American fame and fortune

Beverly Hills, Windsor Restaurant.

Beside the booth, the waiter delivered all kinds of exquisite meals and placed them in front of the two customers.

The most famous critic in Los Angeles, Kenneth Turan, tied his napkin and looked at Martin across from him: "A meal here costs a lot."

Martin also fastened the napkin and said, "When old friends get together, there is always something different to eat."

In fact, Kenneth Turan was very satisfied with Martin's choice of this restaurant, which cost nearly US dollars per person, at least it was an expression of respect.

If you go to any restaurant on the street to eat barbecue, what is the style of the number one film critic in Los Angeles?

Martin specially invited Kenneth to dinner, the purpose was very clear, and he did his homework: "I have always remembered your guidance and help to me."

Kenneth waved his hand: "It's not really a guide, it's just a few film reviews."

When Martin is shameless, his skin can become as thick as a mantle rock: "When I first came to Hollywood, I was like a headless fly. There was no standard for choosing films. Fortunately, I was lucky. Horror Wax Museum and Geshan Youyan's two films were successful, which allowed me to gain a foothold in Hollywood, and the luckier thing is that I met you."

Kenneth recalled carefully, as if he had chatted with Martin after the premiere of Geshan Youyan.

This is what Martin said: "Your words made me understand how to go in the future. Actors must pursue artistic pursuits, but at that time I didn't even have a foothold, so I could only make money first."

Kenneth nodded: "This is understandable. Prioritize the protection of life and live a worry-free life, so that you can concentrate on art."

Martin said: "I have never forgotten the artistic pursuit of an actor, so even in the face of many difficulties, I still worked hard to compete for the role of director Scorsese. I spent half a year practicing the Boston accent and spent nearly a month in the Boston Police Department. Experience life, follow the police detectives to arrest gangsters and dealers, and finally moved Director Scorsese."

Kenneth affirmed what Martin did: "This is what an actor should look like. You did a good job. The role in the film can be so brilliant because you are well prepared."

"Yes, this is an extraordinary experience." Martin has let people get to know Kenneth Turan deeply in the past two years, and he has figured out his personality preferences: "Director Scorsese and Jack Nicholson gave the film to the audience on the set. He gave me a lot of guidance, which brought my performance to a higher level, and my acting skills have improved a lot..."

Kenneth watched the film and said: "Your role in The Departed is better than any previous film, and the improvement is very great, even surpassing Leonardo."

At this moment, Martin is more proactive than facing beautiful women: "Progress, rise, I can feel it, so I don't want to stop, I took the lead actor of a pure literary film, directed by Sam Mendes, Kate - "The Reader" with Winslet as the heroine."

Kenneth had noticed the relevant information before, and said: "Sam is a leader among the mainstream art directors, and Kate has not made any commercial films after "Titanic". .”

"They are all outstanding artists." Martin also said something that can be said appropriately: "My role in "The Reader" spanned from 16 years old to more than 50 years old. The interpretation was too difficult, and Sam and Kate helped me complete it. the process."

Kenneth was somewhat surprised: "The role span is so large?"

Martin nodded: "Yes, I was able to control this role because of the guidance and help of two outstanding artists."

He was full of admiration: "In the crew, getting along with Sam and Kate made me understand what is called an artist and what is called performing arts. Outstanding artists, for the sake of film art, what kind of efforts and sacrifices can they make? What kind of price."

Kenneth heard Martin's desire to further improve his acting skills and the pursuit of film art, and said: "Martin, you are not bad, and you will catch up with them one day."

Martin said truthfully: "Compared to Sam and Kate, I am really far behind, and I feel that I will never catch up."

Kenneth felt that some encouragement must be given to this ambitious young man: "But you have been working hard and making progress!"

Martin just nodded vigorously, and didn't say that he would definitely do what Sam and Kate could do.

Because of those, he couldn't do it anyway.

Too focused and fanatical.

Artists are really beyond the reach of ordinary people.

During this meal, the two chatted and laughed happily, and had a very pleasant chat.

Martin settled the bill and didn't go to send Kenneth Turan, who loves his feathers so much that he doesn't want to be photographed eating with stars during awards season.

After Kenneth Turan walked for more than ten minutes, Martin entered the mall from the other door of the restaurant and went down to the underground parking lot. Bruce drove Thomas to arrive on time.

After getting into the car, Martin asked, "Have you eaten?"

