"Let's take a trip to Atlanta, maybe couchsurf at someone's place, and there's these 2 simultaneous exhibitions that's going on that we should see.."
That was my room-mate Richey. I think his one goal in life is to have fun. Everything else be damned. He's like the grasshopper in the ant and the grasshopper story. The one that teaches you not to party too much. Apparently when Richey was a kid, he took the day off when they were teaching that story in school..
Spring was upon us, and so was Spring Break. We both had some time on our hands for a change, and were trying to figure out something interesting to do together.
I'm very much a warm-weather kinda person, and I had been cooped up indoors for a while, so yes, I wanted to get out and do something. I like to stay indoors and do indoor things during the cold months, like go shoot pool, to the movies, or what not. And when warm weather rolls around, I want to be outside mostly.
So while Atlanta's not too far away and we both like road trips, I didn't know if I wanted to go spend a good part of the day stuck indoors in some museum, exhibition, whatever. I enjoy intellectual outings, Museums, Exhibitions, most times, but I was really wanting to be outside. Plus I've never really seen the sights of Atlanta, so I was excited at that possibility. (For that matter, I've been here for a lil while and I'm just starting to explore Birmingham, but that's a story for another day..)
"But it's King Tut & China's Terracotta Army.. They're together in Atlanta at the same time, for the first time in the US. Two of the greatest finds of the last century.. blah blah blah"
That gave me pause. I'm a bit of a history buff. An exhibition involving Egyptian Pharaohs, and esp. Tutankhamen, the Golden King, (well.. ahem.. all of them were a bit obsessed with gold, me thinks) sounded intriguing. I've never really seen any Egyptian artifacts, except maybe in movies.. And at the same time, the Terracotta Army of the first Chinese Emperor.. I'm also a bit of a movie freak, and I had seen the trailers for "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor" with Brendon Fraser and Jet Li just a coupla months back, and had been salivating at the prospect. Pity I couldn't find anyone to go with then. That was the extent of my knowledge about the Terracotta Army.
So yes, my curiosity was piqued. A little. But then, I found out how much it cost. Approx. $40/- for both. Which I admit is not bad.
But I couldn't help thinking, two such treasures belong to all humanity. Not just to to the people that could afford to pay to go see the exhibitions.
Yes it costs money to transport the artifacts across locations, to provide a controlled environment for these delicately fragile artifacts, for the security, not just from would-be theives, but also the crazies, and myriad other details.
Still, even if the motive is not to make a profit, would it not be possible to do this for a more affordable fee, that would attract more than just the artsy crowd, more than just the crowd that doesn't worry about money a whole lot, more than just the typical Museum goer!?
People routinely go to the Movies. If you want people to go to Museums, but you price it 3 or 4 times a movie ticket, just to use an example, then how are you going to attract a broader crowd!?
It is my opinion that the powers that be missed out on a great opportunity here. An opportunity to reach out to a new audience. An audience that doesn't typically consider Museums entertainment. And maybe they have good reason. But two such treasures that belong to all humanity, we as a people have a moral obligation to make them available to the broadest, to the biggest, to the widest group of people that we can.
http://www.atlanta.net/treasures/
http://www.high.org/main.taf?p=3,1,1,10,10
http://www.kingtut.org/home
I'm still going to see it. I just have to save up some money first.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Slumdog Millionaire is over-rated!?
"Slumdog Millionaire is going to be like Crash". A friend was in town last night, and I went down to Montevallo for a small get together at his host's place. Montevallo is a small liberal arts school about 20 miles south of here, and it has a laidback progressive vibe that I love. And they keep up with their movies and stuff over there, and when my friend Paul said that, I was like, "Hmm.. What do you mean!? It's nowhere in the same class as a Crash."
Paul hadn't seen Slumdog yet, as of this writing, but he said that the year Crash won, people were fascinated with the movie when it came out, but after a while, like a year or so, after the Oscars, people realized that Crash was over-rated and it was a major fuckup on the Academy's part, awarding the Best Picture Oscar to Crash.
That Paul would say something like that was no surprise to me. He is very well-informed on most any subject, but also very opinionated. He usually says controversial things, hoping to provoke a response. I'm sure we all know people like that.
