Tuesday, July 31, 2007

變形金剛

看《變形金剛》(Transformers)大電影前,先看了一點影評,《蘋果日報》副刊和邁克專欄都說,交,打得太快,「五步一小打,十步一大打」,一次睇唔晒。

好,到真正落場睇,前大部份都在詳細交待博派、狂派前來地球打架,美國國防部緊張應變,一如《天煞》等外星災難戲的鋪排,基本上冇乜交打,只是個別狂派機械人和美軍對戰及音波Frenzy的刺探行為,和博派機械人「大黃蜂」 (Bumblebee)和大學生Sam的交情。笑位反而幾多。

電影的機械人主角,是大黃蜂和Frenzy。後段柯柏文大戰麥加登,只打了幾手,完全唔夠喉。

令人眼花撩亂是變身的特技太目眩,飛沙走石充滿畫面。但沒有理由跟不上節奏。

柯柏文「拯救人類」的一段「深情義氣表白」有點肉麻。不說可以嗎?

電影對人類科技、軍事技術的描繪好像表現出以往電影沒有的自信,人類對「外星人」不感到莫大的神秘和恐懼,且頗有幽默(例如Sector 7人員成竹在胸的表現),沒有了以往電影那種力有不逮的感覺(大概是由於博派是人類朋友吧)。

這是一次十分滿足的觀影。

Monday, July 30, 2007

Cutie & Sexy

帶著呻吟和喘息嬌聲的歌曲"je t'aime... moi non plus"(1968),由法國才子Serge Gainsbourg創作,原本作要與妻子Brigitte Bardot(碧姬芭鐸)合唱,結果變成和新情人Jane Birkin的情歌。模擬高潮的唱腔惹來禁播。歌曲在1969年登上Top of the Pops第2位。如下:



本來在網上要找的是電影Death Proof的片尾曲"Chick Habit",結果找來歌曲原裝法文版"Laisse Tomber Les Filles",同樣由Serge Gainsbourg創作,由一個名叫France Gall的法國女歌星於1964年主唱。Death Proof的版本由美國indie pop女唱作歌手April March(有趣的名字)改編成"Chick Habit",屬1995年作品。兩個版本均是Cutie & Sexy。

"Laisse Tomber Les Filles":



"Chick Habit"@April March's MySpace



France Gall & April March

Saturday, July 21, 2007

好歌(及MV)重溫:When we we're together

十年前一場浪漫風暴,雨橫風狂,倏忽而過,現在人們也許忘了,也許不。

已經轉型做田園詩人(或稱英國版區瑞強)的Louis Eliot,十幾年前曾和隊友Johnny Bull以Kinky Machine名義出現,後解體重組成Rialto,帶來一系列充滿電影感的愛情流行曲。Louis細膩達意的歌詞,功力不比Jarvis Cocker遜色。像"Monday Morning 5.19", "Dream another dream", "Untouchable"等,均是同名大碟內的classic pop tunes。第二張大碟Night on Earth,走techno路線,惜掀不起話題,但碟內如"Catherine", "Failing in love", "I drove the car that took my love away",仍是不可多得的一流ballad,纏綿悱惻,猶像一首首愛情電影的插曲。

MV同樣首首精品。"When we're together"講述一名痴情男子日夜跟蹤及偷拍心上女子,如此題材落在Jarvis Cocker手上,會變成如"Pencil Skirt"那種偷窺偷妻的寫實諷刺作品,而在英國Albert Au手上,則變得十分emotional,浪漫和電影化。

烈日正酷,浪漫風暴消逝之時,更覺那首風行一時的"Summer's Over"愁腸百轉。



The lights come on, I track her moves:
locking the door, crossing the room.
She's on the phone again, and when she laughs
I feel my blood rushing - I feel my blood rush to my heart...

I call her up and disconnect, wait by her house once more to check,
stare through the window of her kitchenette,
and then I follow her down underground escalators,
hiding behind my newspaper until the time
when we're together.

