Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1549 I like your movie

At the historic Bradymore Hotel in Los Angeles, the largest ballroom was reserved by the Los Angeles Film Critics Association that evening, where this year's Film Critics Association Awards were presented, and a special award was presented to Pauline Kale, one of the most outstanding members of the film critic profession.

Ronald also came to this hotel where Chaplin once lived for a long time, and sat in the ordinary audience very low-key. He wanted to talk to Pauline Carr face to face to find out what made this former mentor curse his work.

However, Ronald now cannot keep a low profile even if he wants to. In fact, only winners of this award usually come to receive the award (the film critics award winners are announced in advance). These winners do not want to offend the film critics, and the film critics do not want to invite non-winners to watch others receive the award awkwardly.

Many people were still very surprised when Ronald, a big man in the industry, suddenly appeared on the scene without winning any awards at this session. Some familiar friends came up to greet him and chat with him, also wanting to find out what special purpose Ronald had today.

After all, if something went wrong at the awards ceremony, it would be big news that would shock Hollywood. No one wanted to miss such a wonderful scene.

Ronald replied calmly that he had always liked the reviews of his films by Los Angeles film critics and that he came this time just to meet more friends on the spot.

"Ronald, come on, talk to me."

This year's Film Critics Awards also included an Honorary Award, which was presented to the famous director Billy Wilder. He was about to guest-star as the mentor of Tom Cruise's character in Diane's new film "Jerry Maguire", and since he was old enough, it was natural for him to invite Ronald over for a chat.

"Congratulations, Mr. Wilder..." Ronald liked the old director's movies very much and respected him. There were a large number of old men in the Directors Guild, and they had good public relations, so they could vote for themselves at the Oscars.

The two chatted for a few words, and the people around them took the initiative to keep a distance from them to give the two directors some private space.

"I say, are you here to cause trouble for Pauline? I tell you, don't take it to heart. They are just hyenas waiting to watch the fight between lions. If you lose, they will rush down the hillside and bite the loser madly... to show their foresight."

"Well, I just have to talk to Pauline about something. You know, Pauline was a big help to me when I first started out. If it weren't for her, my first movie might not have been released on the East Coast.

If she had something to say about me, she could have called me directly, or used her favorite method, faxed me. I was not difficult to find in Hollywood, but she chose to accept a public interview, the most influential form..."

"Well..." Billy Wilder was silent for a while, then put his head next to Ronald and whispered in his thick Eastern European accent, "You have to forgive her, Ronald. Pauline is old like me..."

"She just retired two years ago. When I saw her being interviewed, she was very sharp. She could definitely come back and continue writing film reviews at any time. Maybe if she directly wrote a review for Forrest Gump, I wouldn't be so surprised."

Ronald's meaning was clear: Pauline was only 76 years old, still a junior compared to Billy Wilder, who was 89. A few years ago, Billy Wilder wanted to direct a movie again, while Pauline Carr only wrote some film reviews, which was not a problem at all.

Saying that she was old was not a reasonable reason for her to target him. However, Ronald did not want to do anything to Pauline, he just wanted to find out who was behind it. Even if Pauline Carr encountered any difficulties, she could come to him.

Even if Pauline wanted to maintain her dignity as a film critic and always observe things from an objective perspective, he could still do things properly while respecting her principles. Ronald always respected people in this regard.

Ronald was very sad to see Forrest Gump being directly disparaged in the media, so he questioned him face to face.

Billy Wilder certainly understood Ronald. He was also a director and had also been tortured by film critics. His last few films, such as "The Gentlemen" which reflected the Berlin Wall period, were badly reviewed by film critics, and he was so angry that he did not make any films for a long time.

But later, decades later, when The Beautiful Lady was screened again in Berlin, film critics again praised the film highly, calling it a great fable, a biting satire, and a master's hidden gem, and they lavished praise on it.

But more importantly, Billy Wilder was an old man...something Ronald couldn't understand.

“Ronald, you don’t understand… You are still in the prime of your life, you can’t understand the sorrow of an old man.

