Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 517 Chicago Film Critic
Paula Wagner came to Ronald to give him some ground rules for an interview.

"If you don't know how to answer the questions raised by the reporters, then secretly modify the questions to something you can answer, and then say the standard answers again.

If a reporter asks two questions, and you can only answer one, then answer the one you know first, try to prolong it as long as possible, and then deliberately forget to answer the question you don’t know, and ask the next reporter to ask. "

Ronald rehearsed with her a few times, no problem.In short, don't just fool around, or talk to yourself if you can't, and pretend to answer the question.

"I thought there would be a lot of media interviewing me. Such a big-selling movie has exceeded everyone's expectations. The streets are full of break-dancing people. Why didn't anyone come to interview the crew?"

After finishing the rehearsal, Ronald found that no one in Los Angeles had come to interview him yet.

"Movie box office takes time to accumulate. It takes a certain amount of time for newspapers to interview you from noticing the phenomenon to finally interviewing you, and magazines are even slower." Paula seldom communicated business matters to Ronald. This time Nisita Temporarily snatching her away from Tom Cruise, it's really Ronald's movie that is about to explode.

"Then I'll wait, someone should be interviewed in a few days."

"In addition, it is possible that they are all waiting for film reviews, which should come out one after another in the next two days, and reporters can ask questions by then."

"Hmm...you help me pay attention to collect the film reviews of 'Breakdancing', and also collect the reviews of 'Sixteen Candles'." Ronald is going to Chicago to attend a fan meeting with New York, please help him He pays attention to collection.

"Excuse me Boogaloo, did you teach MJ the moonwalk?"

Several reporters caught hold of the cast, who had just arrived in Chicago, not the movie itself but the last hint that the motor taught MJ the moonwalk. "

"Um..." Big Prawn Bugaloo had never seen such a scene, so he didn't know how to answer.

"MJ and I are good friends, so I asked him to make a guest appearance. He is also very interested in the form of breakdancing, and he incorporates this new element into his MV. He is a pop master and has a great understanding of fashion trends. He has a keen sense of smell." Ronald hurried up to answer instead of Bugallo.

"Excuse me, Director Ronald..." The reporter turned the microphone to Ronald, "Did Boogaloo teach MJ's dance?"

"Boogaloo and Sabado are both masters of break dancing. Their choreography is very high. In the movie, their dances are all choreographed by themselves. Including the dance of the motor broom. Lucinda herself and Kay Like Li, she also has a jazz dance background, and her learning ability is very good."

"I asked if he taught...

"Okay...you've already asked two questions, save the opportunity for someone else, the next question"

"Ronald, do you think this is your best film work? Why do you think its box office is unexpected." Another reporter asked.

"I think the most important thing is that we have three very good leading actors. Do you like their dances? Sometimes, as long as I set up the camera, their genius dances will continue to be produced, and that one The one who danced with a cane on the beach, his nickname is Hand Man..."

"You're really good at dealing with reporters," Boogaloo Shrimp was not good at these things, thanks to Ronald's rescue.

"Hi, little meaning."

"You have to praise yourself next time," Boogaloo said in a low voice. Today Ronald gave all the credit to the actors.

Ronald smiled, his credit cannot be taken away by others.Either way, no one in the industry would believe him when he said to put the camera up there and let the actors do their thing.The film's final box office, of course, is attributed to the director.

"Okay, okay, friends from the press, we still have to rush to the hotel. If you have any questions, I will ask after the audience meeting." Minahan came up to interrupt the reporter, and took the main creator to the arranged car.

The box office is a big hit, and Minahan doesn't care about it.He booked the Hilton Hotel in Chicago for Ronald and the three main actors.

After checking into the room, Ronald immediately received a call from his manager, Richard.

"I already asked the hotel to put it in your room, and those two Chicago film critics didn't say anything good about you."

"I expected it."

Ronald picked up the Chicago Tribune specially prepared by the waiter, and read it with the Chicago Sun.

"There will be several hip-hop movies this summer, 'Breakdancing' being the first, which gives them the edge. Lucinda is sweet and spirited, and all three dancers are really good, and they deserve a better script. … "

"Hehehe", this is Roger Ebert's film review, and Ronald is already immune to his irony.

"It's really a peculiar film: a stiff and awkward story punctuated by dances of stunning grace and power.

Alas, the story was predictable from beginning to end.We meet Kelly (Lucinda Dickie), a young Los Angeles dancer who is a student of a hateful choreographer.Through a friend, she met a few break dancers on the Venice boardwalk.

