"Are you surprised to receive my invitation?" When on the screen Kenneth. When Branagh curled her tongue and vividly imitated the accent of a foreigner speaking English, Amanda in the movie theater laughed knowingly and made a mark in her heart: this one plays Lawrence. Oliver's actors, acting skills are indeed quite good. However, she quickly concentrated again and devoted herself to the plot, looking at Monroe's slightly red lips slightly sluggish, revealing a somewhat stupid look, Amanda couldn't help but shake her head, thinking with some emotion, "Although she is so beautiful, she is obviously not so normal - but, although she is not so normal, she is so beautiful, to some extent, it is also worth it......"

Someone next to him moved in the seat, changed his position, and cleared his throat again, Amanda glared unhappily, and complained in her heart in a hurry: "The quality of the young people who came to see the midnight show is too low!" ”

As a housewife in a small southern town, the midnight show is almost insulated from her, and this time I will come to see the midnight show, of course, not because of her support for Jennifer, although last year because of the telephone recording incident, Amanda's bad feelings towards Jennifer, and then diluted by time, but her political impurity, but also let the faithful believe in the education she has received since childhood, believe that Beijing is one of the axes of evil, Amanda feels emotionally estranged from Jennifer, she is not so much to hate Jennifer, but to say that it is the same as before, It would be impossible to see her as a role model for children. - However, Amanda does not interfere with the children's preferences, and she will not admit that she is still secretly following Jennifer. Jefferson, at least like the children, knew the good news that "Monroe" won the Venice Best Actress Award for the first time.

From that day on, Amanda was in trouble: mainly because of the report mentioning the excitement in "Monroe". love drama, and the children already know about this movie, and eagerly look forward to the day when it will be released in China. Combined with the famous scandals around Monroe and the open era she lived in, Amanda naturally began to worry about the scale of the movie. And when the movie was rated PG-13, she knew she was unlikely to stop her kids from coming to see it (it's a shame for Amanda that even in the most remote southern towns now, parents don't have full control over their children's movements), so she had to review the movie as soon as it was released, to decide if she should find excuses to prevent the kids from going to the cinema at the height of the discussion in the weeks leading up to the release of "Monroe." While it's unrealistic to expect kids to forget about the movie in a few weeks, it's always the case when mothers are mothers, and as long as it's for their children, they'll at least try whatever crazy they are.

And if at the beginning of the movie, Amanda still had this kind of condescending censorship, now that the movie has been staged for half an hour, she has already let go of all her worries, and has forgotten her original intention of watching the movie, but can't help but fully integrate into the plot, and she has even completely forgotten to taste Jennifer's performance in her heart - most of the time, she has forgotten that she is watching the movie, as if she has completely entered the world on the screen, and takes everything as reality. What's more, as the movie progresses, Amanda has changed her perception of Monroe: before that, her image of Monroe was very stereotypical, stars, chaotic private life, scandals with the president, suicide, material girls, these labels are all related to the social atmosphere of the 60s, and the Beat Generation, of course, the Beat Generation actually has nothing to do with Monroe, but for Amanda, it all sounds similar, it feels, it is a group of men and women who are willing to degenerate, With alcohol, poison. Pin ruined herself, and lived a precarious life like crazy, just like Monroe, from her rise to her death, she exuded a strong sense of guilt, and her mental illness also gave people a feeling of being disease-free and □□ blamed for herself.

However, the movie tells a completely different story, the director did not avoid Monroe's failure in acting, and the fact that she 'doesn't learn and can't learn', but from the movie you can see that her nature is not evil and depraved, in fact, the movie uses very rich pictures and very clear and calm information to explain all aspects of Monroe's life: Monroe's own abnormality - this can be seen from her sudden depression, The crowd around Monroe used and deceived her for their own interests, and this point was taken as the starting point by the preparation of "The Dragon and the Phoenix". Oliver's pretentiousness, Paula's manipulation of Monroe by a 'governess'-style acting teacher, Arthur Anderson. Miller's arrogance and antipathy to the media, to his life as Monroe's vassal, including his fundamentally selfish ...... The performances of these actors are vivid, so that Amanda can easily contact the acquaintances around her, and also gives her a strong sense of substitution, she was soon completely attracted to the movie and experienced the feeling of Monroe, at this moment, she is no longer thinking about whether the story is real, Did Monroe shoot so well?', or rather, she doesn't care about whether the movie is real or not, as a viewer, the last thing she cares about is this, what she cares about is whether Monroe can find a way out of her predicament, or whether this girl who is fundamentally very inferior and has been craving love and support can be lucky enough to find a sincere relationship in the cold environment she is facing.

