Re-Cycle: lost in nightmareland?
Okay, so after being thoroughly bored and not wanting to work on art or literature, I decided that I should re-watch Red Shoes. On my way there, I came upon Re-Cycle (the title is weird, but I get what they're trying to say) and decided to watch that instead.
It's really weird.
Sypnosis:Ting-yin, a young novelist, is struggling to come up with a followup to her best-selling trilogy of romance novels. She hasn't even started on the book yet and her agent has already announced that the next title, The Recycle, will deal with the supernatural.
After drafting her first chapter, she stops and deletes the file from her computer. She then starts seeing strange, unexplainable things and finds that she is experiencing the supernatural events that she described in her novel-to-be.
My opinion: Right off the bat, I thought I'd give it a try because let's face it, the plot of an author who, in one of her writer's blocks, gets trapped in a universe she created? It hit a bit close to home since I was reminded of one story I was going to write that had a similar plot.
When the movie first starts, the atmosphere is a bit like... A Tale of Two Sisters (which pissed me off, but the effects and what not are always so pretty). It isn't like Red Shoes where, oh shit, the bad things start happening right off the bat. The author just goes about thinking of her story, and her agent badgers her about it. They go for a press conference, she meets a familiar face from the past that she doesn't want to see.
She goes home and writes. This is where I start thinking of how it reminds me of a combination of Dark Water, The Grudge, and The Ring. Maybe One Missed Call too. Anyway, weird things start happening in her house, and on her way out from her apartment, she gets transported to this weird-ass universe.
Apparently, it's like... a collection area of all her abandoned ideas (MirrorMask PLZ?). The thought of it is a bit frightening especially if you write---because everything around her looks abandoned, but she realizes that they are settings that she has created. Anyway, she gets taken on a magical adventure (Alice in Nightmareland?), and goes through places that make me think of Spirited Away.
Hell, there's one scene in there that SHOULD remind you instantly of that, and it doesn't help that the girl in there looks like the one from Spirited Away.
Basically, she fights to escape the universe and wakes up back home, only to find out that she ends up in a paradox. This is the supposed twist that they talk about.
Okay first: I am a sap. I don't enjoy romance like my mom does, but it's not hard to get me to cry. With that in mind, 20 minutes from the ending, I burst into tears. I mean, at first I thought it was just a universe with things she has abandoned--but a person in there says: It's not only the stuff you have abandoned. This is the burial place for everyone's ideas.
The acting could have been better; the main actress does not know how to express confused fear at all. That's one part that pissed me off. I have to say--this is the one movie where I DID NOT WANT TO KILL THE KID. katsumeragi knows how much this means, considering how throughout Red Shoes, I was ready to chuck a rock at the flat-screen because of that BRAT.
The ending of Re-Cycle really pissed me off. It's one thing that's common in Asian thriller/horror/whatever movies: the twist is after the climax. With that, the ending is really open, and leaves you entirely confused and you really have to be paying attention to every detail in the movie to grasp it. It's good to watch when you're bored, but not if you want something incredibly meaningful.
Don't care to read the whole paragraph above?: Basically it's the love-child of MirrorMask, Dark Water, One Missed Call, The Grudge, Alice in Wonderland, Spirited Away, and... Coraline. Add in some alternate universe and that's Re-Cycle for you.
It's really weird.
Sypnosis:Ting-yin, a young novelist, is struggling to come up with a followup to her best-selling trilogy of romance novels. She hasn't even started on the book yet and her agent has already announced that the next title, The Recycle, will deal with the supernatural.
After drafting her first chapter, she stops and deletes the file from her computer. She then starts seeing strange, unexplainable things and finds that she is experiencing the supernatural events that she described in her novel-to-be.
My opinion: Right off the bat, I thought I'd give it a try because let's face it, the plot of an author who, in one of her writer's blocks, gets trapped in a universe she created? It hit a bit close to home since I was reminded of one story I was going to write that had a similar plot.
When the movie first starts, the atmosphere is a bit like... A Tale of Two Sisters (which pissed me off, but the effects and what not are always so pretty). It isn't like Red Shoes where, oh shit, the bad things start happening right off the bat. The author just goes about thinking of her story, and her agent badgers her about it. They go for a press conference, she meets a familiar face from the past that she doesn't want to see.
She goes home and writes. This is where I start thinking of how it reminds me of a combination of Dark Water, The Grudge, and The Ring. Maybe One Missed Call too. Anyway, weird things start happening in her house, and on her way out from her apartment, she gets transported to this weird-ass universe.
Apparently, it's like... a collection area of all her abandoned ideas (MirrorMask PLZ?). The thought of it is a bit frightening especially if you write---because everything around her looks abandoned, but she realizes that they are settings that she has created. Anyway, she gets taken on a magical adventure (Alice in Nightmareland?), and goes through places that make me think of Spirited Away.
Hell, there's one scene in there that SHOULD remind you instantly of that, and it doesn't help that the girl in there looks like the one from Spirited Away.
Basically, she fights to escape the universe and wakes up back home, only to find out that she ends up in a paradox. This is the supposed twist that they talk about.
Okay first: I am a sap. I don't enjoy romance like my mom does, but it's not hard to get me to cry. With that in mind, 20 minutes from the ending, I burst into tears. I mean, at first I thought it was just a universe with things she has abandoned--but a person in there says: It's not only the stuff you have abandoned. This is the burial place for everyone's ideas.
The acting could have been better; the main actress does not know how to express confused fear at all. That's one part that pissed me off. I have to say--this is the one movie where I DID NOT WANT TO KILL THE KID. katsumeragi knows how much this means, considering how throughout Red Shoes, I was ready to chuck a rock at the flat-screen because of that BRAT.
The ending of Re-Cycle really pissed me off. It's one thing that's common in Asian thriller/horror/whatever movies: the twist is after the climax. With that, the ending is really open, and leaves you entirely confused and you really have to be paying attention to every detail in the movie to grasp it. It's good to watch when you're bored, but not if you want something incredibly meaningful.
Don't care to read the whole paragraph above?: Basically it's the love-child of MirrorMask, Dark Water, One Missed Call, The Grudge, Alice in Wonderland, Spirited Away, and... Coraline. Add in some alternate universe and that's Re-Cycle for you.