N+1 previews the Oscars. Here's their take on the probable Best Picture:
I don't like movies that cover their heroes in shit. But covering a little boy in shit and having him go up to Amitabh Bachchan to ask for an autograph is audacious even for a filmmaker as crass as Danny Boyle.Posted by Stephen Silver at February 19, 2009 04:13 PMSlumdog Millionaire is torture movie, which I didn't know going in. The Islamic protagonist is a stand-in for all the Muslims tortured since 9/11. They are offered Slumdog Millionaire as a redemption—a torture movie is about to win an Oscar for their trouble.
We learn being tortured is worth it. If you give the right answers it's like winning the lottery: they'll set you free and pay you off, you get the girl, a dance sequence where you're the star.
Part of the torture is that you have to turn every experience you've ever had into a mnemonic device that could save your life in a deadly game of Trivial Pursuit. It's no longer enough just to spin the cylinder in Russian Roulette like in The Deer Hunter. Now somebody has to ask you what's the capital of South Dakota first.