Monday, Feb 16, 2009

Monday’s Movie: Slum Dog Millionaire

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I invite everybody to participate in the weekly MEME and write about any movies, television or big screen, that you’ve seen over the past week and write about it.  Please feel free to use the above logo photo in your post and/or link back to the site.  I will post every Sunday Night or Monday Morning on the movie I’ve seen from the past week.  I’m hoping that there are other movie buffs out there who will enjoy the MEME as much as I’m hoping to!  The only small request that I have is that you rate the movie out of 5 bags of popcorn (so, 1 bag out of 5, 2 bags out of 5, and so on). 

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Movie:  Slum Dog Millionaire

Starring:  Dev Patel, Freida Pinto, Madhur Mittal

Genre:  Drama, Crime, Romance

Runtime: 2 Hours 

MPAA Rating:  R

Directed By: Danny Boyle & Loveleen Tandan

Academy Award Nominations: 

• Achievement in Cinematography
• Achievement in Directing
• Achievement in Film Editing
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Score)
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
• Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures (Original Song)
• Best Motion Picture of the Year
• Achievement in Sound Editing
• Achievement in Sound Mixing
• Adapted Screenplay

Golden Globe (2009) Awards:

I absolutely LOVED this movie.  I thought the cinematography was superb!  The music was engaging.  The cast did an excellent job.  The story kept me on my toes.  I will forever remember the characters of Jamal, Latika, and Salim. 

This is a story of  an 18 year old young man, Jamal.  He is an unlikely contestant on Who Wants to Be A Millionaire, India.  Why is he there?  Because he will do anything to meet his destiny?  And, what is his destiny?  To win millions?  No, to find Latika.

Jamal and his brother, Salim, become orphaned when they witness their mother’s murder in a religious massacre in Mumbai.  They find shelter from the rain in an empty train-car.  Jamal offers this refuge to little Latika, another orphan standing alone in the rain, despite Salim’s disagreement.  Jamal vows that they shall become just like “The Three Musketeers.”

The trio is soon picked up by an evil-doer who presents himself as a saint who runs an orphanage.  What he is truly running is a child slavery operation based on these poor children begging in the streets.  Although there is safety and shelter, Salim becomes privy to the overseer’s evil plan to blind his brother, in attempts to gain more begging income.  Salim’s bravery and cleverness enable all three to escape the so-called “orphanage.”  As the three attempt to out-run the overseer and his men, only Jamal and Salim are able to escape by jumping onto a train.  Latika can’t quite make it and slips through their fingers and back into the control of the overseer. 

The boys travel via trains across the country working odd jobs and con-jobs wherever possible.  Stealing was never out of the question.  Their lucrative ways based on their street smarts are abandoned when Jamal drags Salim back to Mumbai to look for Latika.  When they locate her, a series of events not only tear this trio apart, but tie them back together.

Jamal In The Hover Potty

The storyline is so well written and the movie had me on the edge of my seat wanting to see what happened next.  So… for this review… that’s all of the “scoop” that you’ll get on the tale.  I highly highly highly recommend this movie.

One of my favorite scenes is when Jamal is in the “hover toilet” (for lack of knowing its proper definition).  The helicopter with India’s most favorite actor is arriving nearby the slums.  Salim locks his brother in the “john” as a trick.  Jamal’s only option… jump down into the waste pile to escape.  So, he holds the picture of his favorite actor up high in the air and jumps, saving it from the feces.  However, Jamal (now completely covered in feces) walks through the crowd, holding up the photo until he reaches the star.  He gets the autograph!  HORRAY!

I haven’t read the book “Q & A” that this movie is based upon.  I’m not sure that I’m going to read it because I loved the movie so much.  Even though I loved The Reader, I’m rooting for Slum Dog Millionaire to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.  The movie stole my heart!

Out of 5 bags of popcorn, genre drama… I give this:

Please add your reviews into Mr. Linky!

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