so i actually should be studying for the 3 1/2 major tests i have next week (the half's a major quiz), but instead i figured what the heck? why not shoot a blog?
anyhow, i
FINALLY saw slumdog millionaire yesterday, and let me tell you it lives up to the hype. asides from a few stingy plot flaws and a residual british accent, i could find virtually nothing in the movie. still, i can try.
SPOILER ALERTsummary: so this movie starts out with jamal, played by dev patel, rising british-indian actor hailing from the series skins, being tortured through various methods. we then find out he has been accused for fraud on a game show. thus starts a chain of visits down memory lane as jamal relives his life in the slums to explain how he knows every single question. jamal relates everything; a riot that kills his mother, an orphanage that does unspeakable evils for money, his brother's first murder and induction into the palm of a nefarious gangster, and a love that will hit home with viewers. we finally reach the present in jamal's story, and as he finally reaches the final question, all that truly matters to him is finding the love of his life.
electocuting for fraud:
fail...? i mean, i haven't been through mumbai's corporal punishment system, but i'm pretty sure they wouldn't shock your brains out for knowing stuff. well maybe. but not likely.
slum kids:
epic, epic pass this movie had the best child acting i've seen, well, ever. Maybe it was cause these kids were straight from the slums of mumbai, but the realness of their acting really made the movie worthwhile and believable. kudos, kids, and have fun with your new school/house courtesy of danny boyle :)
danny boyle:
epic pass that man just made it onto my list of honorary almost-indians. bravo.
plotline:
pass it just barelyy loses the epic for skipping over a few details that would have been nice to know (like, for example, how does he get onto the show in the first place? or the job as chai-walla? where'd that come from?). i'm being a little over-critical just because there's so little to criticize with this movie. overall, it was a fantastic blend from real-time to flashback to sitting in that chair opposite anil kapoor, whose acting was up to par as always. I still can't imagine how they managed to come up with a way to connect a slumdog's childhood to the love of his life to every single random question thrown at him. as an amateur writer, i am in awe of the writers for this film.
depiction of india:
epic pass mr. boyle wasn't afraid to get into the gritty details, adding everything from religious riots to the dirty mumbai underworld. of course, the eye-gouging scene left me a little sick to the stomach, but it's sad to say i can't vouch that that has never happened. even though the movie shows off the darker side of the city, it also shows the beauty india holds, and the connections that can be made when there are 9 million people all living in one place.
dev patel:
passi give props to him for a decent acting job, but that pesky british accent didnt seem to want to go away, making the transition from his indian-born and bred younger self to him a little choppy. still, he was believable, which is a hard thing to come by these days.
freida pinto:
pass only said about a third of the lines her younger selves got to say, but at least she's photogenic.
ending:
epic pass i almost cried. almost. there was a sniffle.
it really was a good romantic ending, with all of the mush without the cliche.
dance at the end:
why not its india's legacy to add in some kind of unneccesary dance number, so there isn't really much i can say. the kids were cute, dev patel was only extremely awkward.
music:
brillianti had to come up with something better than epic pass for this movie's soundtrack. even MIA sounded right, which must have been hard to incorporate. i've always been a fan of A.R. Rahman, the miscellaneous sound guy, but this just blew me away. i say the soundtrack was at least a third of what made this movie freakin' awesome. and congrats on having the most oscars out of any indian mr. rahman. we're proud of you.
totaled: 1 fail, 1 brilliant, 6 1/4 epics, which rounds out to about 8 1/4 out of 9 1/4, which is a solid 4.89 out of 5 stars. just, awesome.
i was reading through some old stuff yesterday, and i came to the horrific realization that i've forgotten how to write well. i figured it was like riding a bike, but apparently ive lost it. Anyway, i've decided that now with every pointless or occasionally meaningful blog i'll write a teensy passage, just to get back in shape. they're not really going to be connected, prolly just something off the top of my head.
and if i wasn't swamped with all this schoolwork, i would post some icons. i have a set too, i just haven't had the time to fix them up and upload. i will though, pinky pinky pinky promise (thats
three pinkies people!)
-zay
All he could do was stare at the face which had followed him day and night, the face he had seen standing out in the cold but nothing but the clothes on her back, the face he had loved and lost and loved again, the face that carried the truth to both their lives. Eyes that had seen hardship and strife, but fought through to see the beauty in life; a smile that said what a thousand words could not begin to understand or comprehend. Most importantly, in the face opposite his he saw love - a love for the world, a love for life, and a burning love for him that shot through him like a flame as he ran one finger down her porcelain cheek. Her eyes fluttered close as he marveled at her perfection.
"Kiss me," she whispered, her voice as light as the wind dancing through the air. He leaned towards her, slowly, deliberately, and suddenly nothing mattered - everything was all right in the world.
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