King of Hollywood

Chapter 129: Chapter 129: Step by Step

Adrian’s new film, which is also his fifth work, “Pulp Fiction,” having won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, finally premiered yesterday. I must admit that this movie, maintaining his consistent style, is still very captivating. There’s been plenty of descriptions about its ubiquitous details and circular narrative structure, so there’s no need to mention that here. The most striking feature of the film is its postmodernist anti-traditional narrative, the collage of various plots and the subversion of deep mode which astonishes while simultaneously marveling the audience. Adrian himself admitted that this film was fun and entertaining.

However, the most surprising thing wasn’t the film itself, but what happened at the press conference after the premiere where the genius director announced that he was about to start the production of a new film. Alright, I know many people upon reading this will cynically think: Oh, here we go again. Indeed, this workaholic director is starting a new film project; one really wonders if he might one day work himself to death. But that’s not the most important part. The most important thing is, Adrian has announced that his next film will be a completely artistic drama!

Good God, a director famed for his cult style, who has just received the highest honor from the Cannes Film Festival as well as unanimous praise from critics, now wants to make a thoroughly artistic film—it’s a horrifying thought. The difference between these two film genres could well be bigger than the Atlantic, and it’s completely unclear why Adrian would want to make such a dramatic shift in his style.

Okay, great directors never want to confine themselves to a single genre; they always crave a breakthrough, which isn’t unusual. Adrian himself believes he is now confined to a very narrow range. However, wanting to break through doesn’t necessarily mean one can do so. Adrian’s prior “The Shawshank Redemption” was brilliant, with its cult style not being obvious, and it notably increased the amount of human concern in its storytelling—gradual progress is always the best approach.

To suddenly abandon one’s established style and then gamble on producing a completely new genre of movie—if it fails, all the previous accumulation could be ruined. Especially since his fourth movie was put on ice due to its failure, it’s hard to look favorably on this current attempt at breakthrough.

Well, maybe I’m just overthinking it. Perhaps Adrian will pull off a huge surprise.

This is an article from the New York Times, which essentially represents the attitudes of most entertainment journalists—that is, they are skeptical about Adrian’s artistic drama film. After all, the controversy over her fourth film has not yet quieted down because Adrian has hardly defended himself, with almost everyone thinking he has conceded to the failure.

Therefore, many reporters feel that he is so desperate to try a film with a completely different style because he was stimulated by the failure of the fourth film and the success of the fifth film. Thus, it’s inevitable that some would write sarcastically, “For Adrian, the pressure the Palme d’Or brings is much greater than the honor; otherwise, he wouldn’t want to prove himself this way. Moreover, he has even claimed that his fourth film did not fail and that it would be proven upon this year’s release. I really can’t understand why he would suddenly say so—usually, such a declaration is either from great self-confidence or an unwillingness to admit failure, honestly speaking, I do not see the former in Adrian.”

Of course, such mockery isn’t common. Apart from a few tabloid journalists aiming to sensationalize, most people’s tones are relatively calm, and even the sarcastic comments are appropriately placed, like the reporter from the New York Times who offered a little blessing at the end. But no matter what, their views won’t change.

Yet, no matter how vigorously the media discusses it, Adrian, the person involved, has remained without the slightest response.

“No need, the more this happens, the less we should respond, or else it will only give the journalists free rein to sensationalize further. Besides, I haven’t revealed the most important part yet. I bet once they find out, they will definitely go nuts,” Adrian said to Claude on the phone, “So, instead of worrying about me, you’d better spend more time thinking about the company’s affairs.”

He had been unhurriedly going about his business according to plan, like contacting Hopkins, or urging the screenwriters to write the script for “True Lies,” while also exchanging views on “Philadelphia Story” with Demi over the phone.

Of course, the most important thing was discussing the company’s situation with Claude. The acquisition of the record company was already taking shape, like when they acquired the Bossworth Film Company, they had chosen a medium-sized but culturally rich record company. With more funding available than before, the scope of selection had greatly expanded. The company’s performance didn’t matter much; the key was how long it had been established and what its corporate culture was like, as AC Media now needed depth above all else.

Bedegray Records was their target, a company that had its moments of glory in the 70s and had launched some fairly popular singers—Madonna was said to have almost been signed by them, though of course, that was just hearsay. Besides that, they had produced and released quite a few great classical music records during their heyday, with many outstanding producers and singers.

But what goes up must come down, and by the mid-80s, due to a series of strategic errors by Bedegray Records and because they could never compete with the major record companies, they gradually fell from grace. Even so, the company had always maintained good distribution channels and connections, which was exactly what Claude was interested in.

