Chapter 175: Taylor Swift Cried! Xu Can Teaches Hollywood How to Make Musical Films!

Spring passed, and the brilliant summer took the stage.

Even without subtitles to remind them, the film's color grading and lively music made the vitality of summer and the flourishing of all things unmistakably clear...

This sophisticated handling kept Luo Jie Ebert's evaluation of the film at a very high level.

He couldn't suppress his excitement, yet forced himself to remain calm.

With the first half of the movie so excellent, he feared a clichéd, botched ending would ruin the entire film.

Such scenarios have played out countless times in Hollywood,

where clichés represent safety from error but also easily reduce works to mediocrity.

Few dare to break out of their comfort zones, and few spark with genius-level inspiration.

Thus, Hollywood's greatest feature is assembly-line production, a story factory;

its greatest flaw is likewise assembly-line production.

If no more flashes-of-genius creators emerge,

Hollywood will inevitably head toward decline in a few years.

What kind of creator will Xu Can turn out to be?

With a troubled heart, Luo Jie Ebert continued to immerse himself in the film.

Since the female lead, Mia, decisively abandoned her date and firmly chose the male lead, Seb,

after they performed a dreamlike dance under the stars at the Griffith Observatory,

they officially entered a passionate love period akin to midsummer.

The summer music also transformed into a more unrestrained and passionate jazz melody.

The male and female leads became tourism ambassadors for Los Santos, touring the city's wonderful streets as a couple and taking in its unique scenery.

"A..."

The CP fans in the theater couldn't help but ship the couple again; the once youthful Spider-Man and Gwen had become the slightly more mature Seb and Mia!

The actors hadn't changed, and only a few years had passed, yet the feeling between the two was vastly different from before.

Even the "dog food" (romantic displays) had different flavors; this on-screen couple was simply too indulgent toward their CP fans!

Even some Xu Can-Taylor Swift CP fans who only shipped the "Jin Tongyunu" pairing couldn't help but feel sweetness watching scene after scene of the film.

Even Taylor Swift herself.

She actually felt that Xu Can and Emma were quite a match!

Xu Can and Emma!

Quite a match!

Perhaps it was their outstanding acting, combined with the film's dreamlike color grading and colorful musical melodies...

Taylor Swift completely forgot the fact that she was "Xu Can's girlfriend,"

and crazily shipped her own boyfriend with another woman!

And she hadn't even realized something was wrong.

Especially during a segment of frantic handheld camera work in the film,

where the male lead Seb, played by Xu Can, played a jazz melody on the piano while Mia danced beside him,

the camera rapidly switched back and forth between the two, creating a harmonious and joyful scene.

Even with his hair messy from playing the piano, Xu Can looked so handsome!

Meanwhile, professional critics tasted a hint of homage to Hollywood's golden age in this handheld sequence.

Although more advanced mechanical crane arms could have been used for rapid switching, Xu Can clearly opted for handheld treatment, whipping quickly between the two and leaving a shaky shot.

At first glance it seemed slightly rough, but in reality it kept the entire film's tone consistently at that same high standard.

Using a mechanical crane arm would have instead ruined that jazz flavor.

"Brilliant!" Luo Jie Ebert clapped and praised.

Finally, after a series of montage shots, the brilliant music stopped, and the film was about to enter its turning point.

Beautiful and happy times are always short; after a couple passes through their passionate phase, various problems easily arise.

Even the dream couple Seb and Mia were no exception.

Just like most ordinary couples in the world, they inevitably had to face the reality of money.

Watching this, Taylor Swift even forgot to get jealous, immersing herself completely and worrying for the male and female leads.

"Don't give up on your music dream! Mia likes you for who you were at the start; she isn't with you for the money!"

Taylor Swift was actually afraid the two would break up! Afraid her own boyfriend would break up with another woman!

Sure enough, the heart-wrenching moment arrived.

The male lead chose to compromise with life, joining the pop-jazz band he least respected, thus tarnishing the pure jazz dream in his heart.

One performance after another had Seb traveling everywhere, leaving the two with little time together and much time apart.

His forgetting his original intention to enjoy the secular stage made Mia feel he was a stranger;

his being too busy with social engagements to watch Mia's performance further disheartened her.

This was something many couples had experienced, struggling to balance dreams, life, and each other.

Many moviegoers in the theater had come as couples; seeing this, they couldn't help but think of themselves.

Some felt bitter, others sighed; after sweetness came lamentation.

Finally, countless problems accumulated together, leading to an explosion.

"It's time to face reality. My performances are quite stable now; I don't know what you're complaining about~?"

"I'm saying, you once had a dream!"

"This is my dream!"

"This clearly isn't!"

"Why should we care about other people's eyes?"

"You're an actor, so you have the right to lecture me? Or maybe… you just like seeing me down on my luck—it gives you a sense of superiority…"