Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

Who: Kodaline Where: Ireland What: Alternative/Pop Rock When: 2015 Guess they’ve become my second most favorite band aside from Switchfoot, Blue October, Death Cab For Cutie, Fight The Bear, and stuff. This sophomore of theirs sounds familiarly exciting, catchy, encouraging, and a bit of delight and poignancy at the same time just like their debut that I’m still so fond of in fact. Though the tunes may bore a bit as taking too many listens, this album still works like a shot of pep when you feel bad about life and too weak to carry on at times so… Try it

Who: Kodaline Where: Ireland What: Alternative/Pop Rock When: 2013 They’re from where U2’s from. This their debut feels like a mix of earlier Snow Patrol and Coldplay, but with slightly catchier tunes and simpler lyrics of much romance and hopes. I’m more than fine with every song in this album to be honest. It’s from two years back but it still sounds exhilarating and fresh, and a little bit sad of course. I guess sometimes a bit of melancholy is all we need to be able to feel alive, ain’t it? Try it

★★☆☆☆ 徐克的〈智取威虎山〉動作場面不「威」，手段亦不「智」，角色平淡，故事手法是故弄玄虛的古今交接──多此一舉，除了戲中那些土匪暗語有些趣味之外，其他的不值一提，這次又被徐大俠矇了！ 不過，我卻聯想到「雜」跟「專」的分別，因為現在流行植入式廣告，電影的開頭竟然看到小米電視跟小米手機（哇，小米何時打入美國市場了？），小米對這部戲的贊助肯定不少啊。提到小米，自然想到魅族。小米靠做手機起家，但志不在手機，而是整個「物聯網」生態，而魅族一直只專注於手機，雖然現在業務擴大了，不過主業還是做手機，所以把兩家的手機擺在一起對比，就能看出誰做的產品更用心。好比佛法修行的所謂「解門」跟「行門」，「解門」可以廣，但「行門」一定要專，如果盲修瞎練，肯定一事無成。「專」才能「定」，「定」才能生「慧」，有「慧」才能真正放下自在。 小米走的是「帝國獨大」之路，魅族追求的是「合作共贏」，所以小米到處樹敵，魅族到處交友，事實是，這個世界沒有永遠的朋友，也沒有永遠的敵人，商場更是如此。當然，一切對我來說，不過是戲夢一場，但有時我們可以在世間的明爭暗鬥中，領略到一些出世間的道理。

★★★☆☆ To be honest I don’t like this kind of film that appears to be quite dark and sick, and in praise of selfishness and dishonesty, but just because I don’t like it doesn’t mean ‘Nightcrawler’ is bad. On the contrary, it’s worth a checkout for certain unless you’re a person in favor of politically correct comforting. The story’s fresh and original. The score’s terrific and precise. Jake Gyllenhaal’s performance’s creepy and convincing, like nothing he’s ever done before. Feels like he deserves a win at the Oscars, but surprisingly he was left without a nomination. I can only think of Death Cab For Cutie’s grumble in their new single, ‘how could something so fair be so cruel?’ ‘Nightcrawler’ is not a pleasant film after all. It obliges us to see the dark side of humanity, and how it gets to justify in a world where people care more about their wallet than their spirit; more about how they can survive than how they should live either for themselves or others. The question is,...

★★★☆☆ It’s weird that ‘Wild’ doesn’t seem to move or engross a bit until the last few minutes where all the emotion and sentiment start to break out when a little boy sings Cheryl (Reese Witherspoon) a beautiful song that reminds her in a sense of the purpose of her solo hike along the Pacific Crest Trail. All those frequent flashbacks in the film revealing Cheryl’s bittersweet past and the reasons why she’s doing it seem pretty mundane to me after all, but the last few moments of it almost make me want to cry. I don’t know. Maybe it sets me up so well. Maybe I finally get to feel her pain and grief as I know I’ll have to face some of her problems as well later in my life! You may not get to know what’s really going on there at first, but you’ll sure pick up piece by piece on condition that you’re patient and tolerant enough of the non-happening in most parts. This is a film about the unbearable pain of having to let part of yourself go; of seeking forgiveness and redemption t...

