Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 425 Box Office Pillar

   "Thank you for accepting our interview, Mr. Kubrick." A reporter from "Rock" magazine, after contacting many parties, finally interviewed Stanley Kubrick, who was traveling to Hollywood.

   "Three years have passed since The Shining, I don't know what kind of new movie Mr. Kubrick will bring us?"

   "I have several scripts that I like in my hand that are advancing. Let's see."

  Britain is Kubrick's second home and is the reason for his mixed Anglo-American accent. Disgusted by Hollywood and the rising crime rate in America, he moved to Britain in 1961. Lived there ever since.

   This time back in Hollywood, there is widespread speculation that it has something to do with his preparation for the next movie. So the reporter asked him straight to the point, but Kubrick slipped slyly.

   "Which directors have influenced you the most in your career?"

"Ah, there are a lot of them, but it's the directors of the bad movies that I should be most grateful for. The reason I had the courage to work as a film director was because I watched all the bad movies of the 40s and 50s. I think, although I I don't know anything about the director's work, but I can do better than them."

   "Is there a specific director?"

"There are a lot of directors who have influenced me a lot, like Chaplin, whose 'City Lights' is one of my favorites. Others like Max Ofirs, David Lane, Elijah Kazan, Ingmar Bergman and Federico Fellini have all inspired me a lot."

   "Are there any directors that are closer to our era that you admire?"

"Ha, I'm good friends with Steven (Spielberg) and I love some of his movies. Also recently there's a young man named David Lynch who's not bad, and I love his 'Erasers' head'."

   "How about Coppola?"

   "Hmmmmmm... lucky guy, his 'Godfather' may be the best casting in the history of world cinema."

   "Are there any younger directors that you like too?"

   "Huh? I don't know, but there was a recent movie 'Night of the Comet', which was very interesting. The director Ronald Lee was a sly guy."

  …

   Ronald had no idea that Kubrick was really "complimenting" himself to the media.

   He is very happy to see that the box office of "Night of the Comet" is still going strong for a new weekend. Although the release of "Superman III" took away some of the theaters, the attendance rate of the remaining theaters was still quite high.

   In this way, the theaters that decided to continue showing "Night of the Comet" will keep the film running for a long time.

   Even Atlantic President Tom Coleman was amazed, a situation rarely seen in his career. Movie theaters that continue to show are concentrated on the east and west coasts, and in large cities in the central Great Lakes region.

  The publishers in those cities reported to the headquarters after they went to the scene that there were many young women and some students who were obviously good at school, and many of them wore glasses.

   Ronald and Tom Coleman discuss why it appeals to both groups. Young women are easier to understand, the real protagonists of this film are two sisters, and the story revolves around two young women.

  This is completely different from the male-centric narrative that Hollywood has always had, and many people have seen their own projections from Regina and Samantha.

  In the Americas of the 1980s, there was no need to be a vassal of a man, women could achieve a career on their own without preventing them from finding romantic love. This is simply an icon for young women.

   But what attracted nerds, Ronald didn't understand until his cousin Donna called.

Donna specifically called Ronald to ask for an autographed photo of the heroine. They caused a boom in high school because of this movie. Many students who took natural subjects, such as physics, biology, geology, astronomy, etc., often talked about this film. A movie with a lot of scientific elements in it.

   As Ronald's cousin, Donna's social status in the school is rising rapidly. She needs autographed photos of the two heroines to consolidate the "social circle".

  In America's high schools and colleges, there are always some students who are good at science and are usually not popular in social circles. But they themselves are quite a group, and they regard the boys on the football team and the girls on the cheerleading team as brainless people.

  Although they also want to squeeze into the most popular social circle composed of these "brainless people", they often can only play bridge and chess at home to relieve boredom with nerds themselves.

And the "Night of the Comet" made them suddenly become decent people in the school. There are always some students who don't understand something and ask them, they will talk to the classmates incessantly, and even the cheerleaders will listen carefully. They talked about the relationship between comets and the solar system, and why the dinosaurs went extinct.

  Although the real purpose of the cheerleaders is to get a cheerleading uniform and sneakers like Samantha in the movie, when going to the movies with the quarterback of the beloved football team, they will not have nothing to say except kiss.

The absolute number of these nerds is quite large. Usually, they always complain that the scientific details in Hollywood movies are inaccurate. Finally, there is a sci-fi movie of the past that can be roughly said. Night" contributed two, three, and four box office hits.

   Ronald also made another trip to Sherman Oaks to test the theory. Indeed, it was the groups of young women who came to see the most, and the student-like people who generally wore glasses.

   Those young women are not only high school, college students, but many are obviously already working. It seems that the story of this kind of independent women is not small for them.

"Your movie is still in the top ten at the box office. It's amazing." Karate coach Daryl Vidal came to Ronald's apartment again. He saw Ronald flipping through the Hollywood Reporter, the box office above. Leaderboard.

   This time, Ronald invited him to discuss the trick, "Yes, it is estimated that he will stay there for two months."

