Slumdog Millionaire is, to put it simply, a film of beautiful, brilliant storytelling. Although the casting is awesome, the acting superb, and the dialogue candid, I, for one, think that this movie’s genius is in how the story was told.

A scene with a young Indian man being forcefully interrogated opens the movie, promptly pitting the audience into puzzlement and curiosity, before launching them into the past, present, further into the past, and back again. The story pace goes from heart-pounding fast to agonizingly (yet deliciously) slow to just right. We are taken on a cultural tour of India without looking like a promotion made by the Department of Tourism. (For the record: I really don’t know if they had anything to do with the movie. I doubt it.)

It’s taking a mystery story, a romantic epic, and a slice of life film, and taking a wire whisk and blending them together to a seamless treat.

(Yeah, I know. There I go again with food analogies.)

On watching it in the movie theater
I first watched this at home with my family a couple of months ago before getting to watch it on the big screen last night. What’s fun about watching it on the big screen is hearing the collective reactions of the theater (laughs, gasps, and synchronized exclamations of “ewwyuck!”). What’s fun, however, with watching it on a home TV is… well… The game show “Who Wants to Be a Milllionaire” is a major key in the story, and that game show is mostly watched at home instead of in the theaters. So if asked which screening I liked better, I think I’m going with the home version. This movie deserves a spot in your video library.

And, by the way. Buy the original DVD. It’ll definitely be worth it.

On it getting the Oscar for Best Picture
I love the movie. But — and I know I’m going to step on many toes here, but I’m going to say this, anyway — I still don’t think it should have won Best Picture. So sue me. To each his own, yeah?

The soundtrack