Movie Review: Slumdog Millionaire

Starring:
Dev Patel: (Older) Jamal Malik
Anil Kapoor: Prem Kumar
Madhur Mittal: (Older) Salim
Freida Pinto: (Older) Latika
Ayush Mahesh Khedekar: Young Jamal
Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail: Young Salim
And a longer list of great cast members.



I had the pleasure of seeing Slumdog Millionaire in the movie theater the other night. It is most unusual because the movie theaters here where I live rarely show independent or artsy films, so I ran to see it before they took it out of the theater.

Slumdog Millionaire is the story of a young man who goes on the Indian version of Who Want's to be a Millionaire? and makes it to the second to last question all in one night. After the show wraps he is whisked away by Indian authorities under suspicion for cheating., how could a young man from the streets of Mumbai know all the questions so easily? Through Jamal's answers to the detectives' questions we learn of his hard life and his connection to the woman of his dreams - Latika, a fellow "slumdog" whom he has lost in the chaos of the Mumbai underground. The main question of the movie is can Jamal convince everone that he isn't cheating and reunite himself with his lost love?

I loved this movie. I laughed and cried and probably annoyed people by my silly giggles at times that I noticed things they probably didn't because of my new-found familiarity to some of Indian pop-culture. The scene in which young Jamal runs to get Amitab Bachchan's autograph had me rolling in a fit of giggles. The story brings to light the darker side of Mumbai, the side that most Bollywood movies ignore. I am glad that they decided to use such a great ensemble cast and as Dev said on the Today show a few weeks ago "they couldn't get a Bollywood actor that looked as Geeky as me" (I'm para-phrasing beause I don't remember the exact words.) I tried to imagine this movie with Salman Khan, Shahrukh or anyone else, even John Abraham, would have seemed to not really fit this role. Dev Patel was wonderful, I feel that he deserves all the fan-fare and awards that he has been getting already. I hope that they do well at the Golden Globes - the movie is nominated for four of them. I know this isn't a Bollywood movie, but it is about India and i tseems to tell the story of real India, instead of the fanciful one portrayed so much more often. It's like our movies here, they usually show the bright side of things, and it takes quiet, independent films to show the real parts of our society that everyday citizens face. It's a great movie, and if you get a chance to see it I recommend going to see it in theaters.

India Movie Review: Koi...Mil Gaya (I Found Someone)

Starring:
Hrithik Roshan: Rohit Mehra
Preity Zinta: Nisha
Rekha: Sonia Mehra

The basic story of Koi...Mil Gaya is the tale of Rohit Mehra, a young man who was born with a mind that would never progress past the age of a young boy. While in the process of trying to grow and overcome his disability he meets Nisha, who sees his naiive mischivetey as bad manners and ill-natured jokes. After correcting the mis-understanding Nisha and Rohit become friends and she agrees to teach him how to use a computer. Rohit digs out an old computer belonging to his late father and un-knowingly contacts extra-terrestrials. They land in the small town, but leave a one of their own behind. Eventually Rohit finds and befriends this strange creature and names him "Jadoo." Along with his 6 friends and Nisha, Rohit changes with the magic of Jadoo and becomes an adult, but can the magic last?

I originally rented this movie in order to see Preity Zinta in it. And through my viewing of it became enamored with Hrithik Roshan. He is a delightful actor and when he smiles, it's a genuine smile that makes me happier for simply having seen it. Don't even get me started about his eyes! They are stunning! Back to my impression of the movie. :) I thought at first that it was going to be awkward to watch someone act as a developmnetally disabled person and then switch to a "normal" person and then fall in love. I also was concerned with how well it would be handled in a Bollywood movie. I obviously have nothing against them, I just think that they are traditionally melodramatic and that this particular role is a hard one to act. (On a side note the best role of a mentally disabled person was played by Kang Hye-Jeong in Herb - her acting was superb and emotionally touching.) I was worrying over nothing though, Hrithik was believable and charming as Rohit, either way that he played him as an adult-minded or under-developed version. Preity was also lovely, and it was believable that her love for him was genuine as a friend and then again as a lover later on in the film. It was fresh change for a Bollywood film too, since it had a science fiction feel to it versus the simple love, love lost, love found combination that most of them tend to have. (I love them either way!) Sadly, during three of the picturizations the disc I rented was scratched so I missed out on a lot of the songs. (I had shoes just like Preity that were black back in my high school days!)

That's all right though, since I will probably buy this one as it is a full five star rating. It's one of the movies that right after I see it I'm not sure how much I liked it, then after a few days or even weeks I find myself thinking about it more and more. The longer I think about a movie, the more I enjoy it. In all, a lovely movie and I will gladly watch it again.

Korea Movie Review: 200 Pounds Beauty

Kim Ah Jung - Hanna/Jenny

Joo Jin Mo - Sang-Jun

Hanna, the main character is an overweight woman living with a secret crush on her boss. He is the producer for Ammy, Korea's newest up and coming singer. The only hitch? Ammy can't sing. Hanna does all the singing for Ammy behind the scenes. Desperation and negativity drive innocent Hanna to undergo full-body plastic surgery to change her appearance. Once she is "beautiful" she makes her own debut as "Natural Beauty" Jenny. Can Jenny stand up to the pressure, and will Sang-Jun fall for Jenny, and not for Hanna? You'll have to watch to find out!

This movie was amazing. I cried when the subtitles started repeating themselves half-way through my first viewing. (I've watched it more than once now!) ((And, yes, sad as it is, I still need subtitles for most of my Asian-media watching)) But putting all this aside, 200 Pounds Beauty was a stunning movie for me. I (obviously) am a woman of the bigger size, and I found this movie refreshing. Yes, Hanna attained her goals through plastic surgery, but if you pay attention, a lot of hard work went into her transformation. And, if you REALLY pay attention, you'll see the deeper side of this movie. It's about finding out who you really are, and coming to love that person, no matter what.

Japan Movie Review: One Missed Call (Chakushin Ari)

Kou Shibasaki plays Yumi Nakamura
Shinichi Tsutsumi plays Yamashita Hiroshi

I surprisingly LOVED this movie. I am usually disenchanted by Asian horror movies. They tend to be a bit hokey and a little predictable. But I thought this one was well directed (Takashi Miike!) and the characters were pretty believable and easy to relate to. It was funny to me that my favorite bit was the part where Yamashita Hiroshi (Played by Shinichi Tsutsumi) broke Yumi's phone in half. I've been temped on numerous occasions to snap my own clam-shell in half. The story line is that a young girl who died is haunting people through their keitai (cell phones.) Your cell phone rings in a particular ring tone (the "Death" tone) and you get a "one missed call" message that, upon checking comes from your own number. Then, when you listen to it, it's your own death that you hear on the other end of the line. So, the time and date of the call are actually your time of death. Creepy. Surprisingly I was following along almost at the edge of my seat. The second part of the series was just as good and appropriately named One Missed Call 2. I have yet to see Chakushin Ari Final - but I hope it's just as good.