"Forty to thirty, McEnroe's right to serve is about to get match point."
NBC was broadcasting the match between John McEnroe and Vincent Van Patten in the third round of the US Open. McEnroe won two games in a row in the first two sets. Ronald's friend Van Patten scored 0-2.
behind.
Ronald is sitting in the stands wearing aviator-style sunglasses. On the left is Helen Slater, and on the right is old friend PJ Soles, and her husband Dennis Quaid. The two men and women came specially to celebrate "Rock and Roll High School"
"Come on, the hero.
However, facing McEnroe, a genius who has been ranked No. 1 in the world for two consecutive years, Van Patten seemed to have no luck in defeating him in Tokyo last time. In addition to falling behind by a huge score of 0-2, the score in the third set was also 3-3.
Five behind.
"Out of bounds!" The referee ruled that McEnroe's first serve was out of bounds.
"Okay!" Ronald saw that there was still a chance to tie the score and started to applaud.
"This is Ronald Lee, a famous local young director in New York." NBC's commentator was also a movie enthusiast. He saw the camera pointed at Ronald and Helen and announced his name.
"'Fast Richmond High', which he directed, is now showing in theaters. It seems that he is a supporter of Van Patten, a tennis player who was once a movie actor."
"Who is the beautiful woman next to him?" Another guest commentator asked, "Is she also an actress in Fast Pace?"
"Um, I don't know her. She's a big beauty, but she's definitely not the two heroines in Ronald's new movie." Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates, their posters have been sold like crazy. This
Beauty is definitely not one of them.
"Oh, it went out of bounds again, double fault. The two sides are evenly divided. Can Van Patten save this game?" Another host asked.
McEnroe cursed and came to the referee, pointing to the opposite baseline, indicating that his serve did not go out of bounds.
His fiery temper is as famous as his football skills.
The game was paused for a long time, and the audience booed. Ronald took the opportunity to blow a loud whistle to show his contempt.
"Come on, come on, break the racket, yeah." Helen shook Ronald's hand beside her, and McEnroe got angry and dropped the racket again.
"With such a bad temper, maybe Van Patten has a chance." Ronald thought to himself.
McEnroe returned to his seat and took out a new tennis racket. Then he walked to the service line, looked at the opponent's position, threw the ball with his right hand, and hit hard with his left hand.
"ace!"
Ronald silently put down his hand that wanted to applaud. This serve was so powerful that it made a loud bang on the backboard.
"Pop." Another serve came, and Van Patten quickly moved over and returned the ball.
McEnroe had been waiting in front of the net for a long time and hit a volley to end the game.
"Three to zero. McEnroe, the No. 1 seed at this year's US Open, defeated former movie star Van Patten and entered the top 16."
Ronald put on his sunglasses again and clapped a few times. This time the old friend did not create a miracle.
…
"McEnroe's one-handed backhand is so confusing and he is very strong. When I beat him in Tokyo last time, it was like playing in the zone, and I was on point no matter how I played.
I’m not in that state today.”
In the evening, several friends went to a place found by Ronald's agent Eddie and held a party.
"What do you mean by playing in the field?" Ronald was very interested. Van Patten's singles level was actually one step behind McEnroe. Today's game showed it very clearly, but last time
He defeated McEnroe to win the championship in Tokyo and seemed to be in particularly good condition.
"I don't know, it's like everything is in slow motion, and the audience's shouts become very soft, as if..." Van Patten described the state at that time to Ronald.
"It's like there's a layer of film between them? It's like you're watching a movie?" Ronald felt that the state described by Van Patten was a bit like the feeling he felt when dreaming about movie clips.
"Yeah, that's it. But I don't know how to get to that state."
"Will you come to make movies again in the future?" Helen asked this handsome guy.
"No, I have a feeling that my talent in playing tennis is much better than being an actor." Van Patten shook his head, "I understood when I was filming 'Rock'n'Roll High School' that my acting skills are far inferior to those of PJ.
It's not like you have any talent for directing, Ronald."
"Hahaha..." PJ Sowers laughed upon seeing this.
"Are you the actor in the Burger King commercial?" Van Patten recognized Leigh Thompson who came to the party and asked her.
"Yeah." It was a rare opportunity for Thompson to attend a gathering of insiders. Her commercial had just been aired on the TV station, and she also gained some nicknames for a while.
Manager Eddie took her to the party because he wanted her to get acquainted with people in the industry and have some opportunities in the future.
"How much is the box office of your movie now?" The main purpose of PJ Soles' visit was to meet Ronald, who was the assistant and temporary director of the crew at that time and has now become a blockbuster director at Universal.
"Twenty-eight million. However, Universal will not print more copies in the future. It is estimated that the growth rate of the box office will slow down."
One month after its release, the box office of Ronald's movie has exceeded 28 million. Compared with the first weekend's box office of more than 2.5 million, the first weekend box office multiplier has reached more than ten.
Although this number was initially due to Universal not releasing it nationwide simultaneously, seeing that there is still a lot of room for growth at the box office, no one dared to look down upon such a young director who made the hit movie Sleeping Beauty.
