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SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE & WALL-E Emerging As The Critics’ 2008 Movies To Beat!!
I am – Hercules!!
While we patiently await staffers Harry, Moriarty, Father Geek, Capone and Quint to vote on the second AICN Movie Award (the only one that counts, if you’re to ask me), I thought readers might be curious to see how the other critics awards are tallying up.
Among the regional critics associations, “Slumdog Millionaire” tops the most lists I’ve seen, though WALL-E is getting plenty of love as well:
Regional critics' associations:
New York Film Critics: Milk
Los Angeles Film Critics: WALL-E
Chicago Film Critics: WALL-E
London Film Critics: Slumdog Millionaire
Toronto Film Critics: Wendy and Lucy
D.C. Area Film Critics: Slumdog Millionaire
Boston Film Critics: (tie) Slumdog Millionaire & WALL-E
San Francisco Film Critics: Milk
Dallas/Fort Worth Film Critics: Slumdog Millionaire
Florida Film Critics: Slumdog Millionaire
Las Vegas Film Critics: Frost/Nixon
Detroit Film Critics: Slumdog Millionaire
St. Louis Film Critics: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Utah Film Critics: The Dark Knight
Austin Film Critics: The Dark Knight
International Press Academy:
DRAMA: Slumdog Millionaire
COMEDY: Happy-Go-Lucky
Critics Choice Awards nominees:
The Changeling
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Doubt
Frost/Nixon
Milk
The Reader
Slumdog Millioniare
WALL-E
The Wrestler
Roger Ebert’s top 20, as published in The Chicago Sun-Times:
Ballast
The Band’s Visit
Che
Chop Shop
The Dark Knight
Doubt
The Fall
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Happy-Go-Lucky
Iron Man
Milk
Rachel Getting Married
The Reader
Revolutionary Road
Shotgun Stories
Slumdog Millionaire
Synecdoche, New York
W
WALL-E
Michael Phillips' top 10, as published in the Chicago Tribune:
1. WALL-E
2. The Class
3. A Christmas Tale
4. Let The Right One In
5. The Flight of the Red Balloon
6. Alexandra
7. Man on Wire
8. Snow Angels
9. Still Life
10. The Dark Knight
Manohla Dargis’s top picks, as published in the New York Times:
Alexandra
The Dark Knight
Encounters At The End Of The World
The Flight of the Red Balloon
Happy-Go-Lucky
Milk
Silent Light
Still Life
Synecdoche, New York
Wendy and Lucy
Kenneth Turan’s top picks, as published in the Los Angeles Times:
Ballast
A Christmas Tale
The Class
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Gomorrah
Happy-Go-Lucky
Rachel Getting Married
Slumdog Millionaire
Tell No One
WALL-E
Waltz With Bashir
Plus four Sundance documentaries ("Man on Wire," " Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired," "Stranded" and "Trouble the Water")
Richard Corliss’ top 10, as published in Time Magazine:
1. WALL-E
2. Synecdoche, New York
3. My Winnipeg
4. 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days
5. Milk
6. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
7. Slumdog Millionaire
8. Iron Man
9. Speed Racer
10. Encounters At The End of the World
Stephen King's top 10, as published in Entertainment Weekly:
1. The Dark Knight
2. Slumdog Millionaire
3. WALL-E
4. Tropic Thunder
5. Funny Games
6. The Bank Job
7. Lakeview Terrace
8. The Ruins
9. Redbelt
10. Death Race
Lisa Schwarzbaum's Top 10, as published in Entertainment Weekly:
1. WALL-E
2. Milk
3. The Dark Knight
4. Waltz With Bashir
5. Gomorra
6. Wendy and Lucy
7. Trouble The Water
8. Happy-Go-Lucky
9. Man On Wire
10. Tropic Thunder
Owen Glieberman’s Top 10, as published in Entertainment Weekly:
1. The Wrestler
2. The Dark Knight
3. Rachel Getting Married
4. WALL-E
5. Momma’s Man
6. The Edge of Heaven
7. Burn After Reading
8. The Class
9. Milk
10. Tell No One
The National Board of Review's pick:
Slumdog Millionaire
The American Film Institute's picks:
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
The Dark Knight
Frost/Nixon
Frozen River
Gran Torino
Iron Man
Milk
WALL-E
Wendy and Lucy
The Wrestler
With year's end less than two weeks away, award announcements seem to be flying in almost hourly. If anyone’s aware of overlooked press awards worthy of inclusion - i.e. not the farcical Golden Globes - kindly email: herculesAICN@yahoo.com !
