Almost Buddhist - 戲‧論

★★☆☆☆ 最欣賞的新海誠作品，始終是他的處女作〈 星之聲 〉，和算是他最後一部短篇〈 言葉之庭 〉，特別是後者，個人認為是他迄今最好的作品，雖然全片只有短短的 45 分鐘。之後他創作的長篇〈 你的名字 〉和最新這部〈天氣之子〉，感覺篇幅越長，節奏就越拖，故事也略嫌薄弱乏味，只是靠細膩華麗的畫面支撐，其實看多了也不過如此。有人說新海誠是「新宮崎駿」，但論作品的想像力、題材的多樣和深度，我覺得新海誠還未能和大師宮崎駿相提並論。 和〈你的名字〉一樣，〈天氣之子〉的主題依然是死去活來的愛情！背景是雨下個不停的東京，一個女孩因緣際合之下變成能夠改變天氣的天氣之子，能讓日光短暫出現。但改變天氣是有代價的，女孩會慢慢變透明，最終要犧牲自己，才能換取真正的天晴！男孩不想失去女孩，硬把她從天庭拉回來，結果雨下得變本加厲，整個日本幾乎被淹沒，完！故事非常簡單，但卻拖個一個半小時多，其實縮成〈言葉之庭〉那樣的短篇，也不是不可，可能效果會更好也不一定。中間交代男女主角的背景和相識過程，感覺零碎牽強，印象並不深刻，導致最後應該有的高潮，變得平平淡淡，沒什麼感染力！這次依然請來樂隊 Radwimps 負責音樂部份，幸好歌曲方面沒有令人失望。 討論男孩是否太過自私，我覺得毫無意義，因為人根本就是自私的動物，站在佛的角度，人之所為不停輪迴，都是因為無明，無明通俗地講就是自私－－有我和我所的執著，所以由人產生的愛，必然也是自私的！口說的「愛你」，其實是「愛他自己」，執著愛和被愛的感覺，以及愛的對象！既然人不可能做到完全無私，那起碼在愛的時候，最好保持一定的理性，給對方一定的自由，別讓自己的自私無限擴大，最終吞噬自己和對方。如果有個人對你說，他可以為你犧牲任何東西包括他的性命，你不應該感到浪漫，你應該感到害怕才是！ 戲中的男孩最終「綁架」了女孩，妄顧了他人的感受和利益，電影卻為他的行為浪漫化地打圓場，為了浪漫而浪漫，其實一點都不浪漫！感覺好比獨裁政權，綁架人民的利益，美其名說是為了國家和全人類，其實……大家都知是怎麼一回事吧。

貴妃 她不希望她的未來的過去 只有海風 稻田 和一片她不以為然的天 朝朝暮暮 年復一年 她清楚她的夢想在哪裡 只是一張車票的距離 她排除萬難 獨自一人 栽進陌生的皇宮 究竟人要堅持生活多少年 才恍然那只不過是 另一座熟悉的迷宮 海闊天空的鳥籠 似懂非懂的貴妃 不在乎那些似是而非 她只想好好地活 可怎麽活才算好好地 當她思考著菩提 煩惱也越來越立體 這座宮殿早已中了毒 賺錢只是為了兌現痛苦 小栗子是份意外 不是她原本的期待 淚水淹沒回家的路 她想離開卻無法離開 也許某天 貴妃將懺悔 她的過去的未來 沒有海風 稻田 和一片一目了然的天 遲遲暮暮  度日如 年

★★☆☆☆ If you feel like 'Extraction' is your cup of tea, you probably prefer brawn to brains when it comes to films. Nothing wrong about that in fact, at a crazy, stupid time like today, I guess we'd rather choose to go blank for a while caching a witless, exaggerated action piece than be reminded of our miseries by some serious, emotional melancholies. 'Extraction' is nothing of a let-down as an action film that is straight-forward, fast-paced but not messy, and strikingly well choreographed. It's an eyeball catching, showy fusion of past well done actions, easily entertaining and exciting for time killing on a Friday night. The only problem however, that I have with it is, I don't fall for guys like Chris Hemsworth! The story reminds you of ' Taken ', which is, well, not worth a talk, and not at all important to pure action entertainment like that as all you tend to focus is the moves. Speaking of which, you'd inevitably compare it to ...

