Hollywood Domination Chapter 224: Movie Critic Praise

How important the annual Oscars are to filmmakers, you can only see the strategy for winning the awards. Some films for the Olympics will determine the route for winning the awards before the filming is finished and the production company will even No expense spared, even if the money spent has exceeded the possible profit, they will also spend money to hold various awards banquets, and contract the cost of overseas publicity for the crew. For example, Disney, if "Michael Clayton" falls into their hands Even if it spends as much publicity expenses as the cost, Disney will not blink, because since the Weinstein brothers left and Miramax has gradually completed the projects left by them, they will be at the Oscars. Even if it is for their own face, Disney is willing to spend money, not to mention leading actors like Jenny and Daniel, even if it is a new actor in the film, as long as the performance is bright, the agent is a little bit better. It would be easy to persuade Disney to come forward and contact the media to hype him up, which also adds some topics and hot spots to the film.

But for "Michael Clayton", things are not so beautiful. This film was jointly developed by Time Warner, Big Dream, and George Clooney. Now George has an attitude of waiting to collect money. It is impossible to spend an extra penny for them to go for awards for the film, of course, this is also understandable. For Time Warner, Jenny is obviously a member of the Disney family. It is no problem to co-produce a film and make money together. It is expected that they will be enthusiastic about winning awards for Jenny, and even for "Michael Clayton". It’s an unreasonable idea. Since you, Jennifer, have such a strong voice during the filming, not to mention the exclusion of the leading actor, even the final cut was made under your interference, so you have to bear the responsibility in the operation. The corresponding responsibilities did not mention that you are arbitrary and make a lot of profits, and then wait for Warner to pay for you when it comes time to claim the prize. Simply put, "Michael Clayton" is not Warner's biological son, so don't expect Warner to pay much attention to it.

As for Jenny, she also has a very clear judgment about this year's form: money can be spent on winning the best picture or best actor, but it is not enough to spend it on winning awards for her. There is not much hope, it would be great for Jenny to get an Otti, and as far as she judges, no matter whether it is the owner or the match, the Otti of hers is very safe.

It's not that she is too arrogant. Jenny will make the following judgments. The first is because she has confidence in the quality of the film and her acting ability. Another point is that she has created an Oscar record after all. No matter how bizarre or coincidental the character who took over the lead role, it is a fact that he got it in the end. Oscar's credibility has been tied to her since then. The more Jenny's strength is questioned, the greater the damage to Oscar's credibility. The 2006 Oscars will definitely become a shame in the history of Oscars, so even if it is for themselves, the Oscar committee will be very enthusiastic to help her endorse and confirm Jennifer Jefferson's status as an acting genius and school of acting, so that the accident of the year will eventually end. It will also become a legend. There was no way for the 2007 Oscars. Jenny didn't compete for the Olympic film at all. Since she has an Olympic film for this year, as long as her performance is above the standard, an Otis will definitely not be able to escape, let alone her in "Michael Klein" The performance in "Dun" is indeed an improvement and a breakthrough, which she can also get affirmation from the production team.

However, Otti does not mean that he can win the award. Generally speaking, unless the actor has a miraculous performance and unlucky luck, it is impossible to win consecutive awards in a few years, or even re-elected. Take Hanks as an example. His "Philadelphia Story" in 1993 was extremely politically correct and catered to the needs of the media and society at that time to face up to and challenge AIDS. The process was performed vividly and soul-stirringly. In addition, he was 38 years old at the time, and he had also had important works such as "Flying Over the Future" and "Sleepless in Seattle" before. "Forrest Gump" is another masterpiece, its politics are more correct than "Philadelphia Story", Forrest Gump is simply the representative of the American dream and the American spirit, it is not only a big box office hit, full of topics, it is very in line with the appetite of the judges, Moreover, Tom challenged the role of Forrest Gump, a mildly mentally retarded patient, broke through himself again, and contributed an extremely wonderful performance. With the blessing of divine films and divine characters, it would be unprofessional for the judges not to vote for him—this trend overwhelms everything, and he won the Oscar winner for consecutive years, becoming the second actor in history to win this honor.