So here we are, alone again;
I'm in the dark, she's in her frame, her window bay.

I play the film back through my mind
with a few new scenes I've designed;
maybe I'll write her one or two more lines,
and then I'll follow her down underground escalators,
hiding behind my newspaper
until the time when we're together.

Together, together, together, together...

Together, when we're together,
Together, when we're together,
Together...

鼓掌

上映前看了一點影評,說塔倫天奴(Quentin Tarantino)的Death Proof口水多過茶,該影評寫了洋洋千幾二千字,證實該影評人才是口水多過茶。(其實他只不過將劇情講述一次,好證實導演確是文戲太多了。)

個人認為,以上評論出自男人。蓋若本片如沒有那些女人口水戲,沒有鋪敍,就像sex without foreplay,一來便hardcore,應該很dry。

總沒可能個幾兩個鐘全部飛車戲吧,那還不如去看賽車。

兩場飛車戲,第一場短,爆發力強。第二場分兩part,互相追逐,更扣人心弦,尤其是復仇一場,看得興奮。

出字幕時,忍不住和其他觀眾鼓了掌。

Friday, July 20, 2007

蒼涼

看章詒和的《最後的貴族》(往事並不如煙),在疏淡的筆觸下,埋藏著不可抑止的蒼涼。

Thursday, July 19, 2007

Suede "Heroine"歌曲藏毒考及其他

"Heroine"是否歌曲藏毒,看看這個生字便知道,Heroin者海洛英,至於Heroine,則是英文中"hero"的女性稱謂,不辯自明。此猜測想必來自前作"Animal Nitrate"及"Sleeping pills"等大量implicit及explicit的毒品references,令人對此歌也想入非非。

另外,有人認為此歌和妓女有關,蓋歌詞出現脫衣( Discarding her clothes in the plastic flowers...)、色情( Pornographic and tragic in black and white...)及成年( I'm 18, I need my heroines...)等字眼。但翻查網上資料,發現以下這一段link頗為中的,認為歌曲展示的是成長之中對女性概念的形成,如來自瑪麗蓮夢露的黑白艷照,而這些女性,則又是命運悲劇的主角人物。

"The song is based from the Lord Byron poem which begins with the same line, "she walks in beauty, like the night".

This song really doesn't have anything to do with a prostitute. It's more about a boy who is becoming a man (I'm eighteen and I need my heroines) identifying his notions of women with his female idols - who are actresses and pin-up girls pinned to his wall. These women are traditional femmes fatale, as shown by the reference to Raphaella, the pre-Raphaelite princess. Femmes fatale have traditionally shown up in art as symbols of the downfall of men, which is evident by his "dying." Yes, Anderson and Butler are quite arty in their references."

Brett Anderson歌詞:

She walks in beauty like the night
Discarding her clothes in the plastic flowers
Pornographic and tragic in black and white
My Marilyn come to my slum for an hour

I'm aching to see my heroine
I'm aching been dying for hours and hours

She walks in the beauty of a magazine
Complicating the boys in the office towers
Rafaella or Della the silent dream
My Marilyn come to my slum for an hour

I'm aching to see my heroine
I'm aching been dying for hours and hours,
been dying for hours and hours

She walks in beauty like the night
Hypnotising the silence with her powers
Armageddon is bedding this picture alright
My Marilyn come to slum for an hour

I'm aching to see my heroine
Aching, been dying for hours and hours
I'm 18, I need my heroines
Aching, been dying for hours
Oh and I'm never alone now
Now I'm with her




Lord Byron原詩:

SHE walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellow'd to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

One shade the more, one ray the less,
Had half impair'd the nameless grace
Which waves in every raven tress,
Or softly lightens o'er her face;
Where thoughts serenely sweet express
How pure, how dear their dwelling place.

And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent!

