end of the year recommendations pt.1
I really don't want to start writing my Vietnam War final yet. The dreary weather has killed all my academic motivation. So instead, I've decided to start a series of end of the year recommendations! The holidays are coming up after all so I figure everyone needs some gift ideas and suggestions for things to do over winter break. Plus it's an incentive to actually update my journal since my life solely consists of finals at the moment. I'll be writing about the best books, movies, and music I've come across this past year.
Part 1: Slumdog Millionaire
This was one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a long time, let alone this year. The story begins in a police station where Jamal, the protagonist, is being interrogated. He's been accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". The officers can't figure out how a kid from the slums managed to get so many questions right. As they question him over every answer, we learn about various aspects Jamal's life: growing up in the slums of Mumbai, working as a beggar for a local crime lord, escaping and traveling to Agra, and his journey to find his true love, Latika. They got some of the cutest kids I've ever seen to play the younger versions of the three central characters.
The soundtrack is also amazing. I don't usually buy soundtracks but I made an exception for this one. A.R. Rahman did an amazing job on the score. "Liquid Dance" is crazy to listen to with headphones on. M.I.A. teamed up with him for one of the tracks, "O...Saya". Even though "Paper Planes" is pretty overplayed, they used it twice in the movie pretty effectively (once with the original version and later with the DFA remix).
The only criticism I have of the movie is that I think more of the dialogue should have been in Hindi. However, I was reading that Danny Boyle barely got away with what Hindi dialogue he managed to include. The script was originally all in English but co-director Loveleen Tandan convinced Danny Boyle that they needed Hindi in the film to make it work. Apparently Boyle told the production company that only 10% of the dialogue would be in Hindi but they actually changed it to 30%. The company wasn't too pleased. I really don't understand the problem with that. I guess they figure that it would be less marketable to Americans if there wasn't any English. Dumb.
Anyways I don't want to give away too much so instead, you should watch these two clips.
Trailer:
An edited clip of young Jamal and his brother Salim traveling around on a train:
Part 1: Slumdog Millionaire
This was one of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a long time, let alone this year. The story begins in a police station where Jamal, the protagonist, is being interrogated. He's been accused of cheating on the Indian version of "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?". The officers can't figure out how a kid from the slums managed to get so many questions right. As they question him over every answer, we learn about various aspects Jamal's life: growing up in the slums of Mumbai, working as a beggar for a local crime lord, escaping and traveling to Agra, and his journey to find his true love, Latika. They got some of the cutest kids I've ever seen to play the younger versions of the three central characters.
The soundtrack is also amazing. I don't usually buy soundtracks but I made an exception for this one. A.R. Rahman did an amazing job on the score. "Liquid Dance" is crazy to listen to with headphones on. M.I.A. teamed up with him for one of the tracks, "O...Saya". Even though "Paper Planes" is pretty overplayed, they used it twice in the movie pretty effectively (once with the original version and later with the DFA remix).
The only criticism I have of the movie is that I think more of the dialogue should have been in Hindi. However, I was reading that Danny Boyle barely got away with what Hindi dialogue he managed to include. The script was originally all in English but co-director Loveleen Tandan convinced Danny Boyle that they needed Hindi in the film to make it work. Apparently Boyle told the production company that only 10% of the dialogue would be in Hindi but they actually changed it to 30%. The company wasn't too pleased. I really don't understand the problem with that. I guess they figure that it would be less marketable to Americans if there wasn't any English. Dumb.
Anyways I don't want to give away too much so instead, you should watch these two clips.
Trailer:
Click to viewAn edited clip of young Jamal and his brother Salim traveling around on a train: