#8

Slumdog Millionaire
Danny Boyle

After coming out of nowhere (ok, it was the Toronto Film Festival) to position itself as the frontrunner in the best picture horserace, Slumdog was in the backlash stage of its existence when I went to see it. "The premise was flimsy and my god isn't it cheesy."

While many might have choked up the sickly sweet mixture of destined love and game show theatrics, I didn't mind it. The story is compelling, in the same way that City of God is – the life in a third-world slum is rife with violence, crime and corruption. And I don't mind the business about a predestined tale, as a number of films are setup on a similar structure. It's not the best picture of the year (although it'll win that prize at the academy awards) but it's far better than Gladiator. Danny Boyle is a good director, he deserves this.