Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Karate should be a philosophy, not a skill." Ronald copied some text descriptions about karate that he had excerpted from the library, and then he stared at the monitor for a long time, unable to write a single word.

"Hey," he slapped the keyboard, "I can't write without inspiration."

Without finding a karate coach like Vidal to discuss it in detail, many things were superficial. Coupled with the release of "Night of the Comet", Ronald was restless and had no intention of writing a script.

"Night of the Comet" did not invite film critics to watch the special screening first, but only held a special preview screening for the audience. This is also because there is no money to develop a complete version, and there are still editing marks on the copy. If you invite film critics to see it, they will laugh at it and they will not be able to write anything good.

Simply don't invite anyone, and then they can freely enter the cinema after the film is released and write about their true feelings.

In a low-budget movie, everything is out of your control. Without professional people and a lot of investment, Ronald began to miss the benefits of big studios again.

"Ronald, a review of your new movie is out." Agent Richard called, "This is the only one available today."

"Oh, what newspaper?" Ronald heard that there were movie reviews, and Ronald was full of expectations.

"The Valley Daily, the entertainment section of a newspaper in the San Fernando Valley."

"How did you evaluate it?"

"Valley Girl Triumph!" Richard cleared his throat, "That's the title."

"With the song Valley Girls, after reaching the top of the charts, Hollywood will never let go of this subject. Following last month's Martha Coolidge's 'Valley Girls,' Atlantic Pictures released another Valley Girls An exploitation film based on the theme.

The story takes place after a comet destroyed most of the people in Southern California. Two valley girls, with their innocence and romance, became addicted to shopping and dating in the apocalypse. This reinforces the stereotype of valley girls.

…

The director seems to have a special fascination with the legs of young girls. The appearance of the characters usually starts with a close-up of the girl's feet and calves, without exception. Even Samantha, one of the heroines, starts with the exposed legs of her cheerleading uniform when she steps out of the elevator.

…”

"Okay, don't read any more.

Ronald let out a long sigh, "It's not that I have a fetish for calves and feet. Kelly Maroney happened to be auditioning for other projects in that scene, so I had no choice but to use a stunt double." "

"Hahahaha..." A burst of laughter came from the other end of the phone.

"I knew you were there, Niceta!"

"Don't be angry, this is just a tabloid in a town in the San Fernando Valley. Your movie reviews won't be widely available until Sunday or even Monday. We are just joking with you." Niceta grabbed the receiver and said to Ronald said.

"Just laugh at me." Ronald also laughed, and his nervousness became lighter.

"The box office statistics will still take some time, and I've asked Richard to keep his eyes on the other side of the Atlantic. But I went to see it with Paula last night, and the attendance was still very good. I didn't lose focus during the whole movie. There were a lot of The audience loved it too.”

"Go on, I love hearing this." Ronald also joked with him, and now he was feeling nervous.

By Sunday, movie reviews from all over the country were also published.

"Variety" weekend edition wrote: "After 'Fast-paced Richmond High,' young director Ronald Lee once again tried teen themes. But this time he did not repeat the coming-of-age story of school themes, but filmed A science fiction theme.

He has created a visually striking B-movie that plays on its strengths. I opened up the "Liquid Sky" color application in it, and we can also see the plot content he borrowed from "The Day of the Trilobite", "Dawn of the Dead" and "The Last Woman on Earth".

I would describe the film as "a successful imitation of so many science fiction films, making up for its lack of originality with a funny, tongue-in-cheek flair."

"Except for 'Dawn of the Dead,' I haven't seen those two fucking movies." Ronald jumped to his feet when he saw the review of his movie in the weekend edition of "Variety" in CAA's office. "Is this accusing me of plagiarism?"

"No, if all the plots are not similar to the previous movies, then there will be no movie." Niceta patted Ronald on the shoulder and handed him a cup of coffee.

"Then why do they say that?"

"It's still a discrimination against low-budget B-level movies. But don't worry, writing like this will not affect your box office results, but will attract the interest of those who are interested in small-scale B-level movies. These reporters are very experienced, and they will scold some , I should also praise a part of it.”

Ronald shook his head, forget it, for the sake of box office, it doesn't matter if he gets scolded.

Next up is the film review column of The New York Times.

Film critic Vincent Canby wrote,

"Night of the Comet is a well-intentioned B-movie about the end of the world. Its unique sense of humor adds to the unpredictability of the plot. It is a highly recommended movie for science fiction fans.

From the opening narration, it is not difficult to see that "Night of the Comet" pays homage to the B-class science fiction movies of the 1950s and 1960s. Many people call it a comedy, but that's a bit misleading. It certainly has some funny moments, and an all-around sense of levity, but most of the film is also pretty straightforward.

Where this film succeeds is in its two female leads and their very believable reactions to being the last people on Earth. Facing the end of mankind, what will they do? They go shopping for free! Be honest with yourself... aren't you? "

"Is this a good word?" Ronald asked. Gu Qi

"You can't expect reviews of this kind of small-scale film to be all good, like the last time Universal worked hard on your public relations," Nisita pointed out.

Then there's Interview magazine film critic Neil Gaiman.

