Sludog is gonna win everything it got nominated for.

I Agree, its been long since Rahman got recognised for his years of amazing music and achievements in composing

WTF!!!!!!. The wrestler song is great. No Bruce nomination!!!, no Woody nomination!!! (again and again), no Dark knight!!! for best film…… The academy sucks.

The movie is okay, but there are some major flaws in the plot. The lack of nominations for “Gran Torino” is a shame. And Bruce getting snubbed is even worse.

What a deception indeed for Springsteen.

Slumdog was all well and good, but no Springsteen? That’s crazy! Why are there only three nominees for best song? And why is Dark Knight not up for Best Picture, or WALL-E for that matter? The Oscars take themselves too seriously- that’s why nobody watches anymore. You have to be the most dour, morbid movie in the world to be considered for one of their precious statues.

Josh Brolin deserves the nomination. Poor Bruce… the no nomination is unfair…

Bruce not getting nominated, and The Reader edging out Dark Knight for a Best Pic nomination are the biggest jokes since Hoop Dreams wasn’t nominated for Best Doc back in the 90s.

The Wrestler was a better film than Slumdog.

Randy the Ram will win too, great show.

wheres kate winslet for revolutionary road – she was amazing

I figured Kate Winslet was going to get nominated, but she totally should have been nominated for the reader too! She was amazing! Either way she totally deserves her award. GO KATE!

My winners:

Best Song: Peter Gabriel
Best Score: Wall-E
Best Sup. Actress: Amy Adams
Best Sup. Actor: Heath Ledger
Best Actress: Merly Streep
Best Actor: Sean Penn
Best Director: David Fincher
Best Movie: Milk

I figured Kate Winslet was going to get nominated, but she totally should have been nominated for the reader too! She was amazing! Either way she totally deserves her award. GO KATE!

i dont get all the hype re: the wrestler – i mean it was good but not great and Rourkes roll didnt seem very challenging – just my opinion – i think penn should get best actor.

I was so upset that last year Vedder wasn’t recognized for his songs for Into The Wild, which were all as integral to the movie as the scenery. And now this? No Springsteen nom? I’m really confused by the voting process on the Best Song. Hope it gets explained. After all, if Phil Collins can get a win for a crappy Disney film, surely the Boss deserves a nom for a great film like The Wrestler.

parker you only have two right: actor and supp. actor.

parker you only have two right: actor and supp. actor.

Um… I’m sorry… I believe “The Wrestler” did get a nod… hello! Mickey Rourke for Actor in a lead roll… Did you miss this or just look at the pictures?

I’m so tired of Springsteen anyway! Good..The song was lame.

rachel who are you talking to?

sorry i keep double posting – im working on patience

yeah, agree, happy to see AR Rehman nominated for Oscars of all these years of good music. Way to go AR..All the best for you and Slumdog

Slumdog will win for its nominations

Why do they keep nomminating movies and people who you have never heard of. That’s why people don’t watch anymore.

I am SO sick of brad pitt, jolee and their rat pack of kids! no oscar… PLEASE!

Peter “I Never Met A Movie I Didn’t Like” Travers scores again!

slumdog should win best picture fo sho

Bada55 moview

They keep nominating movies and people who you have never heard of because there are a lot talented people beside all the celebrities and know names. That’s why people should watch the awards. Just because you are famous does not give you an award.

Glad to see AR’s two songs; but no Bruce? Surprising.

Pleasantly surprised with so many nominations to Slumdog.

Lee, perhaps these are the movies you SHOULD be watching then.

I am rarely am I moved by an end title song in a movie but, The Wrestler was such a tour de Force for Rourke and anyone who ever saw “The Pope of Greenwich Village” can see the deep strides that this man has made in his career…Magnificent! Bruce’s song at the end was the perfect touch to a wonderful experience!!

I think by and large, justice was done. TDK always had a very divided audience, unfortunately.

Perhaps it is time non-white people got a chance to win some of the awards ?

Slumdog will win everything it is nominated for. Great music by AR Rahman. He is the best.

