Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★☆☆☆ The story is nothing gripping or moving but well presented in a rather slow, natural pace. The truth is not revealing till the last couple of minutes, but I find it predictable as I feel like right in the beginning that Anna and Marnie are not in the same space at the same time though they seem to be always playing around together in the picture. These two little girls are intimately connected. How and why is for you to find out. All I can say is, memories are nothing kind or cruel! I appreciate the countryside as a backdrop in the film rather than the story, or the characters or the music whatsoever. I envy Anna having the chance to break away from the hustle and bustle, but sometimes I’d think to myself that no matter where else I go, no matter what other life I may lead, I’ll still be tricked by memories into believing that Samsara is kind of sweet and solid. That in this circle of life, there’s something so worth fighting for and holding on to. But you know memories ...

Who: Death Cab For Cutie Where: America What: Alternative/Indie Rock When: 2015 With long time member Chris Walla’s ‘bittersweet’ exit, only 3 are left now. Still they sound fresh and rejuvenated though they’re no spring chicken. This is their 8 th studio album already, the best, I guess, since ‘Transatlanticism’ and ‘Plans’. 4 hit singles aside, ‘Kintsugi’ has got more exhilarating stuff like ‘Everything’s A Ceiling’, ‘Good Help’, ‘Ingenue’, as the proof that ‘DCFC’ have not yet lost the touch on artistic tunes and poetic lyrics. They’ve made a comeback for certain, after stepping down ‘Narrow Stairs’ and throwing around ‘Codes And Keys’, telling you now not to be ashamed of your scars and wounds but to accept them as part of a brand new you. That’s what kintsugi really means, isn’t it? Try it

★★★★★ Here’s a classic, in a time-travel genre, maybe not of all time, but definitely of the year. Feeling like ‘ Looper ’ is tricky enough, you’ll be real mad trying to wrap your head around the plot of ‘Predestination’, that’s of paradoxes making one rather confused who’s who, what’s what, and which must logically come first. It seems so mesmerizing and flawless however, if you flow with it instead of fighting it and trying to be smart. Plus a really impressive performance by Sarah Snook, for which I think she deserves an Academy Award or stuff, ‘Predestination’ is pretty much a perfect film to stun and inspire if you’ve ever been fed up with life itself. The biggest problem you may have with the film is the head-scratching timeline and characters involved. I’m not to break it down here. I’ll have to spoil the plot if I do. To better enjoy it, you gotta break away from logical thinking of time and space that’s, as a matter of fact, nothing but a delusion. But we’re trapped i...

★★★☆☆ What ‘Birdman’ impresses me is, first of all, its seemingly effortless effort in making the whole film look like one single long take, but of course you know it can’t be possible without seamless editing skill and a slight touch of special effect. Sure there’re long takes but they’re not so long as they seem. And they require some real good performances nonetheless, especially like Michael Keaton’s. So the Academy Award for Best Director? Definitely. But Best Picture? Well… it may not be everybody’s taste. It all depends who you are and what you expect from the film. Honestly it’s not so mine! ‘Birdman’ is like a bittersweet surrealistic fable. It’s bitter because Michael Keaton’s Riggan has to give in to his inner voice and public opinions to some extent. He struggles between who he is and who he used to be; who he’s supposed to be and who he’s considered to be. It’s kind of sweet because the ending suggests he finally manages to live for nobody but himself. It’s a fabl...

★★★☆☆ I don’t think I’d be interested in writing about films here if I didn’t happen to read Roger Ebert’s film reviews that are indeed sagacious, informative, insightful and I don’t know, kind of touching, especially those written when he was ill. Aside the fact that he’s the one and only Pulitzer winning film critic that was something he usually bragged about in fact, he was a cancer fighter, an optimist, a guide on how to look at films, an inspiration for those taking films as part of their lives. As a documentary about Roger Ebert, the most influential film critic of all, ‘Life Itself’ is not that gripping and poignant after all, but it does offer us a glimpse of how he got started to be a film critic; how he got along with himself, family and friends, and later on his cancer. He wasn’t born a film critic but was destined to be one, a great one undoubtedly. I don’t love films like he does. That’s why I can’t be great as he is. The truth is, if you want to be great at somet...

Who: Imagine Dragons Where: America What: Alternative/Indie Rock When: 2015 ‘Smoke + Mirrors’ is not an album you’d love at first listen but it’s gonna grow on you if giving it a few more tries. This Imagine Dragons’ sophomore may not be of all your favorites but there’s certainly a song or two that’d haunt and stay in your mind, like ‘It Comes Back To You’ and ‘Dream’ for me, particularly the latter crying ‘we all are living in a dream. Life ain’t what it seems. Everything’s a mess. All the sorrows I’ve seen. They lead me to believe that everything’s a mess’, so poignant but so true! Try it

Who: Imagine Dragons Where: America What: Alternative/Indie Rock When: 2012 They’ve got an alternative cover but a pop heart, or the other way round if you like. Whatever, that’s how I feel about them. They seem to have struck a pretty good balance between doing what they like and doing what most of us would probably like. ‘Night Visions’, their impressive debut, is of smash hits, some heavy and depressing, some encouraging and fun. First listen to it may sound like no big deal, but then you’ll get hooked up and start to sing along. Strange! They’ve nothing ordinary in short. Try it

★★★☆☆ The film itself is not so exhilarating as expected, but on account of Benedict Cumberbatch’s decent performance, and ingenious storytelling and use of flashbacks, ‘The Imitation Game’ is still worth your time and attention. And of course in a film like that about a genius inventing something extraordinary so as to change the course of history, it’s often to come across witty words like ‘sometimes it’s the people who no one imagines anything of who do the things that no one can imagine’. The story’s based on great British mathematician Alan Turing’s real life that, like most geniuses’, ended up so pathetic indeed. Turing didn’t have a happy life because he was a genius, and also a homosexual that was something illegal back then in Britain. Now it’s nothing to be ashamed of, nor anything to be proud of. To me it’s just a personal preference or interest that should be respected and understood by the majority. Homosexuality aside, a genius is bound to be a loner as he thinks...

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!