Chapter 661: Provoking bullets to fly across Broadway
The film "Sleep With Me" is an independent production. It was originally going to be a film festival, so it also looked for independent film directors like Quentin Tarantino to make guest appearances.
It was also screened in Cannes, and reportedly received a standing ovation from the audience (a gimmick used by many films screened in Cannes).
In fact, the film's performance in the copy market was very poor, and no European distributors were willing to buy it. The main reason was that the story of the film was too bad, telling the story of a love triangle between two men and one woman.
.
A pair of boyfriend and girlfriend Sarah and Joseph are about to get married, but Frank, the best man and their friend, said on the eve of the wedding that he should marry Sarah. This kind of story is nothing special at all in European movies... As early as
In 1962, Truffaut directed the classic version of the story in "Zombie and Jim".
Moreover, the particularly bad thing about "Sleep with Me" is that he hired six screenwriters to write stories for six different characters respectively. The whole story was fragmented, and the director lacked the ability to coordinate. There seemed to be no third act in the entire movie's story.
At the end, it seems that the crew ran out of money halfway through filming...
However, all this changed after Quentin Tarantino won this year's Palme d'Or. A cameo role actually became the film's biggest selling point in its home market of America.
MGM Pictures, which had been under conservatorship and was half-dead, suddenly bought the distribution rights of this film in America. I want to take this opportunity to grab some hot spots and give some eye-catching looks to the buyers who are looking to sell MGM.
point
In order to spend a small amount of money to achieve big things, in fact, MGM's distribution department knows very well that such a movie attracts fans of some outdated stars and fans who have a higher evaluation of European film festivals. They will go to see a movie because of these gimmicks.
Essentially an exceptionally bad movie.
So, they found Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert and gave him almost all of their marketing budget in exchange for an apparently praising, but actually derisive review.
"... Quentin Tarantino showed up at a party and launched into a tirade, explaining in detail and feverishly why 'Top Gun' is actually the story of a man struggling with his own orientation. The more he spoke, the more the theory sounded.
Makes sense...at least that's what it seems like from a party joke perspective
The end of the movie is a bit abrupt. Maybe all six screenwriters only wrote the script for the beginning and middle, and no one thought of ending the story.
What's left in the director's cut is just some fragments of the story, some flashes of inspiration, and if you look at it with the right attitude, it's very strange that sometimes this kind of movie can get good reviews."
"Roger, what do you mean this theory becomes more reasonable the more you hear it? Are you serious?"
Ronald had someone watch Quentin's cameo again, and then read Ebert's film review again. He was so angry that he hung up the phone directly to Roger Ebert.
"Ronald, ah, if you read the last sentence of my movie review carefully, I did treat him as a joke..." Roger Ebert collected the largest public relations fee this year, but
He didn't dare to make a mistake and offend Ronald too much. So he could only use a joking tone to describe the introduction of Quentin's cameo that MGM requested to appear in the film review.
"I appreciate your sense of humor. It seems that you prefer Miramax's public relations activities to the joint invitation from Paramount and Daydream." Ronald said with sarcasm. Forrest Gump was very important to film critics and
The Chicago Film Critics Association is very generous. You take money from one family and use ridicule to reap the benefits from both parties...
"Huh? Ronald, I didn't mean that at all. It was just a favor to an old friend of MGM. I didn't know it was so offensive to you. I must review the TV show on the weekend.
Riga corrected..."
"Haven't you seen this movie?" Ronald was amused by his quibbles. He was worthy of being a film critic.
"Although it is very embarrassing to say it, I still want to ask for your forgiveness. I rarely give movie reviews without watching the movie, but this movie is a very niche movie, and I don't expect it to be seen by many people, so I
Just to repay a favor to an old friend."
"Come on, if you correct it in the weekend TV movie reviews, won't you be giving them free marketing? Bad exposure is better than no exposure. I think you should understand this truth."