Aronofsky should have been nominated for best director. It didn’t feel like any frame was wasted while watching The Wrestler. About as close to a perfect film as you can get.

Bruce and Clint both deserved a best song nod, but the boss deserved to win.

Of the top 5 grossing movies of all time, Titanic won 11 Oscars, The Dark Knight gets one nom, Star Wars IV wins 7, Shrek 2 gets one nom and ET wins 4? Wow.. I think maybe the Oscars need to rethink their voting processes. Or maybe they need to listen to the people who actually WATCH the movies..

How many awards do Actors give themselves? What other field is so self absorbed? Perhaps our military should put on an award show. Just imagine…And now, the award for the most Islamic radicals eliminated in a single month. And the winner is… Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill 3.

Academy did well by nominating AR Rahman. He has been a musical great for the last 16 years. He was fabulous right from the start(Roja film).

Loved “The Visitor” movie and Richard Jensen gave a wonderful performance, don’t know if he has a chance in winning, but it is wonderful for him that his performance was appreciated as it was brilliant acting! Everyone in the movie was terrific as well but he carried the heart and soul of this movie. And perhaps now others will see this wonderful movie!

It’s good “Slumdog” received so many nods, but since the Academy hates to mimic the Globe picks, it will most likely award Best Picture and Director to “Button.” By the way, Bruce was robbed.

wow. seriously the most disappointing list of noms i’ve seen the oscars vomit out yet. where’s springsteen with one of the best credit songs in years? where’s kristen scott thomas with EASILY the best performance of the year?! But what’s worse…THE READER? WTF?! IS THIS A JOKE?!

I found the nominations to be as accurate and disheartening as ever: I’m thrilled that the triumphant Milk has been nominated for Picture, Direction, and in the Lead and Supporting Acting categories. I am so pleasantly surprised that two of last year’s truly great performances-Richard Jenkins in The Visitor and Melissa Leo in Frozen River-made it. The nominations for Waltz With Bashir, Man On Wire, and Trouble the Water have me as excited. But then I’m appalled that the best female performance last year-Sally Hawkins in Happy-Go-Lucky-was snubbed and I can’t believe Oscar was stupid enough to overlook The Dark Knight for the biggest prizes. Oh and the fact that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button got thirteen nominations defies belief.

Yes, bruce’s snub is a travesty but it happens. Dark Knight should have gotten a nod for Best Picture. Action film and all but it is so dark and alluring.

I’m 99% sure that the Oscars installed a rule a few years back that a song has to be played during the actual movie, not the end credits, to qualify for the Original Song award.

Bruce’s song — while stunningly great — plays over the end credits of The Wrestler, and is thus not eligible for the award. Sucks.

re: Bruce was DQed.

I thought the end credits thing was maybe the problem as well, but I looked up the rules for the Best Original Song category and they state:

“Original Song:

An original song consists of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the motion picture. There must be a clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition (not necessarily visually presented) of both lyric and melody, used in the body of the motion picture or as the first music cue in the end credits.”
-

So “The Wrestler” was eligible. My personal guess is that four songs from “Slumdog” got the votes, but the rules say only two max per film can be nominated, thus only three songs in the category. I mean, that has to be it, right?

The overrated love for Slumdog Millionaire is very annoying and damaging…

How the HELL does Bruce not get nominated? They had to make room for M.I.A.?? seriously??

Dark Knight is just a classic movie beyond its genre. But the Academy is too ignorant to see that and believe that by giving Ledger his MUCH deserved Oscar, that will be enough.

To me, great acting makes a great movie… which explains why the actors in Slumdog were not nominated.

Actually, the end credits thing doesn’t really have an effect. Peter Gabriel’s “Wall-E” song played over the end credits, and it got a nod.

I am absolutely shocked Bruce Springsteen didn’t get a nod for “The Wrestler”. Best song this year. No Best Pic nom for TDK is very disappointing as well. It’s getting hard to believe the Academy actually honored Return of the King a few years ago.

