The Continuing War
With a first-week box office figure of 40 million, The Grudge became a legend as soon as it was released.
Box office numbers for Hollywood movies typically peak in the first week, with the most successful films earning around $40 million. These high figures are usually reserved for big-budget productions.
With an investment of 10 million, The Grudge took in 40 million at the box office in the first week. Such figures are simply unbelievable.
"This movie is the scariest movie ever!"
Soon after the movie was released, all kinds of publicity and comments were overwhelming. Generally speaking, the promotion of horror movies is to promote how scary their films are. This is not a strange thing.
However, The Grudge claims to be the scariest, and it can be said that it deserves its reputation.
"Compared to other movies, it's not on the same level of horror."
"It was fine when I watched the movie, but I didn't dare to go home after watching it."
"I really don't dare to watch a movie like this a second time, and I will never do it again in the future. It's time to watch a horror movie."
The audience made such comments about this movie. These comments also explain why the movie's box office is so high: people who watch horror movies pursue excitement.
Since this movie can stimulate people, of course, some people will watch it. The box office result of 40 million is really not much compared to the praise it received.
If it is just that the box office exceeds that of Traffic, it is not a big problem. The decline of horror movies is very large. After all, after a film has been released for a while, it loses its freshness, and it is difficult to scare people anymore.
Compared to movies like these, Traffic has so much staying power that it's entirely possible to catch up.
However, after the release of these two movies, the most frustrating thing was not the box office. After the movie was released, many media were discussing this movie.
The reason why there are so many people discussing it is not because this movie has a high box office. It's because as soon as this movie was released, it immediately gave the media a lot of inspiration. Compared with other horror movies, this movie is so different.
"This is the best horror movie this year, and it also opens up another way of shooting horror movies for us. In horror movies, everyday things in life, music, and atmosphere are used to create a depressing atmosphere.
In this movie, the investment is not high, and there are not many special effects, but it still makes people shudder after watching it. This is its success."
The media is now quite keen to discuss the success of this movie because this movie is different from other horror movies at first glance.
Different from the blood plasma technique that Americans are now accustomed to, the filming technique of this film is unique.
In fact, if one really wanted to talk about it, there is no shortage of psychologically depressing horror films in the United States. The Shining can be said to be a classic of horror films.
The film, co-produced by Kubrick and Stephen King, is also very depressing.
However, over the years, movies like this are becoming increasingly rare.
American horror films have actually taken a somewhat biased path in recent years.
Because there are very few people nowadays with Kubrick's genius, their horror films can only become more and more bloody and violent. Since it can't cause people psychological pressure, it can provide people with sensory stimulation.
Americans often make horror movies into thrillers, relying on strong visual impact to make people feel scared. Most American films use a murderer or monster in a closed environment to stimulate people's vision and make people scared.
Americans are very comfortable with this approach and have even made up routines.
However, no matter how you shoot a movie like this, it's all just sensory stimulation.
On a psychological level, these visual stimuli have little impact.
But Japanese horror movies are different. Japanese horror films focus on the rendering of atmosphere and continuous impact.
Relying on the eerie music, abnormal tones, voyeuristic shots, and editing effects, the movie is full of creepy and terrifying atmosphere.
It is not like American horror movies that like to choose an uninhabited environment for the murderer to kill.
What they prefer is to choose a setting related to life, at home, school, company, and other places where everyone needs to go. Suddenly, horror effects appear, combining reality and fantasy.
After watching an American horror movie, people's most common thought is to be careful not to be alone when traveling.
However, after watching a Japanese horror movie, the more you think about it, the more frightened you become because everything in the film is in life. Everywhere.
The Blair Witch had to rely on a year of publicity to pretend that it was a documentary in order to arouse people's horror and make people feel scared.
However, the curse was not needed at all - even people knew it was fake, but after watching it, people will still be scared when they see similar things in life.
This kind of psychological pressure is the most terrifying aspect of the movie, and it is also the most discussed in the media.
After all, the United States once had classic movies like The Shining, and they were confident they could produce such good things.
