Chapter 493 Dark Cuisine
"Spell 2" is not the only hot movie in July. At the end of July, it was produced by Jerry Bruckheimer and starred by Nicolas Cage and Cameron Diaz. "National Treasure" is released.
Although Cameron Diaz has gradually transitioned to behind the scenes, he now serves as the second producer of "Batman Begins".
But occasionally I still get one or two movies to enjoy. The heroine of "National Treasure" is also a character who returns favors, so Cameron Diaz starred.
Since cooperating with Gilbert Jr. in "The Island", Nicolas Cage has become an alternative representative of action movies.
He doesn't have the explosive muscles of Schwarzenegger and Stallone, but his tough face still brings the hardness of many action movie heroes.
Together with Keanu Reeves and Tom Cruise, he completely changed the model of Hollywood action movies dominated by muscular men.
Only then did the audience realize that action movie actors can still perform well in action movies without having explosive muscles.
Later, Keanu Reeves contributed wonderful performances in the "Matrix" series, performing Chinese Kung Fu. And Tom Cruise started doing action stunts in "Mission: Impossible" and never looked back.
On the contrary, Nicolas Cage, although he has starred in several good action movies, has not established his own clear style.
The failure of "Windtalker" and the recent financial problems caused Nicolas Cage to start taking on random roles in order to pay off his debts.
Sofia also complained about Nicolas Cage to little Gilbert, and said that she lent him a lot of money and has not repaid it yet.
But this "National Treasure" is a good project, after all, little Gilbert's woman also stars.
The film grossed US$53.368 million at the box office in its first week, a pretty good result, and it also allowed Nicolas Cage to clear away the haze of "Windtalker" being a hit on the street.
"Nicola asked me to express my gratitude to you." Cameron Diaz followed little Gilbert and said to little Gilbert.
"Thank me for what?" Little Gilbert was very surprised.
"He thanks you for recommending this movie on social platforms, otherwise it wouldn't have such a good box office."
Little Gilbert shook his head and said, "I recommend this movie solely because of you. If you didn't participate in the movie, I wouldn't even mention it."
"Hehe, then I want to thank you." Hearing this, Cameron Diaz was very happy.
After the film's promotion cycle ended, Cameron Diaz flew directly to Iceland to find Gilbert Jr. to fulfill his duties as second producer.
The location chosen was the Wagner Glacier in Iceland. Although it was August, in high latitudes you still had to wear down jackets to keep out the cold.
Walking on a hillside, little Gilbert pointed to the ice field below the mountain and said to director of photography John Schwarzman: "We may need some large equipment to come in. I want to give this ice field a panoramic view.
On the other side of the mountain, villages and monasteries were built. "
Cameron Diaz entered the situation quickly: "The local government promised that as long as the crew moves here, they will cooperate in building a simple road.
However, local environmental groups protested, believing that our filming here was damaging the local glacier environment. "
"Donate a sum of money to them and say we will protect the local environment." Little Gilbert was too lazy to tangle with environmental organizations and just paid his way.
Generally, if you give money, environmental organizations will not embarrass the crew. This is also one of the unspoken rules.
On the way back to the hotel, the jeep that little Gilbert and his team were riding in also encountered strong windy weather. This kind of weather may affect the shooting conditions.
However, the local guide said that there was no problem. The real wind season would come later, and as long as the crew completed filming before mid-November, there would be no problem.
The hotel where little Gilbert and the others stayed also had a hot spring. During their break, little Gilbert also took Cameron Diaz to experience it, and the effect was good.
The local food is also very unique, such as a hot spring lamb dish that uses geothermal resources, which Cameron Diaz likes very much.
The mutton is appropriately fat and lean, has little odor, and is very delicious and juicy. Put the mutton into the geothermal cave and let it cook for several hours to create a delicious dish.
Pair it with sauce, roasted potatoes, vegetables, etc., and you can enjoy it.
In addition to lamb, Iceland’s local lobster is also good. Use a small fork to dig and dig. When you see the milky white and tender shrimp meat dug out, your mouth water will roll on the tip of your tongue.
Put it in your mouth, take a bite, and the elasticity and deliciousness of the shrimp meat will be released in your mouth. It is simply too delicious!
There is also lobster bisque, the focus is on the word thick, which concentrates all the essence of lobster. Locals like to eat lobster with buttered bread, a mouthful of soup and a mouthful of bread, perfect.
Little Gilbert himself likes this dish, and plans to let Kyoko Lily and the others come over to learn from it and learn from it.
The dishes that impressed little Gilbert the most were those dark dishes.