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FIRST NIGGAS!!
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YOU ARE BITCHES!
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I SUCK
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I SHOULD BE IN BED
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I eat POO
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Carrots stuck in your bum
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GUTEN NACHT!!!!!!!!
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MEIN LIEBEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
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not noun, or verb
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cmon, you people are actually reading the article? start posting!
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do you know where your children are?
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starring peter otoole and his pipe wrench
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starring jane fonda eating rice
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WTF?
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will get you 20
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was when i lost my virginity to me neighbor
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is getting really old
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reasons to wipe your ass with wet TP
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I give you props, you got it!Anyhow, I really want to see this.
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pairs of boxer briefs
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never seen someone with as much posting prowess as I.
WINNER! -
"Slumdog Millionaire" was a great movie. I'm a cynical bastard who does not get caught up in hype or into the hyperbole spewed by critics. But I saw the film and enjoyed it very much. I can totally see it winning and be fine with it if it does. I still give much props to "The Dark Knight" for elevating the genre and being a great film (plot holes and Batman voice and all). It was still one of the best films of 2008 and the best comic movie ever. But "Slumdog Millionaire" is looking like the one to beat. Also Dev Patel is the dark horse threat to Ledger's Oscar. Finally "Milk" is ridiculously overrated. Penn was great. But the movie was just "good".
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Yeah, that's why they do it.
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Seriously, the best
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Duh.
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or best song, hes awesome.
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As I've already stated here ad nauseum, Slumdog was a surprisingly formulaic Bollywood film minus the genre's charm and musical numbers, and Wall-E is one-half of a great movie (the first half, of course.) I enjoyed both films, but neither of them is as powerful -- and as unexpected -- a piece of filmmaking as The Dark Knight (especially in IMAX.) Finally, suggesting Dev Patel's performance in Slumdog was anywhere near the caliber of Heath Ledger's is highly questionable -- Patel was easily the weakest actor in the film, IMO.
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He was ok, but those kids were amazing. However, when you talk about formulaic, one of the key points of the film was to examine the bollywood story arc and put a western, more authentic gritty twist....the atmosphere it builds is spectacular....
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American films only dipshit.
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Why so serious?
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Kung Fu Panda was a thousand times better. And anyone that puts Speed Race over The Dark Knight should be fired as a movie critic.
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Sheesh how could everybody have possibly forgotten about that one?
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I mean, I liked both movies... but 1000 times better? C'mon.
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Dec 18, 2008 11:30:06 PM CST
Well maybe not 1000 times better, but at least 123 times better
by vindibudd
Kung Fu Panda was a great film that had MUCH better animation, MUCH better dialogue, MUCH better humor and a MUCH better "moral of the story." Wall•E literally bored the hell out of me and my girlfriend and I saw it twice to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Pixar hasn't made a great movie since Toy Story. Yes, I just said that.
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On Blu Ray its amazing!
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That's why I said Dev was the "Dark Horse" threat. Never said he was better. And he was good enough to nominate, allthough my preference was the youngest Jamel. But remember, backlash is a bitch. Look at the above lists to see what's happening to "The Dark Knight". It's not like it's questionable to suggest a dark horse for a supporting category since. Surprise winners happen in those categories all the time. So we need people to get back to realizing why the film and performance were great, and away from the notion that the film is being overrated due to his death. This is starting to be a critics consensus and that can be bad for "The Dark Knight" chances come Oscar time. Look at the SAG nominations... It's happening.
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Also, want to add that unfortunately I fell into the hype for Wall-E. Once I finished watching it I found it to only be "good."
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I love gritty mumbai, mixed in with narco/religious strife, shantaram is the film which should have introduced these themes into the western film lexicon....but alas...writers strike ended that. Maybe there is hope after slumdog
Speed Racer will be remembered as a classic -
You and your girlfriend are idiots.
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Sitting through a supposedly boring movie TWICE makes you a really big idiot.
