Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

(2012) ★☆☆☆☆ 你和父親相依為命，如果他有難，就算他叫你走，你會置他不顧而去嗎？況且他手上還有槍，他會接過他手上的槍，一起突圍，還是任由對手搶他手上的槍，並把他殺死呢？；如果槍殺一個人，你會射他的頭部，還是隨便往他的身體射一槍呢？；如果有人正用槍指著你，你會背對著他的槍口而逃嗎？；如果你的手臂中了幾槍，你還能開槍並命中目標嗎？粵語人或許可以跟國語人溝通無誤，但中文人跟英文人呢？以上種種我覺得彆扭的事情，在〈 逆戰 〉 中皆順理成章了，荒謬。 對〈 逆戰 〉 的故事不抱任何期待，但想不到其動作場面是那麼失敗，鏡頭搖晃，剪接快速，感覺又好像在看徐克的 〈 七劍 〉 。 〈 證人 〉 之前的林超賢作品都是槍戰出色，故事隨便，之後的 〈 線人 〉 以至 〈 逆戰 〉 ，還是秉持這種特色，不過水準有所下降。拿 〈 逆戰 〉 的街頭槍戰，和 Michael Mann 的 〈 Heat( 盜火線 ) 〉 相比，你就知道何者更加令人屏息。周傑倫和安志傑最後那場窄巷對決，如果換成韓國人來拍，感覺應該會更好。 〈 逆戰 〉 是大製作，拍攝地點多，演員多，錢也燒了很多，但並不意味著它就是一部好電影，我反倒覺得 〈 證人 〉 比它強多了。 〈 逆戰 〉 的故事牽強，為動作而動作。謝霆峰歇斯底里，不知所謂；周傑倫木口木面，不知幹嘛。看的過程中，我很希望它快點結束。看完之後，我是一頭霧水，「逆戰 」 到底是什麼意思？算了，又是一 部 過目即忘的爛電影。

(2011) ★★★☆☆ 很喜歡幾米的繪本《向左走，向右走》，很不喜歡電影版的〈向左走，向右走〉，還有那個甚麼〈地下鐵〉。感覺幾米的作品是很難被電影化的，因為他畫的甚少是完整的故事，更多的是一種感受，而感受這東西是見仁見智的。看過台灣導演林書宇的〈 九降風 〉，知道他注重影像多於故事，由他拍出來的故事性不是很強的〈星空〉又如何呢？到底有多「幾米」呢？ 〈星空〉的畫面攝人、浪漫，配樂出色，結局讓人有無限遐想，這是林導演的專長，但整個故事就不怎麼樣了，節奏緩慢，拖拖拉拉，很多事情沒怎麼交代，劇情也有些不合理，可能導演想藉此營造某種氣氛或感覺，但我看得差點睡著了。不過在恍惚間，我還是感受到導演的用心。說真的，這是我看過的最有「幾米」味的電影了，有幾幕確實令人動容。假如你看了電影的三分之二，還是不知道它在說甚麼，或想說甚麼，不要緊，繼續看，小女生最後的那段獨白，會讓你知道燦爛星空過後，依舊有溫暖的陽光。 戲中的爺爺說：看過星空，世界就會變大。當然，他所說的世界並非地球。當你仰望星空，感覺這個世界只會不停「縮小」，因為你的內心世界在不斷「擴大」。我總覺得星空是偉大的，那兒才是我真正的歸屬，每當看到繁星，心裡總有萬分讚嘆與感動，但在「光污染」嚴重的香港，「星空」是一種奢侈，所以影片最後的那片星空很是令我心醉。 戲裡的那幅〈星夜〉是梵高的名作。梵高是一位著名的畫家，也是一個瘋子，他的瘋可能是遭殘酷的現實所逼，也可能跟愛情有點關係。梵高畫誇張燦爛的〈星夜〉，可能背後是想暗示「毀滅」的即將來臨，燦爛至極總歸黯淡嘛。但戲中的女主角卻在〈星夜〉中找到了屬於自己的愛的星光。其實，哪有所謂的黑夜，只是陽光暫時離開罢了，這不是同一個意思，不同說法嗎？沒錯，但如果你能抱著如此心態，即便身處黑暗，你也不會迷失害怕，因為你的心裡充滿陽光，你能在黑暗中看到光明。不過這種修為，會不會也是一種奢侈呢？

