There were a lot of better movies that weren't nominated for Best Picture that year, like The Dark Knight, WALL-E, and The Wrestler. Of the nominees, I liked Frost/Nixon the most.
There were a lot of better movies that weren't nominated for Best Picture that year, like The Dark Knight, WALL-E, and The Wrestler. Of the nominees, I liked Frost/Nixon the most.
I guess I'll be the one to buck the trend and say yes. It wasn't my favorite film of the year (it was third behind TDK and In Bruges), but neither of those movies are really the type that wins Best Picture, so Slumdog was the next best thing. Then again I happen to love Boyle's directing style and I think he was really at his best on Slumdog.
Plus, I'd say I prefer Slumdog to Hurt Locker, The King's Speech, and (possibly) The Artist
I personally really enjoy Slumdog Millionaire. I think the hype that carried it over to a Best Picture win left some people disappointed with the film itself after the high expectations, but I saw it at the film fest before it really exploded and thought it was a very kinetic, crowdpleasing watch, although the first half is much stronger than the second half for sure.
But I'd take it over Frost/Nixon any day, which was a generic snooze - zero tension, no character development, an entire movie that could have been a ten minute short film and got across everything they wanted to say - you might as well just watch the actual real interview. The Reader was decent but I don't remember being particularly enthusiastic about it. Benjamin Button at the time I decided to give a second try because the theatre I saw it in had really dim projector bulbs which meant most of the movie was ridiculously dark. I even bought it on blu-ray afterwards but I regret it cause repeat viewings have not left a favourable impression for me. I think it's by far one of the weakest Fincher movies, deserving a spot somewhere around Alien3 despite its technical perfection.
So the only movie nominated that I think deserved to win over Slumdog Millionaire was Milk, which was my #1 movie of the year alongside Hunger. But I like Slumdog quite a bit still so I'm perfectly happy with its win.
On reflection, I would have to say NO. Although it was well-made, it did not resonate with me the way Benjamin Button or Milk did, and I thought Boyle did a better job with 127 Hours. It struck me as way too trite and the bits I've seen in the ensuing years have not aged well at all.
I think that it COMPLETELY deserved the win. TDK was my favorite film of 2008, but out of the nominees, Slumdog was the best. I love adore it; it's one of my all-time favorite movies!