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Dec 19, 2008 12:42:27 AM CST
the best movie of 2008 was "Die Welle" The Wave (2008) and that'
by irc-hollywood
there, i said i.
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NICE!
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I love that god damn movie so much
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Dec 19, 2008 2:37:18 AM CST
And Mamma Mia is still the most succesful movie in the UK.
by derlanghaarige
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...In fact, not even close. And I still haven't seen big hitters like Frost/Nixon or Milk.
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...The books fantastic. A much, much better story, and all through the first half of Slumdog I kept thinking "Fuck, I wish boyle had gotten that property instead".
ALSO...MASSIVE FUCKING SPOILER FOR SLUMDOG...SKIP AHEAD.
I seriously though it would conclude with him getting the answer wrong, but being content with the girl (I know, the ads keep saying he wins the money blah blah blah, but notice how the flashbacks and interrogation come before the big final question) I just thought thats how it would twist. Suprisingly it had a rather schmaltzy ending. And that dance number was fucking stupid. Wes Anderson didn't dump a bollywood dance into his flick just because the story was set in India. -
Nice to see that flick getting some love. I don't know that it would make my top ten, but it was a solid flick. And no mention of LET THE RIGHT ONE IN? That is weak!
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It's not been an entirely terrific year for movies.
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First of all get over the Bollywood dance number, it wasn't even that well choreographed, but it was fun and a little nod to bollywood, big deal. Secondly, as good as the kids were, Dev Patels distracting british accent was annoying and hes not that great an actor. Why doesn't Anil Kapoor get any love? I really thought he was great as the slimy game show host. Lastly, to whoever said that Toy story was the only good movie Pixar made, you're an idiot. I love the incredibles and I loved finding nemo. And I think all of those were superior to Wall-E.
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EW used to be a good read back in the 90's but now it's mostly a hype
rag.And WTF happened to Glenn Kenny? His video reviews was the best thing about the magazine.He was Vern, before there was a Vern.Oh and Owen Gliberman is a overopinionated douche.Not sure about all the slumdog love, but atleast Ironman is getting a shout out here and there. -
should've been nominated for best original song along with score for the globes...instead some stupid shit from Bolt got nominated.
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The Dark Knight. No, they're not geeks...
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It was good, but I agree, overrated. I think this is an american quality-of-life guilt thing... the entire movie played out exactly as expected from the sypnosis and the first 10 minutes and frankly a scene near the end makes nearly no sense. I'm also stunned on the nominations (and wins) for Dev Patel. The acting was all around, for the most part, pretty marginal. I only felt for the characters situations but not the characters themselves.
The Wrestler has far more emotion in it's pinky finger.
Haven't seen Milk or Frost/Nixon yet either though I'm getting the feeling Milk is overrated too so I'm trying to lower my expectations.
Wall-E was quite good but Ratatouille should have gotten it last year. Still liked The Hurt Locker.
Oh and enough with the Iron Man reacharounds. Jesus, the only thing that made it "Good" was people didn't expect it to be any good in the first place and woah and behold, it didn't suck!
Anyone want to point out to Richard Corliss that 4 Months, 3 Weeks & 2 Days is from 2007? I've lost a lot of respect for Critics this week after importing, so I could finally watch, "L'interieur (Inside)". *sigh* -
I am open minded for seeing the movie twice because I thought that maybe I had missed something. The second time around I was just more convinced of the condescension. My girlfriend and myself are not idiots, however if someone is looking for the missing one in their village, I will point them in your direction. You can thank me later.
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That's right, it sucked!
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It's realistic because the call centers in India teach the people who work their to either speak with a British or American accent. I learned that from reading the book "The World is Flat" by Freidman. They do this so that they sound like they are in the country their call center services. He worked their and called a woman in the UK when he got on the phone. So I would think that detail of his accent was realistic. Salim and Latika did not have the accent Jamel had because they didn't work where he did.
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Fucking iPhone and it's auto correct feature...
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Dec 19, 2008 5:11:58 PM CST
Wall-E and Dark Knight are the only two on these lists...
by orbots commander
...that I've seen. I can't get excited for most of these movies as they're only playing in selected theaters. Manhattan is a 40 minute LIRR ride away and can't bother with the hassle just to catch a flick.
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