"Gary Oldman once again shows his evil qualities. In the movie, he plays a neurotic, evil cop who secretly deals drugs. Because an informant embezzles one-tenth of the drugs, he kills everyone in the informant's family. However, this kind of person likes to listen to Beethoven and Mozart. He likes to take drugs while listening to classical music while killing people. His contradictory personality is obvious. Gary basically blends himself into the role. Whether it's his eyes or body language, he fully shows what an evil cop should be like. Because of his excellent performance, this movie should be given an extra point.
In addition, Jean Renault, the previously unknown French actor, also had an equally wonderful performance. He played a killer who was ruthless at work but was usually full of childishness. In order to save the only surviving girl from a family killed by Gary, he started a confrontation with Gary, and in the end, the two died together. His image fully displayed the character's reticence and gave him a melancholy temperament. His actions made the character flamboyant yet unusually passionate at the same time. He made the character of an assassin seem lively, and no one could underestimate him.
However, the most eye-catching character in the whole movie is still the 12-year-old Miss Natalie Portman, who plays Matilda. This is a girl who is precocious, fragile, strong, and sensitive. She was born in a family without any familial love, but she loves her younger brother very much. When she witnessed the tragedy of the family, she was still able to maintain her composure and ask the killer for help. Thus, she entered the killer's life and developed some subtle feelings for him. I have to say, Natalie is the most talented girl I've seen so far. I didn't expect a 12-year-old girl to be able to do this. Her grasp and performance of the character are almost perfect. It's as if she and Matilda are completely integrated into one, making it impossible to tell them apart! It can be said that if this movie doesn't have her, it would lose at least a third of its brilliance! "
Martin Phillips of the Los Angeles Times gave a very detailed review of the acting skills of the three leads in his column. The one who admired the most was still Natalie. In the article, he was not stingy with his praise, and most of the critics did the same.
"This reminds me of Jodie Foster's performance in Taxi Driver. Although Natalie is still a little lacking compared to Jodie, considering her age, she deserves full marks." — Eddie Baker, USA Today
"She was so brilliant that people couldn't help but applaud her. If Gary and Jean hadn't held their ground in the end, perhaps the limelight would have been stolen." — — Bruce Collins, The New York Times
Hollywood always favored young actors. To some extent, it was not a big deal for an adult to do it, but if a child could do it, it was a very talented performance. This was also the reason why many child stars were outstanding when they were young, but when they grew up, they did not know much. Everyone knew that when climbing up, the closer you got to the peak, the harder it was to climb. Only adults could do it, and it was not easy even for adult actors to go further, let alone these children who were still growing up.
To put it simply, the starting point was too high, and the space for growth was too narrow. Moreover, there were all kinds of temptations along the way, and a little carelessness could cause one to fall and never get up again. There were countless such examples in Hollywood. That was why there was such a saying as the curse of child stars. Therefore, for child stars, to get rid of this curse, they needed more opportunities, suitable roles, and suitable positions than others.
"This Killer Is Not Too Cold" was liked by many people, and it received nearly 20 million in the first week of release in 1,500 cinemas. Some of Adriaan's fans cheered even more. The miracle director had finally returned to the ranks of cult films. Although some people said that this film was so warm that it could not be regarded as a cult film, at least it was not a boring film like "Howard Manor", which had exciting scenes and warm and sad plots. Naturally, the fans who liked to watch stories were happy.
This also suppressed certain aspects of the comments to a certain extent. Although Adriaan had been very careful to deliberately play down some ambiguous scenes, such as Matilda telling the manager in the apartment that Leon was her lover, or holding a gun to her head and crying to Leon, these scenes mixed up love, father-daughter love, and life-saving kindness, etc., the main plot was after all the relationship between the strange uncle and the little loli, so it was inevitable that some people who thought of themselves as moral guardians would attack it.
"I don't understand why this director would choose such a theme and spend such a long time describing a twisted love between a middle-aged man and a ten-year-old girl. This is not something that God would allow. This is shameful!" A local newspaper in Salt Lake City commented. Utah was the most conservative state in the United States, and such words had always been endless. Although other newspapers and media also had this meaning, it was much more subtle than theirs.
There were such people everywhere. Although a stable society would definitely have stable mainstream values, it should also tolerate the existence of other ideologies. It was even possible to slowly absorb the useful parts to supplement oneself, as long as one did not let them have too much of a say in things. However, it would be ridiculous to criticize something that one insisted on to the point where one could not even touch it. One did not even know what the truth was before standing on a moral high ground to criticize it.