Apparently the Wrestler isn’t eligible because it’s included on his album. Academy rules don’t allow it. It’s got to be specifically for a movie. Although by intent it was, technically it’s not. I’m not 100 percent sure on this, but it will make me feel a little better if that’s why it didn’t make the cut.

The Oscars will receive their lowest ratings yet, this year.

Benjamin Button was a peice of shit movie.

Oh, who will win those academy awards?! A big, fat WHO CARES!!

They’re all political, everyone knows that. There’s NO relation to who deserves them and who gets them, history proves that over and over. They’re a joke.

The academy’s still got good taste. Left to the average Joe, he’ll ruin the process. Bruce’s song for ‘The Wrestler’ was as good as McCartney’s lazy work for ‘Vanilla Sky’. Both had lame lyrics, barely any work seemed to have been put in and it was mundane to listen to. Rahman’s work on the other hand for S.M dazzles with its multi-faceted brilliance. Go, S.M!

I heard bruce’s song wasn’t admissable b/c he’s going to put it on an album.

I would like to know why best actor, best director, and best picture are all in bold, while best actress is in regular type. what are you trying to say, rolling stone?

Bruce’s Albums is not even out yet. How can that matter? And it was NOT on a Bruce album anytime in 2008. These nominations are about 2008. And it specifically was written for the film. And what about Grand Torino which I feel is a much better song anyway. What’s with that?

I think both the “Slumdog” songs were well-warranted nominations; they added amazing energy to the film when they were played and correlated well. As for the rules, I believe songs over end credits ARE eligible to be nominated (but they have to begin pretty much immediately with the onset of the credits…yes, they are that anal). And the theory about “Slumdog” getting 4 nominations isn’t true because there was a list of eligible candidates (around 40-50 songs), and “Slumdog” only had “O…Saya” and “Jai Ho” on that list initially. I am surprised that Bruce Springsteen or Clint Eastwood’s contributions didn’t make the cut, especially when there’s still available space for nominations. Would have made the show more interesting to see all those performances.

Hey Parker I agree with most of your list and I thought Penn in Milk was the best…. until I saw Rourke in the Wrestler. Now that I’ve seen them all, I vote for Mickey Rouke by far. Crap the staple gun scene alone!!

I believe the problem with Bruce’s song is what someone has already mentioned. They wont pick songs to be nominated if the song only plays in the credits. The exact, and I mean exact same thing happened last year with Eddie Vedder. He won the Golden Globe, was a favorite for the Oscar, and then didn’t even get a nomination. We were told it was because of the song playing in the end credits.

Its interesting to note that Rehman’s music has been nominated and not the Boss!!!!! Can you imagine that. Oscar team must have been smoking pot. I am from Rehman’s land and I thorougly admire his work and contribution to music, particularly movie tracks. But he has been doing it for the last 15 years or more and I can say for certain that if SM had not got as much visibility and publicity, courtesy Hollywood connections through Danny Boyle, it would not have even been considered. There are numerous Hindi/English movies from India which are far better with better musical scores. However, they never see the light of Oscars / Golden Globes etc. because of lack of publicity and a lack of a Hollywood figure like DB to represent it. In fact Rehman has so much better music for movies like Lagaan, Roja etc etc. This work is average by his own standards. On the other hand, Bruce’s song (The Wrestler) fits so perfectly with the movie, how can anyone deny him the nomination for whatever lame reason (end credit song, released as part of an album, Oscar nominators wanting to stand out against GG nominators etc, etc.)? It will be a major tragedy if his song is not in the race. There is still time and I hope that better conscience prevails and his song is at least nominated.

Glad to see Robert Downey Jr. on there. Heath as well. No Bruce? No Clint? Good joke Academy, now give us the real nominations that have more than 3 songs up for Best song. And while you’re at it, How about giving The Dark Knight it’s due. Just because it’s a comic book movie doesn’t mean it didn’t reach the same emotional depth as Milk or The Reader. As powerful as he was, it shouldn’t all be about Heath. Not only was TDK the biggest movie of the year, it was also, in my opinion, the biggest movie of my generation. I have never seen people react to a movie the way they did to TDK. Teenagers and adults alike all flocked to the theaters in droves. People jumped out of their seats and cheered and then went back the next day to do it all over again. Themes of love, loss, comedy, and the growing fears of America were all touched in this “comic book” movie. Sounds like Oscar bait to me. But waht do i know? I’m not a member of the Academy.

