Zhang Ran and the Century Summit Theme Park did not respond to the comments of "Xinjing Daily", they did not have the time to deal with "Xinjing Daily", and they also understood that this kind of report could not be ignored, and the more they took care of it, the more attention it would be. Originally, there was nothing going on, and not many people paid attention to it, but you made it known to everyone as soon as you took care of it. The truth is the best counterattack.

A month later, the theme park's official Weibo account released data that swollen Xinjingbao's face. Within a month of opening, Century Summit Di Theme Park has already received 1.5 million visitors. In June this year, Disney's theme park in the magic city received 1 million visitors in a month. The Summit of the Century theme park has 500,000 more than Disney, which is undoubtedly a huge success.

The official Weibo also explained the reason for the reduction in queuing time: "After the opening of the park, the park has greatly reduced the queuing time of tourists by making full use of the capacity of various amusement facilities, opening up new attractions such as thundering mountain rafting, opening up more single passages, and continuously improving operational efficiency." ”

After the official data was released, Zhang Ran's fans immediately went to the official Weibo of "Xinjing Daily" to leave a message, mocking him: "It's such a failure, it is only 500,000 more tourists than Disney!", "Waterloo, Waterloo! Zhang Ran is Waterloo again!", "It's not your fault for ignorance, it's your fault to come out on show!" ......

However, "Xinjing Daily" didn't care about the ridicule of Zhang Ran's fans, anyway, it wasn't once or twice that Zhang Ran was slapped in the face, and it had already been practiced. Zhang Ran is not an immortal, and there will definitely be times when he fails. They believe that as long as they unswervingly go black, they can one day turn Zhang Ran into carbon, and they believe that this day is not far away!

At the same time, Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu flew to New York to prepare for the premiere of "Angel of Justice" at the New York Film Festival.

The New York Film Festival is too small to compete with the three major film festivals led by Cannes and Toronto, with no competition, no international and no open media registration channels. The New York Film Festival is organized, selected and screened by the Lincoln Center Film Association, mainly to serve local New York fans, and will collect some "three" films to show. In addition, New York is the home of independent films, and some independent films will premiere here, such as Billy Lynn's "Halftime Fight" by An-Lee.

At six o'clock in the evening, Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu left the hotel after carefully packing up and went to the AMC Lincoln Theater to attend the premiere of Li An's new film "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle". Before arriving in New York, Li An called Zhang Ran twice and invited him to attend the premiere of the movie, and Li An especially wanted to know Zhang Ran's opinion on the movie. Zhang Ran naturally would not refuse, after all, it is a tradition for Chinese directors to praise each other, and he also wanted to see what the effect of this 120-frame film would be.

"Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight" is another masterpiece of Lee An's impact on the Oscars after "Brokeback Mountain" and "Youth Pi". Not only did the film focus on the serious topic of war, but it was also the first feature film to use 3D technology and 4K resolution, as well as 120 frames per second and shot in HDR. Therefore, the movie has attracted much attention since the start of filming and is also known as a big hit at the Oscars.

The New York Film Festival has a red carpet ceremony, but the red carpet is only more than ten meters long, and there are not as many media and fans as the three major film festivals. However, after Zhang Ran and Zhang Jing first appeared, it still caused a burst of cheers from fans at the scene. After the two entered the screening room, many fans gathered around, asked them to sign autographs, and asked to take photos with them.

After tossing for a while, Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu had just sat down, and Li An walked into the screening hall with movie stars Kristen Stewart, Steve Martin, Vin Diesel and others. Li An immediately smiled when he saw Zhang Ran, and brought the actors over to greet Zhang Ran. Stewart knew Zhang Ran, and it was Summit Entertainment's "Twilight" that made her popular, and she was very enthusiastic when she saw Zhang Ran. The other actors were not familiar with Zhang Ran, but they all greeted Zhang Ran very warmly.

Li An's son Li Chun called Uncle Zhang Ran, Zhang Ran smiled and agreed, but when he called Aunt Zhang Jingchu, Zhang Jingchu was not happy: "Am I that old?

Li An looked at Zhang Ran, then at Zhang Jingchu, and laughed: "The two of you are chaotic!" He said: "I still have to go on stage to introduce the audience, I can't talk to you in detail, don't leave after watching the movie, let's talk together when the time comes." ”

Zhang Ran knew that Li An wanted to hear his own opinion, so he said, "Okay, we'll talk about it then." ”

Li An didn't say much, stepped onto the stage, and began to introduce the film to the audience. In his speech, he explained that he had done many film premieres, but this time he was not only releasing a new film, but also a new medium. The audience attending the premiere was one of the first people in the world to see 120 seconds of footage with two eyes, 4K footage was eight times sharper than regular 2K film, and 28-foot Lambert was eight to nine times brighter than regular 3D film. At the end of his speech, Li An appealed: "This is an experimental film, and I hope to give "Billy Lynn" a chance to enjoy this film with an open mind." ”

Zhang Ran sighed in his heart when he heard Li An say this, knowing that this movie should be smashed, at least the movie is problematic, otherwise Li An would never say that. However, in the past ten years, Li An's movies have always been a good one, "Life of Pi" has received rave reviews, and according to the law, "Billy Lynn's Halftime War" should be smashed.

