Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hey, Steven, have you finished shooting the green screen Tinker Bell scene? Okay, do you want me to watch it? Can you watch it? Of course I want to watch it... You want to use my special effects team to help with the keying work, no problem , I asked them to go over, understand, understand, there are not many directors in Hollywood who do special effects, we should help each other..."

While Ronald and George were chatting, Richard's call came in, and Spielberg wanted to talk to him about special effects.

When Ronald visited the set, he expressed his desire to learn about the post-production process. Due to Julia Roberts' delay, the special effects part of "Captain Hook" was about to be delayed in time for the screening, so Ronald At the expense of joining the special effects team to help with some junior work, I gained the opportunity to learn from Spielberg's special effects process.

"How is Julia's performance there? Is she okay? Just okay..."

Although Julia Roberts used Mahjong to get through the collapse stage, her sudden fame still caused a lot of trouble among the crew. If a person becomes famous too quickly, there will be a lot of criticism from the crew.

Two years ago you were a low-level actor like us, and now you are asking us to give you special privileges. Various problems still arise one after another. Fortunately, Spielberg has experienced many battles, and as long as he doesn't throw his shoes, it's already within his control.

"Then those girls throw their shoes at you?"

After the phone call, little George laughed on the sofa. He listened to Ronald's brief account of the accident on the set and expressed disbelief. "She must not be able to throw a baseball. If I do this, how will you hide?"

As he spoke, he picked up a few newspapers and rolled them into a ball, pretending to throw them over.

Ronald laughed. These high-level children are actually quite "innocent" and often behave like children. He said to little George,

"Let me tell you, I can't actually play baseball. Besides, it's just a shoe, and the flight path is even more unpredictable. At this time, I can only crouch down and hide. Anyway, it's not like baseball to catch..." Ronald gestured twice.

"I see, your method is good..." Little George also imitated the action of crouching down twice to avoid, which is what he would do if he was attacked in the future.

After giving little George a few tickets for Disney's "Beauty and the Beast" and sending him off, Ronald continued to go about his business.

This time, the producer of "Raise the Red Lantern", Mr. Xiao Qiu of Era International, also came to New York. This film, which represented Hong Kong in the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, also got a screening opportunity at the New York Film Festival.

Of course, the more important thing is to have a long-term screening in a movie theater in Manhattan's Chinatown, New York. The Chinese culture here is more well-known than other places. Many Jews like to eat in Chinese restaurants on Christmas, and many blacks and Latinos also like to watch martial arts movies in Hong Kong.

Coupled with the audience group with the highest cultural level, more people can understand Yiou's movie than anywhere else in the country.

"Why don't many of the audience in this show need to buy tickets? Just show your ID when you come in?" Xiao Qiu asked his translator Xiao Yan at the door of the "Raise the Red Lantern" film festival screening venue.

"This is a rule in the American film industry. As long as you are a film critic, whether you are a film critic for a major newspaper like *** or a college magazine, you can watch the film for free. Use the ticket price in exchange for the film critic's review of the film. "Free publicity." Xiao Yan is very familiar with Mr. Qiu's ignorance. When he came to America, he was also curious about everything.

"Oh, then why don't you give them travel expenses? What if they say bad things? When we invite the media, how can we ensure that they say good things about the movie if we don't give them?" Xiao Qiu is always surprised by this kind of rule.

"This is America, the media has

"Well...I'll ask Director Luo then..." Mr. Xiao Qiu didn't believe Xiao Yan's statement. However, it is still a good idea to choose the media to invite, as long as you have good connections.

Only those who like this kind of movie are invited to watch, and those who cause trouble are kicked out.

Ronald didn't know what they were thinking and was introducing Yiou to several film critics from well-known media in New York and Washington. They were very interested in the director and asked a lot about the original work and his use of color to express the mood and characters of the film.

Although his films are subtitled, there are still many places that critics find difficult to understand. But fortunately, the strong colors will always reveal who is the good guy and who is the bad guy at the right time. When the protagonist is going to suffer or when he is going to fight back, it doesn't look very interesting.

