Slumdog Millionaire, a story with the power to move an audience, has received nearly unanimous praise from critics, perhaps because of its ingeniously structured plot or Director Danny Boyle's deft telling of the story.  Reviewers acknowledge its simplicity with astonishment, as if they are surprised that such a conventional story, a love story at that, has moved them so much.  The film is beautiful, few will argue that, but are we really to take this film seriously?  One reviewer referred to the material as hackneyed while in the same breath he praised it as one of the best films he has seen in years.  Is this not a paradox?  Why is there such a need to justify enjoying this film?  Maybe this betrays a cynicism latent within the viewing body; a reluctance to experience the film with unrestrained joy because of its lack of realism.  Fortunately film's virtue does not lie solely in verisimilitude.  Slumdog Millionaire is not real, yet it moves its audience, it is not complex, yet it has the feeling of fullness and importance.  The virtue of Slumdog Millionaire lies in its unity of art and life which transcends realism.

As we have stated via our other "favorites" lists...

This time of year is all about remembering what has been and getting ready for the change that will be. In a year that has had "change" as its mantra, we here at rednoW are looking back and remembering the things that have changed us through the wonderful experience of wonder.  We aren't making a Best of 2008 list in the sense that this is an exhaustive list of all things good; it is simply what we happened to engage with in 2008 that has caused us to think more about what is going on in this world, in our lives and the reality behind it all.

Favorite Songs

Many of us have been exchanging mix-tapes (yes, we still call them that) for a number of years now and decided to share the love this year.  This is not every song from our personal favorites list, but a compilation of songs we felt were wonder-full for whatever reason this year.  We are able to provide full streams now through the genius of lala.com.  We have created a playlist with (most of) the songs if you would rather listen via these means.  The site will give iTunes a run for it's money, sign up here and "follow" what we're listening to throughout the year.  The following is not in any ranked order, but like any good mix-tape there is order to it, an order we believe worthy of experiencing.

Think we missed something?  We probably did.  Share it with us. Enjoy!

When we began discussing what films stood out under the umbrella of "wonder" this year, numerous films came to the table.  Dark Knight was an early favorite, taking the classic good versus evil narrative to new and perplexing levels.  Slumdog Millionaire struck multiple nerves, inviting its viewers into a fresh perspective on reality, injustice, and that which is written.  And Doubt was plain textbook wonderful.

But the more we sat on our philosophical rubric of sorts, the more we believed Pixar's 2008 installment WALL-E was revealing ideas and methods that we did not expect, and hope do not go understated.

Wha? The robotic kid flick gets your 2008 film of the year?  Well, before you write off the industry's revival of #5 (anyone?), let us remind you that this site is not a "review" site, but one deeply interested in the art of wonder.  And this year, the animated genre's got it.  Let us explain:

Many of us know the enjoyable challenge of putting together a play list of songs for special occasions: the New Years Eve party, the all day road trip, or - for the experts among us - the wedding reception. Clearly the chosen songs must reflect the nature of the occasion. But if we’re honest, these songs also say something about us, as the creators of these collections. Choosing our album of the year presented us with this challenge: What album best represents both the occasion of 2008 and our abiding interest in goodness and wonder? There are as many ways to answer this question as there were terrific albums this year, but it was Bon Iver’s For Emma, Forever Ago that simply wouldn’t let us go throughout the year.