Titus

Titus is the name of the show and the lead character and it was created by its star, Christopher Titus, and is based on Titus' stand-up comedy act which in turn was based on his real family. 

In the show, Titus owns a custom car shop and hangs out with his dumb step-brother Dave. The two seem 'normal' when compared to their loony real father. This psycho father is the most unique character in this series who smokes, drinks, abuses, cheats and gets married multiple times. Moreover, he pulls nasty, mean pranks on his two sons to prevent them from becoming what he calls 'wussies'. He wants to toughen then up by making life miserable for them. He was married and divorced five times, with all of his ex-wives cleaning him out every time. So Titus has a lot of mothers and a father who is equal to a lot of crazy fathers. 

The more normal characters are the beautiful girlfriend who has a dysfunctional family of her own but pretends that everything is normal, and a nice goody-goody pansy friend called Tommy who seems to be gay, but is not.

And Titus' real mother is deranged schizophrenic woman... So much for the family.  

The show has plots that deal with the serious problems in life like alcoholism, suicide, child molestation, murder and many other and laughs at each of them. Inspite of all the serious
issues, it's still a very funny show. 

In fact a few episodes were censored, banned and never telecast, so problematic they seemed to moral authorities at the network.

Luckily all the episodes are on youtube to be watched. Warning, this is no Friends or Everybody Loves Raymond, or like any other sitcom (maybe a bit like Arrested Development?). 

Titus   

Warm Bodies

Simply put, this is a love story between a human and a zombie. This is an absolutely new take on the zombie genre. A brave attempt at looking at the done to death genre in a new way, and it works brilliantly.

All love stories have to have conflict, the conflict could just be internal, within the couple, means the couple keep on meeting or are stuck together, keep on fighting, hating each other, but finally confess their love in the end.

And then there are the other kind of love stories, the older ones, where the opposition is from the family, or society or anyone other than the couple. It’s not about how the couple fall in love, it’s more about how they come together in the end. They fall in love instantly, but something bigger than them keeps them apart till the end.

Warm bodies works on both levels, there is internal and external conflict. As a human and a zombie slowly fall in love, and as three different external sources try to keep them apart. The humans, the zombies and the bonies. 

But all said and done, this is still a romantic film at heart, with thriller and comic elements throughout. Really entertaining. 

And the message here is simple, it’s love that makes us come alive, because as zombies start to fall in love they start to become more human like. Love is the cure for zombieitis as the dead start to come back to life! On me, love doesn't have any effect, instead a good movie accompanied by a few pegs will work wonders. But normal rules don't apply to me, I'm a writer after all.  

Warm Bodies

     

Best Man Down

This is a sweet film. At first glance it seems like a comedy, but it's really not. It's starts with a marriage and ends with a funeral. 

The plot is quite unique. During the marriage celebrations of the protagonist (Justin Long) the best man gets drunk and behaves in a most obnoxious manner embarrassing the groom and his bride.

The best man seems like a nutcase as he continues his drunken shenanigans in his hotel room long after the marriage party is over. And then, all of a sudden he dies! I was like WTF did just happen? How can he suddenly die? He was the life of the film so far! 

Well, anyway, he does die, and then Justin Long and his understanding bride, who were just going to head out to their honeymoon have to cancel their plans. They reluctantly decide to go to the best man's home town and organize a funeral instead of honeymooning and get in touch with his family. The problem is they know nothing about the best man. No idea about his background, family, history. In fact Justin realizes he didn't know anything about his best friend!

And as they travel to where the best friend lived they start to discover a lot about the best man who went down. And a lot about love and life.       

This is a movie about discovering a man's real worth after the person is gone. It's an emotional movie with positive vibes, not depressing at all. 

Yes, it's about a death and a funeral but deep down it's also about celebrating the life of a loved one who has left us. 

This is really an unknown movie with depth.

Best Man Down 

Due South

Good things come in small portions. They are truly precious, and rare. Same with this show, Why did this have to end? I wonder as do a lot of reviewers on Imdb. 

