The Best Director

Chapter 181: A Christmas Show with Good Shows

As the time came to the end of October, the editing work of "The Hangover" was completely completed. The theatrical version was 8 minutes long, plus the opening and ending credits, a total of 5 minutes. This 5-minute video was born of laughter from beginning to end. The joyful set and the joyful editing room are all accompanied by laughter, and the soundtrack room is no exception.

Appropriate soundtracks that act as aura are very important for any type of movie. Many laughs in comedies become boring without music. David, who served as the soundtrack composer of the "High School Musical" trilogy and "Juno"- Lawrence has focused on youth campus movies in the past few years and created a sunny and brisk soundtrack, but it doesn't mean that he has no sense of humor. If there is an original future, then "American Pie" and the soundtrack of "American Pie" are all written by him.

Wang Yang's requirements for the soundtrack are serious, don't treat those scenes as funny movies, but to enhance the psychology of the characters like a feature film, and create different scene atmospheres. Of course, it will be a little bit exaggerated, because the ultimate goal is still funny. Where there is suspense, it is suspenseful, and when it is exciting, it is exciting. There are also various strange passages, such as counting cards in a casino to win money, spoofing "Rain Man" must be spoofed thoroughly, and also use that kind of female The style of high-pitched shouting.

David Lawrence seems to have been suffocated for a long time in the campus movie, and now he can play as he pleases, and suddenly release his funny and funny side, musical instruments, electronic sounds, the roar of a tiger... In terms of color matching, Harry- George and Wang Yang also freely adjusted and tried. The time soon came to the beginning of the month. Just after Halloween, "The Hangover" was declared completed, and the production cost was exactly 10,000 yuan as expected.

Sitting in the company's screening room and watching "The Hangover", Wang Yang, Harry George, David Lawrence and others all laughed and found that this 5-minute film was devoted to countless people's hard work, painstaking efforts and laughter. Movies are actually turned into "cu1T movies" by them. Many "messy" camera, editing and soundtrack techniques, and some screen and TV techniques are used to try and innovate. If traditional academics watch it, they will probably sigh.

Are these 5 minutes funny? Can it be a blockbuster movie? Anyway, when their team was watching, even though they were very familiar with every detail, they still couldn’t stop laughing, and then they all nodded and said: "Cu1T is cu1T, just be fun and funny."

Regardless of whether this is just self-appreciation or not, the theatrical version of "The Hangover" is a foregone conclusion. In addition to sending the copy to mpaa for grading review as soon as possible, the publicity work before the release has already begun. This time there is no viral marketing plan for the flame movie , only Internet bombing is used; others include the covers and interviews of magazines and newspapers, outdoor poster advertisements, theater screen trailers, TV o-second promotional videos, and so on.

However, the half-minute theatrical trailer disappointed many movie fans. Jokes, the plot is still very unclear, could it be that they really guessed, there are only so many jokes, all compressed in the trailer?

In "The Hangover" official and Wang Yang's blog,

More and more movie fans are asking this question. On his blog, Cryss, whose profile picture is a smiling face of a white girl, left a message saying: "The trailer is very exciting, but there is too little content. This will not be a dull and sad movie. A movie, right?" Jason, whose head looks like one eye, said, "Magic Yang, you don't think that saying some foul language and showing your butt is a 'dead laugh', right?"

The comment got a lot of follow-up replies, with one golden girl writing: "That set is so old and stupid isn't there anything funnier than a butt?" Dutt-J, a Garfield-like head, wrote: "Juno is humorous and original, I laughed so many times, but R-rated comedy is not Juno my, if you just understand it as foul language and ass, it's too sad, too sad disappointed"

"Yung, are you still in District 9? I'm worried about you and The Hangover," wrote Christina, whose profile picture was a short girl; dd-, an Asian boy wearing a hijab, wrote: "My friends and I are going to see The Hangover for Christmas, but please don't waste our evening"

However, there are also many fans who defended and expressed confidence in "The Hangover". Tanya Mi, whose profile picture is a Hispanic girl, wrote: "I laughed several times when I watched the trailer. It will definitely be the funniest R ever. super movie" Simon John wrote: "I just think that Fantastic Jan will surprise us, nothing new in the trailer doesn't mean anything" Ra, whose head is a teddy bear dog, wrote: "Some things have been proven long ago, my The buttocks are all different"...

Seeing that the message board of his blog is occupied by this topic and Zach Galifianakis' ass, Wang Yang made some replies, which is what he often does, and it is also the reason why he likes blogs and his blog popularity For a very high reason, movie fans always like to chat with idol stars up close.

