What is more inspiring than losing 100 pounds is undoubtedly Jia Ling's idol.
The protagonist setting of this movie will make everyone feel very unusual, but Andy Lau participates in it with his true face and does not act out of harmony at all.
The author of the article is Pu Lin.
If you're interested in watching a Chinese New Year movie that isn't very related to the "Spring Festival", then "Mr. Red Carpet", directed by Ning Hao and starring Andy Lau, is definitely worth watching.
The experience and lessons of history tell us that any film that changes its schedule (such as "Mr. Red Carpet", which was originally scheduled to be released on November 17 last year) will not have a good ending - the box office of the movie on the first day was only 42 million yuan, and the proportion of films scheduled was 83%, the attendance rate is the bottom of the new films in the Spring Festival file. But this does not prevent "Mr. Red Carpet" from being funny, except that it is not the kind of laughter or presumptuous laughter, but an "elegant comedy" like propaganda, and those who understand it will naturally laugh.
In my personal opinion, Jia Ling has the ability to lose 100 pounds after weighing more than 200 pounds, which makes "Hot and Hot" the most inspiring movie in the Spring Festival schedule. In the wave of the film industry, Andy Lau performed a new chapter in his sixties with his perseverance and dedication to art. As Jia Ling's idol, Andy Lau, who is over 60 years old, dared to star in a movie that is widely regarded as "creating and flying for everyone" at such an advanced age, and bravely challenged the Spring Festival schedule that is incompatible with the film style, which is also an extremely inspiring thing.
As the title suggests, "Mr. Red Carpet" puts the spotlight on a star with dreams of success – Hong Kong's superstar Lau Wai Chi. In the film industry, Liu Weichi's name is like a banner, leading the aesthetic taste of a generation of audiences. It is rumored that this name was carefully selected from the names of three famous actors, Andy Lau, Leung Chaowei and Stephen Chow. Liu Weichi performed a classic image of "passing Hong Kong star", which made the audience cry and laugh, and his performance won the hearts of the people and made people laugh. Faced with this joke of the first "out-of-gas Hong Kong star", Ning Hao seemed a little too involved.
At the beginning of the film, Lau Weichi and his hidden wife discuss divorce, but soon after, he participated in the Hong Kong Film Awards, and he moved his shortlisted poster to the C position and wore a lucky color bow tie specially recommended by the White Dragon King. His name is Li Xing, and he is a new generation of Hong Kong film superstars. Unfortunately, in the competition for best actor, he finally lost to Chen Long, who is known as "Big Brother".
In less than 10 minutes, many "old melons" in the entertainment industry have been buried.
For example, at the awards ceremony, when the best lead actor was revealed, the host deliberately "teased" Lau, resulting in the final award being won by the only absent candidate. At the award ceremony, when everyone was attracted to Andy Lau to him, he did not applaud and cheer excitedly like the other winners, but silently cried beside him. Does this scene remind you of the scene of the 2003 Golden Horse Awards ceremony (if you are not sure, please search on it yourself), and Andy Lau was one of the main figures in the events of that year.
For example, the plot of having a child out of wedlock is not only a satire on others, but also reflects Andy Lau's self-ridicule. In this episode, Andy Lau shows his self-awareness and humorous attitude towards his identity. In a previous live broadcast of movie promotion, Ning Hao publicly stated that this plot was personally joined by Andy Lau. Andy Lau's words caused a stir. Andy Lau elaborated: "For our previous generation of artists, they were neither talking about getting married nor talking about having children, which I originally thought was acceptable. Andy Lau said frankly that having children out of wedlock is just a way of expression for his filming, and does not represent real life. This also marks the first time Andy Lau has publicly responded to his proposal for a hidden marriage.
Therefore, Liu Weichi, a man who has been aspiring to be the best actor for forty years, decided to collaborate with director Lin Hao (played by Ning Hao) to make films with rural themes, although he despised the peasants, because in the evaluation system of the festival, only films with rural themes can win awards".
As a result, Mr. Lau went deep into the countryside to experience local life, and he took the initiative to attract investment and resolutely did not use stand-ins, which led to a series of ridiculous and absurd events.
This is indeed an adaptation of nine hundred and ninety-nine true events in the entertainment industry, which contains too many elements and is quite large-scale. In this story, Ning Hao's directing skills and Andy Lau's acting skills complement each other and push the film to a climax. Not surprisingly, some people commented that "Mr. Red Carpet" shows the spirit of Ning Hao and Andy Lau "one dares to shoot, and the other dares to perform".
There is no doubt that Ning Hao not only mocked the stars and investors in the whole movie, but also mocked the film festival, and even he did not let go. Ning Hao is a "nonsensical" person who likes to use various humorous ways to express his attitude towards the real society. During the filming of "Crazy Alien", some people suspected that Ning Hao was abusing a dog, and it was also mentioned in the comments that Ning Hao imitated Korean director Bong Joon-ho, which was the reason why Ning Hao participated in "Mr. Red Carpet".
