The OnLion: Arts

by Ben Popkin

Slumdog Millionaire is a film about an 18 year old Indian orphan who goes on who wants to be a millionaire. While that may seem like a simple plot, Slumdog Millionaire is anything but a basic film. Director Danny Boyle’s (Trainspotting and 28 Days Later) unique and artistic vision makes this movie a visual masterpiece. It has a complex system of flashbacks that are weaved with real time. This method makes the movie flow with ease.

Slumdog Millionaire starts with Jamal, the main character, being brutally interrogated by the police chief. His crime was getting almost all of the answers on Who Wants to be a Millionaire right. Jamal has is one question away from winning 20 million rupees on the Indian game show. No one believes that a low class orphan could possibly get the answers rights. Jamal is forced to explain how he knows the answers through his life story. We see the troubled and entertaining life of Jamal, an orphan from the slums of Mumbai.

Staring in this film is Dev Patel which is the most stereotypical Indian name I have ever heard. Patel was in the TV show “Skins”, and makes his big screen debut with Slumdog Millionaire. He delivers a surprisingly good performance as Jamal Malik, a late teen who grew up in the slum. Also in this film is Freida Pinto, the most beautiful woman on this planet. I am not joking. She is stunning. I also hear she is a good actress. She plays Latika, the romantic interest of Jamal. Jamal and his brother Salim meet Latika when they are young orphans, and Jamal instantly falls in love. From then on, Jamal’s main interest has been the well being of Latika.

The story between Jamal and Latika will tug at your heart strings in a way that no other story will. Contrasting Jamal’s caring personality is his older brother Salim. Salim will do whatever it takes to get ahead. It seems that the only two people he cares about are himself and Jamal. Salim and Jamal go down different paths when violence and corruption come between them.

Slumdog Millionaire has everything for everyone to enjoy. It has love, it has comedy, and it lifts your spirit. This potential Oscar winner is a must see for anyone who enjoys a good movie or believes in a better world.

by Ben Popkin

So far this year, I have limited myself to reviewing movies that have recently opened in theaters. If I continue like this I will be robbing you, the reader, of many great films that you could possibly not have seen. So I am proud to announce that this review will be about my top five favorite movies of all time (not including 2008). All of these movies would get a 5 on my point scale. Yes, they are that good. The films will be put in order of increasing greatness. So sit back and enjoy my favorite movies of the past.

Lord of the Rings Trilogy
Yes, I am counting all of the Lord of the Rings movies as one movie. A movie is supposed to have a clear beginning, middle, and end. The Lord of the Rings divides itself into these sections by having different movies. Thanks Peter Jackson/J.R.R. Tolkien; I would have been confused. Peter Jackson is the driving force behind this movie. With his amazing direction, he brings middle earth to life and makes me wish I could risk my life to destroy a small piece of jewelry. While Frodo is supposed to be the hero of the story, my true favorite is Aragorn. Aragorn is an unknown king who leads the humans in the fight for middle earth. Aragorn is played by Viggo Mortensen. Viggo has come a long way since his appearance in Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3 (it does exist). With him and the rest of the cast, including Elijah Wood, Orlando Bloom, and Ian Mckellen, The Lord of the Rings breaks into my top five.

Kung Pow
Kung Pow single handedly shaped my sense of humor in middle school. I would watch this movie almost every weekend with my friends. Kung Pow is a parody of kung fu movies. The man behind this master piece is Steve Oedekerk. Steve writes, directs, and acts. With the exception of a few extra kung fu movie lookalikes, this entire movie is Steve. To make this film, Steve took movie clips from Tiger and Crane Fists, an old kung fu movie, and inserted himself in them. He voices over all of the characters with funny voices. Some people do not agree with my opinion of this movie. These people do not have a sense of humor. It is childish, crude, and I love every minute of it.