★★★☆☆ 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！

★★★☆☆ When I look at the title, I somehow expect it to be like ' Manchester By The Sea ', but no, it's not as heavy and sad overall. Rather, it's a bit hilarious at times though it inevitably delivers tears and bickering as a result of complaints and grumbles over marriage, family issues, individual needs and wants. In fact, this is a divorce story rather than a marriage story. The couple are getting divorced, having lawyers to represent them, fighting over things like the custody of their only son, the share of their fortune and properties, whose sacrifices are more or less, and stuff . But like I said, the mood's not as heavy because they seldom have chance to come face to face alone after the wife (Scarlett Johansson) decides to file for a divorce, for most of the time, it's their lawyers who do the talking! And when they finally do however, the one and only in the entire film, that scene really is something! The film reminds me of one of the famous...

★★★☆☆ Clint Eastwood's films have never been a disappointment, yet you never feel so excited about them. Most of them are not bad, like ' The Mule ', ' American Sniper ', ' Sully ', ' Hereafter '. Some are actually more than good, like ' Gran Torino ', 'Million Dollar Baby'. It seems that he's always intended to tell the story the way he wanted, not the way you want or expect. Some could be let down in such a sense, but it's never happened to me since I had no expectations for his films. Turns out it's the best way to appreciate them, or anything else indeed. 'Richard Jewell', too, belongs to the 'not bad' category among Clint Eastwood's films. And again, it's based on a true event where a security guy is seen from a hero who discovers the bomb and saves a lot more from being killed, to a bomber hero who actually plants the bomb himself to make up a good story to want to deceive and gain f...

★★★☆☆ As the title suggests, the event takes place in year 1917 during the period of the First World War, where two British soldiers are ordered to deliver a call-off-attack message to their front line forces to stop them from walking into a trap set by the German Army. The film's shot in seemingly one single long take, but I doubt it. There got to be some editing going on to make it up, but whether or not doesn't really matter. What's well done about it is, the one-long-take gimmick doesn't seem to distract viewers' attention to what's going on with the plotline and characters, even though the story's not strong enough to stand and move, and the characters are just paper thin! Compared with those one-take full length features that generally appear to be rather showy and nauseous, '1917' is relatively low profile with its camera work. Meaning it would not distract you from seeing what's going on there, but the problem is, what's goi...

★★★☆☆ 'T1' is a bomb. ' T2 ' is a nuclear bomb. And the rest are just like bullshit, except this one, which is considered the best thing to the franchise since 'T2', and yes, it is, in a way! Years later, 'Terminator: Dark Fate' finally gets Linda Hamilton as Sarah Connor, the real soul of the series, and James Cameron as the producer, and of course Arnie all back together to make this 'genuine sequel' happen. If you're a fan of action films or 'Terminators', 'Dark Fate' shouldn't be a miss. In fact, it's even a bit better than 'T1', I guess. Some said 'T2' basically destroys the series because it's damn too good to be surpassed for its successors. This is so true that you'd better put 'T2' aside if you wish to enjoy 'Dark Fate'! The formula stays much the same: machines sent from the future, one to protect, one to terminate the mother of the savior of mankind. That is...

★★★★☆ 'Knives Out' is an intriguing, entertaining film with a very good intention, which is to remind that as long as you follow your good heart and do what it tells you to, everything will turn out just fine even if it looks bleak! It may or may not be so true but a film like that is certainly comforting and encouraging in a time like this where good people usually don't seem to get what they deserve! The film's as ingenious as how Detective Benoit Blanc played by Daniel Craig interprets the case, 'a donut hole in the donut's hole, but look a little closer, it's not a donut hole at all but a smaller donut with its own hole and the donut is not whole at all.' I'm not smart enough to get what he's saying though, but the thing is, it gets you so focused on what the right hand is doing that you miss the left. And when you think you have it all figured out, something just doesn't add up. You feel very involved watching it play out and i...

