"Roger, long time no see. www.starter oh dear"

"Old friend, we're meeting again, you look really energetic—"

In a small private screening room in Chicago, whether it is Alain, Derek or Kenneth, they all enthusiastically step forward to talk to Roger. Albert greeted him and praised him sweetly, but they were very careful not to rush forward together, but to greet him one by one, leaving enough space for Roger not to feel too heavy and oppressive.

In an operation last year, Roger lost the ability to speak, his jawbone was removed, and now he can only eat liquid food through specific channels and communicate with people through handwritten notes, but even so, he reappeared in front of the public two months ago, and he never stopped writing film reviews, as early as a few days after the operation, he began to write again, and now, although his body is still very weak, Roger has begun to insist on walking on his own, and for "Michael. Clayton returns to his private screening room on Lake Street to rediscover the love of his life: cinema on the big screen.

In order to match Roger's physical condition, and now there is only one copy of the film, Alain, Derek and Kenneth all gladly accepted the invitation of Big Dream and flew to Chicago to participate in "Michael. The first preview of "Clayton" was not only because of their curiosity about the film, but also because of their respect for Roger, an old-timer - it is this extraordinary professionalism that has allowed Roger to achieve the cross-industry influence he has today.

With a vague smile on his face, Roger handed the note to his wife, Chaz, who read, "Don't take care of me, let's talk about movies, I want to hear it." ”

Several authoritative film critics looked at each other and smiled. Luo Pei took the initiative to speak, "Speaking of Jennifer, have you all watched "Pirates of the Caribbean 3"? ”

Although the release date is still far away, it will be in the middle of next month, but the world premiere was held as early as last week, and now local premieres are still being held around the world to promote the momentum, and the major box office cities in the United States will also have their own promotional activities, the local premiere in Chicago was just held a few days ago, Richard and Roger were present, as for Alain, Derek and others, of course, they attended the world premiere.

"Of course, but there weren't too many surprises in Jennifer's performance."

"Yes, it's in the same vein as the second part, of course, this is understandable, the shooting of these two films was originally done in one go," several critics also began to exchange opinions, "but after the surprise of the second part of the martial arts, the third part is not exciting at all in terms of narrative skills and story rhythm." ”

"There are too many story threads, and the closure is a little sloppy."

"Some of the new characters are coming out of place to expand into the Asian market, and it feels out of place in the film......"

"If you taste it carefully, everyone seems to have their own plans, and you can feel that the director has a lot of ideas, but if you don't pay enough attention to these details, the audience may be even more confused about the direction of the storyline and unable to grasp the deep reasons for the characters' actions."

"But the box office shouldn't be too bad."

"Absolutely, the third part of the trilogy, there will definitely be an uptick at the box office...... I've heard that most forecasters have pushed the global box office to 1 billion...... This year's box office champion should be "Pirates", unless "Transformers" can give us some surprises. "Spider-Man 3" and "Shrek 3" only got about 300 million, as long as "Pirate 3" has the level of the second part, then there is no problem in surpassing them. ”

400 million in China, which is more or less a hurdle, only quite phenomenal movies can get this result, "Shrek 2" also got this result, but the box office of the third part shrank, as for the "Spider-Man" series, it has not hit this threshold.

"This year is completely the third year of the trilogy, and "Spy 3" will also be released in August."

"There is no doubt that it will be the third of the highest quality."

"Indeed, there is no doubt about it."

"Of course."