I remember watching this many, many years ago, waiting each week for it to come on air. I loved it. And yesterday I tried to watch it again and saw that I still loved it. It still has the charm to entertain a cynic like me, or maybe it's just nostalgia. Whatever the reason, this is probably one of the the first and the best buddy cop shows ever (in my humble opinion). 

It came a bit after the Buddy Cop genre was truly established with Lethal Weapon, and before Rush Hour, Bad boys, etc.

The USP here were the characters. Both the cops and the situations they found themselves in were 'different'. A Canadian Mountie, the perfect, rule abiding gentleman cop partnered with a fast talking, lying, rule bending US cop. What could be better than the contrast. 

The character of the Canadian Mountie reminded me of the recent John Reid character in The Lone Ranger. But while John Reid comes across as a bit irritating the Mountie (Paul Gross) was highly loveable and not gross at all.

The story basically in one line is - A Canadian Mounted police officer's father (also an officer) is killed in Canada by American hunters. No one is interested in solving the case as it's a cross border crime. So the son seeks transfer as a Canadian liaison to US where he is partnered with a US cop. and entertainment magic happens.

Created by Paul Haggis who went on to win Oscars (first screenwriter to write two Best Film Oscar winners back-to-back!), this is a must check out in my list.

Due South

            

A History Of Violence

It's a peaceful life, calm, serene, laid back, nothing out of the ordinary ever happens. Quite dull actually. But then all that changes one dark night when a couple of gun toting criminals decide to rob a diner.
Things change for the worse for all of those concerned when an employee of the diner loses it and fights back.
In a few moments he ends up brutally killing the bad guys, thus becoming a hero himself. And when this unexpected violence comes name and fame and this diner employee becomes an overnight hero.

The fact is he does not want to be a hero, he wants to return to his normal, mundane, routine, boring life, but now that is not going to happen as his fame has grown far and wide and there are people coming to town looking for him mistaking him for someone who has a history of violence.

Is this diner employee a simple accidental hero? Or is he the brutal killer some men are looking for?

With this little act of saving the lives of the guests at his diner the hero has put his own life and that of his family in danger.

This is one hell of a tense film. It's like a Western set in today's times. The plot is quite unique, the acting top notch, the action realistic. Quite gripping actually.
Many, many years before this film was made, there was a Bollywood film called Hum that had a similar basic plot. And there is a fleeting similarity with one of the plot points of Joe Dirt, another super film of which I will talk about later.
Giving away anything more would be giving away the story. This is not in an unknown film, yet it deserves to be seen more often by more people.

A History Of Violence

Bored To Death

Slow but funny. It's about a bored writer who starts to pretend to be a detective and picks up jobs from craigslist. He's read some good detective novels and thinks that's training enough to be a good dick, or atleast pretend to be one. 

Quirky humour, crazy scenes, absurd situations, unique plots and loony characters (Zach Galifianakis is there, what can you expect? Add to that Ted Danson and Jason Schwartzman and you've got a good thing going)! 

Unfortunately not many episodes exist as it was cancelled because of low ratings. But that doesn't mean it was bad. It just means people either didn't get it, or don't know about it, or maybe the title put them off, or maybe the ratings system sucks. 

Whatever be the case, it's worth a watch. I bet you won't be bored to death.

Bored To Death

Cemetery Junction

Written and Directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, this is a film about coming of age of three youngsters in an old fashioned laid back town called Cemetery Junction.

The three friends spend their days hanging out, drinking, chasing girls and just doing nothing at all. One of them wants to escape starts to want to escape from the place and explore the outside world. But his friends are happy with life and don't think too much about what will happen. In short, they lack ambition. But as they grow up and a girl comes in between they are forced to grow up and make choices at they realize they can't be young and carefree forever. Life has to change, they have to become adults and move on. In a way, this a slice of life story, something that everyone has experienced or will experience once in a lifetime. It reminded me of a time when I just watched films and didn't have to think, analyze about them too much. But then I too grew up. Sigh.