Amanda doesn't know that she can make her less educated, objectively speaking, not too developed in intelligence, with a very narrow range of experience, and extremely high moral outlook, to put it mildly, she is more ignorant, she can feel Monroe's current situation so easily, and interpret the intentions of the director team, which shows how profound the crew is: the story has progressed to the present, and no one's dialogue on the surface is related to Monroe's despair and loneliness, in fact, all the dialogues are emphasizing her importance, and people give in and spoil her, But even Amanda can see that people have no interest in her at all, Lawrence needs her fame and the most basic performances, what the acting teacher Paula needs is Monroe's dependence on her, her interest in methodism, and the high salary that these two things represent, and the collaborator Green wants the style that Monroe's collaboration with Lawrence represents, and of course, the good profits, Arthur. Miller wants a wife who can understand him and cooperate with his creations, everyone expects to get what they want from Monroe, they all expect Monroe to be as obedient as a doll, once Monroe can't meet their requirements, or just show a slight sign of this, they are scared and afraid, and always do everything they can to stop, intimidate or even hurt Monroe, and no one is thinking about Monroe's thoughts or considering her appeals.

Of course, Monroe wasn't perfect, she wasn't at fault at all, and her mental problems and lack of talent were also mercilessly exposed, and Amanda thought Monroe was indeed very beautiful, and there was no doubt about that - but she was also an actor who didn't have much acting talent, and there was no doubt about that. Amanda even felt a little embarrassed for Marilyn at this point: everyone but her knew this, but everyone also knew very well that they must not expose it, so everyone happily coaxed Marilyn and indulged her efforts in the performance just like Paula—as long as Marilyn was happy enough to cooperate with them, then they would never care what would happen to the soap bubble as it blew bigger and bigger.

"It can even be said that Marilyn herself understands this." Amanda thought with some sadness, "But maybe she can't face it at all, that's why she gets scared of the set and is always late." Poor girl, her life was a mess, and perhaps of all the people around her, Colin had the purest feelings for her - though he was a bad boy too. ”

As a biopic, "Monroe" does not have a clear plot line, and of course there is no suspense, because everyone knows that Monroe definitely did not be with Colin in the end, and "Dragon and Phoenix" was also filmed, and the response was not very good. This is, of course, a common problem with biopics - since the suspense is non-existent and there are few thrill points, the average viewer can easily get bored. Amanda is not usually the kind of audience who can calm down and watch art films, among the films she likes, the most in-depth may be "The Devil Wears Prada", however, today she entered Monroe's world without any obstacles, without any boredom and procrastination, and quickly understood the plot, and even began to judge the characters: This is very unusual for an average audience, because usually, the protagonist is rarely a bad guy, Amanda will think Colin is a bad guy, This shows that she has begun to think independently, which also makes her a qualified art film audience, not the kind of 'villain' who has no brains, only popcorn, and any shot that is not satisfactory, no matter what the director's intentions are, will be savagely badly reviewed.

If a film critic who knows Amanda well enough knows what she thinks now, he may be so frightened that he knocks over the water glass, because Amanda is usually an out-and-out villain, and the group she represents is about the same as an unreasonable and ignorant box office power for media people, for example, Amanda began to be prejudiced and disgusted with her because Jennifer praised Salvi for being handsome in the eavesdropping incident and had an affair with a former model, for any enlightened adult, It's all unreasonable, but she's so stubborn, what can you do with her? No matter how stubborn she is, she has money, and she is also a potential audience for the movie, and you still have to earn her money. - You should even be glad she's not that smart, because if she had a better memory, remember that "Monroe" was the one who put it. Swinging model directed, Amanda may not come to see at all.

However, Amanda is indeed thinking and feeling now, and she has correctly understood the director's intentions, at least part of the intention, and has become a good audience that any director dreams of, which can only show that this group is not unable to think, and it is not that they really do not have their own perception of life, but they may be very picky, maybe very slow, maybe very eccentric, only if you are good enough, can you break through their heavy defenses, arouse resonance, and make them from unreasonable villains into people who can really be inspired by the movie, a bosom friend who was impressed by the movie and expressed his appreciation for the movie......

