Danny Boyle’s “Slumdog Millionaire” and Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” Emerge as Oscar Faves

As expected, there’s some new Oscar buzz starting up now that critics are getting their chances to see this award season’s films at Toronto and Venice, and Fox Searchlight is doing well with its films. The Secret Life of Bees has been getting some positive chatter, and they just acquired the big-buzz film The Wrestler, which stars Mickey Rourke as a broken down professional grappler at the end of his career. One might wonder how in the world a pro-wrestling movie could possibly get award consideration, but one must take into account the physical toll this profession takes on people (sure it’s “fake” but it’s still brutal), the staggering early-death statistics for people in the business and the fact that director Darren Aronofsky can take this dour situation and make it absolutely brutal.

Watch Aronofsky’s Requiem for a Dream for proof of that.

Also emerging as a favorite is Danny Boyle’s Slumdog Millionaire, a twisty tale of Jamal Malik, an 18-year-old orphan from Mumbai, India, who is one question away from winning the grand prize on India’s version of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” only to be arrested for suspicion of cheating. So this street kid has to give his life story, and the reason he knows the answer to each question is revealed in the telling. Critics are falling all over this film, and it’s no surprise. Boyle is a hell of a filmmaker.

Watch Danny Boyle’s masterful reinvention of the zombie film 28 Days Later, right here on Fancast.
Watch Boyle’s crime-comedy A Life Less Ordinary, starring Cameron Diaz and Ewan McGregor, for free on Fancast.