nan | 楠木

Ratatouille is a beautiful animation. It’s one of those rare films that people of all ages can find something to love about. But don’t be mistaken: this is not a children’s film – at 1 hour 50 minutes, this is more of a fairy tale made for grown-ups.

Ratatouille is a film about gourmet. At the center though, is the most unlikely of chefs: a rat by the name of Remy who has fallen in love with human food (as opposed to garbage). Remy is inspired by Gusteau, the legendary head chef of the 5-star Gusteau’s restaurant in Paris. However, Remy discovers one day that Gusteau has suffered a bad twist of fate: a bad review by top critic Anton Ego has cost the restaurant to lose it’s 5-star rating, and Gusteau himself soon dies (losing another star).

Remy himself also encounters a turn of events: he’s separated from his family and is washed down the sewers. As luck would have it, he finds himself in Paris, and right under Gusteau’s. He befriends Linguini, a young man who’s the rightful heir to Gusteau’s legacy. There’s only a few problems: first of all, he can’t cook if his life depended upon it; secondly, he doesn’t even know he’s the heir; and thirdly, the current head chef, Skinner, has other plans in mind.

Remy and Linguini, though, becomes an odd pair of buddies. With Remy as the secret mastermind, Linguini turns into a super chef, winning not only the restaurant but also the love of Colette, who’s also a chef at Gusteau’s. Of course, greater challenges are down the road: Ego is returning for another review…

The beauty of this film, really, is in it’s heartwarming sincerity. There’s also a message in there somewhere about the strive for excellence, about never giving up, but most importantly, the film makes you care about its characters’ struggle in life. The obstacles and dilemmas that they face are those common themes that we have in life, and that’s why it scores a chord. The film’s belief that anything is possible – as long as you give it your best effort – may find cynicism from some people, but such upbeat optimism is something that I always cherish. That’s why watching this film is like enjoying a warm bath – it’s so pleasantly rejuvenating.

9/10

Children of Men is an impressive  accomplishment. It is a cold and gritty science fiction set in a dystopian future, and it is also a biting commentary of our current world affairs. The cast, lead by a weary and unlikely protagonist in Clive Owen, is low-key and on the ball. Technical-wise, it also offers some very impressive cinematography.

It’s 2027, a mere 20 years on, and the entire human civilization is in trouble, as humans have been sterile since 2009. The reason for this infertility is not given; but without any newborns, mankind is slowly but unavoidably crawling to its death. In other parts of world, riots and anarchy have taken over, but “Britain soldiers on”, under a tight military control and hauntingly xenophobic. Rebel factions use terrorism to fight the government.

Our unlikely protagonist, Theo (Clive Owen), is a nobody. He’s approached by his former lover Julian (Julianne Moore), from 20 years ago. The two have an uncomfortable past, which we soon learn: their young child’s death was also the death of their relationship. Julian, now a revolutionary, wants Theo to help them smuggle a young woman, Kee, out of Britain. Theo hesitantly agrees. Things go wrong however, and Theo ends up on the run with Kee, trying to protect her from both the rebels and the government. This is because Kee holds a most valuable prize: she is pregnant.

The film is essentially a chase film, but it is also so much more than that. Theo’s journey, which is also the audience’s journey, is like a surrealistic path through hell. His surroundings get more and more chaotic as his situation gets more and more desperate. This journey is also full of messages, fiercely political. The government’s xenophobia (foreign immigrants are sent to detention-camp like refugee shelters under the control of “Homeland Security”) is clearly directed at current affairs. Inside the refugee shelters, the refugees march around in black hoods armed with automatics, chanting slogans – resembling common news images of the Middle East.

Unlike many films of the same genre, Children of Men is very low-key in its depiction of the future. There are few eye-catching gadgets, and all of them are subtly placed in the background, perfectly blending into the environment instead of jumping out at the audience. This fits with the film’s general tone, of a future with no future – there is no place for fancy gadgets as humans age and die.

The cinematography deserves special credit. The film sports several well-done long shots, each lasting several minutes long. These long shots are technically impressive (the audience is eye witness to an ambush, as well as accompanying Theo through a chaotic war-zone), and they also contribute to building the film’s gritty, realistic style.

All said, this is a great film that demands several viewings. It takes time to get absorbed into the story, but once you’re in, you’re in for an unnerving trip.

8/10

这一周总体来说非常狗屎。主要原因是因为上一周非常狗屎，惯性在作用。

从10月7日开始加班，到今天一天没歇过。当然可以说歇过，那就是上周日，自己决定在家工作，这是个非常狗屎的决定，因为我实际情况周日白天基本荒废过去了，看了些电影什么的。

于是周日晚上工作到4点半。周一，白天又有许多杂七杂八的事情，于是乎晚上一不小心又是到了三点半。周二好一点，是晚上两点多离开办公室的。周三晚上是12点多。今天看起来可以12点以前走。

因此可以看到，整个趋势是在改良，但是并不改变这一周非常狗屎的事实。加之今天股市的跌幅，又赔了些钱进去。唉，生活不易啊。

不过，晚上有时间去倍力跑步、健身 ，觉得自己的身体状态还算不错，虽然很疲劳，但是由于近期恢复了锻炼，实际上体质可能还好了些。下个月体检的时候大概可以看到结果。

Ok，这篇流水记完了。发现自己已经完全没有了任何的情趣，罗罗嗦嗦于些琐碎而无味的东西。唉，真是悲哀啊！

今天Terry发起了一个不大不小的“每天写blog”运动（解读：就她一个人），作为其忠实粉丝我也决定流水一篇，以表忠心。

话说今天，我坐在办公室里跑了一天excel。

一天最大的亮点是早上一进 office，收到的第一封email就是下周换新笔记本的通知，真是千呼万唤啊。虽说扔掉了一台老式的thinkpad，迎来的是一台更沉的thinkpad，但是毕竟还是用起来爽很多啊。当然从此也多了一个器械锻炼的方式。

下午画了很多marimekko图。发现这种图真是优美，每副图都蕴藏了无穷多的信息，就是谁都一眼看不明白。

晚上，非常自恋地读自己大三写的爱情小说。不得不说那时我文笔很好，而如今憔悴了许多。也很感慨，这也过了不少年了，许多想法变化了很多，爱情上的观点却似乎没有怎么进化。

趁着午夜把这帖子发出去。算作10.10的流水。

Now with native tagging support.

为了把手里的FESCO福利票看掉，于是去电影院看了这部郭富城主演的港片。

很少写港片的影评，主要是因为看得太少。我所喜爱的大抵是80、90年代的香港电影黄金时期，并且是以英雄片这样的类型片为心里的最爱。周润发、李修贤、狄龙是比较喜欢的演员，具体的电影当然也就很显然了，是吴宇森的《英雄本色》和《喋血双雄》。而近年来港片的低迷大概是个不争的事实，虽然偶尔有《无间道》这样的成绩交出，但似乎与鼎盛时期相比，无论从演员还是影片来说还是逊色不少。

这部《C+侦探》，维持了我近年来所看过的港片的一些固有元素。影片非常注重气氛的营造，但在情节的处理上显得实力不足。作为一部犯罪推理片，影片在更多的时候显得过于装神弄鬼而更像是部灵异片，而最后的“包袱”虽然解开了所有谜团，但并没有带来相应的满足感，想来大概是因为剧情本身张力不足、缺乏足够的吸引力以令观众投入。演员方面，郭富城的表演中规中矩，造型也比较符合故事所在地泰国的氛围；而一众配角也大多是在香港混迹多年的老家伙（如成奎安），对于各自角色大多驾轻就熟，算来也是电影的加分之处。

5/10