He wrote in reply: "There is butt, but not only butt. The trailer does not add content, because I hope the plot can be kept secret, so that everyone will find it the most interesting. Otherwise, if everyone knows what happened that night, why? How about going into the movie theater?" This is exactly why he wants to keep it a secret, such as Will Smith's identity, it is definitely a "hilarious bomb", how can it be revealed in the trailer?

But seeing the blogger's explanation, many movie fans didn't buy it, and wanted to keep it a secret? They have already been tricked once in "The Ninth District". At first, they thought it was a purely bloody and exciting sci-fi blockbuster. Who knew that many people didn't want to be spoiled, and they isolated themselves from all film reviews and reports. If they Knowing that it is a movie that can leave people with a "shadow", you have to think carefully about whether to watch it or not.

"To be honest, I'm afraid of keeping it secret now. Is this another conspiracy? Although Young promises that there will be no sadness, I don't want to see him finally say 'surprise, this is an April Fool's Day joke'" The profile picture is the brown girl Luisa wrote that Christopher Fussen, whose profile picture is Bugman, wrote: "As a reminder, the Ninth District and Las Vegas are both in the Mojave Desert." …

In the bright projection room of the mpaa headquarters, there are also ten members of the grading committee responsible for reviewing "The Hangover". Vulgar and indecent slang, it has already passed the R-rated standard. In the brisk electronic sound like Pac-Man, the group of four looking at the digital camera screen jumped away in surprise, covered their mouths and shouted, "Oh my God..." The fat man laughed and shouted: "It's too classic."

The cast and credit rolls up: "Director: yung-ng, Producer: yung-ng..." And there are still some static pictures on the left, dancing with prostitutes at a crazy party, fat Zach being silly Dixie rides a tiger...

The review committee members looked at each other, some could not help but smile, and some were calm. The team leader Todd Morris continued to pay attention to the pictures on the screen, and said, "It must be rated R." Karin Wald, who was reviewing the miraculous film for the first time, hummed, looked at the notepad in her hand, and said: "There is no sexual content, no drug use images, but there is violence, a lot of vulgar language..."

Thinking of the scene and the specific meaning of the swear words just now, as a woman, Karin Wald couldn't help laughing. She looked at her colleagues and grinned: "But it's really funny, that Hey Pygmy Yang is back again." But Chris Rocky shrugged calmly on the opposite side. Seeing the dentist pull out her tooth with pliers on the screen, she laughed a few more times and asked with a smile: "You Don't you think it's funny?"

Chris Rocky shook his head and said, "It's not that good." Maybe he focused on the review, it was just a lot of swearing, he spread his hands and said, "Compared to "The Ninth District", the level is too low Yeah, this movie is like a silly show."

"Please, this is an R-rated commercial comedy." Matt Stark, who laughed the most during the review process, leaned on his chair with his legs crossed. His heart ached in District Nine, he sighed and laughed: "It's unbelievable, tears came out of my eyes, but tears from laughing, that imitation of "Rain Man" is too... cheap"

He pressed his nose, which was sore from laughing before, and said: "Oh, that kid wants to make people cry and laugh tears in a year, crazy."

"It's not as exaggerated as you said, isn't it?" Alec Haber was also one of the members who didn't laugh much during the review process. He just couldn't get into it, and shook his head: "My opinion is the same as Chris, it's just average, the characters The stories are all stupid. And those editing techniques, now it’s not just shaking the camera, it looks messy. I still like Wang Yang in "When Happiness Comes Knocking."

Duane Elliott said with a smile on his face: "I don't think so, those effects are too unique and interesting, these are the jokes behind the scenes." He thought about the performance of the actors in front of the scene just now, and praised: "Go to the end of the magic! Where did you find this gang? I bet that fat guy is going to be famous, and that dentist, oh that handsome teacher, is going to be a star."

Jericho Joe next to him nodded in agreement and said, "Before watching this movie, I really didn't expect Michelle Rodriguez to be so funny; Charlize Theron was worse." Ter Stark said with a smile: "Will Smith is such a big surprise and the biggest actor surprise in the whole film." Karin Wald had a different opinion, and said with a smile: "I think Fantastic Young played very well, absolutely gambler like"

Seeing them turning into a forum for hardcore movie fans one by one, Chris Rocky felt a little disdainful, isn't it just a shit movie? Where is the joke? He glanced at the screen at the end of the show, just in time to see a picture of a teacher spewing vomit, couldn't help frowning, and said: "In any case, I don't think this movie will do well, box office? Hmm... the billions in North America are probably a problem."

"Although I don't agree with it, you have to know that its production cost is only 10,000,000, and North America's 100,000,000 must have satisfied Flame Movie." Karin Wald smiled confidently at Wang Yang, and Alec over there - Haber shrugged and said: "It's enough to celebrate for others, but that is Miracle Yang. Don't you know that his average box office in North America is 100 million? Haha, there is a good show to watch"

"I don't think it's a problem at all." Todd Morris, who hadn't said a word, expressed his opinion after all the pictures of the actors and staff were played. Looking at the colleagues who had different opinions, he said with a smile: " Personally, it's an absolute classic. On an ImdB scale, guys, I'd give it an 8.5."

The next day, MPAA announced that it passed the review of "The Hangover", and the rating was unsurprisingly given an R rating because of "a lot of foul language, vulgar language, and violence."

And as the year approaches the end of the year, a major event in the film industry is about to start again, that is, the annual awards season. After all, the Oscars are still far away, and the awards from the major trade unions and the Film Critics Association are not the first time. The focus of our award presentations is on the first annual award "Golden Globe Awards for American Film and Television".

The nominees for the 1st Golden Globe Awards will be announced on October 0th. There are many hot spots in the media's predictions this year, and the academy is still in charge, but it can be described as a mess.

"The Pianist" directed by Roman Polanski and starring Adrien Brody is the biggest hit. It has already won the Cannes Film Festival's Best Picture (Palme d'Or) and other awards. Everyone gave a thumbs up, if Polanski hadn't used drugs to rape a 10-year-old underage girl, and then absconded to France during the bail period, the "almost" could be removed.

The lesbian-themed movie "The Hours" directed by Stein Deore and starring Nicole Kidman and others is also a big hit. It has proved its own charm, including awards such as the best film in the drama category, the best director, and the best actress. Many film critics and media believe that "it will definitely be the big winner of this year."

At the same time, there is the song and dance drama "Chicago" released on October 0, which is also considered to be one of the most important movies of this year; "About Schmidt" starring Nicholson and "The Lord of the Rings" released on the 8th are all popular. In addition, some voices support the release on the 7th. Mr. Hughes, argues that it cannot be ignored.

Of course, the media public has not forgotten to be recognized as "District 9". It was praised a few months ago and it seemed that it would sweep all the awards, if the awards were awarded every six months; They all became boulders standing in front of it.

Although more than 100% of the media's prediction lists include the best drama film, best director, and best actor, all of which have a place for this sci-fi film that makes the entire earth feel depressed and uncomfortable, but now facing a group of people alone is not easy to mess with It is an academic school and a masterpiece, and the percentage of the media who think it will win the best picture is zero, the best director is 0%, and the best actor is also 0%.

What is o% equal to? It is equal to impossible. However, the big newspaper "Chicago Sun", which predicted Wang Yang's election as the best director, explained: "In recent years, the Golden Globe Awards have consciously wanted to get rid of the influence of the Oscars and embarked on a new path of their own. Two years ago, Ang Lee won Best director is one. What could be more innovative than handing the Golden Globe to a year-old director? And a sci-fi cult classic."

However, the media of The Ninth District said: "Sorry, Fantastic Yang doesn't even have tickets, it's not that it's not good enough, but there are too many academic masterpieces this year."

Roger Ebert, the most popular film critic in the United States who listed "District 9" as the candidate for the three awards in the forecast, laughed at that part of the media: "They seem to have forgotten that the Golden Globes and the Oscars are all pursuing Ratings, the Golden Globe Awards have five slots for the best film in the drama category, three slots for academics, one slot for the world, and the last slot for sci-fi cults, isn’t it more interesting? Six slots for best director, how? Possibly no Fantastic Young? They don't want teenage ratings? But don't say teenage, an old guy like me has no interest in turning on the TV if all the slots go to academics."

In addition to drama movies, "Chicago" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" are big hits in the Golden Globe Awards for Best Musical or Comedy Movie; while "Mystery" has not arranged a media screening and kept a veil of mystery. The Hangover was not mentioned by name.

In order to promote the Golden Globe Awards, because nominations will greatly stimulate the box office; and to reassure fans who have lost confidence, Wang Yang agreed to arrange a film review for "The Hangover". Screening plan. Then the marketing department and public relations department invited some media film critics from Los Angeles, San Francisco and other places to participate.

