In this contest, whether it is the second duel between Lance and Brad, the first head-to-head collision between Lance and George, or the face to face between Tom and George again, Tom and Brad's "reunion" after 20 years, all ended with the absolute advantage of "killing with a knife".

Especially Tom and Brad, two enemies who love and kill each other.

Twenty years ago, in "Interview with the Vampire at Night", Tom received far more praise than Brad, especially Tom portrayed the classic screen vampire Lester with the image of evil / seduction / seduction, which has endured for a long time; Twenty years later, the collision between "Killing with a Knife" and "Twelve Arhats" once again presented a similar ending.

Putting aside the huge difference in the box office and word-of-mouth of the two works, now Brad has disappeared directly, with Brad's status and qualifications today, it is impossible to be blocked, and it can't even be refrigerated, but it is undeniable that Brad, who has been on the cusp of negative topics for a long time, definitely needs a cooling-off period to let those news settle down and let the public calm down, otherwise this will have an immeasurable impact on his image and his career planning.

But Tom is the opposite, he is having a great opportunity to make his career as an actor.

After the broadcast of "The Tonight Show", viewers began to notice the chemistry injected by the two actors into "Killing with a Knife". Objectively speaking, the stylized and vivid use of lighting, the calm and atmospheric picture scheduling, and the rhythmic lens editing of "Killing with a Knife" can be felt even by laymen; Now people are starting to pay attention to the actors' performances, which coincides with the comments of previous film critics, and as time progresses, the discussion about acting gradually begins to liven up.

No one should forget about jì, it's awards season.

This year's awards season has not yet entered a real high/high season, but there are already works that have begun to stand out, in terms of actors, Don Cheadle of "Hotel Rwanda", Johnny Depp of "Finding Neverland", Jim Carrey of "Eternal Sunshine of a Beautiful Mind", Paul Giamati of "A Cup of Wine", Javier Bardem of "Sleep in the Deep", Liam Neeson of "Kinsey/Professor...... These actors have become the object of heated discussion.

But objectively speaking, none of these candidates can really detonate the awards season craze. For now, Don and Johnny are in the lead.

Tang benefited from the special theme of "Hotel Rwanda", occupied an innate advantage in the moral high ground, and in the past two years, he has attached great importance to the elimination of race/race/discrimination - the year before last, he awarded both the best actor and actress to Denzel Washington and Halle Berry, and Tang is indeed a collection of thousands of people. Especially recently, he starred in "Ocean's Twelve", even if the movie results were not as expected, but thanks to the grand publicity, he appeared frequently - not only in front of the media, but also in the circle, and the exposure rate skyrocketed.

It's a pity that the box office list of "Hotel Rwanda" is average, and the discussion among film critics in the circle remains high, but it is slightly inferior in terms of public recognition. This will be their main focus during the long publicity process of the awards season ahead.

After Johnny won an Oscar nomination with "Pirates of the Caribbean" by accident, the actor with a strong personality and unique style ushered in the best years of his career as he entered middle age. "Finding Neverland" is also currently in theaters, earning $140 million at the box office in five weeks of release, and the film tells the story of Peter Pan, a household name in the United States, and has laid a strong mass base, which can be said to be the frontrunner of the current discussion.

But it should not be ignored that the huge success of "Pirates of the Caribbean" made everyone stumble to win Johnny the first Oscar nomination in his career, which actually caused a lot of controversy - because Johnny's performance is more focused on personality breakthrough and breaking with tradition, and in terms of performance depth and skill thickness, it is not enough to match the Oscar nomination. So, in fact, in the eyes of industry insiders, it is debatable whether Johnny can win the acting nomination again.

At present, the two actors who have gathered a large number of voices have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the long awards season has just begun, and it is possible to do anything. Now, "borrowing a knife to kill" is here.

The box office accumulated of $96 million in two weeks won the hearts of the audience for "Killing with a Knife", and the discussion was even more hot; At the same time, the praise of film critics escorted Tom, allowing Tom to rise strongly in silence.

"It was the hardest gig of my career."

Tom has repeatedly emphasized this point in previous propaganda, people originally thought that Tom was talking about body spending, and regarded "killing people with a knife" more as "Mission Impossible"; But now people have discovered that "killing people with a knife" may be "the end of the world", and Tom not only endures a lot of action scenes in the movie, but also presents a serious challenge with his delicate and profound performance.

