Watching Instantly
By Vijay Kumar
August 3, 2010
BoxOfficeProphets.com
Went Looking For…
Believe it or not, I sometimes do have a predetermined playlist while browsing for movie titles. Generally, there is a week between my adding them to the playlist and actually watching them. The movies under “Went Looking For…” are typically the movies that I had slotted as “Ended up with…” the previous week.
Paper Clips
Linda Hooper’s narrative begins with the fact that her town, Whitwell, has only two traffic lights. She is the principal of a middle school housed in what can be termed a poor community. "But," she says in the voice of a dedicated educator, "we have our children." The other teachers in the school seem to share her vision for education. David Smith’s task was to find out a project that showed tolerance. Sandra Roberts wanted to teach the children about prejudice. The students’ narration throws light on the fact that determination is a given for the young ones – no complications – just the task of learning and working towards a goal. Together these remarkable teachers and students were able to create a unique after school project that ends up cleansing people beyond the original target audience. Documentaries always work when the real stories subtly glorify the human element. A remarkable project’s origin and success interlaced with poignant interviews makes this a winning experience.
Munyurangabo
Munyurangabo, or Ngabo for short, is a Rwandan teenager with an adult quest of revenge. He is after the man who slaughtered his family. In his journey he is accompanied by another teenager, Sangwa. The two of them decide to spend some time with Sangwa’s family. While Sangwa’s mother is predictably happy to see him, there is some reservation on the father’s side. The father gives his son a haranguing on abandoning his family for three long years. However, his anger seems to be focused on Sangwa’s new friend, Ngabo, who hails from a warring tribe. Prejudice prevails as the teenagers feel unwelcome in their rest stop. There is added strain between the two as Sangwa makes an attempt to get back to the seemingly idyllic life of farming and providing for his family. Their point of departure from this setting helps conclude a simple story in extraordinary surroundings. This is a peek into a life most will never experience. In its simplicity it brings out the basic strife and hatred that germinate all over the world. A good narrative style to a compelling story makes this a thought provoking movie.
Harold and Maude
Harold is not alone in this world. My mind wanders off to the likes of Sarah Vowell, the author of Assassination Vacation. These are people capable of wit and mirth but at the same time have a healthy appreciation of the macabre. These are well balanced individuals with a deep appreciation of mortality. Harold is filthy rich and his only preoccupation is to fake his own death and attend random funerals at other times. It is during one such funeral that he comes across Maude. Maude is closing in on 80. She has had a pretty exciting bohemian lifestyle and continues to lead a life that is an adventure a day. It is a very interesting pairing indeed. If there is a quirkier love story I have yet to see it.
The tale of one person in her twilight years celebrating life forging a relationship with a young man obsessed with death is a complex tale of ying and yang - and ying and yang leading to delightful situations. Two in particular stand out. I will be revisiting the movie for these two scenes if for nothing else – the plight of the traffic policeman hoodwinked by Maude at least three times and the more surreal scene where Harold opens up to Maude over a hookah. Yes, a hookah. It is difficult to classify this movie as a comedy or a romance – it has life and death lessons to trivialize both.
Two Lovers
Dry cleaners in Brooklyn sure lead busy romantic lives. Joaquin Phoenix plays Leonard, a man recovering from a failed relationship falling head first into two new affairs simultaneously. One is a result of match making through his parents while the other is his escape from this arranged relationship. The movie is shot mostly indoors in the night time, adding to Leonard’s closeted mood. Leonard’s odd behavior brings out a level of curiosity. There is always this feeling that he is not all there and is going to have a meltdown at any moment. He continues to confound by rising to the occasion with the ladies. He is the soft spoken guy with a past to one lover and the energetic man for all occasions to the other. He wants one and needs another. Lucky for him circumstances help him make the decision. Not much time is spent in explaining the back story for the ladies. They are merely used as elements in the narration of Leonard’s story. Gwyneth Paltrow as the girl prone to wrong choices, Michelle, has the only other role with a character slope. "Moth to a flame" comes to mind while assessing Leonard’s love for Michelle. Vinessa Shaw plays the other lover, Sandra, but her reason for falling for Leonard and her continuing fascination with him is not sufficiently clear. Two Lovers has a safe ending but the vacillating nature of the lead manages to sustain interest.
Ended up with…
Whilst checking out the above movies, I invariably end up fattening my instant watch queue with some new additions. These go into my “Ended up with…” list and the plan is to watch them during the week ahead. NetFlix keeps tempting me to move each one of them to the top of the queue but I resist. These are movies that I plan to check out in the days ahead.
2012
It's summer and I feel that Inception engaged the contents of my cranium prematurely for this year. This is an activity I put off until the end of the year so that remorse and new beginnings are right around the corner. 2012 should restore order.
Law Abiding Citizen
What if 2012 actually makes me think of Global Warming? What if John Cusack actually brings out the sensitivities of global destruction and counters Roland Emmerich? Presenting Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx (as a lawyer) in Law Abiding Citizen.
15 Minutes
And what if “Law Abiding Citizen” turns out to be a smart cerebral courtroom drama? I should then consider adding 15 Minutes to the list. It has Robert De Niro, yes, but it’s well known that De Niro only looks at every fifth script that he signs on to.
If all three pan out as expected… (shudder)