Shishir Kurup Movies
A middle-aged man finds a callow twentysomething usurping his professional life and worming his way into his family in this alternately funny and poignant comedy drama. Dan Foreman (Dennis Quaid) is a middle-aged man who has spent 20 years as the head of advertising sales for Sports America, a leading athletics magazine. Dan is happily married to Ann (Marg Helgenberger) and has a college-age daughter, Alex (Scarlett Johansson), whom he dotes on, but Dan's comfortable life is given a major shake-up when a large multimedia firm buys the magazine. Seen as a bit long in the tooth to be truly competitive, Dan is demoted to second in command of advertising, and his position is handed over to Carter Duryea (Topher Grace), a 26-year-old who talks a good game about sales but has no practical experience in the field. Dan's wounded ego makes working with the arrogant Carter an uphill battle, but when he learns that Ann is expecting another baby, Dan is in no position to quit. Before long, Dan becomes aware of Carter's intense insecurities about his new job as the younger man reaches out to him for guidance, but this doesn't make Dan any less angry when Carter begins a romance with Alex after his marriage to Kimberley (Selma Blair) crashes and burns. In Good Company marked the solo directorial debut of Paul Weitz; he previously worked in collaboration with his brother Chris Weitz, who serves as producer on this film. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Quaid, Topher Grace, (more)
- 2003
The police are in high-alert mode as San Francisco is terrorized by a series of deadly mail bombings. Monk (Tony Shalhoub) thinks he has pinpointed the most likely suspect, a man named Brian Babbage (Matt Winston). But as so often happens in this series, Brian has the "perfect" alibi: He was in a terrible car accident several months ago--and has been in a coma ever since. And to make Monk's job all the more difficult, Brian's accident was witnessed by both Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2002
In the first episode of a two-part story, Sydney's perennial nemesis Sark (David Anders) has ostensibly mended his ways and joined the staff of SD-6. Sark's former confederate Irina (Lena Olin) suspects that he is up to no good -- and she turns out to be right on target when Sark delivers the highly volatile Uzbek communication codes into the hands of insurgents. Inasmuch as these codes have the capability of activating half a dozen nuclear warheads, Irina is in a position to negotiate a 48-hour release from CIA custody so that she, her daughter, Sydney (Jennifer Garner), and her ex-husband, Jack (Victor Garber), can head to Pakistan in the guise of vacation tourists. Upon arrival, this "happy family" begins to track down the codes, their efforts compromised by Syd and Jack's inability to thoroughly trust Irina. Meanwhile back in the U.S.A., Will (Bradley Cooper) is astonished by the CIA's indifference to his findings concerning Project Christmas. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Vince Vaughn stars in this drama as Pendleton "Penny" Wise, a gifted telemarketer who can sell almost anything over the phone. He's making a good living doing phone sales for Mick (Stephen Tobolowsky), until Mick's operation goes bust without enough funds to pay Penny or his co-workers Archie (George Wendt) and Gene (Wallace Shawn). Suddenly in dire financial straits, Penny is approached by Caitlin Carlson (Julia Ormond), who is recruiting telephone salesmen for Kelly Grant (Ed Harris). Grant is a legend in the telemarketing industry, but not always for positive reasons; one of his previous operations landed him in jail, and Penny isn't sure if Grant's latest scheme -- selling shares in a gold mine -- is on the level. Grant assures Penny that his new operation is legit, and even gives him a tour of the mining facilities; Penny signs on, though he still has his doubts. Soon Penny is outpacing his fellow sales people; he receives healthy bonus checks from Grant and has also become involved with Carlson; but he has a funny feeling that the good times can't last forever. The Prime Gig was the first feature film from successful theatrical director Gregory Mosher. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Vince Vaughn, Julia Ormond, (more)
The film's opening sequence takes the audience inside a mall, where a series of minor slights among strangers leads to an inexorable tension. Eventually, the focus settles on the main characters of The Trigger Effect, Matthew (Kyle MacLachlan) and his wife Annie (Elisabeth Shue). When a massive power failure hits their calm suburban California town, things begin to break down. Unable to fill a prescription for their sick baby because the phones and computers are out, Matthew tries to reason with the pharmacist, who responds testily. Desperation drives him to sneak behind the counter when the pharmacist isn't looking and steal the antibiotic the baby needs. Annie is strangely titillated when she hears about it. Later that day, their friend Joe (Dermot Mulroney) shows up at their house. Joe is a much more rugged individual than Matthew. While his presence during the crisis is welcome, Matthew resents Joe, while Annie feels drawn to him. Joe convinces Matthew to buy a gun, over Annie's objections. Joe's presence heightens the problems of their already struggling marriage. After a night of drinking and triangular tension, a burglar breaks into their home, leading to a fatal shooting. The next morning, the fearful couple, short on cash and gasoline, decide to travel to their in-laws until the power comes back on, and Joe agrees to go along. But the trip turns harrowing when they meet a desperate fellow traveler (Michael Rooker) on the road. Screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Spider-Man) made his feature directorial debut with The Trigger Effect. The premise for the film was inspired by the BBC documentary series Connections. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kyle MacLachlan, Elisabeth Shue, (more)
- 1995
Morganstern (William H. Macy) offers Greene (Anthony Edwards) a permanent position as attending physician -- prompting an unexpected response from Greene's wife, Jenn (Christine Harnos). Elsewhere, a woman with breast cancer demands that she be given a painless death in the ER, while Carol (Julianna Margulies) struggles to convince another patient (Bobcat Goldthwait) that he hasn't already died. Carter (Noah Wyle) doesn't like being outperformed by fellow student Deb (Ming-Na). And a poisonous snake is somehow let loose in the ER. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
"The Coneheads" were a sketch on the Saturday Night Live television show of the late '70s which were expanded to feature-length proportions with this film. The story concerns Beldar (Dan Aykroyd) and Prymaat (Jane Curtin), who leave the planet Remulak to prepare for an invasion of Planet Earth. But due to a malfunction, they find themselves plunged into the Hudson River and forced to take up residence in Paramus, New Jersey where Beldar gets work as an appliance salesman and makes a deal for a phony social security card. Before long, all thoughts of invading Earth are left behind as Beldar and Prymaat quickly adapt to suburban life -- except for their coneheads and metallic-sounding voices, they become a typical middle-class suburban family. The Coneheads have a child, Connie (Michelle Burke) and Beldar becomes a New York cab driver and starts up his own driving school. Connie grows into a teenager and a neighborhood boy, Ronnie (Chris Farley), develops a crush on her because he likes to rub her conehead. But a nefarious INS agent, Gorman Seedling (Michael McKean), and his toady assistant, Turnbull (David Spade), are hot on The Coneheads' trail because of Beldar's false social security card. Not only that, but the Remulakian Highmaster (Dave Thomas) is beginning to wonder what ever happened to Beldar's invasion of the third rock from the sun. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dan Aykroyd, Jane Curtin, (more)
