Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★★★★ Director Bennett Miller’s true story-based ‘ Moneyball ’ is one of my favorites in rent years where a baseball team GM loses his last important game but wins in relationships. It’s moving and quite of an inspiration. Here in ‘Foxcatcher’, Bennett introduces another turnoff sport to some, wrestling! But just like what happens in ‘Moneyball’, it’s not really about the sport itself. Rather, it’s about a seemingly calm but mentally troubled wealthy man played by Steve Carell having lived under the shadow of his family traditions, trying to live up to his own character and prove that he’s anyhow capable of what he’s been dreaming of. As you might’ve learned, it ends up a tragedy. Again, sad enough, it’s a true story. ‘Foxcatcher’ truly has its own stylish cool pace of telling a dark chilling story where characters are given tremendous space to show off acting. It doesn’t rush at all. It takes its own time, but instead of feeling bored, you'll feel involved and terrified f...

★☆☆☆☆ 層層的謎團、精采的劇情、立體的人物、激昂的配樂、熱血的動作、更深一層探討生存的意義，生命的價值，〈進擊的巨人〉動畫絕對是近年的動畫經典，沒有之一！但，動畫成功並不代表真人版電影就能順理成章，相反，是一塌糊塗，亂七八糟！ 其實電影的劇情大可跟從動畫，稍作濃縮即可，但不知點解，硬要大改，還加入額外角色，搞到關係亂了套，教人看得不是味兒。或者你會說，最好不要與動畫比較，但電影的開章格局又好像假設你已經是動畫粉絲，事情的發生說來就來，不作任何鋪排解釋，真的不知他想點；就算堅持改動劇情，那也要改得好才得，但這個〈前篇〉人物個個好像佈景版，沒兵長這個重要角色已經令人激氣，新加入那位甚麼隊長，全程 chok 著，臉掛淫笑，毫無魅力性格，你想點啊；劇情薄弱，節奏失控，去到中段更令人產生錯覺，以為在看甚麼日本情色片，你又想點啊；而最重要的特技斬殺場面，真的真的好假。人在空中飛，跟〈蜘蛛俠〉比，真的好假。那些巨人，跟十幾年前〈侏儸紀公園〉裡的恐龍比，又真的超假。話說〈進〉都算是大製作，點解不做好點，認真點，唉！真的不知他想點 …… 或者日本仔真的動畫一流，一把動畫拍成真人電影就變九流了！而這套〈進〉更可堪稱是九流之中的九流！未看的粉絲可免，以免看到中途噴血暴斃。看了而又未被激死的，〈下篇〉可免，除非你是自虐狂！否則還是期待明年開播的動畫版第二季吧！

★☆☆☆☆ The thing is, there really shouldn’t have been any more Terminator films after T1 and T2 , which are like James Cameron’s babies that can’t possibly be reborn, reboot, or remade successful again! T3 and T4 are redundant and preposterous! So is ‘Terminator Genisys’, aka T5. It tries to refresh the characters by changing what already happens in T1 and T2, but in vain. They’re all cast wrong and paper-thin. It mixes up more than one timelines to allow things to go any way it wants without contradictions, but what makes sense or not is none of my concern anymore, coz the whole film’s truly an embarrassing joke rather than a serious plus a bit melancholy piece of sci-fi action cinema, like the classic T2. T5 jumps back and forth in time to want to change what already happens, just like our undisciplined mind constantly does indeed. Is the past totally irrelevant? No, it is not, but the so called past is nothing but made-up memories of our emotions. To a disciplined, focused m...

