Movies - Sin City & Crash

Saw 2 movies the past week, Sin City and Crash. Both from different genres but highly enjoyable.

Sin City
In my opinion, it's one of the most inventive comic book adaptation ever brought on to the big screen. Even the dialogues were taken from the comic word for word. Although it does come across as awkward in a few small scenes, the amazing visuals more than compensated for it. It is also extremely violent, hence the M21 rating.

With this kind of movie, there is always a worry of style over substance, but thankfully it is not evident here. I must agree that it is not a movie for everyone, but believe me if you give it a go, you just might be pleasantly rewarded. :)

There's 3 stories woven together, although the main characters never got to interact with one another.
Story 1, retiring cop(Bruce Willis) gets involved in a serial killer/rapist case. He managed to save the 11 year girl, but pays a huge price for it.
Story 2, an ugly man(Mickey Rourke) finds comfort in a beautiful lady only to find her dead the next morning. Worst, he gets framed for it. He is determined to avenge her and along the way stumbles upon a cannibal and a corrupted official.
Story 3, A man(Clive Owen) helps a group of prostitutes when they accidentally killed a twisted slimeball policeman. The death of the policeman threatens an order of truce between the mob, the police and the prostitutes' territory.

Actually it's quite similar to films by Quentin Tarantino such as Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs. So if you like any of them, you will like this movie.

For myself, I can't wait for the two sequels in the pipeline. :)

Crash
Wah, really really like this movie! Genre wise, it falls under the intense drama category. I just love how all the interlocking characters were placed together and yet the film remained so focused on one theme, racism. It's not just abt Whites, other races like Latinos, Iranians, Blacks, cops and criminals are all involve in one way or another. All are the victims and all are guilty of it!

I am amazed by how the writer/director can tell such intense stories with the variety of characters and their relatively short screen time, and yet at the same time, he makes you feel for everyone of them. This is really great script writing, something which the local films sorely lack. The director Paul Haggis wrote the Oscar winning Million Dollar Baby, this is just his directorial debut, really have to kowtow to him. :)

One thing I dislike abt some of Jack Neo's movies is that he likes to preach 'in your face' messages abt moral and ethical issues which repulses most of the audience(like me lah). In this movie, you learn abt important issues, but without any preaching or 'drilling'. This I suppose is the art of subtlety.

I really, really highly recommend this film to anyone who has the time to go watch it. (esp. If u had seen the lame War of the Worlds) It might not make everyone a better person, but at least you will learn to be more forgiving and patient, and hopefully, at the same time be entertained! :)