Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★☆☆☆☆   導演 M. Night Shyamalan 被稱為驚悚大師，我覺得他是飄忽大師。他算多產，最經典的莫過於《鬼眼 (The Sixth Sense) 》，其次是一部算嚇得了人的《探訪 (The Visit) 》，其他不是過目即忘，就是爛到不想記起！他的新作《圈套 (Trap) 》，簡直是爛片中的經典。我真是名副其實地中了圈套，以為是鬥智鬥力的犯罪片，豈料是一套自圓其說的笑片！ 電影前半段在演唱會場，算中規中矩，但也頗沉悶，拍不出甚麼緊張情節，搞得要用許多唱歌片段撐過，最後犯人成功逃出演唱會那幕，已有很多邏輯不合理，誰知到了下半段，沒有最誇張，只有更誇張。主角犯人更化身奇人異士，多番神乎其技地表演換位魔術，以「就是捉不到我、捉不到我」的姿態，令一班中了伏的觀眾如我拍案叫絕。最怪異的是電影氣氛，由原來的緊張嚴肅，漸漸變成後來的搞笑胡鬧，最後那個彩蛋，正正想挑戰觀眾的觀影極限—被當弱智耍來耍去的忍受能力！ 其實看完他上次那部《 詭老 (Old) 》，我已大失所望，跳過了他近期的《窺探者 (The Watchers) 》，輪到這部看似是犯罪片，總算勾起我的興趣，豈不知又中圈套，只能說戲名取得太好了！與電影暗藏的無聊動機相符，是一絕！更絕的是，我竟然看了，而且不是當笑片！

  ★★★☆☆ 'Boss Level' is surprisingly more exhilarating than I expected. It's got stars like Mel Gibson, Naomi Watts, and long-time-no-see Michelle Yeoh but stars are never the point. The setup is, where a guy gets to die hundreds of times before he finally gets to find out why and how he's supposed to get out of the loop! That's obviously a bit cliched and senseless of course, but... wait, come to think of it, this sort of setup is not the point either. The point really is, the way it plays out those 'hundreds of deaths', which manages to get you gripped and make you laugh from time to time. Take it a comedy like ' Groundhog Day '. Take it easy. Then you're going to receive a 100-minute runtime joyful experience from an action film that you probably never thought would be capable of delivering so. 'Boss Level' truly feels like a video game as the title suggests, in which our hero keeps fighting and dying over and again till he learns en...

★★☆☆☆ The two-star rating is for first, those enjoyable songs and music, especially the Coldplay’s ‘Yellow’ cover that is lyrically good and a bit touching, and second, the sort of shocking news about Rachel’s family revealed in the end that actually works like an in time wake-up call as I was considering the film a complete turnoff. I started dozing off just 30 minutes into the film to be honest. To me it’s like a boring Cinderella story without fancy stuff like glass shoes, or more specifically, a travelogue to Singapore! I know it’s supposed to make me laugh but I don’t find any of their jokes or acting funny anyway! It gets attention just because it’s the first Hollywood film featuring all Chinese. Well, they’re really not Chinese though. They’re just bananas—yellow on the outside but white on the inside! Being yellow speaking Chinese doesn’t make you Chinese! Being yellow speaking English doesn’t make you not either. It’s more than just skin colors and languages but of co...

★★☆☆☆ ‘Destination Wedding’ is basically of talk, talk and talk some more, non-stop! And the only ones talking are Winona Ryder’s Lindsay and Keanu Reeves’s Frank. Others are just like cardboard figures in the back being talked about. If you’re fond of a drama of non-stop cynical, sarcastic talks, and awkwardly fun moments at times, this is the film for you. If you’re looking for some sort of romance or sentimentality instead, you might as well skip it. The only reason I checked it out is Keanu Reeves, who appears to be not so amusing as I expected him to be in a comedy after all! I wonder sometimes, why things nowadays like films or stuff have to be made so atypical or unconventional in order just to stand out. What’s wrong about being typical or old school? Why would filmmakers have to make a film as weird and never before seen as possible just to try to please and refresh us in a sense? Why wouldn’t they come up with decent characters telling a decent story? I’m not saying ...

★★★☆☆ This is an action-comedy! Keep that in mind, and you’re probably going to enjoy it! If you take it just an action film like any other serious one out there, you could be rather upset I guess because most of the scenes are actually too exaggerated to be making any sense. If you however, keep reminding yourself that it’s basically just a comedy that cares more about fun than facts, then you might find it quite exhilarating as it somehow manages to give you a sudden laugh or two when you don’t quite expect it at all, in spite of the carefree plot and notorious unkillable characters like the hitman, and his bodyguard! Some of the action scenes, though they may seem like sort of a joke if you take them too seriously, are in fact pretty well choreographed and impressive such as the chase on the streets of Amsterdam, hands down. And there’s one more thing that makes this film not only more interesting but also rather nostalgic. That is, those good old songs to be reminiscent of...

★★★★☆ Nowadays, competent comedies like this are rare. They’re either too exaggerated and ridiculous to deliver laughs, or too corny and old fashioned to be enjoyable. ‘Central Intelligence’ however, manages to strike a good balance between silly setups that comedies usually have and sensible storytelling that comedies usually lack, to be the most decent comedy I’ve ever seen in years! In fact, Dwayne Johnson has been in a lot of comedies as I remember, but has never been able to impress until he meets up with Kevin Hart this time around. They’re so great of an exhilarating match in the film that we’re generally willing to forgive the story that can’t be really happening as a matter of fact. The casting and very capable scriptwriters are the key success of it. Kevin Hart really steals the show. He’s I don’t know how many times better than Chris Rock when it comes to comedies. And when he’s going with Dwayne Johnson, it’s such a real blast! The body language he presents, the wa...

★★★☆☆ In case you wonder, ‘Ultra’ is a secret special training program set up by the CIA to make problematic kids a killing machine. Jesse Eisenberg’s Mike is part of it, and a success while many others fail. ‘American Ultra’ is part serious part funny, part cruel part romantic! In fact, I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel about it, but basically it’s a love story, a fairly moving one that contains certain gags and exhilarating actions, especially the last supermarket fight scene that truly is the highlight of the show! For most of the time, the film doesn’t draw much of my attention, but there’s a metaphor concerning a tree and a car that kinda hits and holds me thinking about relationships all of a sudden. It takes a lot indeed for the tree and the car to collide. Sometimes the tree doesn’t dare or wish enough to stop the car. Sometimes the car just doesn’t care enough to stop for the tree! The tree may feel like it should get moving too but it’s grounded, and helpless. An...

★☆☆☆☆ 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！

★★★☆☆ ‘Ant-man’ is very good as a comedy but not as a superhero film or an action movie if you will. The script’s a lot of fun. The actions are not so thrilling but are able to bring out some great laughs since they take place in setups quite interesting and unexpected. The story’s kind of mundane though. A troubled guy is forced to learn to be a hero. He fights the bad for what he believes in and becomes the good. And it ends with a hint that there’s more of it to come for certain, but I don’t think I’ll ever be interested anyway! ‘Ant-man’ is fresh to me as a comedy since I never expected it to be one, and the character has never hit the big screen till now. But feeling fresh has become more and more like a luxury thing to get as we’ve dulled our senses by constantly exposing ourselves to daily gross, sick, hardcore stuff. So we keep buying, spending, hanging around doing stupid things with stupid folks, looking for more stimulation just to stay alive and kicking. We’re so p...

★★★★☆ 這是一部非一般的港產片，如果你看慣以往的港產片，〈衝鋒車〉會讓你覺得有點「不舒服」，因為無論是人物設定，敘事風格，畫面呈現都相當破格，正是這種「荒謬怪誕」的感覺，讓影片看起來充滿寓意、幽默、諷刺及影射。它讓我想起多年前一部國產黑色喜劇〈瘋狂的石頭〉，整個過程好像坐過山車，隨時看到「 O 晒嘴」，就算到了影片尾端，也還有驚喜，編導確實絕妙！唯一做得不夠好的地方是特效，可能成本技術所限，出來的效果有點假。 一班笨賊扮警察，行劫過程中遇到另一班扮警察的笨賊，結果撞出滿地火花，也帶出一些其實你我都已經知道、但卻時常忘記的人生道理，例如「穿什麼真的不重要，做重要的是知道自己做什麼」；「內褲是穿在外面還是裡面，超人始終是超人」；「天使還是魔鬼，魔鬼還是天使，完全視乎你怎麼看」。事實上，片中的嘲諷不算露骨，當然，對號入座與否就悉隨尊便了。對我來說，整個過程輕輕鬆鬆，有搞笑「騎呢」亦有感動。 說到善惡，我們都生活在相對的虛忘當中，或許我們衡量善惡的標準不一，但我們心中都有一把衡量善惡的尺。其實佛法對我們來說是無趣的、沒用的！因為佛法講求超越善惡、走中道、不落兩邊。在這個表面追求客觀，但實質非常主觀的人類世界，你要自己做到或要求人家做到無分別，你肯定會瘋掉的，因為根本沒可能做到。所以佛才講人天善法，我們依此發展出所謂人間化的佛教，把佛教當作慈善事業來做，這樣做當然只是一種方便，最終目的是希望佛教能夠人間化，畢竟佛的本懐不是希望你得人天福報，而是超越輪迴、成就佛道。但，我們都以為「諸惡莫作，眾善奉行」就是佛教的全部，而忘了「自淨其意」才是佛法的根本。以染污的心去行善，只不過是雜毒之善，只會被輪迴束縛得更緊！

★★☆☆☆ 一部過目即忘的爆谷片，不算好看，也不算垃圾，起碼敘事手法不馬虎，不過對白就有點彆扭，可能是我不習慣台灣人說話的方式吧。當中不乏黑色幽默，只是我不太懂得笑，有些場面我反倒覺得感慨。蘇有朋還真有那麼點喜劇細胞，林依晨還真有那麼點演技，好久沒見的林心如還真嚇了我一大跳！ 「甜蜜」跟「殺機」是矛盾的，但卻是一體的兩面。「甜蜜」的東西人人想要，但人們卻不喜歡「甜蜜」附帶的「殺機」，何等荒謬。這讓我想起佛陀對「愛」的一個比喻，說求愛就好比用舌頭去舔塗在刀鋒上的蜂蜜，味道雖甜，但同時舌頭也會被刮傷，會痛、會流血。情況就好像戲裡那對苦命鴛鴦，因為情執，害了他人，最終也毀了自己，看似可歌可泣，其實愚蠢至極！情執把我們緊緊綁在輪迴無盡的痛苦當中，但我們依然把這種痛苦當成甜蜜，這就是無明！

★★★☆☆ In ‘Groundhog Day’, Bill Murray’s Phil Connors has to live the Groundhog Day over and again for reasons unknown, till… no idea how and why exactly he’s able to get out of it in the end either. Things just happen so naturally or say, unreasonably, that the whole film seems like nothing more than a comedy of romance. It could’ve been deeper and more ingenious indeed but instead it leaves us some laughs and wonders just like that. How many more mistakes do we have to repeat before we manage to learn and correct it? How much more suffering do we have to take before we finally see what’s wrong with this life and want to stop it no matter what? We keep coming back for more and more till we’re bent and crashed and tortured and killed. Yet again we come back for some more not remembering the pain at all. Well, if you haven’t had enough, I have. Just like Phil Connors himself, though I can’t see exactly how and why I’m stuck in here right now, I’m so determined to want to make it...

★☆☆☆☆ Checking out a film that turns out to be like total rubbish definitely feels bad, but deciding to still check it out even though most people say it sucks feels a lot worse, because you know you’ve deliberately done something you shouldn’t have, and you just can’t help it at all. You can only blame it on your karma I guess. And that’s how ‘Kick-Ass 2’ makes me feel. My bad! 2010’s ‘ Kick-Ass ’ is a quality cult film with exhilarating actions and sentimental moments, but in ‘Kick-Ass 2’, things turn super preposterous. The story doesn’t seem to reason and intrigue at all. It’s stuffed with lousy purposeless violence and awkward reactions; dumb characters with zero acting (Jim Carrey’s nothing equivalent of Nicolas Cage in ‘Kick-Ass’. He’s just a big, big cameo there. What a waste indeed); and last but not least, mindless offensive language on and on. Neither is it an action film nor a drama nor a comedy. I don’t know what the hell it is for exactly. Take my advice: even if...

★★☆☆☆ I know it’s personal, but seriously, I hate to see Mark Wahlberg in any comedies. He’s not funny in any sense for God’s sake. As for Ted, certainly not for kids considering the words he uses and acts he does, I don’t find him interesting or adoring at all, though he seems to try to be offensive and sarcastic all the time. The story’s nothing more than a fairy tale, in which the couple manage to live happily ever after, plus a teddy bear. There’re laughs but not so impressive to me. I only remember one about Lance Armstrong’s nut. Speaking of him, I just can’t believe what he reportedly did to himself, and to all of us that admired him. ‘Sometimes you feel like a nut.’ I do, when recalling all the stuff about him. I remember one of my friends said on Facebook that ‘Ted’ made him cry, literally tears down on his cheeks. As I know, he’s not the guy who’d easily shed a tear seeing any film. So I guess it must really mean something to him. Maybe he saw his reflection in it. ...

