America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM.

Chapter 260 259. Instead of lingering, it is better to burn as much as you can

At the Arclight Cinema, as the lights went out, movies such as "Million Dollar Baby," "The Polar Express" and "The Merry Men" opened at the same time.

The main show tonight is obviously the competition between MGM and Warner, but Paramount, Universal and other companies are also involved in showing their own movies.

However, they are generally not A-level major productions, because the current market environment does not allow for three A-level major productions to be released on the same day at the same time.

Although Disney and Warner really want to swoop in and take down MGM, weaker companies such as Paramount, Fox, and Universal still have to consider their own revenue.

So their current strategy is to attack MGM with a blockbuster every week. This week it's "The Polar Express," next week it's Fox's disaster masterpiece "The Day After Tomorrow," and the next week it's Universal's sci-fi action blockbuster "Star II."

I compete with you on a big production every week, and the audience will naturally choose newer works that are more fresh. Three weeks is enough to kill MGM movies, not to mention the investment in "Million Dollar Baby" was only 3000 million US dollars.

From the perspective of investment, publicity, cast, genre, etc., there is no reason for sports-themed movies to win, even with the support of Clint Eastwood, a veteran.

No matter how awesome you are, you are still an old guy. Most of the people who watch movies now are young people. After all, real movie lovers are in the minority. Most viewers will just follow their feelings. They have not experienced the era of western movies, not you. A fan of this old man.

Morgan Freeman and Hilary Swank?

Haha, how many young people can be attracted to a movie theater by a thousand-year-old green leaf and a female star who is good at acting but not really beautiful?
"We will definitely win!"

To Eric's right, Nicole squeezed his hand and whispered.

"Of course I will win!"

Ouch.
After the roar of the lion's head, the movie officially begins.

As a sports-themed movie, the plot of "Million Dollar Baby" is not complicated, but it is profound enough, and it also breaks away from the traditional routines of ordinary commercial movies.

"People love violence!"

"When they pass the scene of a car accident, they will slow down to see what the body looks like."

"This group of people likes violence, and they also say they like boxing."

"But they have no idea what boxing really is!"

"It's about human dignity. You win your own dignity while depriving your opponent of their dignity."

At the beginning of the movie, under Morgan Freeman's deep narration, a fierce duel is taking place in the boxing ring under an overhead camera.

Finally, when he finished reading the last sentence, the game was decided.

Morgan Freeman is nicknamed the man with the voice closest to God, so many movies like to have him read narrations or even play God directly.

This game showed the rich coaching experience of Frankie Dunn, the male protagonist played by Uncle Dongmu. He played a vital role in the apprentice's ability to win the game.

After the game, Maggie, the heroine played by Hilary Swank, also appeared. She is a 31-year-old woman.

She started working at the age of 13 and is still serving as a waitress in a restaurant today. However, she has her own dream, which is to stand in the boxing ring and win the gold belt.

For this reason, she secretly packed up the leftover meat from the guests and ate it for nutritional supplements. After being discovered, she could only say in embarrassment that she took it home to feed the dog, not knowing that she was the dog.

After seeing Frankie on TV, Maggie thought this old coach could help her become a real boxer, so she came for help.

"Coach Frankie, I'm Maggie. I'm a boxer. I fought in amateur matches and won. Have you seen it?"

But Frankie just left without looking: "Miss, do I owe you money?"

"No!" Maggie hurriedly caught up.

"Did I have an affair with your mother?"

"Huh? I hope so, then you should train me."

"what?"

"I want you to be my coach, train me, and make me a professional boxer!" Maggie said with anticipation.

Frankie snorted and said with some disdain: "I don't take girls with me."

"Maybe you should watch my fights. I punch very hard, everyone says so."

"Girl, punching hard is not enough!"

With a conclusion, Frankie ignored Maggie and left with his lover.

The next day, in Frankie's old boxing gym, the camera showed a young man played by Jay Baruchel.

He was full of enthusiasm for boxing, pumping his fists quickly and shouting excitedly: "I am Boxer Butch, nicknamed Danger Boy, and I will become the lightweight champion!"

But then he was beaten violently by Anthony McCann's guest character, and his heart was instantly flattened, and he ran away crying.

On the other hand, Maggie, in order to gain Frankie's recognition, used her saved salary to pay half a year's tuition and practiced alone in the boxing gym. Her lonely figure attracted the attention of Frankie and Eddie, played by Morgan Freeman.

