America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 348: First Oscar Nomination
Hundreds of reporters gathered in front of the Ritz-Carlton Hotel, waiting for first-hand news about the Oscars.

The Hollywood awards season lasts for several months, with numerous awards given out, and the climax is undoubtedly the Oscars ceremony.

The nominees luncheon is the final preparation.

Hundreds of celebrities arrived one after another, and Martin looked like just an ordinary person among them.

In the banquet hall, he sat at a table with Leonardo, Nicholson, Scorsese and others.

Few people were interested in the exquisite dishes at the lunch.

Martin poked Nicholson on his left and signaled with his eyes: "Your favorite."

Nicholson saw Blanchett, the leading actress of the "Babel" crew, and said, "I heard from Meryl that you were there the last time she had a conflict with this woman?"

Martin took the initiative to take credit: "Without me, Meryl would suffer." Then he asked for benefits: "You thank me?"

Nicholson picked up the bottle, poured a glass of wine, and handed it to Martin: "Thank you."

Martin shook his head: "Sure enough, you are shameless."

Leonardo on the right responded: "You should thank Meryl's husband in New York."

Martin said seriously: "Yes, let him thank the famous Jack Nicholson..."

Nicholson didn't care: "You think he doesn't know? Don Gummer knows more than you think."

Martin asked, "Is that Meryl's husband?"

"A sculptor," Leonardo explained. "A very famous artist, too."

“I see,” Martin said.

People who engage in art are indeed extraordinary, and art is also a very profound subject.

To achieve success in art, sacrifice is essential...

Nicholson lowered his voice, leaned over and said, "Next weekend, let's go to Venice Beach together."

"You two bastards, aren't you afraid of being shot to death?" Martin calculated the time in his mind.

Leonardo said: "That's why I called you."

Martin shook his head: "I don't have time. A friend of mine is going to have a birthday party and I promised to be there."

"Female friends?" Nicholson asked.

Martin casually said, "A girl I saved at Burbank High School, the Olsen sisters' sister."

Leonardo paid attention to it and asked, "The one who was the Saint of the Coca-Cola Cult beside you in the Coca-Cola commercial last year?"

Martin nodded: "That's her."

Natalie Portman, who is also under WMA, passed by and took the initiative to say hello to Martin.

While Martin turned around to talk to someone, Nicholson gave Leonardo a look.

Assholes have a special tacit understanding with each other, and Leonardo immediately understood what he meant.

When Martin turned around, he said, "Can I be included in your friend's birthday party? I'll go and join in the fun."

Nicholson leaned forward and said, "Count me in."

Martin’s first reaction: “You guys don’t want to cause trouble, do you?”

Nicholson shook his head: "Martin, you have a problem with your thinking."

Leonardo teased Martin: "I always take you with me to every fun party. Where is your brotherhood?"

Thinking of the two bachelor parties, Martin was not too worried about these two people fooling around, so he said, "I'll ask the host first."

Before the lunch started, he sent a text message to Elizabeth Olsen.

In less than two weeks, it will be her eighteenth birthday, and the Olsen sisters are going to hold a grand birthday party for her.

Stars of Leonardo and Nicholson's level used to be able to add spice to the party.

Elizabeth Olsen's text message came back quickly. Martin took a look and said, "The owner agreed. Remember to prepare a birthday present for her."

Nicholson replied, "No big deal." He pointed at Leonardo and said, "I'll leave the task of preparing the gift to you."

Leonardo glared: "Why me?"

“You know the mind of a young girl,” Nicholson said.

Scorsese glanced at these three bastards and secretly thanked his luck that they didn't cause trouble on his crew.

That cow... forget it, I don’t want to think about the cow anymore. I’ll kill it after the Oscars ceremony and make steak, kebabs, and beef stew with potatoes. I’ll have three ways to eat one cow!
Luncheon host Maggie Gyllenhaal and Academy President Sid Ganis appeared on stage.

Scorsese reminded, “It’s about to begin.”

Martin, Leonardo and Nicholson said no more and pricked up their three pairs of ears to listen to the list of nominations.

After Sid Ganis finished his speech, Maggie Gyllenhaal first announced the list of winners of the Science and Technology Awards.

Although the academy is called the Academy of Arts and Sciences, it is not taken seriously and several awards related to it cannot even enter the formal award ceremony.

Next, the nominations for various awards are announced.

Nicholson looked relaxed, looking at the three stupid people at the same table with their eyes wide open and their ears erect, the more he looked the more amusing he found it.

He whispered, "There are four people sitting at this table, and they have won three Oscars in total. Who are the winners?"

Martin and Leonardo both gave him the middle finger. Scorsese was so angry that he wanted to hit someone.

But the three of them were also helpless because they had three little golden men!

