According to Patrick Goldstein‘s inside-the-LAFCA-awards-debate reporting, Slumdog Millionaire “sparked the most divisions of any film. Its partisans praised its filmmaking energy and social consciousness . But its scrum of detractors said they wouldn’t vote for it under any circumstances, with some critics claiming it was too derivative, coming off like an amped-up Satyajit Ray film.

“The only slam dunks in the voting were Penelope Cruz, who won best supporting actress for Vicki Cristina Barcelona and Heath Ledger for The Dark Knight. The voting for best picture was extremely close, with the joke being that whether the vote went for WALL*E or The Dark Knight , that it was still a thumbs-up for an animated film, since Dark Knight is loaded with computer animation effects.”

Between LAFCA’s snub of Revolutionary Road Best Actress contender Kate Winslet (they went for Sally Hawkins first and Melissa Leo second) and Winslet being blown off yesterday morning by the Broadcast Film Critics’ Association, there appears to be a block of serious (and perplexing) resistance to Sam Mendes‘ angst-ridden period drama. What is wrong with everyone? Why can’t they see how sublimely made and full of feeling this film is?