Chapter 354

It was said a long time ago that the beginnings of blogs had been around since the early 1990s. It had been developing intermittently until the end of the 1990s, when it took on a more complete form. However, due to various problems, such as imperfections, the popularity of personal websites, and the suppression of news websites, the future of blogs wasn't very good. Although Britney's blog attracted some attention, the attention was mostly on Britney, not the blog.

This situation continued until 9/11. Although Adriaan asked CNN to prepare an emergency plan on how to deal with the collapse of the Twin Towers, he couldn't make it too clear. He couldn't say that the Twin Towers would definitely collapse, right? Moreover, this emergency plan was prepared at the last minute. Naturally, it wasn't as strict as usual. Therefore, after the collapse of the towers and the signal relay station was destroyed, they stopped broadcasting like other TV stations.

Although CNN relied on the emergency plan to restart the broadcast before other TV stations, during this time, the blog caused a strong reaction among netizens. The real-time live reports, coupled with pictures, caused the blog's click rate to skyrocket. There were even a few good bloggers who took pictures of the billowing dust that almost shrouded the entire Manhattan when the building collapsed and uploaded them.

In an instant, blogs became a hot commodity in the eyes of advertisers, and the websites that operated blogs also took advantage of the situation to expand their scale, claiming that they would provide better services to their users. Blogs took advantage of the 911 incident to become popular. Today, when the turmoil caused by the IT bubble had not completely passed, it was surprising that such a huge amount of pages could be seen.

"I'm already working on it. The report has already been sent to you. Unless your beautiful new secretary is negligent, there's no way you didn't see it," Claude joked.

"Yes, I know. That's why I want to talk to you about something else. The thing we talked about after I started the blog for Britney," Adriaan said seriously.

"You really plan to separate the blog business?" Claude raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Of course," Adriaan nodded, "the development of blogs is much bigger than you think, Krau. Let's put it this way. You know that the BlackBerry is now popular in the United States because of Cheney, right? The reason is that it can use the phone to connect to the Internet and send emails. This is just the initial use of smartphones. There will only be more functions in the future. Think about it, Krau. If in a few years, people can log on to blogs with their phones and send information they see on the Internet anytime and anywhere, it doesn't need too many words. Just a short sentence will do. Then, people will keep reposting it. In just a few minutes, the entire United States will know about this message. "

Claude's eyes narrowed slightly. Obviously, he had caught what Adriaan wanted to emphasize.

"The transmission of information will change greatly. It will get faster and faster, and there will be more and more information of all kinds. Everyone will be able to participate. As long as we control the transmission of information, we can control the future. We will have more say in this country and in this world!" Adriaan clenched his fist tightly.

The highest level of control was to make people feel like they were not being controlled. For example, they would be washed away by countless information, especially contradictory information. On one hand, they would sing praises for someone or something, but on the other hand, they would criticize that person or thing. The most obvious example was the US election. There was no need to elaborate on the methods. In short, there was only one thing that needed to be understood. It was the words that Adrian had said when he persuaded Claude: What you see is what the media group wants you to see.

An outstanding media company would definitely be good at manipulating people's minds. The more tricks up their sleeves, the more they could grasp the context of the times, and the more they would be able to dominate people's thoughts. The reason why established media companies were able to take a deep root was that they had fully developed the potential of media media in the past few decades – newspapers, magazines, radio, television, etc. Although AC Media was powerful, if they wanted to continue to be powerful and maintain a leading momentum, it was necessary to grasp the context of the 21st century. Therefore, Adriaan had always emphasized the Internet internally.

"My ideas for the Internet are far more than that. With the development of time, some ideas will become clearer and clearer. You will see them soon, Krau." Adriaan continued, "The reason why I agreed to Page and Brin's conditions was because I knew that Google would only have a broad future in their hands. However, my ideas do not lose to them. This kind of future is beyond your imagination, and it is beyond many people's imagination, Krau. Google, Apple, and my ideas. If we don't want the government to trouble us in the name of monopoly, it is necessary to separate from them. "

"You are exaggerating, Eide." Claude rubbed his chin and smiled. "Deal with it like a management company?"

"Of course, there is no law that says we can't invest in certain industries as private individuals." Adriaan raised his hands.

"I'm guessing you even have a CEO position ready?" Claude knocked his head. "Victor?"

"That's right." Adriaan admitted bluntly, "To be honest, I didn't expect Victor to do so well. He may not be as aggressive as those twenty-something-year-old boys, but he is steady and has a long-term vision. His previous career was a waste of his life."

"Then what else can I say?" Claude spread his hands.

"Krau," Adriaan drawled.