Considering the Ricky Gervais is more of a funny guy I was

expecting a pure comedy but this one had depth in it. A lot of depth and wasn't really a comedy at all but more about coming to terms with growing up.

In terms of genre this was a bit similar to Superbad, frankly Superbad had much more going for it, but this wasn't bad either.  

Watch it if you want to watch a realistic story about growing up sprinkled with a few funny moments. 

Cemetery Junction

Cool Runnings

Now, imagine this! A Jamaican runner fails to qualify at the Olympic trials when a fellow runner trips and falls taking him down along with him.

But the sprinter isn't willing to go down and out. He wants to go to the Olympics come what may!

So he and his best friend make a plan to get there not as sprinters but in a new sport altogether! They plan to form a Bobsled team and go to the Olympics! Impossible? And silly, isn't it? 

Moreover, they know nothing about the sport at all. It's a winter sport and they are from Jamaica, where there's no snow at all.

But they are determined to give it a go and as they know someone who can coach them in this new funny sport.  

They contact a sportsman (John Candy) who won two Gold Medals in the sport of Bobsledding (funny name, I tell you!) and lives just around the corner in Jamaica (sounds too convenient, doesn't it). 

This sportsman is now a bookie as he was disgraced and later disqualified from the sport for cheating. 

After some persuasion John Candy agrees to coach them and they recruit two more guys and eventually become a full fledged Bobsled team!

Now this must sound like a pile of unbelievable nonsense imagined by some doped out scriptwriter. Doesn't it? 

But here's a newsflash, this movie is based on true incidents and all this presumably happened! 

And this fake team did go on to do wonders at the 1988 Winter Olympics games!


This is a 'sports movie', funny, moving and inspiring. It's very different as the sport of Bobsledding is poles apart from any other thing once must have seen or experienced. Bobsledding is funny and extremely dangerous! Watch it and see for yourself. 4 guys sitting in a long box that goes downhill sliding on ice a breakneck speed. Isn't that fun as a spectator sport? Watch it and see for yourself.      

Cool Runnings

Full movie 

A Lonely Place To Die

This is one visually spectacular, thrilling movie. Shot in the mountains of Scotland it's about a group of hikers risking their lives climbing the highlands. On one not-so-fine-a day, one of them hears a voice coming from under the ground and they look and find an underground cell in which they discover a scared girl. 

Surely someone has kept her there and whoever has done so isn't going to be to happy to find her missing. And surely they can't be such pleasant fellows.

So from just risking their lives for the thrill of mountaineering and hiking they now risk their lives to save the little girl.

Taking the girl with them they make their way to what they think is safety but the bad guys are mighty pissed off now and begin to hunt the hikers one by one, bumping them off in the lonely highlands.

This surely is a lonely place so let me use the classic line from Alien (1979) - In the highlands no one can hear you scream!

Well, they do say no good deed goes unpunished!

This is a pacy and racy film, all hectic and running and hiding and killing and climbing and falling down and shooting and jumping and bodies and a beautiful girl taking on and winning against the might of trained evil men and all.

All it lacks is a twist in the tale, a last final punch in the gut. But still this is worth a watch. Full on unadulterated, adrenaline pumping excitement! Could have been better, but still is good enough for a watch.

A Lonely Place To Die










The full film on youtube

Vanishing Act

This is a mystery like no other, and I mean it. In story and suspense it is a class apart. 

A newly married couple goes on a vacation to a heavenly spot and the wife goes missing. The husband goes to the cops and informs them about the missing better half. 

The cop doesn't take it seriously as the couple had had a tiff on the previous night, he is sure she will return soon after her anger dies down.

And sure enough the husband gets a call from a priest saying that his wife has come to meet him at the church. The husband goes to meet his wife and sees that there is an imposter there pretending to be his wife. 

He tries to explain to everyone that the woman is not his wife, but she knows so much about him, and she goes on to prove to the cop and the others that she is the original wife, and not a duplicate like the husband claims. 