★★★★☆ ‘Whiplash’ is not a conventional shot of ‘chicken soup for the soul’ because, instead of pep talks or warmhearted moments or stuff, there’s only discouragement, torment and taunt, and loads of humiliations J. K. Simmons’s music school teacher exerts on one of his students named Andrew Neimann played by Miles Teller. So if you expect it to be exhilarating, bright and cheerful, you’ll be rather let down. It nevertheless, is a very good example of how someone is compelled to face his weaknesses and bear the unbearable before becoming one of the greats. I don’t know how to appreciate jazz but this is a terrific piece of cinema in terms of convincing and powerful performances by Miles Teller who’s in fact a musician, a drummer for his own band, and also J. K. Simmons who looks, acts and talks very much like an intimidating devil in the film. If you think he’s mean enough, think again. Of course he’s doing it to try to discover the potentially great, an animal particularly com...

★★☆☆☆ ‘American Sniper’, Client Eastwood’s latest, is based on Chris Kyle’s autobiography who’s considered the most lethal sniper in US military history with he himself claimed 255 kills, but 160 officially confirmed. The film itself is certainly overrated. The story’s unexpectedly boring, and goes in flashbacks more than necessary. The action has no thrills at all. Bradley Cooper’s Chris Kyle’s flat and forgettable, and not struggling after all with his day job that seems cruel and just at the same time. Maybe he’s not supposed to, as like he said in his book that he wished he had killed more. We live in a world of contradictions and ridiculousness. When you say something’s right, you’re actually implying something else’s wrong. Chris’s like a hero to the Americans, but he’s also a devil to those he had to kill. The thing is, we all feel like it’s right and just to be there to kill to stop killing. That’s why killing’s never going to stop! Chris said what he was against in Ir...

★★★★★ 提到陳可辛，腦海就只有〈如果愛〉和〈投名狀〉。〈 武俠 〉也算不錯，但總有點弄巧反拙的感覺。對上那部〈中國合夥人〉，看到一半我已放棄。但，完全沒想到這部〈親愛的〉如此的催淚，卻一點都不矯情。鏡頭永遠都好像只是充當一雙第三者的眼睛，跟角色保持一定距離，冷靜地描述著故事，等觀眾自己去代入、去體會，去思考：我們到底缺乏什麼，這個社會到底缺少什麼。 以為 黃渤只是笑星，沒想到他在戲裡的表演是如此有爆發力和說服力。他找回兒子之後在樓梯間的那場痛哭，把一個人那種失而復得、卻仍然若有所失的絞心表現得淋漓盡致。更萬萬沒有想到，以前那位還珠格格趙薇，現在已經是一位不折不扣的實力派。可以說，如果沒有趙薇近乎完美、忘我、準確的演繹， 〈親愛的〉即使有陳可辛的精湛導技，也只能算是平凡的作品。是趙薇給電影注入了一份震撼，她在中段的出現，讓觀眾重新聚焦，把故事再次推向高潮。她在戲裡的肢體動作、說話、表情完全跟以前判若兩人。看完趙薇的演出，我深刻體會到什麼叫為藝術而犧牲。 以為是一個普通的尋親故事，沒想到可以那麼迂回曲折；沒想到有那麼多令人動容、無奈的畫面，以及對人生、對社會的種種諷刺；沒想到本應該十分煽情的情節，導演都十分冷靜中立地去處理，讓觀眾可以有空間去思考：「愛」到底是怎麼一回事？怎樣才算是一個「人」？是不是每個人都走在自己想要走的路上？人是應該為了自己而活，還是為了別人而忙？而所謂「希望」，到底是好是壞？ 〈親愛的〉的結局是開放式的，看似充滿希望和歡喜，卻包含無比的痛苦、委屈與壓抑。人生就是在這樣的矛盾當中進行著，「希望」如同毒品，讓我們亢奮，也讓我們病入膏肓，最終不得不又回到「輪迴」的懷抱！

★★☆☆☆ ‘6’ means there should be 6 characters, heroes if you like, to put on a show, but all of them are so forgettable except Baymax, a kind of mix of ‘Kung Fu Panda’ and ‘Ironman’ that is yet not impressive enough to feel like this is after all a decent piece of animation. The story’s nothing fresh. The action’s disappointing. Things seem to be rushing and going like a piece of cake though the ending’s as expected corny but a bit moving. It’s just that Baymax makes me laugh one or two times for his clumsy considerate reactions. Disney animations always tend to be right and positive, thank goodness. This time the message is like, to help, not to destroy; to forgive, not to revenge. It sounds like so much of a cliché huh? Yes, it does, but that’s something we usually forget and doubt, don’t we? If you’re still wondering why you should be like Baymax only built to help, you’re sure a piece of something irrelevant to the purpose of life!

