Chapter 404 Different Roads
Unlike ordinary commercial film directors, Gilbert Jr. is actually very popular among professional film critics.
However, with the development of the Internet and the emergence of movie rating websites such as IMDB, everyone can become a film critic.
But during awards season, these professional film critics can still play a big role.
Roger Ebert, as Little Gilbert's number one fan and one of the most well-known film critics in the United States, cheered for Little Gilbert on his own show.
"Throughout the history of Hollywood, there has never been a director as special as Gilbert Jr.. After more than ten years, he has presented countless wonderful movies to the audience.
Gilbert Jr.'s contribution to Hollywood has destined him to go down in Hollywood history. "
Another film critic co-hosting the show with Roger Ebert asked: "You mean the Academy has to recognize Gilbert Jr. at this Oscar?"
"Of course," Roger Ebert said matter-of-factly: "Although Gilbert Jr. has already won the Oscar for Best Director before, this is far from enough.
We must know that in addition to its outstanding commercial results, the "Lord of the Rings" series also has huge artistic achievements and influence.
It can be said that the impact this movie series has had around the world is huge.
I heard that in an ancient country far away in the East, many people also like this movie series and are crazy about "The Lord of the Rings". "
In the perception of many people in North America, China is actually a film and cultural desert.
Although many well-known filmmakers have appeared, such as Guo Shi Zhang, John Wu, Jack Cheng, etc. But in the eyes of most North American viewers, it is still an unknown and mysterious land.
North American movie fans are not surprised at all that Gilbert Jr.'s movies can conquer movie fans in that land.
Roger Ebert listed a series of figures: "145 million people in North America watched "The Return of the King". In terms of IMDB's general audience ratings, 460,000 fans rated it, with an average score of 9.2.
The film is currently ranked second on IMDB, second only to "The Shawshank Redemption."
Many celebrities in Hollywood, including professional film critics, and hundreds of media outlets have given positive reviews.
Coupled with its commercial success, if the Oscars ignore "The Return of the King", it will be the biggest crisis in the history of the Oscars..."
In fact, after Gilbert Jr. launched an Oscar publicity campaign, the current rotating president of the Academy called the judges he knew well and asked them to vote for Gilbert Jr.
"Arthur, are you still unwilling to vote for Little Gilbert?" Frank Felson, the rotating chairman of the college, personally visited the former rotating chairman Arthur Joel.
This Jewish judge named Arthur Joel was the rotating president of the academy in his early years. Although he has faded away from the film industry and Oscars in the past two years, he still has a certain influence.
Arthur Joel was hesitant: "The Return of the King is not my type, and I don't want to vote for him. Moreover, he is too addicted to commercial films and is not my favorite Hollywood director."
Frank Felson nodded: "Indeed, Gilbert Jr. is not a traditional Hollywood director.
However, there is news that if little Gilbert fails to win anything at this Oscar, he will withdraw from the Oscar. We cannot ignore this situation. "
Traditional Hollywood directors refer to people like Spielberg who started their careers with commercial films, and after achieving success, they strive to get closer to Oscars and art films.
More traditional directors do not touch commercial films at all and focus on independent films.
Of course, this is just the wishful thinking of the academy judges.
In Hollywood, there are a few people who are not very affected by this traditional concept. They go further and further on the road of commercial films and blockbusters, and they become more and more successful.
Little Gilbert is one of them. If nothing else, it's okay that little Gilbert is not successful, but the problem is that today's little Gilbert is constantly succeeding.
The more successful he is, the more he proves that the set of truths that Oscar and the Academy insist on are wrong, but the Academy still has to give him recognition.
Because of awards, if a reputable director like Gilbert Jr. withdraws or even boycotts the Oscars, what negative impact will it have on the Academy and even old men like them?
Frank Felson was thinking about the Academy and the Oscar. He had been running up and down for a long time, persuading the conservatives in the Academy to vote for Gilbert Jr.
Arthur Joel obviously understood Frank Felson's concerns. He handed his envelope to Frank Felson and then said:
"Frank, I'm old and can't influence the situation anymore. Just do what you want!"
Frank Felson took the envelope and left Arthur Joel's residence.
When he got in the car, Frank Felson was still thinking that maybe this was an opportunity to show the outside world Oscar's determination to reform and rejuvenate.
Of course, the reforms are only superficial.
If they really get younger, the old men in the academy will lose their value.
Young people can continue to make progress in the film industry, and old men like them rely on Oscars to tell young people what to do.
After visiting Arthur Joel, Frank Felson visited several conservative judges one after another, and then used these judges to persuade others.
However, except for Arthur Joel, the other judges were basically not difficult to deal with and all agreed to vote for little Gilbert.