(2009) ★★★☆☆ 意外，即是意料之外，一些你估計不到但卻發生了的事情。其實不是你估計不到，而是你不能察覺構成「事件」的種種因素並加以制止，所以才有意外發生。從這個層面來說，世間根本沒有所謂的意外，因為凡事發生，皆有原因。種種現象的產生，絕對不是你所認為的那樣無端端地發生。「菩薩畏因，凡夫畏果」，對於菩薩或聖人來說，只有「意內」而不會有「意外」，而我們卻常常抱怨有意外，因為我們默默種下意外發生的因素卻不自知，一旦意外發生，無論是好是壞，我們的內心都會覺得驚訝，都會問：為甚麼？ 〈意外〉是不錯的，雖然節奏有點拖拉，戲中的那些意外也看似太「意外」了，但懸疑氣氛的營造還是可以的，結局也挺意外的。如何殺人不留痕？製造意外就是最好的方法。製造出來的意外還算不算是意外呢？製造意外的人如果遇到真的意外，又會如何反應呢？是接受這個世界真的有種東西叫意外？還是神經兮兮地認為所有的意外都是有人刻意設計的？我不相信意外，我只相信因果報應。如果你接受這個道理，遇到好的「意外」，你不會太興奮，遇到壞的「意外」，你也不會怨天尤人，因為你明白一切都是你所做、所招、所感。 意外通常都是令人沮喪的，由於我們沒有能力去時刻覺察自己行為所產生的影響，所以意外是無法避免的。既然無法避免，那我們就儘量讓一些好的意外發生。怎麼做？方法其實你我都知，就是諸惡莫做，眾善奉行囉。

(2011) ★★★☆☆ I remember vaguely that I read the comic books before, when I was very little I guess. I used to think that Tintin was a carefree kid who loved adventures. Turned out he’s an adult and a journalist. Frankly the comic books weren’t so interesting. I was much more into 'Dragon Ball' or stuff, but they’re different. The adventures of Tintin are much more serious and complicated. If you’re a fan of Steven Spielberg, and like an adventure with a mixture of ‘Indiana Jones’ and ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’, this is the right film for you. ‘The Secret Of The Unicorn’ is beautifully animated. It’s fast paced and entertaining. There’s basically no break among chases well choreographed. So you can just sit back, shut down your brain and enjoy the show. No need to worry a bit about Tintin and his friends and his unbelievably smart dog, because you know they’re always going to be alright. That’s the fault of any adventure films. Many die, but key characters always stand. It’s

(Meryl Streep in the Iron Lady) (2011) ★★★★☆ What I know about Mrs Thatcher is that she’s the first female British Prime Minister and that she tripped and fell over outside The Great Hall Of The People after the talk about Hong Kong with Deng Xiaoping. Obviously she wasn’t watching her step, because she was annoyed, disappointed, intimidated or whatever. I guess she for the first time had come across something she wouldn’t be able to change. Of course this film tells a lot more than I know about her. If interested in knowing what I mean ‘a lot more’, ‘The Iron Lady’ is a very nice choice to check out. It’s very well paced, told and edited using flashbacks and documentary clips. And I believe Meryl Streep is the one and only lady on Earth suitable for this role. She’s absolutely fabulous at interpreting such a difficult character. No wonder she grabbed this year’s Academy Award for Best Actress in a leading role, the third in her career. She talks like Mrs Thatcher. She walks like

(2011) ★★★☆☆ Matt (George Clooney) has been probably too busy for his wife and his two problematic daughters that, like it or not, really steal the show. He’s now dealing with the consequences as his wife’s fallen into a coma after an accident. In ‘The Descendants’, Mr Clooney is after all not so charming as he always appears in other films, which is good for he really shows his potential of being a great actor, especially at the last scene where he says one last goodbye to his wife. ‘Goodbye, my love, my pain…’, that’s the most sentimental moment of all. It reminds me again of the fact that love and hate are basically the same thing. Is ‘The Descendants’ a serious drama? Not quite. It makes me laugh from time to time due to characters’ ‘unusual’ reactions to what we call serious situations, and humorous dialogues. But just because it makes you laugh doesn’t make it a comedy. If you were Matt himself, I guess you’d get depressed, go mad, break down and cry. You’d be making bad deci

(2011) ★★★☆☆ Imagine the world’s like a big machine and we’re its parts. Since a machine doesn’t contain extra parts so as to work perfectly, meaning we’re all here for a particular reason. We can’t be born extras. That’s how Hugo sees the world, and is also the only part of the film that really interests me after all. Hugo’s a kid looking for the message his father left him. He needs it so bad to be able to carry on. He, first of all, has to fix an automaton that seems to be the focus of the film, but you know it’s not. Martin Scorsese’s famous for serious crime dramas, not something like ‘Hugo’ that’s so much like a child’s play. Don’t think of it as one of those adventures for kids. It’s by no means exciting. The slow-paced story is plain and boring. Characters are dull. Things seem to go awkwardly and out of focus. The only thing worth a checkout is its cinematography. No wonder it’s only got technical awards from the Academy this year. Movies, once we thought they’d be nothin