★★★☆☆ ‘Boyhood’, an indie production of nearly 3 hours, takes like 12 years to finish filming a boy growing up into an adult. It’s not a documentary though, because it’s got a proper script and there’s acting going on. It’s merely a drama but absolutely not a good one since there’s nothing dramatic or thrilling or melancholy to feel involved, regardless of this boy really living his own life or just imitating someone else’s. Just because it’s daring and never-before-done doesn’t mean it’s good and memorable. To me, 12 years of filming is but a gimmick. The story itself is nothing special unless you feel like nothing special is something special. Not saying it’s so bad but it’s certainly not the Best Picture as the Golden Globes rewarded it. The only thing it’s done perfectly well is the editing that enables the film to pace smoothly and naturally without a moment of suddenness. You don’t feel like going through fragments of the boy’s life despite the fact that it’s done in 12 ...

★★★☆☆ The maze’s huge, dangerous (since it’s got monsters called Grievers to wipe out anyone trying to escape), and changing every day (so it’s not quite possible to get out of it at all). The runners are kind of obedient and careful, and set up rules for themselves to stay safe and coexist with it. They’re doing fine till a guy named Thomas comes along to want to lead them out of the trap. The setup looks familiar enough. You feel like it’s just an experiment in which everything’s programmed so as to find out something that would help accomplish some big thing. That nothing happens for no reason. Right, here’s one small piece of a big puzzle. Two more pieces are coming. ‘The Maze Runner’ is just part one of a trilogy that well… I’m not so in favor of after all. Still, the way the story’s told is well paced and intriguing. The action’s breathtaking sometimes, but the ending’s definitely corny and not revealing. You know some are gonna die for real, and some are not. Some will ...

★☆☆☆☆ In the very beginning of 2015, I, out of boredom and ignorance, decided to take ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’, but it turns out to be nothing dark, thrilling or suspenseful or anything like I expected. The story’s plain and straight enough to doze you off. The characters are flat and boring. And if you look up to Liam Neeson to act like an action hero here again, you’re very much mistaken. This is not an action film. Nor is there anything dramatic or haunting. I don’t know what it is for as a matter of fact. If you feel like ‘A Walk Among The Tombstones’ could, at least for a while, wake you up from whatever you’re obsessed with, I suggest you instead take a walk down the graves for real, and you may realize something staring in the eyes of the death, or may not!

Christmas is coming. Meaning the year 2014 is gonna end, and we’re all one year closer to death. Damn! I’m still like an ‘Almost Buddhist’, unprepared, overoptimistic, indifferent and bewildered at times, but I’m very proud of being one anyway. Movies do console me to some extent, but inevitably they all make me feel like I ought to be attached to something or someone so as to move on. And I kind of hate that feeling. Thus I didn’t check out as many films this year as I did last year. As a matter of fact, movies have been a smaller part of my life, yet I haven’t figured out what’s become a bigger part of. Afraid I may not be able to share with you guys next year’s ‘The Best & The Worst’. We’ll see, but keep in mind, nothing’s objective. This is all personal! Thought either David Fincher’s ‘ Gone Girl ’ or Christopher Nolan’s ‘ Interstellar ’ was gonna blow my mind. Turns out they’re all more or less of a disappointment. After all, life’s full of surprises as long as yo...

★★★★☆ I appreciate this film not because I’m a believer of a tooth for a tooth like it tends to convince, but simply because it’s really a cool, stylish, exciting piece of action cinema, and the underscore makes it much, much cooler, hands down. I feel like I’m watching ‘ The Man From Nowhere ’, ‘ Dredd ’ and ‘ Leon The Professional ’ at the same time. I don’t know. I’m always fascinated by a story about a righteous smart super skilled loner, after struggles, deciding to do the right thing by taking a thousand assholes into his own hands, though I know that’s not the right way to serve law and justice after all. The story’s straight. The camerawork is impressive. The pace, the close-ups, the slo-mo action sequences are stunning. Denzel Washington is exceptionally competent at playing Robert McCall, a mysterious superhero cold-blooded to the scum but warm-hearted to the weak and innocent. The film lasts like more than 2 hours, but still you feel like it’s kind of short, as we’r...

★★★☆☆ There’s a big contrast in the opening of the film where Brat Pitt’s Don kills a Nazi with much hate but sets his white horse free with much love. To him, it seems like a horse’s life is much more precious than a human’s. Sure this is not his fault. It’s the Government, the propaganda, the madness, the war itself that makes us act like an animal in some particular time. Basically it’s our distinction to blame. And it’s not something we’re endowed with, but we think it is! A matter of fact that I love every film starring Brat Pitt, but of course not every film he’s in is good, including this one. ‘Fury’ has got some gross and haunting images but the story and the characters are not so convincing and impressive. Why Don, with just a broken tank and a few hands left, still insists to stay and fight against an army of heavily armed Nazis instead of retreating and working out a better plan? Maybe he’s sick of having to live and fight over and over again. I don’t know, but the ...

