King of Hollywood-Chapter 932: 337: An Oscar Night Without "Oscar Night

Capítulo 932: Chapter 337: An Oscar Night Without “Oscar Night
The 79th Oscar wasn’t much to talk about, except it was a bit unfortunate for Ellen DeGeneres. After learning from the mismatch of Jon Stewart’s style from the previous year, the Film Academy finally chose DeGeneres to host the Oscar ceremony this year. Unfortunately, due to the writers’ strike, the ceremony preparations weren’t very thorough, and the event originally scheduled for the 25th had to be postponed to the 28th.
Even so, DeGeneres hosted the event very successfully. Her perfectly timed wit and humor kept the audience laughing, and she didn’t hesitate to poke fun at herself, making her feel very relatable. This constant stream of applause contributed to decent viewership ratings—if it weren’t for the writers’ strike, the ratings would undoubtedly have been higher.
Regardless, the ceremony she hosted this year could be considered the best of the past four or five years.
As for the various awards, although this year’s Oscars lacked the usual powerhouse competitors that would secure seven or eight nominations, it was still like the previous year in that there weren’t many films that could win more than four awards. It seems the Film Academy hasn’t yet emerged from a certain shadow.
Martin Scorsese’s “The Departed” became the biggest winner of the night, taking home Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Director, and Best Picture. Without Adrian, Martin finally fulfilled his dream of winning Best Director. Interestingly, the presenters were three of the four major directors of Hollywood in the ’80s: Francisco Pola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas!
Basically, seeing this combination of presenters, everyone could guess who the Best Director would be. Even though this was the style of the presenters tonight, with each award presented by previous winners or industry veterans, the Film Academy went to considerable lengths, even using this opportunity to tease Lucas to console Scorsese.
“We all know what it feels like to win an Oscar for Best Director,” Spielberg began, and Coppola quickly added, “It’s a tremendous honor.”
Then Lucas, stuck in the middle, interrupted them with a frustrated face, “Wait, guys, I’ve never won Best Director.”
Upon hearing this, Coppola and Spielberg exchanged a glance, then quickly moved aside to distance themselves from Lucas, looking as if they were drawing a line between them and him. The audience in the theater erupted in laughter.
Thus, with the addition of the weighty Best Director and Best Picture awards, the Film Academy made sure to compensate Scorsese adequately.
In other areas, there’s not much to say. Although Adrian changed many things, some remained the same. For example, Forest Whitaker became the third Black Best Actor in Oscar history—he should have been the fourth, but Jamie Foxx’s award was snatched by River due to Adrian’s intervention.
The most interesting was the Best Actress award, which originally should have been a sure thing for the Miracle Director. However, because Adrian didn’t release any work last year, the situation became murky, leading to the first Black Best Actress in Oscar history. That’s right, Halle Berry won the Best Actress Oscar statuette for “Monster’s Ball,” which should have been hers a few years ago.
Back then, Adrian seized the script of “Monster’s Ball” to pave the way for his woman, while secretly suppressing any possible films with Black female leads. However, he had no current need for it and couldn’t monopolize the Best Actress award forever, right? So he finally released it and still chose Halle Berry to star, while Miramax distributed the film—At least the Black Pearl was still quite eye-catching, wasn’t she?
Frankly, Halle’s acting is only average, even in “Monster’s Ball,” but since there’s a Black Best Actor this year, why not have a breakthrough with a Black Best Actress? Moreover, to ensure this, Adrian maneuvered things such that the film meant to win this year was only just completed, allowing Halle Berry to win the Best Actress Oscar by relying on her race, just like “once before,” at this year’s Oscars.
The presentation was rather grand. As mentioned earlier, this year, the Film Academy’s method of award presentation was special, inviting former winners or industry elites to take the stage together, and the presenters for Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress were all five former winners.
Indeed, the presenters for Best Actress were Monica Bellucci, Sophie Marceau, Nicole Kidman, Julia Roberts, and Gwyneth Paltrow, all of Adrian’s women. They stood in a semicircle on stage, each introducing the nominees with one line, and then Nicole, standing in the middle, handed the trophy to Halle as she came up.
This method was indeed significant, whether in terms of the awarding style or from… a demonstrative power angle—look, all five Best Actress presenters were elevated by the Super Director.
After Adrian temporarily decided not to release his own work, signaling he wasn’t currently vying for awards, the Film Academy didn’t mind collaborating to let him showcase himself. Whether they admit it or not, Adrian has already become a Hollywood icon. Especially after the “Iron Man” trailer featuring him playing a billionaire as a billionaire came out, further solidifying this status, they could only go with the flow.
