Just came back from a exhausting weekend in Jeju Island. It was a 3-day meeting + offsite. Climbed the famous Mount Halla, which I realized later was 汉拿山 in Chinese.
Took lots of photos. Will select some interesting ones and publish later.
又一次提前网上泄漏，再次印证了互联网作为最好的流通渠道。。。
这张专辑整体来说水平一般（专辑名《魔杰座》实在无味。。。）。好听的歌曲依旧很多，但缺少惊艳之作，并且多可在以前作品中找到影子。
受人关注的中国风系列歌曲，这次是《兰亭序》，名字非常雅，然而歌词、旋律都比较平常，《青花瓷》看来的确是个不可逾越的周杰伦与方文山的巅峰作品。
其它方面，传统的周式情歌有《给我一首歌的时间》、《花海》和《说好的幸福呢》三首，都比较耐听，但没有特别动人之处。
表现青春健康乃至励志题材的有两首歌，《时光机》和《稻香》。《稻香》是带有励志色彩的，而《时光机》是回忆童年的怀旧作品，是这张专辑里目前为止我最喜欢的一首。这首歌同样没有什么突破，但词曲上乘，情真意切，的确打动了我。
《魔术先生》是专辑名称的由来，大体是仿《牛仔很忙》的轻松搞笑歌曲，曲风依旧欢快，唱法依旧随意。
周式舞曲方面，《蛇舞》再次请来了南拳妈妈的Lara；《乔克叔叔》则是一首讲马戏团小丑Joker的歌，里面还提到了今年的蝙蝠侠电影；而《龙战骑士》怎么看都是《半兽人》的翻版，估计又是某网游主打歌。
总的说来，周氏的“年度大作”感觉愈发像春晚，叫座未必叫好。作为周的第9张专辑，大概只是个过渡作品——而下张不会是“10年精选”了吧？而十年精选之后，或许他就真的要面临事业中年的转型了。
Fritz Lang’s M is one of the defining works of early cinema. It was Lang’s first sound film, and an important predecessor to the film noir genre. But besides holding a spot in cinema history and leaving a legacy which is easily evident today, the film by itself is still a very engaging and thought-provoking work of cinema.
Made in the turbulent times of early 1930s Germany, M tells the story of the hunt for a psychopathic killer which preys upon pre-teen girls. Because the killer has no motive except pure compulsion, the police is struggling to find any clues and takes a heavy-handed approach towards all criminal activity. This in turn drives the underworld to start hunting for the killer, which forms the bulk of the narrative.
M provides a valuable snapshot of social life in Germany before the rise of Hitler. And the psychopath Hans Beckert, vividly portrayed by Peter Lorre, can certainly secure a place along Norman Bates (the defining role for Anthony Perkins) and Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) as one of the most horrifying villains ever on screen.
Peter Lorre in M, photo from Britannica.com
In the climactic finale, Peter Lorre stands before a mob jury of the underworld and pleads his case. His defense is a simple one – he doesn’t wish to commit such heinous crimes, and he hates himself for it, but he is driven by an inner demon and is simply compelled to do so. Only after each crime does his mind go blank and let him at ease, offering brief escape from the horrors of his acts. Perhaps an analogy would be drug addiction – the act itself offers brief refuge, but the process also sinks in and makes the habit stronger.
Wikipedia notes that Lorre’s mesmerizing performance would ironically offer the Nazis “proof” of the evils of the Jewish population (Lorre is Jewish). It is indeed sad that an actor’s talent would be used against him in such a way – and perhaps comforting to know with the benefit of hindsight that Lorre would escape Nazi Germany and go on to a illustrious career in Hollywood.
M is an excellent film – although by today’s industrialized studio production standards the film seems rough at the edges, it features engaging performances and a tight storyline that generates real tension and suspense. It is in every sense of the word a classic.
8/10
To many Scorsese fans, The Age of Innocence perhaps marks a significant departure from this acclaimed director’s usual territory of New York’s darker world of crime and violence – it is a period piece set in New York of the late 1800s, and it’s a tale of love repressed by social customs. This film bears the distinction of being one of the very few romance films Scorsese has ever directed – perhaps the only other being Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, way back in the 70s – and before Taxi Driver firmly placed Scorsese’s name in cinematic history.
It’s the 1870s, and Newland Archer (Daniel Day Lewis), from a established New York family, is engaged to May Welland (Winona Ryder) of a equally prosperous family. They make a handsome couple – and the engagement is well received in the close-knot of high class families. However, Newland inevitably falls for Ellen Olenska (Michelle Pfeiffer) – May’s cousin – who has just came back from Europe escaping from a wrecked marriage.
