Overturned, HBO encountered a phenomenal hit on the street for the first time!
When it comes to HBO productions, everyone should be able to think of several phenomenal dramas.
Whether it is "The Sopranos" and "Band of Brothers" that year, or "Game of Thrones" that everyone had to watch in previous years, as well as "Atlantic Empire" and "The Line of Fire"...
Including "The War of Inheritance", which just ended a few days ago, it has also become another classic in the hearts of countless American drama fans.
In short, even if it is said, "HBO production, it must be a good work", I am afraid that not many friends will object.
However, this time, HBO really overturned.
This is the new American drama "Idol Vortex" that many friends are discussing these days, and as a result, the rating looks like this.
Of course, it is not only the Douban score that is poor, in fact, the North American score is even worse.
The show appeared at the Cannes Film Festival in May, and the first two episodes were sprayed by various media and film critics at that time.
Rotten Tomatoes is now 44 media comments, but the freshness is only 27%, 4.6 points, which is a proper street.
The evaluations of various media are basically splitting heads and covering faces.
The Times, for example, criticized the show: "Idol Vortex" claims to be satirizing sexual exploitation, and then enjoys it throughout. It wants to show the pleasure of sexual abuse and criticize it...
CNN said that although "Idol Vortex" tried to provoke the audience, it was a banal cliché and a very blunt performance.
Roger Ebert's website criticized Brother Bonsai's performance: Unfortunately, Tesfaye behaved quite badly on screen, bland and purposeless.
…………
Anyway, as long as you go through the evaluation of this film, the bad reviews really can't be seen, and there are all kinds of them.
Including the rating on IMDb, it is also very scary, and it has only exceeded 5 points now.
Based on various comments, at least from the perspective of word of mouth, "Idol Vortex" is definitely on the street, and it is the kind that is particularly miserable.
But in fact, from the perspective of the lineup, this is really not an inconspicuous small drama, in fact, it is an annual Internet celebrity drama that many friends have high hopes for.
At the very least, the lineup of this show is absolutely strong. The male protagonist of this play is Weekn, that is, the famous musician "Bonsai", and his influence in the music industry does not need our popular science. This time he turned into the film and television industry, and he is also a screenwriter, starring actor and producer, and can be called the number one behind-the-scenes boss of this "Idol Vortex".
He plays the head of a cult in the play.
And the heroine of this film is also the second generation of stars who have been very topical in recent years.
Johnny Depp and Vanessa Pallades' daughter Lily-Rose Depp, she plays a popular female singer named Jocelyn in the play, caught in various scandals, and now wants to rise again.
Even Jennie, a member of the popular group BLACKPINK, made a guest appearance in the show, which also made her fans excited for a while.
At least look at the lineup, it is full of sales.
At the same time, the director of "Idol Vortex" is also very powerful, that is, Sam Levinson, the director who single-handedly created HBO's popular American drama "Hyper" series, in fact, he is still the son of the old director Barry Levinson (the director of "Rain Man"), and he is also a veritable second generation of directors.
In short, such a lineup combination and behind-the-scenes configuration really has an Internet celebrity temperament from the day of preparation.
Even, it took over the "War of Succession" that had just been canonized.
As a result, it pounced all the way to the present.
So, what story does this "Idol Vortex" tell?
As can be seen from the first episode that began on Sunday, this is actually a story that attacks the entertainment industry. As mentioned earlier, Lily-Rose Depp plays a popular actress Jocelyn, on the one hand, she has a very high popularity and is surrounded by agents and various staff members every day.
On the other hand, she doesn't seem to be as happy as she seems, her private life is indulgent, and, in fact, she is fragile. Including the staff, always be careful that she breaks down again (and in the play, the character directly refers to this character as Britney Spears).
At the same time, she is caught up in a nude photos crisis. Her indecent photos were posted on the Internet and became a hot spot on the Internet, and her assistant didn't even know who sent the photos, because Jocelyn's private life is really a bit messy...
Despite being devastated by the photo leak, Jocelyn struggled to live herself. She ran to the dance hall that night and met the male protagonist Tedros played by Brother Bonsai.
This character is a cult leader according to the plot.
But in fact, I can't see it from the first episode, I only know that this should be a very attractive and controlling man (of course, like many netizens, I don't think Weekn is suitable for such a role, at least his performance is very unconvincing).
In fact, from the plot of the first episode, it is a story involving sexual violence and sexual abuse, which basically belongs to the alphabet circle.
It is probably that although the actress Jocelyn has a successful career, her heart is empty, and even a little silly and sweet. And the male protagonist Tedros said that you don't understand what sex is, so you can't sing well, so I'm going to take you to understand what real sex is, and then some control behaviors (in fact, it is to play control and sexual violence).
In fact, if you have seen "Hyper", you know that director Sam Levinson's works have always been very large, and the content described is also crazy. Therefore, this "Idol Vortex" is also quite crazy, at least the heroine Lily has a large number of very large-scale performances in the first episode, and I estimate that the scale will be even larger in the next few episodes.
This is also why the commentary will say that this show is very rotten while attacking the world of the entertainment industry, and at the same time seems to be consuming this thing.
