Apparently we all just survived getting hit by an asteroid last week. So in celebration of that, let’s all spend the weekend at home giving thanks for the only thing making life currently worthwhile: Netflix, of course.
Let’s be real, we’re past downloading movies from sketch-ass sites and we’re definitely past trusting that one friend who does nothing but skip class to watch barely coherent movies in a dank, smoke-filled-room. But there are undeniably certain films and shows that just seem to work better when you’re the one with the green screen.
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At least I imagine that’s the reason for the popularity of Johny Johny Yes Papa on YouTube (must be among India’s most-watched, with 1.4 billion views). But thanks to Netflix, it doesn’t have to be this way. So relax, scrounge up some Scooby snacks and stream one of the following movies or shows that range from visually seductive, to philosophical, to utter batshit.
Karzzzz
Bad karma strikes a gold-digging Urmila Matondkar in the form of a capless Himesh Reshammiya (the reincarnation of Matondkar’s murdered ex-husband). Karzzzz is an ode to Subhash Ghai’s 80’s classic with the same name (but fewer Zs), and it was a musical rager with “Tandoori Nights” and forgettable renditions of “Ek Haseena Thi” and “Om Shanti Om”. But the highlight was Reshammiya suddenly descending in his private helicopter at a resort in Kenya to complete the line of a song that his love interest had begun hundreds of metres below. Toke up, head to 43:00 and stay there for the next three minutes. Thank us later.
Interstellar
This extravaganza by Christopher Nolan already boasts of a fantastical storyline, and an engrossing background score, so just imagine the experience when you’re tripping the light fantastic.
Luck
We kind of get that it’s really difficult to find good scripts early on in one’s career, but this film is clearly where Imran Khan met his Bollywood Waterloo. Sanjay Dutt and Danny Dengzonpa are organising a sort of arcade to find the luckiest people in the word (who are unlucky enough to find themselves in that situation). At the risk of spoiling this clunker, the movie ends with Khan getting shot at, only to survive because it turns out, LUCKILY ENOUGH, that his heart is on the right instead of the left.
Super High Me
A potheaded spoof of Super Size Me, this documentary records the experiences of a man abstaining from cannabis for 30 days. He then smokes up everyday for the next 30 days and observes the difference in his sperm count and SAT score. Frankly, we can’t believe this ever got greenlit, but there you go.
Mughal-E-Azam
If Mohenjo Daro put you off period films (and crocodiles) for life, go restore your faith by watching one of the best historical films of all time. Directed by K Asif, this classic remained Bollywood’s top-grosser for 15 years. Now available in colour, watch it for the larger than life frames, the music by Naushad, the intense Urdu dialogues and effervescent beauty of Madhuabala.
Ragini MMS 2
We’re not entirely sure what the plot of this movie is, (and clearly neither is anyone else; its Wikipedia entry skips that section completely), but at best we can describe it as softcore porn set in the Scooby Doo universe. There’s ghosts, and beautiful people attempting to make a “horror-erotica” and a struggling writer trapped in a haunted mansion.
Not really sure what else one needs really.
Predestination
Australian science fiction based on a Robert A. Heinlein story starring Ethan Hawke and Sarah Snook. The movie opens with a time traveller attempting to disarm a bomb, and only gets weirder from there.
Pacific Rim
While the sequel is still fresh in everyone’s mind, it’s time to revisit Guillermo del Toro’s Voltron vs Godzilla fan fiction. Before he made artful films about fish sex (which is better described by this title imho), the auteur gave us the tale of giant sea monsters fighting mechas for the future of the earth.
Canimals
Exactly what it says on the tin. A South Korean/Canadian-American live-action/CGI animated show about can-shaped animals that are trying to discover the world around them. It’s precocious, it’s weird, and it’s pretty great viewing.
One Punch Man
The most powerful superhero in the world can kill anyone with one blow. But nothing can challenge him, so he struggles with ennui and depression. Saitama’s struggle is far too real at times—a man who has everything he ever wanted, and still isn’t happy. The anime adaptation of a popular manga gets pretty graphic in places. And amidst all the limb snapping, carapace crushing, claw ripping action, are poignant moments of a man trying to find the energy to give a shit.
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Screenshot from the retracted trailer. -
Photo by Christian Filardo. -
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