★★☆☆☆ 記憶中，讓我笑到差點斷氣的電影好像只有成龍的〈雙龍會〉和一部 Tom Hanks 主演的喜劇，戲名我忘了。至於星爺的那堆「無哩頭」，好笑是好笑，但還沒到達要斷氣的程度。之後我就愛上了 sitcom 如〈 Friends 〉和 Michael J. Fox 的〈 Spin City 〉，每個星期都追，每次都笑到半死。但自從 Friends 解散， Michael J. Fox 患了痴呆，我就甚少看喜劇了。低俗的喜劇，由於工作關係，倒是被迫看了一些 Hollywood 的，悶得要命；至於港產的，這次應該算是頭一回看吧！ 彭導的〈低俗喜劇〉是夠低俗的：大量穢語，色情笑話，意識大膽，這不要緊，好笑就行，可問題是，它也沒甚麼好笑的，不過就是彭導在自嘲，在諷刺電影這個行業罷了。可能我不是地道香港人，戲中有些地方我真的不太懂得笑，中段甚至有點沉悶。或許一部只靠粗口和性笑話支撐的喜劇，並不能讓我真正投入而開懷大笑吧。彭導又再施展他的小聰明──玩文字（諧音）遊戲，整個故事基本上是無驚喜的，其拍攝技巧也十年如一日。有人說彭浩翔是鬼才導演，我覺得有點把他抬高了。所謂鬼才，除了能夠把低成本製作化成「神奇」之外，還得有能力駕馭大製作，例如 Christopher Nolan 、 Quentin Tarantino 之類。但彭導拍來拍去，都是一些小品式電影，頂多只能說他是香港導演之中，說故事技巧比較出色的一個而已。 有些東西我們是無從選擇的，比如我們的出生背景，身體條件，父母是誰。一個成長中的小孩，應該相信、也必須相信這個世界是美好的。而作為父母，也應該儘責避免子女受到「不乾淨」東西的影響，即便我們都知道，這個世界其實是多麼的不乾淨！

★★★☆☆ Not sure if I saw the previous two. Maybe I did, but to me, MIB series are nothing but a child’s play of dancing with ETs in whatever disguise. The special effects are pretty okay, but the stories are simply not. 10 years later, as we thought MIB should be six feet under, ‘MIB 3’ was finally made possible. This time, it’s got a better story to tell. It looks intriguing enough since it’s got something to do with time-travel or say, history rewriting. When it comes to time-travel, things are apt to get a little bit complicated. In the very beginning, a monster escapes from a prison on the moon. He’s going back in time to kill Agent K (Tommy Lee Jones) who’d put him to jail and the rest of his kind to extinction. In the end, nonetheless, Agent K blasts him to pieces instead. Meaning all you see in this film, right from the start till minutes before it ends, is not what you think is happening. Tricky huh? There should be paradoxes too, but as long as you take it as a comedy...

(2012)  ★★★☆☆ ‘21 Jump Street’ seems pretty promising at first. It gets a little bit boring and clichéd like most of the comedies nowadays as it develops, but surprisingly it has a very interesting ending. It’s not that seriously funny as ‘ Horrible Bosses ’, but a whole lot more fascinating than any of those featuring Adam Sandler. As for the story, you probably know what’s going on there if you watched the TV version back in the late 80s. There’re sarcastic dialogues, great music and decent performances by Jonah Hill, the impressive guy in ‘ Moneyball ’ and Channing Tatum and uncredited cameos like Johnny Depp. Right, he’s there all the time. You just never know when he’s going to pop up, but when he does, you’ll certainly go HFS!

(2011)  ★☆☆☆☆ Films starring Adam Sandler are gross and preposterous to be honest. ‘Jack and Jill’ gives a double attack of that experience since having to stand him not only as a man but also as a woman. Slightly interesting parts of the film are the opening and ending where real twins are interviewed, and they present funny dialogues. In spite of star cameos like Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Shaquille O’Neal, John McEnroe, etc. to back him up, Adam Sandler is certainly a poison to comedies!

(2011)  ★★☆☆☆ I checked out ‘Johnny English (2003)’ on account of its trailer that’s so much funnier than the movie itself. It didn’t make me laugh till the last scene when Johnny starts to sing and dance to one of ABBA’s hits. It’s in general a turnoff. Years have passed. Now Johnny’s reborn, but the way he behaves still seems so Bean. Nothing’s of a surprise. Everything’s expected. And some said Mr. Rowan Atkinson would better fit in a silent film. I agree. As a comedy, this film’s such a failure. I however, appreciate Mr. Atkinson’s courage and profession all these years trying to entertain us by sticking to what once made him so well known. That’s, I guess, a gift as well as a curse!

(2011)  ★★☆☆☆ Sex before marriage, it happens. Sex before officially dating, would you accept? Jamie (Mila Kunis) and Dylan (Justin Timberlake) try to play a game of sex without love. They seem to be okay with it at first, but things get a little bit tricky later, as expected. The story’s of no surprise. You know how they’re going to start it wrong, and how they’re going to fix it right. I guess it’s much easier for men (not including me, I’ve made myself clear in ‘ One Day ’ review) than for women to do sex without love. It’s because, for women, having sex involves the risk of getting pregnant, so they’d need a loving, caring, responsible man to share their burden in the end. They can’t really afford to do it without. Even if they say they can, they’re probably lying. I’m not sure about men unlike me, but I’m sure there must be perverts who’d prefer sex without love, fun without responsibilities. Like it or not, this world is made up of the good and the evil. Jamie and Dyl...