Ronald was in a good mood, "I came to you this time to ask, among the several martial arts you have practiced, such as karate, Wing Chun, and the Filipino stick, is there a type of standing on one foot, taking off on one foot, A foot attack move?"

   "Why use such awkward movements?" Vidal didn't understand, what was the benefit? Such an attack has neither strength nor speed, and is easy to defend.

"Not only is there no benefit, but there is also a weakness. The reason is that before the final, the protagonist Danny was instructed by the coach of the other team to injure one of his legs with a foul trick. So he only has one good leg to use now. to launch an attack.

   In karate, it is difficult to move after the leg is injured, and it may not be easy to use the fist to attack an opponent with good mobility. So Danny had to practice a trick to attack with one leg. "

   "I see." Vidal touched his chin, "Actually, there is a trick."

   "Oh, what move?"

   "You know that I learned Wing Chun at the Zhenfan Martial Arts Hall founded by Bruce Lee. His Jeet Kune Do is not taught there, and several of Bruce Lee's apprentices monopolized the teaching of Jeet Kune Do.

   But my master and Bruce Lee used to practice martial arts together, so I know some Jeet Kune Do moves. I once asked him for advice, and he said that the biggest characteristic of Jeet Kune Do is that it is counter-intuitive. "

  Vidal first made a karate start gesture, with his left hand and left foot in front, and a heavier right fist and right foot behind.

   Then he took a step forward with his right foot, in a position where his right hand and right foot were in front.

   "Look, the gesture of Jeet Kune Do is the opposite of all martial arts. His strong hands and strong feet are in front."

   "Bruce Lee is right-handed?" Ronald recalled the stance in his movie, and was surprised that Jeet Kune Do was different.

   "Yes, his right hand is a strong hand, but it is placed in front. This way, he can hit the opponent with his strong hand and foot faster than the opponent."

   "Not bad," Ronald understood.

"This goes back to a famous Bruce Lee-style trick that my master told me." Vidal returned to the stance of Jeet Kune Do, and his left foot suddenly lifted in the back, as if aiming at Ronald's kick. come over.

  Ronald instinctively pressed the next letter with his hand, making a blocking gesture.

   Vidal's left foot didn't kick out, it was a fake!

   He kicked up with his right foot, standing on one leg, and kicked Ronald's head high.

  Ronald's attention was on the opponent's left foot. He was caught off guard by this move, so he only took two steps back to avoid it.

   "This is the true meaning of Jeet Kune Do. It predicts your movements in advance, then uses false moves to mislead, and finally, according to your reaction, use the strong side in front to quickly volley your movements, so he is called Jeet Kune Do."

   "How did you practice this move?" Ronald was very surprised. Just now Vidal's left foot pretended to kick, and Ronald didn't notice any preparations for his right foot. Suddenly it was an explosive kick in the head.

   "This requires practice, didn't you say that you need a one-legged attack? I want to practice for a while, and it's enough to make a movie." Vidal demonstrated it to Ronald again.

"If you want to mislead the opponent, you can actually use the punch to fake the opponent first. First punch the stance, aim at the opponent's head, and then kick the left leg when his attention is on defending his own head. The fake action. In this way, the opponent is suddenly disrupted by the defensive center, and his attention will be shifted to the next set.

   And at this time, you kick the head again with this move, so that the opponent's attention and focus can be moved back and forth, and the opponent's defense can be completely defeated. This one-legged posture, in fact, the strength and speed of the attack are not good, only by misleading the opponent, can the attack effect be achieved. "

"Yeah." Ronald also took a Jeet Kune Do posture, but instead of putting his right foot forward, he placed his feet side by side, then raised his hands and placed them in front of him and close to his sides, as if two different Outstretched crane wings. The hands and fingers are gathered together to form a beak shape, ready to attack the opponent's head at any time.

   Then Ronald made a fake left foot attack. With his center of gravity on his right foot, even if his left foot is injured, he can still do this fake action.

   Finally, he suddenly took off with one right foot, kicked the opposite Vidal, and landed on one foot with his right foot.

   Not having enough time and height to complete the kick, Ronald nearly fell.

  Vidal supported him, "You still need to practice. There is a trade-off between speed and strength. But your move is very beautiful, and it works well in movies. What's the name of this move?"

   "The white crane hangs its wings?" Ronald thought to himself, could it be that this move is actually used in the tradition of Tai Chi?

   "It's called Crane Kick, right? Look at my hands, they look like the claws of a crane." Ronald raised his hands again, gathered them together and commanded the dance twice.

   "Hey... Uncle..." Ronald imitated Bruce Lee's movements and voices.

   "Hahaha, it's pretty good. To make a movie, you need a good-looking move. This crane hand, plus that front kick, is very entertaining."

   "Well, in that case, you must add some reaction shots of the opponent, Johnny, being misled by the fake action." Ronald took out a pen and paper and began to draw a sketch.

   (end of this chapter)