Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

☆☆☆☆☆ 有兩類電影我是不論置評的。一類是嚴重扭曲道德觀念、鼓吹無謂的色情及暴力、且毫無藝術或娛樂價值的、連「一星垃圾」都不如的超級爛片；另一類是我覺得無論如何評價，給予幾顆星，都是不恰當、不應該、不公道、亦會引起不必要誤會的。 馬田史高西斯新作 〈沉默 (Silence) 〉屬於後者！ 這是一套關於宗教信仰的電影。信仰從來都是非常個人的。或者大家都信佛，字面上對佛理的理解表達可能差不多，但各自對佛所指的最終真實的理解一定有不同。你所理解的涅盤，一定不同於我所理解的涅盤，但用文字表達出來，都是叫「涅盤就是無明的止息」。你我所理解的真實都不是真實，真正的真實是離言絕慮的，說得出來的，可以想像得到的，就不是真實。影片中有一段關於真實的對話，大家可以去慢慢咀嚼。強迫別人跟隨你的信仰是不智、且不慈悲的，為自己帶來煩惱之餘，更會為他人帶來不必要的痛苦，結果是導致大家離真正的真實越來越遠。當然，有時強迫不是因為他真的好心想導你走向真實 ( 雖然往往都是好心做壞事 ) ，而是純粹為了更好地控制你的思想，滿足他的私慾，鞏固他的權利，正如影片中那班所謂的日本佛教徒。 正信帶來建樹，邪信帶來破壞，沒有邪的教，只有邪的人。無論是耶穌還是釋迦牟尼，都是希望引導我們步向最終的真實，但我們往往誤以為他們的聖言就是真實，其實都只不過是通往真實的方便。我們可以聽從他們的遺教去理解去修行，最終見證真實，但千萬不要認為你的理解方法就是唯一的真理。人是擺脫不了二元對立的思考方式的，所以我們對真理的理解永遠只能是片面的，片面的理解不算是真實，只是真實的一部分，這是作為人的侷限與可悲，但只要你記住這點，你就會對他人的信仰自然生起一份理解、包容和慈悲！ 〈沉默 (Silence) 〉有否刻意褒揚某教而貶低某教？我覺得這部戲沒有想宣揚或批判甚麼，純粹只是想探討人的信仰到底是怎麼一回事。信仰帶給一個人的力量和影響可以是非常巨大的，有人甚至可以為了信仰而不惜生命！其實根本無須等待你信仰的「主」去打破沉默、給予甚麼答案，如果你能夠做到信仰超越生命，你已經非常接近最終的真實了！

★★★☆☆ There’re basically two sorts of zombie films. One is all serious to make you think. The other is just ridiculous to make you puke or laugh. ‘The Girl With All The Gifts’ is the former, like ‘ World War Z ’, and ‘ Train To Busan ’, made to upset us by forcing us to think about how much humanity’s worth, how far we would go to just survive and stay hopeful, and who we really think we are while facing devastating crisis or madness. ‘The Girl With All The Gifts’ is a decent zombie drama to check out though it may lack enough thrills that a zombie horror is supposed to deliver to some. It’s done a pretty good job in light of set design that looks so real, and score that’s absolutely spooky! Scares however, are rare. The opening is sure intriguing but the ending may not be so pleasing if you don’t feel like bringing it to an end is another brand new start! The film raises a big question in the end, ‘why should it be us (zombies) who die for you (humans)?’ Well, I guess it’...

★★★☆☆ If you don’t know what lobbying is, according to Ms. Sloane (Jessica Chastain), basically ‘Lobbying is about foresight… The winner plots one step ahead of the opposition… It's about making sure you surprise them. And they don't surprise you.’ Still I don’t quite understand this walk of life and the people in it. That’s my bad. That’s probably the reason why I don’t feel engaged watching the film as well. They act intense and throw around a lot of political arguments but I don’t feel like I have to care. Not that ‘Miss Sloane’ is bad. To be fair, it’s a decent play-smart film that you would love, only if you’re a fan of such films, and Jessica Chastain herself. Like Ms. Sloane says in the beginning about lobbying, yea, she does surprise me in the end with a plot twist, but I just feel like the setup’s too smart and slick to be true! Right, things like that could be possible since it’s a cunning, formidable lobbyist like Ms. Sloane who would do whatever it takes to...