Now, seeing that a Japanese movie has achieved such success in the United States, many Americans are confused. They started reflecting on whether horror movies have become worse and worse over the years.
Such discussions took up all the pages, and people paid much less attention to Traffic for a while.
Everyone admits that this movie, Traffic, is indeed shot very well. Not only is it full of texture, but also the use of filters and the peaceful documentary style of the director's storytelling are very unique. However, it is difficult for this movie to escape the dull story.
Moreover, the film itself discusses a big problem that cannot be ended, such as the drug problem. Still, it does not give a memorable ending but ends with an open ending, leaving people unsatisfied.
Of course, overall, this movie is still a good one - there are not many directors who can shoot at this level. However, no matter how good the shooting quality is, covering up the movie's shortcomings is difficult. Especially when compared with The Departed this year, the problem of this movie is even more significant.
"Compared to Levi's best in The Departed, where Billy saluted Colin's grave, the ending of Traffic is not satisfying. Soderbergh is indeed a genius, and he showed us his outstanding ability in Photography techniques.
However, his movies tend to focus too much on technique and are a bit ostentatious, which also proves that there is still a considerable distance between him and the top masters."
After the movie came out, the media was fond of Soderbergh, but there were too many accusations. Such accusations, compared with the praise received by Shimizu Takashi, also put Soderbergh in a highly disadvantageous situation.
When people comment on a movie, they will always refer to the director's identity and the movie's genre.
For Takashi Shimizu, shooting a horror film, even if it does not have any profound social significance, is considered a success as long as it can generate box office. It can even trigger people's discussion about horror films, which is a huge success.
In contrast, a great director like Soderbergh's requirements are not that low. Showing off his skills during the filming process is not advisable in itself.
"As a good director, you need skills when shooting a movie, but you cannot be seen deliberately using skills. Skills are needed to serve the plot. The movie would be meaningless if it were the other way around."
It can be said that Soderbergh suffers from his status: as a talented director with a long-standing reputation, the media will criticize him if his movies are not good enough.
This movie received even more complaints, especially compared to The Grudge, which was released simultaneously.
If these two movies weren't released simultaneously, people probably wouldn't compare them. A commercial horror film and a film that reflects the drug problem are incomparable.
However, since the media has long provoked and promoted a box office dispute for a long time, they will naturally put the two movies together now.
Of course, what Soderbergh compared against is not Takashi Shimizu but Levi behind the movie.
"Levi himself is not a person who likes to shoot commercial films. In fact, he has only shot one commercial film called The Departed, but it is still very literary. After the filming, he immediately went to shoot other literary films.
However, just because he doesn't like commercial films doesn't mean he can't make commercial films. The promotion of Shimizu Takashi is enough to show his extraordinary vision.
In contrast, Soderbergh is a little too eager for quick success and quick profit. He can do better."
For Levi, people were full of praise: Shimizu Takashi had never made any movies before, and even Sony refused to produce his film, but Levi could see that his level was extraordinary.
Coupled with the fact that he was able to use Nolan in an impressive way last time, Levi's two hirings are enough to show his ability to appreciate outstanding directors.
And Soderbergh already had a movie called Erin Brockovich released this year. The quality of that movie was good enough to win him a lot of praise. Therefore, what is he doing now with his second movie? It makes people think that he is eager for quick success.
"Now, the media's opinion is extremely unfavorable to Soderbergh. People say that he made two movies and deliberately pursued double nominations. This is an idea of rushing for quick success. Such public opinion is extremely beneficial to us."
Alexander has been paying attention to this media war, and these words satisfy him very much.
"Don't you see? This is a trap for me! I have also filmed two movies this year. If my filming of Lost in Translation is not good enough, guess what they will say?" Levi just smiled at the media's comments.
Levi didn't think the media would be so kind and wanted to praise him.
Who is fanning the flames behind this?
Speaking of Soderbergh's eagerness for quick success, didn't Levi also make two movies? There is no victory in this war at all, and the most crucial thing is Levi's new movie.
"But you are confident in your movie, right?" Alexander asked.
"Of course. I have full confidence in my movie - and I have full confidence in Charlize."
*****
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Scott DePaepe
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