"Is it because of the piracy of ET?" PJ has been in the film industry for a long time and knows a lot of inside stories.
Ronald nodded, "Yes, Universal doesn't want to print more copies now. It plans to wait until the box office on the West Coast slows down before allocating some copies to the central region."
"Video tapes are really an evil invention. If the Japanese were allowed to sell them in America, no one would be willing to enter the cinema.
In the future, movies should not be released. Once they are finished, they will be made into video tapes. From now on, everyone will just watch the video tapes at home." Eddie interjected to express his sympathy for Ronald.
"This is because you can't see anything more in the cinema than on TV, so everyone watches it on TV." said a girl brought by Van Patten.
"It can't be said that acting in movies is much more difficult than on TV. Only on the big screen can we be moved by the actors' performances.
And in a movie theater where the screen is completely dark, there is nothing else to disturb us. We can have two hours to enjoy it quietly without thinking about anything. In this way, we can better appreciate the art of the director and actors. Rather than watching a TV series, we can
Chat and watch at the same time.”
Van Patten has made movies after all, pointing out the differences between movies and television.
Ronald completely agrees with this statement. The difficulty of acting in movies is higher than that of TV series. Every flaw on the big screen will be noticed by the audience. The TV itself is not big, so some details will be missed by the audience.
However, the average appreciation level of the public is not as high as that of practitioners in the film industry. Many viewers just want to watch a story. Box office and artistry are sometimes contradictory.
"So in the final analysis, we still have to show them something they can't see on TV." PJ's husband Dennis Quaid said.
Ronald also agreed with this statement. The classification of movies is much looser than that of TV stations. The completely liberalized X-rated box office failed, but R-rated movies are now becoming popular.
The reason why studios make R-rated movies with a smaller audience base is to add more things that TV stations can't see and attract viewers to go to movie theaters.
"So 3D movies are the weapon to save movies. Audiences can only see three-dimensional images in the cinema."
Dennis Quaid talked about his new movie. He was selected to play "Jaws 3". This movie was recently approved as a 3D movie by Universal. The Jaws series created by Spielberg has reached the third episode and finally started to do well at the box office.
Weak.
In order to save this blockbuster movie series, Universal turned to 3D technology.
Dennis is a very masculine actor with a wide chin and looks like a traditional American male with virtues and advantages.
PJ Soles looked at her husband with great affection. After playing several minor roles in his own films, Dennis finally had the opportunity to stand out and become the leading actor in a major studio film.
Also with bright eyes is Leigh Thompson.
Ronald's commercial was only played on TV and a few high school boys recognized her.
Her dream is still to be on the big screen. The "Jaws" series is the beginning of American summer blockbusters. If she can appear in the movie, she will become famous in one fell swoop.
"Where will Jaws 3 be filmed?" Ronald is very interested in 3D technology. This technology that allows the audience to see three-dimensional images has been around for a while in the 1950s, also to allow the audience to see a little bit.
Pictures that cannot be seen on TV.
The most typical early 3D movie is "Murder" directed by Hitchcock and starring Grace Kelly. The phone calls and murders in it were all shown in 3D images.
However, this kind of stunt is not very interesting, and the audience will lose interest after watching it a few times.
This time in Jaws 3, maybe the shark will open its bloody mouth and bite the audience three-dimensionally? Ronald thought it was interesting.
"Filmed in Orlando, Florida, where Universal's water lot is located."
Ronald said he knew and if he had the chance, he might as well go and have a look.
Several old friends from "Rock and Roll High School" had a great time, and Ronald called a car for them to take them out.
"Pj, your pace of filming seems to have slowed down recently?"
While waiting for the bus, Ronald asked PJ Sowers.
"I am already thirty-two years old. For women of my age, the importance of work will recede. Now I want to have a child with Dennis."
"oh."
Ronald nodded to indicate understanding.
"Women will understand when they reach this age, and men may come later." PJ Sowers chatted with Ronald.
"Your girlfriend Helen is also an actor, right? She talked a lot about acting tonight."
"Yes, she wants to be a movie actress, and she is still looking for opportunities."
pj talked to Ronald all the time, and the taxi arrived.
"Where's Dennis?" Ronald asked PJ to get in the car, but Dennis Quaid disappeared when he turned around.
"Dennis, your car is here," Ronald called back to PJ's husband.
"Just come!"
In the darkness of the party bar foyer, Dennis and Leigh Thompson were exchanging phone numbers.
"You have danced ballet, and your body coordination is quite good. The crew is still short of a water skier role, and I can recommend it to the director. You can water ski, right? You also have some cheerleading moves."
"I will, I will, I was on the cheerleading team in high school, thank you Dennis." Lea Thompson didn't expect to find an opportunity to appear at the party. She hugged Dennis and kissed him on the cheek.
"Call me." Dennis Quaid held Thompson in his arms and waited for a time beyond a normal friend's farewell, then let go of her and walked quickly to the taxi.
"Here we come, honey!" Dennis and PJ's taxi drove away.
"Eddie, do you know where you can learn to water ski in New York?" Lea Thompson pulled her agent Eddie and asked.