Film critics unanimously agreed that for the "Spy Movie" series, although they have not seen the finished product, they are full of confidence, for this action, spy war movie in the Jungen, so that critics and fans are full of praise for the genre classics, most film critics are looking forward to the third part with a reluctant attitude, except for Matt. In addition to Damon's restrained performance, the "Spy" series is recognized as a series that relies on screenwriters and directors to excel, the cold and silent, iron-blooded and neat style of the whole film, the detailed plot link design, rich in substitution, and the details that make people feel very reliable...... has made film critics full of praise, feeling that every film is a big meal, whether it is a car chase, action or gunfight scenes, "Spy" can be shot with a very realistic sense of reality, with great respect for the laws of physics, not as fake as ordinary action movies, and even make the audience feel ridiculous and funny. These all show that "Spy" has an extremely strong and tacit behind-the-scenes team, after all, these elements are not something that actors can play, just like "Pirates of the Caribbean", Depp is an actor with Ottie's strength, Jennifer needless to say, Oscar won two, although there is some water, but it also proves her strength, and Josh's progress in the second and third parts is also very obvious, but even with these three good actors, plus a large number of acting schools with Ottie and Aobao awards as supporting roles, the story is also told in a mess, people can't sort out a main line after watching it for the first time, and the behavior of the protagonist group is also incomprehensible. Regardless of the director's intentions, the story is clearly out of control, and this is the last thing critics dislike: the audience can't even figure out what's going on in the cinema.

"Pirates of the Caribbean 2 and 3" is a vivid case of directors and screenwriters wasting good actors, and in "Spy 1 and 2", after the screenwriter, director and actor complement each other, film critics have a good opinion of "Michael. Clayton is also very much looking forward to, Tony. Gilroy is a very good screenwriter, "Spy Shadow" is tense and exciting, but also has a long charm, and it combines commerciality and artistry well. The subject matter of Clayton will be a little more serious, but there is a bigger than Matt. Damon's stronger cast configuration, not to mention even Daniel. Day-Lewis was moved by this story, and the critics especially had high hopes for Jennifer's performance, after all, Daniel had proven himself once again in "Blood is Coming", bringing them two hours of extremely enjoyable time, but Jennifer's "Pirates of the Caribbean" series is very angry, it's like you walk into a restaurant, knowing that the chef is a three-star Michelin star, but she only gives you a McDonald's recipe burger, of course, she makes it, even McDonald's grade burgers are better than others, But you know she can give you so much better than this.

"I hope Jennifer's performance doesn't disappoint," Richard said bluntly, in "Pirates 2", he also felt that Jennifer's fighting scenes were eye-catching, but Jennifer's role in "Pirates 3" was weakened, and the new roles attracted more attention, although there were still fighting scenes, but he thought that Elizabeth's role in the plot was weakened to almost nothing, and could only be regarded as a large martial arts vase, so he was also quite dissatisfied with "Pirates 3". "It would be a shame if 'The Fifth Sally' was a flash in the pan."

"She shouldn't have made so many commercial films...... "Alain. Morrison muttered, "Commercial films are so ruined, look at Johnny. Depp, he has already gone on the wrong path, once the audience gets tired of this set, I really don't know how he will continue to maintain his position. ”

The audience seems to be interested in Johnny's weird performance style, in addition to "Pirates", the year before last "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was also a great achievement, however, film critics are more fickle and demanding than the audience, in "Pirates 1", a lot of film critics were surprised and praised by Depp's performance, but when he has handed over a report card with a similar style again and again, film critics have felt smoked and disappointed, and no longer pursued him, but a little bit of a falling ground, unless he makes a breakthrough again, Otherwise, in the foreseeable future, it will not be so simple to get an Oscar nomination that is strongly supported by film critics.

Based on this, Jennifer in "Michael. Clayton's performance in "The Fifth Sally" is better not to be the same as in "The Fifth Sally", she relies on the 'continuous face change' of the actress, even if it is staged again, it will not be so pleasing, and maybe the critics will be doubly disappointed because of this, thinking 'she is just that'.

After chatting casually for a while, commenting on the films that have been released this year - "Blood is Coming" is widely recognized as the most noteworthy film of the year, "No Country for Old Men" plays the old man card, and in addition, Alan Brown, who rose to prominence with last year's "Hard Candy". Peggy also has a new film that will attract attention: the talented teenage actress made her debut with an independent film and was praised as 'young Jennifer'. Jefferson' because of her acting skills and Jennifer's. Jefferson, like her, is very mature as soon as she debuts, but she looks young, not like Jennifer, she can play a big star as soon as she debuts, and she is full of aura. In the new film this year, Alan plays a very surprising teenage mother, "Juno" will premiere in September, according to the tone of the distribution company Fox Searchlight, this film they intend to rush for Allen.

