i dont think sm was deserving either although its agood good mvie .i didnt like the part where thhere is sudden transformation frm hindi to eng of the characters,the plot is too coinincidental,and its a spiced up masala pop corn film.i thought frost nixon was good for winning

i agree to the point that the indians are getting dismissive about their problems .the povert and all. the dance sequence in the end could have been made entertaining. it looked rather boring.pretty lame.. he theme of the movie ws good anf those who are critisizing this. i dunno what more innovative they expect. screenplay was excellent. the movie i suppose because it had an entertaining aspect to it.. so it got away with more criticism from cynical indians. "Salaam Bombay" was an artististic movie of such kind and it too made much news. It was a great movie i heard.

I thought Slumdog was mildly entertaining at best; to nominate it for best picture is a crime. Worst than "Crash" winning best picture a few years back. It's really pathetic when a simple underdog story with a little love story thrown in can be nominate for best picture. I long for the days of "Raging Bull", "Network" and "Goodfellas". Now THOSE were best pictures. Hands down.

Hm. Both. The story might have some realistic depictions, etc. but America loves making money off the problems of other people. Still a good movie and if Winehouse can snag some Grammys then Slumdog can nab all the oscars it can get. It except the one for best picture (Doubt). Hi haters, bye haters.

The movie was good, but not great. I am not sure why there is quite so much hype about it. And I agree the dance number at the end was horribly out of place. Looking back at past Oscars for Best Picture, however, Slumdog Millionaire is much better than some of the other garbage that has won, such as Titanic. At least this movie has some heart to it.

Never mind the fact that the message of this film is rather sickening, I was just totally disappointed by it, and with the exception of the photography I fail to understand why it is up for any oscars (although, the oscar nominations leave me bewildered most years). The actors were all fine, but to me it was nothing more than a glossed up, predictable and ultimately unsatisfying experience, which at times felt like it would never end.

I liked this movie, and thought it was very good, but I have seen all of the nominations (except Benjamin Button), and this was my least favorite. It simply was not satisfying. The romance felt unbelievable. I never understood why Jamal loved her, besides the fact that she was pretty. It didn't help that at times the acting was mediocre to poor. The scene where Salim fills up a bathtub with money and is murdered in it was far too melodramatic and blatant. We get it, his greed killed him. I knew how the film was going to end about five minutes into it, and the narrating device got old after a while. It was also very slow at times. The beginning of this movie was wonderful, but the second half really sagged. I was entertained by the movie, and thought it was beautifully shot, and had some great ideas, but it also had a lot of shortcomings. My vote for best movie of the year goes hands down to Rachel Getting Married, but since it was brutally ignored by the Academy, Milk should win. It was wonderful, light years ahead of Slumdog.

Its a superficial crowd pleaser which you forget 5 seconds after the movie is over.

All those comments are born from jealousy. Coz it kick down lots of hollywood movies.

I think that Slumdog is reallistic and it is entertaining.

People live in good countries does not relate with this movie but only entertained.

I loved Slumdog. I really got into the film as I watched it and it's stayed with me since seeing it. It totally deserves best picture out of the nominees, but let's not kid ourselves here...Wall E was totally robbed and should be the best film of the year. If it can't be Wall E, it should be Slumdog.

why is it that if a movie takes place in another culture and its about poor people, then its "poverty porn?" Is Oliver poverty porn? Are movies about poor people in the US poverty porn? Which ones? Do we even make movies about poor people? I guess I am just confused by this sudden political correctness.

I agree that Slumdog is a fairytale. I don't think Boyle intended it to be a true-to-life exploration of India so much as a story about a boy who has an incredible amount of determination and optimism. We don't see the boys wallowing in self pity at their circumstances, we see them as survivors, each taking a different path. One brother lives a just life, working hard and wanting to find the girl he sees as his destiny. His brother takes another, violent path. In the end there is salvation and sacrifice. I think those are very hopefull messages in hard times. I loved Slumdog.

i think its a poignant movie with fantastically styled cinematography. the plot is good and how it unfolds is thoroughly justifying.....i am an indian and I can tell you this is not about India or even Mumbai....the story sets itself up in the slums of Mumbai...so different from the Mumbai of Anil Ambani or a politician or a writer like Shoba De...instead of looking at its features from a negative attitude, why can't people talk more about the story of the boy, his aspirations, and that even s boy from a very unhelpful background can aspire to be someone in this country. In India anything is possible - hook or crook, sheer hard work or sheer guts...there is order even in the chaos...Danny Boyle has not exploited anyone or any place...he is showing reality. we as indians should accept that and see things not just from our opinions. outside opinion matters in any context towards anything or anyone...did Bush not make it as the worst President in recent history to many? open mind. open souls...

