Chapter 345

The host of the Oscars changes almost every year, but no matter how it changes or who it changes to, the hosting style must be "Oscar-ized."

Even for someone known for a "serious" style, hosting the Oscars requires them to be relaxed, entertaining, and humorous for me.

What if one truly lacks talent in this area?

Then go for the low-brow stuff...

The host of this year's Oscars, Ellen DeGeneres, comes from a comedy background, and her show, "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," is extremely popular in North America, so the Oscars invited her to host, and she can still handle it with ease.

However, using "she" is actually not quite accurate; Ellen DeGeneres came out as a lesbian in 1997, and she has a girlfriend.

The first award presented was Best Art Direction, presented by Daniel Craig, the actor who plays James Bond, and Nicole Kidman.

Nicole Kidman was wearing a long, bright red dress; she is tall, has a great figure, and her skin is exceptionally fair, making her very pleasant to look at.

This sets her apart from traditional Westerners.

You wouldn't be able to tell at all that Nicole Kidman has already reached the "advanced age" of 40 this year.

The previous awards had nothing to do with "Inception," nor did they have anything to do with Cao Yang's other two hyped-up rivals, Martin Scorsese and Director Clint Eastwood.

So the cameras hadn't swept over here yet.

"Can we really not win a major award?"

Fatty sat to Cao Yang's right, her eyes fixed on the stage, a smile on her face, looking very focused; without even seeing her lips move, the words reached Cao Yang's ears.

Perhaps this is also one of the special skills of an actress.

"Didn't you ask that last night?"

Cao Yang couldn't manage the effortless grace that Fatty had; he still had to turn his head slightly when speaking.

"But you said if I did as you said and gave you some special rewards, maybe 'Inception' could win an award."

Fatty was still looking at the stage, still smiling, but the words she spoke sounded a bit aggrieved.

"I sacrificed a lot so that 'Inception' could win an award."

Cao Yang thought about what happened yesterday; such things aren't necessarily a "sacrifice," right? Weren't you playing quite excitedly? Your mezzo-soprano even turned into a soprano.

"Then it depends on whether you are sincere; sincerity brings results. The first nominated award is coming up; this counts as a test of your piety."

Cao Yang said this and immediately sat up straight with a serious expression; it wasn't that he valued the Best Sound Editing award about to be presented—to be honest, this award is a bit of a throwaway.

However, because "Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima," directed by Clint Eastwood, was also nominated for this award, as "old rivals," the Oscar broadcast cameras would definitely focus on them.

Fatty's lips curled up; she didn't need to sit up specially, as she had looked very serious even when chatting with Cao Yang earlier.

The presenters were comedians Steve Carell and Greg Kinnear.

Some people might not know who these two are when their names are mentioned, but Steve Carell is still very popular in later generations.

Not because he acted in some breakout film, but because he has a very, very classic meme on the internet; I reckon many people know that meme.

It's the one where he's wearing a blue-black suit and white shirt, nodding his head with an expression that isn't exactly ferocious, saying: "No, God please no!"

This is a shot from the American TV series "The Office."

This meme is used by a great many people.

Sure enough, as Steve Carell was delivering the presentation speech, the cameras were mostly focused on the "Inception" and "Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima" crews, switching back and forth.

As for the other nominated films, it's not that they didn't have any camera time, but at least the cameras cut to them once, and then switched back to "Inception" and "Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima."

"The winner is..." Greg Kinnear said.

Steve Carell opened the envelope, let out a "wow," and said into the microphone: "Congratulations to 'Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima'."

Clint Eastwood smiled and stood up immediately, clenching his hands into fists and shaking them in front of his chest; he looked as excited as a football coach seeing his team, which had been trailing, suddenly score a world-class goal.

All around him were people from the "Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima" crew; with a swoosh, they all stood up as well, all looking very excited, clapping incessantly while looking at Director Clint Eastwood.

Cao Yang clapped with a smile, unable to help but complain inwardly; looking at this grand display, one who didn't know better would think Clint Eastwood had won the Oscar for Best Director.

