The Best Director

As Jim and Michelle’s wedding concluded, the screening of “American Pie 3” quickly came to an end. The audience in the theater began to disperse, and Selena and Marcus, the young couple, were also laughing and talking as they left. They felt the movie was okay, with some comedic moments, but it was obviously formulaic. The jokes and slapstick that were new in the first two installments felt like a gas tank running low on fuel this time,

and most of the time, it seemed tired and uninteresting. Especially after seeing “The Hangover” at the beginning of the year, they, like many others, felt that current comedies, R-rated comedies, were either outdated or, like “Spy Kids 3”, were meant for kids under 10, who might even find it too childish. They couldn’t keep up with “The Hangover”. What about “Las Vegas 2” that premiered tonight?

Selena checked her watch. There was still time left in the evening, and she couldn’t let go of the thought of the new film directed by Best Director Yang, starring Natalie… Due to the runtime difference, it seemed like “MIT-21-TEAM” would take another fifteen minutes or so to end. Selena asked, “Marcus, do you want to go watch Best Director Yang’s new movie?”

“Um, I don’t know, you decide,” Marcus hesitated, shaking his head. They were both interested in the card counting and story of the film, but they had chosen to watch “American Pie 3” first and then decide whether to watch “21” based on the reviews. Looking at the people coming and going around them, buying tickets and leaving the cinema, Selena said, “Let’s wait a bit, I’m going to the restroom.”

After going to the restroom and touching up her makeup, seeing that it was about time, Selena took out her phone, dialed a friend who had said they would watch the first show of “21”, and asked with a laugh, “Hey, Ellie, did you see ‘MIT’? How was it? Was it good?” Immediately, a girl’s amazed laughter came through from the other end: “Oh, it’s indescribable! Absolutely amazing, you really didn’t watch it? Haha, you’re definitely going to regret it…”

“Still watching ‘American Pie 3’?” Clair asked her boyfriend with a pleasant mood as they walked out of the screening room. Adam’s face showed little interest, as his mind was all about poker, he said, “Let’s watch it on Sunday. Right now, I want to go home and check up on blackjack and card counting.” Clair casually nodded her head, as she wasn’t really enthused about “American Pie 3” in the first place.

“OK, I’m going home to write a review! I’ll call it… ‘A Perfect Brainstorm!\'” Clair walked out of the cinema with a smile, while Adam beside her was puzzled, “Did I hear that right? You’re writing a review?”

Clair, with a “what’s the big deal” expression, asked, “Can’t I?” Adam questioned, “Published in what newspaper?” Clair proudly said, “Blog! I’ve written reviews for a lot of movies, and now I get a lot of hits! I even made some money from ads.”

“Blog? A Blogger blog? Why haven’t I seen it?” Adam immediately became more puzzled, but Clair just shrugged and laughed, “I have several blogs. I haven’t told you yet; I wanted to achieve something first. At first, I just tried it for fun. Last year after seeing ‘Sweetheart’, I wrote something on a whim, then I wrote a few for ‘District 9′, but not many people clicked on them. However, they’ve been getting more popular recently, probably because I’ve been writing better.”

She said a bit excitedly, “Adam, I’ve discovered I’ve got a talent for this. I’m going to become a critic… included on Rotten Tomatoes! Now I can make money writing blogs…” Adam didn’t discourage or irritate her, guessing it was probably just tens of thousands of hits, he chuckled and replied, “Go for it!”

“Oh my god! You didn’t go see it tonight? That’s a shame. Of course, it was extremely good, Blackjack!” In the elegant bedroom of a girl, Evelyn looked at the computer screen, clicking the mouse with her right hand while holding the phone handset in her left, and she sighed, “Watching Jeff Ma and the others made me really want to go to MIT, ahhh! But I’m off to USF next month… Forget it, I’ll start a USF-21-TEAM. I’ll be Amanda, haha!”

She laughed while logging onto the IMDb website to the main page of “MIT-21-TEAM,” and without hesitation, gave it a perfect 10. Even after her rating, the total score remained at 8.5. She then wrote a short review, “So cool it almost made me pass out!”

Next, she Googled “choose three doors, paradox,” and Evelyn chuckled into the microphone, “Just like the role Natalie played, super cool!” She had so many questions now, and the film made them all interesting; she wouldn’t be able to sleep without figuring them out…

“” In the suite bedroom at Caesar’s Hotel, Wang Yang was sound asleep, his breathing faintly audible. Despite the post-premiere celebration party, Jessica, lying on her side next to him, was wide awake. She propped her head up with one hand and smiled as she looked at his sleeping face. No matter how she looked at him, he seemed more relaxed. Lately he’d been acting a bit odd—perhaps it was the tension and pressure from releasing the movie, but now he could get a good night’s sleep!

Jessica smiled and gently caressed his cheek. Wang Yang seemed unresponsive, but his lips moved slightly as he murmured, “%#%*#… Joshua, think about it…” She couldn’t help but burst into laughter. Was he dreaming about Joshua? Was he teaching him how to make a movie in his dream?