I have to disagree with him on Crash. I thought it was one of the better movies made in the last decade. But, when it came to Slumdog, I had to agree. I think people are going to look at all the other movies in the next couple of years, and are going to realize, "Did we really pick Slumdog Millionaire over all these other movies!? Duh! What were we thinking?"
And I do not say this because I'm one of those snobs that likes to diss on anything popular just to show-off or whatever. Neither am I one of those people from India who is outraged that Slumdog shows India in a bad light.
It is a movie. Get over it already. It's not a movie about India. It is a movie, set in India. There is a major difference.
So what if it highlights poverty in India. So what if it shows the plight of beggars in Indian society. Or shows that there is a huge economic divide in India. So what if it shows that there were riots in Bombay, and that some of the police turned a blind eye to it, for whatever reasons. So what if it shows police brutality and torture in India. Or the mass adulation, craze even for Cinema, esp. but not limited to superstars.
The movie shows all of this and more. And for the most part, it gets a lot right. To start off with it is not a documentary. It is a movie. And by definition, a movie is entertainment. And that it does. And does well.
But even if it was a documentary, it is not material that is being reported as fact. It is a point of view, or opinion. So if the makers of Slumdog decided to make a movie in which poverty and hardship, and the struggle that millions of Indians go through on a daily basis was highlighted, that is their prerogative.
In point of fact, the gorgeous Freida Pinto who plays Lathika in the movie, in an interview summed it up best, when she said, not in these exact words, but more or less, that: Slumdog is about all of India in the sense, that there are a billion plus people in India. And in an environment such as that, there is a cut-throat mentality. It is a dog eat dog world. And just to survive is not enough. So, by necessity, Indians are not just survivors, they are fighters. Hundreds of millions in India they struggle, they gravitate towards the metros, towards the population centers. It is a struggle, and they know that. But they still do because they are chasing the dream of a better life. People work all their lives, just to buy overpriced housing in a city like Bombay (Mumbai today). And nothing is handed to people on a platter, and as a result, Indians are fighters.
I happen to completely agree with her. Over-population is one of the biggest problems facing India. But it is also the source of our biggest strengths.
So again, I have no problem with the subject matter of Slumdog Millionaire. And technically, it is a magnificient production. The quality of the cinematography, the score or OST, the music, the songs, the editing, and the direction (all of which won Oscars this year) is superlative. So what then!? What is it?
The problem is the actual story. It amazes the viewer with it's complexity and layers. Unfortunately, while it is doing all of that, and linking seemingly random events in our protagonist Jamal's life to questions asked while he's on the gameshow, an Indian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire?", it forgets the details. There are glaring plot holes. Granted, some of these may not be obvious to a lot of people who are unfamiliar with India. Just google: Slumdog Millionaire plot holes, and voila, you'll know what I'm talking about. Some of the best links to said plot holes are:
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/jan/09review-slumdog-millionaire-sumit.htm
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rant-Really-Slumdog-Millionaire-12109.html
http://ferdyonfilms.com/2009/03/slumdog-millionaire-2008.php
Slumdog, despite its promise never seems to rise above any other typical Indian masala movie. It is very formulaic. I'm from India, and I've seen hundreds of other similar movies, with two major differences. Slumdog is technically superior to almost every single one of those Indian movies, whether they were made in Bollywood or Kollywood, or wherever. But forget the technical superiority for a minute. If you take any Indian movie, make the characters speak English instead of local languages, and remove the meaningless and completely random song-dance, and ridiculous fight sequences, you have dozens of movies, every year, that are probably at least as good as Slumdog, when it comes to story-telling. And because I'm originally from India, and none of the more gritty stuff in the movie is shocking or even mildly surprising to me, it left me more than a little blase.
In essence, Slumdog Millionaire is all hype, no substance. A Best Picture Oscar winner needs to be more. It needs to be better.
Paul hadn't seen Slumdog yet, as of this writing, but he said that the year Crash won, people were fascinated with the movie when it came out, but after a while, like a year or so, after the Oscars, people realized that Crash was over-rated and it was a major fuckup on the Academy's part, awarding the Best Picture Oscar to Crash.