I dont think that slumdog was that great
it was good but i dont think it should win the oscar. It shoud go to milk
and the curious case of benjamin i thought wasnt the best either but def one of the most beautifully shot films of this decade and one of the best it doesnt deserve to win best pic but i wouldnt be mad if it did i love it. but milk for best pic haha

The unfortunate bashing of a great,but not Oscar deserving, movie(that should go to Milk) should have been expected. On the topic of "poverty porn", Slumdog reminded me of City Of God, a great movie that also explores the harsh reality of violence, crime, and poverty based on a mostly accurate historical and sociological context. That movie excelled in telling a great story while giving the viewer strong imagery in a poverty ridden part of Brazil.
Slumdog is, in essence, a fairytale and should not be taken as historical fact or truth. We must remember that Danny Boyle as a director does not have to take responsibility for his cinematographic vision. In a sense, these attacks are the equivalent of forcing the director to give the viewer a full bibliography at the end of the film so that the public knows where everything was taken from. This kind of responsibility goes only to historians, and I am speaking as a student of history.
do we really need to remind the viewer every time he or she goes to the movies that what they are about to see i s fiction or the unique vision of a single person/director???

First off, The Dark Knight was never gonna get that nomination. It just wasn't. If there's a true film that deserves that Oscar, It should be MILK(the true message of hope and inspiration lies in this film). But that does not mean I did not love SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE. It is a rare and beautiful film which could have only been done by Danny Boyle, an amazing director who deserves the attention he is getting now.

While Slumdog does in some way want to show the reality of India, it distances the audience a lot too. It feels as one is a tourist, but still one can get a lot from the central love story, which in essence is what the whole film is about. The beauty of the film lies in this, the love the boy feels for this girl and the lengths to which he goes to reunite with her. The film is structured in a way that does present that kind of "Lust For Life" Boyle gets from his movies and the whole editing and cinematography is a reflection of the positive or upbeat spirit the movie wants to portray. This is a fairy tale people. The fact that he knows all the answers from personal experience(or destiny) is not something that would happen in a normal episode of Who Wants to be a Millionaire. And even this fact does not ruin the film, because it is not the money that is important. It's about him finding his true love and also it's about goodness, getting the money is secondary (Example: the scene where he gives a hundred dollar bill to a blind kid who he knew, a hundred dollar bill he got from Americans he himself tricked.)

I am not very familiar with the reality of India so I cannot answer all the questions this text offers, but I must say that many of the things seen in the film are surprising to me. I did not know a lot of the things I saw, and all of them I found out to be true. But again it is about India in a way, but it is not what it really is about. The film distances us and makes us see it from a different perspective and that is seeing what these boys go through in their lives. It is an inspirational film. All I can say is we must look for ourselves and see if the film truly portrays India as it is. Is there any other way to know? And the "slumdog" thing being offensive, grow up. And poverty being portrayed for fun and profit? Who would think that? The things these kids go through are terrible and only in the last act where all the turmoil has payed off can we see why he had to go through this things. The filmmaking style and the approach to the subject matter do lighten the horrible parts a bit, but this is what I said about the film portraying the human spirit and it's upbeat positive view of life. The movie itself wants to say keep moving forward and don't give up. This is what I call mastery. Danny Boyle, and Danny Boyle only, could pull this off, and here is where the beauty of the film lies, not in all the media or the attacks it's getting or it's depiction of India, but in it's portrayal of true love and hope.

S.M. was a very good movie but not anything fantastic. my responses to the arguments as they are listed. I am a fan of the film, but not a giant one. This whole argument is getting out of hand.

