Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 807 Polarized Film Review

   "The hot dance is smart and funny, moving and unabashed. It will be a breath of fresh air in the hot summer. Even if it's just for those dances...and Patrick Schwytz's body, it's worth seeing."

  Sheila Benson - Los Angeles Times, female film critic.

"On top of that, you have Jennifer Gray, a wealthy girl Baby who spends her summers in the Catskills, who falls in love with Johnny, a working-class dance instructor played by Patrick Swayze. The chemistry between the leads is White-hot... well worth a look.

   At least, the two of them are really **** when they dance! "

  F.X. Feeney, Los Angeles Weekly, film critic.

   "Spicy Dance is a 'Lightning Dance' where the protagonist has an IQ of over 100..."

  Jay Scott, Globe and Mail, film critic.

"The dance itself, especially the Mamba choreographed by Kenny Ortega, looks very modern, or at least as modern as 'Saturday Night Fever'. But it's more of a part than Saturday Night Fever. A wild drive and a gushing pulse that gives the film a real...thrill.

  Vincent Camby, New York Times, film critic

   "Heart-warming images, wild dances, and hot dances remind me of the Roger Coleman-esque B-movie mood, which is very nostalgic.

   When protagonists Patrick Schwytz and Jennifer Gray dance together, you need a fire extinguisher…”

  Julie Solomon, Wall Street Journal, female film critic.

"Hot, Hot (with hot and **** puns)...Hot...(Critics wrote eight Hot in a row), 'Hot Dancing' is 'Saturday Night Fever' with Caribbean hot dance music, a borscht lounge (A lap of New York State vacation spots frequented by Jews) 'Lightning Dance' is a romantic dazzle set against sultry '60s oldies.

  In the 1960s, my God, the leaders at that time were so sexy. …

  The absolutely romantic movie, played by Jewish girl Jennifer Gray, Baby Francis, represents the women of that era of emancipation and freedom. This is a typical Ronald Lee-esque Sleeping Beauty-esque low-budget movie, and the box office is sure to be surprisingly good. I heard that the premiere will be delayed until mid-August, which is very exciting.

   I recommend that all young girls, no, just women should watch it. This is our Rocky, and Baby is like Rocky in the end, technically knocking out the woman she competes with Patrick Schwitz's Johnny Castle in the dance. "

  Rita Kempley—Washington Post, female film critic.

  …

  Pauline Carr has a huge influence in New York and even in the national circle of female film critics. She came forward and invited some film critics to participate in the second film critics' test screenings that Ronald organized in various places.

   works very well. Pauline specifically recommends the film from the perspective of women's liberation. Many female film critics are writing positive film reviews of more than 80 to 90 percent.

   Hollywood's unspoken rule of film critics, Ronald, as a producer, can send benefits to film critics in private. But you can't interfere with critics' reviews or ask for higher ratings.

   And well-known film critics from major media will also submit their film review articles after the film critics’ special session a few weeks before the film’s release.

   Regardless of whether it is good or bad, the producer has been given a certain amount of time to make corresponding adjustments to the marketing plan according to the quality of the film review.

   This time, Pauline Carr saved face and helped Ronald call those film critics to attend the second preview. Most of the film critics who came were female, including many non-Jewish male film critics.

   They would not normally attend such small-scale film critics' specials. Write a review later.

   But Pauline's status in Hollywood film critics is very high. The pioneering work of the New Hollywood movement "Bonnie and Clyde" is her film critics. This time Pauline Carr held Ronald up high, saying he had the opportunity to revolutionize Hollywood again and bring mainstream movies back to major real-world issues.

  Those female film critics have more or less benefited from Pauline Carr's favor to find a film critic position in a big newspaper or magazine in male-dominated Hollywood. They were also curious about Ronald's new film telling the story of the 1960s.

  10 years before the Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade, "Dancing Hot" touched on women's abortion rights.