Of course, it's just Ottie, and maybe part of the reason why he will do this is because Allen is the phantom cat in "X-Men", and this film is also produced by Fox, but it also shows that Fox has confidence in Allendo. After a relatively rare low ebb period for talented newcomers, Allen was the first genius to emerge, just like Jennifer in '03. Like Jefferson, her hibernation period was short, and her rise to strength seemed to mean that a new era was about to begin.

"The actress is changing too quickly," Derek said with emotion, "Jennifer's rise seems to have only been yesterday, and some of the talented girls of her generation didn't even win Ottie, but now the next generation has begun to hit the awards." ”

As he spoke, a familiar figure walked into the screening room - Jennifer. Jefferson's assistant, perhaps Mary, a beautiful young girl, greeted everyone with an apologetic smile and walked up to Roger and whispered, "I'm sorry, Roger, Jennifer wanted to come in person, but Avatar is calling......"

The screening was originally set in Los Angeles, but later Roger's wife Chaz and Jenny's team communicated Roger's physical condition and conveyed his own desire to see the film, Jennifer immediately changed the preview screening to Chicago, which was enough to give Roger face, Roger smiled effortlessly, wrote a note to express his understanding, Mary took out a text message from her bag and handed it to Roger, and solemnly took out a CD and handed it to the projectionist: This is also "Michael. The only surviving copy of Clayton, Mary made a special trip to deliver the copy this time.

A few critics asked Mary with some curiosity about the progress of "Avatar", but soon, as the soft lighting dimmed, they all quieted down, and they found a place in the theater in twos and threes, thoughtfully vacating a large space for Roger, waiting for the opening of the film.

After a rustle and white noise, the logo of the distribution company without an opening film slowly lights up in a black frame, and with the chatter and energetic phone messages, the movie officially begins.

"Dear Mike, of course you, who else can they send but you?"

With this agitated monologue, several journalistic snapshots emerge, zoom in, and then vanish against an all-black background, and the critics vaguely catch a glimpse of the top photo: a patient in a hospital bed with a sad family member standing next to him.

"Who else can be trusted? I know you've been whining all the way and just want to get this done ......"

Another flashback with a green leaf logo, a few newspapers, and the headline in bold capital letters: 'Patient v. U/North Chemicals, when will the protracted lawsuit end.' Under the title bar, the photo is clearly visible, but it is already a little blurry.

This opening monologue is reversed, there is no logic, it can be easily heard, the speaker may have a certain mental state, not so stable and sober, he babbles on and on describes a certain epiphany of his own, and suddenly finds himself on the sidewalk as the 'excrement' of Kenna, Bach and Radine, one of their toxic substances, and everything he does is to help large corporations continue to plague human civilization, like herbicides, heavy metal substances. And as he spoke, many images kept flashing back, the name of the law firm appeared in the newspaper headlines, the photos of the victims, and when he spoke of herbicides, the headline 'herbicides cause cancer' also flashed in the newspapers just right, and the astute film critic had pieced together the whole backstory from his words and images: this lawyer was supposed to be a senior lawyer at Kenna, Bach and Radine, and was representing U/North, a powerful company in the industry. Dealing with a protracted lawsuit over the carcinogenesis caused by herbicides, and he already had a history of mental illness and was a little relapsed by the task, Michael. Clayton was about to set off to clean up the mess for him.

Although losing the ability to speak, in the midst of persistent painful surgeries, Roger . Albert's body also became very weak, but his mind became more sober and ethereal, and in addition to the superficial information, he effortlessly captured the underlying expression: as time passed, the news took up less and less space in the newspapers. It is clear that for a while, the media did not pay that much attention to the case.

