Posts from — November 2008

I was able to catch a screening of the new film Slumdog Millionaire last night. The movie, directed by Danny Boyle, tells the story of Jamal Malik, an impoverished youth in India as he progresses through India’s version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

I know, I know. That’s the premise? It’s a bit more than that. At the start of the movie, Malik has already accumulated 10 million rupees on the game show and is thus arrested for suspicion of cheating. As the police inspector says, doctors and lawyers are on the show and do not go past 16 thousand rupees. What does a slumdog know?

So as Jamal is sitting in the police station, questioned by the inspector about his response to every single question, the audience watches as Jamal gives his story and we see how his path in life revealed the answers. We see him as a young boy with his brother Salim and friend Latika. We see him grow up and try to make some kind of living. We’re with him on his journey to find Latika, who he had lost track of. We find out about the events in his life that ultimately bring him to the hot seat of the popular game show.

I read that they couldn’t find a decent person to play Jamal Malik in India and that’s why they went with British actor Dev Patel, who turned out to be perfect for the role. The cast also includes Bollywood actor Anil Kapoor playing himself (or a smarmy version of himself. I’m not entirely sure), newcomer Frieda Pinto playing Latika, and Irfan Khan as the police inspector. Khan has made a name playing in non-Bollywood movies like A Mighty Heart, The Namesake, and Darjeeling Limited and now, this.

Slumdog Millionaire depicts an India that Bollywood usually tries to steer clear of. Boyle shows us the life of kids in the slums and the brutal reality that a lot of them face. It’s not light hearted and fluffy. Also, while the score is composed by A.R. Rahman, one of Bollywood’s most notable composers, there are no songs that the leads spontaneously break out to from 6-8 times during the movie. Instead, the score complements the visuals to give us a really good story that sticks with you after you leave the theater. Highly recommended.

Most of my friends know that I’m a big Superman fan. He’s always been my favorite superhero despite the fact that many are hesitant to name him as their favorite because a) He’s too powerful b)They think there’s not much too him or c) He’s too well known and it is therefore cliched to think of him as one’s favorite. Even then, he’s still my favorite.

I have followed Superman in all the mediums - I read the comics for a few years, I’ve seen all the Superman movies, any animated series that featured Superman, any TV shows that featured him - reruns of the black and white Superman show with George Reaves, Superboy, Lois and Clark, and, the topic of this post, Smallville.

There was a buzz around Smallville when it first debuted on the WB more than 7 years ago. And indeed it did start off quite well. The premise was as follows - A toddler in a spaceship crash lands in Smallville, Kansas amid a meteor shower. The meteor shower killed several people in Smallville, including the parents of Clark’s future crush Lana, and also had the unintended consequence of infecting some residents with ‘meteor rock’ (kryptonite as Clark found out later). These same rocks weaken Clark (but you knew that).

Also, the series featured a friendship between Clark and his future nemesis Lex Luthor. They met in the first episode when Clark saved Lex’s life and thus began their friendship and, unbeknown Clark, Lex’s obsession with finding out what exactly it was Clark was hiding.

Unfortunately, the series delved into a series of soapy, filler episodes that outnumbered the good ones and Lana Lang, who Clark could not stop fawning over, was one of the worst characters on TV. Yet, years later, I was still watching due only to my allegiance to the Man of Steel. My perseverance has paid off as Smallville seems to be experiencing a creative resurgence as of late. Might this be due to Lana no longer being on the show? I admit, there’s more to it than that (different writers, etc( but it’s enough for me.

However, even though I enjoy watching Smallville, I still find myself talking at the TV while I’m watching the episode because it’s just so illogical sometimes. Here are a few things:

-Clark has become a reporter at the Daily Planet despite his only experience stemming from writing an assignment or two for his high school paper 7 seasons ago. He hadn’t shown any interest at all in being a reporter and then all of a sudden he’s working at the Planet? Couldn’t the writers have spent two seconds to explain this? Maybe even Clark just saying “Good thing I got this job because I really like writing!” or something equivalently lame?

-These people never graduated from college. They all started at one point but then something happened to the school or something but then they never went back. Therefore, not only does Clark not have any experience to be a reporter, but he doesn’t even have a college degree. Lois doesn’t have a degree either.

-Back in Season 1, Smallville was far away from Metropolis. Now, it seems to be a few feet away as the characters live in Smallville and yet are happily commuting to Metropolis for their day jobs and in fact sometimes seem to make the round trip more than once in a day. And I’m not just talking about Clark zipping back and forth. I’m referring to the mortals on the show.

-Where’s Martha Kent? She’s a senator and all that for Kansas (yeah, I know) but there has been no mention of her for more than a season, even when Clark had disappeared for a few months. I mean, you don’t think she would care or something.

-Also, is Clark still running the farm? Sell the thing, man. You’re the only one who’s holding on.

Anyways, I’ll continue to watch Smallville until it’s no longer on. For the first time in a while, I’m interested in how the storylines will play out (although not looking forward to Lana showing up in 5 episodes this season). I just have to say that I know when the creators started Smallville, they were living by the mantra “No Flights, No Tights” but enough is enough. Put Clark in a costume and have him fly. It’s about time.

… I’m on pins and needles. Pins and Needles!! I’ve never been quite like this during election time.

I remember back in 2004, watching the election coverage, waiting for Kerry to win. But then a weird thing happened: he didn’t win.

So this year, I’m not going to take anything for granted. Anything can still happen.

Here’s hoping Obama can make it happen…