Everyone knows that this year's "The Return of the King" must win the Oscars, otherwise it will be a big event in Hollywood.
If they don't want the Oscar and the Academy to explode, they have to give their vote to little Gilbert no matter what. But you can't vote with the thought that someone will vote for little Gilbert anyway, and you can vote according to your own ideas.
If one person thinks so, countless others will think so.
So the best way is not to have any ideas and vote according to the predetermined plan.
Located at Melon Manor in Malibu, little Gilbert returned home after a day's work, and the housekeeper Kyoko prepared dinner for him.
Naomi Watts sat next to little Gilbert with her big belly, listening to him talk about work while eating.
"The response to the trailer at the Super Bowl was pretty good. It seems that our pirate story is still very attractive." Little Gilbert said.
Naomi Watts pointed to the newspaper report and said: "The newspaper said that at first they thought "Pirates of the Caribbean" was a historical movie.
But they didn't expect that it actually contained a bit of fantasy elements, which surprised them. "
Little Gilbert ate something and wiped his mouth. After Xingzi took the things away, he served him another pot of tea.
The two moved to the living room to chat. When faced with this problem, little Gilbert said: "A simple pirate story is actually not attractive.
When the word pirate is mentioned, topics like treasure, robbery, and treasure hunting always come to mind. In fact, in a sense,. This is a sixteenth-century Raiders of the Lost Ark. "
"It's true," Naomi Watts went on to talk about another topic: "I have filled out the Oscar selection list and mailed it out."
"Did you vote for Sally?"
"Of course, Sally has been doing public relations activities recently, and you also want to help."
Little Gilbert said this was necessary: "I have called the judges I know well, and they all expressed their willingness to support Sally."
Neither of them mentioned the situation of "The Return of the King". Judging from the current trend, it is impossible for the academy to risk the world's disapproval and deny recognition to "The Return of the King".
Naomi Watts smiled happily: "I guess the academy didn't expect you to be such a director and put them in a dilemma."
Little Gilbert didn't find it difficult to be in the academy: "In fact, the outside world has always had a filter on me, saying that I am a representative of commercial film directors.
But have they forgotten "The Sixth Sense" and "Chicago"?
Just because the movie is doing well at the box office, you can’t say that my movie is not artistically high, right? "
"The conservative judges of the Academy may really feel that the higher the box office, the lower the artistic content." Naomi Watts was very disdainful of this, thinking this is a bad habit of the Oscars.
Yes, the Academy often favors independent films that don't make big box office hits and don't cost a lot of money.
But the essence of Hollywood, what makes it popular around the world, is a series of high-investment commercial movies.
Naomi Watts was very interested in filling out the Oscar selection list. She asked: "Honey, have you filled out yours?"
"It's already been filled in. Scarlett helped fill it out." Little Gilbert said with a smile: "Scarlett wants to pass the Oscar jury review."
"I think Scarlett has great potential, and she might become an actress in the future!" Naomi Watts also laughed.
There are two ways to become an Oscar judge. One is an invitation from the Academy, and the other is to automatically qualify as a judge if you are nominated for an Oscar.
Of course, if you do not participate in the selection work for several consecutive sessions, your qualifications as judges can be revoked by the academy.
Little Gilbert and Naomi Watts both automatically qualified as judges because they won Oscars. They are the targets of public relations every awards season.
A few days ago, little Gilbert was pinned to the bed by Charlize Theron, and the public relations lasted all night. In the end, Charlize Theron fell asleep with a satisfied and satisfied smile.
In fact, quite a few judges vote very randomly. To put it simply, they vote for whichever movie they have heard the name of.
"The Return of the King" undoubtedly has a great advantage in this regard, because everyone knows the name of "The Return of the King" this summer.
For this year's Oscars, voting starts from the announcement of the nomination list and ends one week before the awards ceremony.
After the judges' votes are mailed back to the academy, accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers are responsible for counting, and then put the results into envelopes and seal them.
These envelopes are kept confidential and are kept by the insurance company, making people full of suspense and anticipation.
It will not be until the evening of the Oscars ceremony that these envelopes will be opened one by one to announce the winners.
All the work that can be done has been done. Sheena Boone assured little Gilbert: "'The Return of the King' has a great chance of winning. We are 70% sure that the film will win at least seven to nine awards."
Little Gilbert expressed his relief: "You have worked hard during this period. When the Oscars is over, come and visit me at home."
Sheena Boone had a smile on her face: "This is what I should do, no one will be our opponent this year."
While the outside world is speculating on who the winner of this year's Oscars will be, the Oscars ceremony is finally about to reveal the final answer.
It will soon be known who the biggest winner this year is.
There is another chapter tonight
(End of this chapter)