Did Slumdog deserve best picture??
- Thread starter Clarissa
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buffettgirl
Cathlete
Some of the best movies I have ever seen are foreign films with sub-titles."Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown," "My Mother's Castle," and "Babette's Feast" are some that come to mind.
I think I may have to see Slumdog. The name turned me off before I ever knew anything about it, but it sounds like my kind of movie.
I think I may have to see Slumdog. The name turned me off before I ever knew anything about it, but it sounds like my kind of movie.
LauraMax
Cathlete
You can say that again! Some of his movies are mildly amusing, but if I want to see quality toilet humor (as opposed to gratuitous screams for attention by someone who never would've been in a movie if she'd had to rely on, you know, TALENT) I'll watch Something About Mary.
Oh, Robin, Babette's Feast is one of my all-time favorite movies!!! And then there's Like Water for Chocolate. (Yeah, it's all about the FOOD!) Oh, and Cyrano de Bergerac, Diva, Bread & Tulips, La Cage aux Folles, Manon des Sources, Jean de Florettes, Jesus of Montreal, etc.
Not seeing a film just because it is foreign is, well, FOREIGN to me; I can't imagine it. But, then again, I once worked with two women who refused to watch black and white films
Not seeing a film just because it is foreign is, well, FOREIGN to me; I can't imagine it. But, then again, I once worked with two women who refused to watch black and white films
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cb1924
Cathlete
"This is why I don't watch the Oscars. Every movie that wins is something I've never heard of. I hate that."
And I'm just the opposite; they're usually the only ones I want to see!
I LOVED the Titanic!!! I watch that movie over and over again. At least the first half- where jack and rose fall in love. And the special effects were amazing!! I was very upset that Leo did not get nominated. I am waiting to see their new movie together- Revolutionary Road. I heard it was very good.
I was very happy that Kate Winslet finally got an Oscar. She is such a great actress.
And Heath Ledger- very happy he won. He was incredible in that movie. I have to say I got teary eyed when his family came up to accept his Oscar.
Clarissa- I knew what you meant about it being in English.
chrissy
carres1973
Cathlete
"This is why I don't watch the Oscars. Every movie that wins is something I've never heard of. I hate that."
And I'm just the opposite; they're usually the only ones I want to see!
ITA!!! I just could not sit through all of Titanic. Did they think we didn't know the boat was going to sink???
Carrie
cb1924
Cathlete
You can say that again! Some of his movies are mildly amusing, but if I want to see quality toilet humor (as opposed to gratuitous screams for attention by someone who never would've been in a movie if she'd had to rely on, you know, TALENT) I'll watch Something About Mary.
Laura- absolutely love Something about Mary!!!
I think Tommy Boy is my all time favorite comedy though.
And the wax scene from 40 year old Virgin should have won some kind of an award. I don't think I ever laughed so hard.
chrissy
Back to slumdog...my son saw it and said it was the best movie he's ever seen. Although how he explained it it seemed sad...to the poster that said it was sweet and uplifting did some of the parts bother you? I want to see it but how my son explained it I thought it would make me sad. If it is uplifting I will surely go!!
buffettgirl
Cathlete
TeTe, I usually go to the foreign film section first when I'm renting a movie. I don't think I've seen half of the ones you mentioned though. I'll have to get busy.
My DD loves, loves, loves "old" movies and knows someone who refuses to watch anything in black and white too. What a pity. You'd miss Casablanca, It Happened One Night, all the Marx Brothers movies, African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Some Like it Hot, etc etc.
My DD loves, loves, loves "old" movies and knows someone who refuses to watch anything in black and white too. What a pity. You'd miss Casablanca, It Happened One Night, all the Marx Brothers movies, African Queen, The Maltese Falcon, Some Like it Hot, etc etc.
I see a lot of movies and was not in love with any one of the nominees. Slumdog was interesting, a crowd-pleasing feel-good movie, well shot and well acted. I guess out of the choices offered that was the best. I thought Benjamin Button was too long, too full of itself, too pretentious. Milk was not emotionally engaging and the photography was dull (I am sensitive to photography because my brother-in-law is a cinematographer). I am waiting to see a movie that I absolutely adore, like Driving Miss Daisy, Sea Biscuit, something that makes me feel totally engaged. It was a dull movie year IMHO.
I was glad Kate Winslet won - I love that she's so down-to-earth and comfortable with her body. Lately in some magazine they were giving the waist sizes of various stars - she said her waist is 29 inches on a good day and she has absolutely no problem with that. She's just super cool, with a basic confidence (like Meryl Streep) that is so attractive.