"Ronald, I ask for your forgiveness and for your understanding and that of Ms. Shirley Lansing..." Roger Ebert was very frightened that Ronald and Paramount had joined forces to attack him.
of.
"e on, you are a Pulitzer Prize winner, a prophet that American movie audiences look to for guidance..."
"Okay, Ronald, God. What do you want me to do to make amends?"
"Do you think you just offended Shirley and me? You don't even think about how many fans Tom Cruise has. You slandered their hero like this..."
"Oh, God, if I could, I would buy all the newspapers with my own money, and then I would cut out the paragraphs one by one and burn them to ashes.
I know that anything I say now will have the opposite effect. But I am willing to do anything I can to make up for the mistake, you, Ms. Lansing, and our dear Hollywood No. 1 male star, anything will do,
As long as you open your mouth..."
"Hey, so be it, I know Harvey Weinstein wants to win awards at all the urban film critics associations in the United States..."
"As a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, I think Forrest Gump is the best movie this year...from best movie, best actor, to the most important best director..."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Okay, okay, I believe what you said. It seems that you were really deceived by the film crew..." Ronald heard this
Jay Ebert's willingness to speak for himself in the Chicago Film Critics Association, where he has great influence, is tantamount to destroying Pulp Fiction's attempt to win all the film critics' awards, which is very helpful for his Oscar bid.
Even though I could still get free help from him, I decided to forgive him.
"That's right, I actually just watched a trailer, which included Quentin's improvisation..."
"Wait a minute, you mean, this part was his improvisation, not something written in the script?"
"That's it..."
"Interesting, what else do you know about the inside story of that movie?"
"I still know a lot about it. In order for me to write a positive film review, they gave me a lot of details to choose from. They also know that the movie itself is not good."
"Tell me what you know..."
…
"Is this how you broke the promise you and your sister made to me?"
One day later, Ronald called Jennifer Tilly into his office and dropped the "Sleep with Me" poster on her desk in front of her.
"What?" Jennifer Tilly looked confused. Last time her sister Meg was in trouble, her boyfriend Colin Firth also left her and returned to her hometown of Britain to try a mini-series. At that time, Hollywood did not accept her sister very much.
Thinking it was Ronald's ban, he ran to beg for mercy.
"You know that video where Quentin Tarantino said that Top Gun was about the Lone Ranger finding his true identity, right?" Ronald pointed to the cameo on the movie poster that was larger than the main character's font: "Quentin Taranti"
"No" asked.
"Well, I did see it..." Jennifer Tilly nodded. Harvey Weinstein was not intimidated. Although Roger Ebert never mentioned the movie afterwards, Harvey was still able to find several film critics.
The story of this cameo was narrated on TV, and the specific video was also broadcast on some local TV stations and spread throughout Hollywood.
And Albert also told Ronald that the heroine Sara in this movie is starring Meg Tilly, and the male protagonist is also Eric Stoltz, whom Ronald hates...
Ronald was furious. Because of Jennifer Tilly's request, he also stated that he would not take any action to block her sister Meg. But how could Meg Tilly get such a film that was intended to go to Cannes?
The heroine of a film in competition?
You must know that Meg Tilly has given birth to three children, two with her ex-husband Zinnemann, and one with her unsuccessful boyfriend Colin Firth. The thirty-four-year-old mother of three children can still be together
Playing an unmarried heroine in a movie is definitely not an ordinary casting choice.
Coupled with the many tricks surrounding this movie against himself and Forrest Gump, Ronald had to wonder if Meg Tilly had turned to Harvey Weinstein?
"Ah? You have to believe me, you really have to believe me. I have nothing to do with Meg being chosen as the heroine.
She herself hooked up with an old man in Hollywood, who turned out to be an executive of Time Warner. My sister is good at attracting old men.
I've already fallen out with her, and we don't talk anymore."
"I find what you said is hard to believe. I just want an explanation..." Ronald found this unbelievable. Didn't you help your sister come to me to plead for mercy not long ago? You were still in front of me at that time.
