Hollywood Domination Chapter 221: Chicago preview

"Roger, long time no see."

"Old friend, we meet again, you look really energetic—"

In a small private screening room in Chicago, whether it was Alan, Derek or Kenneth, they all stepped forward to greet Roger Ebert enthusiastically, and praised him sweetly However, they were very careful not to rush forward together, but came up to greet him one by one, leaving enough space for Roger to prevent him from feeling too heavy.

In an operation last year, Roger lost the ability to speak and his jawbone was removed. Now he can only eat liquid food through a special tube and communicate with people through handwritten notes, but even so, he He reappeared in front of the public two months ago, and he never stopped writing film reviews. As early as a few days after the operation, he began to write again. Now, although his body is still very weak, Luo Jay has started to insist on walking by himself, and came out again for "Michael Crichton", and once again came to this private screening room on Lake Street to enjoy the love of his life on the big screen: movies.

In order to cope with Roger's physical condition, and there is only one copy of the film now, Alan, Derek and Kenneth all readily accepted the invitation of Big Dream and flew to Chicago to participate in the first filming of "Michael Clayton". It is not only because of their curiosity about the film, but also because of their respect for Roger, an old man—it is this extraordinary professionalism that makes Roger achieve such a cross-industry career today. Influence.

Handwritten some notes, greeting old friends wittily, Roger with a vague smile on his face, handed the note to his wife Chaz, who read aloud, "Don't take care of me , let’s talk about the movie, I want to hear it.”

Several authoritative film critics looked at each other and smiled, Roger's old partner Richard Rope took the initiative to speak, "Speaking of Jennifer, have you all watched "Pirates of the Caribbean 3"?"

Although the release date is still far away, it will be in the middle of next month, but the global premiere was held as early as last week, and now local premieres are still being held around the world to promote momentum. Ticket warehouse cities will also have their own promotional activities. The local premiere in Chicago was held just a few days ago. Richard and Roger both attended. As for Alan, Derek and others, of course they attended the world premiere up.

"Of course, but Jennifer's performance didn't have too many surprises."

"Yes, it is in the same line as the second film. Of course, this is also understandable. The filming of the two films was originally done in one go." Several film critics also began to exchange opinions, "But after the surprise martial arts in the second film, The third part is not exciting at all in terms of narrative skills and story rhythm."

"There are too many clues in the story, and the ending is a bit sloppy."

"The appearance of some new characters is entirely to expand the Asian market, and it feels out of place with the film..."

"If you taste it carefully, everyone seems to have their own plan. You can feel that the director has a lot of ideas, but he doesn't pay enough attention to these details. Deep reason."

"But the box office should not be too bad."

"Absolutely, for the third part of the trilogy, the box office will definitely go up...I heard that most forecasting agencies have raised the global box office to 1 billion... This year's box office champion should be "Pirates" That's right, unless "Transformers" can give us some surprises. "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek 3" only got around 300 million. As long as "Pirate 3" has the level of the second part, then it will surpass them. No problem."

The domestic 400 million is somewhat a hurdle. Only phenomenal movies can achieve this level. "Shrek 2" also achieved this level, but the box office of the third film has shrunk. As for the "Spider-Man" series , did not hit this threshold.

"This year is completely the year of the third part of the trilogy, and "Bourne Shadow 3" will also be released in August."

"There is no doubt that it will be the third part with the highest quality."

"Indeed, without a doubt."

"Of course."

