Hollywood Road

Typical commercial dramas like "House of Cards", of course, cannot touch the universal taboos of most audiences. Murphy will not be against anything, nor will he be against the market and income. He did not decide on the final version until after the New Year. The script, the preparations for the first season of "House of Cards" have also officially started.

Most of the behind-the-scenes staff who followed Paul Wilson to film "Game of Thrones" will continue to cooperate with Stanton Studios, and a small number of vacant positions can also be resolved through recruitment. Hollywood will never be short of waiting for opportunities people.

Just after the new year, the crew was officially established. Except for some necessary matters, Murphy basically handed over the preparation work to Paul Wilson, and Gal Gadot will control the overall situation, so there is no need to worry about unexpected situations on the crew.

With the arrival of 2012, the new Oscars are getting closer and closer. On the last day of 2011, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences also mailed out the ballots for the Oscar nomination list to as many as 6,000 members. "Diego Rose", which was submitted for review, is naturally also on the list of many candidates.

After the new year, "Diego Ross" has been screened in 20 theaters, and the media and professional reputation are still excellent. Although the audience reputation is still the same as before, under the painstaking efforts of Murphy and 20th Century Fox , but there has not been a sharp decline, especially the arrest of Daisy, which has greatly increased fans' favorability for Murphy himself, and even this film has received a lot of praise.

But the box office of the film has never been a big hit. The box office of the latest weekend did not even reach 20,000 US dollars. Among the top ten films, "Diego Ross" is among them, but it has little boost to the box office.

Faced with this situation, Murphy really felt that the times had indeed changed.

In today's era, professional film critics actually have little guidance for audiences, at most affecting the box office in the first week. After that, audiences are more willing to trust the comments of relatives, friends, and even some fan rating websites on the Internet.

In Murphy's view, there are two types of film critics in the United States: one is aimed at ordinary audiences, and the other is academic film critics. The vast majority of film critics work for mainstream newspapers, magazines, and TV stations, and they are closely related to the film industry. It can be called the mouthpiece of Hollywood.

In the United States, it is often reported that film critics praise movies against their will because of receiving various benefits. Such comments that are not from an objective point of view but involve personal interests are often of little value, so that they will mislead the audience.

However, in recent years, Murphy can clearly feel that the opinions expressed by professional film critics are actually not very instructive to the audience. Many times, many film critics unanimously comment on a certain film as bad, but the audience ignores it. The box office is still very good, and there are many films like "Diego Ross" that have been well-received by critics but not bought by audiences.

This is related to the development of the times and the prosperity of the Internet, and it is also inseparable from the commercial effects that will inevitably be attached to the professionalization of film critics.

For example, a film critic on a TV program must consider the ratings of the program, attract the audience in terms of form, and constantly find humorous and interesting words in the comment to win the favor of the audience, rather than how profound the point of view is, which makes He has to take a positive attitude towards most of the films. If he keeps denying the films, it is easy to make the audience feel disgusted with the show.

In order to please the public, in the process of reviewing movies, film critics themselves are also acting. At the same time, the vision of these film critics is also greatly limited. They can only comment on most mainstream movies. The industry is inextricably linked, so it is impossible to make independent, calm and objective comments.

Film reviews written by scholars are very different, but academic film reviews can only be popular in small circles of intellectual circles, or become teaching materials, and have no reference value for the market.

From its release in mid-December to after the New Year,

In more than half a month after three release weekends, "Diego Ross" received numerous praises from the media and film critics. As far as the box office performance is concerned, it does not belong to the very poor category, nor is it very good. Generally speaking, it is above the average level.

At the same time, CAA, Stanton Studios and Twentieth Century Fox have not stopped their public relations work for the awards season, and "Diego Ross" has also begun to win a series of Oscar outpost awards, and the winners will be announced at the beginning of the new year At the Photographers Union Awards on the list, Fili Lascher won the Best Photographer of the Year award for his brilliant long shot in "Diego Ross".

In addition, the film was nominated for Best Screenplay by the Writers Guild and Best Actor by the Screen Actors Guild.

The only pity is that because Murphy quit the directors' union in his early years, this film was not eligible to participate in the directors' union awards, but it was nominated for best film at the Producers' Union Awards.