In its latest December issue, People magazine commented, "Perhaps this is the hardest performance of Tom Cruise's career, but it is also the most exciting. ”

The magazine conducted an exclusive interview with the crew of "Killing with a Knife", the main content was aimed at the performance, talking about the communication and practice between Lance as a director and Tom, talking about the problems Tom faced in the process of acting, and talking about the difficulties between Lance as an actor and Tom's rivalry, "Tom admits that it is a very painful thing to get out of his comfort zone, even if Lance is persecuted, the mental pressure has reached the extreme, but often after resting, that habit will return to the body again, Then we had to go through the pain all over again, Lance kept pressing, I kept struggling, and then I got out of my comfort zone again to give Lance the performance he wanted. Habit is a terrible thing, and getting rid of habit is a painful thing. ”

At the end of the interview, People Weekly commented, "When the white-haired, vicissitudes-faced, ruthless professional killer on the big screen appears, the audience is easily confused: who is he?" He's not Ethan Hunter, not Tom Cruise, not even an actor, but a lone wolf galloping through the night of a chaotic city, a professional killer who has abandoned his name and self. ”

From newspapers to magazines, from radio to television, from the media to the audience, there are more and more discussions about Tom's acting skills, some people agree, some people naturally oppose it, and some people still maintain the prejudice of "idol vase", but it is undeniable that this time more people still look at Tom as an "actor". It's a difficult but perfect change, small as it may seem, but it's actually great.

As the awards season progresses, Tom is catching up step by step, and Don and Johnny not far away don't seem far away, which makes Paramount's blood boil up and down - they really did! It's hard to imagine that they really did!

At first, almost everyone thought Lance was crazy, even Brad Gray, but in the end he chose to take a gamble and cast a vote of confidence in Lance - not just a 60 million investment, but also his prospects in Paramount, and his competitive capital with Shirley Lansing. Now, it's time for a good harvest.

"Killing with a knife" has not only achieved a huge breakthrough at the box office, but profit is basically not a problem, and now the only question is - how much can it earn! Meanwhile, Tom's cries for awards season are slowly climbing at a steady pace, and the situation is getting better and better, and perhaps, Tom can really win another Oscar nomination; Perhaps, Tom can really take off the Oscar; Perhaps, "borrowing a knife to kill" can really gain fame and fortune.

Of course, it's too early to get carried away, not to mention that the awards season has just begun, and even the Golden Globe nominees have not been announced - the same was true for last year's "The Last Samurai", after the release of the movie, Warner Bros. forced Tom's acting nomination, which won Tom a Golden Globe nomination, but went home empty-handed above the Oscars, and instead Ken Watanabe was nominated for Best Supporting Actor, which fell short. Anything is possible during the long awards season, and starting now, any carelessness could lead to all the hard work being wasted.

However, "killing people with a knife" is indeed in a virtuous circle.

Not only Tom, but unexpectedly, the cries about Lance also suddenly rose. "As a director, as a screenwriter, Strello once again shows us his mature and precise control, slow pace but very explosive, bright colors but revealing coldness, and the excavation of social connotations once again makes people fall into contemplation. After the 'City of God', Strello is once again presenting a classic! ”

This is a review from the "film critics", who believe that Lance has the hope of hitting the nominations for Best Director, Best Picture, Best Original Screenplay again. However, this is not a surprise, after all, the "City of God" has already won Lance a nomination - and three statuettes, and interestingly, there are many people who believe that Lance should also win the corresponding recognition for his performance.

"Introverted and calm, profound and timeless, advance and retreat properly, and retract freely. Strello's performance has an indescribable spirituality, every gesture is a story, a solid acting foundation and a deep interpretation ability, let us witness the emergence of a talented actor. ”

Film critics' praise for Lance is not inferior to Tom's, and some people even believe that Lance is the first actor to "kill people with a knife", because Max maintains the core idea of the whole movie; Some people also believe that Lance and Tom are the two male protagonists in the whole movie, and should not be divided into main and supporting roles, because the collision between the two runs through the entire story structure. But no matter what, as a newcomer to the actor, Lance has won more attention than he could have imagined.

This is indeed an unexpected surprise for the crew of "Borrowing a Knife to Kill". (To be continued.) )