Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

Who: Foals Where: England What: Indie/Alternative/Math Rock When: 2008 Before I’m going off for a real while, here’s terrific ‘ Antidotes ’ prescribed by Foals for you to enjoy on the upcoming holidays. It’s their debut, and their second best to me! Foals’ albums may not get to impress you in full sometimes but they’re always able to strike you with at least one song or more. In this one, it’s ‘Big Big Love (Fig. 2)’ in particular that gives me goose bumps every time I take a listen. Not saying other songs aren’t as good, they are in fact, if you appreciate their elusive lyrics, groovy funky guitars, outstanding bass and drums! If you can’t get enough still, here their sophomore, ‘ Total LifeForever (2010) ’, and their latest, ‘ What Went Down (2015) ’ that are equally enchanted enough to shoot you to cloud nine I believe! (Click the links to download the albums. Enjoy them! Enjoy holidays! Enjoy life! Peace!)

Who: Foals Where: England What: Indie/Alternative/Math Rock When: 2013 It’s not new but I’ve been enjoying it coz it’s so damn great in terms of groovy, intricate and delicate rhythm guitars, terrific drums and bass, and decent vocals. I said decent coz it’s probably the only weak spot of Foals, but the lead singer Yannis sounds so much more confident than before in their latest ‘What Went Down’. Foals have become one of my favorite rock bands in rent years. ‘Holy Fire’ is their third yet the best of the best! There’re songs that will hold you either in trance or in ecstasy. None of them is a waste or a shame! Once you play it, you just can’t stop! Try it

★★★☆☆ ‘Slow West’ is a short love tragedy disguising as one of those adventurous western films, yet the most enchanted one I’ve seen in years. The cinematography of the film is so damn superb that at certain points you seem not to care about the story anymore that is non-linearly told but not truly engrossing after all! Michael Fassbender is certainly the star of the show. I don’t know if it’s just me but I’ve never seen him this charismatic before, and the whole film is like an infinite show-off of beautiful shots of sexy evil-minded figures in breathtaking landscapes. Never knew before that the west could be so dangerously tempting! What happens between Jay and Rose in the film reminds me of what the Buddha says about love that’s in fact like tasting honey on a blade. It’s sweet but it hurts and makes you bleed at the same time. It’s like two sides of a coin. We should be ready to take it both when it happens, but the thing is, we all tend to accept only the sweet half of it

★★★★☆ ‘Gran Torino’ wouldn’t have been so impressive if the ending was of bloodshed instead of a restrained, brave, melancholy way of self-redemption. In case you get it wrong, this is no action drama. Clint Eastwood’s Walt doesn’t even get to fire a bullet though we all kind of expect him to. The story’s well paced and told. The mood’s pressed on, intense and breathtaking sometimes. Walt’s change is convincing. What he does in the end is as a result of wisdom and calmness that he’s finally learned from his confession of guilt and past experiences of hell! The best Clint Eastwood’s film I’ve seen ever since his 2004’s ‘Million Dollar Baby’, hands down. One of the memorable scenes in the film is where, after the expected tragedy, Walt unexpectedly tells Thao to stay calm so as not to let mistakes get made again. We may have different views to what we call bravery, but whatever, it should come with wisdom. Bravery without wisdom is nothing but a violent act of rashness and stupi

★★☆☆☆ 電影一開始古天樂那段獨白，好似想突出「人為錢死，鳥為食亡」的主旨，但故事發展下去，又好像是另一回事，你追我逐根本都不是為「錢」，而整件事發生的源頭更加跟錢無關，而是為「色」！其實〈迷城〉的故事發展非常牽強，主題含糊不清，看罷感覺就是戲名的其中一個字──迷。觀眾迷，或許導演也迷。闊別多年回歸影壇的林嶺東，所能交出的就只有頗具實感的鬧市追逐與爆破，動作場面或許跟得上時代，但故事還停留在八十年代警匪片的格局──求其！ 〈迷城〉是一套警匪片，但卻突然彈出一句「不要讓昨日的悲傷，浪費今天的眼淚」文皺皺的話，很是刺耳！這樣的話，正如余文樂所說，只是用來「溝女」的。有昨日，就有今日和明日，是不是為今日和明日流的眼淚就不算浪費？昨日、今日、明日可以完全割裂嗎？甚麼叫浪費？甚麼叫不浪費？想多無謂！這次編導都是林嶺東，或者下次他應該考慮把編劇的工作交給他人，自己還是做自己擅長的吧！

