Chapter 168: Do you think I don

Giving a thumbs-up is Luo Jie Ebert's signature recommendation style; one to five thumbs-up signs actually mean one to five stars.

It can be considered a tradition that has continued for decades.

Luo Jie Ebert's recommendation standards are very strict, and he has never accepted money from film companies.

Therefore, his fans trust his recommendations very much.

Three thumbs-up signs—this belongs to a medium-to-high recommendation index.

In the following recommendation text, Luo Jie Ebert discussed his reasons in detail.

"Brilliant performances, unsatisfactory plot. An art-house director from Hong Kong, delusional enough to try and apply a Hong Kong story to New York, but this only makes an old New Yorker like me feel uncomfortable."

"Including the rural towns in Las Vegas and Montana, what the director wants to say might be effective in Cannes, but his slow-paced language is destined to be incompatible with the American market."

"But this does not prevent it from becoming a touching work of art."

"Before this, I must grandly introduce the male lead in this work to everyone. Old fans of my blog might remember that last year, before my surgery, I wrote an article about Batman. The purpose was to recommend a young Chinese actor I like very much, and he is going to play the role of the Joker."

"His name is Chen Nuo."

"That's right, when you see the poster for *My Blueberry Nights*, don't think that the Chen Nuo on it is someone else; no, he is indeed the person you are thinking of! That Gotham monster who will meet us this July!"

"And he, following *The Mute*, has actually filmed another art-house movie, and it won Best Film at Cannes last year. I must say, this is an important reason that attracted me to drag my exhausted body into the cinema late at night."

"I was not too disappointed."

"The director's carelessness and the script's incoherence did not completely destroy this film; he accounts for at least one-third of the reason why."

"Even if that Hong Kong director and the Iranian cinematographer played with their lenses as if they were crazy, refusing to tell a logically sound American story, it doesn't matter; you can still find what you need in the film."

"And that is the bits and pieces about love."

"Regardless of whether you are a man or a woman, thirty or fifty years old, regardless of what profession you are in, single or have a partner, as long as you have regrets about the past in your heart, you should walk into the cinema and try to let Emma Stone and Chen Nuo tell you the truth about lost love."

"What's wrong with blueberry pie? There is nothing wrong with blueberry pie; it's just that no one chooses it."

"But in the end, the blueberry pie that no one wants will eventually meet someone who knows its value."

"I give *My Blueberry Nights* three thumbs-up signs."

"One for the youngest Cannes Best Actress in the history of our United States of America. She delivered a brilliant performance that exceeded her age; she is absolutely worthy of the Cannes trophy. I simply cannot believe that Hollywood has missed this pearl from Arizona for four whole years, and in the end, it was a director from Asia who picked it up. Emma Stone, she reminds me of a young Meryl Streep; her future will certainly not stop here."

"One thumbs-up for Chen Nuo. This young man has once again displayed his extraordinary talent in an art film. His sharp yet perfectly measured performance subtly grasped the character's inner heart. One bit more would fall into cliché, and one bit less would leave people indifferent. He grasped the difference between being sensational and being moving."

"He used an attitude of extreme caution to avoid making your eyes red, but instead, it is this restraint of his that makes it impossible for you to be on guard against his performance. You will listen to every word he says with your heart, and you will understand every look in his eyes earnestly. In the end, when you come to your senses, you are already immersed in his black eyes, moved to the point of being unable to extricate yourself."

"The last thumbs-up is for myself. I might be the first film critic in the entire US to discover Chen Nuo (attached are the links to the previous two articles https: //... ). Now I can't wait for July to arrive. I want to see his performance in a commercial blockbuster. I have never paid so much attention to a foreign actor; I really look forward to seeing his future. May God grant me more time."

"Amen."

When Luo Jie Ebert posted this review and went to sleep, Emma Stone and her agent were still discussing today's premiere and the box office prospects of *My Blueberry Nights*.

Emma Stone and her agent attended the premiere today and will go to more cities with Wong Kar-wai tomorrow for roadshow promotions.

This was Emma Stone's first time participating in such an activity, so the two chatted until late at night without any sleepiness.

"... This is not easy. Right now, *Spider-Man 3* hasn't left theaters yet, *Pirates of the Caribbean 3* just premiered a week ago, and a week later, *Ocean's Thirteen* will be released. *My Blueberry Nights* doesn't have many screens to begin with; this way, it will inevitably squeeze its screening screens and screening time even more."

