Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The next day, various film reviews finally came out.

Ronald's "The Karate Kid 2" received completely different reviews. The Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, the New York Post, and other critics that Columbia and Weintraub had personally managed gave positive reviews.

However, in other parts of the country, local newspapers and media had mixed reviews.

Perhaps because their level was originally very poor, or perhaps in order to attract attention with their unique reviews, many film critics began to criticize the plot of the box office champion.

"This movie is like countless sequels to classic movies, following the formula of the first one. It tries to build on the success of the first one. Therefore, it has more powerful karate moves, more violent fights, and exotic scenery, but all the upgrades have diminishing returns..."

"The performances are convincing, but the narrative of the movie itself is "purposeless"... It's so clichéd that the climax is just a repetition of clichés. The actors, especially Master Miyagi, make people feel comfortable through successful performances. It is most suitable for children to watch."

"These critics are really interesting, isn't it contradictory?"

Ronald complained to his agent Richard who called to remind him to read the reviews.

On the one hand, he talked about the reasons for the success of "The Karate Kid 2", such as maintaining the style and story of the first hit, adding more and better martial arts, new heroines, more exotic scenery, and the whole movie is mainly aimed at children and teenagers, and some stories have been simplified.

These are the factors that made the movie a big hit at the box office.

But on the other hand, they also criticized the film, as if the box office success was something rebellious and must be criticized in theory, otherwise Hollywood would be occupied by such money-filled movies.

"Isn't that the case with film critics? They can only find some faults when facing the box office champion. The whole industry is in this situation. If you want to make money, you have to make sequels like this. Do they want every sequel to be like the Godfather Part II, which is both artistic and box office success?"

"Hahaha", Ronald was much calmer, "Richard, but when you say that, does it imply that I can't make a film that is both artistic and commercially successful?"

"I didn't say that. Who in this industry can predict the future? Being able to succeed in one aspect is already very impressive. Of course, if you can only choose one of the two, I still hope you will succeed in business."

"Have the two Chicago brothers' film reviews come out?"

Ronald joked with his agent. He has discovered that self-deprecation is an effective way to relieve stress in the face of criticism from the film critics.

"Their newspaper film reviews generally don't comment on sequels and Redford's purely old-fashioned commercial film. But they will talk about your movie on the show."

At night, Ronald sat in front of the TV and watched the TV film review column of two Chicago film critics broadcasted by PBS TV.

"Welcome to Cisco and Ebert's film review program", after a funny opening, the two film critics began their routine review.

Roger Ebert still praised the performance of Morita Noriyuki, who played Mr. Miyagi in "The Karate Kid", just like the first one.

He thought that although the second part was not as good as the first one, which was one of the best movies of the year, it was also a very good sequel and worth recommending to the audience to watch it in the cinema.

"I'm very sorry that Daniel-san's mother didn't have more scenes, the relationship between Master Miyagi and his father wasn't explored in depth, and the scenes between him and his old lover weren't explored more. This made me feel very sorry.

This was originally a good opportunity to explore the depth of the two characters that impressed us in the first film, but director Ronald Lee let it go.

Also, Ali, played by Elizabeth Shue, who we loved very much in the first film, only appeared briefly in the second film. I understand that sequels often introduce new heroines, but wouldn't it be more interesting if something could happen between Daniel's two girlfriends?"

Ronald nodded in agreement. Albert was actually quite objective this time.

"But I don't have that much time. The movie is almost two hours long." Ronald felt that these film critics could actually say something about some of their views, but he had never made a movie before, so he didn't know that many regrets were actually the product of comprehensive trade-offs and compromises.

"The final battle is better than the first one. Compared with the gymnastic crane kick in the first one, Daniel's final duel in the second one looks more like a real street fight. But I don't think he has made any structural progress compared to the first one. It's still the old formula and the old taste."

Sisko is more demanding. He has high requirements for "The Karate Kid Part 2", so he didn't recommend it to the audience.

"Bald brother, I want to make money." Ronald drank Coke and ate cookies baked by his aunt. His own movie was originally made for children to watch. Why do you need such a profound character analysis?

