On November 4th, the Golden Rooster Award of the 36th Chinese Film was announced in Xiamen, Fujian. Tony Leung Chiu Wai (first from left) won the Best Actor Award. Xinhua News Agency reporter Wei Peiquan photo

　　Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, December 19 (Reporter Leon) The cold wave struck, and the somatosensory temperature in Beijing has dropped below minus 10 degrees Celsius, but it can’t stop people from watching movies at the end of the year. In the Capital Cinema, which is located in Xidan business district in the city center, the prime-time sales of popular New Year movies are tight.

　　According to the data of Cat’s Eye, the box office revenue of China in 2023 was 52.9 billion yuan as of December 18th. The annual box office jumped from about 30 billion yuan last year to more than 50 billion yuan this year, setting a new box office record since 2020, indicating that the film industry in China is accelerating its recovery.

　　At present, the top ten in the annual box office list are all domestic films. The box office data released by the film data platform since 2011 shows that domestic films have won the top ten annual box office only once before in 2020. Analysts pointed out that behind the growing popularity of domestic films is the overall progress of China films — — Domestic films are more and more close to the aesthetic needs of the audience.

　　In 2023, China’s box office revenue exceeded 50 billion yuan on November 13th. Industry insiders predict that the annual box office revenue will eventually reach around 55 billion yuan. Although it is lower than the historical highs of more than 60 billion yuan in 2019 and 2018, it is equivalent to the level in 2017 and will be the fourth or third highest annual box office in China film history.

　　"This shows that the film market has generally recovered, and both the film supply side and the audience demand side are gradually returning to the pre-epidemic level." Liu Peng, president of Cat’s Eye Research Institute, a box office data analysis agency, told Xinhua News Agency.

　　Looking back on the whole year, the Spring Festival in 2023 performed well, with the box office exceeding 6.7 billion yuan, making it the second highest box office in China film history, only lower than that in 2021. The summer file is particularly eye-catching, with the box office reaching 20.6 billion yuan, creating the first record of China’s summer file box office breaking through the 20 billion mark. The National Day box office was 2.7 billion yuan, although it was inferior to the 4 billion yuan in the National Day file for three consecutive years from 2019 to 2021, but it was higher than the 1.5 billion yuan in 2022.

　　On June 9th, the crew of the film "Feng Shen Part I" appeared at the red carpet ceremony of the 25th Shanghai International Film Festival. Xinhua News Agency reporter Xin Mengchen photo

　　The types of films are rich and the themes are diverse. Among them, "Man Jiang Hong" and "Wandering Earth 2" aroused the feelings of home and country; The realistic movies "Put all your eggs in one basket", "She Disappeared", "In an octagonal cage" and "Rock-solid" are highly topical and close to life. Feng Shen Part I is praised as a masterpiece of China people’s own epic myth, while Three Wan Li in Chang ‘an tells a new antique story from a unique perspective.

　　"On the whole, China films adhere to the realistic line, absorb the tradition of legendary narration of China films, communicate and interact with the mainstream audience more closely, and constantly improve the industrialization of films, which has contributed to the overall progress and development of China films." Rao Shuguang, president of China Film Criticism Society, believes that film consumption in China is showing a good trend of recovery growth.

　　As of December 16th, the data of Lighthouse Professional Edition, a movie data platform, shows that 83% of the box office in China in 2023 was contributed by domestic movies, and the top ten in the box office list were all domestic movies. The Hollywood film Fast and Furious 10 ranks 12th with a box office income of 980 million yuan, which is the highest ranked foreign film.

　　According to industry observers, the attraction of Hollywood movies to China movie audiences is weakening, corresponding to the increasing attention of domestic movies.

　　"Hollywood mainly relies on Marvel Comics films and series of films. Although these films present powerful audio-visual wonders, they have also caused aesthetic fatigue to China audiences over time." Rao Shuguang analyzed, "At the same time, American movies lack internal connection with China people’s lives, and it is difficult to cause empathy."

　　Liu Peng believes that Hollywood films are good at industrialization and visual effects, while domestic visual effects blockbusters have become common in recent years. "If Hollywood films don’t have strong word-of-mouth support, rich and diverse domestic films are a natural choice for audiences".