Their dance philosophy was completely different from hers; while she honed her technique, they elevated the sound of the ghetto and immersed themselves in the fun of hip-hop.She likes them, dances with them, and they make a team.

So far so good.But then we had to sit back and watch the blandly written and clumsily acted scenes, including: the famous choreographer covets Kelly's beauty, gets jealous of hip-hop dancers, and tries to put the trio in the dark during a big dance competition. list;
A group of pompous upper-class dance snobs who sneer at Kelly's friends;

A pretentious dance judge with a British accent, who miraculously switches gears when the trio starts dancing, appreciates breakdancing.

Kelly and both partners have this genius dance talent, Cyclone is a sensitive Latino who likes Kelly but is wary of any sign of offense, and Mada's hands and feet have a life of their own.

They're so free in the dancing scene with Kelly that they're surrounded by supporting actors acting like puppets, which is a shame.

I bet the director could have made an interesting documentary about how these three dancers met, how they learned to work together, how street dancers taught their moves to the traditionally trained Kelly, and how they Get along off screen.

Isn't this much more interesting than those fictional plots? ——The script is too amateurish, and the director is too clumsy to make good use of the three talented dancers.

Do you like break dancing?It's a great movie, if you can manage to ignore about two-thirds of the uninteresting plot.

There's another movie in the summer, 'Hot Boys' released by the free Orion, let's see what the difference is.

PS: Michael Jackson's cameo at the end is admirable. "

Roger Ebert gave his film two out of four stars.It is estimated that it is all about dancing and MJ's cameo.

"This guy, he can't talk without being weird, right?" Ronald threw the Sun newspaper aside and picked up Sisko's film review for the Tribune.

"I disagree with my colleague Albert about 'Breakdance'. It's actually a small production, and the director does a great job of not falling into the trap of clichés and giving us a A new movie.

If it were other exploitation film directors, they would inevitably make some clichés that this film does not have, for example: Kelly will be raped by the choreographer in the dance class, and she will complain to the society about the shady scenes here.After the trio wins the championship, they will enter Broadway, wearing colorful costumes, and giving up those spiritual dances on the street.

And I'm not at all surprised that this movie avoids those perfectly, since their director is Ronald Lee.I applauded his 'fast-paced Richmond High' two years ago.

This 'Breakdance' reminds me of another dance film from many years ago, 'Saturday Night Fever', John Travolta is also free, spiritual, dancing on the street and awkwardly challenging the mainstream society all the way.

I give him two and a half stars.

Of course, I'm more optimistic about another new film 'Sixteen Candles', John Hughes' debut film, which is released this weekend.

I give this movie three and a half out of four stars, and it's "the best teen comedy since last year's 'Crazy Good Guys.' It's sure to get a lot of laughs, but more importantly Yes, it will also provide comfort to young girls and boys who are feeling embarrassed.

And moments of comfort and validation, which are so lacking in teen movies that often paint a world of violence and sexual mastery, are a lie. "

Sisko always had good things to say about himself, and his tribune's readers were more educated, so his speech was more organized.And Albert, hey, most of the readers of The Sun are low-level manual laborers, that is, those who killed the Chinese American Chen Guoren. I won't speak well of myself.

But both rated "Sixteen Candles" higher.It seems that although "Breakdancing" was able to lead the box office, it lost in the film critics.

"We should go, the audience is waiting for us." Boogaloo came to knock on Ronald's door. He owed Ronald to rescue him today, otherwise he violated the agreement and not only gave MJ the money for the choreography If you want to return it, you have to be fined by the MJ team.

"Come on," Ronald put on his coat and walked down the elevator with him, "The next time you encounter this kind of thing, you should pretend to be confused. If you can't answer people's questions, just answer one that you can answer, and then pretend That's the journalist's problem."

"The audience doesn't seem to be as enthusiastic as Los Angeles." Several people walked into the arranged theater, and the audience sat down neatly, waiting for the movie to start. Ronald felt that it was not as crazy as the one in Los Angeles.

"Yeah, yay...motor!"

"Kelly, I love you!"

After the movie was shown, Ronald realized that he was wrong. The audience in Chicago, which is mainly white, was not inferior to that in Los Angeles.

And here in Chicago, there are more old-fashioned large-scale theaters, and the number of people in a single show is more than that in Los Angeles. The three leading actors were blocked on the stage again. let go.

It seems that not only Latinos and blacks like this dance, mainstream white teenagers are still moved by this energetic dance.

(End of this chapter)