From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Noisy, bustling, clamorous—

The North American film market in March displayed unprecedented prosperity. One film was a remake of a classic masterpiece, and the other was a powerful collaboration of popular figures. Each had its own focus and topics, completely igniting traffic.

At least, that's how it was within Hollywood. Everyone was eager to witness the market changes in April and May.

"Dawn of the Dead" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" debuted in this atmosphere.

"Dawn of the Dead"… Its reputation was actually not bad.

"Entertainment Weekly" gave it a perfect score of 100. Authoritative media such as "The Washington Post" and "The Wall Street Journal" also gave it scores of 80. In the initial wave of reviews from thirty-seven media outlets, there were twenty-one positive reviews, twelve mixed reviews, and four negative reviews, a remarkable performance.

From an overall trend, positive reviews held an absolute advantage, and there were not many negative reviews. For a remake, a horror film, such a performance was definitely eye-catching and commendable.

So, what exactly was going on with the overall media review score?

The answer is not complicated—

The positive reviews were not excellent enough, with scores generally clustered around 70; the mixed reviews were not positive either, generally below 50.

Not to mention the negative reviews.

In other words, in the overall evaluation, "Entertainment Weekly" was more like an outlier, uniquely and prominently waving the flag of "Zack Snyder fan."

It turned out that everything had shown signs from Zack Snyder's first directorial work:

Whether his directing ability was exaggerated, whether the audience's interpretation of his works far exceeded the information he personally injected into the shots, whether his works were more script-driven than director-driven, and so on.

Currently, the treatment "Dawn of the Dead" received triggered protests from many horror movie enthusiasts. They believed that the media was still habitually targeting horror movies, and even if the movie was loved by the audience, it could not change the arrogant and picky eyes of the critics. A group of fans stood behind Zack, speaking up for the director and fighting for justice.

No one expected that such contradictions and conflicts were just the beginning and would accompany Zack Snyder's next twenty years of his directing career.

From this perspective, the current waves and controversies were just a drop in the bucket.

Ultimately, the media's overall score was fixed at 59, which was not surprising.

In the end, it didn't pass—

Just one point short, which was regrettable and even more embarrassing.

From another perspective, this was a good thing. No controversy meant no waves and no traffic. For publicity, that would be a complete disaster.

However, Zack still couldn't cheer up.

There's no harm without comparison. If only "Dawn of the Dead" was embroiled in controversy, that would indeed be a good thing, at least indicating that people were discussing the work, and perhaps they could look forward to box office performance.

But now, "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" was standing in front, impossible to ignore.

Anyone who paid a little attention to the new movies released this week would inevitably notice that "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" emerged with overwhelming force, instantly making "Dawn of the Dead" small and humble.

Controversy?

In this situation, controversy was a sharp blade stabbing at "Dawn of the Dead," each blow drawing blood and proving fatal. But that wasn't the scariest part. The worst part was that even the controversy didn't stir up any waves, because all the bustling attention surged towards Anson.

"Rave reviews! Anson Wood proves his vision for selecting projects once again."

"Anson Wood's undefeated myth continues!"

"A gorgeous transformation from a pretty-boy idol to a literary heartthrob, Anson Wood completes a 360-degree turn."

Boom, boom, boom—

Grand and continuous, the whole world was spinning at high speed.

How turbulent and crazy the controversies and doubts surrounding "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" were before, the praise and affirmation surrounding "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" now exploded tenfold and a hundredfold. The media was performing a 720-degree Thomas full spin kneeling lick, for fear of falling behind if they didn't pay attention, and making themselves a laughing stock for not being enthusiastic enough.

No one wanted to become a laughing stock.

So, what exactly happened?

A careful look at the overall media review score for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" would reveal the answer.

One hundred points. One hundred points. And one hundred points.

Frenzy, a psychopathic frenzy. Since Anson first appeared through "Friends", professional film critics had shown an unprecedented united front, with all kinds of praise and admiration, amazement and cheers filling the view.

The first batch of media reviews attracted a full fifty-three professional and authoritative media outlets—

Easily killing "Dawn of the Dead." This treatment, even in the summer season, was the top of the pyramid, beyond dispute.

The focus of everyone's attention!

Among the fifty-three media outlets, one stood out and took a different path, throwing out a mixed review in the rolling tide.

"The Baltimore Sun", fifty points, "Charlie Kaufman tried to create a bittersweet love sketch, exploring the disappearance of passion and the fading of memory, but the whole work is soulless and brainless."

Understated, yet earth-shattering.

The phrase "soulless and brainless" hit Charlie Kaufman's weak spot hard, implying that the talented screenwriter was immersed in playing with structure, concepts, and tricks, but never truly focused on the characters' emotions, with only a gimmick.

Penetrating!

Although this view was unpopular, it did exist objectively. Similar criticisms had also appeared in Charlie Kaufman's previous two screenwriting works, and this time "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" focused on love, undoubtedly magnifying this shortcoming and encountering a frontal attack again.

Concise and sharp.

However, even "The Baltimore Sun" did not give a negative review, but a proper mixed review, with a score of 50 not being too bad.

As for the other fifty-two reviews, they were all positive.

The media that criticized "Dawn of the Dead" praised "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."

The media that praised "Dawn of the Dead" praised "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" even more.

Sure enough, comparing people is infuriating. A comparison can show a clear gap. Standing in front of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," the 59 points of "Dawn of the Dead" looked like those of a beggar.

The most outrageous thing was that the positive reviews were not just positive reviews. A vast wave of perfect scores swept the screen. Even if Focus Features paid to inflate the reviews, they wouldn't dare to do it so blatantly, pushing the wave of praise for "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" to an unbelievable height with absolute strength.

Amidst the clamorous praise, the famous Roger Ebert stated in the "Chicago Sun-Times":

"Dazzling, overwhelming, gorgeous and colorful, at times as comical as a circus, foolish, but the film has a sincere and passionate emotional core, which makes the film persuasive.

It's not a masterpiece, but undoubtedly, a work of genius."