Right from the chase scene near the beginning of Slumdog Millionaire, I knew that this was a movie whose soundtrack I was going to have to own. The music actually got better as the film went along, from the love theme all the way to the final triumphant Bollywood dance number.
The soundtrack for Slumdog Millionaire was finally released on iTunes yesterday, but the CD won’t be out until December 23rd. You can click here to buy it from iTunes but I chose not to exercise this option for two reasons: 1) The quality of songs from iTunes isn’t up to par with that of a CD, and 2) The songs [...]

In this episode of the /Filmcast, Dave, Devindra, and Adam revel in the pleasures of Sukiyaki Western Django, continue to be pessimistic about the Oldboy remake, and get depressed about the death of one of their favorite TV shows. Special guests Angie Han and Jen Yamato from Rotten Tomatoes join us to provide us their valuable perspectives on the important cultural landmark that is Twilight.
Have any questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or praise? E-mail us at slashfilmcast@gmail.com or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next next Monday night at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review Baz Luhrmann’s Australia with the insanely popular Scene Unseen [...]

Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire just might be the best film of the year, it’s certainly in my top 10 (you can read David Chen’s review here). That said, there is absolutely NOTHING good about the latest Slumdog Millionaire international movie trailer. It feels like a 1980’s film advertisement, complete with cheesy voice over, an upbeat song, and the best moments from the film edited into the worst possible order. But please, don’t let this poor excuse for a movie advertisement influence your decision. If you haven’t already, I highly recommend checking out the much better domestic trailer.
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Ever since I first screened Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire at the Telluride Film Festival, I’ve been waiting, and hoping for a soundtrack to be released. The songs have occupied my mind, and I became convinced that a soundtrack might never see the light of day, especially after /Film’s own David Chen explained the fate of the soundtrack to Boyle’s Sunshine.
It’s hard to sit through this film and not admire A.R. Rahman’s unique mix of Bollywood with hip-hop. My favorite track plays within the first 10 minutes of the film — “O… Saya” features an original collaboration with M.I.A. You’ll know the song I’m talking about when you hear it. There [...]

In this episode of the /Filmcast, Dave, Devindra, and Adam reflect on the possibilities of a Ridley-Scott-directed Monopoly film, spend some quality time disparaging Academy Award nomination rules, and ponder the implications of two bold, brand new trailers. Special guest Adam Kempenaar joins us from the Filmspotting podcast to help us review James Bond’s Quantum of Solace.
Have any questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or praise? E-mail us at slashfilmcast@gmail.com or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next next Monday night at 9 PM EST / 6 PM PST as we review the vampire hit, Twilight with Jen Yamato from Rottentomatoes.
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I can still remember the excitement in the TV industry when the Philbin-hosted American edition of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire debuted on ABC (i.e. way before they ran the show into the ground with a mind-numbing 4x-per-week airing schedule). Like many game shows, Millionaire was able to harvest some great drama out of a simple premise: A contestant answered questions of increasing difficulty with a chance at winning a million dollars if he got them all correct (while at any time still retaining the option to walk away with a sizable chunk of the money he’d already won). But unlike punishingly difficult quiz shows like Jeopardy or Twenty [...]

The /Filmcast: After Dark is a recording of what happens right after The /Filmcast is over, when the kids have gone to bed and the guys feel free to speak whatever is on their minds. In other words, it’s the leftover and disorganized ramblings, mindfarts, and brain diarrhea from The /Filmcast, all in one convenient audio file. In this episode, David, Devindra, and Adam, discuss their memories of Bond and Casino Royale, reflect on the influence of Seth MacFarlane, and compare their geekiest moments of all time. Katie Spence and Ben Brown join us from Hooray Movies. Also, Peter Sciretta forces his way onto the podcast to warn about the [...]