“Come on, what’s wrong with you! I need a ring, man!” In the hazy dream, Wang Yang pointed at a pitiful Joshua, frantically saying, “Haven’t you figured it out from her collection of magazines yet? Do I need to go myself? That would be too obvious! No, prop master, I need a ring!”

As the number of IMDb ratings kept climbing, the next day the count quickly soared to 91,163 users, and the main page score stabilized at 8.2/10. Within the genre of gambling and con movies, this was currently the highest score. The highest-grossing gambling movie, “Gambler Ma Huali,” had a mere 6.7/10 with 18,977 users rating it, while the leading “con artist” movie, “Catch Me If You Can,” held a score of 7.8/10 with 146,315 users rating it.”

The power of the “idol-director” and the quality of the movie had long since melded, but notable figures aren’t subject to fan-rigged ratings; Metacritic awarded a score equal to “The Hangover’s” 80 points.

On Rotten Tomatoes, the audience approval rating was 92%, though not as high as the initial 95% for “The Hangover.” Nevertheless, the audience reviews were replete with praise. “Cool!” seemed to have a bandwagon effect, appearing on every page of the review list. Rotten Tomatoes’ official “one-liner” review stated, “The MIT-21-TEAM members are the coolest crew on screens this year; they have created a genuinely entertaining feast together.”

“This movie is outrageously good—and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It breaks the Hollywood mould.”

User Dean D was clearly thrilled, awarding five stars and writing a lengthy review, “I can’t describe how much I love it. I’ve had enough of Hollywood’s didacticism—stale, clichéd, hackneyed, boring… None of that is here. Only the thrill of madness coupled with intelligence, indulgence bound by law! Every character in the movie is so punchable, but you can’t help admitting you are captivated by their intelligence; you want to be like them! That’s also what makes them so endearing.”

“What’s more surprising to me is that this is a Hollywood ending, yet it’s not a Hollywood ending. The MIT21 members are still living breezily and happily, not neglecting their studies or losing sight of their dreams. It sounds so unreal, yet it’s true. Genius Yang didn’t catch the opportunity to preach; instead, he carefully delivered one blood-pumping game after another. I’m in love with this young guy! He knows exactly what we want!!”

Dean D didn’t forget to write at the end, “Natalie Portman’s performance is also jaw-dropping! How can she act so brilliantly? Super cool.”

Lewis T commented, “Cool, fun, professional! A bunch of numbers are still swirling in my head, it’s the best gambling movie I’ve ever seen, making those previous card counting movies look pretty ridiculous, including ‘The Hangover’.” Roy P wrote, “21 is a bit like ‘Ocean’s Eleven’, giving me the same thrilling viewing experience. Based on real-life events, it never made me worry about how they would stay away from the casinos but just thoroughly enjoy the story.”…

“I absolutely love the editing and the soundtrack, some details, some shots are just memorable!” Jennifer said, while Jon L said, “It was way better than I expected! Wang Yang did the right thing, which was to give the casinos a tough lesson.” Andrew T said, “OK, Wang Yang told us that Chinese and Jewish people are good at math, and they can team up and win millions overnight. But damn, did they really hit the big jackpot in the end?”

Martin Chen, whose profile picture is a black-haired Asian, wrote, “It offered a lot of fun, astonishing talent, and unforgettable scenes. Whether it’s the bar, the classroom, or the casino, it’s all so cool. Thanks to Wang Yang!” A white girl with black hair, Randy M wrote, “All I have to say is, OH, MY! Sure enough, Wang Yang’s movies never disappoint, everything is just so cool! Yang’s cameo is hilarious!” Nick O wrote, “The director is cool and smart, the actors are cool and smart, and then we saw this indulgent movie of talent.”…

There are swathes of comments praising the director and actors, with countless fans like Ilan S saying, “Natalie and Wang Yang really are the best combo!” Rachel’s performance was also widely praised: “She played a character struggling to keep cool but essentially frantic and arrogant almost to perfection!” The praise for Alexis’s performance was no less, with Andy Q writing, “Wang Yang fully developed her temperament, it’s so lovely, I believe she will have a bright future on the screen!”

And of course, the male lead Daniel Wu also received a lot of praise. Regardless of skin color, as long as the audience watches calmly, the merit of the acting is there for all to see, it’s just a matter of whether the audience says it and how they say it. Alex V said, “Daniel Wu’s performance was very good.” Ciara said, “I like Daniel Wu, his image is fresh and unique, that’s just the fact, isn’t it?”

It’s hard for a movie to satisfy everyone, and clearly, MIT-21-TEAM isn’t that kind of film. Apart from the 92% who raved and shouted ‘cool’, and some middle-of-the-road comments like, “It can kill some time on a sleepy afternoon nicely,” there were also 8% of the audience who disliked it, for reasons such as being tedious and boring, the MIT team not getting punished, resembling a recruitment film for MIT, not having enough fun, lacking a sense of threat…

On the afternoon of Saturday, the box office data for Friday, August 1st, was freshly released, with the new release ‘American Pie 3’ earning $10.22 million in 3172 theaters, ranking second. The day’s champion was ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ in 3354 theaters, with a stunning $18.64 million take, expected to break $40 million in its opening weekend; while ‘Catch Me If You Can’ opened with $10.11 million and took $48.64 million in its first weekend.