Fight Club
Fight Club is the ultimate guy movie. It involves 2 guys fighting the “system” and beating each other to a pulp for fun. Fight Club stars Brad Pitt and Edward Norton. Norton is one of my favorite actors. He doesn’t make movies just for the sake of making movies. Anything that he is in will have thought behind it. Norton plays The Narrator. It is strange to think of this character without a name because he is in fact the protagonist. The Narrator is a normal person lost in corporate America until he meets Tyler Durden. Tyler is played by Brad Pitt. Say whatever you want about Brad Pitt, but in this film, he is the single most awesome person. Tyler has the idea for fight club, an underground fighting league. He, along with The Narrator, start fight club and it develops into something that no one saw coming. If you consider yourself a man in any sense of the word, you will see Fight Club if you haven’t already.

Good Will Hunting
Good Will Hunting is the story of a genius, Will Hunting, who is afraid of change. He is a tough guy who gets in fights and works on a construction crew. Will is played by Matt Damon, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance. He and Ben Affleck co-wrote this film and won an Oscar for their original screen play. Another Oscar winner in this film was Robin Williams. Williams plays a therapist that helps Will deal with his emotional problems. It is hard to explain why this film is so good. It is like trying to describe the color red to a blind man, and if you have not seen this film, you are the blind man. That was deep. Will is very cool. He is the man. My favorite scene is when he schools a Harvard student in an argument to defend his friend and gets a girl to ask him out at the same time. How do you like them apples. He shows that smart people aren’t all snobby, in your face jerks. Will, a genius, is down to earth and loves being a janitor. This film shows that you can be want you want and that it is not a crime to fulfill your potential. Watching this movie will make you appreciate what you have and raise your self esteem ten fold.

Pulp Fiction
Pulp Fiction is quite simply my favorite movie. It focuses on gangsters in LA. It takes three typical gangster stories and takes them a little farther. It sticks with the hit men after they make the hit. Pulp Fiction was written and directed by Quentin Tarantino. You can always count on Quentin to make a very good and violent movie. While they are violent, they have enough great lines and plot to sway even the strictest mother. In addition to great writing and directing, Pulp Fiction also has a knockout cast. Bruce Willis, John Travolta, Uma Thurman, Christopher Walken, blah, blah, blah, blah, and SAMUEL L. JACKSON. Jackson makes this movie. In it, he has the best speech of all time, Ezekiel 25:17. Even if you are one of the unfortunate people who have not seen this movie, chances are you have heard someone yelling about poisoning their brother, speaking English, or the look of Marcellus Wallace. That is Samuel L. Jackon in Pulp Fiction. If you have yet to see this masterpiece of a film, see it immediately. If not, I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger.

There it is. These are five movies that have no rivals. There is no reason for anyone to miss out on these movies. If you can’t get a copy of any one of these films, talk to me and I will lend you one. Note that some of the films mentioned in this article might not be appropriate for you or young children. So if you are emotionally fragile, then think twice before jumping into this typhoon of cinematic mastery. While these are my favorites, they are not the only good movies. If there is one you think that I missed, then let me know. Now go forth and enjoy the best movies of all time.

“We sort of wanted to do a spy move,” said director Ethan Coen, “It didn’t exactly turn out that way.”

The Cohen brothers are our generation’s best tag team brother film makers (sorry Wachowski brothers, you blew it with Matrix Revolutions). Their most recent movie is Burn After Reading. This is a comedy that makes fun of the CIA and how little we actually know about it. As Ethan said, the film is not exactly a full blown spy movie, but it is close.

If you are expecting to see a wacky slapstick comedy involving grown men acting like ten year olds, you might be disappointed. This film has an extremely dry sense of humor and incredibly witty jokes. It could even be this year’s best written comedy. It is not as strange as a Wes Anderson (Rushmore) film, but more sophisticated than a Will Ferrell movie. The only way you could not enjoy this film is if you are not smart enough to get the humor or you are texting your significant other.

Each character adds something to the movie. Brad Pitt plays Chad Feldheimer, a personal trainer that is obsessed with his heath and the environment. Chad’s delightfully clueless attitude makes him extremely likeable. John Malkovich, the most underrated actor in Hollywood, plays a disgruntled ex CIA employee who thinks he is worth more to the nation than he actually is. When Osborne Cox, Malkovich, loses his memoirs that contain CIA secrets, he goes on a mission to get them back. Also in the film is George Clooney. He plays Harry Pfarrer, a self obsessed former body guard. He is the most unlikeable character in the movie. He goes the span of the movie doing bad things to people, and when bad things happen to him he gets upset. The characters contrast each other and bring a well rounded film.