At the beginning of the article, Ning Hao directly used Liu Weichi's words to explain to the audience why such a farce occurred. He wanted to criticize the communication barrier between people — when the script didn't match his own understanding, Lau's criterion was: if the communication was not good, give it up.
Through the incident of "Liu Weichi's fall on a horse is regarded as abusing horses", Ning Hao once again ridiculed the tactics of crisis public relations and questioned the current Internet ** atmosphere - is the truth really that important? In this era of rapid information dissemination, truth seems to be on the back burner, and people prefer to immerse themselves in the whirlpool of emotions. While things may have been crucial in the past, it seems that people don't care so much about it these days. In this virtual world, emotions burn like a fire, and whoever masters the high ground of ** can influence the emotions of everyone. On the internet, people's positions and emotions have become especially critical.
Although Liu Weichi in the movie is not very likable and somewhat "two-sided", his appearance is not so annoying, and he still maintains a serious, seemingly outdated professional attitude. In today's entertainment industry, impetuousness and hypocrisy are becoming more and more rampant, but Liu Weichi's persistence is like a clear stream, it is not the most popular star, but his every action on the stage contains dedication and sincerity, and this attitude has become a rare treasure at the moment. From that perspective alone, this has become quite valuable for the current world of entertainment.
In addition to movies, Andy Lau, like Lau Weichi, in addition to insisting on planks and push-ups every day, he also maintains a production rate of two to three movies a year. As the years go by, Andy Lau's shine on the screen becomes more and more dazzling. From the beginning of 2023 until now, the number of movies starring Andy Lau has reached 5, and he is undoubtedly a model worker in the entertainment industry.
However, with Hong Kong films losing their past glory, names like "Andy Lau," which are notorious in the entertainment industry, no longer seem to be the solution to box office revenue alone. Audiences' tastes are quietly changing, and the pursuit of cinema seems to be shifting. The final box office revenue of the film "Goldfinger", which was released on December 30 last year, reached 57.4 billion yuan. However, although the box office figures are not satisfactory, the efforts and passion of the filmmakers are still undiminished. The film "Stealth", which was released almost at the same time, made only 3 at the final box office9 billion yuan.
Not only Hong Kong's film industry, but also Chinese mainland films are also experiencing the so-called "film and television winter". The changes in the film market cannot be ignored, and the audience's viewing habits are also quietly changing. According to the statistics of the past 6 years, 2018 is the peak period for audiences to watch movies, and the average number of moviegoers per capita is about 3 per year; With the popularity of the Internet, people are more inclined to watch movies at home through various ** platforms. In the two years of 2020 and 2022, the number of moviegoers per capita has decreased to less than two, and the number of people who only watch a movie during the long holiday or Spring Festival is considerable.
So far in 2023, the mainland's film industry looks to be booming. The boom in the film and television industry has attracted countless young people to flock in, who have dreams but often face harsh realities. During the Spring Festival and summer vacation, the film industry is highly competitive, with box office revenues reaching 10 billion yuan. However, most of the profitable ones are top-tier projects. Many young people with film dreams, after entering the film industry and becoming "film and television migrant workers", in order to make a living, first chose to shoot vertical screen short dramas, and then turned to the field of flexible employment.
Just like in "Mr. Red Carpet", the management half-jokingly said, "What has become of your film industry now?" The camera focuses on the glittering car, the movie stage becomes its showcase, and a unique commercial is about to begin, leaving the plot behind, leaving only the gorgeous car models and scorching bodies. Then, there is a reinterpretation of the film industry - "It should be seen as an advertisement for the automotive industry, directly translated into advertising!" "Cinema is no longer a story, but an extension of emotions, resonance with the audience. Then, with a wave of his hand, he gave a new definition of the film's story – "nothing!" ”
Isn't that the case? Yes, but in this chaotic shooting scene, Ning Hao showed the director's domineering, and with an order, the whole crew instantly threw themselves into the crazy shooting in a nervous and orderly manner. Ning Hao said self-deprecatingly: "Can you really be more professional than the employer?" "Then came the craziest part of the whole film – the support of the crew and the introduction of resource experts.
In this situation, even Andy Lau, the top figure in the industry, has also encountered the same challenges as Lau Weichi in the movie. Lau Weichi in the movie and Andy Lau in reality seem to be looking for their own ways to survive under the wave of traffic culture. In the era of prevalent traffic, when Liu Weichi was interviewed at "D station", he used "Lao Tie 666" to describe it"; Andy Lau is smiling, holding a microphone and interacting with fans. In the live broadcast of station B, Andy Lau in real life played his role of "Wishing you prosperity".