"Colin is still a little young, and it is his instinct to chase young people of the opposite sex, and perhaps because the object of his affection is too distant and mature for him, so he wants to prove his masculine charm by pursuing Lucy, and also prove that he has grown up." If in reality, Amanda would definitely disapprove of Colin, and even disgusted it, but at this moment, for Colin in the movie, she has a soft attitude of understanding and tolerance, "This is a mistake that is very easy to make when you are young, yes, he may regret it later, but at this moment, he must be difficult to control ......"

The plot line of "Monroe" is actually very simple, it can be summed up in a few sentences: Monroe came to the UK to shoot "The Dragon and the Phoenix", Colin became the director's assistant and had contact with her, the filming process was not very smooth, Monroe quarreled with her husband, and Lawrence. Oliver doesn't get along well, and Colin's contact with her gradually increases - such a poor plot line is not qualified at all in general commercial films, because it can't catch the audience at all, but in "Monroe", the beautiful picture grabs the attention of some people, and the emotional line with a strong sense of urgency firmly grasps the heart of the audience who are more aesthetically dull, for example, Amanda, her feeling of beauty is relatively weak, so Marilyn's beauty and the beauty of camera scheduling can't make her so fascinated, But the chemistry between Colin and Monroe firmly grasped her heart, and she, who had completely entered the movie, no longer thought about the acting skills of the actors, but really regarded Colin and Marilyn as two real people. "From the first time the two of them met, they existed with obvious attraction, Colin resonated with her, as for Arthur, it was an unhappy marriage at all, the two couldn't even communicate, they lived in different worlds at all, Arthur took a fancy to her looks, naively thought that she was talented enough to understand him, and Marilyn, she herself had no talent, so she admired Arthur extraordinarily, and naively thought that he could take good care of her, and the things they wanted were not the same at all, they were all asking each other for something that the person didn't have……”

Although she realizes that she is hoping that Marilyn will break through the constraints of marriage, Amanda has no moral guilt, which is not the same as she has always been, however, she has not really felt the change in herself, and is still immersed in the story, sadly watching Arthur and Marilyn be recognized by fans during an outing, ruining a beautiful afternoon.

"Always," Marilyn complained to Arthur, but her tone wasn't too bothered: Marilyn had just seen her performance in the film, and it was far from perfect. Therefore, now she needs the affirmation and admiration of others, and these intoxicated fans just meet her needs, her originally melancholy expression has been stretched, without a single line, but perfectly embodies Marilyn's psychological activities. "We can't be given a moment of peace."

And what about Arthur? It was as if he had no idea what his wife was really thinking, and the corners of his eyes and eyebrows were full of the word patience - it was obvious that his temper was almost at the limit, and this sensitive and extreme writer had been patiently accompanying Marilyn, taking care of her fickle temper, and some mediocre but unwilling to be mediocre toss, and he seemed to be unaware of Marilyn's expression of 'regret and deep joy', but sighed plainly and impatiently, and did not answer his wife at all.

Marilyn's expression darkened, and she glanced at the camera - that was the angle of the fans, and on that beautiful face, the long eyelashes cast a heavy shadow, and this also made Amanda ignite a deep anger: although it is fair to say that Arthur has also been wronged to cooperate with Marilyn, Marilyn and his incomprehension are mutual, but, between Arthur, who is mentally stable and talented, and Marilyn, who is mentally unstable, inferior, and fragile, her balance naturally favors Marilyn - If you can't pamper her and understand her, then why should you marry her? Although smarter than Marilyn, there is no doubt that Arthur. Miller is a selfish ghost, Marilyn has been afraid of causing trouble to the people around her (although it has not been effective due to many complicating factors), but everyone knows that her heart is good, she has been fighting with herself, and Arthur, he may feel that he has been compromised, but in fact, his dedication to this relationship can be said to be so little that there is almost nothing, and some are only for beauty. The quest for sex and vanity - a sexy woman who is internationally famous, and who has chosen him among thousands of choices, Arthur just can't resist the temptation.