On my social media, that photo appeared again and again. A young woman was lying in a hospital bed, unconscious, with a breathing tube in her mouth. Her thick black eyelashes and curly black hair outline her young face. The post is written in Persian, and my mastery of this language can only be regarded as a primary level. I brushed these posts and continued my daily routine: seeing a doctor, teaching, and constantly urging my 17-year-old daughter Laila to fill out her college application.

As the days passed, the story became well known. The photo shows Mahsa Gina Amigny, a 22-year-old girl who has just been admitted to the university. While vacationing with her family in Tehran, she was detained by the "moral police" because of her loose headscarf. In the detention center, she was beaten and taken to the hospital, and eventually died of her injuries. Her dream was to become a lawyer, but she was disillusioned by a wisp of floating hair.

The news of her death spread through a photo. It was a photo of her parents hugging and crying in the hospital, which was shared by a reporter on Twitter. This tweet caused widespread protests, led by girls and women. My news source has become an ocean of photos of young girls. They wear black eyeliner like my daughter Lila-in the video, they laugh, cook and dance. However, many of them, Billera is still young, so they disappeared and even were murdered.

Iran was not like this. The Islamic Revolution in Israel in 1979 overthrew an oppressive monarchy and promised freedom. But from the perspective of my third-grade student at that time, everything became more depressed as time went by. Schools have become single-sex and headscarves have become mandatory. It started as a scarf, and later it became "Manteo", a loose, knee-length raincoat-like coat. But the color can only be brown, black, gray or navy blue. Pants must be worn below. Schools check from time to time, and moral police in the street look for people who violate the rules. If you are caught, you will be whipped.

In 1984, we pretended to attend a medical conference and fled Iran. We each took only one suitcase. It was not until a few hours before we boarded the plane that I knew we were leaving and would never come back. In Massachusetts, I started my eighth grade life. My Iranian part was sealed up by me-until last autumn, which forced me to recall those times.

I remember soldiers knocking at the door and searching for counter-revolutionary materials. They sat on my parents’ bed and quickly played all our videos backwards. Mostly Pink Panther, but those men don’t find it interesting.

I remember cutting my hair short and pretending to be a boy so that I could ride a bike without being bound by a headscarf. One day, I inadvertently put on pink shorts and exposed my girl identity. When those Nissan patrol cars chased me, I understood the meaning of "fight or flight". I escaped.

I remember the consequences of intellectual dissent. My aunt was expelled from dental school because she was accused of reading opposition newspapers. My cousin was forced to "repent" on TV and then executed. Another cousin was imprisoned many times because of his faith. He had cigarette burns on his arm and his nails were pulled out. He finally escaped, but his wife was killed at the age of 21.

Those memories are like dreams, awakened by images on social media. Girls and women in the video, screaming "Zan, Zendegi, Azadi"-"Women, Life, Freedom", bravely walked towards bullets and batons. Every day, the number of deaths and arrests is increasing.

A 52-year-old surgeon protested against the arrested protesters and the use of ambulances to transport security forces at a rally in front of the headquarters of the Medical Association. The doctor’s name is Parisa, and it is said that he was later shot and killed by agents.

All this makes my heart ache, and so does the silence around me. I live every day like a machine, thinking about all the unfairness. Why are people like Laila free to apply for universities and express their opinions, while girls in Iran are subjected to unspeakable punishment for demanding basic human rights?

I can take care of patients. But in Iran, my colleagues are threatened by taking care of injured protesters. They were held in solitary confinement and even murdered. Dr. Ida Rostami, 36, bravely provided treatment for injured protesters. She told her mother that she was coming home, but she never came back. When the police asked her mother to identify the body, they said that Ida had died in a car accident. But her body tells a different story. Her eyes were removed, her face was smashed, and her hand used to treat patients was broken.

So is Dr. Parrisa Bachmani. The official report said that she died in a car accident. The story repeats itself again and again. Protesters disappeared and were later reported to have jumped off a building or died in a car accident. I feel lonely and out of touch with the community. That was my home for 25 years.

