The Mist (2007) ***1/2

"The Mist" is probably the best movie based on Steven King's novels since Shawshank Redemption (1994).

The eminent dangers and disasters are arguably the greatest fears of human beings. "The Mist" successfully keeps the audience on edge from the beginning to the end as it is exploiting such a fear. Of course, if this were the only thing this movie achieved, I wouldn't recommend anyone to spend $10 for the ticket unless you are a hardcore fan of horror movies.

"The Mist" is not like most other horror movies Hollywood releases on Halloweens. The film is well paced so that the viewer could spare some adrenalin to complete the journey and can still catch the breath. Overall, the acting is decent at least judged from the standards for this genre. The most surprising and the best part, is the "jaw-dropping" ending (not that kind of jaw-dropping effect due to the shock or fear), which almost wraps itself up in a Greek tragedian way.

I hope this is the kind of tragedy the filmmakers want to explore, so that I can still have lots of hopes in this genre during a wicked winter.

Sex and Lucia (2002) ***1/2

Honestly, I am not quite sure how I should describe my experience of watching this film. It is like a chameleon, showing different colors in disguise at different time points just to mystify your minds and then catch you off-guard.

It is fair to say that the movie started with some great shots. The suspense mingled with sadness perpetuated the first 15 minutes of this film. As the story unfolds, the sex scenes became a little bit sticky and salty, as the movie tried to associate the sex with food first and guilt later.

All the metaphores in this movie became less and less impressive near the end of the movie. Surprisingly, the ending has achieved some sort of reconciliation and salvation with peace. Maybe that is exactly the intention of the filmmakers.