Watching Instantly
By Vijay Kumar
September 7, 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.
The Dead Pool
As far as thrillers go, The Dead Pool doesn’t score high in the charts for plot and execution. The movie gains credit as the last (thus far) in the line of Dirt Harry adventures.
The Dead Pool also brings together eclectic talents in Clint Eastwood, Liam Neeson, Jim Carrey and Patricia Clarkson. Between the year of its release (1988) and 2010, the group’s individual careers have taken different paths. Interestingly enough, 2010 seems to be as good a year as any to reunite any of these actors with Eastwood probably taking directing credits.
The plot is not as well defined as the other Dirty Harry movies. The focus is more on the characters. Or should I say character? It is initially a study of acceptance between Officer Harry Callaghan and his new partner, a Chinese American. It proceeds on to a guarded romance between Harry and a television reporter. There is also the mutual lack of respect between Harry and Liam Neeson’s character that provides some sparks. Neeson plays a horror movie auteur, profiting from the serial murders that Harry is investigating. The sheen goes off once the murderer is revealed but the sequences preceding that are quite gripping - mainly the Bullit-like car chase sequence in the streets of San Francisco.
The Dead Pool probably lost some of the built-in audience for Dirty Harry movies as it was released almost five years after the previous installment, Sudden Impact, which incidentally is the top grosser among Dirty Harry movies. At the box office it made roughly $30 million, half as much as Sudden Impact.
Raajneeti
The Ramayana and Mahabharatha are two Indian (read Hindu) epics that have proven to be the source of many a modern tale. Raajneeti (Politics) draws heavy inspiration from the latter with its story of warring cousins set in the political milieu of Central India. The stand out feature is the star cast (one of the largest assembled), complimenting the personalities of the characters they’ve undertaken - none more so than Manoj Bajpai and Ajay Devgan, who play the scorned scion and the illegitimate heir with great conviction. Unlike many other adaptations, Director Prakash Jha’s version of Mahabharatha does not paint a good vs. evil story. All the male protagonists are in a dark shade of grey hustling towards attaining upper hand in the lead up to a state election. Jha has found his niche in movies set against a political backdrop and has paired up with Devgan with great regularity. Here he has been able to rope in thespians Nana Patekar, Devgan, Bajpai, Naseerudin Shah (in a very brief cameo) as well as new trendsetters such as Arjun Rampal, Ranbir Kapoor and Katrina Kaif. Parallels can be drawn between the Rampal and Kapoor characters with that of Sonny and Michael Carleone. As the body counts starts to increase there is a sudden lack of focus in the narrative. However, this is overcome handsomely in the overall picture.
Raajneeti has been by far the highest grossing movie for 2010 (at least the first half) in Bollywood. The cast, the fast paced narration, the subtitles and a rather familiar storyline should make it a worthwhile venture for Bollywood followers on NetFlix.
Did You Hear About the Morgans?
Did You Hear About the Morgans? is fuelled by clichés. It is like a comfort dish in that you needn’t get excited at any point of the movie expecting a red herring. Given the rather sedate story line, the director Marc Lawrence has chosen two of the most typecast actors in Hollywood today – Hugh Grant and Sarah Jessica Parker - he of the laid back wit and irresponsible variety and she of the Manhattan born and bred (with no use for the kitchen oven other than as a storage space). The two of them kind of reenact some of the characters from their earlier movies. Grant’s repertoire of wits is good for giggles, but the rest of the movie is quite stale. One has to say that Carrie Bradshaw does look ridiculous when placed outside of a metropolis. Unfortunately, that’s the crux of the storyline that involves separated couple Paul and Meryl Morgan forced to hide out in Ray, Wyoming as part of a Witness Protection program. They find their way back to each other and New York City as the movie progresses.
I watched the previous Marc Lawrence-Hugh Grant collaboration, Music and Lyrics, as an in-flight movie. I dozed in between and never missed a "note." Their form continues with this theatrical flop that recovered half of its $60 million budget at the box office.
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.
The Love Guru
I know I am in dangerous territory here, but I am unable to resist adding Mike Myers' phenomenal flop to my instant watching list. What can I salvage from a comedic disaster that competed with Steve Carell’s Get Smart and still lost?
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra
I subscribe to the Stephen Sommers brand of movies. They are true popcorn fare and deliver what they promise. With G.I. Joe, I expect very little challenge to my acumen. Based on trailers and news bits, the CGI is supposed to be good and there is a lot of action involved. How can a man deny that?
Moonstruck
Rounding off the movie list for the week would be what I expect to be a surefire personal hit – Moonstruck. This has been popping in and out of my instant watch list for some reason. Lots of Oscar caliber material in this romantic movie with Cher and Nicolas Cage in the lead roles.