Of course, being re-elected and winning awards at very short intervals was not so difficult to replicate in the golden age, or the era when the Oscars were just established, but considering the rapid development of Hollywood, the cake of movies is getting bigger and bigger , there are more and more companies, the era of big studios is gone forever, the influence of black-box methods on the Oscars is getting weaker and weaker, and it will become more and more difficult to repeat such a miracle. In other words, the interval between two Oscars in the same department is likely to be more than five years. During these five years, unless you make a miraculous breakthrough and bring a masterpiece like "Forrest Gump", no matter your performance No matter how good it is, if you take the life of Otti, it is enough to give you Otti. The judges are based on a balanced mentality, and it is impossible for the judges to vote for you when voting to determine the award. Even for some unlucky actors, this kind of mentality will still be cross-departmental. Whether it is a leading role or a supporting role, after winning an Oscar, you will have to wait five or six years for the next one. No matter how good the performance of the film is compared to the competitors, as long as the judges consider it comprehensively and feel that your qualifications are not worthy of two Oscars, they will not vote for you.

According to Jenny's qualifications, "The Fifth Sally" and "The Devil Wears Prada" are actually at the level of Otti, but by coincidence, they both won the award. You can know it by doing a simple arithmetic problem, at least five years to In ten years, she will only get a few more nominations. Meryl Streep has only two Oscars so far. Will her acting skills be inferior to Jenny? She didn't even have a third one, and Jenny wanted to take it again, at least until she got the third one. But Daniel, he is currently an Oscar, compared to his reputation as a **** of acting, and the pedigree of Arthur Miller's son-in-law, one seems to be a little less, and that one is "My Left Foot" 17 years ago , Jenny felt that he had more hope of attacking the hero.

Since this is the case, if Karen reports the heroine, "Michael Clayton" will have a stronger momentum for the best picture. If it is nominated for the best director, it means that there are nominations for all four awards. This kind of momentum marketing "Michael Clayton" is very beneficial to the image of a deep word-of-mouth film. If it can get the relatively best among the best picture candidates box office, then the possibility of being selected as the best film is very high. ——This is the subtle mentality of the Olympic judges. While paying attention to artistry, they also hope to take into account commercial aspects. After all, no one wants the Oscars to become less and less popular. Therefore, after being nominated, the box office The higher it is, the more favorable it is to win the award. Combined with the media reputation, the possibility of "Michael Clayton" hitting the best picture cannot be said to be sure, but at least it can be given a chance.

"So," Jenny concluded, "reporting to be a heroine is the best configuration."

"Yes," Cesare nodded, he adjusted his angle to avoid the direct sunlight on his face, "This will also be a good compensation for your 'Heroine Reporting Female Supporting' incident the year before last. "

Compared to "The Fifth Sally" taking the heroine, "The Devil Wears Prada" taking the supporting actress is even more unacceptable, and it is also the biggest excuse for r to mock her on the Internet. After all, her role is obviously the heroine , Forcibly changing to a female supporting role, giving people the impression of being utilitarian, and the food is indeed not very good-looking, a feeling of lack of confidence in oneself. Applying for the role of Karen as the heroine gives people a sense of confidence and strength. When the nomination is basically guaranteed and the award is basically out of the question, applying for the heroine is a decision that is beneficial to all parties. The only one What needs to be given up is just the faint hope that being a female supporting role is more likely to win the award.

But Jenny didn't point to this at all, she didn't have the budget to win an Oscar this year, "Since it's a joint decision, it's fine, but in this way, we will have both the Golden Globes and the front-end awards." Report to the heroine."

In order to ensure the award, it is common for the Golden Globe to report to the owner and Oscar to apply for the match, but it seems too scheming for the Golden Globe to apply for the leading role in order to win the award. Cesare nodded and said with relief, "You still have hope in the front awards. After all, there are not many local actors who can compete with you this year, and you still have a certain advantage. What's more, so far, the film critics The feedback from people is very good, and you should have taken the lead in the Film Critics Association Awards."

Jenny breathed a sigh of relief, started walking again, and left the summer Christmas tree that New Zealanders love so much. Cesare put on sunglasses and followed her, and opened a parasol for her in a gentlemanly manner.

"I don't take these awards so seriously now," Jenny said old-fashionedly, "I don't feel that they have any meaning, and what effect they will have on me."

"You say that because you are getting good reviews now," Cesare mercilessly poked at Jenny's hypocritical side, and changed the subject again, "Seriously, no one in the crew is right. Do you have any objections to the shape of your parasol? Do you have any comments on your behavior of holding an umbrella even in the middle of winter?"

He's right. The reason why Jenny is not interested in these reviews is entirely because so far, "Michael Clayton" has received almost all positive reviews. ——The first test screening in Chicago achieved very good results. The five film critics present were full of praise for the film itself, the performance of the actors, and the skill of the director. Jenny and Daniel were highly regarded by the five authoritative film critics. This year's Oscar is a hot topic. Although Mary failed to answer whether Jenny planned to play a leading role or a supporting role, it was somewhat inconvenient for the film critics who were dedicated to cultivating and supporting her, but they were still very sincere, avoiding the number of roles, to determine whether she is On the premise that the leading role is still a supporting role, I greatly advocated for her, and also expressed my understanding of Jenny's appearance in commercial films such as "Caribbean". It can be regarded as an authoritative status, ending the black acting trend that started with "Caribbean 2".

"It is worth noting that Jennifer's ambitions in commercial films are as big as her ambitions in art films. She seems to intend to use fighting scenes to accumulate capital for her own attempts in literary films. Through "Michael G. Leighton, she has proven she can play powerful, dark characters with an energy that can tear audiences apart, but Michael Crichton will never get anywhere near as Pirates of the Caribbean There are thousands of households, and this young actress does not want to be forgotten by the public, and has lived in art theaters ever since."

In Derek's film review and interview article, he wrote profoundly and sharply: Jennifer is also outspoken about her intentions. She blinked her big green eyes and asked innocently, 'Why? no? I don't think the public wants to see something lighthearted, fun, something that gets their adrenaline pumping, and I don't think that's an inferior need, and of course, I can play characters that are the opposite of those needs, people who trigger thinking by being unpleasant Movies, I can ditch my looks, but that doesn't mean I don't like hearing people compliment me on my looks, I mean, why can't we have both? ’

Yeah, why can't she have both? This 26-year-old girl has everything in the world, beauty, talent, confidence, and courage. She is not like the actresses I know. Think of Charlize Theron, the same actor who gained attention through her beauty and then ruined her beauty to win awards. I think this act itself is a kind of performance art, and it is a profound irony of human instinct. When they are beautiful, their acting skills will not disappear, but unfortunately, I am afraid that not many people will notice this, this human instinct Forcing them to make a choice, destroying one side of themselves, so that the other side - the side we claim to value most, gets everyone's attention, while the public also boasts that they are the deeper side, contemptuously comparing beauty and Superficiality is equated.

In fact, for Jennifer Jefferson, acting in a commercial film is not a rash decision, but the result of careful consideration. She is not afraid of the ensuing storm of film criticism, and does not care about the harsh comments made by film critics , because she knew she could conquer them all if necessary.

"Oh, I rarely read those [reviews]," she said, laughing candidly. "Of course, after Pirates of the Caribbean 2, everyone cursed at me, even you. Disappointed, but I know what I'm doing, I know how good I am, I know where I can go, I'm just - of course I appreciate the criticism but it doesn't mean I'm lost ...I love commercial films as much as I love art films, and I think entertaining the masses is a very challenging job, but also very rewarding, as meaningful as touching a small number of people deeply. For the foreseeable future , I will still try to take care of both and find a balance. I don’t think this is a bad thing. No one stipulates that an actor can only focus on one aspect. The box office I got in "Pirate" is very important for me to take over "Michael Clayton I believe my name will also help some people who are not interested in art films go to the cinema to watch "Michael Clayton". It's not about profit and box office, but about how much you can help People find interests they were not familiar with."

With her eyes sparkling in the New Zealand sun, this girl is convinced she's doing the right thing, and I can't help but ask myself, after seeing Michael Clayton, who deserves to be here? What about denying her? She is only 26 years old, already has two Oscars, and a cumulative box office of more than 2.9 billion (not long after this article comes out, with the release of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", this number will be even more shocking), what she is doing Almost ahead of the world and 99.9% of practitioners in this industry, she is not only an outstanding actor, but also a courageous new producer and company operator. Her big dream movie is closely related to Disney. In 2006 Released two films, gave birth to an Oscar nomination, earned a cumulative box office of more than 100 million, and the return on investment reached 4:1-the first film she personally produced was a masterpiece such as "Michael Clayton", She is currently devoting herself to co-starring and producing the highest-investment film project ever made by Fox and Big Dream. After the project is completed, she will produce and star in a luxurious Marilyn Monroe biopic. Everything I do seems to be of great significance to Hollywood. Instead of evaluating or negating, I am more interested in watching and witnessing. Will she become the highest-grossing movie star in history? Will she get a third Oscar? Will she be the most accomplished female star of all time in Hollywood? With Jennifer Jefferson, it's hard to say 'that's impossible' these days.