But an expert can tell at a casual glance that Maggie has not received any professional training, and her so-called fierceness can only be regarded as an innate intuitive reaction.

But Frankie's current attention is on his most popular disciple, and he is bored to death by Maggie.

On the contrary, Eddie, who was also a boxer, saw from Maggie the excellent quality of perseverance for dreams.

At this point, the movie has been going on for 20 minutes, and it can be said that the plot is uneventful, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is very cliched.

Due to the bland plot, even the three talented actors with superb acting skills had no chance to show off their talents, and they couldn't show off their acting skills even if they wanted to.

In the audience, many people's attention had begun to wander, and a few spies sent by the Sixth National Congress couldn't help but laugh secretly in their hearts.

"Hehe. It seems that the boss is overthinking it. This is a mediocre movie no matter how you look at it. At least there are no bright spots yet."

"It's too cliche. The script is too cliché. I can already imagine the subsequent development. It must be Frankie training Maggie to win the championship, and then it will end successfully."

"I think that's about it. Unfortunately, Rocky has already worn out this style. It can't be reproduced casually by changing the gender."

"Send a text message and tell your boss not to worry, "The Polar Express" is a guaranteed win."

"Wait, don't worry, let's take another look, just in case."

On the big screen, Frankie and Eddie had a quarrel due to the betrayal of their favorite disciple.

"I trained him for eight years. For eight years, he turned to someone else!"

"Frankie, that's because you are blocking him. Willie is strong enough to challenge the boxing champion, but you make him wait and wait. He had this strength two years ago. To be honest, he can wait for you for two years." Years later, I was surprised.”

"I just want him to be safe. I'm protecting him, instead of rushing in like you did back then and ended up being blinded in one eye!"

"But at least I tried, I was on stage!"

Finally, more than half an hour into the movie, Frankie begins to train Maggie.

As the two came into contact, Frankie's past was slowly revealed. He had a daughter as old as Maggie, but due to Frankie's problems, the relationship between father and daughter was very bad. He wrote countless letters. , but was returned by my daughter every time.

Seeing this scene, many people sighed again, it was still an old-fashioned and tacky plot.

After several months of training, Maggie ushered in actual combat. Hilary Swank's three months of training was not in vain, and all the movements were perfect.

Eric gave a thumbs up to Swank across the seat and praised him for his professionalism. He couldn't help but recall the fear of being dominated by "Sweet Crit" in his mind.

Maggie is an explosive player with truly amazing talent, often KOing her opponents with silky small combos.

She moved to Los Angeles, New York, Seattle and other cities, winning 12 consecutive victories in one go, and there were finally cheers in the cinema. This is the plot that the audience likes to watch. Everyone hopes that the protagonist will win, and they hope to see the protagonist defeat his opponent with a good punch, and finally feel happy.

Seeing the audience's reaction, Gadot, Theron and other women finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, they also felt that the movie was not interesting and a bit too boring.

But my man has made such a big fuss today. If the movie is really mediocre, I'm afraid it will be difficult to survive in terms of face.

At this time, Hilary Swank finally had an opportunity to show off her acting skills.

Maggie's nose was broken by a punch from her opponent, and the crisp click sound and blood immediately made many viewers frown.

But Maggie didn't want to give up the game, so she asked Frankie to forcefully break the bridge of her nose back.

Unable to withstand Maggie's pleas, Frankie stuffed a towel into Maggie's mouth and performed the technique. The pain of the process was perfectly demonstrated by Hilary Swank. Everyone watching could not help but feel the hair standing on end, as if the bridge of their nose had been punched. It hurts like it's broken.

"Take a deep breath!"

"what?"

"Suck the blood back! We must knock down the opponent within 20 seconds!"

With the belief that she would win, Maggie endured the severe pain and burst out, and many viewers relaxed at the moment she knocked down her opponent.

Then Maggie was preparing to go to Europe to compete, and Frankie customized a cape for her with a Gallic phrase on it - Mocushler!
Maggie lived up to expectations and defeated her opponent again. The heroine activated the plug-in, and the movie seemed to suddenly enter a fun movie mode.

She took Frankie to the restaurant where she ate with her father when she was a child, symbolizing the father-daughter bond between the two.

On the other hand, Maggie's family, all of whom are vampires, spend the money she earned from boxing without any gratitude, which further highlights the preciousness of their relationship.

The movie reaches 90 minutes, and the heroine also faces the championship challenge.

The audience was eager to try, and some were looking forward to the next fight. The half-hour boxing match would definitely be fun to watch.

