2006-02-27

My friend Raymond

Raymond Yuen, my friend and former colleague, was featured in last Saturday's Classified Post of Hong Kong's South China Morning Post:

Raymond Yuen, an economist at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (TDC), built a fulfilling career out of an unexpected turn in his life.

2006-02-26

水魚照

觀影小記

這兩星期,一口氣看了十多部電影,其中包括影碟、電視的電影台、及按次收費電影,唯缺首輪電影,因為我基本不進電影院的。

可惜,好片甚少,頗好的也不多。

華語:
陳凱歌 《無極》 — 攝影和特技出色,很有神話片的疑幻疑真的感覺。但陳凱歌又犯了《邊走邊唱》故弄玄虛、故作高深的老毛病。 6/10
徐克 《七劍》 — 有大片格局,亦保持徐克昏天黑地無法無天的一貫風格。但冗長,交待不清、張力不足。徐克老矣! 4/10
小江 《夢影童年》 — 《Cinema Paradiso》式的「電影」電影。健康、感人、流暢、扎實之作。稍嫌平淡無驚喜。 5/10
江澄 《做頭》 — 在不俗的外表下,是一部超低水平之作。 2/10

日語:
是枝裕和 《誰知赤子心》 — 頗佳的社會現象片。但看了以後,就不再責怪梁朝偉在04康城影帝落空後忿忿不平的言論。他的《2046》周慕雲雖然只是《花樣年華》延續,突破欠奉,但《誰知赤子心》中的柳樂優彌表現遊離,不知評審團何以認為他應是該年度影帝。 6/10
行定勳 《在世界中心呼喚愛》 — 看人氣導演行定勳的《大暴走》,已覺得他不過爾爾。本片未能改變我對他的印象。他加插律子一角為故事骨幹,和他沉溺於催淚回憶,均非好導演應為。 5/10

韓語:
許秦豪 《外出》 — 許秦豪令我大失所望,與前作《八月照相館》和《春逝》不能相提並論。他是我欣賞的導演,希望下一部作品回勇吧。 6/10
斐旭浩 《最後目擊》 — 已是01年的探案片。與近年很多韓語片一樣,欠神采,但勝在踏實。 5/10

英語:
Pitof 《Catwoman》 — 以後批評香港爛片多時,應記住荷里活也多爛片,連荷里活大製作也多爛片!浪費時間。 2/10
Christopher Nolan 《Batman Begins》 — Christopher Nolan在《Memento》中一鳴驚人,但其後轉走大路,即無以為繼。《Insomnia》如是,《Batman Begins》也如是。絕對不是Tim Burton級數。 5/10
George Lucas 《Star Wars III》 — 從未看過任何一部《Star Wars》,今次算是開開眼界,也算是不錯的兩小時娛樂。其餘五部,應該不會找來看了。 6/10
Mike Nichols 《Closer》 — 上佳的都市情慾片。雖然處理手法兜口兜面,而且舞台劇味甚濃,但本片是我近日觀看的唯一佳作,較《Sideways》尤得我心。 8/10

法語:
Robert Guediguian 《My Father is an Engineer/Mon pere est ingenieur》 — 理想的追尋、堅持和幻滅。多看這類關於法國低下/移民階層的影片,可中和主流法國片給人軟綿綿、無無謂的印象。 7/10

Digital photos prints

In this age of digital photography, do you still develop most of your digital photos into prints?

For me, making prints is no longer an important part of the photographic experience. Now I derive more pleasure from digitally enhancing the photos and making digital albums for online sharing. I use IrfanView to view photos, Photoshop to enhance them, Yahoo! Photos for online storage, Flickr and Slide for photo management and sharing, and my clumsy hand-written html codes to make travel photo web pages.

Having said that, in response to a recent promo by a large retail electricals chain which charged $0.15 per 6"X4" print, I have just made over 500 prints from my trips over the past year and a half.

One thing I notice is that with the photos optimised for my on-screen viewing, the actual prints usually look quite saturated and hence a bit "unreal". I wonder whether this is a common experience or just my unique problem?

2006-02-24

So where the bloody hell are you?

The new worldwide TV ad for Australian tourism features scenes of what Australia offers as a tourist destination and ends with a bikini-clad girl asking "so where the bloody hell are you?"



Exactly. Where the bloody hell are you? Why aren't you coming to Australia to have a bloody good time? You are bloody stupid if you feel offended by this "uniquely Aussie invitation to travel".

Click on the graphics ad above to watch the TV ad, courtesy of the official site wherethebloodyhellareyou.com. See you soon.