When the plot is laid out here, a cheating seems inevitable, but Amanda has no resistance and criticism, and has long forgotten to measure whether the film is suitable for her too young daughter, when Colin bumps into Marilyn who is sobbing alone, she is fascinated by the chemistry between the two: without a word, the communication and subtext that rely on eyes and expressions are the focus of this play, whether it is Marilyn or Colin, no one spoke, Marilyn stood in the center of the cleaning room where she was crying secretly, stared at Colin with tears in his eyes, and Colin also looked at her helplessly and gently, whether it was Colin or Marilyn, or Amanda, they all understood the meaning conveyed by this silent exchange - Colin, who had already observed the contradiction between Arthur and Marilyn, fully understood the reason why Marilyn was crying, and Marilyn also understood Colin's understanding, she understood Colin's care for her in his heart, and a tenderness that he didn't dare to say, and Colin also understood that Marilyn cherished his care, and this cherishment was not because of the identity gap between the two, It is not diminished by the fact that she is a big man in the world and he is a nobody, for her, his emotions are precious, and she cannot often get them.

Although Arthur was upstairs, and it was already night, and it was not convenient to speak, Marilyn still seemed to draw some strength from this silent exchange, her red and swollen eyes were bent, and her expression of grief and almost collapse disappeared, and she turned her back and wiped her nose a little rudely—that innocence was revealed again, and Colin's eyes were softer, and he couldn't help but smile-

"Marilyn!" Arthur suddenly appeared on the stairs and broke the spell, Colin took a step back in surprise and looked back at Arthur, and Arthur's footsteps also stopped, he looked at Colin with some confusion, as if he realized that something was wrong - as the rhythm of the soundtrack became tighter, Amanda also tightened her heartstrings like Colin: there is no doubt that if Arthur was angry now, Marilyn would definitely not be able to bear it, and at this moment, Amanda had long forgotten that she had done something to Marilyn. Monroe didn't think so, she hoped in her heart that Marilyn would not be hurt again, and that she would not be robbed of the little warmth she had just received......

It was another silent exchange, Colin's expression was weak and stubborn, while Arthur was puzzled and thoughtful, his eyes going back and forth between Colin and the direction of the door several times, as if he had finally let go of his suspicions - and even a little funny: this was just a hairy boy, what did he know? How could Marilyn possibly fancy him?

"Marilyn," he said no longer to Colin, but went down the stairs and into the room, and said softly, "honey, it's time for you to sleep, you always think too much, you know I don't mean that......"

The camera gives a close-up of Colin here, Arthur only has a voice, and, hearing his insincere, purely perfunctory relief, Colin's expression changes several times: anger, helplessness, sadness, all kinds of complex emotions flashed across his face, it seems that he is about to explode in the next moment, protesting Arthur's bullying of Marilyn, but when Arthur pulls Marilyn out of the cleaning room half forced, half pushing, he still instinctively takes a step back and watches Marilyn being dragged up the stairs by Arthur.

"Alas......" Amanda couldn't help but let out a long sigh, she even felt the dampness in the corners of her eyes, and this sour feeling, after she saw Marilyn quietly turn her head and smile affectionately and gratefully at Colin, actually turned into tears and quietly flowed down.

The story of this film is not much new, everything is expected, at least for Amanda, Arthur eventually leaves London and returns to the United States to find his own creative space, no longer staying with Marilyn, and as the shooting does not go well, Lawrence becomes more and more impatient with Marilyn's method of trying - of course, Marilyn does not perform so well, but his reaction is completely ungentlemanly, and in the face of the huge pressure he brings, Marilyn begins to suffer from insomnia and drugs, And Colin was sent to ease her mood: the elves had long seen that there was something unusual between Colin and Marilyn.

When Marilyn, who was thin and hazy, half sat up, and when he saw that it was him, he relaxed his guard and smiled lightly, Amanda and Colin melted into this smile together, Marilyn's childishness was revealed, and her fragility also made this trust more valuable, Colin was like entering a beautiful dream, in which he had the opportunity to get close to Marilyn, and had the opportunity to soothe her pain and sleep with her. All the damage from the outside world, it seems, is locked out, Milton. Green's knocking and roaring did not disturb his present mood in the slightest, but became a wonderful accompaniment, and the world was condensed within the reach of this lamp, Marilyn. Monroe was half-asleep in the crook of his arm, her eyes half-open and half-closed, and she glanced at the door—she heard a knock on it, and the ignorance of the world outside made her happy, even amused.