However, Cao Yang could probably guess that this was likely Clint Eastwood specifically cooperating with the Oscars to create a show effect.

Old Clint wouldn't be excited to this extent over a throwaway minor award like the Oscar for Best Sound Editing.

As one of the most famous directors in Hollywood, especially in the field of art-house films, what kind of scenes hasn't old Clint seen?

Back at the 65th Oscars in 1993, he had already won Best Director and Best Picture for "Unforgiven."

At the 77th Oscars the year before last, Cao Yang won Best Director, and Clint Eastwood won Best Picture once again.

Cao Yang suddenly had a realization.

The Oscars hyping up the so-called "grudge" between himself and Clint Eastwood and Martin Scorsese is likely, firstly, to increase the topic value for the Oscars, and secondly, to "build momentum" for Martin Scorsese.

Martin Scorsese is one of the four major directors from the earlier period of Hollywood.

These so-called four major directors are Martin Scorsese, Francis Ford Coppola, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas.

Francis Ford Coppola and Steven Spielberg have both already won the Oscar for Best Director.

Although George Lucas hasn't won the Oscar for Best Director, he works in a different field; since "Star Wars" in 1977, he has almost never dabbled in art-house films.

Only Americans can understand the status "Star Wars" holds in their hearts.

Therefore, in the US, no matter how one ranks the great directors, George Lucas is someone who cannot be bypassed.

In other words, George Lucas doesn't need an Oscar for Best Director to prove himself.

Among the traditional four major directors of Hollywood, only Martin Scorsese is the one who most needs the Oscar for Best Director.

There have always been rumors outside that the Oscars owe Martin Scorsese a little gold man.

Martin Scorsese has already been nominated for Best Director five times; counting this time, it is the sixth.

Cao Yang looked at Martin Scorsese on the left side of the aisle; at this moment, old Martin was smiling and clapping, looking as if he didn't have much emotional fluctuation.

The Oscars are likely planning to return the little gold man they "owe" Martin Scorsese to him.

The sound editors for "Letters from Iwo Iwo Jima" were two old white men; their fame shouldn't be very high, and Cao Yang didn't know them.

These two people were clearly very excited; on stage, they just kept thanking everyone—thanking the Academy, thanking the director Clint Eastwood, thanking the producer Steven Spielberg, thanking Warner Bros. and DreamWorks...

Gu Gu Changwei sat in the seat behind Cao Yang; he saw the performance of Clint Eastwood's crew with his own eyes, and he was angry in his heart.

They just won a throwaway award, what's so great about it? What the hell are they so excited about!

Cao Yang's "Inception" has nine Oscar nominations; how many do you motherfuckers have? Only a pathetic four; it's like you've never seen the world before.

As Cao Yang's designated cinematographer, Gu Gu Changwei is currently the undisputed number one in the cinematography industry domestically, including Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Even looking globally, he is one of the few people who can be called a "master."

Old Gu is living a good life now, with a status in the industry higher than most directors.

What's more, he now also has a teaching position at the Beijing Film Academy; he is a professor in the cinematography department and also the deputy director of the cinematography department.

Therefore, he naturally has to defend everything about Cao Yang; he and Cao Yang are bound together for better or worse.

"A bullshit throwaway technical award, acting like they won Best Director, a bunch of bumpkins."

Old Gu complained in a low voice to his wife, Jiang Jiang Wenli.

"Mm-hmm."

Jiang Jiang Wenli nodded vigorously; she also felt those people were a bit too much—a technical award, and the whole crew of over a dozen people all stood up at once, and even that old man, the director, was excitedly waving his fists; what is this supposed to be?

Look at how well-mannered Cao Yang is; even with you guys acting like that, Cao Yang is still very politely clapping for you.

Subsequently, Jiang Jiang Wenli asked Old Gu in a worried, low voice, "Old Gu, I see many people saying that 'Inception's' box office is too high, making it hard to win major awards; is that true?"