One Wednesday, I met an Iranian-American colleague in the clinic corridor. Where the patient was waiting, we were in tears. We started to hold Zoom meetings every week to support each other. Campus communities have also become active. Everyone is involved, from young female postdoctoral fellows who have just arrived in the United States to retired professors. Our reaction is direct and strong. Usually calm men and women cry.

We ask the non-Iranian community to support us. They did it. Every message, email, signature and solidarity has become our strength. The community stands up, speaks, and amplifies our voices. At such an easier time to be silent, they chose to stand on our side.

As the Persian poet Saadi wrote in Bani Adam a thousand years ago, human beings are like a body, and everyone is a part of the body, created by the same essence. When one part is injured, the other part can’t be safe. If you are indifferent to the suffering of others, you are not worthy of being human.

A quarter of doctors in the United States are international graduates. Our roots are all over the world, spanning generations. Our sense of belonging comes from embracing all forms of humanity. See the injured people and stand beside them. Send text messages of support and sign petitions. Whether for Iran, Ukraine, Afghanistan, Turkey or Sudan, these actions connect us like a part of the body.

# Iran #

History is an evil teacher who only tells the truth to free people.

-Lord acton

For some countries or nations, history may be a fetter and a burden, but if you want to liberate from history, the safest and most reliable means is to recognize history.How a country’s citizens know about history determines what kind of future this country will have to a certain extent.Therefore, a correct understanding of history is extremely important for us at present.

Hegel said, "The only lesson that human beings have learned from history is that they have not learned any lessons from history". The reason for this is precisely because human beings have all kinds of wrong understandings of history. However, a historian, with his vigilance and insight, corrected the wrong cognitive model of history and helped us learn wisdom from history and enhance our realm. He is Lord acton.

From Lord acton’s works such as Freedom and Power and Lectures on Modern History, The Prophet Bookstore summarized the following four ideological paths of understanding history, each of which is a historical thinking that goes straight to the bottom:

1. History lies not in abundance, but in truth.

In human history, there are many false histories, the most typical of which is the "history" from the hands of autocratic monarchs. In order to maintain their own orthodoxy, they always delete historical materials and monopolize history. If we want to break away from the domination of power in the vast "history" where fakes are everywhere, we must have the knowledge and courage to find the truth.

Acton believes that the value of history lies not in its richness, but in its credibility. No matter how much false history is piled up, it is equivalent to garbage. It is better not to have it. Only in reliable historical facts can human beings learn real lessons.

2. Meaning is not in the present, but in eternity.

People usually think that the main significance of history is to provide lessons for the present. This is not wrong, but if it is only so, it will be a bit narrow. Because "the present" is always full of disputes and agitation, and the sacred and just beliefs should be detached from it and need to be formed in a quiet space.

Acton said, "Beyond credibility, it is a question of detachment". The key point of historical significance lies in "grasping the eternal problems, so that we are free from limiting the transient and changeable things". Reading history lies in thinking about the origin and root of things, thus gaining a transcendental wisdom.

3. Truth is important, but morality is more important.

In the face of history, if we only pay attention to the truth, it is often easy to draw wrong conclusions. For example, ancient aristocratic rule had many disadvantages, which is a fact, but it does not lead to the conclusion that civilian rule is better. As acton said, "The question is not which specific class is not suitable for ruling, but all classes are not suitable for ruling". Without the universal morality of mankind as a whole, any rule is dangerous.

Acton believes that "ideas are often repeated, rules of conduct are often changed, and creeds also rise and fall, but moral laws are engraved on the eternal monument". Therefore, history must have morality and faith running through it, and we must return to caring for people themselves. Without the restraint of moral principles, history can easily lead to blind hatred and become a call for slaughter.

4. Great history bears witness to the wisdom of God.

Acton believes that if we don’t take into account the history of 3,000 years, we can’t find philosophy in the historical observation of nearly a hundred years in modern times. But compared with ancient history, the cognition of modern history is more important. Because the transformation of mankind from barbarism to civilization in modern history helps us to see that "the wisdom of God’s rule is not reflected in the perfection of the world, but in the improvement of the world".

