Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing Slumdog Millionaire. All I can say is WOW! Now I understand what all the hoopla's about. This ambitious indie film received several well deserved Academy nods. I'm sure it will do very well, if not completely sweep the awards show.

It was directed by Danny Boyle who commands more and more respect after each of his films I see. Here's a very talented director who apparently prefers to work on smaller films (greater control perhaps & not beholden to the Hollywood studio system?). I've never known of a director aside from the much more well known Spielberg, whose worked in so many different genres.

He broke with Trainspotting, and from there moved onto films that ran the gamut of horror to family. Slumdog being somewhat (although not for kids) in the latter. This is the man who produced one of my favorite horror films 28 Days Later, also co-producing it's sequel (which I also enjoyed). He also produced Millions, a lighter film with a sweet heartfelt story.

I'm not going to explain the story of Slumdog except to say it takes place in India, and it's main themes seem to be about love, hope, and perseverance. His films ultimately deal with the human spirit and condition regardless of region or culture. This film simultaneously broke and warmed my heart. Although I felt the ending was mildly cliched, I felt for the most part the film lived up to the hype.

If you've not seen it, make the effort not to miss it. It's been playing at my local (way too small) movie house that contains one moderate sized theatre, along with three much smaller ones. We saw it in the smaller (& worst) of the four. It's been playing there for over a month now. That's unheard of these days, so that certainly says something about the popularity of this film.

Also showing at this movie house were; Doubt, The Wrestler, and Revolutionary Road. This theatre owner must be making a fortune. There was a line down the block, with traffic in the area practically at a standstill. I've not seen this since the 70's and 80's when most theatres had only one screen. Ah, those were the days.