78th Oscar

Like Manohla Dargis of the New York Times said, "the 78th annual Academy Awards will honor films most viewers have not seen and may never get around to watching." As usual, I have only seen one movie: "Munch". But who cares? We have our fun watching and hearing the results of this spectacular show every year, from discussing the dress of Charlize Theron, finding the presence of great screen symbols like Al Pacino, to nagging the performance of the emcee. And I have mine too: by predicting the results!

Best Film - Crash (not Brokeback Mountain, anticlimax)
Director - Ang Lee (get it right, Lee is a good director)
Actor in a Leading Role - Philip Seymour Hoffman (right)
Actress in a Leading Role - Reese Witherspoon (easy)
Actor in a Supporting Role - George Clooney (correct again)
Actress in a Supporting Role - Rachel Weisz (my choice is Catherine Keener)
Foreign Language Film - Tsotsi (film from South Africa, not German Sophie Scholl)
Original Screenplay - Crash (but it also gets the Best Film...who knows)
Adapted Screenplay - Brokeback Mountain (yes)
Animated Feature Film - Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (yes)

The final result is 7/10, better than the past years! I think it is time for me to finish watching some of these works...I may start with Brokeback Mountain and Crash.

第卅屆電影節，我選甚麼東東？

老實說，上星期四不是為了找那尚未出版的一、二月號《萬象》，剛巧看到節目手冊，我不會知道第三十屆國際電影節又到了，畢竟以往我都是在較後時間上網購票的。（可惜仍未買到《萬象》，根據報載，時候應該差不多。）感覺上，今年選播的電影，份量似乎無法與過去兩屆相比（如回顧的專題導演中川信夫，怎能與往屆的清水宏、木下惠介比肩？），一晚下來，想訂的票不多。

因為阮囊羞澀，買電影節的票，我必以經典，而且是難有（或尚未有）影碟發行的影片為標準。例如龍剛版的《英雄本色》(1967)，既然已經有VCD，我就得以省下三十塊錢。（這個作風可算為害不淺，例如敝妹原想訂李玉導演的《紅顏》[2005]，我一說「會出影碟喎」，她立時便打退堂鼓。）

雖然如此，有兩齣中川信夫我是必訂無疑的。第一套是《東海道四谷怪談》(1959)，此作是公認的怪談片傑作，入選日本權威影評雜誌《電影旬報》選舉的百大最佳影片，聲譽極隆。而中川早期的喜劇《榎健之整蠱戰術》(1939）亦屬經典，即使在日本國內亦不易得見，編劇是長期與黑澤明合作的小國英雄。除此以外，《鬼貓凶宅》(1958)、《地獄》(1960)、《怪異談：不死的小平次》(1982）都是我的次選；如果有意外之財，再買票可也。（那我真要多加留意地上遺銀！）

舊粵語片方面，由於部分作品在市面已有影碟，我只訂由秦劍掛帥的光藝開山作──《胭脂虎》(1955)。選定三套後，原想就此罷手，不過 Isabella Rossellini 獻給其父，意大利新寫實主義導演羅塞里尼（Roberto Rossellini）的《My Dad is 100 Years Old》(2005)，似乎甚有觀賞價值，而且這類短片不易從慣常途徑觀摩得到，加上又搭了一部《Voyage to Italy》(1953)，最後亦決定多付五十餘塊錢，共「買飛」四張。如果有幸取得免費的 HBO Threatre Pass，當然更完美了。