What's more, it seems that she is right! And everyone believes that she is who she says she is. 

But then why is the husband lying? What is happening? Because only one of them can be right. If the husband is right, then the woman who claims to be his wife is an imposter and his wife's life might be in danger!

But if the woman is right, then why is the husband lying? 

Or is there another, more deadly option between these two? Something more sinister, more lethal, more mysterious...

As this is a film which is a mystery, suspense from the get go there is a humongous twist in the end. One does know that in a film like this there will be a twist, and the climax does not disappoint!

The actor from Mash (Mike Farrel) plays the distraught husband here. I saw this film solely because he was the lead in it. It was Mike Farrel film, but I remember it now as a superb film which had Mike Farrel is one of the actors in it. The film is way greater than the sum of its characters.

Unfortunately, this film was remade in Bollywood once again, blatantly copied, slaughtered, murdered, killed, butchered... it was shamelessly called Khoj (Bollywood, I tell you!).       

Vanishing Act

The Trailer

Full Movie

Khoj

Thin Ice

Set in a place that is freezing cold Thin Ice is about a small crime that goes bad and then worse and a bit more worse and then even worser and then really bad and horrible and then ends with a big twist!

Greg Kinnear is a greedy insurance salesman who isn't doing well financially and is in deep soup. He needs money and is willing to beg, borrow or steal to get it. 

The film begins with the lying protagonist trying to sell an old man insurance which he frankly doesn't need. During one of the meetings at the old man's house he discovers an expensive-looking violin that can make all his dreams come true. And the old man doesn't even know the true worth of the violin so the cheating insurance salesman decides to steal it. But a local crook (Billy Crudup) finds out what Mickey plans to do and forcefully joins in the plan.

During the robbery the crook ends up killing a neighbour who was at the wrong place at the wrong time. So from just a petty thief stealing from an old senile man, the protagonist is now involved in murder. 

And he has to work with this psycho, unstable, killing partner-in-crime to cover up the murder and hide the body in thin ice. 

And one thing leads to another and the another and he starts to drown in ditch he dug for himself when he decided to steal that violin. He is now worse off than he began, and sinking fast.

Thin Ice is well-acted and gripping stuff that takes you to a cold, cold crime in a freezing place with characters who are as coldhearted as their surroundings (Remember Fargo?). And, most importantly, there is a mucho big twist in the end. 

I love films with twists and that's why I recommend this one to you. Watch it for the performances, the story, the freezing setting, and the climax.      

Thin Ice

Unknown

There are a few more unknown movies named Unknown. A big, more known Unknown was Liam Neeson's 2011 movie which is I think is better known than this 2006 one. Liam Neeson's Unknown was good but in my opinion this one was more gripping, and slightly more believable and better and had a better twist in the end. Although both are a bit out there as far as the plot is concerned, this is more gripping. 

This Unknown is truly a locked room mystery. Limited location, budget and characters. 

It begins with 5 people waking up in a warehouse and not remembering anything about who they are or how they got there. All they know is they are trapped, there is no way to communicate with the outside world, except for a phone that rings occasionally with instructions for one of them, because there is a killer amongst them!

To remain alive they have to find out who they are, what they are doing there, and who amongst them is the criminal and who is victim.

So they begin to talk and work out things, and as they explore their surroundings and find out more about each other, they realize they are in terrible danger because someone is coming there for them. They have to work out who is bad and who is good and they don't have all the time in the world. 

Gripping stuff all of this, although it may require you to suspend disbelief a bit. Just go with what is happening and enjoy the ride as long as it lasts.

And by the way, there are a few twists in the end! Completely unexpected. It impressed some people in Bollywood so much that they totally ripped it off and made a terrible carbon copy of the film - Acid Factory. But if the copy is all messed up, blame the copier and not the original? Right? Because if it's being copied, then it must be good. And I believe it was. Check it out for yourself.   

Unknown