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Reviews
The Machinist (2004)
Satisfactory ending.
Christian Bale played a factory worker, Trevor Reznik, who suffered from insomnia and became paranoid that a new worker might have conspiratorially done something against him.
On the surface, the movie came across as a psychological thriller; but it was, in fact about someone who became conscience-stricken as a result of what he had done in the past. The movie, in the end, provided a satisfactory explanation why Trevor turned into such a sleepless, hunted zombie walker but, be that as it may, the Machinist, as a whole, was not that peerless.
Despite giving a good twist, there were not enough engaging scenes. The whole movie, indeed, did not catch my imagination much; seeing that I could speculate at an early stage, that it would eventually arrive at an understandable conclusion. As a matter of fact, it was a bit insipid. I wish the movie had delivered some spine-tingling moments. While I was watching a bony Christian Bale performing his role skittishly, I felt that the director could have advised him to be a bit spookier.
Bale, however, gave quite a good performance. He was convincing in his character. I felt like I was watching a real psycho, weirdo person. He successfully held the entire movie together. His body in this movie was believably anorectic. I thought he was going to die from a heart attack as a consequence of losing such a lot of weight. His dedication to the character was commendable.
This movie managed to set itself apart from other typical psycho thriller movies because of its twisted result. It also sent out a message of taking responsibility for your own action. Any decent human being cannot avoid being assaulted by waves of guilt. Forcing yourself to forget your bad deeds is not the right way to sort out a sense of despair. You, in the end, could a lot suffer from them in terms of physicality and mentality.
The Machinist is in every way a well-made movie, particularly for a movie goer who is interested in more than just a usual psychodrama.
Enduring Love (2004)
Interesting, but absurd
Joe, played by Daniel Craig, was a level-headed professor, who was traumatised by the incident which cost someone's life. As well as having to deal with this post-dramatic event, he also had to face the fact that a strange, obsessive guy named Jed (Rhys Ifans), who he had met on that tragic day, kept on following him, and inexplicably developed a strong attraction to him.
Not only the movie depicted a story about a psycho gay stalker, "Enduring love" is more interesting than other normal psychological thriller movies. The story, as well, talked about passion and stimulation. Take Jed for example, the audience could not grasp why he was so fanatical about Joe and this led him to behave in such a scary way. On the other hand, Jo's rational belief, biological instinct, was shaken up by Jed's besotted behaviour.
As the movie was about a person who was being followed, the director might have intended to use long range shots quite a few times so as to give the feeling that Joe, the protagonist, were being watched by someone. In a funny way, I felt that I was looking at him via Jed's eyes in spite of the fact that I was just a viewer.
At the same time, the movie gave a feeling of silliness. I could not comprehend why the lead character, Joe, allowed himself to be stalked by this strange, deranged man for quite a while without doing anything. He could merely have done something to sort the guy out early, instead of engaging into this stalking game; any ordinary, sensible human beings will know this is not the right way to deal with this sort of situation. Joe's action was, ipso facto, unreasonable, given the fact that he was quite an intelligent person.
The movie, more or less, is thought-provoking. The actors gave a good performance, even though the characters they played were rather absurd. The opening scene, in my view, was excellent. It was not a great movie, but not that bad either.
Asylum (2005)
Why could you not control yourself?
It would be unfair to say that this movie is merely mediocre, but there is nothing engrossing in "Asylum" whatsoever. The movie is about the wife of a psychologist who has a sexual relationship with a lunatic inmate in a psychiatric hospital.
Stella, the wife of the psychologist, for some strange reason, began having a passionate affair with Edgar, the insane inmate who decapitated his own wife. Both of them kept having a so-called lascivious affair during his working outside her house. As well as telling the story about Stella's unfaithfulness, the movie portrays the same, old cliché of an unhappy married couple, which I found a tad arid and unimaginative. Despite attempting a bit of a twist near the end, the movie gives the impression that the story only was included so as to extend the duration of the film.
This movie should have ended after an hour. The director or screenwriter, however, seemed to want to make sure that the viewers grasp the actual main point of the two lovers' situation: why were they easily allowed to engage in mischievous frolics and who was the person who pulled the strings behind the whole story?
The protagonists and supporting roles give a real good performance. Ian McKellen, who played Dr. Peter Cleave, performed to his usual standard. The lead characters, played by Natasha Richardson and Marton Csokas were well suited in their roles and Hugh Bonneville, unsurprisingly, depicted a stuffy, loveless psychologist husband in a good way. The cast of this movie, as a whole, is a good cast.
As mentioned, the movie, itself, had a sterile plot. There was nothing new in this liaison; this unfaithful tale has been told before, and several times. The movie, ipso facto, failed to impress me. Thanks to all the stars who excellently managed to keep this movie a bit interesting. Without them, I could easily have nodded off. Altogether, they ought to do it again in another movie, with a more riveting story to tell.
Ruang rak noi nid mahasan (2003)
Two distinctive individuals are in love in this tiny universe.
This lovely movie is about two people who fancy one another, albeit they do not explicitly express their feelings. Viewers, though, can tell that there is something going on between the two protagonists, judging from the way they interact with each other.
Kenji and Noi, by chance, came across each other. In characteristic terms, there was a world of difference between these two; Kenji was such a neat and tidy person, Noi, in contrast, was happy-go-lucky and dishevelled.
Last life in the universe was directed by Pen-ek Ratanaruang, a talented Thai director, who is now considered to be one of the most promising directors in Asia. With the help of a well-known cinematographer like Christopher Doyle, the picture of this film was as beauteous as it gets.
Asano Tadanobu, a versatile Japanese actor, played Kenji, a suicidal librarian working in a Japanese culture centre in Bangkok. He, as luck would have it, met Noi, played by Sinitta Boomyasak, a young pretty bar girl, who happened to lose her sister in an accident.
Their quirky relationship began to shape up during their time together. It was pleasantly cute to see these two clashing characters trying to talk to one another in broken English. This, however, made the context look real, like watching an actual couple who truly care for each other.
The music accompanying the film provided the feeling of calm and loneliness, as though you were the last lizard in the astronomical, empty universe.
In every sense, this is an endearing film. You could drift off easily if you are not into a slow paced movie. Given that, I am sure you will have a blessed dream.
Shutter (2004)
Check your photos and mind your neck!
This movie is exceptionally scary. Despite the fact that the story is a bit clichéd, it provides audiences with an interesting plot.
The movie began with a couple who accidentally hit somebody when they were driving home from a wedding party. A day later they tried to find out what happened to that person. Even so, they were not able to find out whether the victim was alive or dead.
At the same time, both of them kept seeing something odd in the photographs(the couple are photographers). Also many spooky incidents happened to the couple since the accident. This led the female protoganist to find out what was going on with them and why there were so many peculiar things in the pictures they had taken.
I will not tell you any more since I do not want to spoil the fun, excitement and spookiness that you will enjoy from watching this film.
Check your photos. Maybe you will see something different each time.