★★☆☆☆ 相比第一集的悲壯，以及 第二集 的煞有介事，第三集的故事十分乏味，既無驚喜，亦不緊張，還要拖兩個小時，叫人難熬，結局更是一堆車撞來撞去，不知所謂！這次除了竊聽系列的三位常客，還多加了幾位中港大腕，結果那三位常客的戲份被攤薄了，主角反而好像是葉璇跟曾江，起碼他們有戲做，其他人都只是走來走去，念念對白。以為方中信會有點看頭，怎知也是閒角一名，不過他的口頭禪 everything under control 倒是令人印象深刻！ 其實很多人心裡都知道 nothing is under control ，但我們還是想去 control ，為甚麼？因為我們心底明白存在是虛無的，正正就是這種不安全感促使我們不斷想去 control ，自我保護之餘，也想證明自己是實實在在地存在。有些時候事情好像 under control ，但那只不過是因緣和合的假像，神通無邊如佛陀者也不能阻止其族人被滅絕，何況我們此等業障深重的凡夫，連自己都不能控制，遑論去控制其他人和事。緣起甚深，業網複雜，我們無知，所以總是想 control it ，而不是 flow with it 。 〈竊聽風雲 3 〉雖然過目即忘，但最後那場「時光倒流」多少令人唏噓。人總是擔心有一天會耗盡地球資源，以致地球毀滅，但其實在地球毀滅之前，首先毀滅的一定是我們人類。我想起美國棟篤笑大師 George Carlin 說過的令人回味的話： The planet isn’t going anywhere. We are. The planet will shake us off like a bad case of fleas 。我們都只是這個地方的過客， nobody is in control of anything ！

★★★☆☆ 因為朴樹的「 平凡之路 」，所以看〈後會無期〉，看了〈後會無期〉，更喜歡朴樹的「平凡之路」，這首歌確實是神作。我們總在追求某種程度的不平凡，但到頭來卻發覺「平凡才是唯一的答案」。人生就像在兜圈子，沒有起點或終點，只有過程，可我們總以為有個一勞永逸的終點，到了那裡就有永久的幸福，為了擺脫討厭的現實，我們追求夢想，孰不知夢想不過是另一個討厭的現實。當夢想變成現實，我們又設立另一個夢想去追逐，所以幸福對我們來說永遠是未來式！ 〈後會無期〉是一部公路電影。什麼是公路電影？我不清楚，但它一定有「路」有「車」。或許路有多條，但你只能選擇一條；或許車有多輛，但你也只能選擇一輛。每條路會有不同的風景，所謂不同的風景其實你以前都見過，只不過你忘了，所以你再次覺得新鮮，再次探索激盪。電影裡頭出現的遭遇不算新鮮，印象不算深刻，但好在搞文字出名的韓寒編的劇本夠尖酸、夠諷刺、夠幽默，很多見仁見智的金句，讓人笑過之後，心也酸酸的。「喜歡就會放肆，但愛是克制」是其中一句我比較喜歡的。 「告別一定要用力一點，因爲任何多看一眼，都有可能成爲最後一眼，多說一句，都可能是最後一句」。依依不捨最後還是要捨，形影不離最後還是要離。每一篇博文，我都當作是最後一篇來寫，因為緣分是可貴的，相逢是短暫的，我們後會可能真的無期！保重！