Only three songs in the Oscar race? Did the well run that dry? I was hoping for both Springsteen and Gabriel to be nominated because they are both artists whose music have endured throughout my life. It’s a thrill to see M.I.A. on the list and it’s not unusual to find “High School Musical 3″ didn’t get any recognition, but the loss of the Boss is sad. Maybe now that Phil Collins won, it’s about time Peter Gabriel got a statue. He should’ve been nominated for the excellent “Last Temptation of Christ” score back in the late 1980s if you ask me.

Still, what a f***ing shame about Bruce.

Where the fuck is The Boss? Fuck the oscars.
Bruce Springsteen & Axl Rose will rule the world in 2009

Well, it’s not the end credit “snub” as was suggested below; that’s the only place “Down to Earth” is played in Wall-E. Unless they count the cute little sprites as continuing the story while the credits are rolling…

No way should Pitt have been nominated for Best Actor, the CGI did all the work for him! Another problem I have with Ben Button is that Fincher’s Zodiac was about 500 times better and it didn’t get one nomination last year. It seems more like an apology vote than anything else. Just further proves the point that directors/actors etc. almost never win awards for their best work.

This article should be named “MIA nominated for an Oscar!”

Rare to see a underground artist like MIA getting props, she’s the greatest music artist of the decade.

Now you know why Ron Howard kissed so much Obama ass after never being politically active before.

He had to light up the Hollywood Dems for his eeeevil Nixon movie.

The Oscars usually always suck, but this year is a new low.

If theres any justice, Robert Downey Jr will win for best supporting actor.

The overrated Benjamin Button gets 13 noms? I’ve lost what little faith I had left in the Academy Awards. Congrats to M.I.A. though and condolences to Bruce.

No Bruce, No Clint, No Dark Knight (for best motion picture), No Nolan, No DiCaprio that’s a joke. Best answer is to ignore the Oscars.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that TDK deserves to oscar, but it definitly deserves a nomination, same to the others I mentioned above.

How can anyone truly think that Robert Downey Jr. (a talented actor, for sure) should win the Best Supporting Actor trophy over Heath Ledger? No matter what one thinks of Ledger’s other roles, or super hero movies, Ledger was downright fantastic as the Joker. He was hysterically funny (the 18-wheeler that is skybound; his reaction when the Mob bosses ask him if he thought he could waltz in and singlehandedly take over the crime operation) and downright chilling (the two contrasting stories he gives re: his facial scars; the way he crams his boot knife into Batman’s ribs during the party scene). Ledger deserves the Oscar. Not because he’s gone, which is sad. He deserves the trophy for his turn as the Joker.

Oh, and the theory about songs played only during a movie’s end credits are never nominated isn’t true. Peter Gabriel’s song plays over the end credits of “Wall*E.” Gabriel’s song was one of three songs nominated this morning.

And yes, “The Dark Knight” should have been nominated for Best Picture. Just because it’s not political like “Frost/Nixon” and “Milk” (or was it?) doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of a nod.

I thought The Dark Knight should have been nominated for picture and director. Also, Kate Winslet should have been nominated for Revolutionary Road as well. Her performance here and in The Reader are equally brilliant. Glad Michael Shannon was recognized though.

GO KATE WINSLET!

Go MILK! It was Fucking Profound as Shit! Kick Button’s Ass!

i couldnt even finish watching ben button. the wrestler was better, and so was gran torino. slum dog was also a good movie though to me wasnt that good. clint should have got a nomination. ledger should win for supporting actor. and rourke should win best actor. the wrestler was fucking brutal. marisa tomei was fucking hot to.