★★☆☆☆ 又是他？沒錯，是不是覺得上面這位仁兄熟口熟面？如果你看過〈突擊死亡塔〉 一 或 二 ，一定認得他。香港有成龍、甄子丹，大陸有李連杰，泰國有 Tony Jaa ，印尼有他，雖然我不知道他叫甚麼名，也懶得去查了，反正覺得很快他就會 fade away ！ 〈 Headshot 〉是他主演的最新印尼動作片，他繼續木口木面，但這次導演不希望他從頭打到尾，刻意為他安排了一段情，當然是非常牽強，毫無感染力。故事講一個惡魔，殺了一班孩子的雙親，然後培養這班孩子成為殺手，而其中一個孩子醒悟想脫離，當然惡魔不會放過他，結果九死一生後他失憶，兼遇到一個不知為何很愛他的女孩子，然後這個女孩子被惡魔抓了，於是他英雄救美，層遞式殺敵，最後當然又是打大佬，劇情是公式化兼荒謬的，我也知道這是動作片，故事我已經懶理，無奈動作設計也沒甚麼超越之處，反倒是拍攝手法有點新鮮，但也就如此而已了！ 這齣電影其實是想講愛與寬恕，但畢竟是打片，而且導演功力有限，始終觸不到深處。看罷，無端端腦海裡想起某仁兄說過的一句真言「 Hell sent us the most evil disease and we humans called it ‘Love’ 」。所以佛不講愛，講慈悲。慈悲是一種無處不在的 Luxury ，我不是在玩文字遊戲，這是事實，特別對現代人來說！

★★★☆☆ If there was no Brad Pitt, I wouldn’t have checked out ‘Allied’. But as a film of Robert Zemeckis’s, who used to direct great works like ‘Forrest Gump’, ‘ Contact ’, ‘ Flight ’, ‘ The Walk ’, the film’s a bit of a letdown to me in fact. The story’s nothing deep or thrilling. In the first half, he teams up with her for a mission. It’s the Assassinations. In the second, he’s told that she’s not who he thinks she is. It’s then the Investigation, which ends up pretty melancholic though. The film’s filled with nostalgia and romance. The costumes and props are well crafted to look real and convincing. The cinematography is much appreciable! If you expect a romantic spy film, ‘Allied’ would sure satisfy. It’s however, not an action kind. It’s just a made-up love story that’s able to move a bit but won’t stay in your mind for long. The film’s a tragedy, yet another reminder that you can’t simply erase who you once were and try to move on before you’ve actually settled with i...

★☆☆☆☆ This is a video game adaptation. I didn’t play the game, and don’t intend to. It wowed when it first came out, but now it sucks. The film… just sucks! I almost dozed out watching it. The script wastes a bunch of good actors there. It mentions the Apple, the key to human’s free will, a lot, but it doesn’t seem to give a damn about it after all. I don’t know what’s going on there basically. Yea, there’re actions after actions but the problem is, they’re not at all watchable due to lousy editing and swift cuts. Guess there’ll be a sequel or something, but I doubt Michael Fassbender would like to star in such films ever again, unless he’s crazy! Apparently he’s not yet, because he said he might probably retire from acting afterwards. Alright, last but not least, the game trailers are far more awesome than the film itself. Go check it out!

★★★★★ Said that time can heal. Well, it’s not necessarily true! There’s wound time can never heal, pain you can never beat, damage you can never fix, past you can never get to live with. There’s always something! If there’s nothing left already, it’s probably not because it’s gone for good. It only means that part of you is dead with it. Thus, neither can you get used to it nor move on to find anything else to fill the hole in your heart. ‘Manchester By The Sea’ is a film about that! It’s not a motivational film to help you recover from whatever’s hurting you. It, on the contrary, makes you feel like you can’t no matter what! Matt Damon was to direct and star in the film in the very first place but it ended up his good friends Kenneth Lonergan to direct and Ben Affleck’s brother Casey Affleck to take the role of Lee Chandler. Casey is absolutely a better choice for his outlook and way of acting convincingly interpret a character that has been seriously traumatized by his bitte...