After Li An's speech, the movie was officially screened.

Based on Ben Fantine's name, "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight" shows a fantastic "hero's journey" through the perspective of 19-year-old American soldier Billy Lynn. Billy, hailed as an American hero for his bravery in the Iraq War and recalled to China with his comrades for a promotional tour, experienced "the most glorious and worst day" of his life during a halftime show at the Thanksgiving Open Football Game.

When the first high-definition shot of the movie, the main character, Billy, gets up from his bed and answers the phone, there is a burst of exclamations from the audience. Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu couldn't help but let out exclamations. It's not just the actor's body right in front of you, it's all the details.

However, after watching it for a few minutes, Zhang Ran couldn't stand it, 3D movies pay attention to immersion, allowing the audience to immerse themselves in the world of the movie. But the use of 120 frames is too clear and shocking, and it makes people unable to enter the play. And this excessive clarity makes people feel very uncomfortable and feel wrong. It's a bit like the "uncanny valley" theory in the image category, where once the realism of the picture exceeds a certain upper limit, the viewer will feel that something is wrong or uncomfortable.

What made Zhang Ran feel even more disappointed was Li An's handling of the story and characters, and there were almost no bright spots. Li An is a popular drama director who is very good at storytelling, and his films have always been of a high standard in terms of character performance and storyline. But the story of "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight" itself is not much of a surprise, and Lee An's extensive use of transparent edges and tight close-ups in order to show 120 frames makes the whole film look very ingenious.

Two hours later, the movie ends. When Zhang Ran turned his head to look at Zhang Jingchu, Zhang Jingchu smiled at him, and then shook his head slightly. Zhang Ran nodded, indicating that he had the same opinion, and then turned his head to look at the big screen and applauded.

There were not many spectators who responded to Zhang Ran's applause, and the atmosphere was a little cold, and most of the spectators and reporters left in a hurry. Zhang Ran has never participated in the New York Film Festival, but he remembers that when "Life of Pi" premiered in New York, the media reported that the audience would give a standing ovation after the film screening, so the future of "Billy Lynn's Halftime Battle" is not good.

Unlike the three major film festivals, the New York Film Festival does not hold a press conference immediately after the premiere. After the premiere, Li An and Zhang Ran found a café and chatted about the movie while having coffee.

Judging from the reaction of the audience, Li An already knew that the reputation of the movie would not be too good, and now he wanted to hear the opinions of professionals like Zhang Ran, so he said: "Zhang Ran, what do you think?"

"This movie has broadened the boundaries of the film and is a breakthrough!" Zhang Ran affirmed the success of the movie, and then changed the conversation, "But the picture is too clear, which makes people more dramatic, and the story is relatively weak, and a bit of technology overwhelms the movie itself, maybe the reaction of the media and the audience will not be too good." ”

When Zhang Jing first saw Zhang Ran speak so directly, she said: "I think it's good, criticizing the story of the Iraq War and telling the growth of a teenager." The movie is very delicate, and many small things and memories in the movie make people feel very warm. ”

Li An nodded, he knew the advantages and disadvantages of Zhang Ran and Zhang Jingchu, and sighed slightly: "When I was going to make 120 frames, they advised me not to use it, 48 frames of "The Hobbit 3" failed, and it was too risky to use 120 frames, but I insisted on using 120 frames, I believe that this thing has a future." It was really a challenge to make this film, and to be able to do it to this extent and meet the audience smoothly, I am satisfied!"

Zhang Ran comforted: "I think everyone is used to watching ordinary pictures, but they are not used to watching such high-spec pictures, so there will be these problems." When everyone gets used to it and looks back, the evaluation may be different. When "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" first came out, there was a lot of scolding in China, but now everyone says it is a classic. Good movies stand the test of time. ”

Sure enough, as Zhang Ran expected, the next day, the media and film critics were seriously polarized in their evaluation of "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight". Some of these comments are quite unceremonious: "The picture of the film looks extremely clear, but the substance is very fake", "The film lacks content, is straightforward and superficial", "The half-hearted narrative makes the film slightly embarrassing", "I'm glad that Lee An has such courage, but I sincerely hope that he will not do it in the next film"......

On Rotten Tomatoes, 4 of the 11 media are fresh and 7 are rotten, with a freshness rating of only 36% and an average score of only 4.3 points.

Although "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight" is not as expected, Zhang Ran still admires Li An's courage to seek innovative films. Li An has become famous, and he can lie down on his previous achievements and wait for death, or continue the theme he is good at, but he is still trying new things when he is old, and this alone makes many directors willing to leave behind. While most of the domestic filmmakers are obsessed with imitation or even plagiarism, Li An has the courage to walk at the forefront of the world's film technology, and this spirit of seeking to break through the limits is undoubtedly worthy of admiration!

However, Zhang Ran didn't have much time to lament the frustration that Li An encountered, because "Angel of Justice" will premiere in New York at 9 o'clock tonight. For Lie, it's okay if "Billy Lynn's Halftime Fight" fails, and the next movie will be filmed. But for Zhang Ran, "Angel of Justice" condenses too many things, and it is a movie that cannot fail.