That was his domain once, he was the best in the domain, knowing that he had touched the pinnacle of human power. But after that... every day was a decline, and every day, your ability declined a little bit from the day before.

There comes an inevitable day when you realize that you are no longer Billy Wilder, you are just an old, frail old man.

At my age, sometimes when I watch my old movies, I always sigh and say, “How well they were made… and I was once Billy Wilder…”

"This……"

Ronald didn't know what to say, so he just said a few perfunctorily. In the next new film, everyone will remember Billy Wilder as an actor. He is still the best storyteller in Hollywood since Lubitsch.

Quentin Tarantino and John Travolta both went on stage to accept their awards after winning them, and said many compliments to the critics.

Ronald kept thinking about what Billy Wilder said. He had never experienced the withering of life before. Seeing himself getting further and further away from his peak, with no new path for him to break through, should he continue making films?

Should I continue to enjoy myself and make those films that have not broken through? Or should I bravely find a new direction to try to break through myself? Or should I just accept my fate and let the audience's impression of me stay at the best moment?

When it was Billy Wilder's turn to accept the award, his words gave Ronald enough fighting spirit.

Billy Wilder joked about being bothered and tortured by critics throughout his career, when studio bosses often used reviews to decide how long their films would stay in theaters.

If a movie does not do well at the box office at the beginning, then some bad reviews from film critics may be decisive for the fate of the movie. So much so that he would have nervous stomach discomfort when he heard the name of the film critic.

However, they are still quite tolerant of their successful films, and many of them receive very high reviews, which is beyond what they deserve.

Most of the time, film critics are not objective in their own evaluations, often overpraising successful works and being too critical of unsuccessful ones.

Generally speaking, the most objective thing a Los Angeles-area film critic can do about themselves is probably when they present themselves with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

They knew that after his failure in the bid to direct "Schindler's List", his chances of becoming a director were becoming increasingly slim, so they gave him a lifetime achievement award while he was still able to walk independently.

However, they may be making a mistake, as he has agreed to play a role in Ronald's new film, "Jerry Maguire", and then the critics will be able to evaluate his new career as an actor.

It seems that Billy Wilder is still as good as ever. His humorous acceptance speech caused laughter in the audience, and everyone stood up and applauded him warmly.

Ronald's eyes fell on the door. Pauline Carr, supported by an assistant, came to the venue and sat down at the edge of the room as everyone applauded.

Ronald's eyes met hers for a moment, trying to see something from her reaction, but Pauline didn't seem to see him and simply ignored his inquiring look.

When it came time to present the special award to Pauline Carr, Ronald focused all his attention and stared at Pauline as she walked up.

Pauline Carr seemed quite confused. Under the spotlight, her gray hair looked very old. Pauline accepted the special award certificate from the association and seemed to be at a loss for words for a moment.

Everyone thought that this was a sign of Pauline being too excited and wanting to cry. It was unexpected that such a sharp-tongued female film critic would also have such an emotional moment.

So, once again, everybody stood up and applauded.

"Forehead……"

Finally, Pauline Carr began to speak, and everyone fell silent, listening attentively to what she had to say.

"Thank you... Los Angeles Film Critics Association for the recognition and honor you have given me. ... I feel very honored..."

Pauline Kale ended her acceptance speech briefly. There was no humor like Billy Wilder, nor a talkative speech like Quentin Tarantino, just a plain thank you, which was a bit unlike what a film critic like Pauline Kale should say.

Some of the audience who knew that Ronald was scolded by her secretly turned back to look at Ronald. Could it be that Ronald used his "superpower" - media influence to make Pauline Kale shut up and stop attacking Forrest Gump...

Pauline Kahl was forced into a corner by the tycoon and had no choice but to accept no award. The simplest way to express her protest was to thank him in a roundabout way?

For a moment, the reporters and gossip lovers at the scene had countless guesses and assumptions in their minds. The expected on-site verbal battle did not occur, but this kind of saber-rattling was quite interesting.