   Penny Johnson, played by Cynthia Rhodes, is a key pivot for the establishment of the entire film. Penny was unmarried and was deceived by the waiter to get pregnant, so Baby had the opportunity to practice dancing with Johnny.

   And Penny had no money at that time, so she could only find a doctor in Jianghu for surgery, which led Baby to ask her father to lend money to Penny, and then brought her father to give Penny another treatment to avoid accidents. This leads to the plot of Baby's father, Dr. Hausman, and his favorite daughter, against her love affair with Johnny.

   Such a plot is very difficult to ignore. As long as it's not the uninvolved boys and girls, Ronald's restrained director and editing can understand and restore the original appearance of things.

   These film critics all came from the turbulent women's liberation cause in the 1960s. It is clear how rare a good doctor with an enlightened mind like Hausman was before the Supreme Court decided Roe v. Wade.

   also let him finally agree to his daughter and Johnny dating, and send Baby to go abroad to participate in the Peace Corps movement advocated by Kennedy, to help third world countries, how unusual.

   This is the dream of all girls. These middle-aged women, watching the movie, miss the past when they were young. Finally, in the scene where Baby and Johnny hug each other again, they were almost moved to tears.

The most exaggerated is the Washington Post's Rita Kempley, who works for the largest newspaper in the center of DC politics and knows better than anyone else that the two protagonists can overcome huge gaps in race, class, wealth, education, The difficulty of finally coming together.

  Rita took Ronald and pressed him about the subsequent plot:

   "Come on, Ronald, did Baby and Johnny get married together? Huh? Did Johnny get picked on Broadway for the musical? Baby married him after he came back from working in the Peace Corps in Africa? Huh?"

"I can't say it well, it should be decided by the audience." In order to avoid being addressed by Jewish gangs, Ronald kept all details hidden. For example, in the end, the hero and heroine just danced a dance together. There are no details that hint at their future ending.

   "If you don't tell me, I'll write a bad review for you!" Rita insisted.

"Yes, Ronald, you bastard, almost made me cry. You dare to let Baby and Johnny separate, and I will scold you in the film review, little bastard." Julie Solomon of the Wall Street Journal also came up and made a pair The vicious look threatened Ronald.

   "I have something to say, I surrender." Ronald pretended that they had succeeded in threatening them, and recounted his difficulties. Why was he threatened by the Jewish forces in Hollywood because the heroine was a Jewish girl.

   reached an agreement with the Jews not to take the initiative to reveal Baby's ethnicity in the movie, and deleted the scenes of Baby and Johnny's **** scene, as well as the two people's future prospects, and the scenes where they had to overcome all difficulties together.

   As a result, this concession still aroused objections from Jewish film critics, so Pauline Carr had to be asked to make amends.

"Actually, I've been very reserved in this movie. Unless you were Jewish growing up in the 1960s, it's hard to tell that the Catskills are a borsch and a resort hotel that only caters to Jews. You don't necessarily know that Baby is Jewish girl. This story does not change because of the ethnicity of the two protagonists."

   "Yes, we support you. The center of this film is actually the story of Baby's self-growth." Several female film critics started to get angry, why would someone give it a low score for such a good film? It's a crime!

   And the actor Patrick Schwytz is still so handsome, it would be nice to dance with him.

  …

   A few days later, Ronald rejoiced to receive the manuscripts from these female and non-Jewish male film critics, celebrating with Michelle Cannold and others in the office.

   "Look, I still have some connections in Hollywood."

   "That's for sure, Ronald. Since you became a director, almost all the films have been good at the box office, and these film critics also have to follow in the footsteps of successful people." Cannold was very happy and touted the boss in disguise.

   "Mainly, this movie of mine has a plot of women's liberation, and the screenwriter Eleanor is of a high level." Ronald said modestly.

   "That's because of your connections. If it wasn't for Pauline Carr's help, we wouldn't be able to find film critics from so many famous media."