——After such a film review and interview is published on "Variety Show", even if some people still laugh at her for acting in a commercial film, such an argument will no longer cause any disturbances and cause any fatal damage to her star career Affected, at least not until her art film is smashed. And this also indicates that after "Pirates of the Caribbean 2" suffered mocking and wave-like negative reviews, a dark cloud that has been hanging over Jenny's stardom has officially removed (although she has never had much real feeling about it) , It is an excellent promotion for "Michael Clayton". After all, it's pretty obvious that Derek Ellie would have to appreciate the movie and Jennifer a lot to write such an oblique, much-excused article setting the stage for her upcoming Pirates of the Caribbean 3 gag, And praised the breakthrough of Karen Crowder's character.

A "Variety Show" columnist like Derek itself means authority and professional status, as well as very solid credibility. His support may be bought with public relations, but his support It is not something that anyone can exchange with any bargaining chip. After all, credibility and appreciation are the foundation of his life. Will they show such an attitude, proving that Jennifer's performance in "Michael Clayton" is really supernatural, and that he really moved him-all five film critics with similar status have expressed such an attitude? Then "Michael Clayton" can never be a miss, and it must be the favorite of this year's Olympic Awards.

Watching a movie with such a pre-determined attitude, although film critics will still judge whether the movie is good or bad according to their own preferences, they will not blindly follow the authority, but at least they will definitely ensure that they have watched the movie seriously before drawing conclusions. The film, without missing any details, will be extra cautious before giving a bad review. ——This is the role of authority and word-of-mouth. With authoritative certification and its own word-of-mouth influence, once the status is established, as long as it is not a car accident, it is very easy to build momentum and get nominated, just say "Michael. Clayton, so far, has held previews in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and San Francisco, and received dozens of film reviews, and the word of mouth is also unanimously praised, and they all praised it as a perfect combination. Commercial and artistic, it discusses a serious topic fascinatingly. Both Daniel and Jennifer have broken through themselves... And it has been successfully sent to Venice, selected as the main competition unit, and honored to be selected as the winner of the Venice Film Festival. If the opening film can also be recognized in Europe, the style will naturally be higher, and it will naturally be more certain to win the Oscar for Best Picture.

Although she is not in the arena, her legend is still circulating in the arena. This is the best footnote in the recent period. At that time, Jenny herself returned to New Zealand to continue filming "Avatar" as soon as she finished the premiere of "Pirates of the Caribbean 3". For things like the award-winning strategy of "Michael" and the company's progress decisions on several projects, Cesare had to come to New Zealand to have an interview with her in person.

Of course, Cesare did not fly to New Zealand just for such a conversation. The crew of "Avatar" has been established for a year, and the investor wants to conduct a financial audit of Fox, the producer. Of course, this will inevitably anger Cameron, dragging down some filming schedules, in order to ensure the smooth connection between the accounting firm, Dameng’s financial department and the crew, this time Cesare personally led the team—this is also Dameng’s first time involved in the financial audit of the filming crew, according to As usual, Cesare also has to participate in person to learn and understand the know-how of this business.

Actually, when the two started their company, Cesare probably didn't understand as much as she did. After all, he was going to be an agent, not a film producer. But Jenny admits that she is not as good as Cesare in the field of rapid learning, and his continuous improvement speed is much faster than her. The gap between the two may not be large at the beginning, but after only two or three years, she herself I can't make a movie with ease, but I can safely hand over the big dream to Cesare to lead, and I don't need to worry about any omissions. Like this time, she was filming outside, and Cesare was working as a big housekeeper in Hollywood, coordinating the follow-up collection of several released projects, as well as "Marley and Me" and "Twilight" in preparation, Jenny is quite Don't worry, I'm not worried at all that the project will get out of control, or that Cesare will deviate from her opinions in some key areas and make decisions without authorization.

"For the crew, this degree of eccentricity will only make me more cute." She tightened her down jacket, grabbed the parasol to support herself, and answered Cesare's somewhat joking question, knowing that All conversations about business affairs are over, and we can chat casually next. "Give up persuading me to tan, I will never agree."

In the six years since her debut, Jenny has always been blonde. When filming "Iron Man", she dyed her hair red. It can be regarded as the maintenance of hair—this is her pitiful change in styling. Julian and Claudia both intentionally asked her to get a little tan to make her a wheat complexion that is quite popular in European and American aesthetics, but Jenny always takes a sip reject. She is 26 years old now, and she has already started to pay attention to maintenance. After all, she is usually very busy, and Caucasians are prone to aging. At this time, if there is excessive sun exposure, the skin will age as soon as it is exposed. The aging will definitely increase. By then When sunburn and sagging set in, she would have to resort to cosmetic injections, something she was trying to delay and avoid.

