Chapter 282: Representative Work Of Industrialized Films In The Internal Entertainment Circle
The audience member Shi Shi walked unhurriedly to the front desk, and soon after, under everyone’s attention, a fierce argument and barrage of cursing broke out.
“Why are you feeding us shit?!”
“We ate it and can’t spit it out, right.”
“Do you have a conscience? Making this kind of movie to scam the audience!”
“What do you mean no refunds after watching? I want a refund today. If not, I’ll report you!”
“……”
The people around were dumbfounded.
Many movie fans who had just bought tickets for 749 Bureau and were queuing for ticket inspection saw this scene and inexplicably felt a chill in their hearts—not buddy, is it really that exaggerated?
A tall and sturdy athletic student stepped forward and asked with a frown: “Brother, which movie did you watch?”
The audience member, already seated on the ground and thoroughly disgusted, looked up: “What else could it be, 749 Bureau? Is this movie for humans to watch? Isn’t this purely scamming the audience?”
“……I’m done for, I bought 749 Bureau.”
A guy who was leading his girlfriend, planning to get some action for the New Year, heard this and instantly turned pale as death.
The audience member looked up at him and commented: “Then you’ve got it for life.”
The guy: “……”
“Not buddy, is it really that bad? Your reaction has me curious now, worse than Magic City Fortress?”
The audience member paused, then said in a daze: “This is a purely bad movie, characters bad, plot bad, filming bad, shots bad… If you ask me specifically where it’s bad, I’m actually a bit embarrassed to describe it……”
“Let me put it this way, you mentioned Magic City Fortress? If Magic City Fortress starved Chinese Sci-Fi Film’s door to death, 749 Bureau built a wall on top of the starved door for Chinese Sci-Fi Film.”
Everyone: “?!”
“Can’t say more, feels not even worth a hair of Kunlun Mountains.”
“……”
The “shock” that 749 Bureau brought to everyone indeed far surpassed Director Lu’s previous Kunlun Mountains.
The previous Kunlun Mountains could still be praised for the front filming and back filming being completely two different people’s work, with decent special effects and acting skills… but 749 Bureau is rotten through and through.
Characters rotten, acting skills rotten, production rotten, even Director Lu’s face now looks rotten to everyone.
Please go collaborate with Ji Zhua Zhang to shoot short dramas, don’t come ruin the film industry anymore, you’re really not suited for this line of work.
Tap tap tap.
At that moment, audiences from another cinema hall streamed out; that was Influenza’s premiere screening, with a large crowd as well, and each one, just like the 749 Bureau audiences, emerged completely silent.
“No way, did Chi Ye flip the car this time too?”
Someone said in surprise.
“Buddy, is Influenza good?”
The athletic student now felt like he was about to eat shit and eagerly went up to ask an Influenza audience member who had just come out.
“Good?”
The audience member was stunned, then reacted, silent for a moment, suddenly saying: “Shocking.”
“Huh?”
The athletic student was taken aback.
The audience member seemed finally dominated by his own emotions, snapping back and gesticulating wildly on-site to recommend it, various “unbearable to look at” adjectives popping up frequently.
“Holy shit! Insane! Filmed so fucking watchable, just like they said online, can’t believe this is a domestic film that could be made and released!”
“Truly awesome, this movie’s production level makes me believe once again that Chinese industrialized films have a future.”
“Chi Ye’s acting skills are really top-notch, that scene jumping off the car to escape and buy Sheng Ning time to run, it actually made me, a nearly forty-year-old man, cry.”
“Brother Ma is really badass, that physique, holy shit, going toe-to-toe with zombies, the martial force mainstay.”
“Worthy of a big production that sold copyright to 156 countries, top pick for this Spring Festival slot, must-watch.”
“……”
In the 749 Bureau queue, they watched the Influenza cinema hall audiences coming out with sincere praise and excited discussions… then looked at the glaring 749 Bureau ticket stubs in their hands, exchanging glances.
“I… can I exchange tickets?”
“I want a refund… no, I also want to exchange, swap 749 Bureau for Influenza, okay?”
Someone reacted and rushed to the front desk first, wanting to avoid this shit-eating trip before their ticket was checked.