★★☆☆☆ 人之所以有痛苦，是因為無可避免要活在虛妄的相對當中。我們說話、思考等等都需要一個參照物，也就是相對的概念，例如當你說某人痴線，其實你是在暗示某人正常，而當你說某人正常，其實你是在暗示某人痴線，那到底這位某人是痴線或正常，是沒有人知道的，包括他自己。由於真相無法判斷，所以我們通常跟大隊，多數人認為正常或正確的事情，就是正常或正確的，反之亦然。由於我們的價值觀只是一種相對的虛妄，所以它是常變的。昨天認為對的，今天就可能是錯的；今天認為錯的，明天就可能是對的。如果當全世界的人都覺得因果輪迴是假的，唯我堅持是真的，那到底我是痴線還是正常呢？會不會有離言絕慮的真理呢？如果你還在問類似的問題，你就還是活在虛妄的相對當中，簡單說，你依然是痴線的！ 〈暴瘋語〉故事本身平鋪直敘，就算最後的所謂「扭橋」，其實中段過後，明眼的大概也能猜得一二，因此也沒甚麼驚喜。劉青雲無可發揮，黃曉明不會演戲，最印象深刻的還是出場不多的鮑姐！〈暴瘋語〉說精神分裂，探討正常和痴線的問題，正如我所說，探討這類問題最終都是沒結果的。一個人是否正常 ( 或所謂的有精神病 ) ，完全視乎你站在甚麼立場角度去看。當一個人做或說一些跟大眾預期不符的行為或言語，我們就說他是不正常的，但不要忘記，這種正常與否都是相對的，在他的眼中，我們同樣是不正常的。別人的不正常可能就是我們的正常，我們的正常可能就是別人的不正常，無論如何，在佛的眼中，我們都是瘋癲的，當然我們也會以同樣的眼光去看佛──佛正常嗎？我們又在重複虛妄的問題了！

★★★☆☆ ‘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...

★☆☆☆☆ In case you don’t know, ‘Chapter 2’ corrects what we think happens in ‘ Chapter 1 ’, but it’s nothing fresh! ‘Chapter 3’ is not a sequel to ‘Chapter 2’, but a prequel, preposterous and completely unnecessary. Most of the acts are senseless. The dialogues are tasteless except for one line about love, saying it’s delayed pain, coz we’re gonna lose it sooner or later. We all know it, don’t we? But still it jars our ears! In short, I’m done with ‘Insidious’ series that should be put to rest in peace honestly!

★☆☆☆☆ Said that ‘John Wick’ is a stylish piece of action entertainment. But no, it’s not at all if compared with ‘ The Equalizer ’. The action scenes are kind of funny as they look rather clumsy and childish indeed. The story’s bullshit unless you believe in a The-Man-And-His-Dog fairy tale. Keanu Reeves is still handsome and cool, but his first return to action cinema in years as John Wick is totally a letdown! Well, ‘John Wick’ is not really about a man and his dog. Rather, as you might have figured, it’s about the power of love, or say, the power of grief and desperation after love’s lost. Love, without doubt, is a very powerful force that drives us forward, to whether heaven or hell!

★★☆☆☆ To be fair, ‘Jurassic World’ is not so bad, especially for those too young to have been amazed by ‘Jurassic Park’ and stuff. So let me make myself clear here. It’s just me, not the film. The film itself has certain qualities that are able to bring thrills and constant entertainment to kids who have never seen anything like it before. But to me, there’s just so much of cliché, like how the dinosaurs turn up and end up, how they cross paths with the main characters, and how the main characters are always going to be just fine no matter what! Maybe I’m too mature for simple stuff like that, or maybe I’m too screwed up to be able to appreciate it. Anyways, like I said, it’s just me! We always tend to make things as complicated as they can seem, because we just don’t like it simple. In order to make ourselves feel good, we turn a ‘park’ into a ‘world’. We make not just ordinary dinosaurs, but a smarter, stronger, crueler genetic hybrid. We’re messed up as a result. But we nev...

★★★★★ Well it’s been a while since I was last amazed by a film that is ‘ Predestination ’ as I remember. Nowadays that sort of film is rare since people would like to reboot, remake, rewrite some old stuff instead of recreating something even out of something. I’ve always been fascinated by films that have plot twists, a mind-blowing ending, or say, an unusual way of telling a story, even supposedly a boring one. ‘Triangle’ is a film like that. It keeps playing with your mind throughout. When you feel like you’ve figured what’s going on, it tricks again. When you think it’s going to end like you think it would, it turns again. Trust me, if you haven’t yet checked out the film, the way the story’s told will amaze and shock you, and the ending will sure make you wow since it perfectly explains what seems to have nonsensically happen to your mind’s eye. It demonstrates a tedious, vicious, inescapable and horrible circle of killing and being killed to wish to live, as a result of ...