"Okay, I got it. But you have to collect the relevant information for me. Remember, you have to collect and select it yourself, not just give me a few copies of the relevant information like before," Claude said with a smile.

"I didn't ask." Adriaan sighed. "It will take time anyway. I will give you enough information, Krau."

Because of Adriaan, AC Media had been involved in the blog business for a long time, even before Britney opened her blog. Although it had not been profitable because of the general trend, it had left other media groups far behind in this area. So even if he did not mention this, with the rise of the blog, the group would take the initiative to explore the potential in this area.

Of course, with Adriaan's foresight, AC Media would only develop faster and better in this area. AC Media would inevitably get the biggest piece of the big cake of Internet communication.

This is my media empire! Adriaan thought complacently.

Let's not talk about this for the time being. In January of 2002, "Moulin Rouge" was about to premiere. Many film critics had already come to Los Angeles to watch it during the pre-screening. After all, this was director Miracle's first musical film, and his first fantasy film had received great acclaim when it was released at the beginning of December. Whether they were curious or nitpicking, they could not allow themselves to miss it.

"Although there are not many innovations, this is still a wonderful musical film. Adriaan has fully grasped the essence of the film. Moving songs and beautiful dances, coupled with the excellent performances of the male and female leads, the ups and downs of the plot, and the rich use of gorgeous colors, it reminds people of the most popular era of musical films in the last century. It also gives people a glimpse of the luxury and decadence of Moulin Rouge in that era. It can be called a perfect example of the perfect combination of film and post-modern ideas."

"This is a farce without a soul. Everything is basically taken from other works. Adriaan wants to express too many things, so you don't know what to watch. This is just a gorgeous, decadent, and artificial film." This was the opinion of the critic.

Compared to the praise that "Lord of the Rings" received, the voice of criticism for "Moulin Rouge" was slightly louder. This was normal. After all, "Lord of the Rings" was based on Tolkien's influence, and it was indeed grand and epic. Even if the film critics criticized it, they would not criticize it too much. Naturally, when Director Miracle's other movie was released, he had to endure a little more.

This was not a big deal. The critics were not all against Adrian, just as the praises were not all for the sake of Adrian. What was important was the film itself and the audience's feelings. Suppressing the voices of critics could not cover up anything. Moreover, Moulin Rouge lacked innovation, which was a fact that even Adrian had admitted. But then again, musical films were indeed difficult to innovate, especially a classical musical film. If it exceeded the style of the once popular musical films, both the audience and the film critics would not like it.

It was not surprising. Although Adriaan's version of "Moulin Rouge" did not participate in the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, and the leading actors were all British or Commonwealth people, it was still a story about the most famous bar in Paris. The male lead also traveled thousands of miles from the United States to Paris to pursue his dream.

Although Adriaan's version of "Moulin Rouge" did not participate in the 2001 Cannes Film Festival, and the leading actors were all British or Commonwealth people, it was, after all, the story of the most famous bar in Paris. The leading actor also traveled thousands of miles from the United States to Paris to pursue his dream. This satisfied their self-esteem.

Moreover, this was the first time that the miracle director produced a film related to France. Although the French tried their best to cover this up, and the comments were more about the plot than the directing, it was just a cover up. Just as they kept saying that they did not like Hollywood because it was full of money and did not know what art was, deep down in their hearts, they were extremely eager for their country to be recognized by a superpower. Pride and inferiority were actually a pair of twins.

Therefore, when the famous international director, Mr. Adrian Kewell, who was also the chairman of the board of the world's largest media group, produced a French film, especially after the production of "La Belle Legend of Sicily," which was full of Italian flavor and nominated for the Academy Award for Best Film, how could the French not feel comfortable?

However, no matter how much the French praised the film, it was the American film critics who determined the reputation and box office of "Moulin Rouge" in North America. Although the praise and criticism were almost the same, one should not forget that Adriaan's own influence could not be ignored. And with "Lord of the Rings" as his first fantasy film, how could the ordinary people not want to see what his first musical film was like?

Therefore, on the day of the premiere, a lot of fans came, even if the scale was not very large. However, there were also a lot of reporters. One must know that the heroine was Nicole Kidman. As early as "Mulholland Pass", some people thought that she could be included in the ranks of the miracle girls, and now, this title was even more solid. And there had been private rumors in the circle that Adriaan was the reason why Nicole and Cruise divorced. Reporters still liked to talk about this divorce case when they mentioned Nicole or Cruise, so how could they miss the premiere?

Unfortunately, they did not see the scene where Nicole appeared holding Adriaan's arm. On the night of the premiere, Nicole arrived for a long time before Adriaan arrived. Even when they stood together for the reporters to take photos, Ewan McGregor was next to them. However, it was not all for naught. When Adriaan took a photo with the two leads, he put one hand on McGregor's shoulder and the other on Nicole's waist, and the position was very low. If it was a few inches lower … So, the sound of "kacha kacha" could be heard.

