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Theatrical Review: Slumdog Millionaire

So even though this has been out for a few weeks now, finally I’ve gotten the chance to go see it, and I have to say, I was very suitably impressed, this really deserves the accolades that it’s been getting.

Slumdog Millionaire tells us the story of Jamal Malik a young man who’s had a hard life and has found himself on the Indian version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and he’s worked his way up to the final question. but because of his background, Malik is suspect of cheating on the show, and before the nest show with his final question takes place, Jamal is being held by the police and questioned about his process. From there we see that the questions that Jamal can answer have some sort of significance with periods of his life involving both his brother Salim and a young girl who he’s fallen in love with named Latika.

Slumdog Millionaire is the latest film from British director Danny Boyle, who’s past credits ahve included Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and last year’s Sunshine. Boyle basically does something a little different with each film he makes, though there are consistencies of style with each film.

Slumdog is pretty riveting right from the start, and what it does to really draw you in is give you something as familiar as a show like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? (even if it’s the Indian version) and then give you that parallel to Jamal’s life, with often that parallel having some pretty hefty significance.

Danny Boyle has a talented group of young actors working here with literally three actors each playing Jamal, Salim and Latika at different periods of their lives. All our great, but I have to give special notice to the youngest of these actors with the earliest portrayals.

I’m late to the party on this one, but definitely wanted to see it before the big Academy Awards show, and I totally think this is well worth seeing, and deserving of every bit of praise that it’s been getting. Before seeing this, I was pretty much rooting for David Fincher and Benjamin Button but now after seeing this, I’m pretty cool with either Danny Boyle or Slumdog Millionaire taking down the big awards. Very good stuff here and highly recommended.

(and now since seeing this, things are looking better for Slumdog Millionaire at the Oscars, as Danny Boyle has just won the Director’s Guild Award)

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News

Weekend Box Office For January 30 – February 1

#1 Taken from Fox debuts at #1 this weekend earning $24.6 million in 3183 theaters. Budget for Taken is unknown.

#2 Paul Blart: Mall Cop drops to #2. Cop earned $14 million in 3206 theaters this weekend for a total of $83.3 million. Budget for Cop was $26 million.

#3 Uninvited from Dreamworks debuts at #3 this weekend earning $10.5 million in 2344 theaters. Budget for Uninvited is unknown.

#4 Hotel for Dogs from Dreamworks holds at #4 bringing $8.7 million in 3160 theaters for a total of $48.2 million. Budget is unknown.

#5 Grand Torino from Warner Bros. drops to #5 Torino earned $8.6 million, thats down 47%, for a total of $110.5 million. Torino showed in 3015 theaters, thats down 30 over last. Budget for Torino was $33 million.

#2 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans from Screen Gems debuts at #2 this weekend earning $20.7 million in 2942 theaters. Budget for Lycans was $35 million.

Rounding out the top 10 are:

#6 Slumdog Millionaire Weekend Gross: $7,680,000, down 28% / Theaters: 1633, up 222 / Gross $67,244,000 / Budget: $15 million

#7 Underworld: Rise of the Lycans Weekend Gross: $7,200,000, down 65% / Theaters: 2942 / Gross $32,784,000 / Budget: $35 million

#8 New in Town Weekend Gross: $6,750,000 / Theaters: 1941 / Gross $6,750,000 / Budget: unknown

#9 My Bloody Valentine 3-D Weekend Gross: $4,260,000, down 57% / Theaters: 1406, down 1128 / Gross $44,608,000 / Budget: unknown

#10 Inkheart Weekend Gross: $3,700,000, down 51% / Theaters: 2,655 / Gross $12,792,000 / Budget: $60 million

A note on “Gross”: On average, studios will earn approximately 55 percent of the final gross.

Sources:

Box Office Mojo