Review: SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE

After two years of film school, and many more of being a cinefile, I have finally been convinced that Citizen Kane is the best film of all time. Notice how I said film and not movie. Film is a piece of light sensitive celluloid on which images are imprinted so they can later be projected onto a screen. Movies… well movies are magic and much more than several thousand feet of celluloid; a movie is a relationship between the craftsman and his subject and between the subject and the audience. It would take ages and an awful amount of arguing to convince you that Citizen Kane is indeed the best film ever made, so instead I am going to recommend for you to go watch Slumdog Millionaire and experience some true magic.

Ezra's Opinion of the Oscars

Okay, The 81st Oscars came and went. And I've gotta say, I don't agree with all the choices made by the academy and the voters. I'll list my complaints in the order that they happened. If you don't agree I'll be happy to hear why you don't. If you do, alright we're on the same page. Either way this is all my own opinion.

Red Carpet - Didn't watch. I do not give a damn what people are wearing unless I am actually talking to them. More power to you if you got a dress that cost you 100,000$$. How-a-bout wearing something else you own and donating that money to one of those genocides we've got going on.

Opening Number - I had to refrain from calling it an opening song because... it does not deserve to be called one. It was literally one of the worst medleys I have ever heard. Anne Hathaway was a funny touch though. Also... was it just me or was the audience awkwardly close to the stage this year. Also, why did Jackman call out random names that were sitting next to him. Also why did he reference he was Wolverine? Also.... where did he go halfway through the show.... so much for an active host.

Best Makeup: Ben Button? No. No. No. Sure it's amazing, but its primarily CGI - hence the best Vis FX award. If anything had astounding makeup this year it was HELLBOY 2. Tell me that that is poorly done make up. Mike Elizade - you win in my book.

Best Supporting Actress: Heath Ledger should not have won. NOW - before you behead me or stick a pencil in my brain or something let me explain my reasoning behind this. Heath Ledger was an amazing actor and certainly deserved an award. a LIFETIME achievement award. Not an Oscar. An Oscar ups the wages of a current living actor, who will get better jobs, and more respect now, as well as he can be happy and feel good about winning an award. Robert Doweny Jr could have got this. It would have been good for dividing race lines. Heath Ledger - no. A life time achievement award given to his family would have been the best thing to do, because then it caps it off as the best life and life award ever. IT would have been a very prestigious event.

Jessica Biel presenting about Ed Catmull WAS SO WIERD. It would have been nice if she had actually said something about him in that tribute....

Judd Apatow's Movie .... essentially a Pineapple Express sequel was a little weird and out of place, but it was still pretty funny. If the DVD was not out yet, it would be fun to have as a special feature.

Best Sound and Sound Editing should have both gone to WALL-E. No debate there. The sound design was amazing in the film, and totally generated. Need I say More? WaaaaaaAAAAALLLlllEEEEIIEE.

Best Editing should have been Dark Knight because the editing kept that movie going in ways that kept it fast paced, fun, and exciting at every point in the film.

A side note... Congrats to all the new Slumdog Millionaire's. They made a great film which I have not yet got around to seeing yet. But I will. Promise. Still, I think it kind of sucks when a film sweeps 8 categories because so many other films deserved awards for other categories. It would have been nice to see a bit more diversity. I'll bet they had one hell of a party afterwards. Congrats Slumdog.


What was the best about the night:

Ben Stiller

The cast and crew of MILK using the 45 second speech slot to get out some very good messages on life and morality

The Jerry Lewis Tribute

Beyonce is a damn good singer and way over powered the rest during that musical number...



Well... that's just what I think about the 81st Academy Awards. What's your opinion on the event?

Wilder's Oscars Report

Was it just me, or was anybody else rather disappointed in the Oscars last night? Well, I was. Here is a simple list of things I didn't like about it.

1) You need a comedian to host.
Don't get me wrong, Hugh Jackman did a good job with what he had, but I personally did not want to see him sing and dance at a show honoring cinema. The bests hosts I've seen have been funny. Though I was never lucky enough to see people like Bob Hope host in my lifetime, I still have the fondest memories of people like Chris Rock and Jon Stewart. I'm surprised Tina Fey has not been asked to host yet - I would really love to see that.

2) Slumdog Millionaire did not deserve 8 wins.
A very well-done, captivating movie yes, but not 8-time Oscar winning material. Of course there are categories that it won that I do understand (Best Original Song, and maybe even Best Sound). But I feel like certain films were totally shafted. I feel like The Dark Knight deserved a couple things that Slumdog won. The same goes for Ben Button. Poor Alexandre Desplat was COSMICALLY shafted for best score, and the fact that The Dark Knight did not win editing blows my mind. Slumdog Millionaire is a decent movie, but I definitely don't think it deserved Best Picture and Best Director. Both of those, to me, belonged to Mr. Button.

3) A lot of things simply did not deserve the awards they won.
Of course, I understand how I might sound hypocritical since I have not seen Milk. But I did see Brad Pitt, Frank Langella, and Mickey Rourke. Not to mention I have a serious problem with Sean Penn as a person. Do some research research into his reaction to Team America, and you will see why. He did not deserve Best Actor. Presto was also shafted. How that did not win Best Animated Short is beyond me. The film that did win looked like the ugliest animation I've ever seen. Ew. And, upon further reflection, I really thought that Bolt was better than WALL-E. Of course I'm not surprised that Pixar won. But I think the award was for Pixar's studio, not its newest film. Read my Bolt review, and you'll see how in love with that film I am.

4) There was nothing special about it!
Usually the Oscars have some sort of cool or original thing about them, but not this year. Judd Apatow's short was mildly entertaining, but that was it. The part where they recognized the actors that died this year was alright, but they didn't mention a few names I was waiting for, particularly Don LaFontaine.

I hope next year the show will be more fun.

Oh, hey, how perfect: