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！

★★☆☆☆   Crime thrillers are sure my cup of tea, but only a few has managed to stick around my mind after all these years. Most are easily forgotten due to their pretentious but in fact shallow and preposterous way of presentation. Maybe it’s my fault that I’d prefer crime thrillers only involving man’s demonic outrage to those implying that supernatural power is the stuff behind it all. And ‘Longlegs’ appears to be the former at first but turns out it’s something else! ‘Longlegs’ is not based on a true story though it seems like it is, which enables it to have a pretty neat and gripping beginning. As it develops however, this totally made up story starts to lose its charm. And the way it ends is such a complete turn-off that would make you regret the time you’ve spent on it.   I guess it’d be better that they leave the crime unsolved and unexplained rather than put the blame on something demonic or satanic or supernatural power related insanity. Most people check out the 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...

  ★☆☆☆☆ Oh my, I just can’t believe it. This is the ninth installment of the ‘ Saw ’ series already. How many years has it been since the first appeared to sweep us off our feet? Well, I don’t remember when I started to feel fed up and decided to call it quits, maybe right after ‘Saw V’. All I remember is ‘Saw’ and ‘Saw II’ that really were something out of the ordinary back there. They’re still like the best of that can’t be surpassed. That, serving like a curse unfortunately, makes all those sequels they promised to make every once a year afterwards more or less a joke, including this latest one! Critically speaking, ‘Spiral: From the Book of Saw’ feels like an outsider, though there’re still bloody sickening traps that make you want to turn away, and the same old familiar ‘I wanna play a game’ ritual, plus of course plot twists. The whole tone of it nonetheless, feels so not ‘Saw’ which is supposed to be serious, nerve-wracking and even a bit depressing. Maybe it’s something ...

  ★★★★★ Director Guy Ritchie is known to me only for his magic of turning the old and faded ' Sherlock Holmes ' into something new and modern, not perfect obviously but good enough to be remembered. I haven't got to check out any other film of his ever since, but I always appreciate his unique and innovative approach to some classic, ancient stories. 'Wrath of Man', Ritchie's latest, featuring action star Jason Statham, I don't know how many times they've worked together before but Statham seems to be a regular in Ritchie's films. Whatever, this is the best crime thriller I've ever seen in years, hands down. It's nerve-wracking, heart-pounding, and no bullshitting right from start to finish! There's no so called break-time in between. Not a single shot or sequence is purposeless. Every conversation makes you frown and agitate. Every kill and move brings about more puzzles. Every twist and turn makes you want to dig in more. It keeps you...

  ★★☆☆☆ First off, it's my bad that I mistook 'Run' for 'The Act', a TV series telling a true story of a daughter teaming up with her boyfriend to kill her mother who had been overprotective of her and even fabricating her illness and disabilities so as to keep and control her! 'Run' is NOT based on a single true event but a made up story of several real-life tragedies. Director Aneesh Chaganty has done something like this before in ' Searching ', which appears to be closer to real-life, less dramatic and thus more engrossing throughout than 'Run'! 'Run' only runs about 90 minutes so I expected it to be not a slow burn but its pace turns out much faster than I imagined as a matter of fact. It wastes no time taking you from the suspicion that the daughter has about her mother deliberately cutting her off from the outside world by lying to her about her illnesses, to the confrontations between the two! Things escalate dramatically, an...

★★★☆☆ It's been quite a while since my last English post, which was more than a month ago actually. I guess I've lost some sort of motivation to keep it up, partly because of the coronavirus scenario which has worn off my mood and interest for films, but mostly due to lack of viewers to my blog. Well, that's the fault of humanity, the weakness of our mind, as a matter of fact. We often fail to keep doing things that we used to love doing so much in the first place without any expectations. As long as there're expectations, there're disappointments. So to defy that and take it as practice, I'm back here again! Right, 'The Invisible Man', as a horror as it seems initially, opens with a woman played by Elisabeth Moss (first introduced to me in 'Mad Men' series), trying to get away from a man in the middle of the night after seemingly having planned it for a long time! The mood's creepy and intriguing! The score's heart-pounding! Th...