"There, there, our Daydream Company has invested so many resources, we always have to listen." Ronald nodded to the little Douglas who was giggling over there. This young man doesn't care much about the investment, as long as he can shoot famous movie, he was happy.

This time, for the extra marketing expenses, and the additional budget for the title song "The Time of My Life", which is the title song of the original soundtrack album by DJs on major radio stations, I spent a lot of money on the marketing expenses of saving Daydream as a backup. Now what if there is another Accidentally, then there is really no money. Fortunately, little Douglas received the living expenses from the family fund in 1987. If he wanted money, he could also invest one or two million.

"No no, it's still your directorial level, you look at those middle-aged female film critics, fascinated by your film, and they have to attend the premiere in New York, waiting to dance with Patrick Schwytz Dancing." Little Douglas laughed when he talked about the situation at the time.

The Washington Post, and the two film critics of the Wall Street Journal, held Ronald and insisted that he signed and confirmed that the premiere would let the male lead dance with them, and then promised to give the best evaluation to the hot dance. .

   But at the expense of Schwytz, the film review I got today really praised Ronald's film as rare in heaven.

"I didn't expect these middle-aged women to like this movie so much. If only female audiences in their thirties were as obsessed with this movie as they are. The absolute number of teenage female audiences is still small." Little Douglas sighed .

"Stop daydreaming, they are professional film critics, real middle-aged audiences, how can they be so obsessed with this old-fashioned romantic comedy? I just wish there were more of them to watch." Ronald Shaking his head, this is a bit delusional.

"I also know... Hey, isn't this a dream? We daydream about how much resources and energy we put into releasing this film, and the people on the Cannord distribution team worked very hard. It feels like Our small team does about as well as the distribution team of a big company like MGM.

   Our media interview kits for major media are also outstanding in Hollywood. Those reporters are sorry for us if they don’t say good things. "

  Ronald smiled and watched Little Douglas praise the publishing team. They were still very excited when they heard this. They are all young people who are inexperienced and work with enthusiasm. Sometimes you don't tell them the difficulty of the work, but they do very well.

"I can't promise anything, but if the movie is a hit, it will definitely give everyone a bonus. And if... not, once the box office of the hot dance is successful, we will increase the size of the distribution department, and everyone who sits will have a career in the future. The development will be very good.”

   Ronald draws a big pizza out of thin air for the team members. Sure enough, the employees who had just graduated from the university were very excited and gave each other high fives.

   "First come and affordable, I went to the resort hotel where we filmed and bought a weekend vacation package. All the colleagues in the distribution department went to have a rest and brought a family. The cost is covered by the company."

  The reward Ronald asked his assistant to bring, anyway, the Lakeside Resort Hotel put their names in the subtitles for the movie and gave them a separate line of thanks, and gave Ronald the benefit, just to let the team who had been busy for half a year rest and relax.

   "Yeah, Ronald...Ronald..."

   The young man began to cheer Ronald's name.

   "You have so many resources invested in hot dance, why don't you give us a little bit of 'love is not for sale'?"

   walked into the office and questioned Ronald Rush, the director of "Love Is Not For Sale".

   He had complaints about Ronald's intervention in the final cut, in order to get the film to pass with a PG13 rating, to sell more at the box office instead of respecting the artistic integrity.

   I was even more angry when I saw "Spicy Dance" on the table getting so many positive reviews.

   Unlike the rave reviews here, "Love is not for sale" gets extremely bad reviews.

   For example, Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave "Love is not for sale" half a star.

   "Love is not for sale If it was meant to satirize American values—if cynicism was its goal—we might find something here.

   But no, based on this evidence, the people who made the film were so materialistic they thought it was a "teen comedy". Can't they see the rotten core of the script?

  America, how can you do such a dirty thing to buy your girlfriend's feelings with money. "

  Albert really scolded "love is not for sale" in the film review.

   is not without good things to say. The New York Times film review, which Ronald focuses on, gave a positive evaluation:

  "...Director Steve Rush squandered an opportunity to make this a deeper and more interesting film.. There is an identity crisis that mirrors the protagonist Ronald himself.