有趣的是,Lord Byron原詩要兩句連讀才成意思(因第一句尾沒有標點):SHE walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies,意像是漆黑中散發光明,如單以「黑夜」形容如水清澈、美麗如花的女性,則變成不知所云,和下文意思斷裂。Brett Anderson卻斷章取義,截取第一句"SHE walks in beauty, like the night",卻和歌曲的暗黑點調子配合,所描女性,亦由高貴優雅、溫柔婉約形像,轉化成少年房中牆上的黑白女明星艷照,由高上而下流,由(真正深刻的)古典至(近世淺薄的)懷舊,是不是有點坎普(camp)?無論如何,Brett當年的Glam,在今天看來無疑是坎普的傑作。

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

好歌(及MV)重溫:We are the Pigs

頗有George Orwell小說1984的味道。

當年曾遭禁播,作為Dog Man Star第一發single,被認為是商業自殺。(要說商業自殺,suede早有前科,故意將經典作品"My insatiable one"放於"The Drowners"的B-side,才算我行我素,目空一切的舉措。)

豬(pig),是suede最常用的imagery之一。哺乳類低等動物,和狗(dog man star中的"dog")處於進化第一階段,等如革命前夕,處於受壓狀態的無產階級,不願做奴隸的人們,搖身成"stars of the firing line".

以Glam look示人的Brett Anderson的創作力處於顛峰,唱腔發揮也最淋漓盡致。

教堂的鐘聲刺耳得如一響響鑽入耳膜的警笛,由Bernard Butler清晰有力的結他導出,預示執政階層(西方文明?)的墮落。歌曲成於93/94年, 靈感或來自東歐變天,風起雲湧的革命年代。畫面中戴面具的人抬著擔架疾走,令人想起1989年6月4 日。



Well the church bells are calling
Police cars on fire
And as they call you to the eye of the storm
All the people say "Stay at home tonight"

I say we are the pigs, we are the swine
We are the stars of the firing line

And as the smack cracks at your window
You wake up with a gun in your mouth
Oh let the nuclear wind blow away my sins
And I'll stay at home in my house

I say, we are the pigs
we are the swine
we are the stars of the firing line

But deceit can't save you so

We will watch them burn

Monday, July 16, 2007

好歌(及MV)重溫:Fake Plastic Trees 〔補充感想〕

Radiohead的歌曲富實驗性,但在OK Computer橫空出世之前,他們的歌曲已隱然帶著科幻感,非常之futuristic,這首歌的MV在今天看來,也是如此。

十二、三年前,互聯網方興未艾,全球一體化還在胚胎之中,尚未成形,美國及其他資本主義國家的消費主義,在後冷戰時代、唯一意識形態對手倒台後已成霸權。西風東漸,中國及俄國掛著羊頭重新崛起,富起來的人拼命消費,要和富裕世界看齊,然而富裕世界的人早在消費主費花多眼亂的迷宮裏迷失。五色令人目盲,五音令人耳聾,五味令人口爽,馳騁畋獵令人心發狂。

留意MV裏蒼白的人造光,人們木然、疏離。敞大的超市整齊排列一架架一式一樣的貨品,豈不是今天沃爾瑪(Wal-Mart)的寫照?難道又不是星巴克世代來臨的預言?個性被大眾取締。

Thom Yorke在錄音室唱完這歌後,崩潰地哭。




Her Green plastic watering can
For her fake Chinese rubber plant
In the fake plastic earth.
That she bought from a rubber man
In a town full of rubber plans.
to get rid of itself.
And It Wears Her Out, it wears her out
It wears her out, it wears her out.

She lives with a broken man
A cracked polystyrene man
Who just crumbles and burns.
He used to do surgery
For girls in the eighties
But gravity always wins.
And It Wears Him Out, it wears him out
It wears him out, it wears him out.

She looks like the real thing
She tastes like the real thing
My Fake Plastic Love.
But I can't help the feeling
I could blow through the ceiling
If I just turn and run
And It Wears Me Out, it wears me out
It wears me out, it wears me out.

