Beverly Hills, Windsor Castle Restaurant.
At the booth, the waiter served a variety of exquisite meals and placed them in front of the two customers.
Kenneth Turan, the most famous critic in Los Angeles, tied his napkin and looked at Martin opposite: "A meal here costs a lot."
Martin also tied his napkin and said, "When old friends get together, they always want to eat something different."
In fact, Kenneth Turan is very satisfied with Martin's choice of this restaurant where a single person spends nearly US$1,000. At least it is a sign of respect.
If you go to any restaurant on the street to eat barbecue, what is the style of Los Angeles's number one film critic?
Martin specially invited Kenneth to dinner with a very clear purpose and did his homework: "I will always remember your guidance and help to me."
Kenneth waved his hand: "It's not really a guide, just a few movie reviews."
Martin, when he is shameless, his skin can become as thick as the mantle of rock: "When I first came to Hollywood, I was like a headless fly. There was no standard for selecting movies. Fortunately, I was lucky. Both films "The Mountain Has Eyes" were successful and allowed me to gain a foothold in Hollywood. What's even better is that I met you."
Kenneth recalled carefully that he seemed to have chatted with Martin after the premiere of "The Mountain Has Eyes".
This is what Martin said: "Your words made me understand how to go in the future. Actors must have artistic pursuits, but at that time I didn't even have a foothold, so I had to make money first."
Kenneth nodded: "This is understandable. Prioritize your life and live a worry-free life, so that you can focus more on art."
Martin said: "I have never forgotten the artistic pursuit of an actor, so even in the face of many difficulties, I still worked hard to compete for the role of Scorsese's director. I spent half a year practicing my Boston accent and spent nearly a month in the Boston Police Department. Experiencing life and following people from the police detective bureau to arrest gangsters and traffickers finally impressed Director Scorsese."
Kenneth affirmed what Martin did: "This is what an actor should be like. You did a good job. The role in the film is so brilliant because you are well prepared."
"Yes, this is an extraordinary experience." Martin has had an in-depth understanding of Kenneth Turan in the past two years and has accurately figured out his personality preferences: "Director Scorsese and Jack Nicholson gave him great advice on the set. He gave me a lot of guidance, which brought my performance to a higher level and my acting skills have improved a lot..."
Kenneth watched the film and said, "Your role in The Departed is better than any other film in the past. It's a huge improvement, even surpassing Leonardo's."
At this moment, Martin is more proactive than facing beautiful women: "I can feel the progress, the rise, so I don't want to stop. I took over the male lead in a purely literary film, directed by Sam Mendes, Kate -The Reader, in which Winslet plays the female lead.”
Kenneth had paid attention to the relevant information before and said: "Sam is one of the best among mainstream art directors. Kate has not made any commercial films after "Titanic". She is dedicated to honing herself in the art field and will be recognized sooner or later." .”
"They are all outstanding artists." Martin also said something appropriate: "My role in "The Reader" spans from 16 years old to over 50 years old. The interpretation is too difficult. Sam and Kate helped me complete it. This process.”
Kenneth was somewhat surprised: "The range of roles is so wide?"
Martin nodded: "Yes, because of the guidance and help of two outstanding artists, I was able to master this role."
He was full of admiration: "Being on the set, getting along with Sam and Kate, made me understand what an artist is, what performance art is, and what kind of efforts and sacrifices outstanding artists can make for the art of film. At what cost.”
Kenneth heard Martin's desire to further improve his acting skills and his pursuit of film art, and said: "Martin, you are not bad at what you do. You will catch up with them one day."
Martin told the truth: "Compared to Sam and Kate, I am really far behind. I feel like I will never catch up."
Kenneth felt that he must give this ambitious young man some encouragement: "But you have been working hard and making progress!"
Martin just nodded vigorously and did not say that he would definitely do what Sam and Kate could do.
Because of those, he couldn't do it anyway.
Too focused and fanatical.
Artists are really not something ordinary people can do.
During this meal, the two of them chatted and laughed happily, and had a particularly pleasant conversation.
After Martin paid the bill, he did not send Kenneth Turan off. The latter cherished his feathers very much and did not want to be photographed eating with celebrities during the awards season.
After Kenneth Turan had left for ten minutes, Martin entered the mall through another door of the restaurant and went down to the underground parking lot. Bruce drove Thomas and arrived on time.
After getting in the car, Martin asked: "Have you eaten?"
"We've finished eating a long time ago." Thomas asked with concern, "How was the conversation?"