"I said to myself, 'This intense feeling is like the things I've seen today, but it has to wait, it has to stand the test of time, it has to wait for its moment to come. And I believe that the time has come, today-'"

The background music gradually intensified, a picture of 'now' has gradually appeared in people's eyes, an intern leisurely took a stack of papers, pushed a small cart to the brightly lit conference room, the narrator became more and more excited, when the music reached □, suddenly flashback, a photo appeared on the screen: a white, unfamiliar fat face, eyes closed, the background of the photo can see the morgue and some dissection tools. Critics effortlessly understood the moral of the shot: at the beginning of the film, the narrator is already dead, or that at some point in the film he will definitely die, and his death may be the key to the plot.

"Lawsuits, big corporations, carcinogens." Roger scribbled on the small piece of paper at hand, "The passionate opening is a little different from the style of "Spy", but the essence is still the same. ”

This is a habit of his, whenever he watches art films in this screening room, Roger will always write these ideas casually, after all, art films are different from commercial films, there will be many points that concentrate the wisdom of directors and screenwriters, and it would be too tiring to memorize them just by mind.

There was a foreshadowing of this, when in the conference room, a lawyer handed over his cell phone to Sidney. Pollack, when he told him that it was a reporter's call, and that the reporter wanted to know the latest development of the case, the critics did not have any difficulty in understanding, but were keenly aware that things must have changed after that phone message, otherwise the reporter would not have suddenly stared at the case again, and their interest had gradually faded.

After hastily responding to the call, Sidney glanced at the conference room with an aura, "Damn it, Karen. Where did Claude go? ”

The camera smoothly cuts to the bathroom, where a briefcase with the word u/north is placed on the washstand, hinting at the identity of the hostess, the faucet is not turned off, and Karen does not seem to be in very good shape, and the next overhead shot also confirms this: from top to bottom, from the top of the head, with brown hair roots, unkempt blonde hair without luster - dyed, the hair roots reveal this, and the owner does not seem to be in particularly good shape.

With one hand, Karen reached out and brushed away the strands of hair that covered her face, she gasped weakly, her eyelashes flashed, she glanced blankly at the camera, and closed it again.

Whether it is the sweat marks under her armpits exposed by raising her hand, or her rare but real and delicate expression, all of them pounce on the audience like a bucket of water: Karen seems to be a little old, at least not a young girl in her 20s, her sense of age is not strong, and she does not have the sense of disobedience of young people painting old makeup - but it seems to be lifeless, in fact, Karen seems weak, desperate, and on the verge of collapse, her aura is so contagious, not contrived at all, as if she pulls the audience into the play in an instant, I couldn't help but think about this character. Why is she so weak? Are they going to lose the lawsuit? What position is Karen in U/North, and has this incident affected her a lot? Will she break down next?

Roger. Albert thought the same thing, his breathing was slower than usual, his concentration was extremely concentrated, goosebumps stood up under his shirt and on his skin, and an intuition cultivated over many years of experience flashed through his mind, a shiver he knew and liked very much: it was a reaction peculiar to Roger when he saw a good film and met a good performance.

It slowed down for more than a second before his mind caught up with his instincts, and Roger narrowed his eyes and realized with some horror: Karen. Claude Karen. Claude is Jennifer. Jefferson!

Jennifer didn't disfigure, she should have also brought makeup, not like the plain makeup at the beginning of "Prada", it can be said that her face is not ugly, and it is not impossible to say that she is beautiful, but anyone who looks at Karen will not notice her beauty, the first thing they think of is her despair, it is the curiosity about her state, yes-

Again and again, Roger doesn't know how to describe it, and sometimes you just run into this problem, and there are no words to describe the most genius performances, the subtle talent they show in this art, the poetic way of interpreting them...... It's a kind of emotion that you can only praise poetically, if it's just Monica. Bellucci's meat in The Beautiful Legend of Sicily. The beauty of the body, that may still be put into writing, but this ordinary and ordinary character, this deep and depressed emotion - Roger doesn't know what to say, Karen didn't say a word, but what she conveyed was a wordless cry, her every action was a footnote to despair, you would neither realize that you were watching a movie, nor would you realize which big star the person who played her was, all you noticed was Karen, only Karen, in the midst of all the despair, there was a strange tension that tugged at your attention and attracted your heartbeat, so that you don't feel bored with the long silent long shots at all, Karen still hasn't said a word, but her performance seems to have said it all.