A year later, Emma Stone's agent is still that casting director, Sarah. This forty-something red-haired lady shrugged her shoulders and continued: "Although we all hope its performance is good, Emma, it is, after all, just an art-house film. And it's sandwiched between two commercial blockbusters; maybe they just need to blow a breath, and we will be smashed to pieces."

Emma Stone sat at the hotel desk, refreshing the IMDb rating on her laptop. It was estimated that there weren't enough votes, so it hadn't refreshed yet.

A "ding-dong" sound suddenly came from the speakers; it was the notification sound for a blog she followed. Emma Stone clicked to take a look.

Just seeing the title, she couldn't help but shout: "Sarah, come quickly! My God, Sarah, come over and look at this. Luo Jie Ebert actually went to watch our *My Blueberry Nights*, my God!"

Upon hearing this, Sarah immediately bounced off the bed and crowded in front of the computer screen.

The two women put their heads together, and Emma Stone controlled the mouse, slowly finishing the rather long article by Luo Jie Ebert.

Sarah grabbed Emma Stone's shoulders all of a sudden, her tone excited as she said: "Did you see how Luo Jie Ebert evaluated you? He said you are the next Meryl Streep! My God! Emma, my baby, when he said this sentence, in the eyes of those Hollywood film companies, it's equivalent to you winning the Cannes Best Actress award again!"

Emma Stone couldn't help but beam with joy. She herself is American and can be said to have grown up reading Luo Jie Ebert's film reviews; how could she not know his influence in Hollywood?

When Luo Jie Ebert underwent surgery last August, the six major Hollywood film companies held a special prayer meeting for him, and the number of superstars who attended was countless. It caused a huge stir across the United States; it can be said that during those few days, Luo Jie Ebert's condition tugged at the hearts of tens of millions of movie fans across the entire US.

Tonight, when Luo Jie Ebert mentioned her name on his blog, if Cannes gave her wings, then this was another huge gust of wind.

She will ride the wind straight into the blue clouds.

Sarah moved the mouse and muttered: "Luo Jie Ebert really favors that Chinese kid. Last year, one of his articles gave Warner confidence and secured his role as the Joker, and today he's building momentum for him again. Is that kid really that good? How come I didn't see it?"

Emma Stone rolled her eyes at her and said: "I've told you ten thousand times, Sarah, Chen's excellence is beyond your imagination. I dare say, those people on the internet who look down on him now will all feel ashamed of their words in the end."

Sarah laughed and said: "Because of a Chinese Joker? Just like Luo Jie Ebert said in this article, he is also looking forward to July. Why? Because even Luo Jie Ebert can't withstand the pressure from those Batman comic fans anymore. Seriously, everyone out there is waiting to see him fail. However, that definitely does not include me."

"Emma, Emma, I really hope he can succeed. Because obviously, there are still many stories to tell between you and him. That kiss of yours at Cannes back then allowed us to get the Estée Lauder endorsement, earning us a million dollars. Baby, I wish that kid would turn into Brad Pitt tomorrow; that way, you would also rise with the tide."

Emma Stone hummed: "You are always so realistic, Sarah; I didn't think that much back then."

Sarah smiled and said: "OK, OK, no matter what, Luo Jie Ebert's three thumbs-up signs can be considered as giving Wong, giving us, and giving those theater managers more confidence. This can be considered a good start for *My Blueberry Nights*. Be happy. Alright, let's sleep. The IMDb score probably won't come out tonight."

Emma Stone shrugged and said: "Alright. By the way, Sarah, you said Luo Jie Ebert thinks so highly of Chen; will he have a good future in Hollywood?"

Sarah smiled: "Emma, I can only tell you this: your future will be brighter than his, and much brighter at that. This is something even Luo Jie Ebert cannot change."

Emma Stone felt complicated and indescribable in her heart; she didn't sleep well that night and woke up a little past 7:30 the next morning.

Sarah was still fast asleep. She got up on tiptoe, turned on the computer, and the IMDb rating was out.

The number of people who participated in the rating was 1,011, and the main page rating was 7.1.

It's not high, but it's not low either. It can be considered standard.

And the number of Top 250 users was 582, with a score of 7.6.