★★★☆☆ I don’t know why I so disliked ‘ John Wick ’ though I really am a fan of action films and Keanu Reeves! Maybe it was my mood, or the motive that pushes John back to work wasn’t quite understandable to me. It’s not so bad to be fair, when you take it a cult action film that requires you to focus more on the action than the story to enjoy! ‘John Wick Chapter 2’, therefore, doesn’t let me down! In the sequel, stuntman-turned-director Chad Stahelski has done a pretty good job by pushing well-choreographed gun-fu to a whole new level in delicately designed setups, plus intense physical combats with knives and stuff, car-bike chases, and finally John’s pencil trick to kill men which indeed is awfully gruesome! Thanks to Reeves’s charisma, the way he walks and talks, the way he plays with guns, some unpredictable moments he pulls off, the sadness in his eyes as always, his taste in suits, the film’s definitely much more watchable. The scenario has become bigger and complica...

★★★☆☆ Don’t get it wrong. ‘A Monster Calls’ is not a typical monster thriller in which monsters would come out of the dark to give you a heart attack, or some sort of heart-warming Disneyish adventure film fun enough for a family to watch together. It should, I guess, best be seen when you’re alone needing consolation! Kids would find the film too deep and complicated since there’s a lot of metaphors and philosophical talks! Some may feel like it lacks a focus as it seems to be bringing up many issues like childhood, illness, death, grief, moving on and letting go! It’s serious but not so engaging. There’s basically no fun or laughs but there’re moments that could somehow get ahold of you for a while. The one for me is the conversation the boy and his grandma have in the car about his dying mother when they’re waiting for the train to pass before them. It’s a beautiful yet heart-wrenching moment that gets me to realize that we’re in fact all related no matter how solitary we m...

★★☆☆☆ The first film I checked out this year is a relatively old one from last year. BLHW, Ang Lee’s latest, tells how weird Billy Lynn, a solider just back from the War in Iraq, feels to be honored for the worst day of his life when he literally has to kill to survive but still fails to save his comrade’s life. Apart from its technical achievement (shot at 48 fps), the film’s indeed pretty boring! It focuses more on psychoanalysis of the characters than gruesome nature of the battlefield yet I don’t get to feel what they feel anyhow. If you take it a war drama, there’s nothing dramatic or emotional. If you take it a war action, there’s nothing mind-blowing to see. If it’s supposed to make me feel their pain and struggles, I don’t! The film reminds me of ‘ The Hurt Locker ’, another war film that has, I guess, a better insight into a helpless and pathetic situation where a solider has no choice but to go back to the dangerous battlefield again and again since that’s the only p...

Another year’s passed. One step closer to the end of a journey, as well as the beginning of a brand new! Good that I’m still alive and kicking. Bad that I’m still single and alone. Wait, is it really that bad? Every coin has two sides. You win some, you lose some! I don’t fancy relationships now but I don’t deliberately stay away from it either. I guess I’ll just learn to accept and even enjoy whatever life has to offer, good or bad! You probably think I’ve forgotten ‘ The Best & The Worst ’. No, I haven’t. I just had to see ‘ Arrival ’ to finally decide. Well, it’s good but not that good as I expected it to be. I’m more than okay with everything it delivers except for the role of China that apparently is lack of objectivity and understanding of Chinese culture. Usually there’s only one film to be ‘The Best’, but I find it pretty hard to pick either one of these two from last year to be so… The Best: The setup, the camera work, the long takes, the bear attack, the acti...

★★★★☆ In case you mistake it, ‘Arrival’ is not a typical sci-fi action blockbuster involving alien invasions. Yea, there are aliens, but they’re not here to terminate or befriend us. They’re to offer a gift to change the way we think, and therefore how we look at time and the Universe. The film’s in fact a quiet melancholy drama with a sci-fi backdrop that concerns grief over inevitable losses in life; humanity over conflicts due to fears of the unknown; communications and understandings beyond languages; and how it’s like to break free from time and space! Denis Villeneuve’s ingenious directorial skills are still intact. Plus the creepy score and the seamless editing, the film manages to keep intriguing throughout. It constantly plays with our concept of time that things must go linearly from past, present to future. The order won’t and can’t be reversed. Neither can you relive the past nor live the future. The opening of the film works like a trick because it makes you feel ...