Ellen is a outcast of the high circles – she is poorly thought of due to her audacity to challenge social norms, especially to want freedom as a woman. But this is exactly what Newland finds attractive – she is an independent woman, and she is smart and has her own thinking. And by being the only person who actually cared about her, Newland soon gains the affection of Ellen.
Though the couple is never to be. Despite their mutual affection, they know all too well the huge consequences were their love ever to see the light of day. As such, Ellen sacrifices her own happiness – she stopped seeking a divorce to avoid a scandal for her family, which would impact May and Newland’s marriage.
By all appearances, Newland and May’s marriage is a fitting one. Yet there is no escaping the dreariness, the total lack of life – they are too polite to each other, and every conversation seems to be about trivial matters. Newland is slowly suffocating – he craves Ellen more by the day. Yet their passion never materializes, as the audience will soon discover.
The power of this film is threefold. First, the three leads’ immaculate performance gives us three characters that truly come to life on screen. Daniel Day Lewis shows his usual intensity, and in more than a few scenes it’s easy to see the pain his character is suffering under the repression of society. Michelle Pfeiffer shapes Ellen into a character of complex juxtapositions – she is at once brave in seeking independence and weak in allowing her life to be dictated by others. And Winona Ryder brings much needed subtlety to her role as May, the apparently thoughtless lady typical of the times – and yet she holds quite a few surprises later on.
Secondly, the technical aspects – the cinematography by Michael Ballhaus brings to life all the nuances of a intricately woven love story. Feelings are not said, but conveyed through a simple body movement in a single shot or even just the changing hue. The picture also does the lavish settings justice, by bringing the full splendor of the high society’s lush parties and dinners on screen (ten years later, Scorsese would do something very similar in The Aviator, except the setting being Hollywood of the 1920s). And the music, a rich collection of classical music and Elmer Bernstein’s original score, sets free the words and emotions that could never be allowed.
