The entire Hollywood media quarrels for a long time every year after the Oscar Awards ceremony. People always like complaining about failed movies, finding Oscar's mistakes and blaming them for what they shouldn't.
Last year, the discussion about Saving Private Ryan occupied almost all media pages, but this year, after the Oscars passed, the most noticeable thing was not American Beauty which won the best movie, but The Truman Show, which returned home after a big defeat.
In fact, it is not entirely accurate to say that it is a big defeat. Although the chances of being nominated for one of the five categories are small, they still won an Oscar no matter what. Moreover, they won not ordinary technical awards but the most critical Oscar nomination for Best Director.
If it was another film, or another director, who won this award at the age of less than 30, he would undoubtedly be called a genius by the media, thinking that he took advantage of it and has been touting it for a long time, even if it doesn't matter if they don't win an award for other aspects of the movie.
However, the person who won this award this time is Levi, who has been nominated for three consecutive Oscars, which is very different. No one thinks Levi's winning this award is something to take advantage of. No one thinks that only one best director is deserved for Levi.
At least, Levi himself doesn't think so. His tone was not very good when he came to the stage to accept the award.
"Winning an Oscar is obviously a compliment and praise for me. I am very happy because this award is really not easy. I hope that this is not the only peak in my life. I believe that I can do better next year."
Although he won the Oscar, it doesn't look like Levi is particularly happy: although he said he was very happy. But no matter how you look at the tone, it is relatively gentle, and there is no agitation at all.
Moreover, there is obviously some irony in his words - the so-called Oscar is really not easy, and he can do better next year; obviously, he is dissatisfied with the Oscar only giving him one award - such remarks are a bit close to irony.
If it weren't for Levi, who was still talking about continuing to compete for the Oscars next year but only complaining about the lack of awards, people would have thought that he would learn from Woody Allen and would not care about the Oscars at all.
Such remarks caused an uproar in the media. But after the uproar, they also felt normal: no wonder he was unhappy, his film only won one award for best director, which, like last year's Saving Private Ryan, was a consolation prize. How could Levi be happy?
Everyone knows that winning the best director simultaneously with the best film is called full of honor. He only got one of them. To put it mildly, it is called winning and losing with other movies, and to put it bluntly, it is the result of sharing the cake.
Ordinary directors are naturally ecstatic when they get it, but a director like Levi is not particularly excited even if they get it.
His achievements are already recognized by Hollywood. He doesn't need an Oscar to increase his fame; what he needs is to make Oscar admire him. It must be a completely overwhelming victory over all other opponents, and then it is considered a good movie.
This is the ambition of a top director.
"Director Levi is obviously dissatisfied that his film is useless except for his own director award. For a big director like him, a film must win enough awards before it can be regarded as Perfect. His speech is more like a manifesto, declaring that he wants more..."
The media has also seen Levi's ambition. When it comes to his ambition, one has to talk about the movie he is shooting now: Levi vowed that his film will be better than last year's - making this movie surpass The Truman Show is his promise in front of the Oscar audience of 200 million. And his movie this year is naturally the gangster movie he is shooting now.
This movie has attracted the attention of many people since the day it was filmed. With four stars and a big-name director, such a gorgeous lineup is obviously aimed at making a blockbuster movie. And now, on the Oscar stage, in front of everyone, Levi expressed his thoughts: his film needs more than just good reviews.
And is it really that easy to do better? No one can guarantee this. Although The Truman Show has been robbed of many honors, it must be admitted that it is a good movie. This film has no awards, primarily due to the impact of the Academy's suppression of Levi and dissatisfaction with Jim Carrey. To be honest, it is not worse than American Beauty. It is obviously not easy to surpass this film.
However, the person who spoke was Levi, a director nominated for an Oscar every year for three consecutive years. Who would dare not believe what he said? In particular, Levi's three consecutive films are different themes, and people have to admit that he is a director who is good at self-breakthrough.
