I know it was the front runner, but I'm still surprised to see Slumdog Millionaire walk away from the 2009 Oscars with the Best Picture. Of course, I'm giddy about its win and I'm glad I saw the movie early in its release.
I think my astonishment stems largely from a pessimistic skepticism of Hollywood due to its well documented historically prejudiced attitude towards "ethnic" actors and movies. This is a welcomed step in the right direction for the industry, but there's still lots of room for improvement. If you don't think so, just speak to any aspiring actor of color.
Of course, I think it's a travesty that Wall-E was not included in the Best Picture category.
Speaking of room for improvement:
A sobering response came Monday from Dilbur Parakh, who heads a charity-run school where two of the film’s youngest stars, Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail, 10, and Rubina Ali Qureshi, 9, are enrolled. The children still live in a sprawling shantytown called Garib Nagar — literally the enclave of the poor. The filmmakers pay for their school fees.
Lastly, A.O. Scott suggests that Slumdog's other wins in "editing, cinematography and score" is more significant.
Its look, its pacing and its sound are not like the competition, and indeed not like a lot of commercial American movies. And yet it is an entirely accessible movie, not so much self-consciously exotic as effortlessly, eagerly eclectic. So the fast editing, the eye-popping colors and textures, the songs and the music may be, to some audiences and Academy voters, a bit unfamiliar, but they obviously work, extending the vocabulary of what we sometimes parochially think of as mainstream moviemaking in some exciting new directions.
Update: This makes me laugh:
