Hollywood Domination Chapter 351: Who deserves an Oscar?

"Fox will push "Avatar" to enter this year's Oscar for best film"

" Murdoch commented: 'I don't know why people find this incredible, 'Avatar' did something that 99% of the world's movies couldn't, it broadened the entire market and let us know where the future is headed '"

"Have sci-fi movies been treated unfairly? Oscar authority Weinstein said: 'I think it's time for Oscar to face up to sci-fi movies. It not only created a box office miracle, but also represented the core part of the movie. ——Imagination, sci-fi movies are the ultimate expression of imagination, and imagination is the source of film progress'”

"Oscar's selection method has been criticized? "Avatar" spokesperson said,'We will strongly invite the judges to go to the cinema and watch "Avatar" for real. Before that, we all know that most of the judges watch DVDs at home But that’s not fair to sci-fi movies, many movies that focus on visual effects, how do you experience the greatness of "Avatar" on a small screen?'”

"'Who is better between 'Millionaire' and 'Avatar'?' said Jennifer Jefferson. 'It's not a ball game. And "Avatar" changed the future of the film industry, both are equally great'"

If it is said that the continuous worries and mid-reviews before this made "Avatar" almost a hit in the eyes of the public, then from its London premiere, the story has undergone a dramatic change, and the box office And the crazy praise of the audience made the movie itself a social craze and a hot news source that all the media are paying attention to. Every audience who has watched "Avatar" has the feeling that they are one of the miracle creators, and they also want to know how far the movie they have watched can go: it is already January 14th, the movie It has been almost a month since it was released, but "Avatar" still ranks first in the hot topic list and box office list, and Fox is obviously a master of hype - as the movie itself continues to break historical records, this stalk slowly loses its freshness At that time, they started to use "Will "Avatar" win the Oscar for the best movie" as an excuse, and launched a new round of marketing hype, which immediately brought "Avatar" back to the core of attention, and even made this topic a topic. The focus of discussion among the general public has made Oscar's judging structure, selection practices, and even public relations tactics, which usually do not cause a wave of discussion, all of a sudden become news in everyone's eyes.

"I thought "Avatar" must be the best movie of the year-like "Titanic", 1.8 billion, and then 11 awards, isn't it? The box office is so high that the awards except Who else can it be given to?"

"Isn't this discriminating against sci-fi movies? Of course, "Millionaire" and "The Hurt Locker" and "In the Cloud" are good movies, but these can't be compared with "Avatar"? Their Is influence at the same level?"

Following the headlines on the front page of Fox’s newspapers and periodicals, the public quickly learned one new concept after another: the composition of the Oscar Selection Committee, Olympic films, Olympic elements, and Olympic discrimination... If we say this Many of them watch the Oscars every year, just to watch stars and song and dance shows. If they have a superficial understanding of the awards themselves, or are indifferent, then, under the mentality of "can the movies that shocked me make history?" Realizing that Oscar will be a rare affirmation for "Avatar" and Fox, people are much more enthusiastic about the Oscar selection process than before. I feel like my world has been shaken.

"It's hard to imagine that the Oscars turned out to be a classic example of racism - and of course sexism, so white, so old, so masculine, it sounds like the awards chosen by these people can only make people sick."

"If you don't go to the theater, how will you know how the movie will look? You see it on TV, it's called televised, no wonder they don't like special effects blockbusters - Fox is right, if you don't see it in the theater If not, "Avatar" will definitely lose 80% of its charm."

"The funny thing is, it's just an award in the film industry, I mean, how much does it change reality? But the lobbying that comes with it and the rules that go into it, it's even reminiscent of a presidential election! Lobbying companies! Public relations fees——should we legislate to limit the amount of donations per person..."

Among the voices of discussion among the public, the Oscar organizers are of course inevitably under more and more pressure, especially in terms of membership composition, which favors whites over blacks and boys over girls, which has caused them to receive fierce criticism from corresponding organizations. However, Fox publicly called on the judges to go to the cinema to watch "Avatar" amidst the voices of discussion, and declared that his lobbyists would also use this as the core of their propaganda, "Otherwise, what "Avatar" will face is injustice. The selection environment." - This also sparked a lot of discussion, and even some editors publicly wrote an article questioning the fairness of the Oscars, "This awards ceremony is watched by tens of millions of people every year, and we don't know who is selecting it, I think the judges should try their best to decide everything in the movie theater. This is the consensus, but who should the media ask? Where can we stop a judge and ask her if she walked into the movie theater and watched "Avatar"? If a judge He is so old that he doesn't even have the ability to go to the cinema to watch a movie, so does he also lose the ability to continue to vote for the best movie?"

Whether it's for the Olympics or not, in the discussion of this film, the argument that "if the judges can walk into the cinema, they will know that "Avatar" will be a movie that changes the times, and the best movie is well-deserved" , seems to have become the default premise of the general public, and the box office of "Avatar" has also continued to move forward steadily amidst the debate, and is heading towards the global 1.8 billion with a small decline that has always exceeded expectations. ——In the eyes of many people, "Avatar" didn't want to be the best movie at all, otherwise Fox would never adopt this extremely lethal coercive propaganda method, and white men over the age of 65 who accounted for the majority of the judges went to It's a deadly offense, but this round of publicity will definitely help the box office and the status of "Avatar" in film history. With this in mind, even if (out of ten) it doesn't get the best movie, "Avatar" will still be the best movie. The uncrowned king in the hearts of movie fans.

—Of course, in the wave after wave of upsurge led by the media, most people seem to have forgotten that the production company of "Avatar" also has Big Dream Movies, and wholeheartedly put Fox and News Corp. is behind the scenes. As for the role played by Jennifer Jefferson in New Zealand, I am afraid that only the top figures in Beverly Hills can guess about it. It's...

#

"Oh, Chris, so now you're going to be part of the face-changing crowd because of "Avatar"?" She opened the door of the nanny's car and walked into the villa where she lived for a short time in New Zealand under the guard of bodyguards. , Jenny switched hands to hold the phone, "Don't cry for me, I told you a long time ago, I am very optimistic about this movie, who is the one who quit because he felt that his acting skills were not good enough?"

On the other end of the phone, Chris said in an exaggeratedly angry tone, "It's still because you don't love me enough! If you loved me enough, you should have told me the 2 billion prediction at that time-so that I would not have to worry about it anyway." Will play for the money, say, are you just trying to trick me?—I knew you were, you ruthless Playboy—"

"Haha," Jenny was amused by him and laughed out loud - since the box office of "Avatar" has gradually increased, she has received a lot of calls, but there is no doubt that the phone call with Chris is of course the most relaxing and the most Makes her happy, "Actually, the amount you get for "The Hurt Locker" and "Avatar" is like a few million, and I don't think Fox will pay you a dividend - so in your case For me, it would have been better to be in The Hurt Locker, at least it got you a second leading actor nomination, didn't it?"

"It's hard to say when the nominations haven't been announced." Chris said in a reserved tone, but judging from his confident tone: Although it's hard to say who the actor will be awarded to, one The nomination should still be safe for him. “But The Hurt Locker didn’t make $2 billion, which puts me on the cumulative box office list—honestly, did your gut tell you it was going to make $3 billion? If so, would you Maybe it will really enter the ranks of leading actors at the cumulative box office."

"But it's still not comparable to Morgan Freeman, is it?" Jenny asked back, and then laughed, "Why, Chris, why did you suddenly pay attention to these meaningless records? Do you really want to play "Avatar"? If so, I can convince James to prepare a role for you in the sequel..."

"Let's forget it," Chris refused mercilessly, and said directly, "I also suggest that you should take less roles that don't have much room for development. If this continues, your actor The halo has been replaced by the halo of investors, if you still want to go on in the show, this is not a good thing.”

"Yes." Jenny exhaled, but she didn't feel much helplessness or regret, "But if I didn't take on "Avatar", I wouldn't be able to invest back then, and of course I wouldn't take such a role now Already, this step has been passed... What are your plans next? Do you still want to come back to act in commercial films? Are you interested in getting involved in manga adaptation?"

"You mean to play you in the "shero" sequel?" Chris said, "If you could see me, you would know that I was rolling my eyes at you-well, I already asked I passed Cesare, but we can discuss about taking over the show later. Now, I’m going to formally inquire about the news——Cesare said he doesn’t know about this matter, and I suspect he’s lying to me, but no matter what , I'm still coming to you directly - let Chesa know that I'm a man of kind - what do you think of the best movie of the year? By the way, before you ask: yes, I was ordered by the director, Come to find out the truth."

"Haha," Jenny laughed again, "Well, Cesare really didn't lie to you, he really doesn't know about this year's Oscar strategy, so you really can only ask me, or call Fox— ——If you are willing to act in their next commercial blockbuster, I think they will be happy to give you some first-hand information."

"Oh? So you are indeed directing "Avatar" to the Olympics?" Chris's tone became a little serious, and he said doubtfully, "Are you creating an opponent for "Millionaire"? Or Think "Millionaire" and "The Hurt Locker" have no chance of winning? But judging from the outpost awards, the game is not over yet, right?"

Although both parties are very busy, the relationship between Jenny and Chris has not been alienated because of this. Chris and Josh were also invited to her wedding reception. Furthermore, in the previous premieres, Chris had He brought his girlfriend to join him, and the relationship between him and Cesare is still very close and friendly. However, for some considerations at the company level, Jenny still didn’t tell Krisming: In fact, from the perspective of the money brought back, The return that "Avatar" can bring to Dameng must exceed that of "Millionaire". In addition, she is the producer of "Avatar", so if she wants to choose a direction, it is the best choice. For the film producer award, Jenny should be more inclined to "Avatar", but for the best director, she will support "Millionaire".

"I know what you mean, "Avatar" doesn't need the best movie to boost the box office, because its box office has almost drained its full potential, and "Millionaire" won the best movie, everyone Dreams can get more benefits." She didn't completely confess her point of view, but chose another angle, "It does make sense, but I am also the producer of "Avatar", and my professional ethics requires me to do "Avatar" "Avatar" tried its best, since I think "Avatar" still has hope to compete for the best movie, then I have an obligation to say it, don't I?"

"Okay, now that you've decided to stand on the high horse," Chris said sourly, "then of course, it's your duty - I'm going to hang up until you get back to the Jenny I know In the future, I will consider restoring friendship with you."

"Oh, shut up." Jenny said, "I broke up with you unilaterally, and we won't be able to restore friendship until after the Oscars are over-you are willing to be Catherine's thug for the best movie award, Chris, God curse you."

Both of them laughed out loud, and Chris was a little out of breath from laughing. They can't spend money on public relations, this is the tragedy of small companies, this **** society!"

Although Chris has suffered enough to make this movie, Chris's performance in "The Hurt Locker" has not yet reached the point where he can win a second Oscar. The actor should belong to Jeff Bridges in "Crazy Heart". Although the film itself is relatively average, his performance is remarkable. In addition to his seniority, he has also won many nominations. Since the awards month, he has almost won all the awards. If there is no accident, the Oscar should be in his pocket. Even if Chris's PR is crazy, it will be difficult to change this, so he simply gave up, just like Jenny , It's all mixed nominations - Jenny didn't even conduct public relations for the Olympic nominations, and it is very likely that even this nomination for Best Supporting Actress will be PRed out by Penelope Cruz, who wants to prove herself very much.

When it comes to the best movies, this year can be regarded as a year of excellent works. In addition to "Avatar", "Millionaire", "The Hurt Locker", "In the Clouds", "The Ninth District", " Growing Education" and even "Up" are actually works with outstanding reputation, skills and ideas. Among them, the biggest advantage of "The Hurt Locker" is that it is completely politically correct, while the disadvantage lies in the producer. They are indeed very poor. In this timeline, their cash chain is quite tight for those who did not win "Twilight". The propagandist can only use all the ways to save money for publicity - for example, Chris has generously prepared his own promotional suits to attend various occasions before, and he has covered many projects that should have been paid for by the film studio. This kind of professional attitude It also allowed him to be praised by the industry, because after all, as he said, he had no hope of winning an award, and his performance in this movie did not get much good reviews. Even if "The Hurt Locker" won the award, it is true His improvement is far less obvious than that of the director.

"Dameng didn't spend too much money on the public relations of "Millionaire"." This obvious fact, Jenny didn't mean to hide it, she said honestly, "We evaluate the "Millionaire" The box office has achieved its set goal. Even if it wins the big prize, it is just another round of hype, but now it has enough attention. There is no need to invest too much in the prize, and there is not enough profit margin in the rest Under the circumstances, the more investment, the lower the rate of return."

"You sound more and more like Cesare." Chris said with a smile, "the rate of return, the profit margin, blahblah—"

"I think company bosses all sound alike," Jenny said, "after all, the Oscars are a business too—but don't despair of "The Hurt Locker," though Fox is now willing to "Avatar" costs money, but based on people's old beliefs, it still has a slim chance of winning the best movie, doesn't it? It's hard to say how the judges will feel about Fox's PR strategy. Maybe they don't know how to appreciate "Avatar" "What is the greatness of it? Who can tell."

"Ah, so it seems that you really think that "Avatar" is worthy of the award." Chris said in surprise, "It's not because you are the producer, is it? "Millionaire" is not fair - if you want me to be honest, then regardless of the identity of the starring role, I think "Millionaire" is more qualified to win the award. Its biggest weakness is that it is not based in the United States, and the judges There's so much stuffy mental white **** out there—you know what I mean."

"I get it, of course Forrest Gump-style Millionaire is a little more fun than The Hurt Locker, which is a little too orthodox, but if you ask me , I will still say that I think "Avatar" is the most qualified to win this year... This is my honest opinion, not because of its box office - but what its box office reveals, a new kind of The filming method, the development direction of the film, and the creative special effects display methods,” Jenny’s tone became serious, “I think it’s time for the Oscar’s evaluation criteria to change. They have always ignored science fiction too much. And special effects, too much emphasis on story and shooting techniques, why does everyone think that "Avatar" can't get the best movie? Because we all know that innovations in special effects, changes in the entire industry, and even a new way of telling stories, Those innovative and bold shots, these are not as suitable as political propositions, and they are not as good as those movies specially created for the Oscar industry chain-in order to win the award, their careful and stable shots are not even lost to commercial masterpieces. Vulgar. Of course, there are always some art films that get the favor of the Oscars. They are also part of the entire ecosystem. Without them, the entire film industry will become lifeless. Taking the Oscar's preference for them will make the way for art films. It is more difficult to go, but it should be a matter of some smaller awards to commend them. As the most watched movie award, if the best movie selected by the Oscars always makes the general public not interested in watching, then this It would be a lose-lose ending, wouldn't it?"

"Looks like you don't think the Oscars are commercial enough—even though they picked you for "Week With Monroe" last year," Chris sarcastically quipped, but quickly got serious." But I see what you mean, you think the Oscars should take its advocacy into account, don't you? If it recognizes the greatness of "Avatar" and awarded best film to the story is not outstanding, and even the whole story structure is a bit trite Old-fashioned it, it's going to be a game-changer for the whole film industry, isn't it?"

"I really think this can lead to a win-win situation," said Jenny, who is discussing with Chris now that it's not about the benefits of the movie itself. Greetings, "At least in the past few decades, the distance between Austrian films and commercial films has become wider and wider, and the highest box office that the two can achieve has a big gap. On equal terms, according to the current development trend, the two roads will diverge farther and farther. If Oscar chooses the old road, its influence in the future will become weaker and weaker. Think about it, if winning the Oscar award will affect the If the box office has no effect at all, what motivation does the film studio have to promote? This will certainly not be the decline and death of commercial films, of course, the decline and death can only be the Oscars."

"Although what you said makes sense, I'm still not so optimistic about "Avatar"'s Olympic journey—according to your logic, the first color movie should also win an Oscar," Chris said, but He quickly denied himself, "No, it should be the first color film that has received a huge response to win an Oscar..."

His voice became smaller and smaller, and Jenny laughed triumphantly: In the era when the film industry and the Oscars were first created, the combination of commerciality and artistry was actually very close, and most of the good movies could win Good box office and awards, so logically speaking, the first color movie to achieve a huge response must have won an Oscar, or in other words, in an era when the box office gap is not so obvious, a criterion for judging whether it can achieve a huge response , it is Oscar. Chris is like lifting a rock and shooting himself in the foot, and the trap he set traps himself.

"Forget it, stop paying attention to this matter." Once he realized that he had completely lost the debate, Chris quickly switched to a new topic, "When are you going back to Los Angeles? I saw a I have some interest in the script—it is a commercial film, and there is no investment yet. If Dameng is interested, then I will also bring funds into the game, and we can meet and chat with the screenwriter and producer."