Earlier, Jackie Chan's "duang" and "Jackie Chan persuasion", as well as Zhang Jiahui's stalk of playing "scum hui" with the audience, were all manifestations of them taking the initiative to put down their burdens and choosing to integrate into modern young people.
There is a view that "Mr. Red Carpet" reflects Ning Hao's reflection and response to this era, and also reflects his inner uneasiness.
Ning Hao himself expressed such a wish: "I hope that "Mr. Red Carpet" is not only a gift to Mr. Liu, but also a gift to the audience. He also added: "Brother Hua felt that I was very brave when filming this drama, but in fact, it was he who really had the courage."
As we all know, in 2005, Ning Hao brought the film "Green Meadow" written and directed by himself to Hong Kong for the exhibition. So, with full of passion and expectation, Ning Hao resolutely joined Andy Lau's "Asian Rising Star Guide" program. After Andy Lau finished this movie, he was full of praise for it and invited him to participate in the "Asian Rising Star Guide" project initiated by himself. After accepting Andy Lau's invitation, Ning Hao began a new chapter in his directorial career. After a year, the film "Crazy Stone" directed by Ning Hao was officially released, and with an investment of 3 million yuan, it achieved a box office income of 23.5 million yuan, which far exceeded the box office expectations and left a deep imprint on the history of Chinese films.
Regarding the fate between them, Ning Hao shared an interesting story that even Andy Lau does not know: "I first learned to paint, but when I finished painting, I found that my colors were not bright enough, which forced me to turn to advertising and MV shooting. However, many years ago, the first and only poster I drew was a movie by Hua Ge, and the hand-drawn poster after painting was outdated, and everyone started using printers. ”
Following "Crazy Stone", Andy Lau has always intended to cooperate with Ning Hao as an actor again, but he has always failed to do so. Andy Lau's worries did not affect his courage, and he decided to challenge the deep and complex role in "Mr. Red Carpet". 16 years later, he participated in the performance of "Mr. Red Carpet". Andy Lau knows that this role is challenging and difficult to decide for a while. However, Andy Lau frankly said that he did feel a little scared at first, because he was worried that the audience would think he was too similar to the character, and he was even more afraid that people in the industry would misinterpret him as satirizing show business.
However, the protagonist setting of such a movie will make everyone feel very strange, but Andy Lau can maintain his true colors and behave without disobedience at all.
In order to persuade Andy Lau, Ning Hao specially took a plane to "share the story" with him face-to-face. "I once told Brother Hua that modern people are keen to make short **, and they are all witnesses of this era. As filmmakers, we can also use this method to document some of the daily lives we know and the issues we care about." This news caused a huge response on the Internet, and many people said that they wanted to watch Andy Lau's new film "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon". In the end, Andy Lau was successfully convinced.
Not long ago, Ning Hao and Andy Lau walked into Dong Yuhui's live broadcast room with the program "Mr. Red Carpet", creating a warm atmosphere of 1.7 million viewers at the same time. Ning Hao listened silently, and a feeling of admiration surged in his heart. Andy Lau mentioned during the live broadcast that he initially thought that "Mr. Red Carpet" was somewhat similar to "Crazy Star", but as time went on, he realized that Ning Hao seemed to have been subtracting. In the tense atmosphere on the set, Ning Hao constantly guided Andy Lau and Lau Weichi to remove the superfluous fancy and focus on the real emotions in the characters' hearts. In the end, Ning Hao decided to remove all the techniques in Andy Lau and Lau Weichi's performances to make them a whole. "It's the first time I've had this experience in 42 years, and I've really matured after finishing this work," he said.
Dong Yuhui asked Andy Lau questions about how this drama would change his life in the future. Dong Yuhui listened to Andy Lau's answer, and felt a little confused in his heart. Andy Lau said frankly: "So far, the real problems between me and myself have not been resolved. I don't fully understand it yet, and I don't have a definite answer. Maybe after everyone reads it, I'll give some suggestions, and then go deeper**.
This is similar to the end of the movie, where Lau is alone in an empty conference room driving a balance bike. Suddenly, a hand reached out and grabbed him, his face turned red, and then he lost consciousness. It's a very interesting movie scene. The end of the story is caught off guard when the audience is not yet aware of it. While everyone was attracted to the plot, he fell into deep thought. This is the end of the film. The unsolvable problems faced by the protagonist were presented to the audience, but such an ending also led some viewers to leave the scene angrily after shouting "what are you shooting".
At the end of this article, we will end with Dong Yuhui's review of "Mr. Red Carpet", which he said quite accurately. Dong Yuhui's evaluation points out the unique charm of "Mr. Red Carpet", which is thought-provoking. Here's what's in the Saver version:
1.Always remember, there will always be an echo.
2.Mere communication is ineffective, and what really values is deep understanding.
3.Strive to overcome the challenges of this era on your own.
4.Realizing the truth is an attempt that has made all its efforts and has failed to achieve any results.
**10,000 Fans Incentive Plan