★★☆☆☆ ‘The Magnificent Seven’, a remake of 1954’s Japanese ‘Seven Samurai’ by the iconic Akira Kurosawa, is basically a story of revenge with no heartfelt emotions at all! Sam (Danzel Washington) the bounty hunter is begged to avenge a woman’s husband’s death, and her townies’. Sam agrees! His reason for doing it is strong as revealed in the end. But he can’t do it alone because the wicked man he’s gonna take on is really wicked, so he recruits the other six to help. Though it says seven, it only centers on three, Sam himself, Faraday (Chris Pratt) and Goodnight (Ethan Hawke) because y’know they’re kinda big! The rest of four are just like cardboard figures that can be completely ignored. And the reason why they join up and fight is like child’s play! Put aside the straightforward carefree story, the shootouts are nothing exciting. Yet the funniest part is where some of these guys have to contribute heroic sacrifices as the highlight of the show. How unnecessary for a film tha...

★★★★★ Unlike Clint Eastwood busy directing films even at an old age, Mel Gibson takes his time, but he never seems to lose his touch when it comes to being a director. You wouldn’t disagree at all if you’ve seen his award-winning epic works like ‘Braveheart’, ‘ The Passion of the Christ ’. Now 10 years later after ‘Apocalypto’, he took the director’s chair again, and pulled off another true-story-based motivational war film, probably the most ingenious one ever since ‘Saving Private Ryan’! ‘Hacksaw Ridge’ is a true story about Andrew Garfield’s Desmond Doss, an American combat medic who saved a great deal of lives during the battle of Okinawa without firing a single bullet. What happens in the film is heroic and encouraging though how it really happened back there may not be presumably so. No matter what, it’s indeed a miracle single-handedly done by a man who has strong faith that he doesn’t have to kill to save lives even in wartime. For such faith, he’s challenged, question...

★★★☆☆ I like Clint Eastwood as a director more than an actor in fact. At an old age like he is now, he’s still diligent at exploring different kinds of stories and turning them into films that may not be so great to be remembered but absolutely good enough to move and stimulate us at certain moments, like his ‘Million Dollar Baby’, ‘ Gran Torino ’, ‘ Hereafter ’, and now ‘Sully’. ‘Sully’ tells a true story back in January 2009 where Captain Sully was forced to land his plane on New York’s Hudson River as birds broke down both of the engines shortly after the takeoff. It’s an accident happening in a flash that only lasts 208 seconds, but Clint Eastwood manages to make it a film of 90 minutes without a moment of boredom thanks to the terrific editing work, certain details of the hearing, and of course Tom Hanks’ convincing performance, despite the fact that you may not find it so engrossing since you already know how it would end. This is not a film to glorify one single hero li...

Who: Radwimps Where: Japan What: Indie/pop Rock When: 2016 Makoto Shinkai’s animated film ‘ Your Name ’ is why I got to know this indie rock band from Japan. The film itself is just a so-so experience but the soundtrack by Radwimps is unforgettable. Music’s universal. It’s true, no matter if it’s singing Mandarin, Japanese, English or what, as long as it’s able to conjure something however sad or happy up in your mind, you’ll love it, though the lyrics may be suggesting the complete opposite of what you’re feeling. It seems like the more you’re ignorant of the lyrics, the more you’ll be able to enjoy the beauty of the music. ‘Human Bloom’, Radwimps’ latest album, is the best of theirs to me to date. I have no idea what they’re singing at all, but every time I listen to it, it makes me feel a great deal of delight, and also a bit of poignancy that love comes so slow but goes so fast. Maybe that’s the way it is. Or maybe I’m just deluded to think so! Go find ‘Human Bloom’ wherever ...