"I've finished eating a long time ago." Thomas asked with concern, "How's the talk going?"

Martin said the result directly: "I am an actor with artistic pursuits, and Kenneth Turan appreciates this very much."

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief: "Among all the Film Critics Association awards, the two most important are the Los Angeles and New York Film Critics Association awards. More than 70% of the Oscar judges live in Los Angeles and New York, and the first thing they pay attention to is the news of these two cities. , we have nothing to do with New York, but Los Angeles has to win the initiative.”

Martin said: "You have already talked with Todd McCarthy, the columnist film critic of the Hollywood Reporter. At least my reputation in the mainstream media in Los Angeles is not bad."

It was the first time for Bruce to compete for an award, and he couldn't help but sigh: "It's so troublesome. Before I came to Los Angeles, I thought that the Oscar selection was purely based on the quality of the characters and the quality of the movie. The result is not the same thing at all."

Thomas said: "Almost everyone who is interested in Oscar heavyweight awards and even nominations is working hard on public relations marketing. We will not do what others have done. Let alone enter the nomination list, we will not even be eligible for nominations."

Martin simply gave a more intuitive metaphor: "Old Bu, you can understand it as a Hollywood-style election for the Oval Office in Washington."

Bruce nodded slightly: "Fortunately, we have done the work ahead."

Thomas lowered his voice: "In the past two years, we have dealt with them a lot and expressed our hearts many times. Now that the works and characters are very good, of course they will express something. The reputation of critics is much more important than that of stars."

On the other hand, Kenneth Turan came to the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.

As the columnist of the largest paper media in the City of Angels, and has always been friends with senior film critics such as Todd McCarthy, he is the most influential critic in the association.

The awards season has begun, and it is the time when critics like them have the most room to play.

Six heavyweight film critics from various media in Los Angeles gathered to discuss the upcoming Film Critics Association Awards next month.

Someone suggested: "Little Miss Sunshine is a good movie..."

Todd McCarthy retorted: "But such a film cannot support the best picture award."

Everyone else nodded. Although Little Miss Sunshine is good, it seems that something is missing for the awards season.

Another said: "The Departed or Queen are good, the former is better, Scorsese hasn't made such a good movie since Goodfellas in a long time."

Todd McCarthy said: "Both Martin Davies and Jack Nicholson are brilliant in their roles, the latter voluntarily saying he won't be competing for awards season, and the former being too junior to avoid the fierce competition for Best Actor , to compete for the supporting actor."

A young film critic named Justin said: "It was a very wise choice. Strictly speaking, he has only been in the industry for three years. An actor who came to Los Angeles at the same time is still working as an extra. He is neither from an acting family nor has the support of his godfather. Not even Jewish..."

Kenneth Turan coughed, reminding him that some things should not be said in person.

Justin immediately changed his words: "He is very lucky to be able to have today, his mind is still clear, and he knows that things need to be done step by step."

Kenneth Turan said: "As far as I know, Martin Davis took over an art film directed by Sam Mendes, called "The Reader", in which he played a character from 16 to 50 years old. Such a multi-year character with an amazing time span, I called Sam today and Sam thought his performance was pretty amazing!"

Todd McCarthy continued: "Sam is a director with artistic pursuits. He has won the Oscar for Best Director and has worked with many outstanding actors. His vision is quite high. He can give such an evaluation. Martin Day Weiss must have delivered another convincing performance."

Another older film critic said: "Commercial films have been successful many times, and Martin Davis has not lost himself in the business, which is very rare for young people."

Kenneth Turan said concluding words: "It is a good thing for young people to have artistic pursuits. We have been holding Hollywood and related practitioners to prevent them from being over-commercialized. Such young people with pursuits should Give encouragement."

Todd McCarthy said: "I agree."

The two bosses spoke, but no one else had any comments.

The Film Critics Association Awards are different from others. There is not so much public content. The results are determined by internal voting and then announced.

Kenneth Turan said: "The bills are issued to all members of the association. You should communicate well and try to come up with the results next week. We have always been ahead of other film critics associations. We cannot let the New Yorkers take the lead. "

There are three major Film Critics Association awards in the United States, and only the third is confirmed in the ranking, and there is no public opinion on the first and second.

In late November, after the Gotham Independent Awards, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced the results of the Association Awards in the Los Angeles Times.

The Departed won two awards, with Scorsese winning best director and Martin winning best supporting actor.