★☆☆☆☆ 公司派飛，所以入場。鬼戲一向不是我杯茶，因為我對鬼戲已經免疫。再者，我不曾見鬼，也不信會見鬼，就算見鬼，又有何懼？人難道不比鬼可怕很多很多倍嗎？天天跟人打交道，還怕甚麼鬼！ 〈有客到〉片長九十分鐘不到，卻想講三個看似獨立卻有少許關聯的故事，所以一切難免要蜻蜓點水，人物故事十分薄弱，看完就真的完了。看這類戲切忌認真，一認真，你就輸了。當中一些情節對話，當作喜劇，倒是幾搞笑。例如〈無頭〉那位妹妹拆散她姊姊跟情人的理由；還有那位男士，最後他又不是殉情，但不知點解他要選天臺那麼危險的地方做事；〈種貓〉那隻黑貓，怎麼看都是貴價英國短毛名種，點會隨便在街上流浪！〈屍香〉謝婷婷跟鬼 Whatsapp 的對話，想起都笑爆嘴，不信的可以入場體驗一下。還有一些靈異的動作，只有人可以做到，我無寫錯，你無看錯，是未死的人，不是鬼，真詭異啊！這些只是冰山一角，電影其實笑位處處！ 電影其實想用鬼故帶出人性的陰暗：執著、貪婪、縱慾！無奈到喉不到肺，好似一盤散沙，最後還要硬來一個毫無相干的前後呼應，真是一套難得的披著鬼片皮的笑片！可能大家都知，又或者都不知，人死後不一定為鬼，通常你見到的鬼，都是人死後未找到合適投胎因緣的中陰身，戲中那位閃下閃下的劉心悠便是！中陰身只是一個短暫過程，它始終是要去再輪迴的，所以電影開頭那個愛情故事注定都是悲劇。一切執著最終都會引發無盡的痛苦，但我們就是喜歡如此這般繼續痛苦下去，所以想想，人真的幾變態、可怕的！

★★☆☆☆ 認識崔東勳，在〈 盜賊門 〉，那部戲有驚喜處處的劇情、目瞪口呆的動作，令我看到嘩嘩聲！但他的新作〈復國者聯盟〉，我看完，卻「呃」一聲！故事雖有轉折，但驚喜欠逢，片長兩個多小時，節奏緩慢，到了中段我已聽到有鼻鼾聲。我不介意「口水多過茶」，不過可能由於題材背景比較嚴肅，對白亦比較枯燥。這次導演再次找來全智賢，一人飾演兩個角色，演出雖然落力，但也沒甚麼印象深刻的地方，反倒那位李政宰有點戲看，其他角色只是行行走走罷了！至於我最最最期望的動作場面，前面已經說過了，一個字：「呃」！或許這就是所謂的期望越大，落差越大，本以為崔導演有潛力成為韓國的占士甘馬倫，現在看來，至少在我心中，他還稱不上！ 電影令我想起二戰的慘痛歷史；日本的軍國主義；賣國賊的無奈；眾多無辜百姓被少數狂熱瘋子拖下水；國與國之間的隔膜仇恨到底是誰的錯，如何解開。單獨一個人比較容易理性，但一班人集在一起，談理性就比較困難了，這也是為甚麼搞革命一定要煽動群眾。在這個世界「混」，很難不「埋堆」，但「埋堆」這個動作本身就是非理性的。你想出污泥而不染，可能嗎？在這個染污的世界，不論你怎麼行善積德，所修福德都是有漏的，因為你根本做不到「三輪體空」，最終你還是不得不「埋堆」輪迴去！那如何不「埋堆」呢？相信與否，彌陀淨土是你我佛子唯一的希望了！