I didn"t see The Wrestler but it's supposed to be an amazing performance and I was really expecting Mickey Rourke to win. I did not love Sean Penn's performance in Milk, I think that award was maybe a little politically motivated after Prop. 8 (rescinding gay marriage) passed in November here in California. Since I'm very strongly pro-gay-rights, I'm glad that at least Sean got to make his I-support-equal-rights speech when he won. But I did not think his performance was killer genius.
Still, I love to watch the Oscars. The commercials are almost as amusing as the show!
I was glad Kate Winslet won - I love that she's so down-to-earth and comfortable with her body. Lately in some magazine they were giving the waist sizes of various stars - she said her waist is 29 inches on a good day and she has absolutely no problem with that. She's just super cool, with a basic confidence (like Meryl Streep) that is so attractive.
I didn"t see The Wrestler but it's supposed to be an amazing performance and I was really expecting Mickey Rourke to win. I did not love Sean Penn's performance in Milk, I think that award was maybe a little politically motivated after Prop. 8 (rescinding gay marriage) passed in November here in California. Since I'm very strongly pro-gay-rights, I'm glad that at least Sean got to make his I-support-equal-rights speech when he won. But I did not think his performance was killer genius.
Still, I love to watch the Oscars. The commercials are almost as amusing as the show!
cb1924
Cathlete
Oh- BTW, I haven't seen any of the nominated movies this year, either.
I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I am no longer a fan of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The whole love triangle thing annoys me. I have lost any desire to see any of their movies.
It was good to see Sean Penn finally win an oscar too. He is also a great actor-although I have not seen his movie either. I thought The Wrestler guy (cant for the life of me think of his name right now) was going to win since he won the GG. What a strange man!!
Ohhh -it just came to me-Mickey Rourke.
chrissy
I don't know why it bothers me so much, but I am no longer a fan of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. The whole love triangle thing annoys me. I have lost any desire to see any of their movies.
It was good to see Sean Penn finally win an oscar too. He is also a great actor-although I have not seen his movie either. I thought The Wrestler guy (cant for the life of me think of his name right now) was going to win since he won the GG. What a strange man!!
Ohhh -it just came to me-Mickey Rourke.
chrissy
and the first part of The Wizard of Oz! (although, it was technically sepia-toned!)
Seriously, all those great old movies, not to mention newer ones like Raging Bull and Schindler's List!!!
Vee
Cathlete
Clarissa,
Here is a perspective from someone from India.
I saw the movie and enjoyed it. I personally dont think it was the best picture of the year. Not even the best movie set in India. It has several narrative flaws. But it is a very entertaining movie and there are many wonderful performances especially by the child stars and Irfan Khan who plays the cop. Everything depicted about the life of the characters in their youngest years is a true to life depiction. That actually happens in India.
It is based on a book by an Indian author and directed by a British film maker Danny Boyle.
If you are familar with the Bollywood format you will see how Danny Boyle has tried to adapt it for a universal audience. It was made on a shoe string budget. The original plan was to go straight to DVD - it had an unknown cast - vast parts of it were spoken in Hindi (with English subtitles) and the production budget as already mentioned was low. The producers then took a chance on a theatrical release and were astounded by the reaction themselves.
In India reaction is mixed (to the Oscar win).
- One set of people loved the film and are happy about its success. They are proud of the attention a film on India is receiving.
-Some think it is a good but not great film and did not deserve an Oscar.
- Some hate the movie for glorifying the poverty in India and "selling" the dark underside to the West. I personally dont think this is so at all. The author and Boyle say the film highlights how poverty is not an obstacle to optimism, which I find an accurate depiction. I see so much fortitude and appreciation of the gift of life, despite their unimaginable adversity in sections of society that India's economic development has left behind.
- Some feel the publicity/awards around the film is because of economic conditions. While the West is in recession, the onus of growth has to be borne by emerging countries. Hollywood has started taking a keen interest in India as a market and co-producing films with Bollywood film-makers. So the nomination was totally manipulated according to this theory. This is like the conspiracy theory that was floated when Ms Universe and Ms World pageants were won by women from India / China. It was at the time when cosmetics companies were making their foray into this part of the world. They had woken up to the fact that although only a small percentage of India's population can afford cosmetics, a small percentage of 1 billion people is large in absolute terms. The initial ads that launched the cosmetics used Ms World and Ms Universe winners who were Indian women! Indian women did not commonly use make up until then, barring small segments of society. The growth in women who wear make up ihas been so sharp. So the goal is more Indians will care about Oscars and Hollywood. I am not sure if I buy this theory though I do accept it could be true of the paegant rigging.
Here is a perspective from someone from India.
I saw the movie and enjoyed it. I personally dont think it was the best picture of the year. Not even the best movie set in India. It has several narrative flaws. But it is a very entertaining movie and there are many wonderful performances especially by the child stars and Irfan Khan who plays the cop. Everything depicted about the life of the characters in their youngest years is a true to life depiction. That actually happens in India.