★★★★☆ 時間快得有點殘酷！十年前，在戲院看〈殺破狼〉，一部為打而打的電影，個人對這類電影真的沒甚麼好感，即使其動作場面算是新鮮。十年後，又入戲院看〈殺破狼 2 〉，因為聽人說，這次動作電影終於肯認真說故事了，加上也好奇想知道如何把說不同語言的人物串聯而不顯荒謬，所以......結果是沒令人失望的。 〈殺破狼 2 〉終於克服了一般動作電影的咎病，就是有理無理，由頭打到尾。這次終於做到動作配合故事，而不是反過來。片中動作場面其實不多，只有幾場，但拍得乾脆俐落，甚是精采。可能事前我對其動作設計沒有期望，因此也沒有失望，而其中一場節棍對短刀的對打，更令我印象深刻。〈殺破狼 2 〉是很有風格的電影，無論是配樂，平行剪接及長鏡頭的運用，都充分顯示導演的自信，還好出來的效果不至於令人覺得賣弄，我想最大的原因是它真的有話想說，而當中的人物又真的有血有肉！ 故事說複雜不複雜，說不複雜也挺複雜，因為涉及到命運交織、因果報應的問題，至於如何交織，大家自己去看吧。說因果複雜，因為你是不是覺得「善未必有善報，惡也未必有惡報」？因果未必遵循人的道德意願去呈現？這是因為我們都是善忘的。有造業必有果報，但我們對於前世的造作早已不記得，不要說前世，一個小時之前的起心動念，試問你還記得嗎？而種種念頭都是造業的一部分，都有業力，都會對你及他人造成影響。每一念既是因，亦是果，他人的念頭會影響你，你的念頭也會影響他人，念頭交織，從而呈現出我們所見到的世界，因果其實複雜得令人難以想像，所以你只須記住它簡單的一面：因果是絕對公道的！如是因如是果，蘋果樹只會長出蘋果，不會長出香蕉，這跟你相信與否是沒有關係的！ 十年了，假如當初我有買「港交所」......哈哈......阿彌陀佛！

★★★★☆ 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！

★☆☆☆☆ This is a film about a thing (a ghost, an alien, whatever) following you and trying to kill you after you have sex with someone that this thing used to follow and try to kill. If it kills you, it goes back to follow the one you had sex with, and so forth. Of course you can pass it on by having sex with someone new. An interesting set-up, but a lousy play-out. The music tries to turn you on but nothing really happens. None of the scenes is scary or thrilling, and it almost dozes me off. The thing is veiled in mystery throughout. No talk about how it starts, and so don’t expect a proper ending. Though it’s related with sex, it’s not at all erotic or sexy. It looks like a horror film, but there’s no fright! No guess, the only thing that always follows is our karma. We’re the result of our karma. Karma pushed us here, and it’s gonna push us on and on. It’s like an intangible ghost trying to trap and torture us as long as it gets a chance. We’ll sure continue to suffer because...

★☆☆☆☆ Ever since ‘ District 9 ’, Neill Blomkamp’s films have been kind of my favorites including ‘ Elysium ’, a well-balanced action sci-fi, but his latest ‘Chappie’ is simply a failure. If you look for action sequences, there’s surprisingly rare, and it’s very embarrassing. If you look for something deep like consciousness or morality stuff, you’ll be let down as well, coz it’s actually pretty shallow. Everything comes so cheap and easy without struggles at all that it looks ridiculously awkward and preposterous. ‘Chappie’ is a film that tells jokes like bad (good) guys aren’t necessarily bad (good). They can turn good (bad) this second, and then bad (good) again the next; like it’s okay to use violence to teach violent people that using violence is wrong. Sure there’s a lot more for you to find out. Still if you’re bored enough to want to get teased, this is a film for you!