★★★★★ 影片用憶述的方式，以多人的角度去還原一個立體的人物──宮部久藏，二戰時期日本一位空軍天才機師。再以他為中心去講述日本在二戰太平洋戰區的作為，從偷襲珍珠港到神風特攻隊。雖是戰爭片，但戰爭場面不多，全是空戰。拍得精采，但不壯烈，看完絕對不會有一種「壯志凌雲，沖上雲霄，打個痛快」的衝動。相反，會深深感受到戰爭的殘酷，以及對人性的扭曲，看得人唏噓哽咽。對美軍來說，可能日本空軍個個都是瘋子，但其實他們只是受到戰爭極度摧殘的可憐孩子，在駕駛飛機沖向軍艦的時候，他們喊的是親人的名字，流的是無奈的眼淚。片名「永遠」二字，並非歌誦戰爭，而是提醒世人，永遠要珍惜自己和他人的生命！ 〈永遠的０〉片長兩個半小時，節奏不緩不急，演員的演出也十分自然到位，每一幕的憶述都令人印象深刻，而且更特意留下伏線，造就後半段精采感人的轉折，可以說是一個令人相當驚喜的地方。影片中段出現的一場感情戲，確實拍得細膩感人，催人淚下，反正我是哭了。這些年來，從沒有一場感情戲能如此觸動我，回想宮部久藏的妻子松乃拉住自認卑鄙的賢一郎，不希望他離開的那淒美一幕，心裡依舊覺得悸動，命運的捉弄，緣分的珍貴，真愛的永恆，令我百感交集！ 宮部久藏在戰爭中的強烈求生意志，影響了他身邊很多戰友，讓他們知道生存的目的以及生命的可貴，畢竟在當時政治氣氛的洗腦下，無辜熱血的年輕人個個都準備隨時為國家作犧牲，即使那種犧牲是多麼的無謂。很少人能像宮部久藏那樣清醒地意識到：生存從來都不是一個人的事，一個人的死或許不能改變一場戰爭的成敗，但卻絕對會對某些人的命運帶來深遠的影響。宮部久藏的「為了家人，一定要保住性命」的態度，在當時被視為懦弱，但判斷一個人是否懦弱，不是看他的行為，而是行為背後的動機，所以一個人可能表面上看似懦夫，其實他才是顧全大局、有智慧的英雄！而從這個角度去看，日本在二戰期間的特攻行為看似英勇，其實正好反映出他們相當變態無能！ 但，一向珍惜生命的宮部久藏最終為何會選擇參與特攻任務，影片並沒有給予確切的答案。或許他已經不能再忍受白白看著戰友犧牲，自己卻苟且偷生，他希望為無辜的孩子做一點事情；或許他想以此去證明特攻任務的荒謬，警惕世人戰爭的滅絕人性；又或許那是他最快能回到妻兒身邊的方法。無論如何，事實是，連冷靜理性的他最終也難敵大環境的摧殘與衝擊。面對越來越變態的共業，個人如何自處，確實是...

★★☆☆☆ 純以一部動畫片來說，〈佛陀 2 ：無盡的旅程〉是糟糕的。故事單薄，畫功粗糙，人物平面，對白生硬，跟三年前的 第一集 相比，確實遜色。假如它不是關於釋迦牟尼佛的，我應該不會花時間去看。不過片中關於佛陀修行成道的描述也過於片面簡單，難怪的，要把成佛 ( 離言絕慮 ) 的過程影像化，絕對是吃力不討好的。如果閣下想了解佛陀的真實事蹟，還是讀相關史書比較好。 片中用了很多篇幅描述佛陀的苦行，他在思考：明知人生是苦，那人活著到底是為了什麼？其實我們來受苦完全是自願的。難道我們都是傻的，明知有苦，我們還歡喜來受？關鍵是，沒人覺得自己是傻的。我們都很聰明地把妄想理想化，堅信總有一天能追到幸福，追不到只是因為自己不夠聰明，從不知幸福原是煙霧。希望在明天。你信嗎？很多聰明的人都信的！ 雖然苦是既成，但還是可以選擇如何去面對的，這也是決定一個人的人生是否有意義的關鍵。好比一個生雞蛋，在各方面條件配合下煮成熟蛋，你雖然不能把熟蛋變回生蛋，但你可以選擇自己吃掉，讓給他人吃，還是乾脆扔了等等。不同的選擇引發不同的造作，不同的造作又感召不同的果報，但總的來說，擺在我們面前的也就只有兩條路：隨業受生或隨念往生。當然，選擇沒有對錯，後果自負而已。

★★★☆☆ It’s okay if you don’t know anything about the wormhole, the black hole, the Singularity, the Relativity, Quantum Mechanics, the gravitational waves, and the extra-dimensional time and space, just consider ‘Interstellar’ a ghost story where a father’s asked to save his family and the entire human race from dying Earth by shooting himself to Saturn, entering a wormhole, then a black hole, landing onto the extra-dimensional and becoming a ‘ghost’ to be able to teach his daughter how to fix the problem and get out of Earth, and miraculously managing to find himself in one piece to get reunited with his aging daughter in the far future when humans already move to live in a space station orbiting Saturn! Some find a journey like that spectacular and moving. Well, I’m not sure about it. While ‘ Gravity ’ complicates a single space task and makes it look extremely difficult and perilous, ‘Interstellar’ tends to simplify and make it look like a piece of cake, such as getting in ...