Shinjuku Incident 4/5
Great stuff, but I watched it too long ago to give proper comments other than I liked how it was set against a solid setting and explores issues of immigration. I was really pissed at how all the characters and plots converged into a mass killing orgy. Lame.
Revolutionary Road 5/5
Awesome acting, awesome lighting, awesome sound. That would probably mean that Sam Mendes is brilliant. I enjoyed how the mise-en-scene was so deliberate and at times probably excessively so but only because there was something to be said. Frank goes out to work and everyone around him seems to be dressed like him, walk like him... The themes of industrialisation and identity were so well-portrayed. He is later seen at the staircase standing still while everyone rushes home, kind of like mindless ants.
My favourite fight scenes are the ones at the car and the one at the climax, where Frank smashes a chair. The lighting was so emotionally-charged with long shadows and silhouettes. It was really awesome to watch.
And the morning after the big fight started off with three shots of the various rooms in the house, with no action at all. The startling neatness and cleanliness and abscence of scars of from the previous day's battle was as intense as the overwhelming silence it was matched by.
Needless to say, Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio's performances in the movie looked as if they were giving a masterclass on acting. Give them a place, conflicting characters and a disagreement and you get fireworks in your face. I was in slack-jawed with awe. It's amazing how a movie about the monotony of life could become so interesting in the hands of these two. Epic.
And John was fucking scary. He was a refreshing character alright, but scary.
I like how it ended. I like that there was closure, just that it was done without excessive explanation. Just showing and letting the audience interpret it in whatever way they want to.
The Sniper 4/5
Initially I watched it because I was a fervent fan of Edison Chen but the movie made me a fan of Dante Lam instead! I enjoyed how the story unfolded, although there were useless moments as many other reviewers have mentioned, such as the one scene lame-ass appearance of OJ's dad and girlfriend. But unlike them, I thought this movie was really good. The story is packed with twists and turns, pushing the story onward relentlessly. There are many dangling causes that are so subtle that I was in shock when the effects were revealed later.
SPOILER ALERT.
When Lincoln returned from jail and returned to his house, it was completely dark. Suddenly the lights were turned on, even though the switches were beside him. One would assume that it is his wife who turned it on but I was puzzled because it didn't make any sense to me. Why didn't she meet him outside the jail if she was pining her return? In a much later scene and with good use of the Kuleshov effect (although I saw it coming because I had seen something similar before), Hartman breaks into his house and the audience is led to thinking that Lincoln is in there. However Lincoln is at his hideout with Bowie Lam's character. He starts talking to his wife, whom Bowie reveals had died. At this point we are seeing two seperate scenes - the police and Lincoln's warehouse. It then goes into the flashback mode. And Lincoln realises his wife has died, loses it and starts seeing even more "ghosts", opens fire at them and accidentally kills Bowie.
The revelations and events unfolded so fast and furiously that me and Ruiqi totally brain-spoil. We were working hard enjoying the film and trying to rip its mysteries apart with our analytical skills and we managed to guess a few of it but the film outsmarted us in the end. We were both hanging on for dear life at the final shootout. Awesome stuff.