While it is titled a comedy, it is extremely dark. All of the characters, with the exception of Chad, are completely self centered. They walk on each other in order to get what they want. Bad things happen to all of the people, and when you think it is over, more bad things happen. I would say that only one good thing happens in the entire movie. With this aspect, the movie has a moral. If you spend your life selfishly, you will lose everything you have.

Burn After Reading has shocking moments and other twists that will surprise you no matter who you are. The great writing and superb cast make this film very enjoyable. I give this movie 4 dry jokes out of 5. I would have given it a 4.5 but Bubba didn’t think it was funny, so I settled.

Until next time, I’m Ben, I’m an American, and I judge things.

This summer, many cinematic adventures swept our nation. We gathered together to view what we hoped would be the best movie season of our lives. I have chosen five of this summer’s movies and will be rating them on a five point scale. These movies are the final product of countless hours and millions of dollars, and they are about to be judged and ridiculed by a high school student. What gives me the right to say what is good and bad? I am an American, and as an American I feel the need to judge everything from quarterbacks to apple pies in order to validate my own worth. So take a seat and enjoy our trip through the movies of this past summer.

Ironman
The summer movie season officially started off with Ironman. This movie mainly took place in Iraq and was a successful combination of superhero and war movie. The thing that made this movie stand out was the clever and humorous dialogue of Tony Starke (and yes, a priceless war suit). He kept the movie fun, even when it started to get monotonous (OK, we get it…he’s still trapped and he is still building the suit). The only thing I didn’t like about this movie is that it gave me false hopes. I thought that someday we might be able to have an Ironman in our world, that injustice would be fought by a rich man in a metal outfit, and that I would be able to witness it all. If you believe this, you are wrong. It is impossible and it will never happen in your or your children’s lifetime. Ironman gets a deceptive 4 out of 5.

Pineapple Express
Pineapple Express was a movie about stoners that we all could enjoy. It had guns, it had chase scenes, and it had those witty remarks from Seth Rogan that we just can’t stop loving. Though Seth Rogan and James Franco got most of the press for this film, the true unsung hero of Pineapple Express is Danny McBride. If you know who this is, I applaud you. McBride plays Red, the most loveable drug dealer known to man. He completes the trio of hilarious pot heads. With this cast, Pineapple Express manages to be a fun movie. It should be noted that the views and actions of this movie should not, in any way shape or form, be recreated by any Lovett student. I give Pineapple Express 3 memorable scenes out of 5.

Wall-E
Wall-E was an amazing movie. It turned back the clock in my life and made me believe that if robots in a post apocalyptic world could fall in love, then we all could live peacefully whilst holding hands and singing Kumbaya. It made me care about what might happen to this planet after I am gone from it (for at least an hour and a half). This Pixar masterpiece has rejuvenated my hope in people, and I give my sincere thanks to the creators of this movie. I give it 4.5 of my best childhood wishes.

The Dark Knight
The Dark Knight was the best movie of the summer, year, and maybe decade. This movie had action, it had twists, and it had Heath Ledger. Ledger’s amazing performance made us all wish that we had no conscience. If I could create nothing but chaos and not feel bad about it, I would be ecstatic. I ask you to take a few seconds to remember the work of Heath. That was emotional. The Dark Knight was an extremely long movie, and I enjoyed every minute of it. I give this film 5 actual stars, one of which is the sun, because without it the world would not be the same.

The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
If you find yourself watching this movie (maybe you lost a bet or fell down some steps into a theater), leave immediately and go to see The Dark Knight. This film gets no rating.

Those are the movies I felt strongly enough to assess and criticize. If you disagree with what I have said, you can keep that to yourself (or share your ignorant opinion below). I hope that the year’s movies will be as good as the summers, however, with movies such as College and Disaster Movie, the future looks bleak. On the whole it was a successful summer movie season, and I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did. Until next time, I’m Ben, I’m an American, and I judge things.