★★★★★ 我是在戲院看這部戲的，時光飛逝，已經是 11 年前的事了！當時我看到差點窒息，聽說有人真的窒息死了。其實我很欣賞 Mel Gibson 拍的電影，他擅長運用慢鏡頭，營造富有藝術感的畫面，把普通的故事拍得煽情感人。〈受難曲〉無論在攝影、畫面質感、真實程度、藝術性、配樂、演技等各方面，都是一流的。而為了貼近史實，全片採用拉丁語、希伯來語及亞拉姆語，再配英文字幕上映，更是史無前例的做法。 影片宗教色彩強烈，也有說教成分，但最為人津津樂道的，還是當中的暴力鏡頭。沒錯，〈受難曲〉是暴力的，而且是極度暴力（不過比起現在一些激進恐怖份子的暴行，也只是小巫見大巫了）。但「極度」不是為了搞噱頭，引起話題，增加票房，而只不過是如實反映當時耶穌殉道所經歷的痛楚，以刺激我們的神經，讓本來已經麻木的我們重新活過來。一幕幕皮開肉綻、血淋林的場面，看得人人心寒，甚至眼淚都不自覺地飆了出來！說真的，那不是一般人所能承受的。如果是一般人，鞭打可能已經嗚呼，不用說甚麼之後釘十字架了。我承認耶穌是聖人或大菩薩，他來是為了宣揚大愛的精神，教人如何活出有意義的人生。有一點可以肯定，聖人來到這個世間，絕對不是為了創宗立派，或滿足自己的欲望。創宗立派是凡夫分別執著之為，聖人不可能有分別念，有分別念就不是聖人，自然不可能由心而發說「除了愛你的朋友，更要愛你的敵人」之類的話。耶穌不會想要成立甚麼基督教，正如佛陀也沒有說要成立甚麼佛教。後來的甚麼宗教，以致宗教所衍生的許多戰爭，都是我等凡夫分別執著下的所作所為，然後我們把聖人擺上檯，將我們的種種罪行說成是神的旨意、替天行道！宗教本身是可敬的，但利用宗教的人是可惡的！ 好比佛陀決定在這個濁世說法，是一件「明知不可為而為之」的事情，耶穌來到宣揚「真理」，也可以說是「大膽」的做法，這個世界的眾生怎麼有可能接受他的教導，也難怪他會被排斥、出賣、毒打。電影中羅馬總督問耶穌甚麼是真理，當然電影沒有直接交代耶穌怎麼回答，因為真理是不可說，不可議，離言絕慮的！能說出來的，想得到的就一定不是真理。從真實義的層面說，所有聖人（耶穌、佛陀等等）留下的（聖）言說都不是真理，也就是說都是「廢話」，但他們不說廢話，我們又不明白甚麼是真理。可悲的是，我們往往都把廢話當作真理，好比我們發明杯子目的是為了裝水喝，但杯子造出來後，我們卻只是在欣賞杯子或拼命造更多漂亮...

★☆☆☆☆ 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...

★★★☆☆ The opening of the film seems like a big joke, probably because of not a heads-up about what’s going on given. The whole picture’s not revealing till the film goes half way down the path of wanting to change the future. This is a film about some guys jumping from one dimension into another using a magic pin, in an attempt to change what’s gonna be by changing what people believe is gonna be! Sounds complicated huh? You bet. Though ‘Tomorrowland’ is distributed by Walt Disney, it’s not for kids. They’ll find it rather intricate, and thus boring. Neither is it for adults like me that really don’t believe there’ll be a better world ahead of us, judging by what we’ve done and what we’re doing. But to be fair, the adventure itself is sort of fun even if the way it presents may cause confusion to some! A gourmet believes we’re what we eat. A fashion designer must tell you we’re what we wear. ‘Tomorrowland’ says we’re what we think, and things are what we think they are. So if ...