★★★★☆ 乍看，以為是一部兩女爭一男的狗血青春片。看過，才發覺完全不是那回事。看著看著，以為自己在看〈 夢之花嫁 〉，而最後的幕後人員名單也的確有岩井俊二的名字，難怪畫面風格那麼相似。當然，這部戲的導演不是岩井俊二，而是曾國祥。 Google 了一下，才知道原來已經在港產片〈 老笠 〉中見過他，對於這位香港新演員，印象並不深刻，但這次他執導〈七月與安生〉，雖然有陳可辛在背後發功，但整體卻非常有個人風格，十分討好！ 對於喜愛女性電影的觀眾來說，〈七月與安生〉確實是近期的驚喜之作，是一部要用心，去跟戲中人一同呼吸與感受的電影。人物刻畫有深度，畫面細膩有文藝範，敘事有節奏，剪接有特色，結局更是出乎意料的一波三折，叫人看得驚訝唏噓，當然兩位女演員出色到位的演技也是功不可沒的。影片表面看似講男女情愛，實質是講兩個女生之間的非一般友誼，以及各自的成長與心路歷程，當中有歡笑、有眼淚、有誤解與撕逼，也有包容與犧牲。甚麼才是真正的在乎，甚麼才是真正的愛，或者看罷，大家心裡或多或少都會有一個答案！ 七月與安生或者代表兩種不同的生活方式和態度，人生只是一個不斷選擇的過程，沒有結果。不論你是選擇流浪漂泊、居無定所，還是循規蹈矩、安穩度日，都需要有勇氣去面對和承受選擇背後的代價。選擇可能痛苦，代價可能沉重，但聆聽自己的心聲，追求自己真正想要的生活，這才叫活過，而不僅僅只是生存著。選擇怎麼樣的人生是個人的自由，並沒有所謂的對與錯，因此也不必去羨慕或抨斥誰的人生。如果你總是著眼於他人的風光而生嫉妒，或不解他人的頹廢而有偏見，其實、你對「人生」，還是非常無知！

★★★★☆ The film’s got a right title because it is breathtakingly terrifying throughout, and a bit shocking and nauseous at certain points, like the opening which drops you kind of a hint at how it’s going to end. Still it’s not like you think it is. And that’s more or less of a disappointment to me after all. Other than that, ‘Don’t Breathe’ definitely has what it takes, a simple claustrophobic setup, a nerve-racking score, a seemingly normal but pretty sick man and his vicious dog, a focused story of plot twists, to be, I guess, the scariest film of the year! Three burglars enter a blind old man’s house to steal his fortune, thinking it’s going to be an easy catch since the man’s living there alone, plus he’s old and blind, but it turns out to be the worst of their nightmares ever. The film literally holds your breath right from the moment these guys enter the house till it ends. It’s got a very simple but rather depressing setup, and it wastes no time to get you inside the tr...

Who: Passenger Where: British What: Folk/Rock When: 2014 I’ve been drowning in Passenger’s songs lately. Passenger is not a band. It’s just this one English singer-songwriter who’s got a great voice, and capable of making lyrics that tell stories and allow you to simmer down and feel as a human being! His music’s truly a comfort for those like me living in a city full of annoying noises most of the time. He left school at a very young age, and started off as a nobody but a busker on streets, and now has made his way to stardom, performing in stadiums in front of thousands of people. Still he writes songs true to his heart, and doesn’t care if they make it to the chart. Not everyone has the courage like he did to be determined to leave the comfort zone and stick to his dreams. Maybe we all need to drop the fear for being failed and hurt again so that we can get through the shadows and discover what’s probably more beautiful ahead! ‘Whispers’ is one of Passenger’s albums tha...

★★★☆☆ ‘The Sea Of Trees’ is not so worthless and terrible like those critics suggest in fact, especially if you consider it a fairy tale, rather than some sort of real-life melancholy, that essentially hints at the need of faith in dealing with grief, guilt, remorse, self-condemnation, whatever you call it that gets you hell as you think you’re the reason for losing someone or something you love and adore! Negative reviews are however, right about the score that appears to be odd and weird, totally unfit for the poignant imagery. And the story paces a bit slow with some of the flashbacks that seem rather redundant and pointless. Naomi Watts is attractive as ever but in the film she’s kind of a waste. In general, I’m fine with the film itself, and more than fine with Matthew McConaughey’s convincing performance. Watching him play is, honestly, a sensational experience indeed. Like I said, if you take it as a fairy tale, it’ll make more sense to you, and may even be able to move...