Live by the Sword

Its been a while since the Wolverine was a lanky young hacker in Swordfish. Gabriel Shear (John Travolta) wants a job done – and the incentives for down-and-out Stanley Jobson (Hugh Jackman) are many – but, primarily, the possibility of reunion with his daughter. So Stanley gets called in – with cyber-crime enforcers hot on his trail, but never quite there – as Gabriel like his idol Houdini continues to keep one ahead of his pursuers, for most of the movie. However, is this yet another morality tale or do Gabriel and Ginger (Halle Berry) and the crew eventally pull off one of the largest cyber-robberies in history? Swordfish is a guns-and-chases copybook old school thriller that, while not quite edge-of-the-seat, is not a throwaway movie either

11/20

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

Pretty, Quirky

Many of the elements of Quentin Tarantino's cult classic Pulp Fiction are to be found in say Kill Bill. The retro music, the quirky character portraits and disjointed engagements, the engaging dialogues - all combine to give a disengaged portrayal of a loosely connected sequence of events, acted out by unforgettable characters. The movie is a difficult one to judge, inasmuch as it probably defined a (limited) genre in itself. What makes it particularly stand out is the performances of the entire star cast - especially the (questionable) redemption of Samuel L Jackson, the "day in the life" of Bruce Willis, the chemistry between John Travolta and Uma Thurman, and the righteous anger of Ving Rhames. Does it all collectively make sense in the end? No, but that is not quite the point.