It is based on a book by an Indian author and directed by a British film maker Danny Boyle.
If you are familar with the Bollywood format you will see how Danny Boyle has tried to adapt it for a universal audience. It was made on a shoe string budget. The original plan was to go straight to DVD - it had an unknown cast - vast parts of it were spoken in Hindi (with English subtitles) and the production budget as already mentioned was low. The producers then took a chance on a theatrical release and were astounded by the reaction themselves.
In India reaction is mixed (to the Oscar win).
- One set of people loved the film and are happy about its success. They are proud of the attention a film on India is receiving.
-Some think it is a good but not great film and did not deserve an Oscar.
- Some hate the movie for glorifying the poverty in India and "selling" the dark underside to the West. I personally dont think this is so at all. The author and Boyle say the film highlights how poverty is not an obstacle to optimism, which I find an accurate depiction. I see so much fortitude and appreciation of the gift of life, despite their unimaginable adversity in sections of society that India's economic development has left behind.
- Some feel the publicity/awards around the film is because of economic conditions. While the West is in recession, the onus of growth has to be borne by emerging countries. Hollywood has started taking a keen interest in India as a market and co-producing films with Bollywood film-makers. So the nomination was totally manipulated according to this theory. This is like the conspiracy theory that was floated when Ms Universe and Ms World pageants were won by women from India / China. It was at the time when cosmetics companies were making their foray into this part of the world. They had woken up to the fact that although only a small percentage of India's population can afford cosmetics, a small percentage of 1 billion people is large in absolute terms. The initial ads that launched the cosmetics used Ms World and Ms Universe winners who were Indian women! Indian women did not commonly use make up until then, barring small segments of society. The growth in women who wear make up ihas been so sharp. So the goal is more Indians will care about Oscars and Hollywood. I am not sure if I buy this theory though I do accept it could be true of the paegant rigging.
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Another lover of foreign films here. There are just so many good films being made outside the U.S. as well as plenty of great domestic indie films that unfortunately get zero distribution.
ITA with the one Robin and TeTe mentioned and throw in "All About My Mother", "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" (yes, more food ), "Whale Rider"...
Titanic was definitely cinematic schlock, but I freely admit using the "I'm king of the world!" line whenever appropriate.
ITA with the one Robin and TeTe mentioned and throw in "All About My Mother", "Eat, Drink, Man, Woman" (yes, more food
), "Whale Rider"...Titanic was definitely cinematic schlock, but I freely admit using the "I'm king of the world!" line whenever appropriate.
lioness
Cathlete
I love, love, love foreign films!!! Thank goodness for Netflix. I usually only see foreign, classic and independent films. I don't mind subtitles, in fact I hardly notice them anymore.
I'm glad Sean Penn and Kate Winslet won. I adore them!!
Vee I agree with what you are saying. We lived in India for 18 years mostly in Mumbai. My children were born in Mumbai. I thought Slumdog was an amazing and wonderful film. Boyle really captured that optimism that these kids have in the face of obstacles that I don't think anyone here in the US can even imagine. I thought it deserved the Oscar and if you haven't seen it I recommend going and getting a brief glimpse into what is it like for so many children in the world today. A friend of mine went to vet school in the Philippines and said it reminded him so much of that country also. There is a whole world out there that Americans really don't ever get to see or appreciate. India should be so proud of those kids.
Liann
Cathlete
I made it through Pan's Labyrinth and am still traumatized to this day!
Beautiful and awful at the same time. Now I LOVED the Orphanage and although that one also traumatized me, I've watched it a million times! 
Beavs
Cathlete
Vee-I so appreciate reading the Indian perspective. I enjoyed Slumdog. I loved Monsoon Wedding. This is the film knowledge I have of India. I'd love to see more.
As the U.S. becomes less dominant in the world it will be refreshing for Americans to do more listening and learning about the world around them.....and maybe see a few films that are not in English
As the U.S. becomes less dominant in the world it will be refreshing for Americans to do more listening and learning about the world around them.....and maybe see a few films that are not in English
I think Slumdog was an OUTSTANDING film and deserved to win. Actually, I almost walked out on it in the first 20 min. There are some scenes that were a little tough for me to take which I was not aware of ahead of time. It all makes sense once you see the story unfold. I think the concept and storyline were brilliant. How people think up this stuff always amazes me. I loved watching Danny Boyles' expressions in the audience. He seemed like such a sincere, humble person. He was always smiling and happy for all the winners. Can you tell that I highly recommend this movie but just know that there are some scenes you might want to peer at through your fingers over your eyes. That kind of stuff just bothers me. I'm just the sensitive type.
Bam
Bam