Anyway, the line is really blurred.
But in fact, the problem with this show is that it is too boring. It basically tells a story that is nothing new, but thinks it is challenging. For example, the matter of drunken gold fans in the entertainment industry, is there anything worth talking about, there are really too many film and television works writing about this before.
Including last year's movie "Babylon", even tells you that the film industry was like this 100 years ago.
So now, what will be new?
"Babylon"
And director Barry Levinson also has a situation, that is, he likes to juxtapose madness and vulnerability. This trick works very well in "Hyper", and the characters in it are all indulgent and EMO, which is very in line with the public's assumption of Generation Z young people. And Generation Z young people themselves will also feel that this setting is very in line with their positioning, cool and sad.
The problem is that when such a setting is set in "Idol Vortex", it is a little weird. The heroine is also a female star with a chaotic life but an empty heart. But just like many netizens think about celebrities, your life is already so good, what are you pretentious day by day?
I'm not saying that this statement is very correct, it's just that this statement is very representative of the public, which is one of the reasons why this show is not pleasant.
On the other hand, the performance of the actress Lily-Rose Depp is actually very problematic, at least in the first episode, she always presents a kind of expressionless performance (although some comments say that this is helpless after being controlled by the agent and staff).
But the bigger problem is that it's hard to really see what she's thinking. She didn't seem to want to convey any emotions.
Another problem is that Lily-Rose Depp's own public image is actually a very open, very open star second generation, a girl with a lot of personality. Therefore, letting her play such a role that has been killed by the entertainment industry, and even some little white rabbits, is actually lacking in some persuasion, and it is difficult to arouse the audience's sympathy.
It will also weaken the depth of this show.
As for the male protagonist played by Weeknd, I have nothing to evaluate. Anyway, from his performance, I find it hard to believe that this is a cult leader who exudes personal charm and can play a female star who has been in the entertainment industry for many years.
Of course, the film says yes.
In fact, the rush of "Idol Vortex" is actually foreshadowed. This drama has not been so smooth since the beginning of filming.
The show was announced to start production in 2021, when Weekn served as the writer, starring and producer, and the director of this show was female director Amy Simitz (who has directed "Stranger Things" and "Atlanta" and other dramas).
Then, the series was filmed for several episodes, but because of the incompatibility of creative concepts, she quit the crew. Sam Levinson officially took over the show, and heavily revised the script, and began the remake.
According to media reports at the time, the show had already been filmed for several episodes (later said that it was 80% finished). But to rewrite the script and remake, even including changing the cast and staff, is tantamount to changing the cast and crew.
According to Deadline reports at the time, the crux of the matter was that Weeknd thought the show was too female, and according to sources, the show focused more on the role of actress Lily Rose Depp than on the role of Weeken.
In other words, Weekn, as a producer, screenwriter, and starring actor, thinks that his own role is too little.
According to reports, the original plot is actually about the oppression of women in the entertainment industry and the dark side of the entertainment industry. After Sam Levinson accepted the play, he drastically rewrote the plot and turned it into a drama focusing on the relationship between the male and female protagonists, as well as sexual abuse and sexual violence.
Of course, both HBO and The Weeknd deny this claim.
Anyway, whether this news is correct or not, the new version is indeed a variety of staff changes, script changes, and remakes. "Rolling Stone" even said that before changing the director, the show had spent 54-75 million. Of course, HBO also denies this claim, saying that the number is overstated.
Even more explosively, "Rolling Stone" published an article on March 1 this year.
The article was quite explosive, with Rolling Stone claiming that they interviewed 13 unnamed Idol Vortex crew members and said that the filming of the show was very chaotic.
Including bad things like director changes, script changes, and team members leaving.
According to thirteen sources, the show has "gone off track wildly" and the new plot is offensive.
It is reported that Sam Levinson, one of the main creators of the show, constantly revised the script, destroyed the original storyline and theme, and added more sexual content and nudity. Some members felt that the change made the content appear more disgusting and offensive. In addition, there were disagreements within the production team, resulting in slow production schedules and longer shooting times. Some team members said that the production experience of the show made them feel very tired and heartbroken, and some even left the production team because of it.
Of course, this is all light, in fact, there are some particularly restrictive content in the entire breaking article. Including the original plot where eggs were stuffed into Lily's body, but it was canceled because the shooting was too difficult.
Details are as follows:
Anyway, if according to the report of "Rolling Stone", then this crew, as well as the new script, can be said to be very unbearable to look at directly.
Of course, neither Weekcan nor Lily denied the claims of "Rolling Stone".
At that time, Lily also specifically stated that she supported the director, and Weeknd also publicly stated that "Rolling Stone" was taken out of context.
Anyway, the whole process of this drama is a bad book, and I feel that the story behind the series is more lively than the series itself.
And if it goes on in such a mess, it's strange that this drama has to be good-looking.
In this way, this crew itself is the original vortex of "Idol Vortex".
Of course, no matter how much everyone complains, how bad the evaluation is.
This drama is still quite popular, after all, there are many stars and gimmicks.
For example, after the first episode was broadcast, it also became the most popular drama in these days.