The Dark Knight didn’t get a Best Picture nomination? What were they thinking? Granted, Heath Ledger’s performance as the Joker pretty much made the movie what it was, but it was still an extremely well-made movie either way. Is it just because it’s a superhero movie? Because that’s just plain stupid. It was the highest grossing film this year, and there was talk of a re-release. That must tell you something. And speaking of Ledger’s performance, it was great seeing his nod for Supporting Actor as the Joker. He did a phenomenal job, way better than Jack Nicholson. (And I absolutely loved Nicholson’s character.) It was especially touching that his nomination came exactly one year after his death. Rest in Peace, Heath. You were a great actor, so full of talent. You will be missed.

Who picks the nominations? The AARP?

These should have been nominated for best picture:
The Dark Knight, The Wrestler, In Bruges, Wall-E, and SlumDog

yeah Bruce got screwed over, Slumdog’s music was good, but I loved the Wrestler song. This is just as bad as them screwing Johnny Greenwood last year. The Dark Knight was much better then the Benjamin Button garbage, The Reader and of course Revolutionary Road, but the Oscars want star power after last year’s award show where they had pretty poor ratings because practically everyone who won an award was foreign. They need “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie” to attend. I’m so mad, this is a total disgrace the MPAA is full of baloney and in my opinion rarely recognize the best work, seriously screwing Greenwood and Springsteen. The MPAA is a bunch of snobby pricks, I hope their industry continues to suffer.

any other year i’d want josh brolin to win best supporting actor. heath deserves that award, though, for an amazing career sadly cut short.

i certainly wouldve liked to the dark knight get more nominations, but i didn’t expect that to happen really.

also, i would love to see anne hathaway win. i don’t care how young she is, she was astounding in rachel getting married. i’m sure, though, if she can keep performing like that she’ll win an oscar sooner rather than later.

Although Springsteen was totally robbed of atleast a nom, I am happy with all the Best Songs. I can’t believe “Button” was nominated for 13 awards! Like every other awards show this year, “Button” will get nothing and frankly all of those nominations are misleading to how truly mediocre this movie was. Hopefully “Slumdog,” “Wall E” and Ledger will win out. Biggest snub this year is Eastwood “Gran Torino,” Best Actor. So disappointing.

Yes, it was animated. Yes, it was aimed at children. Yes, the social lessons may not have been super subtle. It still deserved a best picture nod. It was heart warming, funny, and intelligent. Not to meantion beautiful. It had the highest ratings of any other movie this year. Any movie that can incorporate love, environmental concern, and robots without be over the top tacky should be appreciated. (Oh and by the way, go see Gran Torino.)

Mickey Rourke. Dude comes out of nowhere after twenty years of self destruction and professional exile to give one of the most stunning, devastatingly human performances of ALL TIME. Every scene of that movie cuts to the bone, and in doing so exposes so many other films for what they are: self aggrandizing, self important exercises in catering to the lowest common denominator. Brad Pitt as Benjamin Button? Uugghh.

i hope that it goes well and
that joker doesnt win! YES
josh brolin and shannon are fantastic! and we have to give the talanted ones!
not, transvestites LOL!

Milk for picture. Boyle for director. Penn for actor. Ledger for supporting actor. Hellboy II for makeup. Ben Button for VFX.

Sorry Basser, but heaths performance is way overrated. Sad but true – if he hadnt of died he wouldnt even be considered for nomination.

Sorry Travers, The Reader IS the best movie of the year.

“I heard Bruce’s song wasn’t admissible b/c he’s going to put it on an album.”

Its listed as a “Bonus Track” from The Movie ” The Wrestler” and the record is not even out yet. You would think that more than three best songs should be up for this and not two from the same artist

Bruce not getting nominated is a joke.But, apparently it has nothing to do with playing over credits.As per rules, if a song gets less than 8.5 on a 10 point scale, it does not make the cut.So the voters did not vote enough for Bruce or Eastwood.