- Poverty Porn - One could even say that all movies exploit some form of human emotion to gain profit. A feeling is dramatized for the audience to connect to (or turn away from, depending on the directors intention). you could even say that music itself, being sold packaged and marketed, is an exploitation of a specific demographic. Why do you think protest songs were recorded in abundance in the 60's? it could be because it was profitable. it could have been profitable because people were interested in that because of the setting. This could also be said about the success of That Remember 9/11 song released, sold, and marketed for a profit after 9/11. sure the song had a good message, and the singer had his heart in the right place, but as it was sold it became a product for the end result of a profit. Some form of the artists intention is lost as it becomes something that is considered "Marketable" as it is sold, in the end, to gain profit. This is just the circle of entertainment. dont hate the player, hate the game.

- White man's vision of India - I'm a white man. I've never considered India as the way it was portrayed. Comment could be a bit of a stretch, and has no argument for how or why white men would or do portray India in that way.

-How The Western world sees India - Is it really? There is no collective data, graph, or study that shows how the Western world views India. There are many collections of views that are compiled. Many different, many similar. very biased view of a movies success.

- Plot is impossible to believe - Replace the word Slumdog with Underdog. its an underdog story. one man against impossible odds. of course it doesn't seem real, the odds are against him. that is the point. I like the way the tied in his life story using important moments of his life. the things that stand out in ones memory, over a collective life span, are at times defining moments. do you know how rare it is for someone to win the Million in that game show? they would have to know all the answers and the best way for them to remember would be it corresponding with something that was memorable. this was a brilliant use in the script writing, especially since he tied it all together into a love story/underdog success story.

- Hard work not an easy fix is the answer - yeah, this is true in real life. but they used a game show because the success of the game show, nightly in our culture and others, is something that can't be ignored. When someone wins one its a rare thing and their lives change, thus the story of the film.

- feels like a filmmakers calculation than an honest cry from the heart of the human spirit - That guy just sounds like a dick.

critics are realy silly :)
slumdog rocks

I've been here in India for over six months. One thing I have gathered in my time is how much the new, more affluent India, highlighted so well in Bollywood, loves to ignore and downplay the crippling poverty that exists in literally every pocket of this huge country. You don't have to walk too far outside of the beaches of Mumbai to witness it. I think the truth behind this movie's mostly negative reviews over here is this fact: India is trying desperately to rebuild itself, and a fialm like this does nothing to quell the nation's poverty-stricken image.

I thought Slumdog Millionaire was a good film. It does not deserve the Oscar out of the nominated films, but I would not be disappointed if it won. Milk is the best of the nominees, but I have a feeling it's too gay for the Academy. Slumdog is the safest bet. It's unlike anything in recent memory. The fate concept may bother some, but this is the movie business people. Benjamin Button ages backwards for christ sake! If you sit back and just watch the film for what it is, innovative and remarkably intuitive, you will get a great bang for your entertainment buck.

I saw this movie yesterday and I have to day that I really enjoyed it. The drama was pretty moving and it was a compelling plot, but not what i think should win for Best Picture. I have seen 2/5 of the nominees for BP: Benjamin Button & SM, but i still think Dark Knight was better than both of these. Every person in TDK acted their hearts out, and it was the most exciting, the most fun and the most spellbinding film i saw last year. the Academy wouldn't DARE touch a summer blockbuster as a BP nominee, but it really did deserve it. In spite of the academy's ignorance, TDK has still made a larger impact on the world than any of the nominees for BP this year. Slumdog Millionare was a good movie, just maybe not one for the time capsules like Dark Knight will be. i think that Benjamin Button should win for its great journey and technical prowess.

I always make a point to watch all the Best Picture nominees. Except, the ones who don't win that I know I won't appreciate. Like the blatant Oscar bait "Attonement". I think I'll skip "Slumdogs" if it doesn't win. The movie just sounds hokey. I am even a fan of Danny Boyle. I think "The Beach" is an overlooked gem.

As for SM, there is nothing in the movie that sounds plausible or entertaining.

Is it true that there is a musical Bollywood number in the end where the characters break out in song?