Ronald has become a box office hit director. Unless he wants to win the Oscar for Best Director, there is no need to pay too much attention to film reviews.

But it is still uncomfortable to see these two most influential film critics in America say that their movies are not good on TV.

"Listen to what they say about the French Open Condor."

Fortunately, the two of them ended their comments in time and started commenting on the new film that ranked second at the box office.

"The French Open's eagle, Bola Winger, is the brightest star. When she appears on the screen with Redford, the audience loves to see her.

But I have to say that the cases in this movie are too complicated, the villains are too trivial, the villains are too mediocre, and there are many plot holes that make people laugh.

When Redford's character was sleeping in the same bed as Daryl Hannah, the police broke in and took Hannah away. With such a relationship of interest, would they still let Redford be Hannah's defense attorney? "Albert did not recommend the French Open Condor and said a lot of bad things. It seems that the high-level turmoil at Universal is still going on and no one is going to take care of them.

"This? Isn't it possible?" Ronald is not a lawyer. He really doesn't know that there is such a system of avoidance, but is this important? Many TV series and movies are acted like this. Otherwise, if there is no love scene between the male and female protagonists, who would watch it?

It's a pity that Deborah Winger is about to have a baby and leave Hollywood for the time being. There's also a scene in the movie where she's talking to the visiting police and vomiting one morning. I don’t know if the actor’s real morning sickness was preserved.

"This movie has one male, two female and three stars. There are too many stars! If Hannah's role was deleted, this would be a good movie worth recommending. The director is still immersed in the success of "Ghostbusters" and cannot extricate himself ( Ghostbusters has three main characters).

Deborah Winger is smart and beautiful, and audiences love seeing her on screen. All superstars have a career stage, and the audience will love to see them no matter how they perform.

But other than that, I agree with your assessment of the movie, and overall I'm glad Redford can go back and do romantic comedies." Sisko gave Roland Garros a better recommendation.

Ronald felt that what they said about criticizing other people's movies made sense.

It seems film critics are like pimples, which are best found on other people's faces.

The best way for a film critic to review is to review other people's movies.

The two are indeed the most influential film critics and know a lot about the development history of Hollywood. They also cited the French Open's influence from a series of courtroom dramas and movies.

Their criticism of the movie is also to the point. All three stars need screen time, which puts too many constraints on allocating the plot and cannot tell the story in the most audience-friendly way.

But when I think about my own situation, this is what people outside the crew see, so I can make some understanding. What is the real situation? People who are not on the set may not know.

A film critic's way of thinking is different from a director's way of doing things, and the two and the audience's viewing experience are completely different.

Since the audience bought tickets to see the top two movies on the list, it means they have received the most widespread praise, but film critics disagree.

Anyway, the complete process of creation is completed when the movie is screened. Film critics only play a role in attracting audiences during the publicity phase.

Ronald still firmly believes that film reviews cannot accurately reflect the quality of movies, especially under the premise that Hollywood can fully influence film critics. It is more practical to measure it by the enthusiasm of the audience to buy tickets.

The last movie they reviewed was "Runng"

scared)," starring Gregory Hines, the black star of "The Cotton Club," and Billy Crystal, a white comedy star.

"Classic good

p,

bad

p partner. But the actors performed a very special feeling. Even when we anticipated all the twists and endings, we could still be moved by the performance..."

The two film critics praised this small-budget production released by MGM, and both of them made the decision to recommend it. In fact, it was the best of the three reviewed films.

"I've never seen this movie." Ronald looked for the ranking list.

It turns out that "Gunshot" has not yet entered the top five at the box office. It is also a big-ticket movie shown in 1,300 cinemas. The box office in a single theater is less than one-third of that of Long Wei Boy, and the overall weekend box office is less than 4 million.

"What is this? Doing charity? Anyway, you just recommend movies that don't do well at the box office."

Ronald really didn't know what these critics were thinking.

Perhaps in the Oscars, Golden Globes, and the awards given by film critics associations in various cities, the evaluations of film critics can play a very important role. But if you just look at the box office, their role is only to influence the first batch of audiences who go to the cinema, and their role is very limited.