Although there was no need to be a perfect moral person in order to criticize others from a moral high ground, one only needed to be a little more moral than the other party. However, the conservatives in Salt Lake City were not clean themselves. There had been more than one or two scandals in Utah in this regard, but they did not seem to be very upset about it.
Well, these were all off-topic. Although it was attacked by the conservative people, there were still many critics who said that "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" was very good. Coupled with the fact that the fans liked it very much, the film's prospects were still very good. According to Laffern's estimation, with the current momentum, it should not be a problem to get about 60 million in the box office in North America. As for Europe, because of Jean Renault's participation, at least in France, there was still a lot of popularity.
This was the charm of a good story. As long as a story could be logically self-consistent and supplemented with wonderful storytelling techniques, it would inevitably attract the audience. During the period from the 1980s to the 1990s, with the rapid development of film technology, storytelling techniques became more and more ingenious, which was why so many classic films were born.
Unfortunately, after entering the 21st century, because of the proliferation of technology, the profit-oriented film producers basically leaned towards the flow of technology, so the quality of the story was not as good as before. Even so, it was much better than the group of European directors who clung to the old ideas. Although technology was rampant, if it went too far, it would naturally be corrected. Clinging to the old ideas was just a sign of not wanting to improve. In essence, it was no different from the fanatical missionaries in the Middle Ages.
In short, after two weeks of release, the total box office of "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" rose to 40 million because of the increase in the number of cinemas. Among the actors, apart from Renault, who had made a name for himself in Hollywood, Natalie gained the most. The media put all kinds of titles on her head, calling her the child star with the most potential. This was the result of the difference in nature between Adriaan and Luc Besson.
After all, Luc Besson was French. Although the film also had American funds in the investment, it was still labeled as a French film. Americans had always been dismissive of films outside of Hollywood. In addition, because of Luc Besson's unique French romantic atmosphere, the original version of "This Killer Is Not Too Cold" was too much about the ambiguous relationship between the strange uncle and the little loli, which aroused the disgust of many critics. Therefore, although it was quite well-known in Europe when it was released, it failed in the United States.
Now it was produced by director Adriaan. The name of the miracle director was already well-known, and he made targeted changes on the basis of retaining the key plot. With a company that was good at marketing, the results achieved were naturally not comparable to Luc Besson's. Therefore, Natalie was praised to a high level.
In the face of the media's pursuit, Natalie still maintained the due calmness and corresponded appropriately when answering the reporters' questions. After all, she was a smart and precocious girl, and she had her mother by her side to guide her. Of course, this was all on the surface. In private, Natalie seemed to be in a constant state of excitement, and her expression and tone always carried a sense of pride.
Adriaan understood the girl's feelings, but he still felt that something was wrong. He couldn't tell what exactly was wrong, but it was very similar to the time when Natalie took the initiative to show herself. However, he didn't think too much about it. After sending Natalie and her mother off the plane to New York, he privately promised the girl to continue to keep in touch through letters, and after instructing her agent, Sandy, to choose the script carefully, he began to focus on other aspects. This was because on February 7th, the Film School announced the nominees for the 66th Academy Awards!
As expected, "Schindler's List" became the most popular movie, receiving 11 nominations, including Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Actor. Following closely behind was "The Piano Class," which received seven nominations, including Best Movie, Best Director, and Best Actress. The least was "Philadelphia Story," which received four nominations, including Best Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Makeup, and Best Original Soundtrack. Adriaan originally thought that Dai Mi could also get a nomination for Best Director.
The results were outstanding, right? Everything was going according to plan. However, no matter how good the plan was, there were always some troublesome things that could not be predicted, so it was necessary to make decisions based on the actual situation.
In a daze, Adriaan felt a warm body leave his embrace, so he yawned and opened his eyes. Charlize was sitting on the edge of the bed with her back facing him, wearing a flesh-colored bra.
"Ha, you're up so early?" Adriaan, who was half-turned, propped up his head with his arm and said teasingly.
"Because in addition to being an assistant and a secretary, I'm also half a nanny." Charlize looked back at him indifferently and said so. Then, as if on purpose, she stood up, took her underwear, and bent down to put it on. Her beautiful body was unreserved in front of Adriaan. However, her movements were very slow, so he had enough time to appreciate it.
"Are you seducing me, Charley?" Adriaan asked with a laugh.
"Whatever you think," Charlize said without turning her head, and at the same time, she sped up.
However, women had more to tidy up than men. Although Charlize sped up, by the time she finished washing up and sat in front of the vanity to put on makeup, Adriaan was already ready to leave the bedroom.
"Ha, although you wake up earlier than me, I'm still faster." Adriaan came behind the girl, leaned over and hugged her waist, buried his head in her hair, took a deep breath, and kissed her smooth goose neck.
