Chapter 354: A Highly Acclaimed Movie Cannot Beat a Bad Movie?

The movie ends.

The lights come on.

Everyone in the theater seemed to have experienced a journey of life, recalling it for a long time and unable to extricate themselves.

Good movies are like this, they can bring cleansing to the soul.

Lin Xiaohui kept wiping her tears, but she couldn't wipe them away.

Mother Lin was the same, her tears couldn't stop flowing. She was a little educated, but not a lot. But at this moment, as a family member of a terminal cancer patient, no one could empathize with her better than her.

Seeing this, Zhang Qiang pretended to be calm and smoothed things over: "Lu Ping'an's movie is really touching. Most people really can't handle it. I almost cried. No wonder he can succeed in Hollywood. I heard that this movie has been adapted by Hollywood. It’s amazing.”

Father Lin didn't say anything, he just took out a tissue and handed it to Lin Xiaohui, and then said in his signature tone: "The movie is over, let's go."

Lin Xiaohui wiped away her tears, nodded and stood up: "Oh, let's go back, I'm hungry."

"Go back and cook squirrel mandarin fish for you."

Father Lin showed his kind side.

It was okay not to say this, but as soon as she said it, Lin Xiaohui burst into tears again.

This was her favorite food when she was a child, but after she entered junior high school and started boarding, her relationship with her father had been in a small conflict for a long time. She was tired of her father's machismo and always wanted to get away from him, so from then on, she I have rarely eaten this dish.

I just didn't expect that my father would always remember it.

Father Lin seemed not to notice. After talking to Lin Xiaohui, he asked Zhang Qiang: "Boy, where is the nearby market? Can I buy mandarin fish?"

"Yes! Of course I can!"

Zhang Qiang quickly greeted Lin's father to go ahead and started talking about other dishes to change the topic. He was still worried that Lin Xiaohui's mother and daughter's strange behavior would arouse Lin's father's suspicion.

Fortunately, with a son-in-law like him here, mother and daughter have time to adjust their moods.

After leaving the theater, the two of them looked no different from usual.

More than two hours later, the family finally returned to the home of Lin Xiaohui and his wife.

Father Lin was a little tired at the moment and his stomach ached, but he was still in good spirits.

After entering the door, he started cooking.

Zhang Qiang struck down, and then was shouted around by Lin's father.

Lin Xiaohui couldn't stand it and defended her husband for a few words. Father Lin smiled and nodded, and restrained himself a little.

But when he was making squirrel mandarin fish, he called Zhang Qiang into the kitchen again.

"Boy, watch out. I'll teach you how to make this dish."

"Okay dad."

Zhang Qiang nodded, but still stood.

Father Lin raised his eyebrows: "Go get pen and paper!"

"No, I have a good memory."

"Go get it! A good memory is worse than a bad pen!"

"oh oh."

Zhang Qiang had no choice but to comply.

In fact, he was quite annoyed with his father-in-law because he had such a strong temper. No wonder Xiaohui was afraid of him and even disliked him.

But for the sake of his condition and Xiaohui, I endured it!

So he simply took out his handheld video recorder and went to the kitchen.

Father Lin asked several times and was very satisfied after knowing that this was more reliable than the "pen tip".

Then I started to carefully make the squirrel mandarin fish, talking a lot about each step, for fear of missing even a little detail.

Soon, a delicious squirrel mandarin fish was served on the table.

Everyone was having a great time, just like Li Jian's last moments in the movie, warmth filled the whole room.

After the meal was finished, Mother Lin was about to clean up when Father Lin waved his hand: "Sit down first and let me tell you something."

Mother Lin sat down obediently, and the young couple also sat upright.

Father Lin said at this time: "I want to travel, and visit the three places on both sides of the Taiwan Strait."

Everyone looked up, and before asking why, Father Lin said again: "If we don't go, we won't have time."

As soon as these words came out, the three of them were shocked.

Lin Xiaohui asked in a trembling voice: "Dad, do you know everything?"