Film critics unanimously agreed that although they have not seen the finished product of the "Bourne Movie" series, they are full of confidence. For this masterpiece of action and spy movies, film critics and movie fans agree. It is a genre classic that is full of praise. Most of the film critics are looking forward to the third part with a reluctant attitude towards the end. Apart from Matt Damon's introverted performance, the "Spy Shadow" series is recognized as a film that relies on screenwriters and filmmakers. The director's excellent series, the cold and silent, iron-blooded and neat style of the whole film, the meticulous plot design, full of sense of substitution, and the details that make people feel very reliable... all the critics are full of praise, feeling that every Everything is a big meal, whether it is car chases, action or gun battle scenes, "Spy Shadow" can be shot very realistically, respecting the laws of physics very much, not as false as ordinary action movies, and even makes the audience feel Ridiculously funny. These all show that "The Spy" has an extremely strong and well-coordinated behind-the-scenes team. After all, these elements cannot be performed by actors, just like "Pirates of the Caribbean". Needless to say, she has won two Oscars. Although she is a little watery, it also proves her strength, and Josh's progress in the second and third parts is also very obvious, but even with these three good actors, plus the net A large number of supporting actors with the strength of Otti and Olympic awards are cast, and the final story is told in a mess, making people unable to sort out a main line after watching it for the first time, and the behavior of the protagonist group is also puzzling. — Regardless of the director's original intentions, the story has clearly gotten out of hand, which is what critics least like: audiences in theaters can't even figure out what's going on.

"Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3" is a vivid case of directors and screenwriters wasting good actors. In "Bourne Shadows 1 and 2", after the golden combination of screenwriters, directors and actors complement each other, film critics are very impressed with "Michael. Clayton is also very much looking forward to, Tony Gilroy is a very good screenwriter, "The Bourne" is exciting but has a long charm, combining commerciality and artistry well, "Michael... Clayton's theme will be more serious, but it has a stronger cast than Matt Damon, not to mention that even Daniel Day-Lewis was moved by this story, and film critics especially have high expectations for Jennifer's performance, After all, Daniel has proved himself once again in "There Will Be Blood" and brought them a very enjoyable two hours, but Jennifer's "Pirates of the Caribbean" series is very angry, it is like you walk into In a restaurant, you know that the head chef is Michelin-starred, but she only serves you a McDonald’s hamburger. Of course, if she cooks it, even a McDonald’s hamburger is better than others’, but you know she can There are so many better things for you than this.

"I hope Jennifer's performance will not disappoint," Richard said bluntly. Jennifer's role has been weakened, and new roles have attracted more attention. Although there are still fighting scenes, he believes that Elizabeth's role in the plot has been weakened to almost nothing, and can only be regarded as a large martial arts vase, so He is also quite dissatisfied with "Pirates 3". "It would be a pity if "The Fifth Sally" was a short-lived peak."

"She shouldn't have made so many commercial films..." Alan Morrison muttered, "Commercial films are too ruinous, look at Johnny Depp, he has gone astray, once the audience Tired of this, I really don't know how he can continue to maintain his position."

The audience seems to be interested in Johnny's weird performance style. In addition to "Pirates", the previous year's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" also achieved outstanding results. However, the film critics are more fickle and harsh than the audience. In "Pirate 1", many film critics were surprised and praised Depp's performance, but after he has handed over the report card with similar style time and time again, the film critics have already felt smoked, disappointed and disliked him. No matter how popular he is, it will be a little worse. Unless he makes a breakthrough again, in the foreseeable future, it will not be so easy to get an Oscar nomination that is strongly supported by film critics.

Based on this calculation, Jennifer's performance in "Michael Clayton" should not be the same as in "The Fifth Sally". Even if it was staged again, it would not be so likable, and the critics may be doubly disappointed because of it, thinking 'that's all she is'.

Chatted casually for a while, commenting on the films that have been released this year-"There Will Be Blood" is recognized as the most noteworthy film this year, "No Country for Old Men" plays the old man's card, in addition, with last year's "Hard Fruit" Sugar's up-and-coming Ellen Page also has a new film that attracts attention: this talented young actress made her debut with an independent film, and was praised as 'Young Jennifer Jefferson' as soon as she debuted, because of her acting skills and Jenny Like Ferr Jefferson, she was very mature when she debuted. However, she looks young, unlike Jennifer, who can act as a big star as soon as she debuts, full of aura. In the new film this year, Allen played a very surprising teenage mother. "Juno" will premiere in September. According to the distribution company Fox Searchlight, they intend to make this film for Allen.

Of course, it's just Otti, maybe part of the reason for doing this is that Allen is the Phantom Cat in "X-Men", and this film is also produced by Fox, but this also shows how much Fox has for Allen. confidence. After a period of low ebb, which is relatively rare for talented rookies, Allen is the first talented person to emerge, just like Jennifer Jefferson in 2003. Her dormant period is very short, and her strong rise seems to mean that A new era is about to begin.

"The change of actresses is too fast," Derek said with emotion, "Jennifer's rise seems to be only yesterday. Among the talented girls of her generation, some people didn't even get Otti, but now the next generation It has already started to hit the awards."

As he spoke, a familiar figure walked into the screening room - Jennifer Jefferson's assistant, perhaps called Mary - a pretty young girl who greeted everyone with an apologetic smile , walked to Roger and explained softly, "I'm very sorry, Roger, Jennifer wanted to come here in person, but "Avatar" is calling..."

The screening was originally set in Los Angeles. Later, Roger’s wife, Chaz, communicated with Jenny’s team about Roger’s physical condition and his desire to see the film. Jennifer immediately changed the screening to To hold it in Chicago, this is enough to give Roger face, Roger smiled effortlessly, wrote a note to express his understanding, Mary took out a note from her bag and handed it to Roger, and solemnly took out A CD was handed to the projectionist: this is also the only copy of "Michael Clayton" in existence, and Mary came here specially to deliver the copy this time.

Several film critics asked Mary about the progress of "Avatar" with some curiosity, but soon, as the soft lights dimmed, they all quieted down, and they found their seats in the theater in groups of threes , considerately vacated a large space for Roger, waiting for the opening of the film.

There is no opening title of the distribution company logo, after a rustling sound and white noise, the title title slowly lights up in a black screen, and with the rambling and excited phone message chanting, the movie officially begins.

"Dear Mike, of course you, who else can they send besides you?"

Following this excited monologue, several news-style snapshots appeared in the black background, zoomed in, and then disappeared in a flash. The film critics vaguely saw the top photo: a patient On the hospital bed, he showed a bitter face to the camera, and his family members stood beside him with frowning faces.

"Who else can you trust? I know you must be full of dust and complaints all the way, and you just want to get this matter over quickly..."

A flashback again, the green leaf logo, several newspapers, with a headline written in bold capital letters: 'Patients v. u/north Chemicals, when will the protracted lawsuit end. ’ Under the title bar, the photo just now is clearly in sight, but it is already a little blurry.

This opening monologue is upside-down, without any logic, and it can be easily heard. The speaker may have some mental problems, and he is not so stable and sober. To find himself on the sidewalk the 'poo' of the law firm Kenner, Bach, and Ledion, one of their toxic substances, doing everything to help big corporations continue to wreak havoc on civilization, It's like herbicides, heavy metals -- and as he speaks, images keep popping up, law firm names in newspaper headlines, pictures of victims, and when he says weed killers, 'Weed killers Aptly enough, the headlines of 'Agents Cause Cancer' flashed across the newspapers, and astute film critics have pieced together the entire backstory from his words and images: The lawyer should be Kenner, Bach & Ledion. A senior lawyer is representing u/north, a powerful and powerful company in the industry, to deal with the protracted litigation battle caused by herbicides causing cancer, and he already has a history of mental illness, and he is a bit relapsed by this task. Michael Crichton was off to clean up his mess.

Although he has lost the ability to speak, Roger Albert's body has also become very weak during the continuous painful operations, but his mind is more clear and ethereal because of this. In addition to these superficial information, He also has no trouble capturing the underlying gimmick: News takes up less and less space in newspapers over time. Clearly, for a time, the media wasn't paying that much attention to the case.