Old Gu hesitated for a moment, then nodded reluctantly, muttering: "Bullshit Oscars, the judging doesn't look at the film's artistry; if the box office is high, it can't win major awards—how is this any different from the Golden Rooster?"

"That's right, the Oscars are just America's Golden Rooster."

Jiang Jiang Wenli echoed in a low voice.

Fatty reached out and grabbed Cao Yang's hand, comforting him in a low voice: "It's just a small award; if it's lost, it's lost."

After a pause, Fatty added: "Why are they so excited? Someone who didn't know would think they had won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director."

Although Fatty didn't explicitly say anything, the sarcasm in her tone was quite obvious.

Cao Yang patted Fatty's hand and said with a smile in a low voice: "Don't worry about it; they probably know it will be very difficult to win major awards tonight, and this technical award is the one they are most likely to win, which is why they were so excited after getting it."

"Is that so?"

Fatty was a bit skeptical.

Cao Yang smiled, looked at the two people stepping down from the stage, and said: "The next one is Best Sound Mixing; believe it or not, there aren't many who can compete with us for this award."

Fatty smiled, scratched the palm of Cao Yang's hand with her finger, and then said: "If it really is as you say and we can win this award, I'll listen to you one more time tonight."

The person presenting the Best Sound Mixing award was James McAvoy; before he played the youthful version of "Professor X," he was still just a small fry.

I really don't know who this guy's backer is, but his resources are quite good anyway.

Perhaps knowing that his "status" wasn't high enough to joke with the guests present, James McAvoy got straight to the point without much small talk.

"The nominees for the 79th Academy Award for Best Sound Mixing are..."

Following the introduction, the big screen behind him showed "Apocalypto," "Blood Diamond," "Dreamgirls," "Flags of Our Fathers," and "Inception" respectively.

"The winner is..."

James McAvoy opened the envelope and read: "'Inception,' Oliver Brown and Huang Huang Haipeng."

Oliver Brown and Huang Huang Haipeng are the sound designers for "Inception"; Huang Huang Haipeng is a sound designer from the Youth Film Studio, whom Cao Yang had "planted" in the "Inception" crew.

Cao Yang hadn't even said anything yet, but Gu Gu Changwei was the first to stand up with an "ow," and someone who didn't know better would have thought he was the one who won.

The "Inception" crew certainly all knew Old Gu; seeing Old Gu stand up, Depp followed suit, clapping hard and standing up.

Subsequently, Oliver Brown and Huang Huang Haipeng also stood up; the two of them were the legitimate winners, so it certainly wouldn't be appropriate not to stand up and show some appreciation.

Fatty, Wu Wu Qihua, Mark Ruffalo, Tang Mu Hardy, Claire Danes, and other main actors of the crew all followed suit and stood up.

Even Leonardo DiCaprio, who was sitting with the "Blood Diamond" crew, stood up and looked at Cao Yang, clapping.

It must be said that this year's Oscars can be considered a "bumper harvest" for Leonardo DiCaprio.

The "Blood Diamond" he starred in earned him a nomination for Best Actor.

"The Departed," in which he starred, received four major Oscar nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.

"Inception," which he was a guest star in—though actually one of the main actors—received nine major Oscar nominations.

If he could win the Oscar for Best Actor this year, he would truly be unrivaled in the spotlight.

The entire crew had stood up, so Cao Yang couldn't just sit there; he had no choice but to stand up with them.

He couldn't help but smile bitterly inwardly; what are you guys trying to do? Someone who didn't know better would think we had won Best Picture and Best Director.

Or are you saying you feel "Inception" can only win this one consolation prize of Best Sound Mixing tonight?

Pfft, pfft!

Both Oliver Brown and Huang Huang Haipeng appeared very excited.

For Cao Yang and Gu Gu Changwei, this was a somewhat throwaway "small award," but for Oliver Brown and Huang Huang Haipeng, this was the most "sacred" award in their minds.

"Cao Dao, thank you, thank you..."

Huang Huang Haipeng is over forty years old; at the Youth Film Studio, he was just a diligent, somewhat senior sound designer; he never dared to dream in the past that he would have the opportunity to win an Oscar for Best Sound Mixing in his lifetime.