"Why, didn't you f * ck me enough last night? Do you want to continue now? " Charlize, who was applying lipstick, looked at Adriaan in the mirror and asked, as if she didn't care about anything.
"That's not what a lady should say, Charley." Adriaan looked at Charlize in the mirror and said with a chuckle.
"I'm not a lady." Charlize shrugged. "Help me, Eide. Since you're dressed, hurry downstairs for breakfast. Don't forget you have to go to the film company today."
"Okay, okay." Adriaan kissed her neck again. "You too. Don't forget, as my assistant and secretary, you have to go with me."
Hearing this, Charlize couldn't help but choke and grind her teeth in annoyance. When Adriaan walked to the door, she turned her head again. "By the way, Eide, I hope you can prepare a special mobile phone to contact them. Don't let them always call other phones. Otherwise, I won't be responsible for any misunderstanding."
Adriaan looked at her deeply and then smiled. "I'll think about it. I promise."
Seeing the bedroom door close in front of her, Charlize let out a long breath and held her head. Oh, damn, what the hell was I saying just now? What's wrong with me?! Why am I so …
"Good morning, Mrs. Galen." Adriaan came to the kitchen. Mrs. Galen, who had come early, was busy.
"Good morning, Mr. Adriaan." Mrs. Galen nodded to him. "I'll bring it to you right away."
"No, no, no. Just eat here." Adriaan waved his hand and sat directly at the kitchen table. He took a sip of the coffee that she handed him.
"It's still so fragrant," Adriaan said in admiration.
"Thank you." Mrs. Galen shrugged and placed the breakfast in front of him.
Adriaan wanted to say something, but thinking about Kate's current situation, he was afraid that it would be a long time before he could live in the villa like before. Besides, although Mrs. Galen liked Kate, it had been a year, and she was used to his womanizing behavior. To be exact, she had been used to it for a long time. Now, it was just a relapse.
Speaking of Kate, she was still so attractive. No, she was even more attractive than before. Every time, it was Adriaan who went to look for her. Every time, his feeble resistance turned into compliance. When he thought of stripping her naked and throwing her on the bed, and seeing her staring at him with resentful and shy eyes, and lying in his arms helplessly after the passion, Adriaan's heart was filled with pleasure.
I really am a bastard. He clicked his tongue in his heart, but he didn't care too much. He just felt that he should restrain himself a little. Both Monica and Julia were aware of this. Women were very sensitive in this aspect, especially since they already knew what kind of person Adriaan was.
Monica naturally didn't care about anything. Although Julia didn't show it on the surface, it was inevitable that she would sometimes find an excuse to lose her temper. Of course, this trick was useless in front of Adriaan. She had previously thought of using the method of "squeezing" him dry to express something, but unfortunately, Adriaan almost made her faint every time. In the end, she could only pretend that she didn't know anything. Anyway, this was just a guess, so she had to deal with the main target first. Yes, between Julia and Monica …
"Good morning, Mrs. Galen." Charlize's voice sounded from the kitchen door.
"Good morning, Charley," Mrs. Galen nodded and replied.
Adriaan immediately interrupted his thoughts. Unless it was necessary, he should not think about other women in front of a woman. He had always been good at this.
He smiled at Charlize, but the girl rolled her eyes. After shaking his head indifferently, Adriaan ate his breakfast and read the newspaper in his hand.
After breakfast, he asked Glover to drive the car over to the company. During this time, Adriaan had adjusted his emotions. After getting into the car and asking Charlize to take out the relevant analysis, he began to think.
There was no doubt that the top executives of the major film companies, especially those well-informed people, knew that this year's Oscars for Best Film and Best Director would definitely — well, they couldn't be too sure, but there was a 90% chance that it would belong to "Schindler's List" and Spielberg.
Just look at the enthusiasm of the American Jewish community and organizations for this film. The box office was the most intuitive impression. After almost 60 days of release, the number of cinemas had just passed 1,000, and the total box office in North America had already reached 55 million! For such a film to achieve such a high box office, one could imagine how much they supported this film. And this was not the end. There were at least four more months of release, and it was not impossible for it to reach 100 million by then.
Well, it didn't matter. Although he was a little envious of Bosworth Pictures, they were lucky enough to invest in Spielberg's film. Perhaps there was no chance of winning these awards, so he could fight for other awards. However, other awards would also have to face strong competition from Bosworth Pictures. For example, "The Piano Class," which was known as a rare masterpiece by a female director, won the Golden Lion at Venice and was nominated for seven Oscars, and they actually invested in and distributed it. Add that to the four nominations for "The Philadelphia Story," which was simply … too much!
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