★★★★☆ 個人很欣賞這部台灣電影。可能你覺得故事乏味，我覺得貼近真實生活；可能你覺得對白粗糙，我覺得童言無忌，現實的人說話就是如此；可能你覺得那片青蔥的山水，那種溫暖的鄰里關係，那種和大自然打成一片的悠閒暑假有點過於美化，我覺得是我們城市人呆在「屎坑」裡太久，被染污了，看不清什麼是真，什麼是虛！〈暑假作業〉勾起我很多童年回憶，當中我看到很多兒時生活的影子，有感觸，也有會心微笑。很遺憾，你跟我，我跟他，他跟她，我們大家永遠都無法真的分享大家的感受，因為我們都各自生活在自己的經驗世界裡，受制於我們自身的業力，所謂各自因果各自受，我們注定是孤獨的！ 一個小孩因為父母離異及工作的關係，暑假被送到鄉下的爺爺那裡，他沒想到原本無奈的選擇，最後卻變成一段難忘的經歷。難忘，是因為他發現除了平板電腦，還有其他更值得花時間去探索的東西；難忘，是因為他遇到了一些在城市裡遇不到的「有趣」的人，他們心地淳樸，不擅計較；難忘，是因為暑假雖短暫，卻讓他切身體會到無常是無處不在，生命是脆弱無比。一切來得平平淡淡、點到即止、毫不煽情，卻是那麼刻骨銘心！ 人是獨來獨往，獨生獨死的。戲裡的那位爺爺說，人要習慣孤獨，因為沒有人會陪我們一輩子。他只說對了一半，因為就算你有幸找到有緣人（表面上）跟你走一輩子，面對死亡的時候，你依然是孤家寡人。無論你有多少知心，知你心的永遠只能是你自己，不過有時連你自己都不知自己的心如何，遑論你那些所謂的知心！無論你擁有什麼，有多少好友或家親眷屬，臨終時，你只是一枚無力自主的風箏，隨著業力吹起的風，繼續在恐怖的六道中，孤獨可憐地飄蕩！

★★★★☆ Before entering the cinema for ‘Mad Max: Fury Road’, I’d watched none of Director George Miller’s films except ‘Babe’ series probably, and thought his ‘Mad Max’ series were nothing more than the money-making, exaggerated, hollow ‘Fast & Furious’ shows. But I was wrong. ‘MMFR’ is simply fascinating and satisfying in action film genre. The action sequences are down-to-earth, energetic, jaw-dropping, and creative. Sure there’s a slight touch of CGI, but all you see are basically real vehicles speeding, chasing, spinning, crashing and blowing up with crazy warboys charging, attacking and flying all over. It’s a mess, but there’s beauty and rhythm in it, thanks to the ingenious score and editing! The characters are by no means paper thin, especially the heroine Furiosa played by Charlize Theron that’s really a big surprise to me, as I thought it was all about Max, and certainly of silly masculinity. If you feel like ‘ Furious 7 ’ is great, you haven’t checked out ‘Mad Max...

★★★☆☆ If Steven Spielberg’s ‘A.I.’ is to move and entertain, ‘Ex Machina’ is to warn and provoke with ideas rather than effects. A.I. stands for artificial intelligence that, instead of being preprogrammed and receiving constant updates like a robot, has the ability to learn and evolve itself to be like a man. What if a machine can do what we do, feel what we feel and think what we think? What would you call it, a man or a machine? And how could you tell? You may argue, even if a machine can do sex like we do, it can't bear babies, can it? But what if it can reproduce itself without having to undergo courtship and pregnancy, as you know love, sex, marriage and stuff are kind of troublesome and hurtful indeed? Some scientists and futurists are worried about us being replaced and ultimately destroyed by A.I. I guess it’s not a bad idea though, if that’s what we deserve. Why must the future necessarily include us human beings anyway? Like I said, ‘Ex Machina’ is about ideas t...

★★☆☆☆ I’m not allergic to any ‘Fast’ or ‘Furious’, but not a fan of it either. I unintentionally jumped right into ‘ Fast 5 ’ and ‘ 6 ’ that turned out just okay. I don’t like or dislike them. In ‘Furious 7’, the story is as plain and decorative. The actions now are much more daring and exaggerated than ever before. That’s why they appear to be so preposterous to me. The only thing not bad about it is the cameos like Jason Statham, Kurt Russell, and even Tony Jaa, but y’know they don’t have much show time. I thought ‘Fast 6’ would be my goodbye to the series, but since Paul Walker’s sudden death, I’d felt like I should pay him a tribute anyway by checking it out one last time! To be honest, I don’t feel for most part of the film, but I do feel for the ending and the song that goes with it, where two cars travel side by side but then go in separate ways. The thing is, we never learn to treasure anything till we lose it. We never take Paul Walker or his role seriously till he’s ...