**Chapter 314: Facing Criticism**

The conversation continued, but neither Brad nor Anson made any move, relying solely on their mouths while their bodies remained still.

Then, they exchanged a glance, noticing that neither had budged, and both laughed, "It's gotta be Chris."

Last night, their roommates Hayden Christensen and Chris Evans were absent, not because they didn't want to attend, but because they had work—

Hayden was still filming "Star Wars: Episode II."

Compared to "Spider-Man," the production timeline for "Star Wars: Episode II" was significantly longer.

Hayden joined the cast last November, heading to 20th Century Fox's studio in Sydney. After three months of shooting, Hayden took a brief three-week break.

He then returned to the crew in March this year, filming in various locations worldwide, including Serbia, San Diego, London, Vancouver, and even parts of Italy and China, though the filming locations were kept secret due to confidentiality. The shooting didn't wrap up until July.

Originally, they thought filming had concluded, but unexpectedly, director George Lucas felt the storyline was incomplete. The crew needed to return to the studio for reshoots, so before July ended, all the actors were back in the Sydney studio.

Moreover, no one knew when this round of filming would finally end.

Of course, given the lengthy production timeline, post-production had already begun simultaneously. For a project like "Star Wars: Episode II," the release schedule was set long ago, with promotion aligned with the shooting timeline. Every step was planned out, so altering the schedule was out of the question.

Meanwhile, Chris was finally at a pivotal moment in his career—

His first time playing the lead role in a film.

After enduring rejection, being overlooked, and forgotten, Chris finally saw his perseverance pay off, landing his first significant role as the male lead in "Not Another Teen Movie."

Under this roof, Chris had the toughest career journey. It wasn't until after his roommates had all gotten opportunities that it was finally his turn.

However, despite the delay, it didn't mean Chris was behind. In fact, in "Not Another Teen Movie," Chris was the undeniable lead.

Like "The Princess Diaries," "Not Another Teen Movie" is a teen romantic comedy, but the difference is that it's told from a male perspective. Chris was cast in this lead role, equivalent to the prominence Anne Hathaway had in "The Princess Diaries," stepping straight into a leading role.

He was the first among Brad, James, and the others to land a role as the absolute lead.

The film began shooting in early July, and Chris was fully committed to the production. He was eager to attend "The Princess Diaries" premiere to cheer for Anson, but unfortunately, his filming schedule wouldn't allow it.

Chris deeply regretted not being able to make it.

Yesterday, Chris called Anson ahead of time to congratulate him. Now, in the early hours, still hungover, they found themselves missing Chris more than expected.

However, Brad's reminder finally got Anson's sluggish brain working, and he remembered something—they might not need to resort to such primitive methods.

Before 2001, when a film premiered, if you were curious about its critical reception, you had to flip through newspapers; this was the only source of information.

For agents and actors, they had to buy all the mainstream, authoritative newspapers, spread them out on a table, and read each one to fully understand the film's reception.

It was inconvenient, indeed, but it also had its advantages.

For the general public, they typically wouldn't buy that many newspapers, perhaps just one or two. If one paper said the movie was worth watching, even if all the other critics were bashing it, that one review might be enough to convince them to buy a ticket and head to the theater.

Of course, there were exceptions.

Both *The Hollywood Reporter* and *Variety*, two authoritative industry magazines, compile reviews from all media outlets and give movies a composite score. If you're willing to wait patiently and don't feel the urgency to head to the cinema on opening weekend, you can wait for these guides to help you choose what to watch.

This has always been the case, which is why you often see movies with terrible reviews still achieving impressive box office results. The lag in information makes audiences willing to enter the cinema for a director or actor. Later, as the internet became more widespread, the speed at which information was shared accelerated, and the influence of early reviews on box office performance became increasingly significant.

This turning point came in 2001.

At the beginning of this year, the website *Metacritic* officially launched. It is an aggregate review website that collects reviews from major mainstream, professional, and authoritative media outlets, converts the ratings into a unified score, and ultimately gives the movie a rating, determining the film's reputation.

The purpose of the site was simple: to take advantage of the convenience of the internet to share information. Moreover, the founders had a strict selection process, choosing reviews only from traditional, professional, and authoritative critics to ensure the ratings were professional and objective. This allowed the website to quickly stand out.

Everything, like France's *Cahiers du Cinéma*.

In just half a year, *Metacritic* had made a name for itself in Hollywood. Since they did not score movies themselves but merely collected objective reviews, the site served as a database, not just for the latest films but also for gradually compiling reviews of older movies. Film studios, agents, and publicists found it easy to use, and it quickly spread.

Especially since *Rotten Tomatoes* had not yet emerged, *Metacritic's* reference value was even more pronounced.

However, for actors, it was still unfamiliar.

Ansen knew about it because, twenty years later, *Metacritic* would become the most authoritative reference data for major film companies and countless movie fans, especially as other rating sites fell under suspicion of bias, manipulation, and collusion. With its source of information from professional and authoritative media, *Metacritic* would remain a reliable source, maintaining its reputation.

In 2001, this was even more true.

*Click.*

Ansen placed the laptop on his lap, opened the screen, and entered the URL, looking at the router still dialing up, feeling like he was driving a tractor for a joyride.

"...Are you sure? Is this reliable?" Brad was filled with skepticism about the internet.

Ansen couldn't help but smile, "It's just a reference, after all."

As he said this, he typed "Ghost World"—

This indie film had received widespread acclaim. Three weeks ago, at its preview, it won applause, and now *Metacritic* had finished compiling the reviews.

A score of 90.

In a scoring system with a maximum of 100 points, *Ghost World* received a high score.

Ansen showed the computer screen to Brad.

Brad's mouth formed an "O," his expression stunned, unable to believe his eyes.

Then, Ansen entered *The Princess Diaries*, pressed the Enter key, and waited for the page to refresh.

*Sss. Sss. Sss.*

The agonizingly slow dial-up internet felt like it would last an eternity. Finally, the page loaded.

"Ah!" Brad exclaimed in surprise.

---