This blog usually covers video and news, but with the advent of Oscar season, we will frequently cover the terrain of filmed entertainment; or, in other words, movies! I have seen many of the award-nominated films this winter including The Wrestler and Gran Torino. This weekend, my wife and I saw Slumdog Millionaire.
The most striking aspect of Slumdog is the film’s energy. The cutting is frenetic. The music is big, loud and rocks a beat. The saturated colors express the exotic if not impoverished locale of Mumbai, India. When a film ends, most audiences head for the exits except in movie-loving, high brow areas like Los Angeles and New York City. When this film ended here in Cedar Rapids, 90% of the audience stayed in the seats for the extended dance routine during the end credits. That tells me the local audience was transfixed by the jolt of energy and drama that is Slumdog.
The film was not without criticism. The narrative was preposterous. I doubt any person, upon entering a quiz show, is going to have the questions exactly correspond to their life story. Many bloggers and entertainment writers have commented on this. I do not buy it. You do not go to the movies for logic. Just like theater, when you enter the proscenium arch or the curve of the theater screen, you suspend all disbelief to be blindsided by the passion and energy of the show.
My bet is Slumdog will win Best Picture during the forthcoming Oscars. Maybe because we are all demoralized by the plummeting economy, but this picture is popular because it energizes a downtrodden audience. — Michael Barnes
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