Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

  ★★☆☆☆ If you’re misled by the trailer and think ‘Pig’ is a revenge story of ‘You kill my pig. I kill you all’, similar to what’s going on in ‘John Wick’, you’ll be quite upset, and probably check yourself out just a few minutes into the film. While Keanu Reeves is still busy being a super action hero making ‘Matrix 4’ and ‘ John Wick 4, 5, 6…’, Nicolas Cage has instead dived into some indie cult films, though he was once, too, considered an action hero after ‘Leaving Las Vegas’ that, in case you forget, granted him the Academy for Best Actor! I don’t have any expectation for ‘Pig’ because I know Cage has deliberately kept away from the mainstream in recent years. That it can’t be just some kind of action entertainment. So it doesn’t let me down but I can’t say I like it either. It manages to keep me seated till the end but it’s not the film for me to feel much! The film opens by introducing Cage’s Rob living out in the woods with a pig that can help him find truffles to sell f...

  ★★☆☆☆ Emma （ < 變形金剛 > 女郎 Megan Fox ）和 Mark 是夫妻一對，準備結婚周年慶祝，但其實他們貌合形離！ Emma 私底下跟同公司的 Tom 搞婚外情， Mark 則是 Emma 和 Tom 的上司，平時各人都戴著面具做人！影片用了開頭十幾分鐘簡單介紹完他們的關係，就把我們帶到一間湖邊小屋，在那裏 Emma 和 Mark 度過一個頗爲浪漫的夜晚。第二日早上， Emma 醒來，發現 Mark 坐在床邊，他用手銬銬住自己的手和 Emma 的手，另一隻手拿著把槍，扮嗮語帶雙関咁對著 Emma 講：是時候醒啦。跟著毫不猶豫對著自己的腦袋自轟瓜柴！看到這裏，想必各位跟我一樣都 O 嗮嘴，滿腦疑問，覺得這樣的開頭又幾有趣哦。不過跟著的劇情就另一回事了！ 你以爲 Emma 的老公咁做，是因爲什麽驚天大隂謀嗎？錯！只不過是因爲他事業上犯法，感情上受挫，知道老婆出軌，想跟老婆攬炒而已！但爲了攬炒要搞到自轟咁盡，一定有什麽驚天扭橋大佈局吧？又錯！他切斷所有對外聯絡，封殺所有離開小屋的可能性，扮 Emma 給 Tom 發信息叫他一起來小屋，收起所有利器，把自己銬住 Emma ，無非只是想將她拖住留在小屋，好讓 Emma 昔日的仇人 Bobby 上門報仇大開殺戒咁簡單！當然 Bobby也是Mark事前call來的。 （其實 Mark 可以不用自轟，將 Emma 銬在夾萬就得啦，不過可能編劇嫌這樣不夠戲劇性，看 Emma 拖著 Mark 的尸體周圍走過癮點吧？）點解 Bobby 和 Emma 有仇？這點電影沒有詳細講，只知道 Bobby 曾經想搞 Emma ，可能為財，亦可能為色，結果被 Emma 插盲隻眼，坐了幾年監，搞到一無所有！簡單講，主題就是復仇中的復仇。 Mark 的復仇好無謂，故弄玄虛。 Bobby 的復仇好低 B ，看似緊張刺激，其實得啖笑！ 在知道點解 Mark 要自轟之後，劇情已經開始走下坡，無嗮神秘感，所以看到 Mark 自轟時那下 O 嘴已經算是高潮！其實之後的劇情可以不用那麽無謂低 B 的，不過編劇硬要加個 Bobby 的細佬 Jimmy 來扮好人，搞到有些劇情明顯是為做而做，甚至不理到底是否合理，總之為緊張而緊張，結果就是變成一個衰人，一個好人，加一條女（條女其實又唔靚又唔識做戲）在小屋彈出又彈入的貓捉...

  ★★★☆☆ ‘ Alien ’ was born in 1979! 3 years later there came ‘The Thing’ (Left)! And almost 30 years later there came ‘The Thing’ (Right) again. But don’t get it wrong. 2011’s ‘The Thing’ is not a sequel to 1982’s, but a prequel instead. Sounds strange but that’s how it is, and there’s been no sequel ever since. Both ‘The Thing’ and ‘Alien’ are like the same stuff tailor-made to deliver alien terror that’s supposed to not only make you feel sick and scared, but masterfully keep you on tenterhooks from start to finish. 1979’s ‘Alien’ is one of a kind because it’s able to do both. 1982’s ‘The Thing’ is competent at terrifying and sickening you but it’s not the kind to stay in your mind for long. Its prequel, despite solider special effects, is more or less of a letdown because it apparently lacks patience and originality. When I first saw ‘The Thing (1982)’, it did make me want to throw up watching those human bodies get invaded, torn up, deformed, and transformed to something so g...