Category: Movie

Last time we asked ChatGPT to write an essay about a Beijinger eating Chinese food in Norrköping, which made our readers feel nostalgic. This week we watched Titanic in the movie theater on Valentine’s Day and were surprised by the laughter we heard when Jack’s body sank into the ocean. So we asked ChatGPT and here is the answer.

It’s difficult to know for certain why some young people might laugh when they see Jack’s body sinking into the ocean in the film Titanic, as everyone’s reactions and emotions are different. However, it’s possible that some viewers might have found the scene uncomfortable or awkward to watch and may have responded with nervous laughter as a way to cope with the intense emotions of the moment.

It’s also possible that some viewers might not have fully understood the gravity of the situation and the impact of Jack’s death, especially if they were young or didn’t have a strong emotional connection to the character. Additionally, some viewers might have found the scene to be a bit melodramatic or over-the-top, which could have also elicited a negative or humorous reaction.

It’s important to note that everyone processes and reacts to emotional situations differently, and there is no right or wrong way to respond. However, it’s important to be respectful and sensitive to the feelings of others, especially when it comes to tragic events and depictions of death.

In the past, my impression of Hong Kong movies was largely shaped by the Phoenix Movie Channel. It seemed to play the same movie every time I turned it on, giving me a feeling akin to watching Tom and Jerry: always oscillating between humor and silliness.

I recently watched the 1987 version of A Chinese Ghost Story featuring Leslie Cheung and Joey Wong. It struck me as similar to A Chinese Odyssey. These Hong Kong films, often regarded as classics, generally have a cohesive plot, era-appropriate actors, and just the right dose of melodrama. It was only as the narratives grew more extravagant and the golden era faded that they seemed to lose their way.

In the film, a timid scholar is thrust into a whirlwind of bizarre energy due to an erotic encounter — or rather, an erotic dream. This might be what some refer to as “a grand love”. While the love story portrayed is captivating, it’s essential not to view such narratives as a model for real life. Can Ning Choi San truly make Nie Xiaoqian feel safe? It’s an intriguing question.

A quote from The Water Level of Perception reads, “I think the reason why so many people are constantly falling in and out of love, lamenting and griping about it — aside from the undeniable chemistry — is that love is a theater with minimal costs and a low ‘barrier to entry’.” I’ve always felt there was a flaw in this notion, but I couldn’t quite articulate my dissent.

It’s unclear whether the director is young or if it’s intentional, but The Crossing gives the audience a sense of detachment even during the most vital action, as if each character is just “passing through”. The most impressive part of the movie is the “brotherhood” Peipei felt in the smuggling gang.

Many years ago, I was invited by a friend to participate in a “cooking exchange,” where a dozen people took turns cooking in an apartment, judging each other and eating together, and the lively atmosphere is still unforgettable. Of course, as the event progressed, it became clear that this was not just a weekend party, but that each of the “brothers and sisters” was also an Amway distributor. Although I never contacted them again, I still believe that the enthusiasm I felt that day was not just about sales.

As Xiong Peiyun writes in his book Rediscovering Society, “Civil society is a good thing,” and whether for Peipei, young people involved in direct marketing, or older individuals “working for” health care companies, there is an urgent need for a healthy civil society. Sometimes people take risks or get stuck in the mud just to get recognition and respect when they should have better options.

I watched Dead Poets Society while in college, on the recommendation of a roommate whose high school teacher had shown it to the class. The only entertainment available on the small TV in front of our classroom was the World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

I think maybe it was because our middle school was so small that only when there were a certain number of teachers could one or two outsiders appear. However, one of the male teachers who taught us labor class seemed to be different. Simply put, the class consisted of listening to him talk about Jack London’s Love of Life and analyzing the concept of advertising design, in short, interesting topics outside the textbook. After all these years, the faces of many of the “regular” teachers are fading, but the look on his face when he was teaching is still vivid in my memory.

My roommate went to New Oriental right after graduation, and I am not sure if he played Dead Poets Society in his class or if he is still a teacher.

On August 26, 2005, 21-year-old Li Yuchun was voted the winner of Super Girl. Two weeks later, the movie Waiting Alone starring Xia Yu, Li Bingbing, and Gong Beibi was released. Xia Yu was 29 years old that year, and director Dayyan Eng was 30. Like the blue sky and colorful music in the movie, that year seemed to mark the last golden age of Chinese pop culture.

The story begins in a bar, and it seems that only the bar in Waiting Alone is full of youthful beauty and hormones. Similar scenes in subsequent movies always make people feel impatient.

The plot of the movie is simple: Xia Yu, who likes to write fantasy novels and runs an antique store for a living, falls in love with Li Bingbing, but Li Bingbing chooses a rich man. Gong Beibi has been secretly in love with Xia Yu for years, but Xia Yu only treats her as a friend. In the end, the movie ends with the line “Dedicated to the one who slipped away from you.” You can certainly see it as a boy-romance, but there are some parts that are suspicious. For example, Li Bingbing, the girl who haunts Xia Yu and male moviegoers, is probably just a “particularly annoying person” to women.

So why the discrepancy? From a boy’s point of view, his romantic history may also become his bragging history. For example, Wang Shuo once wrote in Animal Fierce:

“This story, which I started to tell with a sincere desire, has become full of lies through my enormous, persistent efforts. I am no longer sure what is true, what happened, and what is false, stolen, or just made up.”

If so understood, Li Bingbing’s return to the small antique shop for the reunion might not have happened. Gong Beibi has been playing with Xia Yu since childhood, but the train platform farewell might be Xia Yu’s imagination. The whole “youth story” is perhaps the best “ghost story” written by Xia Yu. That is why we say “I know/blow through the bull/will also be with youth a laugh away/let me trapped in the city/to commemorate you” – waiting alone.