These results surprised Firebrand Films and Wang Yang to some extent, as the impact of the Chinese male lead was not as significant as expected, unlike the best-selling ‘Rush Hour’ which made audiences accept it easily.

Perhaps it was the drawing power of the Best Director; perhaps it was the backing of names like Natalie Portman and Rachel McAdams; perhaps it was the clear communication from the beginning of the promotion that there was a Chinese male lead; or perhaps the real story itself had a considerable attraction—Jeff Ma being Chinese is also a fact.

The exit polls from the cinema chains have shed some light on the situation. ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ not only attracted young people to fill the seats, but the audience also included middle-aged and elderly people, with a 50%:50% split defining the over and under 25-years-old demographic, and the gender ratio of the audience was also 50%:50%! Without a doubt, this is the most perfect audience composition for a movie, with men and women, young and old, all adoring it.

“The fact that it can capture the attention of all audience groups, men, women, the elderly, and the young… that’s very exciting. People immerse themselves in this fun watching process and feel another kind of life, and that’s the coolest part,” said Simon Willis, head of distribution at Firebrand Films, to the Los Angeles Times, laughing as he added, “Yang says ‘we can now expect more.’ It is indeed true, ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ is definitely worth watching for everyone.”

Box office tracking sites have already attributed the expected success of ’21’ to several factors: “An irresistible director, an exciting cast, a captivating story, and the always excellent marketing.”

The calendar on the wall flipped again and again; theatres across North America were filled with countless audiences coming and going every day, and ratings and reviews on IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes continued to pour in daily. Soon, the weekend of August 1st to 3rd had passed, and “MIT-21-TEAM,” having taken the lead on the first day, unsurprisingly clinched the championship, with a box office of $49.67 million. If there were a showdown, it would have narrowly beat “Catch Me If You Can” by over one million.

Directly defeated by it was “American Pie 3,” which had a 45% critic freshness, 65% audience approval; “clichéd and worn-out,” “Hollywood’s excessive exploitation,” “a bit of fun”… However, it still had an impressive opening weekend with $25.78 million, ranking second. Third was “Extremely Small Spies 3” with $10.5 million, followed by “Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl” with $10.14 million…

In the weekend box office report by FilmReport, editor Bloom described the week’s champion, “An expected rebound from a gambling film capable of setting new records—nobody can stop Wang Yang’s magic.” He also sympathized with “American Pie 3”: “The movie isn’t that bad; hate it for being overshadowed by ‘The Hangover’ before, and now clashing with Wang Yang’s magic, a loss was inevitable.”

The $49.67 million opening weekend box office and the still strong 92% approval on Rotten Tomatoes showed the audience’s enthusiasm and love for “MIT-21-TEAM”; while the film critics, eager to see the newest work of the youngest Golden Globe and Oscar Best Director, had already given their verdict. Rotten Tomatoes had gathered 205 reviews, 174 fresh and 31 rotten, resulting in an 85% freshness rate from general critics and 90% from top critics.

“An excessively exaggerated story—what exactly does Wang Yang want to say? It’s more like a hideous show.” — Mike Lane, The Northwest Herald; “The acting is above reproach, and the editing and music are beautiful, but disappointingly, from start to finish, Wang Yang shows no interest in discussing any issues; it’s so arrogant and empty. It even suggests at the end that maybe there’s no issue to consider? Maybe.” — David Bias, Atlantic City Daily; “Two hours of watching them come and go, with some interesting details, but mostly repetitive and dull.” — Sean Fraser, Chicago Reader…

Among the 31 rotten reviews, most criticized the film for lacking substance. Hollywood formulas and clichés were certainly scorned; yet when they were almost entirely absent, not everyone was satisfied—after all, clichés were still appealing to many. Of course, “MIT-21-TEAM” was not unrepentant or obdurate, but left stylishly to return to the past, with 85% of critics thoroughly enjoying the entertainment feast.

“Because we can. This proud confidence, and the winner’s mindset of knowing exactly what one is doing, runs through this indulgently fun and uniquely fresh movie.” — Elizabeth Weisman, New York Daily News; “I willingly sat for 2 hours without wanting to miss a scene or a line (missing them would leave you confused), all expectations were met, truly satisfying!” — Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times; “A highly persuasive plot, a visually delightful showdown of acting skills, Wang Yang’s most pleasing film, cool!” — Roger Moore, Orlando Sentinel…

With an 85% freshness, 92% approval, box office championship… and elements like a true story and card counting, it all was enough to draw in moviegoers who hadn’t yet seen the film to check out the movie hailed as “an unprecedented gambling film.” Unsurprisingly, the “MIT-21-TEAM’s” first-week box office continued to surge daily, and the gap with films like “American Pie 3” grew even wider.

※※

※※

※※

PS: It’s worth mentioning that the exit data, evenly divided among men and women, young and old, is based on reality; the genius story of conquering Las Vegas is actually very marketable. (To be continued, for the sequel, please visit . More chapters are available, support the author, support legal reading!)