Father Lin said with a smile: "I knew it when we were in the county. After coming to the capital, you, like your mother, can't hide things. Looking at your expressions, I guessed that the re-examination results would still be the same."

"dad"

Lin Xiaohui burst into tears instantly.

"Don't cry, don't cry. Hey, I've never seen a woman cry in my life, and I don't know how to have a good relationship with you. Now that it's time, don't cry."

In this case, how to stop the wife and daughter from venting about the separation of life and death.

The whole family couldn't stop crying anymore.

But soon, the topic began to turn on "whether it can be cured or not."

This is a difficult decision for all patients with terminal cancer.

For Lin's father, the current situation is actually not optimistic. He is suspected to have metastasized. Treatment may be successful and extend the survival period, but the probability is not high, so there is a high possibility that he will die during painful treatment in the future.

Cancer treatment is so painful, in fact it is something scarier than simply death.

So give it a try or die with dignity?

The family opened up and decided to check it out in depth tomorrow.

If it really spreads, then make good use of this time to write a bucket list, complete your unfulfilled wishes, and then die with dignity.

This night, the whole family didn't sleep well.

Early the next morning, everyone came to the hospital. After a day of examination, the results were pessimistic.

But Father Lin breathed a sigh of relief: "When we were fighting in the south, I saw my comrades having their parts blown off, and I was so painful that I couldn't die even if I wanted to. At that time, I swore that even if I died, I would die cleanly." , Later, your grandfather died of cancer. I still regret not helping him get out easily, regretting that it caused him too much pain, and regretting that I didn't let him finish the last thing he wanted to do, so now, this is not a bad thing. "

After saying that, Father Lin looked at his daughter: "I also want to die a good death, so don't try to persuade me, my daughter."

The only thing that responded to him was Lin Xiaohui crying.

The next day, the family packed their bags.

Zhang Qiang used the company's resources to book a VIP route yesterday. The family started directly from the capital to complete Lin's father's bucket list.

In the next few days, various movie reviews of "The Bucket List" began to appear.

"It talks about death, but actually it talks about how to live."

"The most vicious curse among Chinese people is probably 'not to have a good death', which is chilling. Therefore, as a member of the Chinese nation, most of the goals in life are to seek a good death. The whole world is discussing the purpose of life. What is it? From time to time, no one can compare with "Wanting for a Good Death". It is simple and clear, but impressive. It is worthy of careful understanding like Yi Li. "Winning a Good Death" is not. It does not mean that you will die without getting sick, that you will not be involved in car accidents, that you will not be affected by disasters, that you will not die in battle, or that you will not be martyred. It means that you will die with a clear conscience and be worthy of heaven and earth, your ancestors, and your parents. To be worthy of your descendants and to have no regrets is to die with peace of mind, which means to die well. It sounds easy, but you need to always follow the principles."

"Comparing the two great directors, I prefer Lu Ping'an's vigorous vitality in "The Bucket List" to Lao Mouzi. Yes, "The Bucket List" is about two dying people. , but what it conveys is actually one thing, that is, how to live a meaningful life."

"You laughed two-thirds of the time and started to cry at the end. You kissed the most beautiful girl in the world, and your story became the most beautiful legend that others have ever seen."

"Getting better gradually, directly touching the soul. Lao Li Jian's question: Have you ever had joy in your life? Then, have you brought happiness to others in your life? Liu Hua's experience: Don't be humble when you want to pee, be tough Come on, be careful when you fart!"

"At the end of the movie, during Li Jian's narration, Liu Hua came to his daughter's house, leaned over and kissed his beautiful granddaughter, and then crossed out "Kiss the most beautiful girl in the world." I started crying and kept crying until the end of the movie. It was so heartwarming. This The story seems far away from me, but why am I moved like this?"

“Love like you’ve never been hurt, dance like no one appreciates you, sing like no one is listening, work like you don’t need money, live like today is the end of the world.”

"To be honest, this script is not top-notch, but I think the reason why Lu Pingan calls him the most satisfying so far is that it is probably the script that most directly touches the soul."