Obviously, veteran movie fans prefer this difficult and obscure art-house film.

Emma Stone hurriedly opened another website, Rotten Tomatoes.

Alright, there were only 13 reviews in total. 7 fresh, 6 rotten. It can be considered half-good, half-bad.

The audience average rating was 3.7, which, like IMDb, belongs to the medium-to-high category.

Emma Stone clicked on the audience comments. Seeing that after a night of brewing, quite a few users had already left comments.

Among them, there was a comment posted at 6 o'clock this morning, but it had already been liked more than 500 times and was at the very top of the comment section.

Emma Stone stared at it for a while and suddenly couldn't help but laugh.

Yeah, perhaps just as Sarah said, Luo Jie Ebert also couldn't change Chen's skin color and let him integrate into Hollywood.

This is because although Luo Jie Ebert can be called great, he is not God.

But in the movie world, there are other things that can be called God, aren't there?

Now God has spoken.

He said: "Fuck, I bet all my husband's porn tapes. The male lead of this movie, this yellow-skinned Chinese kid, must have appeared in the dreams of every woman who finished watching this movie last night."

Chen Nuo didn't know that he had been touted as a one-time dream lover by some sexually repressed American housewives whose husbands weren't very capable and who used exaggerated wording.

In fact, he didn't really care about the box office performance of *My Blueberry Nights* on the other side of the ocean. After all, no matter how well this movie sold, he wouldn't get a single cent of the share. Even if the French appreciated him, they would never give him an extra cent.

Want a red envelope reward with Chinese characteristics?

Keep dreaming; dreams have everything.

Chen Nuo only cared about one thing now: could this female artist with the surname Liu he just signed be more professional? More diligent?

"Oh my, I'm exhausted."

Liu Yifei sat down on the lounge chair in the courtyard with a thud.

Today is June 2nd, a sunny and bright day.

Liu Yifei had just finished performing and looked quite happy. She said to Zhang Songwen happily: "Zhang Laoshi, was my acting just now okay?"

To be honest, when filming *The Return of the Condor Heroes*, Chen Nuo quite admired the optimistic spirit in Liu Yifei.

He still remembers her saying: "I think your acting level is about the same as mine."

All along, this sentence has been motivating him, encouraging him, and stimulating him.

Whenever he feels that his acting is pretty good, this sentence will jump out of his memory, just like a whip, lashing him.

Over the past week, Zhang Songwen also seemed to have adapted to the speaking style of this star student whose reputation was nearly ruined.

He touched his hair with a noticeably receding hairline happily and nodded: "It's indeed quite good, but. Yifei, I think..."

Before Zhang Songwen could finish, Liu Yifei pointed to a large-leaf plant not far away in the courtyard in surprise and shouted: "Oh my, Zhang Laoshi, you actually have such a large variegated monstera in your courtyard?"

Zhang Songwen's attention was immediately diverted, and he smiled: "Yes, it looks very beautiful, right? Let me tell you, I transplanted this from Guangdong. At that time, this monstera was almost dead..."

Chen Nuo coughed.

Zhang Songwen immediately closed his mouth and said: "Yifei, it's like this, when you were in school before, did your acting teachers, such as Teacher Huang Lei and Teacher Li Er, not let you simulate animals and do liberation of nature training?"

Liu Yifei glanced at Chen Nuo, curled her lips, and said: "Yes, but I haven't played a duck."

"Then what have you played?"

"Rabbits, foxes, um, and cats and things like that."

Chen Nuo said coldly: "They're all quite cute, huh."

Liu Yifei frowned, hummed, turned her head away, and ignored him.

Zhang Songwen hurriedly smoothed things over: "Chen Nuo, you don't know, this liberation of nature course, we usually take it in our freshman year. At that time, the teachers might have seen that Yifei was young, so they arranged some simple ones, which is very normal."

Chen Nuo couldn't help but say: "Then what's the difference between playing rabbits and cats and not having learned it at all?"

Zhang Songwen smiled: "Actually, there is a difference, but it's not big. But it doesn't matter, there is still nearly a month before filming starts. Yifei, keep it up, there's no problem."

"It would be strange if there were no problems, Teacher Songwen, don't give her face. Just the way she was just now, squatting on the ground and quacking twice, is that called acting?"

Chen Nuo said with a pained heart: "Where is this simulating an animal? This is simply playing a kindergarten game."

