"Are you sure you can do it? Elizabeth? After taking the wheelchair out of the trunk, Conrad and his escort supported her grandmother one by one to sit down in the wheelchair, he unlocked the wheelchair and motioned for the escort to step forward and push the old man, while bending down with some concern and asking, "No one here needs you to be stubborn - and no one wants you to go to the hospital again." ”

Although she has always been disobedient to old age, Elizabeth. Taylor's health has indeed deteriorated in recent years, and the year before last was basically a healthy old age, but since last year, she has been hospitalized frequently, and it was not until early January this year that she barely recovered her health, but her body has also weakened, and she can still walk when she is at home, but she can't do without a wheelchair when she goes out for a long time. Just like today, the drive from the residence to the movie theater made the old man feel a little uncomfortable, and he didn't even try to walk, so he asked the companion to take out the wheelchair.

"I'm not old enough to make a movie." - Although her body is weakened, her temper is still so hot and stubborn, and Elizabeth does not seem to have any intention of changing her viewing plans, which also makes Conrad shake his head helplessly and complain in a low voice, "Damn Fox, damn Jennifer. Jefferson, for the sake of the Oscars, they have gone completely insane. ”

"What did you say?" Like all the deaf old men in the world, Elizabeth raised her voice, "Conrad? ”

"Nothing, Grandma." Conrad also had to turn up the volume, took out his phone and glanced at the time, he sighed again, and walked into the mall with his companion, "Do you want some ice cream?" I remember you liked baskinrobbins, and there was one there. ”

"Don't treat me like a child, Conrad." Elizabeth glared at her grandson, and suddenly there was some shrewdness in the past, she adjusted the blanket covering her legs, "Tell me about the box office - it's been a long time since Avatar broke through Titanic, right?" ”

That was just three weeks ago...... Your sense of time seems to be a little confused, Elizabeth......

complained silently in his heart, Conrad knew what his grandmother cared about - in fact, to be fair, this time the movie did not have much to do with Fox's Oscar promotion, when she was still in the hospital, I heard that there was such a movie that could even surpass "Titanic" and push the box office to the 2 billion club, Elizabeth kept clamoring to see it, but at that time she was not so determined to see the theatrical version, until she boredom watched a bunch of gossip magazines and TV news in her hospital bed, After learning about Fox and Jennifer's remarks about the Olympic awards, she became interested in IMAX, and after being discharged from the hospital, she asked to come and see the IMAX screening version, you know, she hadn't seen a movie theater for many years before that.

If you want Conrad to comment objectively, he also agrees with the view that 'if you don't go to the cinema to watch it, you are not qualified to judge', but from the perspective of the judges' family, an old man who has just been discharged from the hospital wants to come to the cinema to watch a special effects blockbuster, this idea is exciting and headache-just because Conrad knows very well that Fox's public relations did not call the house, and several older generations who used to like to clique are also very quiet this time, knowing that Elizabeth is hospitalized, and it is impossible to pay attention to Oscar, Elizabeth's interest was completely spontaneous, so he could only vent his anger on Jennifer. Jefferson -- If it weren't for her remarks in the media, she wouldn't have had to give up a date and accompany an old lady to the cinema on such a good Sunday morning...... He'd already seen the movie several times.

"Hi, James," it's already late February, and according to the average movie, the screening cycle is now too late to be at the end, however, in the absence of a second movie to compete for, the IMAX screenings of "Avatar" are still sufficient, and the ticket source is of course many times more relaxed than when it was first released. And Conrad also found a gap and pulled him aside, "I know Elizabeth said that she wants to see the original movie, but can you turn down the volume a little bit, especially the subwoofer, you know, Elizabeth's heart has always been a problem, and she went to the hospital some time ago because of it......"

"Of course, of course," Jaime rubbed his hands together excitedly, "just wait three minutes, and we'll just debug it - Conrad, you know, I'm an old fan, if Elizabeth is convenient—"

"She doesn't want to be photographed with anyone right now," Conrad said apologetically, "but the autograph is certainly fine—"

"What are you talking to him?" As soon as Conrad walked back, Elizabeth sensitively asked, "You must have asked him to turn down the sound, right?" You must have made him turn down the sound - Conrad! ”

"But you probably can't stand the subwoofer, Grandma, and if you continue like this, I'll have to call Dr. Manson." Conrad said a little frantically, but he looked at his grandmother, whose lips were squirming and was startled by him, and quickly regretted it a little, "Are you sure you really don't have some ice cream?" ”

Elizabeth shook her head, and her escort said, "Conrad, since the last operation, Dr. Manson has forbidden her to eat non-special food, and her blood sugar can't stand it. ”

Conrad nodded, let out a few muffled responses, he pulled out his phone, opened the app page, but instead of clicking on Facebook to complain about his Sunday itinerary, he swiped the screen a little awkwardly.

"So," Elizabeth asked after a while, "has the box office exceeded 2 billion?" ”

"It's 2.4 billion now," Conrad tucked his phone into his trouser pocket and straightened up, "the North American box office is approaching 700 million...... Maybe he can set another record before the Oscars. ”

"What about the final box office estimate, it hasn't come out yet?" Speaking of movies, Elizabeth's spiritual head seems to be back, "3 billion should be unlikely, right?" ”

"Now it is estimated that by the time of the final global shutdown in June, there will be a margin of about 300 million in the entire global market," Conrad whispered, "If it is ideal enough, it may be possible to go to 2.8 billion, but 3 billion is still difficult - from this point of view, Jennifer's estimate is very accurate, she said between 2 billion and 3 billion, that is, it can't break through 3 billion, hehe." ”

"2.8 billion ......," Elizabeth whispered the number, shaking her head again, "as long as you live long enough, you can really see anything." 2.8 billion ...... Again, how many Oscar nominations did it get? ”

To be honest, young people get along with old people, impatience is indeed unavoidable, Elizabeth has asked this question several times, she always can't remember those detailed data, however, Conrad was not impatient this time, but said softly. "9 awards, Elizabeth, Best Film, Director, Art Direction, Cinematography, Special Effects, Editing, Film Music, Sound Effects, Sound Editing - "Bomb Disposal Unit" and "Millionaire" are also 9 awards, this year's Oscars are indeed very evenly matched, but the male and female protagonists should not be given to any of these three."

"What are the overlapping nominations?"

"Best Film, Director, Cinematography, Editing, Sound Effects, Sound Effects Editing, Soundtrack, the three films completely overlap in these seven categories, in addition to Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay for Bomb Disposal Unit, and Millionaire is Best Original Soundtrack and Best Adapted Screenplay." Conrad shrugged, "It's basically the standard package for the best movies, so it's really hard to say who wins and who loses." ”

"Jennifer didn't even get a nomination for a leading actress?"

"No, but no one in the industry seems to care about this, they are all distracted by the 2 billion box office - she didn't show up for the entire awards season this year, not even the Oscar nomination luncheon, but no one said she was arrogant, but she was about to be put on the altar." Conrad said sourly, "Of course, as long as there is a box office, who cares about this? In the words of the newspapers and magazines, 'She's already surpassed the actress to become a major figure in the film industry' – and it's almost ...... to say that she is an important figure in the world of film finance."

"But I've noticed that you seem to be talking about her misname a lot less often than you used to." Elizabeth said, looking up at her grandson innocently.

Thinking of his childish remarks more than a year ago, Conrad's face was a little hot, of course, he would never admit it anyway - however, now that "Avatar" is about to be seen by Elizabeth herself, he can't say anything to attack the movie, just said stiffly, "No matter what her investment vision is, I still have an opinion, her acting skills are far from as good as the awards she has won." ”

Without waiting for Grandmother to reply, he changed the subject and took the wheelchair armrest from his companion, "We're in, Elizabeth. Here, it's your 3d glasses, your reading glasses and myopia glasses are here for me, push me if you need it......"

Although I have been in a hurry to see the most expensive movie in history in the week of its release, and I have repeatedly rewatched it for various purposes in the following weeks - some are dating my girlfriend, purely accompanying them, some are watching it with my classmates, I watch it with the homework assigned by the teacher, and I have broken down all the points of this movie and analyzed it in pieces, no matter how many times I watched it, when I saw the planet Pandora, which was purely made of special effects, appeared on the big screen, Conrad still couldn't help but sigh: he has broken away from Junior's identity, and this year he began to try to make experimental short films to hand in his homework, if it was easy to direct "A Week with Monroe" a year ago, then now, when he really transformed from an audience to a director, and really understood how the director's profession works, Conrad finally understood how far he is from a blockbuster like "Avatar" - don't look at him still doesn't seem to look down on Jennifer. Jefferson, but the truth is that even actors who are 10 or 100 times worse than Jennifer are not accessible to him, as Elizabeth's grandson, maybe he can talk to many celebrities (if he is lucky), which makes him somewhat underestimate the abilities of celebrities, and because of familiarity, so 'they are also people, and they are not so great', and it wasn't until he really started to get started that he realized that he was related to "A Week with Monroe", and Jennifer. How far away Jefferson is. One day he will be able to export works like "Avatar" as well? I can't think that even if he has the unreserved support of the management, Conrad is sure that he will not even have such a bold idea as "Avatar", and really rely on stunts to make such a whimsical alien planet.