"With my current worth, you actually arranged a meeting for me so easily?" Jenny said feigned anger, but soon laughed, "Of course it's no problem, you can email the script to me And Chesa, I'll be back in Los Angeles in about two weeks, we'll see you then..."

She hung up the phone and gestured to Joss apologetically, "I asked you to wait for me again—as usual, I invite you for dinner—I will turn off the phone now."

Although the cooperation with Joss is quite pleasant, Jenny still attaches great importance to the editing work of "Code Shero". During this time, she almost stayed in New Zealand. A lot of time was spent on supervising the editing work, not because I was afraid of Joss' random editing, but because I hoped that I could make up for some of Joss' shortcomings preventively by virtue of my own advantage of watching "The Avengers": Maybe it was a TV director. In the few movies directed by Joss, Jenny couldn’t feel the relaxed rhythm. This is one of his few shortcomings. Maybe in the Avengers, because of the group portrait Many, this shortcoming has been blurred in the past, but "Code Shero" is a single protagonist movie, and the audience will feel it immediately if the rhythm is chaotic-in addition, there is also his taste in music, which Jenny believes has room for improvement place.

Generally speaking, directors hate the management that interferes a lot, but with Jenny's current status and her usual humble style, Joss hides any thoughts in his heart, but often hugs him. Came here to ask advice and discuss with a humble attitude. The two of them had the intention of learning and making progress together, and the relationship was not alienated because of this, especially after the explosion of "Avatar", Jenny, as a producer, immediately became a hero of special effects An expert in the film, how could Joss mind her talking on the phone? He laughed and said, "Oh, come on, I was the one who came in without knocking, and you have nothing to be sorry about—free, insider information, in fact? I'd be happy for hours if you guys could keep chatting. Willing to listen."

"Hahaha, it seems that everyone is curious about "Avatar". Are you daydreaming about winning an Oscar for "Code Shero"?"

"I don't deny that from now on, it will join my fantasy package," Joss laughed, and he turned on several computers in front of the editing stage, and said while debugging the equipment, "but to be honest, in Before I heard your call with Chris, I thought it was just another Fox hype - I didn't expect you to really think that "Avatar" was eligible for the best picture competition - so the huge publicity outside is also a big deal. A competitive strategy? Bind "Avatar" with technological innovation and sci-fi movies, and market this concept so that people forget its older story core?"

"If you switch to film marketing, you must be an expert in this field." Jenny said jokingly, "Joss, it's a good thing you left some business for us, otherwise what should we do?"

"I feel that you are laughing at me instead." Joss glared at her, "Of course, it is not difficult to come up with ideas when you know the answer, but the creation of ideas is the real core competitiveness Isn’t it? But I’m still very confused about this point—you’re really not afraid that the judges will be biased because of such a publicity strategy, and you deliberately don’t vote for "Avatar"?"

"So we chose to start this kind of publicity after the nominations were announced." Jenny didn't mind teaching Joss a trick, she said with a smile, "Anyway, if you don't do public relations, you won't get the award anyway, so why not take a gamble , anyway, Fox has plenty of money to waste, and they're eager to get "Avatar" to win an award - think, if it did get 3 billion at the box office and best picture at the Oscars... there's this Vision, Fox is willing to spend a lot of money on it.”

"Well, this is putting hope on the quality of the movie itself and the professionalism of the judges." Joss thought for a while, and said smartly, "You expect the judges to be stimulated by public opinion—"

"Also to prove that I'm not old enough," Jenny laughs, "enough to walk into a movie theater and watch a movie, we hope they can walk into the imax hall as much as possible with the help of the lobbyists we send Then, whether they can shock their world and change their views, then they have to watch the movie itself—from this point of view, Fox’s astronomical spending is indeed only a fair competition opportunity .”

"That's why I don't like comprehensive awards," Joss shook his head and expressed his opinion readily, "These competitions are too political, even more complicated than state elections. It's like an election Well, it’s not the power of the people that rules everything—here, of course, the quality of the film, but something bigger and uglier.”

"Something that Serenity is fighting to the death, isn't it?" Jenny smiled, and in Joss's bright eyes, she said, "Actually, you're right, compared to premieres and commercial receptions, those symbols In a meal of power and status, I would rather stay in the editing room, in front of the camera, at least during the time when the red light is on, your world is indeed very simple..."

