Having a TV at home without a sat-tv connection can cause quite number of things, one of which is watching old thamizh movies on DVDs. But when it gets to watching the 34th re-run of "Kaaki Chattai", it can become a serious disorder. One by-product of this masochistic exercise is fodder for the blog. Well done. Read on to find _my_ Top 10 Cop movies.
10. The Fugitive
A classic cop-chases-hero-chases-mysterious-murderer movie. Did Tommy Lee Jones deserve an oscar, I do not know. Is Sam Gerrard one of the best badass cops around ?? Hell, yeah. From start to finish, The Fugitive is a pure adrenaline rush. With no heroine to romance around with like other fugitive-on-the-run movies, Andrew Davis gives us one of his better movies. Just don't see the sequel and the thamizh remake (party party party orankattu, paadu singaari duettu) and you will be just fine.
9. Die Hard
Can there be a cop-movie list without the greatest underdog cop of all time ?? Can you beat "I have a gun. ho-ho-ho", in a movie-one-liner showdown ? Can you give the legendary John McClane a miss and still expect people to respect this list ? Bruce Wills keeps the costume budget down by wearing just a cut-banian, but runs riot with the props budget by consuming loads of strawberry syrup for blood. I can see a bunch of purists murmuring the second, third and fourth were not as good as the first. Truth be darned, I love 'em all. Yippi-ki-yay,
8. kaaka kaaka
By far, the second best cop movie made in thamizh, Hands down. Slick camera work, great songs, beautiful heroine, a tight script, an imposing villain and an honest cop. Wow. In the remake versions in other languages, the heroine survives and everyone happily lives ever after. I am glad I saw the poetic thamizh version. Remember the scene with the curtains ? Kind of pokes you in the gut, doesn't it ?
7. Fargo
Can a cop-thriller be made with bumbling criminals, mild humor, barren landscapes and a brutal murders without hostel-like gore ? Yes, say the Coen brothers. They also add emphatically that they have been doing this for a while now. Fargo is a difficult movie for many (me included, until the 3rd time, i think) to appreciate because it is so steeped with the landscape that it represents - Minnesota and Middle America. It is like asking someone who has lived all his life in an apartment near Adyar Boat Club to appreciate Paruthi Veeran. No, can't do. But then, for some others who have lived in the narrow roads of Chinna Chokkikulam and Bibikulam, thats a movie for the ages. Fargo is probably an acquired taste, but a lip-smacking one nevertheless.
6. Sleepy Hollow
If my tim burton/johnny depp bias makes you skip this movie, ignore that for now. Burton breaks a few cop movie formulas. Take for example the lead character's name. In a world where cops have macho names, we have Ichabod Crane. Where cops have their adrenaline charged up on seeing the villain, our hero faints. When cops take a dive into danger, our hero backs off. When cops dare to see blood, our hero conveniently faints again. But then, Crane is resourceful, brave when the situation so demands and will stop at nothing - postmortems included. If that isn't enough, add abundant humor, a true detective storyline and gorgeous cinematography of turn-of-the-century new york. You have yourselves a winner here.
PS: Yes, I know burton didn't give the name to the lead character, it was Washington Irving. Now would be a right time to remember my the burton-depp bias.
5. Silence of The Lambs
A great cop movie with a greater villain. A greater villain matched by a greatly beautiful actress. SoTL is the first true thriller, and perhaps the only cop movie, where I really wanted to take the lead character out for a date (Note the use of past tense in "wanted" before you start off something at home) and No, Vyjayanthi IPS and other Vijayashanthi movies fail in both categories. Many recommend it for watching Anthony Hopkins at his best, but I say watch it for Jodie Foster. Don't believe me ?? Watch the other two Hannibal movies without foster and with hopkins. Now tell me which one you liked best. Foster brought a vulnerability and believability (and some beauty and some gracy and sensuality and that-oomph-without-oomphing) to the character of Clarice Starling which perfectly suits the theme of SoTL. If you have a thing for super-chics, look no further.
4. The Departed
The Burton-Depp bias is second only to the Scorsese-Di Caprio bias. Thats why you see "The Deparated" in this list and not "Infernal Affairs". When will Scorsese stop making movies where you wished to be a career-mobster ? Probably never. A cat and mouse game, shot in the backstreets of Boston, that pits two brilliant actors against each other with an extra-large scope to show blood and scorsese's favorite four-letter word (which he so prosaically uses even in 'The Aviator') with its infinite variations - Giving such a script to Scorsese is like turning the ball over to Tom Brady with 45 seconds to go in the fourth quarter. Don't forget the background score by Dropkick Murphy (I'm shipping upto Boston). That sort of seals the deal.
3. Hot Fuzz
Buddy cop movies are mostly run of the mill. The kind where two cops are best friends, dodge bullets in tandem, have buxom girl friends who are usually the damsels in distress. When you give such formulaic movies to Simon Pegg, he turns them around to classics. What 'Shaun of the dead' did to Zombies, 'Hot Fuzz' does to the buddy cop genre. With a whole load of humor, violence, blood and the usual flying-in-the-air-shooting-with-two-guns trade mark fight scenes, Hot Fuzz is a brilliant satire that deserves its place.
2. Kurudhi Punal
The best ever thamizh cop movie. You would be pardoned if you really thought it was an English/American movie. Such was the effect that it had on the viewing public when it opened. It had a cameraman directing the movie and an actor writing the script - facts you would realize only when someone told you that. Keeping a breathtaking pace from start to end, Kurudhi Punal gives you a power-packed climax which hasn't been seen in thamizh movies often. In a movie industry where vijayakanth, with a truckload of hair and a beer-gut, pretends to be a cop, Kurudhi Punal was/is/and will be one of those trend setters which will always his its own small cult of fanboys.
1. LA Confidential
What makes this movie click ?? Is it James Ellroy ?? No, he has some duds in 'Dark Blue' and 'The Black Dahlia'. Is it probably Brian Helgeland ?? No, can't be. He gave us 'Assassins'. Curtis Hanson, maybe. Nope, he directed '8 Mile'. Can't be him. Kevin Spacey ?? Russell Crowe ?? Guy Pearce ?? Kim Basinger ?? 1950's Hollywood ?? What is that sets LA Confidential right in the top ?? All of it. That sounds like a cop-out, but that's the truth. Everytime I watch a scene from this movie, it makes me think of marching up to those morons in the Academy of Motion Pictures and laugh at them for picking "Titanic" over LA Confidential for best picture. Just Plain Dumb. If you haven't seen it, do yourself a favor and rent a DVD. Then come back here to thank me.
Other Honorable Mentions :
Johnny Brasco, Dirty Harry, Copland, The Untouchables, High Noon - Never seen them from start to finish.
French Connection, Dick Tracy, Training Day, Serpico, Se7en - Dated (IMHO), Wierd - slightly, Hyped, Depressing, You can't kill Gwyneth Paltrow and get away with it.
Narasimma, Raajiyam, Idhudhanda Police, Vallarasu, Walter Vetrivel, Sooriyan, KattaLai - Lack of server space at blogger.com
Read on ... (at your own peril, obviously) ...