For people not familiar with AR Rehman, he is a genius. Having burst onto the Indian film scene in the early 90’s, Rehman has turned one masterpiece after another, combining all genres- be it indian, hip hop, rock, blues, name it and the man has done it.I dont think Slumdog is his best, just that as itis an english movie, it has got the world watching. So,as an Indian, while being proud that finally there is some long overdue recognition for a supremely gifted individual, i am really disappointed that Bruce did not get the nod. I think Springsteen’s song captures the essence of the movie so beautifully.

Rahman is a legend and a genius. A fact that millions of his fans around the globe have know for over 16 years. It will in fact be an honour for the oscars to have rahman and not the other way around. Rahman is bigger than the oscar.

OOOH boy. I have to agree with old Pete. WHY DIDN’T THE DARK KNIGHT NOT GET NOMINATED?! Come on Academy, 2nd top grossing film of all time, second to Titanic, which pretty much swept every category 12 years ago, where is it? Heath Ledger better win Best Supporting Actor. Second complaint, how does Brad Pitt get nominated for a movie that is a rip off of Forrest Gump? Whew, discuss.

sorry but slumdog is the best movie ever

Finally a Oscar night with no Clint Eastwood,I mean the man is cool but let’s make room for the next generation!

Milk>Slumdog

End of story

My winners:

Best song: Peter Gabriel
Best score: Milk
Best supporting Actress: Marisa Tomei (she is the best)
Best supporting Actor: Robert Downey Jr.
Best Actress: Anne Hathaway
Best Actor: Mickey Rourke
Best Director: Stephen Daldry
Best Picture: Milk

Bruce was horribly, shockingly, sadly, mistakenly robbed!!! The song qualified. Apparently it did not average an 8.25 out of 10 among voters (nor did anything but those 3 songs nominated). Which is utter nonsense. I thought the Wrestler song was one of the best of the year. Sorry academy that he wrote a timely, poignant song about real people and not something for a cartoon character. The academy lost a lot of credibility with this one.

WALL-E WAS THE PERFECT FILM………… ……………………. ….. ………………………… ………………………… until all the Fat people showed up!

Danny wrote earlier here:

“Go MILK! It was Fucking Profound as Shit! Kick Button’s Ass”

I don’t think he was thinking of kicking it!

Well without Springsteen there, I’m rooting for Gabriel to win the Best Song. WALL-E was a great movie, and that song certainly set the right mood for the ending credits.

sprigsteen is awsaome still….. Ozzy is better but springsteen is awsome

I am still waiting for the best picture nominations to be announced. If they had i would have heard The Dark Knight, Wall*E, The Wrestler, Snow Angels and Frost Nixon mentioned. Oh wait, Frost Nixon was mentioned so that would mean that once agai n the Academy has got their heads so far up there you know what, that failed to recognize the best films of the year. The Dark Knight is the one that is a travesty. But then again these are the same people that chose Dances with Wolves over Goodfellas.

Just because Wall*E got a nomination in the animated film category, doesnt mean it couldnt be nominated as best picture. Foreign films always do that. Kate Beckinsale should have been nominated for Snow Angels. But then again, these are the same people that failed to nominate Malcom X as best picture. And chose Annie Hall over Star Wars.

No love for Kate Beckinsale in Snow Angels? =0(

It’s ok. In my opinion the Grammys, Oscars, Globes, etc. always get it wrong.

Artie, I hate you. I hate you when you talk while eating, with food in your mouth. Also, so many families have lost loved one to drugs and booze; couldn’t you help easy their pain rather than encouraging more people to ruin their lives and die?

The song category is where Oscar ALWAYS screws up! We’ve now had TWO rap songs win the coveted statue, beating songs with actually melody! Two years ago, the Academy confused a wonderful scene creating “It’s Hard Out Here For A Pimp” with it actually being a wonderful song! NOT THE SAME, PEOPLE!

Anyone here remember when “Ava Satani” was nominated from “The Omen”, like it was actually a ’song’? In 1996, movie’s two best songs of the year “I Believe I Can Fly” from Space Jam and “Out There” from Hunchback didn’t even get nominated! Instead, the forced-in “You Must Love Me” from Evita won. YUK!