After several negotiations, the other party offered a fairly reasonable price. Claude thought it was acceptable and therefore reported the situation to Adrian. Although Adrian, who indicated that he was informed, didn’t feel much about it, he started thinking about whether to produce some good songs—perhaps form a boy band?

However, although he could remember those songs very well and they were familiar to the ear, he had no idea how to produce them. He certainly couldn’t just call a music producer over to listen to him sing, could he? Yes, Adrian knew how to play piano, play guitar, read music, but that didn’t mean he could flawlessly, without raising any suspicions, write those songs.

Screw it, he’d deal with it after Claude fixed up the record company. There would be a way. With no solution in mind, Adrian promptly cast these thoughts aside and then started focusing on the next most important matter.

“Quite nice, very pretty, but it doesn’t match the color of the trousers. You could switch to a pair of darker pants,” Adrian immediately became animated as a figure flashed out from the dressing room and sat in a chair waiting, originally bored to death. After looking up and down carefully, he seriously commented.

“Really?” Kate spun around on the spot a few times, then looked at herself in the mirror again, “I don’t think so.”

“Then what’s your opinion, Kate?” Adrian asked with a smile, this kind of banter had happened more than once or twice during that period, and he knew what Kate was calculating in her mind.

“Just thinking about when he returned to his home in Los Angeles and stood in the living room, with Kate wrapping her arms around herself and looking at him, filled with jealousy, saying, ‘Ha, finally back from your ‘Muse’ goddess?'”

He knew just how unhappy she was.

And Adrian’s way of dealing with it was to pick Kate up, take her to the bedroom, toss her onto the bed, and pin her down until she couldn’t get up anymore. He was so unapologetic because he had already cooed to her on the phone for a long time. Continuing to coax her now would be less effective than going straight for the most intimate contact. Indeed, Kate’s reactions were all within his expectations. After the first time, she rested for a few minutes, then straddled him in cowgirl position for a second round, which proved to be the best evidence.

Though such a simple solution resolved the slight barrier between them, a jealous woman is often unreasonable, which meant that Kate was bound to be argumentative during this period. That’s also why Adrian considered dates with Kate to be the second most important matter.

Watching Kate continue to the dressing room to change clothes after her audition, a slight smile appeared on Adrian’s lips. Arguments aside, she would still take his advice, so there was no need to overly worry about anything.

Thinking of this, Adrian couldn’t help but pinch his fingers, as Monica’s figure popped into his mind. Soon? No, no rush. It’s better to take things step by step. The bread will be there, and the milk… will also be there.

After a stroll, he discussed with Kate, and the two of them immediately went back to the villa to make dinner together. Mrs. Galen, as usual, had prepared Mexican rice and smoked bacon before leaving; they only needed to make some salad and soup.

“I’m good at making soup.” Adrian boasted after tasting the soup from the small pot.

Kate, who was chopping tomatoes, hummed softly. She tossed the diced tomatoes into a large glass bowl and began dressing the salad after washing her hands.

“Alright, Kate’s English-style salad isn’t bad either.” Adrian said, smiling as he wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.

“How does it compare to the Italian-style salad made by your ‘Muse’ goddess?” Kate rolled her eyes at him.

“Please, do you have to use that name?” Adrian sighed exaggeratedly.

“How do you expect a jealous woman to refer to someone?” Kate turned her head and wrapped her arms around Adrian’s neck, her expression growing serious, with a flutter of hesitation and concern in her eyes, “Amy… My friend told me that when a director calls his female lead his ‘Muse,’ it’s not a good sign.”

“Do you remember what I told you on the phone?” Adrian smiled and reached out to tickle her nose, “A goddess can mostly just be worshipped from afar.”

Hmm, it was indeed like that most of the time.

Kate looked into his unblinking, pitch-black eyes and suddenly turned to pick up the glass bowl, “Alright, let’s have dinner first.”

Adrian promptly grabbed her arm, “So, just like that, the topic ends?”

“What do you want then, Mr. Adrian?” Kate looked at him sideways.

“I’m about to go to London and won’t be back for a few months, so—” Adrian pressed closer to her, “I want to eat you ‘Here’ first.”

“Here? Are you sure you can handle it?” Kate suddenly reached down and grabbed his lower half, chuckling wickedly.

“Let’s find out!” (To be continued. For more, please visit www.qidian.com. More chapters are available. Support the author, support genuine reading!)