They performed a show of sisterly love, but why did they fall out so soon?
"It's true, I swear to God. You must believe me. This is how our sisters are. I help my sister every time, but my sister can quickly find a man to help her, and she ends up doing better than me.
Much better.
Ronald, every time I help her I don’t know how much I regret it, but every time she is in trouble I can’t help but help her..."
Ronald thought about it and realized that the two sisters really had an unhealthy relationship. The elder sister also wanted to show her superiority in front of her younger sister, and she wanted to regain her self-confidence by feeling like I am the elder sister and you still come to ask me for help.
But the younger sister is more attractive to those powerful old men. As long as she is willing, she will soon be able to obtain better resources than her struggling older sister. At that time, the older sister will feel jealous again, and the two of them often have troubles like this.
In the cycle of turning, jealousy, and reconciliation.
This kind of relationship sounds difficult for a man to understand, but because it is more twisted and entangled, and the reasons are incredible, it is difficult to make up the story. Ronald also has some understanding of the two sisters and is inclined to think that Jennifer said
is true.
"Really, Ronald. I have struggled for so long, but I still haven't won as many awards and nominations as my sister who easily played a role.
I strive for opportunities seriously every time, study the role seriously and work hard to perform every time, but I have not been nominated for any Oscar-level awards. My sister Meg, who did not prepare to study, just acted casually, on the set
She also fell in love with an actor, and easily received nominations for the Golden Globe, Oscar, and Saturn Awards before she was thirty years old.
I worked so hard to get a role in a film by a director as famous as Woody Allen, but the awards still didn't go to me, even though they also knew that my box office appeal was actually greater than that of many award-winning actresses.
powerful……"
As she spoke, Jennifer Tilly began to cry. It seemed that she was not acting, but was showing some true feelings.
"Wait a minute, bullets are flying across Broadway, Miramax didn't nominate you?" Ronald felt it was a bit unfair.
"Yes, when all my friends heard about my role, they all had the same expression as you, woo hoo..."
Jennifer Tilly is actually very motivated in her film career. She often plays the role of the glamorous bad guy, and she is also well-known among B-movie audiences.
Her father's domestic violence when she was a child had an impact on her, making her stronger and willing to work hard for herself. The impact on her younger sister Meg was that she learned to observe words and emotions, understand the other person's thoughts, and then act out a different person.
Think about the actions you take.
Both of them were unconsciously affected by their childhood experiences.
"Why don't you get yourself a nomination? I think your performance is really good." Ronald suddenly thought of Harvey Weinstein's plan. Although he agreed to Uma Thurman to win a Best Actress
Nominated for a supporting role, but the one he really wants to do all his publicity for is Woody Allen's old teammate, Dianne Wiest, who shot bullets across Broadway.
I think back then, Ronald's own film "Working Girl" also had two nominations for the same movie, Sigourney Weaver and Joan Cusack. As a result, he split the votes and had no experience of winning.
Then he had an idea, why not take the initiative to create such a situation?
"Huh? Can I? But Harvey?"
Jennifer Tilly didn't expect that in the end, Ronald would actually get herself nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress after she was originally called to prosecute him?
"Humph, it was you who nominated her, not him. As an actress, she thinks that her performance meets the Oscar standards, so she spends some public relations budget to shout for herself. Isn't this natural?"
"Ah, is that so? Really?" Jennifer Tilly seemed to suddenly have an idea. Yes, as long as she allows enough actors to vote for her as the best supporting actress and enters the top five with the number of votes, then no
Is it just a nomination?
When the time comes, my salary will increase, and I will get more and better scripts...
"But I don't have any money..."
"This is your own business." Ronald waved her away. This Jennifer Tilly is not a woman who waits. As long as the seeds are planted in her heart, one day she will overcome all fears and ignore them.
All it takes is to find a place for yourself.
"By the way, who is the old man Meg caught you talking about?"
"Ah, it turns out it's John Kelly from Warner Bros., who is thirty years older than her."