Many years ago, my dad told me of a record called “Great Oscar Losers”, and indeed, all the titles on this record were better than the winners. Maybe it’s time for that record again – or even a series of them!

Wouldn’t it be funny if Robert Downey Jr. got the Oscar for Tropic Thunder? He got screwed when he lost for Chaplin, so this could be his redemption. The academy will probably screw over Sean Penn again…remember Into The Wild or I am Sam? How do you not give an award to a man who can make movies like he does?! Also, the fact that Bruce was DQ’ed is bullshit. The academy sucks.

Slumdog should definately take the cake. I had 4 or 5 songs from that movie stuck in my head for days after seeing it. The songs suited the energy for each scene in that movie perfectly, I ran home and ordered the soundtrack from amazon immediately. The nomination is well deserved and and the win would be even more appropriate.

Anyone wanna tell me where Che is?

Hey, Todd -
To answer your question:

It’s premeire showing is still running!
(damn, that movie’s long!)

Hey y’all, everyone is sick & tired of Bruce Springsteen, can you dig!?? same for Mr. Billy Joe & Elton John, this country has had ENOUGH of all 3 of these self absobed Bastards.
I just came back from a peace Mission in New Orleans, and them morons seem to like Bruce, what’s up with that y’all, after I volounteered all my precious time at the Homeless Shelter, they got a dammed Springsteen CD cranked up, listening to that Nebraska shit, or whatever.
Well Brutha J here is ther Music Authority ( a well repected Musician in my own right & Published Author) and I aint havin it, so put that in your pipe & smoke it you uneducated peasants!

“Brutha J”.

I love reading a post where one calls others ’self absorbed Bastards’ but calls oneself ‘a well repected Musician in my own right’!

HA!

At least this ‘uneducated peasant’ knows how to spell!

Scenes of poverty and squalour may appear romantic to Westerners and to our snooty elite but for ordinary Indians they are nothing new. They are an everyday reality. However, one wonders what sort of mind can find such images aesthetically pleasing. Party-hopping socialites (for example, Shobhaa De after all her bombast of “enough is enough” after the Mumbai attack, went and watched a pirated copy!) who are distanced from such reality may find this film an “eye-opener” but for us it IS just poverty-porn. Leaving that aside, I have eight other objections to the film.
1) The director seems to RELISH showing violence. Some of it (like the police-torture) is quite needless. And why was the boy arrested in the first place? On what charge? Was it realistic?
2) How can a boy growing up in slums speak such accented English? Even if one assumes that the language he actually uses to communicate with the game-show host and the police officer is Hindi (granting the director the creative license to use a language better suited for international audiences), there are 2 instances where it is stretched too far: (a) when the boy becomes a ‘guide’ for foreign tourists at the Taj Mahal & (b) when he becomes a substitute-operator at the call-centre.
3) When the boy uses his ‘lifeline’ during the game-show, his friend discovers that she has forgotten her mobile and has to run back for it. This is plain Bollywood masala! Did the director HAVE to make it so melodramatic?
4) How did the boy know who invented the revolver just by watching his brother use it?
How does his friend know about Benjamin Franklin?
5) “Darshan Do Ghanshyam” is NOT written by Surdas. It is written by Gopal Singh Nepali for the movie Narsi Bhagat (1957). This song is also credited as traditional and originally written by 15th century poet Narsi Mehta, whose life that film is based on.
6) After winning the game-show, the boy sits on the railway platform and nobody recognizes him! Considering the popularity of the show, is that realistic?
7) Two glaring omissions: To qualify for the show one has to answer several GK questions over phone or Internet. Even after making it to the show, a contestant can reach the hot-seat, only after “fastest finger first”. All this is conveniently forgotten in the film.
And of course the greatest flaw in the storyline: programmes like ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’ and ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ are NOT telecast live. As a result the entire structure of the film becomes unrealistic. For a film that boasts of being realistic such a flaw cannot be overlooked.
Anyone else wants to say this is a g-r-e-a-t film despite all these flaws?