For peers, films like "Avatar" that are proud of their peers at the industrial level have a greater impact on them than the average audience, and film critics may prefer good stories, but for directors, a good story is just a foundation, and the most important thing in this industry is a good story, how to turn a good story into a good movie - good details, good execution, good special effects support, this is the really shocking thing, such as "Avatar", it is enough to make a rookie like Conrad despair, The more seriously he wanted to analyze the shooting process behind the camera, the more he realized how far he was from such a top level, and in the end he simply gave up thinking at all and simply immersed himself in the beautiful scenery everywhere - as for the cliché plot of "Avatar", he has completely blocked it, Jennifer. Jefferson and Anthony. Ryan's performance, he still chose to ignore it a little awkwardly.

In this movie, Conrad felt better, and he didn't have to be so careful to avoid the question that has become more and more existential lately: 'Am I not the right person for this business?' ''Am I without Cameron's talent?'' ''Am I stupid to laugh at Jennifer before?'' ''Did my grandmother see me like that at the time?'' - And, of course, 'Is Elizabeth very pitiful?' ''Are her children (including Conrad's father, of course) selfish' and 'am I just as selfish and stupid?......' When he sensed that these problems were starting to stir up, he could focus his attention on the movie or Elizabeth - more than two hours meant at least several bathrooms for the old man, and he hoped that his grandmother (Conrad could never call her Meemow) would not fall asleep during the viewing and would be able to enjoy the viewing as much as possible.

To his surprise, Elizabeth had a lot of energy today, except for going to the bathroom halfway, she didn't fall asleep halfway, and she didn't feel uncomfortable with the sound effects that came from time to time, like a healthy 60-year-old lady, she was engrossed in black-framed 3D glasses, and enjoyed the whole scene, and after the subtitles appeared and the lights were on, she even nodded her head a few times, as if expressing some complicated emotions.

"Oh, this is indeed a wonderful movie." Even the professional escort, whose job is to take care of Elizabeth, enthusiastically took the initiative to express his opinion, "Shall we go to the bathroom?" Not going? Okay, Conrad, maybe your grandmother needs some fresh air—"

"Don't say 'we,' I don't like that word." Elizabeth said a little irritably, "Mariana, carry me to a wheelchair—"

After leaving an autograph for the theater manager and letting Mariana push her around the atrium garden near the mall a few times, and taking a nap halfway, Elizabeth's energy finally recovered a lot, and motioned for the group to follow and board the nanny car. After Conrad helped her escort settle her grandmother, she seemed to be still very conscious, so he seized the opportunity, "What do you think of this movie?" And, of course, the IMAX Room, do you like the changes, Elizabeth? ”

Elizabeth nodded wordlessly, her lips pressed tightly together, and she didn't seem to have much interest in talking, and Conrad didn't dare to provoke her grandmother anymore - now that he was getting deeper into the world of cinema, his reverence for his grandmother was much higher than before, and it was a very subtle change of mentality, of course, he used to like to brag about his grandmother's achievements, but it was more of a gold sticker on his face, 'Even my old and irascible grandmother is a legend, So the legend is not a big deal', and now, as Conrad realizes the gap between this old, frail, grumpy old woman and his professional ability, he is not so willing to take the initiative to talk to Elizabeth about the subject of cinema.

The nanny car left the city at a slow pace that did not cause discomfort to Elizabeth, and after half an hour of driving, Elizabeth finally returned to her mansion, followed by a series of injections and pills, Mariana insisted that Elizabeth be put on bed rest, while Conrad was freed to go to a date with friends.

"How, how did Elizabeth react to the movie? - Bet she must think it's a big bad movie. ”

They were all USC students, and Conrad's classmates were also very curious about Elizabeth's reaction - she was the only old Olympic judge they had access to, and almost as soon as they met, people couldn't wait to ask, "Fox's trick is too cheap, it must have the opposite effect." ”

"Not necessarily, my grandfather went to see "Avatar", and he said that this is the most shocking movie he has ever seen - why in your heart, old people are equal to completely unable to accept new things?"

"Conrad, how's it going? Elizabeth wouldn't have fallen asleep while watching, would she? ”

"No, stay sober throughout the movie." Conrad sat down on the lawn, grabbed the whiskey bottle wrapped in a paper bag and took a puff, and said with some complications, "It's not going to be easy for her...... I think it's possible that she voted for "Avatar". ”

"What?"

“whatthehell？”

"You're not kidding, are you—"

Judging from the exclamations, there weren't too many people who were optimistic about Fox's PR strategy before, but Conrad didn't have much sense of superiority, and he now wanted to go back in time and shut up his self who was belittled by Elizabeth - if he could have endured it at the time, he could have avoided this terrible embarrassment now, and at least it would have become less difficult to admit that Jennifer was right.