   He thinks he wants to gain popularity at all costs, he is actually a sincere person, and finally got Cindy's love. The movie could have been as genuine as Ronald, but what it really wanted was the box office, so like other PG13 'kids' movies, it cut out its own originality. "

   This positive review just spoke to Rush's heart, and cut out the artistry for the box office. Even worse!

"Comeon, Steve, calm down. The time and effort our distribution team spends on your film is no less (much less, actually, love is not for sale) is sold as a tie-in ),” explained Michelle Canodra with director Rush.

  "It's okay", Ronald motioned for Cannold to let him go.

   "Come with me, I'll show you something." Ronald took Steve Rush to the next office.

   "This is the bad review I received for my movie Hot Body Dance. It's not much better than yours." Ronald took out the various bad reviews he had received before and showed it to Rush.

   "Proportionally, our two films have similar ratings."

   "Okay, I'm sorry, Ronald," Rush held back his anger, looking like his review might not have been so bad. Roger Ebert didn't like Ronald's movies either.

"I have tried a lot, but we are a small company, I hope you can understand. My movie will be rescheduled, and some of the original resources will now be used for love is not for sale. I have arranged the premiere for you, Twice the chance to be interviewed on a TV show…”

"Thank you, you're a good producer and boss." Rush saw that Ronald was also diverting his resources to Love is not for sale, and was a little ashamed of his anger just now, "You're not the same as those capitalist vampires, you It's still on our artist's side."

   "As long as you understand, it's not easy for me." Ronald pretended that the company was still small and couldn't give you more support.

   "Rush, you're here... don't do this, Ronald has given you a good resource." Steve Bannon knocked on the door from the outside.

   "I know, I know, hey, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have made such a good movie at such a low cost" Rush left in a move.

   "Are you satisfied?" Ronald looked at Bannon, knew what he wanted, turned around and took out a media promotion plan and handed it to Bannon.

   "Very satisfied, Ronald. You're a natural filmmaker." Bannon saw the promotion plans, and the arrangement of TV interviews for the protagonists on CBS and NBC, and he was convinced. This low-budget movie, shot with less than a million dollars, bought the Beatles songs from MJ at the floor price as the theme song. As long as it can be exposed in the media, the profit is almost certain. It is a question of earning more and less.

   As long as he can earn more than 10 million, he can be proud of himself on Wall Street. After earning 15 million at the box office, those old colleagues will take the initiative to call to discuss investing in their own film fund. If I earn 20 million, hehe... I'm afraid I won't be obedient outside my office, vying for the limited investment quota.

   "How much do you expect to earn?" Bannon whispered to Ronald.

   "The films that were originally arranged for Hot Body Dance were given to Love is not for sale. In July, Disney will release 'Nanny Adventures', and I negotiated with them. Originally, the two sides took turns to occupy the schedule, and about 1,200 films would have been released.

  Conservatively estimate that for four weeks in the theater, between 20 million and 25 million is not a big problem.

   However, there are several big-budget movies, such as 007, Jaws 4, Robocop, Superman 4, and The Great Universe. It is estimated that your movie will not last too long. Don't expect too much. "

"Hahaha, 25 million, no problem. My foundation has raised enough money. When the time comes for our cooperation, you must leave me a sufficient investment share." Bannon is overjoyed, Ronald The estimate actually exceeded his most optimistic box office forecast. This kind of return on investment, financing is not a problem, and then investing in a visionary producer like Ronald, I am afraid that it will not grow like a snowball, and then you can issue a larger-scale private equity fund, or even issue junk bond financing, or Going a step further to operate the company's listing and embark on the peak of life...

   It seems that he retreated from Wall Street and joined Hollywood is the right choice.

   Ronald looked at Bannon with an ugly smile, took out a pair of glasses, opened the brandy, poured two glasses of wine, "I wish us success!"

   (end of this chapter)