★★☆☆☆ 其實在這個時候看這類電影，只會讓人更加質疑「人性本善」。但，作為佛陀的死忠，我依然選擇相信「人皆有佛性」、「自性本自清淨」，好比一件衣服，就算髒了，它還是一件衣服，並不會因為髒了就變成一條褲子。但衣服也好，褲子也罷，它也只是一個名詞或標籤，是人對它的執著而已，至於它的本質為何，在人相對分別的語言概念裡，是無從知曉和討論的！一切都建基於一個字－－「信」，「 we are what we believe 」，一切法由心想生，這是無法否定的事實！ 說回電影〈飢餓鬥室〉，以為是類似〈 Saw 〉那樣的燒腦片，但其實一點都不燒腦，故事平鋪直敘，沒有任何懸念或驚喜。設定是有點意思的，卻也有點離地，難怪要把它歸類為科幻。主題並不新鮮，過程是沉悶、到喉不到肺的！搞那麼一個大頭佛，最終還是那個老掉牙的問題：人可以為求存，去到幾盡？若聽過〈 天堂‧地獄‧筷子 〉的故事，大可不必再看這齣電影。記住，從來沒有客觀的事，只有主觀的心，所以說一念天堂，一念地獄。改變世界的唯一方法，就只是改變你對它的看法！

★★★☆☆ It’s been a real while, as I’ve become pickier about which film to check out, and there isn’t much I want to say here either, even if I do. These days, people can hardly get by without the Internet. And they don’t seem to need to memorize anything while they have Mr. Google all around to help! Is this a good sign or a bad? The film doesn’t have an opinion about that but like I said, every coin has two sides. Technology, like anything else, is nothing good or evil. It all depends how you look at it and make use of it to either benefit or destroy. No matter what, keep in mind that it’s always you, not things outside you! ‘Searching’ is a crime thriller that somehow feels like a melancholy drama. It’s refreshing and intriguing as the whole event is presented via cameras on various devices like computers, smart phones and TVs. It’s fast paced, and has several plot twists that may not be so much of a surprise after all if you’ve seen films like ‘The Unusual Suspect’ where you...

★★★☆☆ This is not a detective story made up to play smart and pull a trick on you. It’s based on true events, and the crime itself is not of a mystery or a puzzle designed to confuse or blow your mind! There’s basically nothing too dramatic or shocking. The film’s in fact pretty honest and melancholic. It introduces a new angle to look at things like pain, suffering and grief, which I quite appreciate indeed! ‘Wind River’ is set in snow-covered Wind River Indian Reservation in Wyoming, where things appear to be quite boring and upsetting since there’s nothing but thick snow, mountains, tress, wild animals and few cowboys and American Indians living far away from each other. A saying that where you live could have a great effect on the way you behave. So it’s said that up right there on reservations there’re thousands of sexual assaults of women. It’s true that it’s not the place you live in that matters after all. It’s how you look at it. It’s the people. But I guess it’s alwa...

★★★☆☆ I thought Baby the getaway driver would pull off spectacular stunts or tricks in the end to make it look fancier and more romantic, but nope, instead he chooses to face the music. Well, it’s quite understandable, but for a fancy action film as it seems right from the opening through the middle, such an ending is more or less of a disappointment! Other than that, ‘Baby Driver’ is a lot of joy though it’s labeled a crime action that’s supposed to be pretty serious! You feel enjoyable while something supposedly nerve-wrecking and dangerous like a heist is taking place. And you’re kind of worry-free and easy when Baby’s performing his magic moves that are in fact very risky. Yeah, that’s the way the film makes you feel. It’s weird and surreal but fun and fresh! Music is the soul of the film, since Baby can’t seem to get anything done without it. So you’re going to hear songs after songs right from the very beginning till the end. The film’s a perfect demonstration of music b...

