Who are you calling "little fresh meat"? I'm the king.

Chapter 337 Salary? (14)

The atmosphere of "No Man's Land" is very similar to that of "No Country for Old Men"...

They are only similar in temperament.

They're not exactly the same.

Moreover, the film has a very good theme.

However, the plot doesn't stand up to scrutiny, especially considering both artistic and real-life sources. It combines many concepts but doesn't clarify them.

Just as the final party in the transaction said, they went too far and overboard.

Criminal psychology is neither universal nor regular.

As an aside, the title "No Country for Old Men" might initially seem like a realistic film depicting the tragic later years of the elderly in American society.

I never expected it to be an American Western thriller/crime film.

"No Country for Old Men" could actually be translated as "People's hearts have changed," which aptly captures the impermanence of life...

Or, as translated in Taiwan: "The Ghost Grandpa"!
By the way, "The Village Teacher" is a great movie, a film about rural education. Teacher Chu Renmei's spirit of selflessly serving the children is truly moving. The aftertaste is so strong that I couldn't sleep. I recommend everyone to watch it!
Let's get back to the dinner party.

Ning Hao sighed: "I'm not hoping for the ban to be lifted anymore..."

He knew perfectly well that the banning of *No Man's Land* wasn't due to the film itself, but rather its unfortunate timing. It just happened to be released at the wrong time…

Shen Yan smiled and said, "It shouldn't be a big problem, let's wait a little longer!"

"You mean the ban can be lifted?"

"Third Master still has a lot of influence!"

Ning Hao nodded: "Then I'll take your good wishes!"

He then changed the subject: "Hollywood is coming on strong this time!"

"This is a big year for Hollywood, with all eight major film studios releasing their best films..."

"The movie you watch at home?"

Shen Yan took out his phone, searched for a bit, and then said, "Disney has *The Avengers*, Sony/Columbia has *007*, *Men in Black 3*, and *The Amazing Spider-Man*, Warner Bros. has *The Dark Knight Rises*..."

"What about Fox and Paramount?"

"Fox has a re-release of Titanic, Ice Age 4... Paramount... Paramount is in an awkward position... they don't have Transformers this year..."

"They're all commercial films!" Guan Hu interjected, "I made 'Tiger La' this time, and I brought in three top actors. I'm making a commercial film this time too!"

"Come on~"

"Hu Lie La", "The Chef, the Actor, the Scoundrel"... a messy movie, too noisy, I watched it several times but never finished it!

Okay, actually, "Tiger La" was a movie that was "filmed" alongside the TV series "Three Brothers on the Front Line" by Guan Hu - the three main characters were not changed!

So, this movie has a closed-space structure, which, to put it bluntly, saves time, saves space, and incidentally saves some money!

……

Ning Hao's "Mr. Red Carpet" clearly shows that, like several other directors, he has fallen into the "trap of the artist's desire for expression."
This is a hurdle for many domestic directors to advance, and many have already fallen into it. Unfortunately, after "Mr. Red Carpet", Ning Hao officially fell into the trap.
The trap of the desire for expression is these directors. After making their masterpieces, they want to create something big, to deconstruct the core of Chinese culture with a single work, to fulfill their mission as filmmakers, and to advance into the realm of artists…

Some say that when you're into art, you shouldn't care about other people's opinions or deconstruction, and you shouldn't care about box office returns.

Art that can't make a profit at the box office shows a lack of skill. Most of the top 100 movies on rating websites have high box office returns. It's more likely that these so-called filmmakers have become arrogant after making money and think that only things that are out of touch with the masses are good!
Many artists achieve results but lack a market, while some top-tier artists reap both market success and artistic reward.

Ning Hao falls into the category of someone who's neither quite right nor wrong, yet simultaneously feels he's both... Feng Xiaogang is similar; he was so subjectively eager to make a good film like "1942" that, after a poor market reception, he deliberately made a moronic film, "Personal Tailor," as if in revenge against the audience...

Ning Hao probably wanted to emulate Feng Xiaogang, so he retaliated by making a hit movie called "The Good Guy"...

Unexpectedly, the market didn't buy it at all!

—This isn't nonsense, it's true. You can check out the filing for "Viral Good Guy": it's a story about Zhang BJ arguing with a female stand-up comedian, emphasizing the difference between stand-up comedy and reality…

The final product has absolutely nothing to do with stand-up comedy; it's more like Ning Hao's venting of frustrations and insults towards netizens, or rather, his opponents, after the failure of "Mr. Red Carpet."

The catharsis wasn't enough!
The versions circulating online have already reached the stage of "abstract people having fun," but Ning Hao is still stubbornly clinging to the belief that there must be a conspiracy behind others' attacks on him, and he desperately needs an apology...

Just like Lu Chuan!
Let me give you one example: Zhang BJ helped Li Xueqin sell soap. The soap cost 20 yuan to buy and sold for a total of 28 yuan… Then Li Xueqin bought a new house and even bought back the piano she had sold. Her life improved, and her future looked bright.

No, 80,000 yuan... and you think you can improve your life in Beijing? Does the screenwriter have any life experience?
As for Xiao Daren, he's different from the others.

Others fall into a trap after reaching their peak, but Xiaodaren is stuck in the "artist's trap" from the very beginning, where form always outweighs content.

……

The latter half of the dinner was mostly spent talking about box office revenue…

Oh, the box office of Titanic.

Ning Hao thought it would be at most 300 million, while Guan Hu said 200 million...

The reason is simple—movies are readily available everywhere, so who would spend time and money to watch a movie they've already seen countless times?

Shen Yan shook his head: "Titanic is different... That movie grossed 3.6 million yuan at the box office in mainland China back then!"

"So how much box office revenue do you think it will generate?"

"...More than 800 million!"

"How can it be!"

"If you don't believe me, fine..." Shen Yan was too lazy to explain and continued eating.

Guan Hu: "Even if I could get 800 million, I would absolutely not withdraw the film..."

Ning Hao nodded: "Me too, I want to try what it's like to compete with Hollywood blockbusters!"

No need to try...

Very miserable!

Of course, Shen Yan outwardly looked at them with admiration: "The films I've made this year have mostly avoided Hollywood blockbusters..."

Ning Hao nodded: "I know, 'Sheep Without a Shepherd'... and working with Andy Lau... I've always wanted to work with Mr. Andy Lau... but I didn't expect you to beat me to it!"

"He was lucky; he liked the script..."

Is Andy Lau's salary particularly high?

Shen Yan thought for a moment and shook his head: "I think it's alright. 1500 million isn't particularly expensive... at least it's much cheaper than Chow Yun-fat!"

Guan Hu immediately asked, "Is Chow Yun-fat really worth 4000 million?"

"I heard that's the case... He's a member of the Screen Actors Guild and has his own agency, so it's unlikely he'd lower his price so easily!"

(End of this chapter)