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FilmCouch #98: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Slumdog Millionaire, Review Backlash

Under discussion:

A few episodes ago, we talked about Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire. We had a few bones to pick with hyper-paced indie romance, some of which caused us to question the value of Boyle’s cannon. As we should have expected, a few listeners were not happy with us dogging the feel-good, rags-to-riches, out-of-left-field Oscar contender of the year.

Meanwhile, Karina has written a less than favorable review of the forthcoming David Fincher film, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Again, a wave of backlash has ensued.

Are we simply spiteful film snobs who love ripping on movies while they ride a wave of buzz into awards season? No. We love movies. But sometimes that love must be tough. On this week’s show we clarify a few positions, navigate the tricky waters of blogosphere backlash, and search for what Werner Herzog calls “adequate images.”

(Subscribe to FilmCouch–Spout’s weekly movie podcast–in the iTunes store or to our RSS feed and an episode will download each Friday)

0:00 - Intro, the ideal Thanksgiving

7:56 - Slumdog backlash, It’s a Wonderful Life, Casablanca

24:41 - Karina on Benjamin Button

filmcouch-98


Originally posted on:SpoutBlog

posted on Friday, November 28, 2008 9:01 AM by SpoutBlog


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tadiv
Posted Saturday, November 29, 2008 1:32 PM

Okay - so I'm a little confused as to how much "you all" did not like Slumdog Millionaire"... In the new podcast Kevin agrees that he did not really like Slumdog. Later, at the end of the show, Kevin comments that Slumdog is a worthwhile experience at the theater, that it is not a "piece of crap" though it is "very misguided"... I'm getting to my point... In the introduction to FilmCouch #96 you wrote "we hated it"... Based upon both FilmCouch episodes, it seems that only Kevin on the Spout staff has seen Slumdog - is that the case? Will anyone else see it? When you write "we hated it" - is "we" Kevin? I would also note that while the film was very popular in Telluride, the introduction, at least at my screening, included comments that there would be some changes before Toronto. I saw Slumdog again at the Starz Denver Film Festival and there were changes. The opening sequence was more broken up, as I recall from Telluride - and the admittedly lame "She's my Destiny" line is gone from the film even though it is still in the trailer. A friend from Spout who also saw it in Telluride commented to me that she "did not like it as much as everyone else" (which was her nice way of saying that she did not like it)... Now she is thinking "Maybe I missed something and should see it again"... Not that you should change your opinion, but do you think it may be worth another screening to see if you missed something? Maybe you didn't "suspend disbelief" soon enough? As I noted, I saw it again in Denver and I thought it held up on the second screening - even after reading several not-positive reviews and thinking about their points... First impressions are always the strongest, but sometimes we do misread those first impressions - would you agree? Tom