★★★★★ The question is, would you rather keep up with the killing game and be part of this world inevitably becoming sicker and darker, or stay good, true and innocent even if that means being alienated and getting killed eventually? This is sort of a dilemma the opening narrative raises for our consideration. It may not seem to have anything to do with the plot, just like the title may seem completely irrelevant to the story itself, but that’s the theme hidden behind you have to keep in mind while watching such a masterpiece by Coen brothers! This is not a film you’d appreciate immediately right after first checkout. The more you watch it, the more you’d love it and understand what is really going on there, what those pictures without any bit of score try to convey, and why those characters think and act and talk like that. Some may feel like the pace is sometimes pretty slow, especially when it comes to Tommy Lee Jones’s part, but it actually works like a timeout where you ca...

★☆☆☆☆ The Japanese ‘Death Note’ is a thought-provoking crime thriller full of wits and suspense and plot twists. This Hollywood adaptation however, seems nothing like the original. At certain points, I feel like I’m watching a stupid love story instead of a supposedly gripping catch-me-if-you-can mind game! The story aside, the characters are paper-thin and forgettable, especially L, who is supposed to be very special and charming. The cast is of a total disaster so to speak. And those awkward songs and pointless slo-mo are absolutely preposterous! Seriously the film would just make you go like WTF whether you’re a fan of the original ‘Death Note’ or not! ‘Karma’s a bitch’! That’s something you’d say when you feel like good people don’t get what they deserve, and bad people get what they don’t deserve! Well, first off, karma’s not that simple as you think. It means an action that actually involves loads of causes and conditions. And when you talk about actions, you have to talk...

★★☆☆☆ Well, it’s me again, not the film itself. It’s got certain qualities like decent acting and editing, and sarcastic dialogues to make you crack a smile from time to time, but still I have no love for such neo films set in the West. ‘Hell Or High Water’ has the same feel that ‘No Country For Old Men’ delivers. The difference is, Coen Brothers’ films always seem to carry a high-above theme or deep thoughts, while the film just tells a mundane  story of brotherly love, though its title may suggest something more than that. You see how a ‘bad’ desperado is supposed to be like fighting for what he thinks is worth fighting for in the film. It’s not easy to be one though. We’d rather live in our comfort zone long enough to be like a walking dead than try to step out of it to start living for real. Come hell or high water, be a ‘good’ desperado, and let it lead you to self-perfection rather than self-destruction! Again, good or bad is not definite. It’s always relative!

★☆☆☆☆ ‘Triple 9’ is a dirty film of dirty figures going around a dirty plot set in a dirty city. Yeah, it’s all made up. Nothing happening in there is true or based on facts. Or maybe, I’m naively oblivious of what’s going on; that the world we dwell in is dirty in a way that we think is bound to be, and somewhat forgivable. Either way you’re not gonna be happy, I guess, checking out this film that’s dragged out a lot, bleak a bit, and an absolute waste of talented casts like Woody Harrelson, Kate Winslet and many others thanks to the mundane screenplay indeed, especially the second half! I don’t mind a film being dirty, but a clueless dirty film like that simply leaves a bad taste in my mouth!

★☆☆☆☆ In case you don’t know, this is the third remake of the original Belgian film. I have no idea why the story’s so welcomed but the film’s a turnoff. Yes, there’s a little bit of suspense in the beginning but it doesn’t carry through. In order to make it a surprise in the end, it over-explains a lot of… senseless stuff. And the characters are paper thin, and have no charm at all. One or two seem to have a mind but turns out they’re like the rest of the mindless people! I wonder why men enjoy having a love affair even if they know it may cause them a lot of trouble, or even their lives. Are they really stupid or what, to believe that what happens in the loft would stay in the loft? A Chinese proverb says, paper can’t wrap up a fire. I guess it’s not that we don’t believe it can’t. It’s just that we need constant stimulation so as to feel alive. Having an affair is just part of the therapy! The irony is, when you feel like you need it so bad to feel alive, you’re actually dy...