Martin said directly about the result: "I am an actor with artistic pursuits, and Kenneth Turan appreciates this very much."
Thomas breathed a sigh of relief: "Of all the Film Critics Association Awards, the most important are the two major Film Critics Association Awards, Los Angeles and New York. More than 70% of Oscar judges live in Los Angeles and New York, and they pay attention to the news in these two cities first. , We have no choice over New York, but we have to take the initiative here in Los Angeles.”
Martin said: "You have already talked about it with Todd McCarthy, the columnist and film critic of the Hollywood Reporter. At least my reputation in the mainstream media in Los Angeles will not be bad."
Bruce participated in the award competition for the first time and couldn't help but sigh: "It's really troublesome. Before I came to Los Angeles, I thought that the Oscar selection was simply based on the role and film quality to determine the winner. It turned out that it was not the case at all."
Thomas said: "Almost everyone who is interested in getting a major Oscar award or even being nominated is working hard on public relations and marketing. If we don't do what others do, let alone get on the nomination list, we won't even be qualified to be nominated."
Martin simply gave a more intuitive metaphor: "Brother Boo, you can think of it as a Hollywood-style campaign for the Oval Office in Washington."
Bruce nodded slightly: "Fortunately, we have done our work ahead of time."
Thomas lowered his voice: "We have dealt with them a lot in the past two years and have expressed our feelings many times. Now that the work and characters are outstanding, of course they will express their opinions. The credibility of critics is much more important than the stars."
On the other side, Kenneth Turan came to the Los Angeles Film Critics Association.
As a columnist for the largest newspaper in the City of Angels, and has always been on good terms with senior film critics such as Todd McCarthy, he is the most influential critic in the association.
Awards season has begun, and it’s also the time when critics like them have the most room to shine.
Six heavyweight film critics from various Los Angeles media outlets gathered to discuss next month's Film Critics Association Awards.
Someone suggested: "Little Miss Sunshine is a good movie..."
Todd McCarthy retorted: "But a movie like this cannot win the Best Picture award."
Others nodded. Although Little Miss Sunshine was good, it seemed to be missing something for awards season.
Another said: "Both The Departed and The Queen are good, but the former is better. Scorsese hasn't made such a good movie in a long time since Goodfellas."
Todd McCarthy said: "Martin Davis and Jack Nicholson both played outstanding roles. The latter took the initiative to declare that he would not participate in the awards season competition. The former was too junior and chose to avoid the fierce competition for Best Actor. , to compete for the supporting actor role."
A young film critic named Justin said: "A very wise choice. Strictly speaking, he has only been in the industry for three years. An actor who came to Los Angeles during the same period was still working as an extra. He does not come from an acting family and does not have the support of his godfather. Not Jewish yet…”
Kenneth Turan coughed, reminding him that there were some things he shouldn't say in person.
Justin immediately changed his mind: "He is extremely lucky to be here today. He is still very clear-headed and knows how to do things step by step."
Kenneth Turan said: "As far as I know, Martin Davis accepted an art film directed by Sam Mendes called "The Reader," in which he played a character from 16 to 50. It’s an amazing time span for a multi-year character, I called Sam today and Sam thought his performance was pretty amazing!”
Todd McCarthy continued: "Sam is a director with artistic pursuits. He has won the Oscar for Best Director and has worked with many outstanding actors. He has a very high vision. He can give such an evaluation. Martin Day Wes must have put in another convincing performance."
Another older film critic said: "Commercial films have been successful many times. Martin Davis has not been lost in business, which is very rare for young people."
Kenneth Turan said concluding words: "It is a good thing for young people to pursue artistic pursuits. We have been pulling in Hollywood and relevant practitioners to prevent them from over-commercialization. Young people with such pursuits should Give encouragement.”
"I agree," Todd McCarthy said.
The two big guys spoke, but no one else had any objections.
The Film Critics Association Awards are different from others in that there is not so much public content. The results are determined by internal voting and then announced.
Kenneth Turan said: "The bills are issued to all members of the association. You should communicate well and strive to get the results out next week. We have always been ahead of other film critics associations and cannot let New Yorkers take the lead. "
There are three major Film Critics Association Awards in the United States, and only the third one is determined. The first and second places are still undecided.
In late November, after the Gotham Independent Awards were awarded, the Los Angeles Film Critics Association announced the results of the Association Awards in the Los Angeles Times.
The Departed won two awards, Scorsese won Best Director and Martin won Best Supporting Actor.
(End of chapter)