"Good guy, I am more nervous to accept questions from film critics here than I am when I am making a movie..." Yiou said to Yang Yanzi, who was his translator. A suit that doesn't fit well

"Yiou..." Ronald couldn't stand it anymore, "When you're done here in New York, let Yanzi take you to the Red Gang Tailor in Chinatown to make two sets of handmade suits..."

Ronald gave Yang Yanzi a coded sign and drew a circle up and down, meaning that everything from underwear and shirts to socks and shoes must be changed. Pair it with a spirited hairstyle. He pays the bill.

"Here, I get nervous when I wear a suit...can I stop wearing it?" Yiou wiped his sweat with a handkerchief.

"You must wear it. When the Oscars are presented, you will have to wear a tuxedo..." Ronald looked at Miss Gong next to him. He invited them all to attend the movie's announcement this time in order to make the critics mess with them. A familiar face.

There is actually a big difference between the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the domestic awards. The first is that nominations require a lot of votes from film critics and film festival curators. Then the taste of their selection is also different from other domestic film awards.

If Hollywood movies want to win awards, they must conform to mainstream movie narratives and American values. Overall, we must respect individual struggle, allow young people in small towns to succeed, and give people hope for the American Dream.

The story of the movie itself can whip up the dark side of society, and everyone from politicians to bureaucrats to capitalist business owners can be bad guys. Only young people from simple small towns cannot be given stereotypes.

But the opposite is true for foreign language films. The judges prefer films that are tender and reflect human nature. There can't be too many cultural metaphors that American audiences can't understand. For example, the "Chinese New Year" selected by the mainland, although the audience knows that this is a reunion festival similar to Christmas, they really understand the story of a big family having all kinds of conflicts explode during the Chinese New Year. No. Why should we talk about these conflicts on the reunion festival? Shouldn't there be reconciliation at the same time if there are conflicts?

Therefore, it is difficult for extroverted Americans to understand how difficult it is for Chinese people to express their emotions directly between relatives.

"Raise the Red Lantern" is much better. The oppression and confinement of women by patriarchy, a subject that has been filmed again and again, is not so difficult for everyone to understand. Including the "Red Sorghum" and "Ju Dou" that he shot before, in fact, there was not much communication trouble in Europe and America.

"Hey, the rules in Hollywood are very strict. You see, they don't even do this during the Chinese New Year..."

"Ha, you kid, Director Luo is complimenting you. You will understand next spring..." Next to him was Director Wu, who came specially to meet his old friends. Seeing Yiou's honest face, he was speechless.

"You don't know, Director Luo's company has also invested in a Chinese-language film. The director's name is anglee. It's a worldwide run. It's going to the Golden Horse Awards soon. It's going to Europe at the beginning of the year, and it's waiting to be rotated through more than a dozen film festivals. , please stop complaining..."

"That's not what I meant, Director Luo. I don't know how to do this. I'm afraid I'll embarrass you..." Yiou quickly explained a few words. He can still understand who is really nice to him. Although this Oscar was better than the Berlin Golden Bear, he couldn't tell, and he always felt that it was a bit of a fuss.

"You'll get used to it after a few more times... Hahaha..." Ronald looked at Yiou with a grimace and asked him to relax. Just follow the manuscript Yang Yanzi prepared for him. It doesn't matter if he makes a mistake. Yang Yanzi can still make up for it during translation.

Except in the category of best foreign language film

After a small effort, Ronald had no competitors to make a big splash in other Oscar awards.

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, which was acquired by EMI Cannon, the only film they focused on releasing this year was "Thelma and Louise." Full promotion is now underway for the two leading ladies and director Ridley Scott.

What "America"

Someone also contacted Roger Ebert and asked him to characterize the film as a great road movie in his weekly film review. "Easy Rider", "Heroes" and "Rain Man" are classics of Hollywood road movies. This type of film can easily break new ground that no one has gone before. It's just that in this "Thelma and Louise", the protagonist is replaced by a woman...

However, MGM's public relations offensive also encountered counterattacks from unknown competitors. Some people think it is biased against men. It was heavily criticized for portraying men in an overly negative light.