★★★☆☆ ‘Gone Girl’ works like a reminder that evil doesn’t necessarily adopt an obnoxious approach upon you. Instead it could be brutally resourceful and romantic. So inevitably it’d make you feel sick to some extent. I’m not sure if I like this film, but I’m sure I’m not going to watch it ever again. Nick (Ben Affleck) finds his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) missing on their fifth wedding anniversary. The police look into it, and later they dig up evidence against Nick, including his wife’s diary suggesting that she was becoming very afraid of her husband who might kill her eventually. Nick appears decent at first but then we learn that he’s a dishonest and unfaithful person dependent on his wife. He does seem to have a motive. Amy looks innocent but her stares are kind of creepy. Indeed she’s ‘complicated’, a code word for bitch as stressed. So what’s gonna happen next is probably not much of a surprise to you if you’re a fan of crime dramas. To me, it’s more like a horror film th...

★★★☆☆ The English title for this Korean film may mislead you to think that it all happens in just one day, but it doesn’t. It takes a lot more in fact to finish telling the whole story that seems half funny half serious. ‘A Hard Day’ feels like a noir film giving an ambivalent mood that some may not be so fond of. The first half really intrigues, and builds up a lot of suspense that makes you think that the second half is sure gonna be brilliant, but unfortunately it’s not quite. As the puzzle starts to be solved bit by bit, things seem to get less interesting, and make less sense. If too critical, you may not be able to enjoy the whole ride. So it’s better to see it like a comedy but sometimes I just feel a bit bad to do so. This film reminds me of what Forrest Gump says about life: it’s like a box of chocolate. You never know what you’re gonna get. Things never quite happen like you expect them. Life always tends to let you down when you feel high, and lift you up when you f...

★★★★☆ Two little girls are abducted. A suspect is arrested but released soon after on account of no solid evidence against him. Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), one of the girls’ fathers, decides to abduct the suspect and torture him to tell the girls’ whereabouts. Abduction movies usually open with a warm happy scene of family members getting together or stuff, turning into a pessimistic situation right after someone in the family is gone missing. ‘Prisoners’ nevertheless, begins with a prayer to God before pulling the trigger that causes a deer’s life, followed by a father’s talk to his son about how to get prepared for the worst in life. And the tone of it keeps dark and bleak till the end even though the ending is sort of a comfort after all. An impressive crime thriller is able to keep the truth till the very last moment. ‘Prisoners’ is an excellent demonstration of such kind. The script stays intriguing throughout, and it’s unlikely to be sure who exactly the abductor is til...

★★★☆☆ 之前的韓版〈英雄本色〉──〈 無敵者 〉，看得我一頭汗。這次韓版〈跟蹤〉──〈天眼跟蹤〉，雖然各方面拍出來的感覺比港版出色，特別是演員方面和動作場面，但無奈故事還是太過「忠實」，驚喜不大。綜觀兩個版本，結局最令我摸不著頭腦：為什麼「影子」（ 鄭雨盛） 在雨中成功擺脫警方跟蹤，卻選擇在雨過天晴後，（最最荒謬的是）在同一地點再出現，再被跟蹤，最後被殺！只不過這次他的死法，總算比較「正常」，不像港版的那麼「匪夷所思」。但是我始終覺得這個故事最大的弱點，或者說死穴，還是它的結局。 再者，我不明白為何叫〈天眼跟蹤〉。如果「天眼」是指那些監控視頻，我覺得最終能夠捉到「影子」的並非「天眼」，而是「花豬」（ 韓孝珠 ）的肉眼。她的肉眼可不一般，是帶有些許神通的，所以她能看到很多一般人看不到的東西，而且過目不忘，但也還不配稱為「天眼」！什麼是「天眼」？簡單舉例，就是你身在香港，卻能看到美國那邊發生什麼事。不可思議是吧？非也，其實很多禪定功夫深的人，都有這個能力。還有比這個更不可思議的「慧眼」，「法眼」跟「佛眼」，大家又知道不？嗯、不扯那麼遠了，想想看，果真有「天眼」，還用跟蹤嗎？ 看這類娛樂動作片，其實也不必太認真或想太多，傻傻的，反而享受。如果你〈跟蹤〉過，則〈天眼〉可免；如果沒〈跟蹤〉過，則〈天眼〉可觀。大可不必用〈天眼〉去〈跟蹤〉，因為那是浪費時間！