Martin withdrew his middle finger, but felt relaxed. It was not difficult to be nominated, but it was impossible to win the award.

Comparing himself with Leonardo next to him, he felt that his luck should be pretty good.

Maggie Gyllenhaal read out the list of nominations one by one, and then it was displayed on the big screen behind her.

Soon it was time for the Best Supporting Actor nominations.

"Alan Arkin, Eddie Murphy." Then, Martin heard his name from Maggie's mouth: "Martin Davis!"

Martin clenched his fists, all the work done during this period was not in vain!

Leonardo and Nicholson bumped fists with him to express their congratulations.

When the list was finished, Scorsese clapped and nodded to Martin.

Martin smiled and felt a little excited. After all, it was a rare achievement.

Just like Scorsese and Spielberg, as well as Leonardo next to them, when they enter this industry, in addition to fame and fortune, they naturally also pursue the recognition of their peers.

What's more, the Oscars themselves are a way to gain fame and fortune.

Leonardo's name was on the list of Oscar Best Actor to be announced next.

He received one nomination for Blood Diamond.

Leonardo was just smiling, looking nonchalant. He also mocked Martin: "Look at you, it's just a nomination, but you're so excited."

"I'm not as good as you." Martin's knife was stabbed at the bloody place: "You have many years of rich experience as a running companion, but I don't."

Leonardo was about to glare, but the camera turned to this side, so he could only keep smiling.

When he came to his senses, warm applause broke out in the banquet hall again.

However, it was Scorsese and "The Departed" who were nominated for Best Director and Best Picture respectively.

The biggest winners on this nomination list are "The Departed" and "Babel".

The former received 5 nominations, while the latter received 7 nominations.

Subsequently, the host of this year's Oscars ceremony was announced - Ellen DeGeneres.

Martin didn't like her very much.

Nicholson was semi-retired, had nothing to do all day, and was very gossipy. She asked Martin, "I remember you were on her talk show and it didn't go well?"

Martin said bluntly: "She couldn't play with me and tried to mess with me, but failed. She said I didn't cooperate. I was just a little actor at the time."

Leonardo reminded, "How about the three of us go on her show together and fuck her?"

Martin shook his head: "That would only help her gain ratings, it's not worth it. She's a lesbian, it's not easy to deal with her."

Leonardo DiCaprio said: "Since Brokeback Mountain won the Best Director Award last year, the attitude towards homosexuality in the industry has been changing."

Nicholson continued: "As long as we white old men are alive, the core of Hollywood will not change."

Martin saw the president of the academy, Sid Ganis, coming up to the stage again to give a long speech, and said, "Old bastard, you have nothing to do anyway, why don't you run for president of the academy?"

"You don't think it's easy to compete for the position of president of the Academy, do you?" Nicholson didn't need Martin to answer: "In recent years, the actual power of the president of the Academy has been increasing. Competition within the Academy has never been open and transparent. To tell you the truth, the competition for the president of the Academy is much more intense than the public relations of the Oscars."

Martin saw Scorsese nodding his head and knew that Nicholson was telling the truth.

Nicholson added: "Even if actors compete, they rarely succeed. Firstly, actors often have limited time. Most of them are bastards like you and Leo who spend their spare time eating, drinking and having fun."

He simply used the two bastard brothers as an example: "If you run for the chairman of the academy, how many people are willing to vote for you? Are 6000 academy members willing to hand over this position to you two bastards?"

Martin is self-aware: “I’m not qualified enough.”

Leonardo said, "Aren't young female models fun? Go do that academy stuff."

Nicholson further said: "In the internal election of the Academy, can actors win over those producers in canvassing for votes, public relations and interpersonal relationships? Warren Beatty and Annette Bening have competed several times."

He pointed at Sid Ganis on the stage and said, "What's the result? This old guy has been re-elected as the president of the academy for the third time."

Martin said: "There are too few actors like Reagan and Schwarzenegger."

Leonardo joked: "You're not going to run for president, are you, bastard?"

Martin vaguely remembered what he said when he was drunk that day: "No, I will lead an army of beauties to march into Washington, capture the White House, and dissolve the Union."

Scorsese suddenly added: "If you can really do it, you might win the Nobel Peace Prize."

The main dishes for the lunch were served one after another. The Academy has never been short of money, and would not skimp on its official event, the Oscars, so the dishes were quite rich.

Martin and the other three were in a good mood and chatted while eating.

It's just that Scorsese is having a headache because the three idiots at the same table are planning to bombard the dating sites of each studio.

This made him determined that no matter what project he directed in the future, he would never let the three idiots gather in his crew.

It can really cause a big fuss.

After eating and drinking, everyone came to the lobby decorated as an Oscars background, and hundreds of people took a group photo of this year's luncheon together.

(End of this chapter)