So, it’s probably for this reason that Dennis and his wife Aniston were both nominated for Best Actor and Best Actress due to Adrian arranging “Blood Diamond” for them. Of course, their chances of winning are slim, but even achieving this much is already quite commendable. Right now, they are likely considered the most valuable and famous couple in Hollywood.
In other aspects, Aniston received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for the role Adrian arranged for her in “Venus.” Similarly, winning isn’t possible; the Best Supporting Actress nomination list is very different from what Adrian remembered, so Tilda Swinton took home the Oscar statuette.
Moreover, at the moment Adrian doesn’t have the intention to seek honor for Anne. Having one or two nominations is enough, merely as a reward for her current compliance.
“Want more? Then you need to work harder, understand?” In the elevator from within the Kodak Theater to the parking lot, while toying with this year’s object of passion at the award ceremony, Adrian spoke with an arrogant tone.
Anne, panting with her hands braced against the elevator wall, did not answer. She just tried to grip the soles of her high heels with her toes under his impact.
Adrian knew the chaos in her heart. After all, Natalie’s performance upon joining, with her whole-hearted engagement, seeing herself from inside out as… was quite impactful. Although Anne originally did this voluntarily to calm his wrath, her self-preservation instinct made her avoid the unsavory details in public subconsciously. Now with Natalie’s provocation, it could make her recall her own image anytime, and that feeling is certainly unpleasant.
Especially on the red carpet, amidst the flash of cameras, when she suddenly felt she was actually another person, the intense discomfort could drive someone insane.
But Anne couldn’t shake it off, and furthermore, Natalie’s actions misled her. The thought that “to gain more, you must let go of some things more thoroughly” kept spinning in her mind. So although Adrian knew, he didn’t care in the slightest. In most cases, people adapt to their environment, especially after adapting several times, Anne’s future was already destined.
And just like that, this year’s Oscars came to an end. Though outside the Kodak Theater, along the Walk of Fame, there were still quite a few ers lingering, hoping to scoop some news since there was no Vanity Fair party tonight—just like “before,” Vanity Fair had announced the suspension of this year’s Oscar Night party in solidarity with the writers’ strike.
Especially since Adrian had only returned three days ago, no one had extracted any information from him yet. Although some people had guessed something through Wilson from the Chicago Tribune, as long as they did not ask about topics related to Charlize, or even about Charlize’s father, he probably wouldn’t mind. If they could dig some news out of Adrian this night, that would certainly be amazing, so many ers were waiting outside all along.
Unfortunately, they didn’t get anything. Without the Vanity Fair party, it was easier for Adrian to leave. Besides, if it’s not this party, there’s that party. With Vanity Fair not hosting, Adrian hosted his own, and that too in his own mansion, it was even more impossible for ers to catch his trail.
Hosting a party in one’s own mansion also has the benefit of being able to invite more people, making it more convenient to handle certain matters.
“This was indeed a failed experiment, though I don’t want to admit it,” standing in a corner of the lively hall, Sofia Coppola sighed with some frustration, “What can I say? Ed guessed it right again. When he refused to invest back then, he clearly told me I wasn’t suited for this type of movie.”
“Don’t be disheartened, Sophie. These things are normal, and while I can’t speak for all the French, at least in my eyes, both your direction and Kirsten’s performance were quite good.” Sophie comforted, “Besides, Marie Antoinette did win Best Costume Design, didn’t it?”
Sofia still released her long-planned biographical film about French Queen Marie Antoinette in 2006. Even though Adrian kept persuading her that she was not suited for such films, and while the French seemed very expectant now, there would definitely be boos when the time came, she stubbornly pulled in a $100 million investment.
Not only that, she also pulled Kirsten to play the lead. The result was predictable: a disastrous box office and critic reviews, with the French mocking and criticizing it extensively. Fortunately, Adrian had plenty of arrangements for the little fairy, so there was no need to worry about her path. However, Sofia would probably be depressed for a while, even if the film did win Best Costume Design at the Oscars.
“Yes, one failure doesn’t mean anything. On the contrary, it will make you do better next time.” Monica also chimed in, where there’s Sophie, there’s bound to be her.
“At least some guy has never failed.” Increasingly unwilling to switch topics to something cheerful, Sofia sighed again.
“Ordinary geniuses can’t be compared to a freak.” Sophie said humorously. Of course, she knew who Sofia was talking about. She had a good relationship with Sofia, and since she was currently transitioning into directing and had made some progress, she became even more in tune with Sofia.
“Is that what you call him?” Sofia was a little surprised, then glanced around, “By the way, where is he now?”
“Where else.” Kirsten, who hadn’t said much till now, sighed. Sofia raised her eyebrows and looked again at Sophie and Monica’s displeased expressions.
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(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation.)