章節 29: Critical

The major studios' target of attack was flawed, to begin with.

If they could have gone for Sullivan's Silicone Valley roots, then they might have had a fighting chance.

Still, an altered version of the story would negate most of the influence it brought to the film. Having a pitiful child star in a movie does have its advantages, after all.

Even if they truly went with attacking the Creeds' porn industry starting point, it wouldn't amount to much because Sullivan kept his hands clean.

He had a hand in some productions but he could only be traced back as the renter for the filming equipment.

In a way, he was the legitimate gun shop but not the eventual gunner that may or may not have used the gun to do illegal shots.

The competition could have also gone out of its way to disprove the orphaned and grieving Alexander story.

Too bad, that Alexander was truly orphaned with the parent's death anniversary on December 3rd. When that fact was uncovered by reporters, the sob story became much more believable and solid.

Even if the current Alexander has long moved on, his normally emotionless demeanor was clearly hiding something.

Sullivan and those who knew him could only attribute it to a facade of maturing fast while hiding the pain inside.

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After the ups and downs of the negative publicity storm, the critics that had been fencing around finally ushered a wave of their reviews.

'The movie devolves into an egregious Three Stooges pain fest: We're meant to giggle and clap along with Kevin as the crooks get their heads singed with blowtorches and walk barefoot on glass.' -Entertainment Weekly.

'If Home Alone had limited itself to the things that might possibly happen to a forgotten 8-year-old, I think I would have liked it more.' -Roger Ebert, The Chicago Times.

'Sullivan and Alexander Creed's junky, rambunctiously funny Home Alone is every kid's anarchical wish come true.' - Washington Post.

'This holiday contender from Creed Films is too crass, too loud, and too violent to be added blithely to Christmas viewing traditions. But it is funny.' -Washington Post.

All in all, they portrayed things in a much more neutral root by emphasizing the flaws and highlighting the positive points.

As for their professional rating average, Alexander didn't bother with it. The Creeds had not paid them and would try to not deal much with them in the future.

Sure, they had great influence in this era but they are just extra expenditures for marketing. Their outputs would be unstable and unpredictable to be worth it.

If one pays a film critic money for a good review, one will only find out later that they have trashed the film instead.

The competition had already given that critic a higher pay and overturned your agreement. The hateful thing is that they take the competition's money and keep yours as well.

The critic gets away with it because production companies don't have much balls to offend the tight-knit critic community.

Also, they'll pass off their fraud by saying that they are standing for their dignity and their commitment to the glory of film. Like they even have dignity in the first place?

This was Alexander's understanding of critics since his past work as a bug finder on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB. The people there disclosed the sketchiness of the so-called professional critics and his views on them had never been good since.

Sullivan had no clue about the reason behind his grandson's prejudice but he was a spoiling old man. He adjusted his marketing strategy and critics were on the low end of the priority.

When Alexander shared his analysis of critics with Sullivan, the cons were enough to outweigh the pros. There was no way the old man would waste his precious money on such unstable assets.

In a way, they'd still have free tickets to Creed movie premieres but expecting pay afterward is a mistake. They work with news companies, so why not let them pay instead?

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Home Alone's supposed dominance for 20 weeks in the theaters did happen but it was not without close contenders.

In the weeks after the negative news outburst, Home Alone was clearly declining but it was still strong nonetheless.

Arnold Schwarzenneger and his fat ugly twin have hooked many with their plot and PG rating.

It was only a few hundred dollars too short to take the number one spot. If box office transparency was pretty clear in this era, the producers and cast would have rushed forward by paying for the box office themselves.

Unfortunately, it didn't happen and the glory of stepping on Home Alone was abruptly cut off. It would have been the greatest publicity for the Twins film.

Another contender arrived the next week which is powered by the superstar factor of the ultra-popular Tom Cruise.

Rain Man and its R-rating had great momentum, only to fall short against PG-13 Alexander and PG Arnold.

After this movie though, Tom Cruise would taste the benefits of lowered pay and box office percentage incentive. Hence, he would strive for higher pay, box office incentive, and be a producer himself.

Cruise/Wagner Productions must already be in the works.

In the weeks after Rain Man, the watching and re-watching boom for the sensational Home Alone was in full drive.

It was Christmas and Kevin's Christmas spirit infected all. Box office numbers showed a reversal in decline and the profits grew even more.

All that while, the Creeds were having their little Christmas gathering. Instead of exchanging gifts and enjoying the jolly of the holiday season, they were exchanging wits and planning their next few movies.

Sullivan also had to monitor the situation with Creed Distributions and is already sorting out the kinks and troubles. Talking with foreign correspondents was a pain in the head and pockets with only the mail and long-distance phones to communicate.

Alexander was not far from his grandfather at these times as he wanted to know how one manages an international company.

He also lamented the slow pace of digital and internet developments. He went from being rich in convenience to being thrown into a world where convenience is achieved through straining your hands from writing and burning your pockets due to international calls.