"I said to myself, 'This intense feeling is like something I've seen today, but it has to wait, it has to stand the test of time, it has to wait for its moment. And I Believe, the time has come, today is—'"

Background music is gradually intensified, and a picture of "now" has gradually appeared in people's eyes. An intern took a stack of documents leisurely, pushed a small cart to the brightly lit conference room, narration I also became more and more excited. When the music reached the climax, there was a sudden flashback, and a photo appeared on the screen: a pale, unfamiliar fat face, eyes closed, and a morgue could be seen in the background of the photo. table and some dissection tools. Film critics easily understood the meaning of this shot: at the beginning of the film, the narrator is already dead, or at a certain point in the film he will definitely die, and his death may be the key to the plot.

"Litigation, big corporations, cancer." Roger scribbled on a small piece of paper in hand, "a passionate opening, a little different from Bourne, but the essence is the same."

This is a habit of his. When watching art films in this screening room, Roger always writes these thoughts casually. After all, art films are different from commercial films, and there are many points where directors and screenwriters can concentrate their wisdom. It's too tiring just to memorize it in your head.

With these foreshadowings, when a lawyer handed the phone to Sidney Pollack in the conference room and told him that it was a call from a reporter who wanted to know the latest progress of the case, the film critics didn't understand at all. Instead, they all keenly realized that things must have changed after that phone message, otherwise the reporter would not have suddenly focused on this case again, and their interest had gradually disappeared.

After hastily dealt with the call, Sidney scanned the conference room with aura, "Damn it, where is Karen Crowder?"

The camera smoothly cuts to the bathroom. The briefcase with u/north on it is placed on the sink, implying the identity of the hostess. The faucet is not turned off. The following overhead shot also confirmed this: from top to bottom, starting from the top of the head, with brown hair roots, dull unkempt blond hair-dyed, the hair roots reveal this, and the state of the owner It doesn't look particularly good.

With one hand, Karen stretched out her hand and brushed aside the hair that covered her face. She took a weak breath, her eyelashes flickered, looked at the camera absently, and closed them again.

Whether it's the sweat marks on the underarms exposed by raising her hand, or her rare but real and delicate expression, they all pour information to the audience like a bucket of water: Karen seems to be a bit old, At least she is not a young girl in her 20s. Her sense of age is not strong, and she does not have the sense of disobedience of young people wearing old makeup—but she seems lifeless. In fact, Karen looks weak, desperate, and on the verge of collapse. His aura is so contagious, without the slightest affectation, as if the audience was pulled into the play in an instant, and they couldn't help trying to figure out this character. Why is she so weak? Are they going to lose the lawsuit? What is Karen's position at u/north, and this incident has a great influence on her? Will she break down next?

Roger Albert thought the same way, his breathing was slower than usual, his concentration was extremely concentrated, goosebumps appeared on his skin under his shirt, a kind of intuition cultivated by years of practice Passing through his mind, he was familiar with this trembling feeling and liked it very much: this is Roger's unique reaction when he sees a good movie and encounters a good performance.

Later for more than a second, before his thoughts caught up with his intuition, Roger narrowed his eyes, and realized with some shock: Karen Crowder—Karen Crowder, is Jennifer Jay Ferson!

Jennifer didn't appear disfigured, she should also wear makeup, it's not like the plain makeup at the beginning of "prada", it can be said that her face is not ugly, it's okay to say that she is beautiful, but any one Those who stare at Karen will not notice her beauty. The first thing they think of is her despair, their curiosity about her state, and—

Once again Roger doesn't know how to describe it, sometimes you just have that problem, there are no words for human beings to describe the most talented performances, the subtle gifts they show in this art, that This is a poetic way of deduction... This is a kind of touch that you can only praise with poetry. If it is only the beauty of flesh and body shown by Monica Bellucci in "The Beautiful Legend of Sicily", then maybe It can still be put into writing, but this kind of ordinary character, this kind of depressed and profound emotion-Roger didn't know what to say, and Karen didn't say a word, but what she sent was a wordless cry, she Every movement of her is a footnote to despair, you don't realize you're watching a movie, you don't realize who's playing her, all you notice is Karen, and only Karen, in all In the midst of despair, there is also a strange sense of tension pulling your attention and attracting your heartbeat, so that you will never feel bored with the long silent long shot. Karen didn't say a word, but Her performance seems to say it all.