The front desk staff looked troubled: “This… this…”
“What? Even without ticket check it’s not allowed? We’re not refunding, we’re exchanging tickets, I see these two movies have similar single ticket prices.”
“It’s not… not that we can’t exchange, it’s…” The staff said awkwardly: “Influenza’s first five screenings are completely sold out, if you want to watch, you can only wait until daytime today for pre-sales of tomorrow and day after tomorrow’s tickets…”
“……”
Everyone’s hearts sank: “Sold out?”
Doesn’t that mean we’re forced to eat shit?!
Is the cinema bullying people like this?
“That fast? I see other movies still have screenings at four or five in the morning.”
“Really sold out, Influenza’s online pre-sale tickets are extremely hot now, everyone can scan the code to follow our official account, we will…”
The staff took the chance to promote.
……
The above scene was still happening in different locations and different cinemas.
Flying Speed premiere ceremony.
Han Han learned about the situation outside the cinema from his assistant and was surprised: “749 Bureau has bad reputation? That fast?!”
“Yeah, lots of audiences demanding ticket exchanges and refunds… it’s a big commotion.”
“Compared to Magic City Fortress, it’s no slouch.”
Flying Speed’s one of the male leads, Yuan Hua, clicked his tongue.
“How’s our feedback?”
Han Han then cared about his own work’s feedback—premiere ceremonies are all fans and insiders, can’t really see the real feedback.
As a writer by origin, compared to other traditional directors, he doesn’t care much about outsiders and is more concerned about his work’s presentation effect.
“Pretty good, lots of audiences discussing our plot.”
“What about others?”
“Um…Iron Fist’s live performance effect is good, high discussion too, looks like Mahua succeeded again, and… Influenza side seems to have exaggerated reactions.”
“Exaggerated?”
Han Han was stunned: “What do you mean?”
“……Very good.”
“Very good…”
Han Han and the other Flying Speed main creators around saw the assistant’s description and expression, all falling into thought.
“Came late, came late.”
A familiar voice suddenly sounded from the door, followed by Flying Speed’s one of the male leads, Shen Bin, hurrying in, shaking his head: “Just got recognized and blocked… sorry, Director Han.”
“Finished with things over there?”
Han Han smiled upon seeing him.
Right, Shen Bin as one of China’s few super big stars with built-in box office, is the male lead in two big productions in this year’s Spring Festival slot.
One is Mahua’s invested Iron Fist, the other is Director Han Han’s Flying Speed.
Truly face-brushing to numbness, hard not to be popular.
But…
This year’s Spring Festival slot, he seems to have met an “opponent”.
“Just passed by Influenza’s cinema hall, the sound inside was huge, checked online earlier, Influenza’s reputation seems no different from Cannes, wasn’t it cut?”
Shen Bin rattled on.
Everyone paused, Han Han smiled bitterly: “Seems… indeed so.”
……
Indeed so.
Although the version of Influenza screening in the mainland has a changed ending, other content has no major changes, and even that ending, because of the Cannes version leak, plus various “complete versions” in Taiwan and Hong Kong regions, everyone actually knows full well.
And for internal entertainment circle, Influenza’s theme and film truly brought unprecedented freshness, this freshness paired with excellently produced special effects and plot pictures, any point enough to explode the long drought meeting sweet rain internal entertainment circle movie fans.
So, after the first day of Lunar New Year midnight premiere ended, overnight to daytime, various topic news about Influenza had already blown up hot search.
【Influenza—a unprecedented doomsday big production in internal entertainment circle film history.】
【The value of 156 countries copyright still rising, quoting audience words, hard to imagine seeing this scale of film domestically.】
【Whether special effects, acting skills, plot, fight scenes, production, even intent, Influenza is the best of this Spring Festival slot.】
【Influenza box office opening day breaks 400 million.】
【“Chi Ye”, a rising new force in the film industry.】
【Counting the good and bad of several films after this Spring Festival slot premieres.】
【……】
About Influenza, disappointing many is that even screening in mainland, it still has no “culture shock”, nor did simple cuts cause reputation to plummet.