"When I was very young, I had a room like this." She shifted her position in Colin's arms, without any exaggeration of her past, "I was living in a boarding school with a group of grumpy nuns......

Along with her narrative, a montage is superimposed on Colin's brain: a little girl running through a dilapidated and gloomy charity school, chased by several middle-aged nuns in ragged clothes and fierce expressions, runs into the cleaning room in a panic, closes and locks the door, finds a spot on a dirty couch, crosses her knees, and sinks contentedly as the door is slammed......

The little girl's face slowly overlapped with Marilyn's, and everything around her seemed more unreal, and Marilyn seemed to share his imagination with Colin, who looked at the room with a smile and listened to Milton. Green's shout showed a mischievous smile again, and after glancing at Colin, both of them laughed at the same time......

The story has progressed to this point, nearly an hour has passed, Colin and Marilyn finally went from acquaintance to acquaintance, and gradually fell in love, it can be said that the rhythm is on the slow side, but Amanda is not impatient at all, on the contrary, a dreamlike smile appeared on her lips, seeing the eyes exchanged between Colin and Marilyn, and seeing Marilyn's lazy and honest smile in front of the camera...... Her heart seemed to fly into that little paradise with Colin.

In the town where Amanda lives, there is only one cinema in the city, and the facilities are a bit old, and the midnight show is almost exclusively for some. The old and bad losers, or the □□, but tonight, the cinema was so well attended, almost barely full, and for whatever purpose, whatever the mood they fell into, the audience remained silent until now, no one got up to go to the bathroom, not even the nasty ghosts around Amanda stopped clearing their throats, they all seemed to be attracted to some element of the movie and threw themselves into the screen......

#

"The data for the midnight session has returned." While Amanda and her 'movie friends' are attracted by the most high-end Christmas blockbuster of the year, the data stream is being transmitted, calculated, checked and pushed at a rapid pace in the network cables spread across the country, and finally turned into a definitive data that is delivered to the ears of subscribers. Thanks to the progress of science and technology and the popularization of computers, as well as the launch of the new ticketing system, at the end of 2008, the midnight show does not need to wait until the next morning to get the results, data experts by grabbing the key cinema line and the total box office comparison value, calculated a set of formulas, as long as the statistics of the AMC cinema midnight box office (15 minutes after the opening of the midnight show, the ticket sales amount will be settled in real time, and fed back to the headquarters terminal), you can calculate the national midnight box office according to the formula, the error value is quite small, If you're lucky, no more than 11 o'clock, and you'll know if the actual box office of the movie is in line with the pre-show prediction.

The data of "Monroe" was returned a little slowly, presumably because the on-site sales were relatively hot and there was a large flow of people, which led to the corresponding postponement of the statistical work of AMC staff, but even so, when the movie was released an hour later, the speculative data was calculated, and the statistical agency was even more face-saving, and a senior executive personally called to inform him of the results. "17 million, an almost incredible number, if the final calculation is correct, it will directly enter the second place in film history, only inferior to this year's "The Dark Knight"...... Of course, if the final verification result is 17 million, it is still low......"

The midnight box office of "The Dark Knight" is 18.5 million, beating the previous overlord "Revenge of the Sith" by 16.5 million, becoming the king of the midnight box office, and the tentative result of "Monroe" of 17 million is a very ambiguous number. But in any case, for a literary film - with such a box office, in fact, "Monroe" can no longer be called a literary film - for such an Austrian film, this box office is still synonymous with incredible, at least in the category of biopics, it must be unprecedented, no matter how it is calculated, it is destined to break a long list of records, take all the scenery at the end of the year, and completely suppress the rest of the competitors - and this midnight show also means that "Benjamin. The Curious Case of Barton has lost the last chance to create a box office miracle and turn around.

Although the news can make many people cry out, Harvey. Weinstein foresaw this result about an hour ago: after observation, he found that the on-site ticket sales at midnight shows are actually more ordinary, this is a box office market that focuses on fan pre-orders, and sometimes the box office can be roughly guessed from the scheduled results, if the numbers return slowly, it means that a large part of the passerby who did not have reservations also came to buy tickets to watch the movie, which is of course an extremely good signal for the box office - no matter what the reason, which element, It seems that this movie has the potential to attract the public, and if the quality is not very bad, the box office trend after that should not be too bad. The original predetermined numbers for "Monroe" were very optimistic, and the box office returned so slowly, which shows that the box office of the midnight show was only better than imagined - although the final number still made his brow twitch, but in general, his tone was still very stable.

