur Vikal.
Ironically, the hitherto unknown lead Dev Patel (discovered by Danny's daughter from the British show, and apparent cult hit, Skins) is somewhat of a weak link. It's not really his fault; the movie actually doesn't give him (as in the character at that age) much of a backstory, so ultimately it is a little hard to make the inevitable narrative leap with him.
Ditto the female lead, Freida Pinto, and male co-lead Madhur Mittal, who, to be fair, were both making their film debuts. Actually, come to think of it, this was the first film for all three of them so fine, I'll cut them some slack. So, okay they were all good, fine.
I hate to say, I really do, but the kids...man were they heart-breakingly good. They really were.
Why do I hate to say it? Because, it seems that they are all slum kids...for real.
Yeah, I know. Danny has promised that he has put them in good schools where he hopes they will stay. Once you give them a taste of this life, of the possibilities that are now open to them that they could not have previously dared to even dream about, it would be a tragedy, a real tragedy!, for them to go back to the way things were.
I sincerely hope that Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, Ayush Mahesh Khedekar, Rubina Ali, Farzana Ansari, and Chirag Parmar use this opportunity to make a better a life for themselves.
The other "kids" were great too, I haven't read through the production notes in more detail to know for sure if they were "slum" kids or just your average, run-of-the-mill Indian kids who just happen to be terrific young actors. They definitely rate a mention: Tanay Hemant Chheda, Ashutosh Lobo Gajiwala, Tanvi Ganesh Lonkar, and Siddesh Patil.
I will concede that it is very easy to be clear-eyed and objective here. I will grant you that the film does, in fact, fall prey to the exact things I often rail against: it exoticizes India; it amplifies the very worst Western stereotypes of India; it perpetuates the one-sided depiction of India that persists in Western media; it uses easy stereotypes; it is lazy in its shorthanding of the many complexities that bedevil urban Indian living; it provides a sanctified halo around the "noble" suffering it shows; it leans on the children to provide the easy emotional connection; it resorts to the oldest narrative tricks in the book; it...
It sweeps you away.
Because...
...it is 11:57 pm PST out here in Southern California...
...and an old man is twitching with energy...
...pulsating with this so-called rhythm of life...
...basking in the afterglow of that rare cinematic experience...
...where it was all right, for once, to believe in fairy tales.
What can I say?
I am getting sentimental in my old age.
Bottom Line: Theatres – First Day!
Other Movies to Check Out (as well): Millions; Sunshine; Trainspotting; Shallow Grave; 28 Days Later…
* Sorry, that "rags-to-rajah" was from the excellent folks at Fox Searchlight, I just had to co-opt it here.
Movie: The Best James Bond (Character, Not Movie), Ever!
Quantum of Solace
Directed by: Marc Forster
Starring: Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, Giancarlo Giannini, Jeffrey Wright
Plot: A British secret agent goes after the organization behind the murder of his girlfriend. C'mon-I-like-my-Bond-shaken-and-stirred-not-sweet-and-soft type complications ensue.
The basu! Buzz: Yeah, so I was wrong, dead wrong about Craig. I know I had signed those online petitions to have him replaced with the great, great Clive Owen (sigh, one of these days, one of these days he'll do a movie that more than 10 people will actually see). At least I was man enough to admit it. The word on this one is not great (how could it be, the great and incredible and amazing and jaw-dropping Eva Green isn't in it) but apparently the great Dench is given more to do. And for me that's more than enough. I'm sorry Danny, really sorry. Drinks on me next time, all right?
Bottom Line: Me, and Other "Long-Time" Fans of Daniel Craig as James Bond: Theatres – First Week; Other, More Fickle Fans: Theatres – Eventually
Other Movies to Check Out (as well): Casino Royale; Goldfinger; The Spy Who Loved Me; The Living Daylights; On Her Majesty's Secret Service
Movie: The French Do It Again
A Christmas Tale
Directed by: Arnaud Desplechin
Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Mathieu Amalric, Melvil Poupaud, Chiara Mastroianni
Plot: A dysfunctional family tries to renew itself during Christmas, sorry, the Holidays. Why-is-Christmas-sorry-the-Holidays-with-the-family-always-so-stressful? type complications ensue.
The basu! Buzz: Dude, this is proof that the French do everything better, everything. They make a Christmas Movie, another Christmas, sorry Holiday, I meant Holiday Movie, and it's designated as a Critics' Pick by The New York Times. And it got a 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, and a 87% on MetaCritic. Imagine that! A Holiday movie and it's universally acclaimed…only the French, only the French! But of course, we all know, since it is French, it is not just a Christmas, sorry, Holiday movie now is it? Hmm…
Bottom Line: Those Lucky Few in Manhattan and Los Angeles Who Want to Experience Some French Christmas, Sorry Holiday Spirit: Theatres – First Week; Other, Less Geographically Fortunate and More Grinch-y Souls: DVD
Other Movies to Check Out (as well): A Christmas Story; Tokyo Godfathers; Elf; Bad Santa; Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole Christmas! (1966)
Movie: One For Old Fogies Like Me
The Dukes
Directed by: Robert Davi (yes, that Robert Davi)
Starring: Chazz Palminteri, Robert Davi, Peter Bogdanovich, Miriam Margolyes
Plot: A pair of old doo-wop singers concocts a heist to steal some gold. The-other-movie-about-old-singers-reuniting type complications ensue.
The basu! Buzz: Oh man, we all love Davi, you know, the bad guy in everything from The Goonies to License to Kill (yup, he was a Bond villain, kinda ironic, or is that just plain interesting?, that this movie is being released on the same weekend as the new Bond movie even though it's been in the can for a couple of years). Apparently, the man went ahead and directed a movie and enlisted fellow once-greats like Palminteri and Bogdanovich. Good for him, good for him!
Bottom Line: Me, and Others With Fond Memories of Chazz Palminteri, Robert Davi, and Peter Bogdanovich: DVD; Other, Less Nostalgic Fans: Pass
Other Movies to Check Out (instead): A Bronx Tale; The Goonies; The Last Picture Show; What's Up, Doc?; Paper Moon
The Top 10 Movies of 2008
Slumdog Millionaire [tie]
The Dark Knight [tie]
Man on Wire [tie]
Encounters at the End of the World [tie]
WALL·E [tie]
Iron Man
The Visitor
Kung Fu Panda
Step Brothers
Rachel Getting Married
Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Hancock
Wanted
Religulous (new entry)
The Top 10 Films Out Right Now That I Positively Have to See
Changeling
Ballast
Happy-Go-Lucky
I've Loved You So Long
Role Models
Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa
RocknRolla
Blindness
The Duchess
Soul Men