The Lost Room, Pan's Labyrinth, Children of Men & 300

The Lost Room is a six-part Sci-fi Channel mini-series. It's what you'd expect to come straight out of a scriptwriting workshop: let's say there are a key, a clock, a comb, a cop, a pawn shop owner and a couple religious cults, now give me a story. The idea is quite refreshing but the scripwriters haven't done the premise justice or they haven't fully explored the potential of their original ideas. It loses steam towards the end and lacking a good closure is surely its coup de grace. Still, I recommend it to fans of twilight zone/outer limits.

Saw Pan's Labyrinth finally. Don't bother to get the Korean DVD if you can wait (till May for R1 release) coz the making-of only has korean subtitles. Si senior, the prodcution gang speaks Spanish only.

The interwined stories are handled by a deft hand, although there're a few lousy plot devices that have stuck out like a sore thumb (like the maid who let the sadistic captain live when she could have gutted him to death easily; why having the maid to give the resistance the store key when they eventually stormed the mill in full force?) The fantasy part is very enjoyable with top notch art design (that child slaughtering monster is CREEPY!).

Pan's Labyrith is a tale of sadness, underlining the cruelty of fasle hope and the endless suffering belies it. One thing that especially piques my interest is how do we tell something is real or unreal. Is everything Ofelia's imagination? Or is she really a princess of the underworld? What if our experience is no more real that Ofelia's? We can say Ofelia find her escape/salvation through a mental recreation of the world of fairies, but can we also say we, being gluttons for punishment, create a world of cruelty and chaos to deliberately steer away from happiness?

Also watched Children of Men and 300. Children of Men is surprisingly realistic. I thought it was going to be some sort of hardcore sci-fi but it turns out to be more of a 1984-esque social commentary. The scenario depicted isn't so far-fetched in a sense. Inequity breeds human follies which lead to all hell breaking loose. The infertility of human species is more a symbolic representation of the present day human conditions then a mere story premise. I've this unsettling feeling that the film seems to support the notion of messianic salavation, which I can't really blame the filmmaker as it arguably constitutes part of human psyche. We're always waiting for someone (god(s), a supreme power, donald tsang, etc.) to rescue us from the shithole we're in. If we don't see one, we make one up, then keep replacing it with another until it's all too bloody late. As soon as Moses led his people to the wilderness, they started worshipping a golden calf shaped by their very own hands. We don't seem to have outgrown this primitive yet instinctive practice. Nevertheless, sometimes I agree there seems to be no better ways to guranttee the survival of humanity than having something/someone to look up to. Everyone needs a purpose to live, and purpose is a rare commodity to say the least. I've strayed too far. The film itself is rather good with solid acting, and the cinematography stands out conspicuously.

300 is a feast for the eyes. Gore, violence, battle-cry, stylish filmmaking - you got it all. Very enjoyable, provided you like those things. It's pure entertainment, so go get your zen-ish inspiration somewhere else.