That Paul would say something like that was no surprise to me. He is very well-informed on most any subject, but also very opinionated. He usually says controversial things, hoping to provoke a response. I'm sure we all know people like that.
I have to disagree with him on Crash. I thought it was one of the better movies made in the last decade. But, when it came to Slumdog, I had to agree. I think people are going to look at all the other movies in the next couple of years, and are going to realize, "Did we really pick Slumdog Millionaire over all these other movies!? Duh! What were we thinking?"
And I do not say this because I'm one of those snobs that likes to diss on anything popular just to show-off or whatever. Neither am I one of those people from India who is outraged that Slumdog shows India in a bad light.
It is a movie. Get over it already. It's not a movie about India. It is a movie, set in India. There is a major difference.
So what if it highlights poverty in India. So what if it shows the plight of beggars in Indian society. Or shows that there is a huge economic divide in India. So what if it shows that there were riots in Bombay, and that some of the police turned a blind eye to it, for whatever reasons. So what if it shows police brutality and torture in India. Or the mass adulation, craze even for Cinema, esp. but not limited to superstars.
The movie shows all of this and more. And for the most part, it gets a lot right. To start off with it is not a documentary. It is a movie. And by definition, a movie is entertainment. And that it does. And does well.
But even if it was a documentary, it is not material that is being reported as fact. It is a point of view, or opinion. So if the makers of Slumdog decided to make a movie in which poverty and hardship, and the struggle that millions of Indians go through on a daily basis was highlighted, that is their prerogative.
In point of fact, the gorgeous Freida Pinto who plays Lathika in the movie, in an interview summed it up best, when she said, not in these exact words, but more or less, that: Slumdog is about all of India in the sense, that there are a billion plus people in India. And in an environment such as that, there is a cut-throat mentality. It is a dog eat dog world. And just to survive is not enough. So, by necessity, Indians are not just survivors, they are fighters. Hundreds of millions in India they struggle, they gravitate towards the metros, towards the population centers. It is a struggle, and they know that. But they still do because they are chasing the dream of a better life. People work all their lives, just to buy overpriced housing in a city like Bombay (Mumbai today). And nothing is handed to people on a platter, and as a result, Indians are fighters.
I happen to completely agree with her. Over-population is one of the biggest problems facing India. But it is also the source of our biggest strengths.
So again, I have no problem with the subject matter of Slumdog Millionaire. And technically, it is a magnificient production. The quality of the cinematography, the score or OST, the music, the songs, the editing, and the direction (all of which won Oscars this year) is superlative. So what then!? What is it?
The problem is the actual story. It amazes the viewer with it's complexity and layers. Unfortunately, while it is doing all of that, and linking seemingly random events in our protagonist Jamal's life to questions asked while he's on the gameshow, an Indian version of "Who wants to be a Millionaire?", it forgets the details. There are glaring plot holes. Granted, some of these may not be obvious to a lot of people who are unfamiliar with India. Just google: Slumdog Millionaire plot holes, and voila, you'll know what I'm talking about. Some of the best links to said plot holes are:
http://www.rediff.com/movies/2009/jan/09review-slumdog-millionaire-sumit.htm
http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Rant-Really-Slumdog-Millionaire-12109.html
http://ferdyonfilms.com/2009/03/slumdog-millionaire-2008.php
Slumdog, despite its promise never seems to rise above any other typical Indian masala movie. It is very formulaic. I'm from India, and I've seen hundreds of other similar movies, with two major differences. Slumdog is technically superior to almost every single one of those Indian movies, whether they were made in Bollywood or Kollywood, or wherever. But forget the technical superiority for a minute. If you take any Indian movie, make the characters speak English instead of local languages, and remove the meaningless and completely random song-dance, and ridiculous fight sequences, you have dozens of movies, every year, that are probably at least as good as Slumdog, when it comes to story-telling. And because I'm originally from India, and none of the more gritty stuff in the movie is shocking or even mildly surprising to me, it left me more than a little blase.
In essence, Slumdog Millionaire is all hype, no substance. A Best Picture Oscar winner needs to be more. It needs to be better.
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