The main thing is that not a single man in the whole film is a good person, and his death is not sympathetic. But male-dominated movies never treat all female characters as bad guys.

This attack was highly recognized by the audience and judges who watched it. Indeed, does this movie want to be unconventional, so it deliberately promotes gender conflicts between men and women? How can all male characters be bad guys?

Because this accusation is particularly easy to understand, simple to understand, and easy to spread, it has spread widely in Hollywood circles. This caused tension between MGM and the producers. There is no way, more than half of the judges are men...

They rushed out to clarify that in this story, men don't really matter... they are seen as scenery along the way for the two heroines. This is how female characters are treated in male road movies.

The film’s female screenwriter, Carly Curry, also had to explain. She wrote the script as a conscious effort to counter Hollywood's tendency to portray women as "nymphos, streetwalkers and nagging wives."

If those critics are threatened, that speaks volumes about their outdated values...

Another movie that launched a public relations offensive at this time was "Rablgrose" starring Diane's friend Laura Dern.

Laura Dern plays a slutty nanny in the movie. After unsuccessfully trying to seduce the male owner of the Hillier family, she turns to the young Hillier who is blocking puberty. Later, she became a famous prostitute in the town, and all the young men in the town would come to Hillier's house to meet her.

In Ronald's opinion, the most powerful thing about this movie is that the hostess, Mrs. Hillier, is played by Laura Dern's mother, Diane Ladd.

The film's producer, Seven Arts, and its distributor, New Line, are not local companies in America. They also devote a lot of resources to publicizing the Oscars. The biggest gimmick is the uncomfortable aspect of mother and daughter acting as love rivals.

Roger Ebert clearly took advantage, praising the film in his weekly review. But his acting skills are so mediocre that he can only praise them conceptually.

For example, "This movie is all about character and plot, and contains some of the best performances of the year, especially the collective performances of the four main characters... impressive..."

Ronald, who has returned home to Los Angeles, burst out laughing after reading this film review.

Is there any movie without characters and plot? This year’s movie can’t possibly be the same outstanding performance as last year or next year, right? And in Hollywood nowadays, no one shoots a one-man show, so it must be a group performance?

Ebert also singled out Laura Dern for her performance: "No young actress working today can play the role of an emotionally starved late-teenager with such purity and wistfulness."

This makes people feel even more uncomfortable. Although Laura Dern is smaller than Diane, she is very tall. On the screen, she and the male protagonist Robert Duvall, who plays the opposite role, need to borrow angles to complete the scene.

However, looking at these two movies working so hard, maybe they are the ones denigrating each other's movies, right?

On the other hand, Ronald's "Silence of the Lambs" and "Other People's Money" were ignored by two publishers in the early Oscar review war. The two movies had already been released, and no public relations budget had been increased at this time. No one knew or understood the new method of sending videotapes, so the war did not affect Ronald.

However, Diane became a little nervous after seeing this situation, and quietly called her good friend Laura Dern to inquire about the situation.

"The crew will apply for me for Best Actress. This year, the competition is actually fierce. There are Bette Midler in 'For Boys' and the passionate Annette Bening. It depends on how these two movies are released in the next few weeks. How about. By the way, there's Salma and Louise (the two heroines in Thelma and Louise, starring Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon respectively)..."

"It's quite intense..." Diane breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, her good friend was so highly regarded by film critics that she applied for a supporting actress role.

"Why are you so concerned? Did you also declare it?" Laura Dern was indeed sensitive, and she immediately heard that there was something wrong with Diane's tone.

"I didn't. Ronnie only applied for Best Supporting Actress. My role wasn't enough... ugh..."

"Hahaha..." Laura Dern also laughed nervously, "Supporting actress, you have to face my mother. They declared her the best supporting actress."

"Uh..." Ronald scratched his head a little after hearing the news that Diane came to tell him specifically.

On Diane's sixteenth birthday that year, on Johnny Carson's talk show, Carson changed her name to Diane Ladd because of Carson's carelessness.

The accident that happened on the girl's important birthday must have left a particularly deep impression on her. Ronald believes that even if he does not win the award this time, he must not lose to this actor. Otherwise, you will have a hard time in the future.