B: How did you like Chen Kaige's new movie?
Nǐ juéde Chén Kǎigē de xīnpiānr zěnme yàng?
à觉得陈凯歌的新片儿怎么样?
A: I don't think it was very good. After watching it I couldn't believe that Farewell to My Concubine was also his film.
Wǒ rènwéi bútàihǎo. Kànwán zhīhòu wǒ jiǎnzhí bùgǎn xiāngxìn 《Bàwáng Biéjī》yěshì tā pāi de le.
我认为不太好.看完之后我简直不敢相信《霸王别姬》也是他拍的了.
B: You're right. It really doesn't compare to that. It seems that his talent is running out.
Nǐ shuō de duì. Zhè bù quèshí bùnéng gēn nà bù xiāngbǐ. Tā sìhù jiāngláng cáijìn le.
你说得对.这部确实不能跟那部相比.他似乎江郎才尽了.
You can prepare some specific comments for different directors. For Zhang Yimou, you can say, "The composition of picture was really nice, but the storytelling was not very good"; for Feng Xiaogang, it could be, "I don't know why his recent works are not as interesting as his New Year movies"; and as for Ang Lee, you can relax and say "Lee never disappoints me, except for the Hulk movie which was a steaming pile of garbage."
These comments of course aren't 100 percent fact (except for the Hulk comment which was, again, actual garbage), but hey, it's just your opinion.
Talking about quality is kind of risky. But if the movie is popular, you will definitely hear some voices around you and you can adapt them into your own views. Common sense dictates that criticism is always justified in certain areas—such as the special effects.
Chinese has a wonderful phrase for this: five-mao special effects (五毛特效), frequently used to describe cheap, embarrassing special effects befitting the half yuan note.
"The Fine Art of Faking It" is a story from our newest issue, "Internet Celebrity". To read the whole piece, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine. Alternatively, you can purchase the digital version from the iTunes Store.
Article by Sun Jiahui (孙佳慧)