I had the opportunity to sit down one on one with director Danny Boyle at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival. We talked about his new film, Slumdog Millionaire, which hit theaters this week in some markets. I even got a chance to ask him about a third film in the 28 Days Later series.
Peter Sciretta: I had talked to you before this film became such a film festival success. Everybody seems to love it.
Danny Boyle: I feel a little bit numb really, you know. It was like four weeks ago we were dead and buried in Central North America really. We were [...]

I recently got the chance to sit down and chat with one of my cinematic heroes, Danny Boyle, while he was promoting the release of his new film Slumdog Millionaire in Boston. I’ll discuss the movie on a later episode of Slashfilm’s movie podcast (it is my favorite film of the year) but in the meantime, here’s some audio from the interview, where we talk about some of Boyle’s inspirations and his favorite films.
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00:00 What are some of your favorite movies?
00:30 Apocalypse Now
01:50 The five-hour version of Apocalypse Now
02:20 Nick Roeg, Walkabout, Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell To Earth, Bad Timing, Eureka
03:20 The Uncertainty of [...]

Fox Searchlight has mastered the art of releasing small art house films. They understand that it is important to build good word of mouth as they slowly expand into more and more markets. And one of the ways they do this (aside from having great films) is by holding nationwide free screenings. They did it with Napoleon Dynamite. They did it with Little Miss Sunshine. And the release of Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is no different. /Film eader Mitch pointed me towards a listing of 44 screenings which will take place throughout November, leading all the way up to Christmas. RSVP now for your chance to attend.
PLEASE READ THIS FIRST: [...]

Finally, Fox Searchlight has premiered the full trailer for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. I’ve said this before, this is one of my favorite movies of the year. You’ll leave the theater with a smile on your face and tears in your eyes.
But its a hard sell. The plot synopsis sounds more corny than anything else. A movie set around Who Wants to bBe a Millionaire? But this film is not what you think it is. It’s not about the game shows, it’s about the life of a boy living in the slums of India, and the love of a lifetime. I’ve seen the movie three times now. The last time [...]

In this epic-long episode of the /Filmcast, Dave, Devindra, and Adam are joined by Dan Trachtenberg from the Totally Rad Show and together they question if Ben Stiller is ready to take on a courtroom drama, debate the effectiveness of the MPAA’s ratings board, and delve into a review of Tomas Alfredson’s Let the Right One In. Alex Billington from Firstshowing.net also joins in to discuss Trick ‘r Treat, an upcoming horror film.
Have any questions, comments, concerns, feedback, or praise? E-mail us at slashfilmcast@gmail.com or call and leave a voicemail at 781-583-1993. Join us next next week as we review Kevin Smith’s Zack and Miri Make a Porno.
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Fox Searchlight has released a new poster for Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, which you can see on the right. Anne Thompson found a teaser trailer that was released for the recent London Film Festival, which you can watch above.
Last week we ranted about the MPAA’s decision to give the film an R-Rating, and a couple other websites picked up the fight. Our friends at Cinematical had a chance to talk to Danny Boyle about the decision, and he too expresses his disappointment and confirms something I had speculated about in my previous write-up: the film was shot with a PG-13 rating in mind.
“And we all agreed that it would [...]

Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire is the type of film that will have everyone leaving the theater with both tears and a smile. It’s a beautiful film about first love, fate and destiny, and growing up in the slums of India. When I saw the film at the Telluride Film Festival last month, Alex from FirstShowing commented to me that the reason why there is no blood shown in a critical scene that involved a gun (not a spoiler, don’t worry), is because the film will be released PG-13. And that reasoning made complete sense to me. There were a couple instances throughout the film when the camera cuts away before [...]

Fox Searchlight has decided to move Danny Boyle’s film festival sensation Slumdog Millionaire up another week. The film will now open on Wednesday, November 12th 2008, instead of the announced November 19th release date. The film was originally set to bow on November 28th. No official reason was given, but I’m going to assume that the changes were made to give Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler, Searchlight’s December release more breathing room.