Of course, Spring Festival slot opening day, while Influenza’s reputation continues Cannes, hot reviews about other several big hot movies have also freshly emerged.
Professional film critics and self-media have stayed up all night binging this year’s Spring Festival slot several big hot movies, making videos.
“Yi Mou Tong Ren” is a film review big V with millions of fans on Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Weibo accounts, total over 100 million fans across the net.
This day, with dark circles under his eyes, at noon on the first day of Lunar New Year, he released his latest film review.
“Hello everyone, happy New Year, first, new year wishes you family warmth and light, all smooth as stars falling on your clothes, happy New Year, prosperous Spring Festival, better year after year than today!”
“Alright, less chit-chat, this Spring Festival slot is battle smoke everywhere, hundreds contending… so UP main I at midnight last night first time dove into the cinema, came out at 10am, almost watched all the movies everyone cares about this Spring Festival slot… including Boonie Bears!”
“How about it, I think everyone should report a ‘work injury’ for me… because some movies inside were too eye-searing… life is hard, coin more please everyone.”
After a simple opening, he went straight to sharp evaluations of several Spring Festival slot movies.
First Flying Speed and Iron Fist—because whole net knows he’s Shen Bin’s fan.
These two movies, Flying Speed is the second, overall quality stronger than first, plot very watchable, counts as not disappointing, even exceeding expectations production, viewing experience three stars, full score five stars.
The other Iron Fist more leans toward forced laugh points.
But Shen Bin and Ma Li truly self-buff, a comedy film within passing line, and as Spring Festival slot movie, watching with family a comedy that makes you laugh heartily, viewing experience excellent, base two stars, plus family entertainment Spring Festival slot attribute, plus one, three stars.
After that, he got to what almost everyone cared about—Detective Chinatown 3.
Detective Chinatown is one of internal entertainment circle film’s biggest IPs in nearly ten years, with first two works as base, Detective Chinatown 3 from prepare stage already highly anticipated, to release day, momentum no less than Influenza’s bend overtaking.
Even, because of its light comedy and detective elements thick with holiday cheer + this season’s various Japan big stars invited, box office still ranks first so far.
But…
“Bad, awkward, sketch movie.”
Yi Mou Tong Ren unceremoniously critiqued: “I know saying this might get lots of Detective Chinatown fans cursing me… but really unwatchable, from start to end, several times I wanted to go home sleep…”
“Can only say audiences who don’t believe it can buy tickets themselves to try, wish them luck…”
“Recommendation index one star… originally wanted negative one… but because heavier guest coming later, plus Detective Chinatown’s previous filter… so, one star.”
He said, finally to the several loops he watched at midnight of Magic City Fortress’s “big production”: “749 Bureau—shit.”
“As for why shit, don’t want to explain much, because don’t want to recall midnight ordeal… hard to imagine this is a movie carbon-based life form could make… and Peng Chen, I remember Peng Chen’s acting before not great but watchable… but in this movie, I only saw a little fresh meat desperately struggling.”
“Really, Director Lu I advise you better not make movies, go exorcise ghosts, your movie shown to ghosts would scare them away.”
“Recommendation index negative one star, also worst movie in recent years Spring Festival slot, no others.”
After saying, he paused a long time, checked the recording material, finally set eyes on the movie that shocked him most at midnight.
In fact, Yi Mou Tong Ren wasn’t Chi Ye’s fan before, on contrary, he’s known for sharp tongue reviews, clashed personae with Chi Ye, um… mainly he quite dislikes whitewashing villains, plus Girl in his eyes just a light fresh youth film, box office a bit undeserved.
But… Influenza different.
“First summary, Influenza, most badass movie this Spring Festival slot, specifically badass where? Probably literary scenes martial scenes intent special effects shots… have to say Chi Ye now more and more familiar with film market, his previous two led movies though good reputation but I personally not too like.”
“But this Influenza really surprised me, also after watching understand why GD reviewed Influenza, because content scale truly unprecedented big…”
“In internal entertainment circle, this theme and scale able to release, can only say Chi Ye’s Cannes move was right, normal release this film at least cut half, else couldn’t pass review.”