How confident is he in the new movie? This is also of interest to the media. What Levi himself said in his Oscar acceptance speech cannot be changed. If the film is really not good, then he will be ashamed.
"Director Levi's acceptance speech is more like a declaration. It's just that people have to remind him that he does not need to give himself a gauntlet."
However, although people know that Levi is full of confidence, they also know Levi's big words, but the media is not particularly optimistic about Levi's declaration.
If it is said that Levi made a literary film, and the film surpassed The Truman Show, people would not think there was any difficulty - after all, in the eyes of many people, Emily is a better movie than The Truman Show; it's just because it's a female protagonist, the sweet and cloying atmosphere makes it more difficult for male audiences to accept it. If Levi shoots a literary film from a male perspective, it will be better than The Truman Show. It won't be much difficult.
The movie Levi is shooting now is a gangster film; when evaluating whether it is successful or not, there is also a box office that needs to be considered in addition to its word of mouth.
These factors are Levi's Disadvantages. For a gangster movie to be successful, the most important thing is to have a double harvest.
It won't be easy, and Steven Soderbergh can be said to be the biggest threat in next year's movie.
Last year's Erin Brockovich, filmed by him, has yet to be released. After the internal screening, it has been considered by some media to be an Oscar-best film nominee. However, he has not been discouraged.
He is still considering taking it to the next level, shooting a new film, Traffic; his challenge cannot be ignored.
Soderbergh's talent is also very high, which is recognized by everyone, especially since Soderbergh's movie is a gangster movie similar to Levi's, which has become the most interesting.
It is most troublesome to compete with films of the same type.
The two films will likely decline because of each other's genre and detailed shooting content, and the reputation of both parties will decline together - but if that is the case, Soderbergh doesn't care.
Levi may not have had other movies at that time, maybe he will be wiped out by Soderbergh's gangster movie, and all the reputation of his movie will be wiped out.
And there is still a lot, even if one doesn't talk about this possibility, just talking about other competitors. Next year, there will be Ridley Scott's Gladiator. That movie, also a double-hope movie like Levi's, is arguably Levi's biggest rival.
Compared with gangster movies, the theme of gladiators set in ancient Rome seems to be more attractive to people. The arena, the bloody fighting, and the life of the Romans are all things that can mobilize the audience's emotions.
Although judging from the information disclosed in this movie, this positive movie seems a bit too traditional, Ridley Scott has always been known for his beautiful shots, and his shots can make up for many problems, plus the star of his movie is still the new best actor Russell Crowe, and his acting skills are absolutely excellent. Competing with such a movie for word of mouth and box office is not easy.
Moreover, there will be Tom Hanks' works next year - the official Tom Hanks' golden age in the past few years, and almost every movie is a big hit for the Oscars. He has always played very well, from Saving Private Ryan to The Green Mile.
This time, Cast Away is another masterpiece he has prepared for a long time, and its reputation must not be bad. In particular, people claim that he is almost a one-man show performed by himself in this movie, which makes people look forward to the film even more. Moreover, as the top actor, Hanks has enough box office appeal. His film has enough people to like it. This movie will also be Levi's enemy.
If Levi said he could make a movie as good as these guys' movies, people wouldn't doubt it. However, Levi's declaration represents his ambition to shoot a film that is better than these movies and to shoot a classic that is enough to sweep these movies, which is a bit difficult.
In this regard, Levi also knew that.
When he returned, he called the crew for a meeting.
"I was at the Oscars, announcing that I could make this movie better than my previous work. I believe that I can do better than before. And if I can do it, and this movie wants to surpass the past and the rest of the competition, the question for you is — tell me, are you all equally confident that you can outdo yourself?"
*****
Thanks and kudos for my patreons
Cherif Doghri
Scott DePaepe
MMMCMXCIX, or 3,999
Britanna
Mandy G
Adam LV
The Main Man
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