Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★★★☆ ‘The Signal’ has a seemingly warm delightful opening, and an ending maybe not so mind-bending as that in ‘ Dark City ’ but it’d certainly stun in a sense. What’s told in between is not sophisticated but intriguing enough to keep one seated for an hour and a half. There’re violent yet elegant slo-mo sequences that I find mesmerizing and moving in particular. I don’t know. I’m quite fond of this stylish piece of sci-fi while most critics and viewers feel the opposite. Hackers tracking another hacker, then they’re led to an abandoned cottage where they end up abducted by aliens, at least that’s what it looks like. When they come around however, told they’re contaminated by EBE (extraterrestrial biological entity) and being watched and studied like guinea pigs in a restricted barren location, Area 51 as they later believe so. Of course if you’ve seen ‘Dark City’ before, you might’ve figured, as the film runs half the way, that what they think it is can’t be what it really is...

★☆☆☆☆ 對於浪客劍心電影版的第二集，其實我不抱太大期望，因為我知道還有最終的第三集，好戲應該在後頭吧。但拍成如斯水平，實在難以接受，感覺好像換了導演班底，打鬥場面少之又少，滿心期待的高潮對打始終沒有出現，劇情拖拖拉拉，口水多過茶，而從他們的口水當中，我也咀嚼不出有什麼味道，京都大火的場面更是兒戲得有點搞笑，跟 第一集 相比，簡直就是一個天，一個地！ 這次跟好久沒見的朋友一同觀影，事後聽他訴說了關於工作上的迷惘與無奈，感覺他的心中的「佛」已經離他漸遠，而心中的「魔」卻越來越多。「魔」源於我們的煩惱，我們的煩惱源於我們的慾望。其實每個人心中都有兩把聲音，一把是「佛」的聲音，一把是「魔」的聲音。「魔」的聲音會不斷提醒你一個好像合理但其實非常荒謬的歪理：人不為己，天誅地滅！而「佛」的聲音有兩種：偽佛的聲音，真佛的聲音。偽佛的聲音會叫你斷惡修善，追求今生或來世的人天福報。這或許是現今很多學佛人經常聽到的一種心聲，他們其實沒有真正發菩提心。真發心的人他們會聽到真佛的聲音，提醒他們放下一切，信願念佛，求生淨土，超越輪迴。你心中的那把聲音，又是誰的聲音呢？ 劍心的內心同樣有佛魔的掙扎。既然是刀，為何逆刃？既然逆刃，還算不算是刀？手持一把不是刀的刀，目的何在？意義何在？世俗的吶喊，真佛的聲音，到底哪個更值得我們去細心聆聽呢？

★★★★☆ 三年前，我不抱任何期望入戲院看〈 功夫熊貓 2 〉，結果驚喜萬分。事隔六年，才看〈功夫熊貓〉，結果同樣驚喜萬分，不得不佩服夢工場能把一個老土的故事，重新包裝得如此幽默、精緻、生動、感人、及富有禪意。而且我覺得，第一集比第二集還要精采一點點，因為有烏龜大師！ 烏龜大師不是主角，出場甚少，但每次出現都十分矚目，而他的離去更令人不捨。他的口頭禪是「世事無 意外 」，皆因凡事發生，必有原因，絕對不會是一般人所認為的無端端。如何「生」、有因，如何「死」、亦有因，眼見的所謂意外，其實是成熟的果，有果必有因，想避免意外，唯有在「因地」下功夫，所以大家都應該持戒，持戒不僅能帶來意外之福，也能避免意外之禍。當然，持戒得定之後，你會跟烏龜大師一樣，發現一個事實：意外根本不存在！ 《大智度論》：佛法大海，信為能入，智為能度。對於佛當年在菩提樹下證得的真理：一切眾生，皆有如來智慧德相，但因妄想執著而不能證得，我們都抱著懷疑的態度。佛的知見是超越任何二元對立概念的，我們以分別對立的思考模式，想去證明超越分別對立的東西的存在，這種做法注定就是荒謬徒勞的。相信自己是什麼，最終就會變成什麼，站在唯識學的角度去看，「心想事成」絕對可能，因為一切唯心造。 熊貓阿寶最終明白：無敵的龍戰士是自己的心造出來的。這個世界、佛與淨土也是我們的心造出來的。釋迦牟尼佛說，阿彌陀佛的淨土，離我們有十萬億佛國度。很遠吧？其實也只不過是一念之間的距離而已！一念維持時間多久？按照彌勒菩薩的說法，就是一億六百兆分之一秒！

★★☆☆☆ There’s a saying: yesterday’s history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. Today’s a gift. But what if you have to live today over and again and again? Would you still consider it a gift, or a curse or what? I guess it all depends whether or not you’re aware of the reason why you’re undergoing it. ‘Edge Of Tomorrow’ has the same setup like that in ‘ Groundhog Day ’, that is, tomorrow never arrives, except that there’s nothing romantic or funny or thrilling; and this time we’re even told why it is so. As a matte of fact, I’d rather it went without explaining like ‘Groundhog Day’ does, because before the reason’s revealed, it still manages to intrigue a bit, but after that, things become routine and predictable. The actions become rather irrelevant. So the ending’s but a turnoff, at least to me. When we feel sick of life sometimes inevitably, we’re usually given a pep talk like we gotta live this life as though it’s the only one we’ve got. Truth is, we’ve already lived like no tomor...