The person who plays Maggie's opponent is Lucia Ricol, a professional boxer invited by the crew. She is a real boxer, at the level of a boxing champion.

With 37 wins in 36 career games, she is known as the female version of Tyson, with a muscular body and fierce fighting style.

As soon as the match started, Maggie was beaten and suppressed. The audience looked a little anxious, but it didn't matter because everyone knew that she would soon beat her opponent, just like Rocky.

The plot developed exactly as the audience expected. Under Frankie's guidance, Maggie seized the opponent's weakness and punched wildly, leaving the opponent unable to fight back.

"Yeah!"

"That's it!"

Many viewers shouted excitedly, then hurriedly shut up and concentrated on watching the movie.

But just when the audience thought that Maggie would pursue the victory and completely defeat her opponent to win the gold belt.

The opponent suddenly attacked from behind and knocked down Maggie with one punch. She suffered secondary damage to her head and passed out on the ring.

Then the scene changed, Maggie was lying on the hospital bed, paraplegic, and her life was over.

At this moment, not only the audience on the screen was silent for an instant, but the audience outside the screen was also silent.

What does it mean? This plot is wrong, isn't it?

Why don't you play according to the routine?
Shouldn't it be the heroine who wins the gold belt? What the hell is being beaten to paralysis?

"I understand, the heroine must have stood up again through hard work, and then staged a battle of revenge!" Some viewers thought.

But look at the time, there are less than twenty minutes left. Isn’t it a little short?

"I think this one should end when Maggie stands up, and then the sequel, the battle of revenge, will be made. That's definitely the case."

"Haha. If the movie is shot like this, do you think there is still room for survival at the box office?"

"That's right, it won't work anymore. I don't understand what the director wants to do."

Nicole frowned, feeling something was wrong, and suddenly felt a sense of crisis that didn't come.

On the big screen, Maggie's muscles began to disappear after being unable to move for a long time, her body began to atrophy, and bedsores developed under her arms.

This scene is a bit disgusting to watch. Thinking about the heroine who was so energetic just now, I can't help but feel worried.

Frankie went to the best doctors, went to church and prayed, tried everything he could think of, but nothing worked.

It wasn't until the heroine's leg was amputated due to necrosis that the audience finally gave up their fantasy and everyone knew that Maggie really couldn't stand up.

The blow of reality made Maggie want to seek relief. Instead of dying on her knees, it would be better to live standing!
She bit her tongue and committed suicide, but was discovered by the doctor who sewed up the wound. Frankie also understood that this woman did not want to spend her life in a hospital bed.

This plot once again fully demonstrated Hilary Swank's acting skills. The grief, despair, unwillingness, and stubbornness towards death were all expressed on her face.

"I can't go on like this. I've experienced everything in life and seen the world."

"People were chanting my name and they were cheering for me."

"I have never expected this to happen before. Rather than lingering, it is better to burn to the fullest."

"Frankie, I don't want to make you do this, but I got everything I wanted."

"I don't want to have my dignity taken away from me!"

In front of the hospital bed, the two had a heart-to-heart talk.

Frankie also said what Mokushler meant - my true love, my flesh and blood!
At this moment, many viewers felt their hearts were hit hard and their eyes couldn't help but heat up.

Knowing what Mokushler represented, Maggie's last wish was fulfilled and tears fell from the corners of her eyes.

After kissing each other gently on the cheek, Frankie stopped Maggie's ventilator, injected her with medicine, and sent her away from the world with her own hands.

After sending Maggie away, Frankie himself disappeared without a trace, and no one saw this old figure again.

Eddie stayed at the boxing gym, waiting for his friend to come back, although he didn't know whether Frankie would come back or have died somewhere.

Just when many spectators were feeling uncomfortable, the door of the boxing gym was pushed open.

The dangerous boy who left earlier is back.

"Sir, I think you are right. Everyone will experience failure, but I still want to win the gold belt."

"Then go train. You've been idle for a while."

"I'm Butch the Boxer, nicknamed Danger Kid, and I'll be the lightweight champion!"

Ultimately, the film seems to end with renewed hope.

Wow.
Bang bang bang bang
When the lights came back on, the audience spontaneously applauded.

Looking at Hilary Swank who came on stage to thank her, Nicole applauded and sighed.

"Eric, I suddenly felt a little worried just now, and now I understand why."

"Ok?"

"She will be a strong competitor for next year's Oscars."

(End of this chapter)