The Darkest District

In Metamorphosis, Kafka explores social reaction to a man being transformed into a giant insect. In Blood Diamond, bounty hunter Leonardo DiCaprio shows the best and worst of humanity as he races through strife-torn Africa to liberate a family. District 9 has a Blair Witch Project style reality TV format buildup – aliens land up in Johannesburg with little to offer and nowhere else to go. They are stigmatized (“prawns” as epithet), victimized (“humans only”), and isolated and forced to live in a giant slum on the city outskirts. Their only hope of returning to their planet finds an unlikely hero in the form of Wikus Van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), who, largely motivated by his own desire to return to normalcy, brings hope of deliverance in a disturbing milieu. District 9 manages to showcase the best and worst of man – persecution and sheer human cruelty, the arms race, and the profiteering from vice, in sharp contrast to the coming of age of Van De Merwe and his last gasp effort that gives the “prawns” their only last vestige of hope for escaping from the cruelty of man. An outstanding movie and one that, irrespective of the analogies I began with, I find it hard to think of a parallel

17.5/20

Taking to Pasture

If U2 were to play in Mumbai or Bangalore, it would pretty much indicate that the band's shelf life in terms of live shows has run its course in the Western World. Why would the likes of U2 submit themselves to poor infrastructure, non-discerning crowds and possibly poor execution. In the same light, I would hope and pray that The Taking of Pelham 123 is not a dirge for two of the greatest stars that Hollywood has ever seen - Denzel Washington and John Travolta. A low engagement movie with poor visual effects, a very weak storyline, and - above all - extremely poor camera shots and - lo and behold - we actually saw two Hollywood greats in a B Grade movie! The list of the number of things that could have been done differently in the movie is endless, suffice to say that we hope that for the continuance of their careers, Denzel and John choose their next respective engagements with a lot more forethought
7.5/20