"Yes, this feeling is better than winning an award—of course, because I have only won a few Saturn Awards, so this may be the sour grapes of a loser." Joss laughed out loud, and clicked Press the play button, "This is the difficult passage we discussed before you left. I have a new idea after watching "Avatar" - since you probably haven't seen the imax version of "Avatar" at that time, so I assume you will have the same transformation as me after watching it: Since "Code Shero" is compatible with imax and normal screens, we should avoid too many close-ups and close-ups, so I asked Harry to delete a few Let’s take a look at this part again.”

The clip they are discussing is the final battle of "Codename Shero", which is also the most important battle scene in the whole film. Jenny put on 3D glasses and watched Kelly's light movements on the screen intently, "Well, yes Yep, I was thinking the same thing as you - **** I should have sent you an email, thankfully you had a similar thought yourself, too many closeups are really dizzying in the imax hall... yep Already, regarding Tom's ending, have you decided which version to use..."

It is now late January, and "Code Shero" is scheduled to be released this summer. If the first cut version is not finished by now, then all the work in the later stage will become extremely stressful. Fortunately, Joss does not have procrastination. During the few days when Jenny returned to New Zealand, the two made a surprise attack and finally completed the "half" final cut. The reason why it is said to be half is because Warner, as the investor, of course also has the right to watch the film, including Chesa Lei will also come over to watch this version. If both of them have no major doubts, this version will be considered finalized. After that, there will be a lot of work to be done on the dubbing and soundtrack. As for the marketing of the film, of course it has already officially started. It is estimated that Jenny will run another round of publicity from April. This time she will be in charge of the box office, and the workload should be greater than that of "Avatar".

Come out of the studio and drive directly back to the temporary villa. Jenny grabbed her phone and looked at the timetable. She realized that she should exercise for an hour and a half today. Discussing with Cesare, and concerned about the progress of Salvi’s script, she will go back to Hollywood next week, and after going back, she will have to socialize with people from the Sixth National University, giving the whole 'Wow, China is so profitable' incident My statement, by the way, I still need to have a final discussion with Cesare, how to operate the details of this matter in order to maximize the benefits of the big dream, I should be busy with these things throughout February, and I will start giving "Code Shero" in April "to promote, this round will be busy until July, and she will not be able to start filming a new film until July at the earliest, or at the latest in July. If the response of "Code Shero" is not bad, then she will There will be a commercial movie with her as the main character and a brilliant point. It is necessary to launch a literary film with her as the main character like Monroe as soon as possible to consolidate the fan base to the greatest extent, so I must chat with Salvi as soon as possible... ...

Covering her face and sighing deeply, Jenny felt tired and was about to be hollowed out—she was not lying when she said that she preferred to sit in front of the editing table, she could concentrate on A thing she is good at is indeed a luxury for her. Especially now that she is becoming more and more successful in the field of producer and investor, even with the help of Cesare, it is becoming more and more difficult and challenging to take care of both.

However, after so many years, hard work has become a habit for Jenny, like a dead body, after lying on the sofa for fifteen minutes, she still sat up and forced herself to face the A messy itinerary.

"Okay, Chris's script, big dream, new movie," she said to herself, "which one should be solved first? Which one should be solved first?"

Looking at the clock, remembering that Cesare should be having dinner with the senior vice president of Sony, Jenny picked up the phone, dialed Salvi's number, and opened the email records in the computer, planning to Have a good discussion with him about this untitled film—on this point, she agrees with Cesare. After the disappointment of "Nine" and "Avatar", her next literary film must be perfect , there is absolutely no room for any mistakes.

"Hi, Jenny."

"Hi, Salvi." When the phone was connected, Jenny's voice naturally softened, and it could even be said to be much softer and sweeter than when she spoke to Joss—and she herself Aware of the almost involuntary change, he made a face to himself: maybe this was his special treatment.

Browsing through the folders in the mail box, when she saw Cesare's name appearing on the folder classification, Jenny flinched, as if she suddenly felt a guilty conscience, but then she flinched for herself Shrinking, she shook her head, calmed down again, and then continued, "Is it convenient for you to talk now? I want to talk to you about the new movie."

She quickly exclaimed again, "What? You're in Wellington now? - I really didn't expect... yes, ok, then... I'm free now..."