There’s a certain charm when a solid actor plays an action hero. He brings in elements into movie, that otherwise might be considered incongruous in an action movie– tight close-ups, verbal duels with the villain, reluctance to unleash his power  etc–along with the regular bang-bang stuff. Denzel Washington does something similar to the vigilante-loner-action-hero picture ‘The Equalizer’

Denzel with his towering screen presence and acting caliber, steers the movie through to its logical conclusion. He brings in a languid, samuraiesque flow to the proceedings. He is an ex-agent, who has seen it all, with the power to powder anyone, but  waits patiently with a loaded gun and folded fists. He is so assured about himself and miserly about bullets, that he even gives his opponent a chance to walk away.

Director Antoine Fuqua adds enough padding and lets Denzel do his job. The movie  appears a bit slow at times, but every time Denzel comes back on the screen there’s never a dull moment. While there are several scenes that stand out, the first scene where he meets the villain on his doorstep, is perhaps the best of all. He redefines the word ‘cool’ in that scene 🙂

All in all, ‘The Equalizer’ is a must watch for all Denzel fans, who would love see him in an action avatar and do not mind his home improvement tools piercing through goons.

Movies I was reminded of: Heat, Taken, Jack Reacher, The Good, The Bad and The Ugly, Dirty Harry.

Couple of quotes from the movie

• “I am offering you a chance to do the right thing. Take it.”
• “What do you see when you look at me”

‘Interstellar’ isn’t an easy movie to watch and digest in a single go. The fact that there are several articles out there that try to explain the concepts of physics et al that make their way into the story telling is a proof of this. Here’s one on Slate and on NBCNews

Matthew McConaughey plays a father of two kids, who in the face of dust storms and only-corn farms, sets out on a space mission to find an alternative dwelling to earth, before it’s too late for his family and rest of the earthlings. As his beaten truck leaves his distraught daughter behind, he begins his space odyssey, and a world of physics descends on us. Wormholes, blackholes, gravity, time, light, dimensions, singularity, etc etc are either shown or talked about.

The movie shifts from action to dialogue as if it were a space travelogue, but the film holds together thanks to its eclectic cast and superb production values. Amidst all the noise or the lack of it  in and around ‘space’, Christopher Nolan makes sure he weaves a sentimental fare that provides a thread to hold on to, for the physics uninitiated .

While every aspect of film making is outstanding, sound effects and background score deserve special mention. Speaking of background score, Hans Zimmer once again delivers his best for Nolan. The movie is worth a watch just for their collaboration. Here’s an interesting piece in BusinessInsider.com

Movies I was reminded of : Gravity, Signs.

Related links:

1) Movie companion book, ‘The Science of Interstellar’ on Amazon.com

Capt. Ramsey: You do qualify your remarks. If someone asked me if we should bomb Japan, a simple “Yes.” By all means sir, drop that fucker, twice! I don’t mean to suggest that you’re indecisive, Mr Hunter. Not at all. Just, uh… complicated. ‘course, that’s the way the Navy wants you. Me, they wanted simple.

Hunter: Well, you certainly fooled them, sir.

Capt. Ramsey: [chuckles] Be careful there, Mr Hunter. It’s all I’ve got to rely on, being a simple-minded son of a bitch. Rickover gave me my command, a checklist, a target and a button to push. All I gotta know is how to push it, they tell me when. They seem to want you to know why.

Hunter: I would hope they’d want us all to know why, sir.

The above is an interesting conversation between Gene Hackman (Capt.Ramsey) and Hunter (Denzel Washington).

Fury is about a group of such ‘simple’ soldiers and a complicated young recruit who is just assigned to be the co-driver of their tank, ‘Fury’.
As ‘Fury’ rides roughshod over the battle terrains, and flirts with danger and destruction, this group of men, deal the ravages of the war in their own way.  Brad Pitt plays the tough team leader with a spark of conscience, and does a good job of it. So is the rest of the cast. Director David Ayer depicts the war in the brutality that it deserves and it makes you uncomfortable in quite a few scenes. (Like the shooting of the an old German etc)

In the end, ‘Fury’, is a story of coming of age and reconciliation, both for the young guy and the rest of the team. As the horrors of war are heaped on them, they emerge clean with their intentions.

Movies I was reminded of: Saving Private Ryan.