"Seriously." He said listlessly, "If Elizabeth really thinks it sucks, she'll say it as soon as the movie ends, and if she thinks it's good, she'll admit it—"

Swallowed 'will laugh at me for my previous childish behavior,' Conrad said, "but Elizabeth didn't say anything, she didn't seem to want to talk about IMAX and Avatar, so I thought, if she was honest enough, she would have voted for it." ”

"Wait, wait, you've confused me."

"Maybe she didn't say anything, just because the movie is so monotonous that there's really nothing to say."

Even these young talents of USC couldn't keep up with Conrad's train of thought, and they protested one after another, but Conrad stubbornly shook his head and denied everyone's objections.

"You don't know her, and it's because this movie and what it represents really shook her and made her feel her age that Elizabeth didn't want to talk about it," his mood suddenly lowered, "For her, the world has stopped changing since the 80s, and she has experienced the best of the world in the best years of her life - if you want her to admit that there have been many new and good changes in the world, and she has never been able to catch up with the trend, which is cruel and difficult, At least for Elizabeth, who never liked to be old, so I don't think she would admit it to anyone, and certainly not want to discuss the film itself and its significance—and whether she would admit it to the ballot, it's hard to say. ”

Talking to a group of young people about aging caused a brief, sympathetic silence in the crowd, and then someone said, "Well, it's a bit cruel to say that, but I can understand Jennifer now - if you don't have the courage to admit it, then maybe you're no longer fit to be a judge at the Oscars, it's cruel, but that's the rule, isn't it?" Otherwise, the gold content of this award will be greatly reduced, at least for me. ”

"So I'm guessing she'll admit it eventually—at least in the Golden Generation, in the generation where the Oscar jury grew older and the VFX started to grow faster, but in the dozen years that they started to go less, or even not to the cinema, the judges really weren't fair enough to be fair to VFX blockbusters -- and Elizabeth wasn't too cowardly to admit her mistakes," Conrad shrugged, somewhat defensively defending his grandmother's image, which earned him a few half-believing compliments." But whether this compensatory mentality can make her vote for "Avatar", then I can't be sure. ”

In fact, in Conrad's opinion, Elizabeth is quite likely to vote for "Avatar", because she didn't watch "Bomb Disposal Unit" and "Millionaire", and if she didn't find the time before the voting deadline, it is very likely that she would end up ranking "Avatar" as the first place, and the subsequent rankings will be messed around. ――However, I disclosed too much to my classmates. The curtain doesn't seem to be a good idea, after all, it's still the same sentence, and objectively Conrad also agrees that a large number of Oscar judges are too old to be suitable, but, as a crony figure of this criticism committee, he still doesn't want to see them criticized emotionally, and in terms of interests, he is not so happy to see their authority curtailed.

"If you think about it, Fox's public relations strategy is actually very smart," he can only express his feelings in another way, "As long as 100 judges are really excited, walking into the IMAX hall, "Avatar" is equivalent to borrowing the momentum of these 100 judges 'watching IMAX for the first time', and under this shock, the possibility of them reversing their evaluation of "Avatar" will be greatly increased, and then cooperate with the trend of public opinion...... To be able to operate "Avatar", which was originally impossible to be listed as a real candidate, to this extent is already a success. ”

"yes, who knows who the Oscars will go to - anything can happen these days, even the box office of 2.4 billion can come true," one of his classmates shrugged, "maybe we can really see a commercial blockbuster win the Oscar for Best Picture?" ”

His tone was originally a little sarcastic, but as he spoke, even he became serious: "When you actually say this idea, it doesn't sound so ridiculous, doesn't it......"

Indeed, it was found that this idea was not so ridiculous, and it was not just such a person, and people soon found out that this idea was really not so shocking - for public opinion, the "Avatar" competition was just a joke, but with Fox's strong public relations and fierce discussions among film critics, the impossible seems to be slowly becoming possible, and the original clear battle for the Oscars has now gradually become a three-legged situation, and the call for "Avatar" to win the award is no better than that of "Millionaire" and " Bomb Disposal Unit" is even smaller, in February 2010, at the moment when it had just been slapped in the face by 2 billion, everyone's attitude has become more cautious and open than ever before - film is a young art, Hollywood is also a garden of miracles, here, anything can happen, if from this year, the Oscars have changed their inherent direction and moved closer to a more popular aesthetic, then ...... What's not to do with this?

Will this be the collapse of faith, the collapse of Hollywood? Apparently not, actually, when you actually say it, it doesn't sound that ridiculous, does it......

The author has something to say: Note: In reality, Taylor's family is a mess, and her children have only been courtesy once during her 10 years of illness, and then all of them have been companions, which is already famous. And there were a lot of conflicts over property during her lifetime, and Taylor herself was indeed very impatient, she once said, 'I want to live forever, so they can't take my money', so ~ Conrad feels that her pity is somewhat justified -

There is a double watch tonight ~ half past 8 o'clock