Karen noticed the mess on her shirt, rubbed her sweaty underarms with her hands, looked up and looked around blankly: she was looking for soap, she was looking for a way to show up decently, she wanted She concealed her fragility, but in this search, her eyes became confused again, as if she was about to immerse herself in her inner world again, quietly despairing.

There were some noises outside the door. Karen's expression moved, and she straightened her shoulders alertly. She seemed to have suddenly returned to reality, and suddenly let out a long sigh—like a drowning person sucking desperately, which made people's hair stand on end , Then, she pulled out a stack of tissues and began to desperately wipe the sweat from her armpits.

The camera turned away, and with the sound of Cantonese TV, a messy Chinese auto repair shop and underground casino gradually became clear. Roger noticed the silhouette of Daniel, but he was not fully involved in the plot, but grasped the During the brief interlude, I thought in shock: "She...has changed to another way of acting?"

"No, I can't say it changed again." Roger then denied himself, "There is a sharpness in her acting, which is in the same strain as "Prada". There are a few passages in "The Fifth Sally" It is also used in the play, which should be a set of acting skills that she is familiar with and loves, and has gradually matured in recent years, with its own characteristics. Different from her "Chicago" and "The Notebook", those performance methods She was very mature when she first appeared on the stage, but compared with this set, the superiority and inferiority are obvious. It’s not that it’s not good, but compared with this one, both Roxy and Ellie seem to be less contagious—— It doesn't have the kind of power to directly hit the soul, yes, it can be said that the soul is missing!"

Compared to the virtuoso acting in "The Fifth Sally", as soon as Karen appeared on the stage, she overwhelmed Roger with her first-sounding appeal and expressive ability that she didn't know how to describe. It was almost— He estimated it—at least a 20-second long shot, with small movements, no dialogue, and a complete one-man show, but the character of Karen has completely stood up, and even attracted most of the attention, making the audience brainstorm. I calculated a complete story by myself based on the existing information...

"This girl has regressed, and "The Fifth Sally" is her peak... These statements about j.j are completely defeated by this long shot." Roger couldn't help tightening his pencil, and he suddenly noticed that he Unwritten: he had completely forgotten that there was such a thing as writing. "Anyone who has seen Karen will admit that Pirates of the Caribbean is a heart-wrenching waste of an actress of her stature, but if anyone dares to take her lightly after Pirates of the Caribbean 3, Kay Ren will definitely give them a loud slap in the face. "Michael Clayton" is a new peak of Jennifer's acting skills. The 'she's got it' feeling..."

Collecting his thoughts in time and suppressing the shock, Roger knew that he had enough time to analyze Jennifer's transformation, and the most urgent thing to do was to concentrate on enjoying Daniel Day-Lewis' performance. He moved in his seat, He pursed his lips and felt his own heartbeat: like a boy in his first love just about to meet his sweetheart, his heart was completely filled with joy and anticipation, the pain caused by the illness had long since disappeared without a trace, Roger seemed to enter the The great joy and satisfaction in the spirit suppressed all the discomfort. He held his breath and watched Daniel's outline change from blurred to clear, and watched the deep, depressed look on his handsome face. The lines——

With just such a glance, Roger is completely sure that this is definitely not Daniel's mistake-in fact, a joyful voice belongs to Roger's long-lost healthy body, just like the The voice of the young and active Roger when he encountered the movie was screaming with joy in his mind, "Masterpiece! Masterpiece! Undoubtedly, a masterpiece that is enough to be written into the history of movies!"