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Slumdog Millionaire

Crit

Spoiler alert! The answer to the question asked over the opening titles is (D).

Danny Boyle, he of the messy masterpieces Trainspotting and 28 Days Later, goes to messy Mumbai and makes an ingeniously plotted Well-Crafted Film. Well, that's OK; good luck resisting it anyway.

In amongst the Big Themes like Destiny and Eternal Love and shit, there's one really interesting one: the randomness and unpredictability of what we know. More than once I've been praised for my knowledge of one trivial fact or another by someone with zillions of useful facts at his or her disposal that are not part of my package. But it's the card on the table that gets the attention--and in this film, it's the card on the table that takes the trick.

I'd say something about the final Who Wants to Be a Millionaire question in the film, but that really would be a spoiler. But if you see it, you'll know what I wanted to ask: so answer in a comment.

Trailer

• The Wrestler--I haven't bitched lately about a trailer that gives away too much, but this is a tmi classic. I'm in for the film, of course.