I remember that when he checked into the hotel, little Gilbert asked the guide if he could try local delicacies, so the guide recommended fermented shark meat.
Not to mention, little Gilbert loves to eat. He has tried all kinds of delicacies and street snacks, and has even eaten insects, but he has never eaten shark meat.
So out of curiosity, he ordered this thing, and the price was not cheap.
But after it was served, little Gilbert immediately regretted it, because it was so smelly, and the canned herring was like a younger brother in front of him. How would you describe that taste? It's like the stench from a toilet that hasn't been cleaned in several years. It can be called an odor bioweapon!
In addition, there is a dish that Cameron Diaz likes to order for little Gilbert.
When ordering it, Cameron Diaz also joked that it was a man's gas station, telling little Gilbert to eat more and take a lot of supplements. Little Gilbert was so angry that he taught Cameron Diaz a lesson in bed that night, making her unable to get out of bed.
This dish is sheep eggs, commonly known as sheep kidneys in China.
The Chinese method is to barbecue and use a lot of seasonings to remove the fishy smell of the sheep eggs. However, the local approach in Iceland is darker, focusing on an authentic flavor.
When little Gilbert tried to put this horror into his mouth, the smell went straight into little Gilbert's nose. When he bit the bullet and ate it, little Gilbert could feel that it was more exciting than eating it raw.
After eating it once, little Gilbert refused to accept this dark cuisine.
But fortunately, except for a few dark dishes, little Gilbert can accept the rest of the food, and there are also various flavors of ice cream.
Icelanders are particularly fond of ice cream, and this is the kingdom of ice cream.
If Sijia comes over, she will definitely like to eat.
Little Gilbert spent a good time in Iceland. After inspecting the location, he negotiated a contract with the locals, left the location team to build the scenery, and then returned to North America.
After returning to Los Angeles, there is still a lot of work for Gilbert Jr. to solve.
The first is the training status of the actors. Christian Bale is in good training and has slowly lost weight.
If you lose a few more pounds, you can put on the bat suit.
Christian Bale was chatting with little Gilbert after training. He realized early on that the identity of Bruce Wayne and Batman was changing.
Therefore, when speaking, I will deliberately cultivate the way of speaking with two voices.
At work, he speaks in a rougher voice, imitating Batman. In life, he speaks in his native voice, imitating Bruce Wayne.
There are so many benefits to working with great actors, and that’s a plus. The actors themselves will understand the characters naturally without any guidance from the director.
Of course, this requires maintaining communication with the director to prevent deviations in your understanding of the role and the director.
After reading the script, Christian Bale had a very good understanding of the character, but he still had many issues to discuss with Gilbert Jr.
"I have read the script repeatedly over the past few days, and I found that the protagonist is much more complicated than I thought."
"What kind of superhero movie did you think this was? Chris." Little Gilbert asked.
Christian Bale replied: "I thought it would be something like the Spider-Man series, where the story might not be too complicated."
Although "Spider-Man 2" achieved quite good box office results, its reputation among audiences was actually not as good as its predecessor.
This is normal. Sequel movies usually show a decline in the arithmetic sequence. Few sequel movies get better and better, except for a few movies such as the "Lord of the Rings" series.
But one thing you need to know is that the "Lord of the Rings" series was filmed in one go, not the second film after the first one became a hit.
It's normal for Christian Bale to feel this way, but after reading the script, he found that Gilbert Jr. had put more thought into it.
Gilbert Jr. said: "Chris, you can think of this movie as a gangster movie, not a superhero movie.
Think about it, does everything Batman do look like a vigilante? "
"It is," Christian Bale agreed.
"There is a saying that in the eyes of Americans, they themselves are Superman, but in the eyes of others, Americans are actually Batman.
In the comics, Batman often acts as a vigilante, catching bad guys everywhere. "
There is another thing that little Gilbert did not say. What is the definition of good and bad people? Nowadays, it is all defined by Americans.
After talking with little Gilbert, Christian Bale understood the script and the theme of the entire story better, which can help in terms of performance.
The other actors were recruited very smoothly. After all the actors were recruited, Gilbert Jr. held a script reading meeting to let the actors express their thoughts on the script.
Script reading meetings are a common format in Hollywood, with the purpose of making actors more familiar with the script. It also allows the director and actors to have early contact and communication so that both parties can understand each other.
"Beginners" is not a simple superhero movie. If this movie is made in the conventional way, the possibility of failure is very high.
This is the focus of discussion among the actors. Everyone thinks that the film's overly realistic style is great, but they are worried that the audience will not accept it.
(End of chapter)