Cao Yang looked at Huang Huang Haipeng, whose eyes were a bit red, patted him on the shoulder, and said with a smile: "Don't be excited; have you memorized your acceptance speech? If you've forgotten it, just thank everyone directly."

Old Gu subsequently patted Huang Huang Haipeng on the shoulder as well, sighing: "You kid, you've made something of yourself..."

Well, after going on stage, not only did Huang Huang Haipeng forget his lines, but even the old white man, Oliver Brown, forgot his lines too.

The only thing they could do that wouldn't go wrong was to thank everyone—thank the crew, thank the producer Cao Yang, thank the director Cao Yang, thank the screenwriter Cao Yang, thank Columbia...

Huang Huang Haipeng also specifically thanked the Youth Film Studio and the Beijing Film Academy, and finally thanked Cao Yang once more.

"You have to keep your word; you promised."

Cao Yang said softly to Fatty.

"What?"

Fatty played dumb, "I don't understand what you mean."

Heh, you don't understand what I mean?

You were singing like a soprano last night, like a flood bursting forth; you mean to tell me you don't understand what I mean?

After a few more awards were presented, the big screen began playing clips from classic films related to screenwriting, including Ben Affleck and others talking about the importance of film screenwriting.

Cao Yang perked up; the Best Adapted Screenplay award was coming up.

Because "Inception's" global box office was too high, but not high enough to make the Oscars compromise, one shouldn't even think about the two highest awards, Best Picture and Best Director.

For Cao Yang, the only award with some weight was Best Adapted Screenplay.

Furthermore, this award also held some special significance for Cao Yang.

He had already won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay; Cao Yang didn't know who had won this award the most times, but he certainly had the opportunity to set a record.

Helen Mirren and Tang Mu Hanks were the ones taking the stage to present the award.

These were two heavyweight presenters.

Tang Mu Hanks goes without saying; like Depp, he is one of the few actors who can win consecutive Oscars.

Helen Mirren, currently, apart from not having an Oscar for Best Actress, is a powerhouse actress who has won awards until her hands are soft in other categories.

The two reiterated the importance of screenwriters once again before officially presenting the award.

"The nominees for the 79th Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay are 'Borat,' 'The Departed,' 'Children of Men,' 'Little Children,' and 'Inception'."

This time it turned into a showdown between Cao Yang and Martin Scorsese.

The camera specifically kept switching between Cao Yang and Martin Scorsese.

As for the other three films, it's not that they didn't have camera time; less doesn't mean none, right?

"The winner is..."

Helen Mirren opened the envelope, took a look, and then smiled and handed it to Tang Mu Hanks, "You read it; everyone knows you really like his films."

Tang Mu Hanks took the envelope, looked at it, and then smiled.

He lowered his head to the microphone and said: "The winner of the 79th Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay is Cao Yang, 'Inception,' congratulations."

Gu Gu Changwei stood up with an "ow" again; this time it was genuine excitement; he swung his fists hard and said to his wife, Jiang Jiang Wenli:

"I knew it, I knew it; this is what Cao Yang deserves; such a good film cannot be denied just because the box office is too high; it can't, it can't... this is great!"

Fatty hugged Cao Yang directly, looking very excited as well.

"Congratulations, congratulations to you; this is a truly remarkable achievement; you have become the Oscar Best Screenwriter for the third time; I knew you could do it."

Then, she whispered in Cao Yang's ear: "I promise you."

Hmm?

Cao Yang was stunned; she just promised like that?

Well, it is time to celebrate properly.

The third Oscar for Best Screenwriter? Feels alright.

"Congratulations, Cao Dao; I knew you could win this award."

Wu Wu Qihua hugged Cao Yang and said with a smile.

With the global blockbuster success of "Inception," his current status is no longer lower than Chow Yun-fat's, and his fame in Hollywood is no lower than Chow Yun-fat's either; he can be considered one of the biggest beneficiaries.

(End of chapter)