And if I could BE who you wanted
If I could BE who you wanted,
All the time, all the time, ohhh... ohh...
近日,I'm NOT A Plastic bag 在港台掀起「輪購」熱潮,彷如輪米,何其諷刺。

Sunday, July 15, 2007

博雅vs通識

博雅教育(Liberal arts education):相對於職業或實用教育而言,其目的在培育「統一的人格」(unified personality)

通識教育(General education):相對於專業教育而言,其目的在達到「統一的知識」(unified body of knowledge)

來源:金耀基,《大學之理念》。

Saturday, July 14, 2007

好歌(及MV)重溫:Chemical World

probably one of the finest moments of britpop...

Damon Albarn...好靚仔...剛脫離"she's so high"時期的柒look,髮線尚未後移...

歌曲未必最為(港)人熟悉,但旋律流暢嶲永,MV清新舒爽,質素不下於任何一首Blur的大熱作品。

(題外話:說到「作品」,實不明解何謂DJ口中的「梁詠琪作品」、「鄧麗欣作品」、「黎明作品」或「郭富城作品」,他們的確提供了一把不甚了了的唱腔,但為何總是一個唔該攬下所有credit?他們參與作曲嗎?他們是歌曲監製嗎?他們有任彈奏樂曲的樂器嗎?最重要是,他們會為歌曲或唱片提供創作方向嗎?假如在香港這個還是雷頌德統領的「樂壇」下還有「創作」這回事的話。[不過我想,問題在於雷生沒有抄足全套,他大可學外國創作人"cite influence",那麼他的「作品」也可監粗說成是「二次創作」的「創意產業」。])

(又,如上述這批「藝人」經常大言不慚稱自己為「artist」,則我們可以斷定:李天命除了是一名已退休的哲學教授,也絕對是一名「artist」,殆無疑問。)

"Chemical world"收錄在Modern life is rubbish一碟內,調子較商業化,主攻美國年青市場(不過想來不太成功,要等到"Song 2"才打破缺口),主題和碟名呼應,諷刺現代社會的反天然性質,MV裏的開揚壯闊的大自然景觀,自是有世外桃源,令人心懭神怡,多看有益。



The pay-me girl has had enough of the bleeps
So she takes the bus into the country
Although she got herself rosy cheeks
She didn't leave enough money to pay the rent
The landlord says that she's out in a week
What a shame she was just getting comfy
Now she's eating chocolate to induce sleep
In a chemical world, It's very, very, very cheap

And I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes

Peeping Thomas has a very nice view
Across the street at the exhibitionist
These townies they never speak to you
Just stick together so they never get lonely
Feeling lead, feeling quite light-headed
Had to sit down and have some sugary tea
In chemical world, in a chemical world
It's very, very, very cheap

And I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes, yes

I don't know about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
It's been a hell of a do
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes
And now she's found about you
But they're putting the holes in, yes, yes
Well I don't know about you
They've been putting the holes in, yes, yes

Thursday, July 12, 2007

左右腳

Grindhouse明明是兩片同放,在香港卻一開二,這還不特止,先上映的是《索女.喪屍.機關槍》(Planet Terror),上集《玩命.飛車.殺人狂》(Death Proof)竟要放在七月中才上畫,有冇搞錯!

左腳、右腳?準是要扮B級片來個大穿崩


Wednesday, July 11, 2007

想點

《政制發展綠皮書》舉行記者答問會,咱們新任政務司長一舊糖首度上陣,講野一舊舊,書又背得唔熟,每個問題都答「揉合機制」、「立法會三分二支持」、「北京支持、備案」、「得出主流方案」,部份記者問得又廢,結果一舊糖又口齒不清咁重覆以上各項,好L悶呀。年初佢出席財政預算案答問大問,又係一舊雲咁問乜都唔識,眼神游魂,淨識傻笑,開親口都口窒窒,呢條友五年間由自由黨議員做到局長再做財爺已經詭異,口才仲屎過曾凸手,唔明佢點可帶領政府囉。