Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★☆☆☆ ‘American Sniper’, Client Eastwood’s latest, is based on Chris Kyle’s autobiography who’s considered the most lethal sniper in US military history with he himself claimed 255 kills, but 160 officially confirmed. The film itself is certainly overrated. The story’s unexpectedly boring, and goes in flashbacks more than necessary. The action has no thrills at all. Bradley Cooper’s Chris Kyle’s flat and forgettable, and not struggling after all with his day job that seems cruel and just at the same time. Maybe he’s not supposed to, as like he said in his book that he wished he had killed more. We live in a world of contradictions and ridiculousness. When you say something’s right, you’re actually implying something else’s wrong. Chris’s like a hero to the Americans, but he’s also a devil to those he had to kill. The thing is, we all feel like it’s right and just to be there to kill to stop killing. That’s why killing’s never going to stop! Chris said what he was against in Ir

★★★★★ 提到陳可辛，腦海就只有〈如果愛〉和〈投名狀〉。〈 武俠 〉也算不錯，但總有點弄巧反拙的感覺。對上那部〈中國合夥人〉，看到一半我已放棄。但，完全沒想到這部〈親愛的〉如此的催淚，卻一點都不矯情。鏡頭永遠都好像只是充當一雙第三者的眼睛，跟角色保持一定距離，冷靜地描述著故事，等觀眾自己去代入、去體會，去思考：我們到底缺乏什麼，這個社會到底缺少什麼。 以為 黃渤只是笑星，沒想到他在戲裡的表演是如此有爆發力和說服力。他找回兒子之後在樓梯間的那場痛哭，把一個人那種失而復得、卻仍然若有所失的絞心表現得淋漓盡致。更萬萬沒有想到，以前那位還珠格格趙薇，現在已經是一位不折不扣的實力派。可以說，如果沒有趙薇近乎完美、忘我、準確的演繹， 〈親愛的〉即使有陳可辛的精湛導技，也只能算是平凡的作品。是趙薇給電影注入了一份震撼，她在中段的出現，讓觀眾重新聚焦，把故事再次推向高潮。她在戲裡的肢體動作、說話、表情完全跟以前判若兩人。看完趙薇的演出，我深刻體會到什麼叫為藝術而犧牲。 以為是一個普通的尋親故事，沒想到可以那麼迂回曲折；沒想到有那麼多令人動容、無奈的畫面，以及對人生、對社會的種種諷刺；沒想到本應該十分煽情的情節，導演都十分冷靜中立地去處理，讓觀眾可以有空間去思考：「愛」到底是怎麼一回事？怎樣才算是一個「人」？是不是每個人都走在自己想要走的路上？人是應該為了自己而活，還是為了別人而忙？而所謂「希望」，到底是好是壞？ 〈親愛的〉的結局是開放式的，看似充滿希望和歡喜，卻包含無比的痛苦、委屈與壓抑。人生就是在這樣的矛盾當中進行著，「希望」如同毒品，讓我們亢奮，也讓我們病入膏肓，最終不得不又回到「輪迴」的懷抱！

★★☆☆☆ ‘6’ means there should be 6 characters, heroes if you like, to put on a show, but all of them are so forgettable except Baymax, a kind of mix of ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Ironman’ that is yet not impressive enough to feel like this is after all a decent piece of animation. The story’s nothing fresh. The action’s disappointing. Things seem to be rushing and going like a piece of cake though the ending’s as expected corny but a bit moving. It’s just that Baymax makes me laugh one or two times for his clumsy considerate reactions. Disney animations always tend to be right and positive, thank goodness. This time the message is like, to help, not to destroy; to forgive, not to revenge. It sounds like so much of a cliché huh? Yes, it does, but that’s something we usually forget and doubt, don’t we? If you’re still wondering why you should be like Baymax only built to help, you’re sure a piece of something irrelevant to the purpose of life!

★★★☆☆ ‘Boyhood’, an indie production of nearly 3 hours, takes like 12 years to finish filming a boy growing up into an adult. It’s not a documentary though, because it’s got a proper script and there’s acting going on. It’s merely a drama but absolutely not a good one since there’s nothing dramatic or thrilling or melancholy to feel involved, regardless of this boy really living his own life or just imitating someone else’s. Just because it’s daring and never-before-done doesn’t mean it’s good and memorable. To me, 12 years of filming is but a gimmick. The story itself is nothing special unless you feel like nothing special is something special. Not saying it’s so bad but it’s certainly not the Best Picture as the Golden Globes rewarded it. The only thing it’s done perfectly well is the editing that enables the film to pace smoothly and naturally without a moment of suddenness. You don’t feel like going through fragments of the boy’s life despite the fact that it’s done in 12

★★★☆☆ The maze’s huge, dangerous (since it’s got monsters called Grievers to wipe out anyone trying to escape), and changing every day (so it’s not quite possible to get out of it at all). The runners are kind of obedient and careful, and set up rules for themselves to stay safe and coexist with it. They’re doing fine till a guy named Thomas comes along to want to lead them out of the trap. The setup looks familiar enough. You feel like it’s just an experiment in which everything’s programmed so as to find out something that would help accomplish some big thing. That nothing happens for no reason. Right, here’s one small piece of a big puzzle. Two more pieces are coming. ‘The Maze Runner’ is just part one of a trilogy that well… I’m not so in favor of after all. Still, the way the story’s told is well paced and intriguing. The action’s breathtaking sometimes, but the ending’s definitely corny and not revealing. You know some are gonna die for real, and some are not. Some will

★☆☆☆☆ In the very beginning of 2015, I, out of boredom and ignorance, decided to take ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’, but it turns out to be nothing dark, thrilling or suspenseful or anything like I expected. The story’s plain and straight enough to doze you off. The characters are flat and boring. And if you look up to Liam Neeson to act like an action hero here again, you’re very much mistaken. This is not an action film. Nor is there anything dramatic or haunting. I don’t know what it is for as a matter of fact. If you feel like ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’ could, at least for a while, wake you up from whatever you’re obsessed with, I suggest you instead take a walk down the graves for real, and you may realize something staring in the eyes of the death, or may not!