2019 年，對香港來說，是悲哀的一年，面對不公的社會、荒謬的人性、麻木不仁的政權，大多數人除了吶喊、吶喊、再吶喊之外，都暫時不能實質去做些甚麼可以推翻它，而部份人更選擇在沉默之中死去，只有小部份人在沉默之中爆發，卻因此付出沉重的代價！但 2019 年，亦是令人欣慰的一年，部份 ( 年輕 ) 人用血和生命，喚醒了昏睡、長期被迷惑、政治冷感的大多數。原來口口聲聲「為人民服務的」政權，人民對他們來說，從來都不是目的，只是工具！原來香港這班後生，不單單只懂得「行街、看戲、吃飯、溝女、打機」，有人評價說他們是全世界華人社會中最優秀的一群，我想如果你不是一個「只問立場，不問是非」、良知已泯的人，都會明白贊同這種說法。 「這是最好的年代，這是最壞的年代；我們一起上天堂，我們一起下地獄」，從來都沒有客觀的事，只有主觀的心。我們不能選擇怎樣的年代和命運，但我們可以選擇如何去面對它。是堅持還是放棄？是樂觀還是悲觀？是詛咒還是祝福？是報仇還是慈悲？其實我們都有得選擇，天堂和地獄不是死後的某個時空，而是在我們的念念之間。從佛的角度看，所有的是非黑白對錯都是相對的概念，相對的東西就不會有定性和實質的意義，完全視乎主觀的心如何去解讀，所以對立的雙方永遠都無法說服對方，只有矛盾和仇恨不斷累積，引發暴力螺旋！但人是虛妄相對的產物，又豈能沒立場？所謂的中立，其實都是一種立場！在一定要選的情況下，我當然站在正義這邊！「物有本末，事有終始」，是誰一開始就用心不正，挑起矛盾，帶來災難，事到如今，我想大家都心知肚明。 身在運動的旋渦裡，過去一年，根本也沒什麼心情去做任何事，只不過有時負面的事情見多了，荒謬的說話聽多了，心情難免悲憤抑鬱，需要電影來暫時慰籍一下。有幾次和友人想去戲院觀影，但我們都怕吃催淚放題，和被正牌恐怖份子歐打，所以夜晚大家都 ( 主動或被迫 ) 呆在家裡，奉行積極不消費和選擇性 ( 疏藍親黃 ) 消費，唉！大家鬥長命吧！ The Best 選〈 Joker 〉為年度最佳，或多或少受這場時代革命影響。當然電影本身是非常出色的，無論是節奏氣氛，配樂影像，故事演技，都是震撼的。 Joaquin Phoenix 的演出實在可以頒幾個獎給他。他的小丑和 Health Ledger 的小丑，是兩種不同風格，各有千秋。要扮正常，做任人玩弄的笑話，還是進入瘋狂，做主宰時代...