Karen noticed the mess on her shirt, she rubbed her sweaty armpits with her hands, and looked around blankly: she was looking for soap, she was looking for a decent way to appear, she wanted to hide her vulnerability, but in this search, her eyes became confused again, as if she was about to sink back into her inner world, quietly despairing.

There was a noise outside the door, and Karen straightened her shoulders with a defensive expression, and she suddenly let out a long sigh as if she had suddenly returned to reality, like a drowning man sucking desperately, and then she pulled out a stack of tissues and began to wipe the sweat from her armpits.

The camera pans away, and a messy Chinese auto repair shop and underground casino gradually becomes clear to the sound of Cantonese television, and Roger notices Daniel's silhouette, but he is not yet fully engaged in the plot, but grasps the brief interlude, and thinks in horror: "She...... Another way of acting? ”

"No, I can't say it's changed again." Roger then denied himself, "There is a sharpness in her acting skills, which is in the same vein as "Prada", and it is also used in several scenes in "The Fifth Sally", which should be a set of acting skills that she is familiar with and loves, and has gradually matured in recent years, with its own characteristics, and her "Chicago", "Love Notebook", those performance methods are very mature as soon as they appear, but compared with this set, the superiority is obvious, not that it is not good, but compared with this one, Both Lockhee and Elle seem to be a little less infectious—without that kind of power that hits the soul directly, yes, it can be said that there is a lack of soul! ”

Compared with the showy acting skills of "The Fifth Sally", as soon as Karen appeared, he calmed Roger with his infectious power and ability to describe it, almost - he estimated - at least 20 seconds of long shots, very small action, no dialogue, completely one-man show, but the character of Karen has completely stood up, and even attracted the vast majority of attention, allowing the audience to deduce a complete story by themselves with the information they already have......

"This girl has regressed, and "The Fifth Sally" is her peak...... These claims about J.J are completely defeated by this long shot. Roger tightened his pencil, and suddenly he noticed that he hadn't written a word: he had completely forgotten that there was such a thing as writing. Anyone who has watched Karen will admit that "Pirates of the Caribbean" is a heart-wrenching waste for an actor like her, but if anyone dares to belittle her after "Pirates of the Caribbean 3", Karen will definitely slap them in the face. "Clayton" is completely a new peak of Jennifer's acting skills, she is already extremely good, it is hard to imagine that in this film can still give me a feeling of 'she has opened up'......"

Gathering his thoughts in time to suppress the shock, Roger knew that he had enough time to analyze Jennifer's transformation, and the top priority was to give his full attention to admiring Daniel. Day Lewis performed, he shifted in his seat, pursed his lips and felt his heartbeat: like a boy who had just met his sweetheart's first love, his heart was completely filled with joy and anticipation, the pain of illness had long since disappeared without a trace, Roger was like entering a paradise without illness and pain, the great joy and satisfaction of the spirit suppressed all discomfort, he held his breath as he watched Daniel's silhouette change from blur to clear, staring at the deep, frustrated lines of his handsome face-

With just one glance, Roger was completely sure that this was not Daniel's mistake - in fact, a cheerful voice, belonging to Roger's long-lost healthy body, was like the voice of the young and active Roger when he first met the movie, and was crying out in his head with joy, "Masterpiece! Masterpiece! There is no doubt that it is a masterpiece that can be written into the history of cinema! ”

The author has something to say: Note: The description of Roger's illness is all true, he couldn't speak until his death in 07, but he still insisted on watching movies and writing film reviews, a very admirable old man-

Tonight's morning update, the number of words seems to be a lot, everyone enjoy~