"The script looked ordinary, but no one else could figure it out, and even if they thought it up, they couldn't film it. So luckily it was Lu Pingan who came up with it, and luckily it was Lu Pingan who filmed it. The two old men simply decided before they died. The story of "Hapi Yi Yi" can be filmed with such depth, and it can make me, a person who never sheds tears for movies, cry all night. Now I know the reason, because maybe I have experienced death before. "

"The acting skills of the two protagonists are really beyond the standard, especially Mr. Li Xuejian, who simply doesn't look like an actor. Fortunately, I was relieved when I learned that he himself has experienced cancer. Andy is also great. This time he should be surpassed Liu Jianhua in "Infernal Affairs"

"Lu Ping'an is right, this is indeed a healing movie. It not only healed the harm caused to me by "The Golden Armor", but also healed the long-term harm caused to me by many garbage blockbusters. It also healed my understanding of life. Confused, those who say bad luck, I hope you never look at it, because you probably don’t need this kind of healing.”

"."

It received more than 5,000 comments on the first day of release, and all the reviews were unanimously negative with almost no negative reviews.

The Douban score was opened that day, and it soared to 9.0.

This score may drop by a few tenths in the future, but even if it drops by one point, it will still be a full two points higher than "Golden Armor"!

This will naturally bring more movie fans into the theater.

Everyone took a look.

Such a high score? !

And it says it’s about death, but actually it’s about how to live well?

They say it’s very healing?

Then what's so bad about this!

What are you waiting for? You have to go see it!

A crowd of people watching entered the theater.

Zhang Weipin, on the other hand, had just come out of the theater.

He didn't look good at the moment.

He thought Bucket List would be good, but he didn't expect it to be more than standard.

To be honest, if this kind of subject matter is not handled well, he can manipulate it in various ways, preventing it from exerting the influence it should have.

But Ping An Lu is Ping An Lu after all.

This person's ability to direct commercial films has already surpassed that of Lao Mouzi!

But that's okay.

In the end, it all depends on the box office.

In this regard, "Golden Armor" has actually become a trend.

There are various eye-catching commercial elements accumulated. Although some are eccentric, such as using traffic star Jay Chou and magnifying glass to broadcast "Naiko", they are indeed real attractions.

Nowadays, many movie fans go to the cinema not to watch the movie itself, but simply to see "Jay Chou", "Nako" and certain scenes, which brings a stable number of moviegoers.

You should know that the ticket price of "Curse of the Golden Flower" is about 8 yuan more expensive than "The Bucket List" on average, but "The Bucket List" has been out for a few days and has such a good reputation, and the box office drop of "Curse of the Golden Flower" is not as large as expected.

At this point, Zhang Weipin feels that this marketing is really successful.

Steady, accurate and ruthless!

Although "The Bucket List" has a good reputation, the publicity effect of "bad luck" has not been completely eliminated now, and even from the moment he proposed it, this "stereotype" cannot be eliminated.

In addition, the overall scheduling advantage of "Curse of the Golden Flower" is not worse than that of "The Bucket List" which has a theater chain, and Planet Cinema is unlikely to risk the world's disapproval and greatly reduce the scheduling of "Curse of the Golden Flower". Even if it is reduced, Planet Cinema's share of the entire market is less than 18%.

So from the above perspectives, no matter how bad "Curse of the Golden Flower" is, it can keep pace with "The Bucket List".

Of course, Zhang Weipin himself knows that many things cannot be completely dependent on others.

So he also kept a backhand.

In a word, this time "Curse of the Golden Flower" is sure to win!

A week later, "The Bucket List" box office was 145 million, about 5 million higher than the 140 million box office of "Curse of the Golden Flower" in one week.

But this gap is almost equal to nothing.

Han Sanpin of China Film Group looked at the market and word-of-mouth feedback of "The Bucket List" and "Curse of the Golden Flower" and came to a conclusion similar to Zhang Weipin.

The marketing highlights are of similar level, one is a gimmick that takes a different approach, and the other is a high reputation.

Among them, the gimmick of "Curse of the Golden Flower" is extremely strong, covering up the other shortcomings, which is equivalent to extraordinary performance, while "The Bucket List" has a high reputation, but the overall film and marketing do not have enough breakthrough points.