Modern history "tells our own story and is a record of our own life". Modern history "still hinders the pace of human beings and puzzles the human mind", and every part of modern history "contains extremely precious lessons". If we don’t know how to use the precedents and teachings, we will only repeat the same mistakes in the future and pay a huge price.

The above four points are only a small part of Lord acton’s historical insights. What he warned by moral laws is the weakness of the whole human race and the universal humanity. Acton’s unique transcendence and historical concern made him a prophet, but he was destined to be a minority in history.

Generally speaking, historical research values scientific methods, objective facts and impartial attitude; However, acton’s historical research is the last echo of western classical liberalism, and what he emphasized is precisely the points farthest from history in our eyes-freedom, morality and faith. This unique historical perspective is unfamiliar to Chinese people, but also lacking-perhaps this is the fundamental reason why China has not been able to get out of the cycle of chaos control for thousands of years.

In an era, it not only updated our understanding of culture, but also refreshed our ideas again.

Just as knowledge is not equal to culture, it subverts our rational knowledge and perceptual habits all the time.

In fact, in our thinking logic, people often regard culture as the code of conduct of civilization.

For example, benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and trust, gentleness, courtesy and frugality are all concrete manifestations of behavior culture.

Therefore, when a person walks under a tree or an obstacle below his height, there is no doubt that he will bend down.

It should be said that few people even think about how to change it. This is a kind of culture.

Especially when the elevator door is opened, some people stand aside and wait for others to get off the elevator, and some people are eager to squeeze in.

These actions are the intersection of behavior and culture, and have nothing to do with education and knowledge. This is also a kind of culture.

[1] What is culture

Now that we have talked about "culture", how should we understand and recognize these two words? Of course, in other words: "What is" culture "?

Generally speaking, what we call "culture" in a broad sense refers to the sum of all material products and spiritual products created by human beings.

In a narrow sense, it refers to spiritual products including language, literature, art and all ideologies.

Here, we emphasize that as a kind of "culture", it must have six characteristics:

(1) universality. The universality of culture is manifested in the common cultural forms in social practice activities, even though different national consciousness and behavior are manifested, they have the same forms of expression.

(2) Diversity. Under different natural, historical and social conditions, different cultural types and cultural models have been formed, which makes the world culture present the characteristics of diversity as a whole.

(3) nationality. The traditional culture rooted in the nation is complementary to the development of the nation. So different nationalities have different national cultures.

(4) Inheritance. The inheritance of culture is the basis of carrying forward and developing culture. If there is no inheritance, of course, there will be no culture.

(5) Developmental. The essence of a national culture lies in its continuous development and change. A series of cultural products, including today’s automation and informatization, are the results of cultural development.

(6) the times. In the historical process of human development, each era has its own typical cultural type.

[2] Cultural background

I remember that Mr. Li Yanjie, the former professor of Beijing Normal University and vice president of the World Association for the Promotion of Chinese Education, once gave an open class entitled "Virtue, knowledge, talent, truth, goodness and beauty" at the lecture tour in Peking University.

He said; What is culture? The sum of truth, goodness and beauty is culture.

It can be seen that what we call "culture" is the product of all-round, multi-level and three-dimensional intersection of fields.

It not only covers a person’s cultivation, temper and disposition, but also includes family environment, living space, and even genetics and so on.

My neighbor, Aunt Song, once said, "Without culture, you are illiterate.". This statement is very incisive and hits the nail on the head.

You can imagine, living in the present, if you don’t even know a big word, this is not a scene, and it has nothing to do with the bridge, but it is incredible.

[3] It’s terrible to have no culture

Once upon a time, there was a saying circulating in the society: "It’s terrible to be uneducated", although it was just a network language. But it is a culture in itself.

Do you know that the cultural content contained in this sentence is far and near, false and real, true and false?

Perhaps, it may be trying to explain a thing or an action. But I hope it’s just a humorous remark with no practical significance.

[End]

Hello, everyone, this is the surprise game, and I’m the little brother.