For her somewhat unpleasant attitude, Cesare just returned a polite smile, he hid the teasing in his eyes, but did not continue the topic, "By the way, the finished version of "Michael" has been cut out , I have won the position of chief producer for you."

"Huh?" Jenny was delighted and surprised, "but Sidney—then George—"

"Sidney is quite happy with it," Cesare said. "As for George, he's an executive producer."

The version that is going to be sent to Venice is definitely not a version without opening and closing credits and staff subtitles for film critics, and when it comes to adding subtitles, it is also particular about the title and order of the producers. There are many names, producer, executive producer, and production manager. These three can appear at the same time. Generally, the producer is at the top. The name under this column is the real producer, and the work is also It will be listed under their names and be regarded as a production work. And the column of executive producer is for celebrities and some high-level executives who have not really participated in the production process, but have given some convenience and help. The production manager is the person who actually does things—it’s a pity Yes, even though he did most of the work, the film doesn't count as his work, and it doesn't make it into her resume.

In the column of producers, the ranking is also very particular and important. Take Jenny as an example. In "The Devil Wears Prada", she was listed as the producer. Producer Wendy Goodman is leading the whole work and ranks above Jenny, so few people in the industry regard this film as her production work, nor do they think it reflects her production ability , Some people who are more mean may think that this is the result of Jenny's willful demands, and the film crew is just accommodating her.

The reason why Jenny wants to make "A Week with Monroe" by herself, instead of La Weinstein entering the game, is not only because she doesn't want to share the profits and be restrained by others, but also because once Weinstein gets involved in the production, even if the two of them work together If the column is listed, the public will think that Weinstein is behind the manipulation of this film, and she is only listed in the column of producer because of her high status and money.

But in "Michael Clayton", Daniel was the leading role she got. This matter has been spread. In some rumors, George is of course also excluded from the game. These are all showing Jenny's Dominance, when her producer ranking is still ahead of the big producer Sidney, it is unreasonable to count this film as her producer work, and the industry will really regard her as a producer Look at—this is also an important step for her on the road to being a player. And without Sidney's success, it would be impossible for Jenny to take the initiative to fight for this matter, and the old man's heart can be seen.

"Remind me to call Sidney and thank him." Holding a parasol, Cesare walked from the depths of the garden to a section of viewing plank road facing the cliff, admiring the city of Wellington while walking. Jenny was in a good mood, took a deep breath of the fresh air, and said with a smile, "I'm in love with New Zealand—it's a paradise here! It's so fresh and primitive, so free." Comfort - Cesare, don't be too surprised if I buy a house here and stay here forever, living here, I feel that I have no connection with Hollywood, it feels like I am in another world."

In New Zealand, paparazzi culture is almost non-existent. After all, the entertainment industry here is not well developed. The paparazzi who came from Hollywood quickly confirmed this point - Jennifer still doesn’t go to bars in New Zealand . That being the case, they couldn't take photos of Jenny entering and leaving the studio, so they withdrew within a few days. Jenny has lived the most free and happiest filming days since she became famous, with a fixed schedule, simple work, light workload, no paparazzi, and in an urban area with convenient transportation, even in an urban park with Cesare How could she not love Wellington when she walked without attracting any attention? Why don't you feel that there are two worlds here compared with Hollywood?

"It seems that there are movie theaters in another world." Cesare tapped a small building at the foot of the mountain with his chin. Looking down from their height, he could just see the signboard of the movie theater and the busy people in front of the movie theater. Parking crowd: On Friday afternoon, some companies are off work, so you can just watch a movie.

"Do you have to pour cold water on me?" Jenny glared at Cesare, just in time to catch him straightening his scarf, and she couldn't help laughing, "I see, this is definitely revenge, you Is this revenge for pulling you out for a walk? Cesare."

Cesare, like the average American, relies more on heating. He pays attention to appearance, and he does not choose down jackets and jackets as winter clothes. Walking in the park after fresh snow, it might be colder, but he pretended so well, Jenny didn't notice at all just now, and now that Cesare's knuckles were red from the cold, she joked and led him to the cinema , "James still has two hours to call it a day, it's still early for dinner, why don't we watch a movie together, well, the strong winter file "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" just released today, this is what you tried to remind me just now, why don't we just watch a movie together? How about going to see this movie?"

Cesare nodded reservedly, did not express any objection, but reluctantly withdrew his hand that had just been put in his pocket, turned his wrist and looked at the time, "4 o'clock in the afternoon, now, Los Angeles The midnight show should be almost over..."