Feel like a 'Millionaire.'

Director Danny Boyle is entirely unpredictable. He's done the disturbing, horrific and downright scary with Trainspotting, 28 Days Later and Sunshine. He's gone the romantic dramedy route with A Life Less Ordinary. And now he seems to be tapping into some warm fuzzies with heartwarm-ers like Millions and Slumdog Millionaire, and the latter might be the year's ultimate feel-good film.

Boyle's latest film centers around an Indian teen from the slums (aka slumdog), Jamal Malik (Dev Patel), who becomes a contestant on the Hindi version of "Who Wants to be A Millionaire?" He is one question away from winning the 20 million rupee grand prize when he is arrested under suspicion of cheating. In an attempt to clear his name, Malik recounts the experiences in his life that explain why he knows the answers to all the questions. With each flashback, his true intention for going on the show is revealed...to find the love of his life.

So they're all different genres, but one thing that all Danny Boyle films share are their graphic and brutally honest images (it's possible that the baby scene in Trainspotting still haunts my dreams). Slumdog Millionaire is no exception. Although a simple love story at its core, 'Slumdog' is a vivid trip through the heart of "real" India. There is no glorifying the poverty, misery and disgustingly downtrodden conditions of the slums where Malik and his older brother, Salim, grow up. All complaints I have ever had about my childhood seemed...seem irrelevant. I have never felt so lucky in my life just sitting in a movie theater...it suddenly seemed like heaven compared to what I was viewing onscreen.

What moved me was that this isn't just a story about two people who are kept apart by a few little mishaps and misunderstandings. These are two people kept apart for over a decade by obstacles presented by a society that allows few people to ever feel safe and secure...by a neglected and rundown country and the manipulative, cruel and greedy people who control it. What they have to overcome to just find each other is what makes the story so incredible.

I know Bollywood cranks out more films than any other industry in the world, but I still don't know very many Indian actors. I think I may need to start. Of course it might also help to be able to pronounce some of these names. Ayush Mahesh Khedekar and Azharuddin Mohammed Ismail who play Jamal and Salim Malik as little kids, respectively, were brilliant and totally adorable. Dev Patel plays the older Jamal on "Who Wants to be A Millionaire" and makes the perfect protagonist and underdog. He is slightly awkward but naive, sweet and witty. Jamal's love interest, Latika, is played by Indian model Freida Pinto who is absolutely gorgeous, but actually doesn't have that large of a part in the film.

Basically 'Slumdog' epitomizes the reason why I love going to the movies. You know that saying about how the journey is more important than the destination? Nothing could be more true when viewing this film. Although centered around "Who Wants to be A Millionaire," I really could have cared less at the end whether or not Malik correctly answered the 20 million rupee question. I know there are people out there who gag upon hearing this is a love story (I would normally be one of them), but it's a love story that successfully weaves in themes of family, trust, betrayal, redemption, destiny, courage and spirit. Even if you overlook all the potential cheesy moments of the film, you can't overlook the horrific beauty (oxymoron?) of a landscape depicted with such intensity and attention to detail without being patronizing. It's a world that we see too infrequently. Not to mention, the film features a great soundtrack (I'm a big MIA fan).

If you don't come out of this film feeling enthralled or inspired or uplifted or some combination of all these emotions, then what can I say? You have a cold, hard rock for a heart.

"Fistful of Assholes."

So I'm sitting here in class eating Halloween shaped gummies for dinner and counting down the minutes til I can go home and stuff my face with some real food, and I figure the best way to make this class go by faster is to not pay attention in it. That's where the blogging comes in.

Mostly because the bff is one of those hipster types who takes a certain pride in listening to music that no one else has actually heard of, I find myself knowing more about the indie music scene than I ever thought possible. Unfortunately, not nearly enough to appreciate Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. Simply put: the music is good, the movie is not.

For anyone who hasn't seen the trailer (which means you probably don't watch tv given that it runs every 30 seconds), Michael Cera and Kat Dennings play titular characters Nick and Norah in a quest to locate the band Where's Fluffy's latest show as well as Norah's lost drunk friend Caroline (Ari Graynor) in Manhattan. Nick is the only straight member of a band, The Jerkoffs, and is pining for his ex-gf who recently broke up with him. Norah has an on-and-off again ex-bf and a famous daddy (but the details are kept real hush-hush til the end for some reason). They're musical soulmates of course and what follows goes something like...boy gets girl. boy loses girl. boy gets girl back. yay. (and by yay I mean yawn.)

There's a strange pride that comes with seeing your hometown in a film. Of course when your current hometown happens to be downtown Manhattan, this tends to happen a quite a bit. But there is still something satisfying about seeing so many of the hangouts I frequent being used in the film (it's like my life...if I actually had one). Unfortunately, nothing else about this film really satisfied me at all.

First off, I'm pretty sure a snail race could've moved faster than this movie. Long awkward conversations (I think it was flirting but who knows) in Nick's car made me physically uncomfortable and the semi-climactic scene when Nick and Norah finally get together almost put me to sleep (though I was jolted awake by an unexpected onscreen activity...let's just say it involves fingers). It might just be me, but cutesy romantic comedies bore me - especially when the leads are somewhat pathetic. I know we're supposed to be rooting for male and female leads in romantic comedies to get together but it's so inevitable that I generally just save myself the trouble.

The actors were business as usual which wasn't always a bad thing but not anything worth talking about. Kat Dennings as the rebellious teen? Check. Michael Cera as George Michael? Check. I assume Dennings will outgrow this role eventually...people do get older right? And it's her character that utters the classy quote that is the title to this post. (Don't ask me the relevance...I don't know. I just like it.) Apparently many believe she's got big things ahead of her. I'd have to agree. Two big things. Right in front of her (see photo). Seriously kids, when did they get so big??!! Ok moving on. Cera really plays no other character but George Michael no matter what movie he's in. (No complaints here...I want GM to be my bffl as well.) His bumbling awkwardness and gentle sarcasm DID provide some of the film's more amusing moments. Hm...I suppose the one exception would have to be Ari Graynor. Her portrayal of the drunk mess was so spot-on, she must have been drinking on set. Though how she manages to remain that messed up for the entire night without refueling is a mystery I've been trying to solve for the past few years.

Overall, I was over it before it was over. I guess if you're looking for a makeout movie (you know the kind that gives you the warm fuzzies but doesn't require much attention to get the gist of what's going on), then Nick and Norah just might do the trick. Otherwise, I'd just stick with the soundtrack.