Finally, the script, adopted from a 1920s Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Edith Wharton (whose own troubled marriage seemed to resemble Ellen’s), is profoundly rich in material. The theme of free love repressed by society is not a new one, but the emotions flowing in the story are truly moving, and the hypocrisy of the privileged and the irony of the characters’ actions leave much food for thought.
8/10
前天在798的独立电影展单元看了王小帅的这部电影。电影大致两个主题，一个是农民工在大都市里作为边缘人物和弱势群体的挣扎，另一个是青春期少年的成长烦恼。
崔林饰演的郭连贵是个典型的初来北京的农村孩子，害羞而耿直的他相当幸运地找到了一份做速递员的工作，每天骑着公司配发的变速自行车奔走在北京的大街小巷。公司规定，配车的钱要从工钱里扣，直到全部偿还后车子就是个人的了。而就在阿贵终于挣够了份儿钱的时候，车子却失窃了，而阿贵也丢掉了工作——执拗的他无法接受这个打击，下了狠心要找回自己的车，重新上岗。
这个时候影片的另一主人公小坚（李滨）出场。他也是个典型的北京少年，典型到我仿佛在他身上看到了很多我少年时的哥们的样子。小坚家庭条件差，学习不好，只上了职高，而玩自行车成了他仅有的能实现自我价值的梦想。
阿贵的车子丢了，而小坚则骑上了一辆一模一样的车。在影片颇长的一段时间里，小坚是如何搞到这辆车是存疑的，并且似乎最终也没有一个定论（虽然有明确的指向，但我认为影片这里的含蓄是可以包容几种不同的解读的）。阿贵碰巧撞见了小坚，他似是看到了希望，于是便理直气壮地要把车拿回来。于是便展开了两个少年围绕一辆自行车的争夺——阿贵借自己的执着数次抢到了车，而不服气的小坚在一众哥们的帮助下则屡次重新夺回自行车。在双方最后一次戏剧性的冲突里，不会打架又不听从对方说理的阿贵耍赖似的扑在车上嘶喊，而小坚及其哥们们的纯朴也在此体现——他们并没有像往常一样凭武力解决，而是被阿贵的精神打动。最终双方达成妥协——小坚与阿贵轮流骑这辆车。而在随后的日子里，两个因为一辆车而有了交集的少年，从最开始的陌生、相互猜疑，逐渐地开始萌发出友谊。
假若故事到此结束，那么当是一个皆大欢喜的结局，然而《十七岁的单车》想要表达的是十七岁的不如意。小坚找回了车，却在过程中丢掉了漂亮的女朋友潇潇（高圆圆，有一个颇惊艳的出场但没有更多的发挥）。小坚心理不平衡，报复式地袭击了潇潇的新男朋友（用了京城最地道的“板儿砖拍你丫的”方法）。而在随后的反报复中，阿贵也被拖下水，两人被暴打一顿之余，那辆载着两个少年的梦想的自行车也被彻底的毁坏了。从来不打架的阿贵也拿起了板儿砖，随后抗起了已被砸烂的自行车孤单地消失在车水马龙中。
影片在非常鲜活地塑造了两个少年的形象之余，还以简洁的笔墨塑造出了一批配角。高圆圆的角色潇潇是一个讨巧的角色，她没有任何性格特点，是纯粹的带着阳光般微笑的温柔花瓶，然而这也恰恰符合一个都市十七岁少年的梦中情人的形象（一如宁静在《阳光灿烂的日子》中塑造的带有文革时期所有被压抑的欲望的少男性幻想对象角色）。周迅扮演了一个整部影片最搞笑的角色，她起初是阿贵只能隔着墙远远偷窥的都市时尚女郎，后来则被“揭发”是偷女主人衣服的小时工——从始至终周迅未说一句台词，而这个寄托着乡下人对城里人全部神秘敬畏与幻想的角色则活灵活现。
在很多细节的处理上，影片是颇为诙谐幽默的，但是从全局而言，这是一部反映弱者的挣扎的带有悲剧色彩的作品。在一些局部问题上，影片略有败笔（有一个场景中的演员选角明显不到位，而剧本在一些环节比较拖沓，节奏不好），但这种“稚嫩”或许正是十七岁的写照。
7/10
昨天晚上在上地的嘉和一品粥吃的晚饭。先是在店内看到了一个很有趣的，嘉和正在推“嘉和卡”，其实就是冠名的市政一卡通，可以在店内消费也可以乘用公交地铁。每次店内充值会有返送，最高上限充500元返120元。别的我没有想到，单单想，如果我就在嘉和办张卡纯粹用做公交用，那么我就相当于什么都没有做就享受了8折优惠。这岂不相当划算——不知道市政一卡通的其它联盟活动有没有类似的优惠。
其实一卡通和嘉和这个组合，倒是相当般配的合作。嘉和是典型的工薪阶层消费，价位比较实在，跟会用一卡通的用户消费群吻合度比较好，这个产品应该是比较有吸引力的。不过就合作双方而言，感觉来说对嘉和的意义更大一些——一卡通是垄断，你没有别的选择，而粥类连锁满大街都是，办了这样一张卡多少还会锁定一部分用户。我比较好奇的是双方的具体合作条款，譬如说，这个充值优惠是谁来承担，嘉和每为一卡通增加一个用户有什么好处。
一卡通的野心显然是香港的八达通卡，就是一种可以广泛使用的纸币替代产品（最直接的类比是银行借记卡竞争），除了用于核心的公交系统，还可以在超市、餐厅等小额消费场所结算。不知道除了嘉和，他们还在跟哪些商家合作。
吃完饭，正好看到旁边一个偌大的新开业的华联商厦。进去走了一圈，除了买点面包，顺带犯了犯职业病把店逛了一下。这个店的布局和五道口这家华联整体上是一样的，垂直分成两部分，一边是华联百货，另一边是独立的店铺空间，唯一的不同可能是地下有个超市（我不记得五道口有没有）。
先去超市，这两天新闻里三聚氰胺已经波及到巧克力、饼干等食品，但是在这家超市还没有太感觉到影响。虽然没有看到多少吉百利，但是金帝的产品仍然在架上（不知道是不是产品型号/批次不同）。奶制品区显得空荡一些，SKU数量明显少于以前，一款产品可以摆很大地方。
买了面包和水果，同时再次感慨中国的发展速度。我觉得哪怕是五年前，到超市都不会有这么多的产品，而大多数人买水果肯定还是到农贸市场为首选——而现在，在连锁业态的高速发展下，大概不用多久传统的农贸市场就会退出大众的生活圈，就譬如这个城市的自行车一样。
逛完超市到百货走了一圈。地理位置的差别还是比较明显的，上地这个地段还是有点“城乡结合部”的味道，品牌都是些国际二线、国内一到三线品牌。最搞笑的是一个“世纪宝马”的男士服装店，是赤裸裸得盗版，图标也是宝马的蓝白相间的圆，而英文是MBWL，司马昭之心啊。
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