The two films have similar scheduling, each occupying half of the market, and the two directors are evenly matched, so it is impossible to take special care of one.

In other words, this time Lao Mouzi performed exceptionally and caught up with Lu Ping'an's normal performance.

So as for the box office, Han Sanpin thinks that it will basically be on the same level in the future.

In this regard, he and many industry leaders have the same idea, that is, Lu Ping'an's directing skills are really great, and his box office appeal is also strong.

With this promotion method, there was no premiere, Lu Ping'an himself did not come, only the main creative stars ran a roadshow, the total publicity and promotion costs were less than 15 million, and the production cost was less than 60 million, but it was able to achieve a box office performance comparable to that of "Curse of the Golden Flower" with a total cost of more than 400 million.

If "Pacific Rim" and "Kung Fu Panda" were released next year, it would be amazing!

The investors of "Curse of the Golden Flower" are now afraid of exploding!

But for the director himself, the box office is indeed a factor.

After all, this is what the public sees, and they don't care about the things behind the movie.

So this time, "Curse of the Golden Flower" and "The Bucket List" are evenly matched, and the advantages are even. Zhang Weipin will definitely not miss this opportunity to make some operations. At that time, Lao Mouzi will also climb up by stepping on the excellent film "Lu Ping An".

Although this is shameless and will definitely be criticized in the future, once the result is determined, it is history. No one will overturn the verdict for the loser. Lu Ping An can only suffer this loss.

As for widening the gap, Han Sanpin feels that there is not much that can be done at present.

Lu Ping An comes back to participate in the roadshow, or buys tickets online to get a discount, or does some shameful operations.

Even so, it probably won't make much difference.

So it is foreseeable that the box office of the two movies will be roughly the same during this year's Lunar New Year holiday.

The rest depends on who is more shameless.

Time enters 2007, "Curse of the Golden Flower" enters the third week, and "The Bucket List" enters the second week.

The box office battle between the two parties is still continuing.

At this time, the effect of good word-of-mouth gradually emerged, but the other party's gimmicks and publicity were indeed powerful, and the overall gap was not too big during the same period.

At this time, Zhang Weipin took action.

He joined forces with many theaters and started to make some small moves.

For this kind of thing, even if it is found out, there is actually no good way to punish it, otherwise this kind of thing would not have been eliminated all the time.

Wu Guohua, general manager of Xingchen, who monitors box office data in real time, discovered the clues in the data at the first time.

"The Golden Curse" actually showed signs of rising against the trend, and the momentum of "The Bucket List" actually showed a trend of flattening.

This is abnormal, too abnormal!

Must be countered!

However, before he gave the order to start the next step, someone from the network department came to report: "Mr. Wu, take a look at this, I sent you a link."

Wu Guohua clicked on his QQ, clicked on the link, and saw a travel diary.

He briefly browsed it and his eyes lit up.

This is an article about a terminal cancer patient who gave up treatment and his children took him around to fulfill his last wish.

Wu Guohua also knew the protagonist of the article, Lin Xiaohui, a reporter from Beijing Metropolitan News!

And the reason why she did this was related to "The Bucket List"!

"What a coincidence!"

Wu Guohua was overjoyed, "This is a perfect fit for our next plan!"

The head of the publicity department also smiled and asked, "Mr. Wu, give the order."

"Well, I'll call her, and you guys get ready first."

"Understood!"

Afterwards, Wu Guohua found Lin Xiaohui's number, dialed it, and after a pleasant chat for a while, Wu Guohua asked: "How about using this sentence as the theme? The world is so big, I want to see it."

Lin Xiaohui's eyes lit up on the other side of the phone.

The two parties immediately reached a cooperation agreement!

That night, with the help of Xingchen's powerful publicity, the entire network suddenly began to push a travel blog about life's last wish: "The world is so big, I want to see it."

At night, countless white-collar workers saw Lin Xiaohui and his father's touching travel blog because of the movie "The Bucket List" in front of their computers.