★★★★☆ 〈少年的你〉講校園欺凌，但其實是校園欺凌題材包裝下的愛情片，格局好似日本片〈 嫌疑犯 X 的獻身 〉，表面講的是偵案，內裡依然是愛情！這類主題雖然有點老舊，但橋段不怕舊，最重要有人受，況且「愛」一直都是人類史不可或缺的一環，沒有愛，不會有人的存在，而人的存在，某程度上是為了履行愛的責任。愛，包括愛自己和他人，其實自他根本是不可割，一個不愛自己的人，他亦不會尊重他人的生命，一個能夠為別人犧牲付出的人，他必然亦明白自己存在的價值。〈少〉裡面的小北不是傻的，他知道自己在做甚麼，為甚麼而做，因此他義無反顧！ 〈少〉不是甚麼真人真事改編，而是基於網絡小說〈少年的你，如此美麗〉。之所以美麗，是因為少年的人，做了成年的人通常不敢亦不會做的事－－為理想、為別人而犧牲個人的前途乃至生命。所以歷史上很多革命運動都是由年少學生發起帶領，包括眼前正在香港發生的這場光復運動。香港這班年輕衝衝子，為了公義和自由，亦為了一些可能他們根本都不認識的落難手足，可以奮不顧身，連命都不要地跟極權機器對抗周旋，廢佬如我，看著滿懷理想的年少們，不禁感動落淚，亦百般無奈！是不是人越長大就越自私、越計較、越冷漠、越懂得向現實低頭呢？或著你會認為戲中的小北，跟香港這班年輕抗爭者一樣，是無私偉大到接近虛構，只屬於電影或小說，正如戲中的女警官質疑：不會有人為另一個人扛起殺人和強姦罪。男警官說：我和你不會，但他們還是少年！換個角度想，或者不是年少的無私偉大，而是我們年長的，經過歲月的洗刷，社會的教化，早已失去做為一個人所應該具備的一些基本資格。你我都曾經年輕過，但可悲的是，現在有些人卻認為年輕就是罪！ 看過導演曾國祥的處女作〈 七月與安生 〉，對他的導技是有一定信心，事實上，〈少〉也沒有讓人失望，特別是配樂、剪接、攝影都是超水準。男女主角的演出也是拿捏準確，令人欣賞。一個本來平平無奇的故事，經過導演精心鋪排和高明的剪接，變得緊張懸疑，引人入勝，發人深省！難怪有人說原著小說和電影是兩個不同層次。有別於其他導演成名之後就想嘗試不同題材，結果很大可能就是搞到不論不類。曾導演算是一個聰明人，靠〈七月與安生〉成名之後，並沒有好高鶩遠、眼高手低，依舊選擇自己熟悉擅長的題材，講青春的困惑，成長的掙扎！手法之成熟令人驚喜，未來的作品實可期待，雖然個人對他父親並無好感！ 說起校園欺凌，我曾...

★★☆☆☆ 'Ad Astra' in Latin means 'to the stars', but Brad Pitt's Roy is not going to be able yet to travel to any star. He's just setting out for Neptune, one of the planets in our solar system, to find his missing father who is considered the cause of probably the end of mankind. The film feels like part ' Gravity ', part '2001: A Space Odyssey', part ' Interstellar '. It's artistic but not gripping. It's thought-provoking in a sense but not thrilling at all. It starts off attractively but it zonks me out just half way through! Brad's cool and hot and invincible as usual, like a super human being getting super difficult missions super easy done! Gotta say, I checked it out because of him. I wonder, without him, would it draw any attention anyways? Alright, I know 'Ad Astra' is not about how men do stuff. It's more about what and why they do it. Why are we still busy looking up at the stars while we can...

★★★★★ This is a story of how a clown, pleasing others by pretending who he is not, becomes the Joker, pleasing himself instead by not pretending who he really is. Joker is one of the fictional villains against the Batman from DC comics, living in a fictional, cold, dark city, Gotham. 'Joker' nonetheless, doesn't feel fictional or of much exaggeration at all compared with those superhero films. It's in fact got a feel more down-to-earth than ' The Dark Knight ' as considered a comic book adaptation. If you like serious dramas such as ' Taxi Driver ', you'll probably like 'Joker' too. Both of them have a huge psychological impact on viewers like me. They thrill me, and also upset me so, making me realize how a sickening, loveless, unjust society would inevitably bring about chaos and maniacs! Like expected, 'Joker' is Joaquin Phoenix's solo act, who has certainly put up one of his best performances here that deserves an Ac...

