Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★☆☆☆ You may not know who the hell Ari Aster is, but, if you're a fan of horror films, you must've watched the director's highly praised debut ' Hereditary ', which I think is certainly overrated. Aside from the fact that I'm sort of immune to horror films featuring ghosts or supernatural power or stuff, I simply don't buy the story about executing rituals and sacrifices to worship demons. Also, I don't like the acting either which appears to be rather exaggerated and stupid! This time, we're taken to Sweden to take part in, again, some cult rituals and sacrifices to celebrate what they call the circle of life, which, like expected, goes horribly disturbing and nonsensical in the end to some rational minds. If you're like me considering 'Hereditary' a lot of a fuss, you may not like 'Midsommar' either. Still, it may upset you to some extent by making you realize how horrifying and pathetic it is to be constantly brainwa...

★★★☆☆ Toy Story series , being intentionally moral, optimistic and educational, has always been part of my good heartwarming memories. When I thought ' TS3 ' was a sad yet perfect wrap-up to the series, 9 years later, here comes 'TS4' out of the blue, which is, like the previous three, still fun and inspiring to watch but the ride starts to feel a lot familiar and a bit tedious nonetheless. There's no lack of tear-jerking moments like expected, but I don't think the series should go on and on repeating the successful formula from the first place by just adding some new characters voiced by some celebrities like this time Keanu Reeves. His voice impressive? Not really! His character crucial to the plot? Not at all! 'TS4' is overall watchable but of course not so fascinating and exhilarating as before because things in there seem to get inevitably routine and cliched as you know the story always goes like someone's lost or trapped, then the r...

★★★☆☆ To distract myself at times from such a political turmoil going on here in Hong Kong, I needed films not necessarily thought-provoking but hopefully entertaining and fun! Luc Besson's films could be a good choice but you know there isn't all glory in his filmography, of which, ' Leon, TheProfessional ' is like a masterpiece in its genre to me that cannot be surpassed. Others like ' Taken ' or ' Lucky ' and stuff, despite not memorable, are still worth your time if you're a fan of action films. The director's latest 'Anna', as you might've guessed, is enjoyable for sure but not great enough to stand unforgettable! Like I said however, I don't need something that requires viewers to have to wrap their head around hard to better understand. Right at a time like this, I don't want to understand any film. I just hope it can help me relax instead even for a little while. And 'Anna' turns out a very decent act...