Not long ago, Sensor Tower, a well-known mobile application data analysis company, announced the global top mobile game revenue list in June 2023. Which games are on the list? What’s the mystery? I will give you an analysis today!

Note: The data does not include the third-party Android market in China and other regions.

Income list: The top 10 are the glory of the king, PUBGM, Against the Water, Royal Match, candy crush saga, Roblox, Collapse: Star Dome Railway, Gold Coin Master and MONOPOLY GO! "enchanted gardens"

The glory of the king took in $220 million (about RMB 1.6 billion) in the global App Store and Google Play this month, and there is no doubt that it will continue to win the global mobile game bestseller list.

On July 8th, the game launched Milady’s perfect holiday skin, which set the peak of income in that month. With the return of two limited skins, the introduction of new hero Doria, and the update of summer welfare, the game not only maintained the strong interest of players, but also further consolidated the champion position on the best-selling list.

Tencent’s PUBG Mobile (combined with Peace Elite) regained the second place from Collapse: Star Dome Railway with a revenue of 172 million US dollars.

On July 4th, with the introduction of new function carrier replacement, the game topped the best-selling list of iPhone mobile games in China for four consecutive days. On July 7, the game launched the activity of "Pure Dream Wedding Yarn" and set a revenue peak for that month. Continuing its success, on July 14th, the game cooperated with Sega to launch Sonik-themed skin, which further increased the revenue.

Netease’s "Going Against the Water" mobile game was launched on June 30, ranking third on the list with a revenue of $113 million. Thanks to the excellent art design and rich game content, from June 30th, the martial arts MMORPG mobile game "Going Against the Water" was ranked among the top 3 best sellers of iPhone mobile games in China during July, and the whole summer file almost became the home of this product!

Before opening the service, 45 million reservations were made, PCU exceeded 1 million in 10 minutes, and it topped the best-selling list twice, and 40 million players were recruited in a month. In addition, the game also topped the global mobile game revenue growth list in July. These data look terrible!

It is worth mentioning that in this month’s income list, Mihayou’s "Collapse: Star Dome Railway" is still barely on the list, and "The Original God" has disappeared directly. It seems that the 3.8 summer version of "The Original God" is "clear summer! Paradise? Great secret! " , because Youqu and Keli are replicas, their flowing water level is among the lowest among many versions since the original God beta.

However, the original God launched a new version of 4.0 Fontaine on August 16th, which may make the original God return to the income list?

Income growth list: The top ten are Against the Water, PUBGM, The Legend of Guild Wars in Dragon Ball, Crystal Nucleus, MONOPOLY GO, Call of Duty Mobile Games, Royal Match, Top Speed, Blue Archives and Soul of Professional Baseball A.

In July, the revenue growth performance of Crystal Nucleus by DNF, a porcelain-touching company, was also excellent. Since the public beta on July 14th, Crystal Nucleus has further occupied the bestseller list after the airborne free list.

According to the data of the three-party platform, it is estimated that the total platform flow of Crystal Nucleus has reached 400-500 million yuan within 12 days after the game was released, and it is estimated that the single-day flow will be 30 million yuan or even higher, making it the highest-paid game of domestic action RPG, taking off directly with ByteDance’s game business, and doubling the flow.

In addition, Netease’s "Peak Speed" also maintained a high income growth in July. With highly realistic racing, personalized customization and immersive experience, Peak Speed successfully entered the seventh place in the revenue growth list in the first month of its release, which is very rare as a racing game.

Thanks to the opening of the national service, the game "Blue Files", which has been on the shelves for many years, once again reached the revenue growth list. On the first day of the national service public beta, the flow of iOS reached 1.62 million.

In fact, the foreign service of "Blue Archives" has reached more than 240 million US dollars at the beginning of the year, and the annual income peaked at 2 billion. The original performance was very good, and the opening of the national service made "Blue Archives" make another big profit.

However, at present, "Blue Files" has fallen beyond the top 100 in the best-selling list of games in the AppStore. I wonder if the success of Japanese clothing can be copied? Can the fire continue in August?

A positive shock problemWhat games did you play in July?