Ronald didn't have the chance to speak on stage. If the Los Angeles Film Critics Association had the guts, they should have let Ronald present the award to Pauline Kael.

After the award ceremony, Ronald was still waiting at the scene. When he saw Pauline Carr stand up, he quickly walked over and stopped her assistant from leaving. He wanted to say a few words to Pauline.

Now, those who were originally leaving in an orderly manner slowed down or stopped.

"Here it comes, here it comes, will you start scolding me?"

Everyone's gossip was ignited and they wanted to see what would happen.

"Pauline, can we chat for a minute?" Ronald looked at Pauline Carr, whose eyes began to become confused again, just like when she was on the stage.

"Who are you? Do I know you?" Pauline Carr was stunned for a few seconds and uttered a sentence.

"Ah? I'm Ronald, Ronald Lee, the director of Forrest Gump whom you criticized..." Ronald seemed to understand something.

"Forrest Gump? Um...ah...I don't think I've seen it yet. What? It has a negative view of the Vietnam War and the civil rights movement? Then I don't like it." Pauline Kale was reminded by the assistant beside her and only then did she realize what movie she was talking about.

"Um……"

Ronald had already understood that this film critic, like retired President Ronald, had suffered a significant decline in cognitive function.

Just before Christmas last year, Ronald Sr. published an open letter admitting to the public that he had Alzheimer's disease, a disease that causes cognitive decline in millions of other elderly Americans.

At the end of the letter, he also thanked the American people for giving him the opportunity to serve them.

“When God calls me home, whatever day that is, I will leave with the deepest love for our country and eternal optimism for its future.”

This last sentence is considered to be the final and elegant farewell of this great communicator.

Pauline Carr in front of me is similar to old Ronald. She still remembers the past clearly, but often forgets new things.

Therefore, Pauline Kale has almost no memory of the new film Forrest Gump. Those so-called bad reviews were most likely made up by Entertainment Weekly reporters based on Pauline Kale's few words.

Ronald could even imagine that the faxed answers Pauline gave to the interview questions must have been blurry, disorganized, and often off-topic.

"Ah..." Ronald sighed. Even in this situation, he still looked a little stupid today. If he wanted to blame anyone, he should blame those people who knew Pauline's current situation and wanted to use her to attack him.

"Is there anything else, Mr. Li?" The female assistant next to him asked when she saw that Ronald was a little dazed.

"I don't know, are you her personal assistant?" Ronald came back to his senses.

"I'm her daughter, Gina. Now my mom lives with us in Big Sur, California..."

"Okay, I ask you to take good care of her. Your mother is a genius and a film critic who played a key role in the New Hollywood movement. Without her, Hollywood today would be very different."

"Oh, I will. My mother's words..."

Ronald waved his hand to indicate that it was okay… "I am here to share the glory that your mother deserves. Your mother took care of my first movie, Fast-paced Richmond High School… I am here to express a director's respect for the film critics…"

Gina looked at Ronald and started laughing too. Today was indeed her day of glory.

"Ah, you are Ronald. Your Richmond High School is very good, and so is your Dirty Dancing. You don't know that very few people can film the world from the perspective of a little girl. If you make more films about this kind of social trend, you will win the Oscar for Best Director one day."

When Pauline Kael heard the name of Ronald's first film, Richmond High School, she suddenly seemed to wake up and became the outspoken Pauline Kael again.

"Oh, thank you, Pauline." Ronald was moved to tears when he heard the same comments and expectations from her. He quickly hugged Pauline Carr. Then he asked her daughter to leave her contact information and he would donate some money to the Alzheimer's Research Fund in California to make their lives easier.

"Fuck, I'm mad..."

Ronald returned home and was very dissatisfied with the practice of using an elderly man who had lost some cognitive ability for public relations. Next were several union awards, and the voters of these awards had a high degree of overlap with the Oscar judges.

Ronald wanted to let those people know that he was determined to win this time, so they should not have any unreasonable expectations and should not take any action against the people they cared about.