虛構集 Speculo: 3月 2018

一輛驕車又駛過地上大道
一架地鐵又穿過地下隧道

流浪漢的鼾聲和隧道的水滴聲

是地下城的星空，恆河沙數

造就了城市的喧鬧

年輕人看著陌生的地圖

不禁憧憬起繡花似的生活

在地道的盡頭他看見家

但凡城市的地底也盡皆相連

但凡年輕的眼睛也凝視未知

他的渴望溢滿地道

與一切夢幻同見天日

曾經融化冰雕的陽光

蒸騰夢

廢水涓流到街角的溝渠

滴滴答答的回到了荒涼

被城市遺棄的有太多

竄過路軌的老鼠

吞嚥地面容不下的嘆息

每天也有人在這裡掙扎

找一條回家的路

沿著路軌

又一個背影消失於窄長隧道的黑暗裡

有黃金的城市作離別的佈景

一輛驕車又駛過地上大道
一架地鐵又穿過地下隧道

高樓支撐著城市的一整夜
鐵柱支撐著地下的一片天

The 2017-2018 Oscars race has been called the most unpredictable one in recent times by many Oscar prognosticators. Frankly, most years since the implementation of the preferential ballot in 2009 have been wild, and the last two years saw the surprising yet justified triumphs of Spotlight and Moonlight over The Revenant and La La Land respectively. But the 2,000 new Academy members have made this an especially tempestuous year. The top prize seems to be between The Shape of Water (PGA, DGA winner) and Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri (SAG, BAFTA winner), though the buzz for Get Out and Lady Bird is very much alive. Sadly, unpredictable doesn't necessarily translate to exciting – the Best Picture frontrunners don't reflect how great cinema was in 2017.

Here's my ranking of the Best Picture line-up:

9. Three Billboards outside Ebbing, Missouri

A few months ago, I left the theater feeling ambivalent after seeing Three Billboards, and that ambivalence has grown to strong dislike. I find myself totally disagreeing with how the film handles its character arcs, and it's not just a storytelling flaw – it tells a fundamentally reprehensible message. The film flows fluidly but the style is nothing noteworthy, and the eponymous town does the exact opposite of 'the city functioning as a character'. I do concede that there is one great storytelling decision in the middle, but that is far from able to save the film for me.

8. Darkest Hour

Darkest Hour is the obligatory, standard Oscarbait. It definitely didn't need to get into Best Picture to win Gary Oldman his long-awaited Oscar, but it's not difficult to sit through. Its depiction of the Miracle of Dunkirk is staggeringly lackluster compared to Dunkirk's, but cinematography (that opening shot!) and score elevate this otherwise dull and painless film.

7. The Shape of Water

There is so much I love about this film – its beautiful lead performance, its celebration of minorities, its stunning ode to cinema. But The Shape of Water doesn't love love itself; for how much the fairy tale revolves around love, its central romance feels detached, insipid, and ultimately unemotional. It constantly impressed me but it never for a moment moved me. Guillermo del Toro clearly loves cinema more than love; love just gets buried under the glitz and glamor of the mise-en-scène.

6. Lady Bird

Rarely does Hollywood make a coming-of-age film that embraces yet also defuses the tropes that go with the subgenre, and even more rarely does Hollywood make a film so real, lively, and lovely. Greta Gerwig could've been more confident behind the camera – her direction feels just slightly too hesitant – but there's more than enough to make this movie special.

5. The Post

On paper, The Post is as Oscarbait as it gets, but there's no denying how solid this film is. It's not as stunningly heartbreaking as writer Josh Singer's previous effort Spotlight, but it retains Spotlight's powerful conciseness, now upgraded with Spielberg's always reliable direction. Much like Spotlight, it breathes and flows like a good piece of journalistic writing, with delightful Spielbergian accents of thriller added on top.

4. Get Out

Get Out is by far the best screenplay of 2017. It's wickedly clever, overflowing with ingenious details, and hauntingly relevant. Peele's direction is more than serviceable; as a first-time effort, it's shockingly good. But what people should really be talking about is Daniel Kaluuya's rightfully nominated powerhouse of a performance – his eyes will now be forever ingrained in the history of cinema.

3. Call Me by Your Name

Many have called Call Me by Your Name a picturesque postcard, and yes, it is unbelievably beautiful. (What other postcard in the world has Sufjan Stevens songs to go with it?) But it's also so much more than that – its casual style smoothly translates international cinema for American audiences, its undercurrent of tension in a carefully chosen time period renders it a solid entry in the queer canon, and its world-building is so breathable. Like The Shape of Water, it's a romantic fantasy, but its romance is so much more heartwarming and heartbreaking, ethereal and transcendent. And it's so seemingly effortless.

2. Phantom Thread

This movie is insanely good. Insane, because so much of it seems downright bad. Daniel Day-Lewis plays a character called Reynolds Woodcock and his performance isn't even the best one in the film. It juxtaposes literally laugh-out-loud comedy with a ridiculously self-indulgent score by Jonny Greenwood. You might think it's that boring British period drama with lavish costumes, but its story is more akin to Fifty Shades than Shakespeare in Love or The English Patient or The King's Speech or whatever else. All of this works, sublimely, thanks to the genius of Paul Thomas Anderson. Thank God it got its six surprise nominations, even though PTA didn't give a tinker's fucking curse about campaigning.

1. Dunkirk

Unsurprisingly, a Christopher Nolan film is my #1 (even though I'm torn between #1 to #3 and they are easily swappable). Of course, it has all the trademark complexities of a Nolan screenplay; he was never going to make your standard WWII drama (i.e. Darkest Hour). But those who complain about Nolan's films being 'lifeless' can finally shut up, as Dunkirk is not only a brilliant piece of visual storytelling, it's also human, universal, and uplifting – words not commonly associated with a Nolan film. When the score dwells and Kenneth Branagh's eyes well up, I felt a sense of empathy I've never felt before. It's a glorious film that not only captures but also embodies the Dunkirk spirit.

The other categories from directing to acting seem pretty locked up. Best Original Screenplay is a bloodbath between the same Best Picture frontrunners, though Get Out clearly should win. Below-the-line is where it gets interesting – will Roger Deakins, finally, get his most overdue recognition for cinematography? Will Greenwood's luscious, 60-piece score triumph over Alexandre Desplat's work? Will the Apes trilogy at least get a consolatory prize in visual effects? What about the frontrunner-less Documentary and Foreign Language categories? And don't forget the most unnoticed battle in Best Original Song between Coco's heartstring-tugging "Remember Me", The Greatest Showman's pop-theater earworm "This is Me", and the aforementioned "Mystery of Love" by Sufjan Stevens.

2017 had great arthouse cinema (A Ghost Story, The Florida Project, BPM), blockbusters (Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Logan, etc.), and those in between (Blade Runner 2049). I mourn their snubs, yet the nominations aren't bad at all, especially in terms of diversity, from race (Get Out) and gender (Rachel Morrison) to gender identity (A Fantastic Woman). Let's not get ahead of ourselves and self-congratulate too soon. Who knows what kind of nominees would Hollywood-in-turmoil produce in 2019?

虛構集 Speculo

25.3.18

《變種的傷感》

20.3.18

《焚燒詩經》

18.3.18

《但凡城市的地底盡皆相連》

13.3.18

《是屎 2》

Revival Y'all

2.3.18

Ranking the Best Picture Nominees (2018)