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Slumdog Not Only a Millionaire But an Award Winner?

Okay, listen up, I’ve seen this movie twice now and still can’t understand why it’s deserving of so many nominations and awards. Now before the hate mail arrives I don’t want you to get me wrong, I liked the movie, it could have been about ten minutes shorter but on the whole it is a good solid movie, BUT, it’s not a great one and it’s most certainly not Danny Boyle’s best feature. That honour goes to Trainspotting and, in this humble ranters opinion, Sunshine (god I love that movie).

Lets face it, when you watch Slumdog; it’s not exactly original is it? It’s a simple “boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy looks for girl, loses her again and then finally manages to bump into her at a train station for the obligatory happy ever after moment.” Just because it’s played against the backdrop of Delhi and Mumbai during India’s economic explosion and incorporates their version of a miserable game show, we are meant to believe it’s the greatest thing since the dawn of man? Come on, give me a break! Danny Boyle is just going through a ‘bollywood’ trip and it’s left the awards fawning at his feet like this film is some sort of second coming.

I can’t blame the movie for receiving all of this attention because the fault lies not with the film but with the judges on the various awards panels. It exposes them for their lame bandwagon jumping attitudes. If this film was set in America, would it have garnered such attention? I highly doubt it. Nope, this film, for them, is about showing the world how “liberal” and open minded the judges can be, but if the Baftas were anything to go by, then it’s a sham because it certainly didn’t deserve half of the awards it was presented with (I’m looking at you Best Music and Cinematography awards).

The panels at these awards are meant to pick films that are both exceptional and original. On this occasion they have failed miserably because Slumdog Millionaire is neither of these things. Considering the films it was up against at the Baftas and will be against at the Oscars then it was and will be picked purely on the basis of its aesthetic and cultural content. The stink of hypocrisy has been rife in the awards worlds for a while and its getting more rank with every passing year.

Now if you want my opinion as to whom should win best film then it has to be The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, because a story doesn’t get any more exceptional or original than that.

Before I go I do want to say that the panels get it right every so often because it’s about time Mickey Rourke got an award because lets face it he is great, and The Wrestler is a much better film than Slumdog, yet did not even get a Best Film nomination at the Baftas.

Rant over.

Written by: Arron Kasady

Slumdog Not Only a Millionaire But an Award Winner?

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'Slumdog Not Only a Millionaire But an Award Winner?' Stars

Anil Kapoor, Danny Boyle, Dev Patel, Saurabh Shukla

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