Liu Yifei said disdainfully: "Then if you have the ability, why don't you try?"

Well, the quasi-Cannes Best Actor who delivered a performance in *My Blueberry Nights* that even Luo Jie Ebert gave a thumbs-up to, was actually acting like a duck in a small courtyard in the suburbs of Shunyi.

After acting like a duck, he still felt a bit unfulfilled and asked Zhang Songwen to continue giving him topics.

Zhang Songwen was simply excited at this moment. If he weren't really a bit poor and didn't have recording equipment at home, he would have definitely taken it out and set it up by now.

Not to mention anything else, who the hell has ever seen an actor of Best Actor level re-doing basic training?

Zhang Songwen doesn't know if the students of the 05 class have seen it, but at least he hasn't.

This is like the top of Mount Hua in *The Smiling, Proud Wanderer*, where Feng Qingyang makes a move and practices basic sword techniques in front of his disciples and grand-disciples.

Usually, without comparison, you don't feel it.

But now, obviously, they are all ordinary moves, but in his hands, they are sword techniques, every move exquisite, turning decay into magic.

In his own hands, they are called fire pokers.

Only fit for poking the stove.

Chen Nuo asked him to give him topics, and Zhang Songwen was overjoyed.

He didn't decline and directly gave several situational topics, such as waiting for a bus at a bus stop, suddenly it starts raining, after being soaked all over, the bus suddenly arrives.

Or for example, eating at a street stall outside, and suddenly finding a hair in the delicious food.

Or for example, after a failed audition, the mother back home suddenly makes a phone call.

This last scene left a particularly deep impression on Zhang Songwen.

Chen Nuo sat on the side shedding bean-sized tears while speaking in a normal voice, especially the micro-expressions he revealed on his face that he couldn't help but endure, and the details of covering the microphone and taking a deep breath, really made Zhang Laoshi marvel.

After acting, Zhang Laoshi couldn't help but applaud: "Too good, really too good. Dean Zhang was really right before. Chen Nuo, you really don't need to go to class anymore."

What is the implication of this sentence?

Who is the fake one who doesn't need to go to class?

Chen Nuo glanced at Liu Yifei next to him and sighed deeply.

Zhang Laoshi also took the opportunity to say: "Yifei, did you see Chen Nuo's acting just now? Actually, when we act, sometimes we need to be fully invested, to forget your original identity, appearance, personality, and even everything original, let go of the burden, and thoroughly liberate yourself. Only then can you truly act out the things deep inside a person's heart."

Chen Nuo didn't know if Liu Yifei's thoughtful look meant she understood or not.

However, at least when she acted like a duck next, she really squatted on the ground and walked with duck steps.

It can be considered to have some effect.

At the same time, in the United States, *My Blueberry Nights* had been released for three days.

In 1,719 art-house cinemas across the US, it achieved a box office result of 7.8 million US dollars.

Moreover, the overall box office trend did not decline too severely.

The freshness on Rotten Tomatoes even increased, rising from the original 53% to nearly 60%.

Four days later, a week later, the box office of *My Blueberry Nights* actually reached 12.01 million US dollars.

However, the release of *Ocean's Thirteen* directly cut off the possibility of *My Blueberry Nights* continuing to create miracles.

A few days short of a month after release, *My Blueberry Nights* was pulled from theaters in the US, with a box office result of 16.9 million US dollars.

Added to the 11.83 million euros in France, as well as the box office results in Hong Kong and the mainland, the overall box office of *Blueberry* actually sold 300 million RMB, which is more than 35 million US dollars.

This is double the global box office of *My Blueberry Nights* in Chen Nuo's previous life.

No wonder Wong Kar-wai and the people at Studiocanal were overjoyed, because without a doubt, this investment made a huge profit.

The production side held a celebration banquet directly in New York.

At the celebration banquet, Wong Kar-wai specially turned on the speakerphone and called Chen Nuo, when he joined in this joyful atmosphere.

Chen Nuo also performed quite joyfully on the phone, but as soon as the phone hung up, his face instantly darkened.

"Damn it, filming a movie in Hengdian, why is it so difficult?"

That's right, he is in Hengdian now, the movie *The Message* is about to start filming, but it has been raining for a week straight.

There is one day left until the scheduled auspicious day.

How can this make him happy?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 169 =====