"I see." He said, "Thank you, Ludd, for thinking about me so late, and I owe you a favor - to have dinner another day, and let me open a good bottle of wine." ”

"Of course I won't be cheaper for you." Ludd laughed heartily on the other end of the phone, apparently he thought Weinstein would be in a good mood because of this - of course, it was not unreasonable for Ludd to speculate like this, because the relationship between Big Dream and Weinstein Pictures has always been relatively close to outsiders, and there is even cross-ownership, "But then again, Harvey, this box office?" I've been in the industry for so many years and it's the first time I've seen such terrible stats that it looks like she's even better than the real Marilyn. Monroe has to sell more, and those old men in the academy will definitely be shocked off their wine glasses, right? Shouldn't I congratulate you and Jennifer in advance? The third Oscar for acting - never dreamed it would come so early! ”

Knowing that Lud completely misunderstood the reason why he cared about the box office, and thought that Weinstein Pictures was cooperating with Big Dream to win the Olympics, Harvey's mouth couldn't help but have a little bitterness, and he smiled self-deprecatingly, "Ludd, this season my main work is Kate. Winslet ......"

Of course, Ludd was a little shocked by the news, and he immediately became stammering and incoherent, as if he didn't know what to do, and Harvey had to patiently reassure Ludd a few words, making him believe that he was not angry, and then hung up the phone and pondered on the computer screen - the impact of this midnight box office on him was not just the little thing he revealed, and he had to take a certain amount of time to digest and absorb it in order to make the most favorable decision.

His glamorous new wife, Georgina. Chapman shook in the doorway, but acquaintance didn't disturb Harvey's thoughts, and quickly turned away, and Harvey didn't ask her why: Georgina must have urged him to go back to the bedroom to rest, but how could he sleep now? What Ludd said just now is right, this box office? This performance? And Sidney. Pollack's connections for her? He had to think about it......

'Suzu-'

Harvey's thoughts were interrupted by a screeching phone ringing, and he scanned the screen with some unpleasantness—and almost immediately, the unpleasantness vanished, and Weinstein's eyes widened in surprise: Jennifer. Jefferson? What was she calling so late for? ――And how did you get the timing so accurate? Not long after Lud put down the phone, she called?

"Jennifer," Harvey didn't let the other party wait too long, and quickly picked up the phone, laughing heartily and greeting, "What, can you still remember me?" I thought you didn't think of me as a friend anymore - all over Hollywood was rumored about your marriage to Cesare, but I didn't get the invitation, girl, I guess you have to give me an explanation......"

On the other end of the phone came Jennifer. Jefferson's gentle and soft laughter, the actress who had just delivered the most acclaimed performance of her career, who had been praised to the sky by all the critics, and who had won a Venice Silver Lion, still sounded as low-key and calm as before, and she seemed to be prepared for Harvey's temptation, "Harvey, are you scaring me - if you would have listened to the rumors of marriage, you should have broken off your friendship with me more than ten times." ”

There was no positive answer and it looked like she and Cesare. Vijeri is really married...... This is not difficult to understand, according to the equity change sent by Big Dream, Jennifer now owns all the first-tier shares, and Vijri has also officially resigned from CAA to join Big Dream, and the marriage is indeed a wash. Money means, well, political marriages, maybe this would be a point that could be exploited......

Mentally calculating and analyzing Jennifer's tone and diction, Harvey laughed on the surface, "Really? Well, count me wrong, but if it's not for sending me an invitation, Jennifer, why are you calling so late? ”

Jennifer laughed leisurely on the other end of the phone, and her confident attitude disliked Harvey - and even gave him a vague sense of foreboding, making him feel as if he had fallen into absolute disadvantage.

"For Oscar, of course, dear Harvey," Jennifer said in a relaxed tone after the laughter, as if she didn't know that she had caused a cold sweat to break out on Harvey's forehead. "Of course, for the sake of your plan to make Kate's supporting role take the lead, dear Harvey, what else could make me disturb your peace on such a good night......