★☆☆☆☆ You got to be a Hollywood film junkie, I guess, to be able to appreciate Quentin's latest 'Once Upon A Time In Hollywood'. It's like you got to be a kung-fu junkie to be able to appreciate 'Once Upon A Time In China' as well. I'm not though. So to me it's the most disappointing work by Quentin so far. ' Kill Bill ' series and ' Reservoir Dogs ' are fun and watchable. ' Django Unchained ' and ' Inglorious Bastards ' are superb. ' The Hateful Eight ' is after all not my cup of tea. Quentin once said in an interview that he'd literally retire from filmmaking when he's done making the tenth full-length feature to his career, as 'OUATIH' being his ninth! There'd only be one more left if he really meant it. Sad and bad news for die-hard fans of Quentin, but again, I'm not! I won't be missing him so! It could be me but the film's dragged out and tedious. The story seems to h...

★★★☆☆ This is a story about Chinese rather than a Chinese story, despite directed by Chinese featuring an all-Chinese cast, the main characters, American Chinese immigrants, speaking fluent English and understandably clumsy Chinese, and the rest, speaking native Chinese throughout. Critics said it's one of the best films of the year, but I feel like it's not much better than ' Crazy Rich Asians ' where a bunch of Bananas are introduced to entertain but I don't find it entertaining at all. In case you're curious, here's the story in a nutshell. Nai Nai (grandmother) is dying of lung cancer in China. The family living in Japan and America are going to go back to China to throw a wedding party as an excuse for them to come together to pay Nai Nai one last visit, the so called Farewell instead, since they decide not to tell her the truth with the intention of protecting her from unnecessary grievances, worries or agonies over death itself. 'The Far...

犍陀羅國是古印度其中一個王國，位於現今的阿富汗和巴基斯坦之間。為何要提這個古國？因為佛像就是源自於犍陀羅時期。在此之前，佛教是沒有所謂的佛像的，蓮花就代表佛陀，普提樹象徵成佛，法輪代表佛教的法理，足印代表修行之道。佛像的出現，是一種方便，一種權宜或變通，目的是引導我們趨向真實，但我們往往就把佛像等同佛本身，而對它多了一份執著。 我們對著佛像跪拜，其實拜的是自性佛，即是我們的佛性，而不是眼前那座死物，或那座死物象徵的化身佛（兩千五百多年前古印度那位佛陀），《金剛經》已經講得清楚：若以色見我，以音聲求我，是人行邪道，不能見如來。惠能大師也說過：自性本來清淨，本來具足，本不生滅，本不動搖，能生萬法。佛像和化身佛從聖義角度看都只是一種虛妄，而不是真實，但沒有這類方便，我們又很難契入真實！佛像、佛經都只是工具，是幫助我們懺悔、發（普提）心、修行、認識自性（真實）！ 慈山寺佛教藝術博物館收藏的佛像佛經，經專家鑑定，都是真品，年代最遠至犍陀羅時期，近至明清。展區分為四部份：天王像區，羅漢像區，菩薩像區，佛像區，還有一些年代久遠的佛經珍貴殘卷。廢話到此為止，大家欣賞吧。 一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，包括佛像 「應觀法界性，一切唯心造」，出自《華嚴經》 一切都只是我們的心識作用的投射，包括眼前這些佛像 講得出的、想得到的，就不是真實 佛在走之前，講了「四依」法叮囑我們，其中一項是：依了義，不依不了義。佛陀講經說法幾十年，有所謂的了義和不了義，了義即是直指實相，實話實說，不拐彎抹角，這類經對於我等劣根凡夫，通常比較難消化，例如般若類的經典，《金剛經》、《心經》等；不了義，通俗點講，就是所謂的「童話」，哄我們開心的，最終目的是要導我們入不了義，小乘、法相唯識、淨土類的經典是屬於這一類。但千萬不要誤會，了義和不了義沒有高下優劣之分，它們是同等重要的。沒有不了義說，我們不可能契入真實，但如果執著不了義為真實，則會誤入歧途，解脫無望！ 所謂三界唯心，萬法唯識，講得出，想得到的，就不是真實...