Ronald recognized it as the magazine of that weird New York artist Andy Warhol.

"This is one of the funniest, wittiest, most imaginative and thought-provoking movies I've ever seen, and what's even more remarkable is that it was made with no budget ($1.2 million Budget, for sci-fi, means no budget, you know what I mean).

Katherine Mary Stewart, and Kelly Maroney, both did a great job in their roles. They were Valley Girls, but they weren't the cartoonish, Frank Zappa version of the Valley Girls in that chart-topping song.

In a movie where comets destroy the world and zombies stumble around, these girls actually have a foothold in the real world...

Another highlight of the cast is the always great Mary Woronov. This Roger Corman movie veteran is perfect for this movie.

We note that director Ronald Lee is also a graduate of the Corman School of Cinematic Arts. This film owes much to Corman's filmmaking training. "

"It seems that Mary Woronov's old friends are still very powerful." Ronald felt good in his heart. "Interview" magazine is still very influential among teenagers on the East Coast. Many high school students regard this This magazine is a popular guide. With such a high rating, it should be able to attract some viewers.

Atlantic arranged for "Night of the Comet" to be screened in nearly 900 cinemas during the first weekend. These reviews helped attract some viewers to the cinema. The rest will depend on the film's reputation.

If the word-of-mouth is good, more viewers will hear about it from relatives and friends and go to the cinema, which will continue to push up the box office. If the reputation is not good, then it will only last for a while, and then it will quickly decline.

"Then there's the Sisko and Albert film review show." Niceta found a remote control and pressed a few times on the TV and VCR.

"Welcome to the Sisko and Ebert Film Review Show."

The two men, glasses and bald, started their weekly TV movie reviews again.

The bald Sisko liked the movie even more, "I think if the comet destroyed most of the adults and turned them into ashes, then teenagers would be very happy. They can go to department stores for free clothes-changing shows and have sex with boys. My friend went out on a date and came home past twelve o'clock.

Most science fiction movies take the catastrophe of future mankind too seriously. A movie like this that tells the story of extinction events in a relaxed manner is a very good attempt in science fiction movies.

For those adults who were exterminated by comets or turned into zombies, it is certainly very tragic. But the audience is immersed in the two sisters, thinking that they can wear good clothes that they couldn't afford before, and they can drive sports cars that they couldn't buy before.

It was a teenage dream. "

Glasses Albert continued, "I also think the direction of the movie is very interesting. Half of the apocalyptic movies will leave adults, men, women, old people and children behind, but in this movie only teenagers survive, maybe they are playing I was so high that I lost track of time.”

"This guy must still hold a grudge against me. I exposed him during the last road show." Ronald said bitterly, while Albert criticized himself angrily.

Sisko took up the topic again, "I think this movie deserves more screen time. Although the latest episode of Star Wars will be released in two weeks, I still call on movie theaters to give them more screenings. Audiences who haven’t seen it should hurry up and watch it.”

"Bald man, you still like my movies." Ronald lamented.

Albert added, "I think this movie is lackluster in terms of science fiction. The director just cleverly combined science fiction, youth, romantic comedy, zombie horror, Valley Girl and other popular elements to steal a popular trend. I think It’s not going to be a movie that’s long remembered.”

Cisco disagreed, "No, that's not it. I know you love science fiction more than I do, but I have to say a good word for Ronald Lee.

The point here is that many directors of science fiction films are keen to teach the audience. They always have a mentality that you don’t know what the future will be like. I am smarter, so I made a movie to show it to you.

Ronald Lee does not have this burden. He does not make the audience feel that the future must be gloomy, but allows you to explore by yourself. The audience has a sense of mystery rather than pessimism about the ending of the film. The future may be It is good. Just like at the end of the movie. "

"Okay, I'll reserve my opinion. Let's look at another new movie."

"Pa", Niceta pressed the pause button.

"That's it."

“Would they say that in the paper?”

"No, Atlantic has no PR for them. So your movie is just used as a new film evaluation part of the weekly film review. However, they often have different opinions, and generally movies with different opinions have better box office attendance."

After waiting restlessly for another day, on Monday night, I received a call from Atlantic Distribution President Tom Coleman himself.

"The box office statistics are out. The total box office for the three days of the weekend is 3.58 million. There are 898 theaters. The average box office per theater is close to 4,000. We have won again!"

"Huh!" After Ronald answered the phone, he relaxed and fell on the sofa. His whole body seemed to be soaked in a bathtub and taking a hot bath.

The weekend single theater box office result of 4,000, although not as good as Atlantic's previous film "Valley Girl." However, my film "Night of the Comet" was shown in nearly 900 theaters nationwide, unlike "Valley Girl" which was only shown in less than 300 theaters in big cities on the east and west coasts.

Considering that his movies were scheduled more in multiplex theaters, the attendance rate must be higher than that of the other party. In this way, Martha Coolidge was convinced that she had lost and could not complain that she had robbed her of the box office.

The weekend box office of the whole film was 3.58 million, ranking fourth among all movies, behind only two new films, "Blue Thunder" and "Breathless", and "Breathless", which has already sold out at the box office in its fifth week of release. Under "Lightning Dance".

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