As for the specific plot, there was no need to describe it too much. The main attraction of "Moulin Rouge" was not the love story between the male and female leads. Even if the female lead died of pneumonia in the end, the biggest attraction of the film was the beautiful music, the gorgeous, luxurious, provocative, and erotic dance scenes.

Moreover, all the dances and songs in the film were performed and sung by Nicole herself. This was also a point of effort during the publicity, and there were some minor artistic touches. For example, during the dance, especially for the filming, there was no lack of injuries. Nicole once hurt her knee. Fortunately, it was only a minor injury, and she recovered after two days of rest. However, when the publicity mentioned this, the extent of the injury was not mentioned. It was only mentioned that Nicole insisted on sitting in the chair even though she was injured, and only a few scenes above her chest were filmed.

In short, with all these factors added together, although the film critics argued endlessly, it received a box office of about 8 million in 500 cinemas within three days of the premiere. As far as artistic films were concerned, this was considered a good result. Moreover, it was a long-term screening, and it was obvious that the film was aiming for the Oscars. Once it was nominated, with some hype, the box office would definitely increase. In addition, the French liked it very much, so the overseas box office would definitely not be bad. Perhaps it would not be very profitable, but it would definitely not be a problem to recover the cost.

"As I said, they will like your performance in the film." When the audience was attracted by Sha Ting's gorgeous figure on the big screen, Adriaan was behind the door of the corridor, putting a five-dollar bill into the plump gap between Nicole's breasts. His eyes were full of admiration for his own toy. "Of course, I like your performance more now."

"Thank you." Nicole, who was tidying up her clothes and hair, revealed an enchanting and satisfied smile. Her blue eyes, which were misty because of the orgasm, were particularly attractive in the dim light. She leaned over and pressed against his body, gently twisting her body while giggling and blowing into his ear. "I look forward to your next visit, Mr. Adrian Kewell."

What a stunner. Adriaan couldn't help but take a deep breath. On the big screen outside, "Sha Ting" danced gracefully again. She was cool and passionate, sexy and noble, so he immediately hugged her body again and reached out to pick up the hem of her dress that had just been tidied up. "Then let's do it again."

"If you want to do it again, I'll have to charge you 100 times the price." Nicole giggled and pushed him a few times.

"No problem." Adriaan pinched her chin and chuckled. The next second, he lifted her up and entangled with this lovely woman again in a place where no one would disturb them.

If he had to say, this was also one of the best works on his shelf. Adriaan had to admit that Nicole's trick was somewhat useful. She let go of herself and used the "prostitution fee" to remind herself that she was just playing. At the same time, she could also tease him, making him feel that he had not conquered her and thus lose the calmness that he was so proud of. Because of this, Adrian couldn't help but raise his gun again in the face of her seduction after just having a passionate time with her.

However, Nicole didn't notice that the more she let go, the faster she sank. Because the gap between them was too big, he could always give her more than she could give him. This was the complete suppression of absolute power. Without her, he still had Gwyneth Paltrow and Kathryn Zetajones. The number of women who wanted to sleep with him and win his favor could line up from Sunset Boulevard to Beverly Hills. But what if she didn't have him?

Perhaps Nicole understood, but she was powerless to struggle. Not to mention that Adriaan's method of coaxing women was first-class. No matter what, he seemed to be able to stand on her point of view. Coupled with the Best Supporting Actress last year, her persistence became more and more ridiculous. Therefore, the "prostitution fee" gradually changed. Rather than saying that Nicole insisted on her independent personality, it was better to say that it was a flirting method between the two, or a sexual game that belonged only to the two of them. It was used to distinguish her and Adriaan's other women.

One had to know that although she used all kinds of ways to ask for prostitution fees from him, such as how much cumshot, how much anal, how much blowjob, how little money did he lack? From this point of view, subconsciously, Nicole had already regarded herself as Adriaan's exclusive call girl. Well, let's not talk about this anymore.

Overall, "Moulin Rouge" was relatively successful. Although the praise and criticism for Adriaan's direction were almost equal, both the critics and the ordinary audience had a high opinion of Nicole. They praised her for her good acting skills and her professionalism. The clips that were broadcasted on TV, especially the scenes of her practicing dancing and dancing over and over again during the filming, were very admirable.

In addition to the role of disfigurement or playing the role of a lunatic or a psychopath, there was another kind of role that could easily win the favor of Film School. That was the role that could show one's acting skills and skills that ordinary actors couldn't have. That's right, the leading role of a musical film.