The wind that turned out had two main voices, like the members of the MPAA rating committee, some film critics gave a thumbs up with a smile on their faces: "Excellent, this is the best comedy in recent years", "Novel It’s unique, it’s really laughable to death” and some film critics gave very bad reviews: “The story is all stupid and exaggerated, and there are only a few laughs in 0 minutes.”, “Disappointed, you can imagine after "The Ninth District", Will Fantastic Young make a bunch of cheesy shit? Isn't that funny"…

This has made movie fans even more confused. Now it seems that "The Hangover" should not have any "sad eggs". Miracle Yang did not lie, but the question is whether "The Hangover" is funny or not? It is novel and hilarious, but also stupid and disappointing. In the end, you have to go to the theater to see it in person to know the answer.

However, most film critics were "not optimistic" about the box office predictions and suggestions given back to Flame Movie. With Miraculous Young's reputation of never failing, it is certainly not a problem for "The Hangover" to recover its cost, but can it continue to be miraculous? They all put a question mark, and the voices predicting that the North American region will receive a box office of 100 million accounted for the majority.

Because in addition to the quality of the film itself, the entire market environment and historical data must also be considered. The current market environment is indeed very hungry for wedding comedy. The half-eaten audience in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" is looking everywhere Food; now the R-rated movie with the highest North American box office is District Ninth, so what about the highest R-rated comedy?

The former R-rated film champion "Beverly Hills Cop", this action comedy was released in the 1984 issue, and the second place in North America was the romantic comedy "Pretty Woman", released in the 1984 issue. Julia Roberts' success A masterpiece, "I'm Crazy About Mary" released on July 5, 1998, the third in North America, with 76 million in North America and 69 million in the world.

Then there was "Scary Movie", which was released on July 7, 2009, with 5.7 billion in North America, and then "American Pie", which was released on August 0, 2000... But they are all summer vacation schedules, and no one dares to take an R Super comedies are put on the Christmas file, not to mention the long-standing "Beverly Hills Cop". 990,000.

While "The Hangover" got an R rating for foul language and violence, does it have what it takes to be Beverly Hills Cop now that it's Christmas time? Or is it "Stupid Gigolo"?

Another reason why film critics are not optimistic is that this year’s Christmas schedule is not easy at all. On June 6, Warner Bros.’s R-rated crime comedy "Big Brother" will be released. It dares to arrange it for Christmas. Naturally, it is full of confidence. , will also go head-to-head with "The Hangover" and grab the comedy cake; Hollywood is starting to get serious.

In addition to the release of "The Hangover", "The Lord of the Rings", which must be a monster at the box office, will also be screened; at the same time, Paramount's 10,000-cost sci-fi film "Star Trek: Nemesis", a 20 million-cost pg-level musical comedy "Drum Hotline"; there is also the pg-rated romantic comedy "Manhattan Cinderella" directed by Chinese director Wang Ying (Wayne Wang), with a production fee of 10,000 yuan and starring Latin queen Jennifer Lopez, which is also fierce.

Also released on a large scale is a PG-rated fantasy comedy "The Spice Girls", which has not announced the production fee, starring Rob Schneider and Rachel McAdams, and has also joined the ranks of competitors in the comedy market.

On month o, there is the 10,000 pg-class romantic comedy film "Secret Lover" starring Sandra Bullock, and "Gangs of New York", "The Wild Adventures", and the official release of "Lord of the Rings"; Berg+Leonardo's "How to Get Away with Murder," pilot screenings of "Chicago," "The Hours," "The Pianist," and Fire Films' massive release of "Mr. Hughes."

There are a total of 6 comedy films of various types released in this Christmas period, 1 R-rated and 4 PG- rated. The media has long been looking forward to this Christmas comedy war, and they don’t have to worry about topics and news at all. "High School Musical" followed the "Drum Line" following the revival of the music school movie, two Chinese directors who have worked with Natalie Portman, both old and young, and of course "Magic Yang" and "Rachel McAdams" Showdown".

"It's a good show." In the spacious editorial office of the "Los Angeles Times" entertainment section, Taylor-Dell looked at the movie release schedule on the computer screen, and laughed with his colleagues in the office: "Why don't we make a bet? Who Will it be the comedy winner of the year?"

"I'm optimistic about "The Hangover." Sitting at the opposite desk, Emma Skurk said with a smile while turning the pen in her hand: "I always think it can sweep these movies and become the highest-grossing R-rated comedy movie in history. ? That's Fantastic Young. Okay, I'm kidding, but I'm still bullish on The Hangover."

David Klein, who was holding a watering can by the window sill, sprayed water on a pot of green Chlorophytum, also participated, and said with great interest: "I bet on "Personal Lover", and the second "Manhattan Cinderella", I heard The Hangover sucks and is stupid."

"Who said that? Anyway, I heard it was hilarious?"