The public relations promotion of this film has been going on until now, not only Murphy and 20th Century Fox are on the list of many media predictions, but they are also one of the popular films that can receive multiple Oscar nominations this awards season.

Of course, the media generally believes that Murphy may be nominated for Best Director Oscar again, but he cannot avoid the fate of continuing to accompany him.

Some professional media also analyzed the reasons and believed that Murphy could get the nomination. First of all, "Diego Ross" was really good and qualified for a best director nomination. Before the festival, they were attacking Murphy's film for infringing on the rights of the so-called Catholic Church. Hollywood bigwigs are quite dissatisfied with foreign forces interfering with Hollywood's freedom of filming, and may make a tit-for-tat strategy.

As for continuing to accompany him, the most important reason is that Murphy is too young. Now that the average age of the members of the academy is gradually approaching the 60-year-old mark, a young director under the age of 32, who is still a commercial director, wants to get To the Oscar for best director statuette, the possibilities are really limited.

In addition, Murphy is also a little strange. That Archbishop Marquez Costello is far more patient than he thought, and he has not taken the initiative to speak up until now.

However, he quickly understood the key point. Archbishop Marquez Costello is not a Hollywood star, but a highly respected regional religious leader in the traditional sense, and he will not easily appear in the media!

After staying in a circle for a long time, it is easy to form inertial thinking, and he is just an ordinary person, so it is inevitable.

After figuring this out, Murphy immediately adjusted his strategy and let Grace and Bill Rosses take the initiative to contact the media and accept the first media interview after the start of the Oscar nomination voting.

On the one hand, this is to increase one's own exposure, and to make the final sprint for "Diego Rose" to appear on the final list of Oscar nominations. On the other hand, it is also to remind some people that Murphy Stanton has never been a A person who is beaten and does not know how to fight back.

The interview was held in the press room of CAA in the Death Star Building, and Murphy was facing a reporter from The Hollywood Reporter, a media with considerable influence during awards season.

The question asked was also drafted by Bill Rossis in consultation with The Hollywood Reporter according to Murphy's intention.

The venue layout for the interview is very simple, with two chairs facing each other and a small glass coffee table in the middle for recording equipment.

Due to the limited time, the question from the reporter named Kelly Mallrat got to the point as soon as the interview started.

"In the media, on the Internet, because of "Diego Ross" and your attack, there are now many controversies about the authenticity of the film." Kelly Mallrat looked at Murphy and asked, "Do you regret choosing such a subject? ?"

"No!" Murphy said directly without any hesitation, "All the content I shoot must be responsible to the audience and to the prototype of the hero of the film. Even if I do it again, I will still choose to speak with facts!"

Kelly Mallrat mixed in a question of her own, "Since a movie has to be responsible to the audience, which one is more important, entertainment or thought?"

At other times, Murphy would definitely say that commerciality is more important, but this interview is aimed at the awards season, so of course you can't say that.

Different situations answer different answers, and this kind of thing is very simple for Murphy.

Murphy thought for a while and replied, "Different directors will always make different choices. Even if someone makes rigid rules, it cannot limit the appearance of various movies. There will always be movies made for different purposes. .”

"When I discuss with people on the Internet, the most difficult thing is to let them understand the intrinsic value of movies as an art form, because movies are generally regarded as entertainment in social life and everyone ignores this."

To a certain extent, Murphy is basically talking nonsense now, "The intrinsic value of a movie is reflected in the lines, colors, editing methods, lens use, etc., and it also reflects the values ​​​​that producers and directors represent and want to embody. The society they live in, the culture and values ​​represented by the country, these different values ​​are intricately integrated in the film, and sometimes it is not clear at a glance."

"Like the movie "Diego Ross"?" Kelly Mallrat asked at the right time.

"Yes!" Murphy nodded, "I think Ross encountered a lot of misfortunes at the critical moment of forming the most important values ​​and worldview, which seriously affected his future choices!"

"Including Catholicism?"

Hearing this question, Murphy nodded vigorously, and Kelly Mallrat asked again, "There are voices in some media and on the Internet, saying that the content related to Catholicism you filmed is not true, and you are asked to delete the controversial part ,What do you think?"