Chinese Entertainment: Academic Director

Chapter 281 Dissatisfaction
No Chinese-language films participated in this year's Oscars, but the level of attention it garnered was still quite high.

No one expected that Zhang Ziyi and Fan Bingbing would both become Oscar presenters, which is considered quite prestigious by the Chinese media and the public.

In people's minds, how could you become an Oscar presenter if you didn't have a certain status and influence?
Since both Zhang Ziyi and Bingbing became award presenters, it means that in the eyes of the Oscars, they have similar status and influence.

The masses always follow blindly.

Wang Jinghua took the opportunity to buy some press releases, and with a little guidance, Fan Bingbing's status soared, and she was considered to be on par with Zhang Ziyi.

Of course, things aren't like they are in later years, where someone can become a top-tier actress just by throwing money at marketing even if they have no real work to show for it.

Fat Ice has a foundation, which allows Wang Jinghua to seize the opportunity for marketing.

Before Fan Bingbing was blacklisted by Huayi Brothers, she had already started marketing the "Three Dan and Two Bing" (referring to three top actresses and two top actresses in China). In addition, she got a big role in the super-production "Inception," which enabled her marketing success.

Almost all female stars who become famous at this stage have representative works, and everyone still lets their work speak for itself.

Li An's "Brokeback Mountain" received eight Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor, and caused a great sensation in China.

The subject matter of "Brokeback Mountain" is somewhat similar to that of "The Dirty Milk," which received ten Oscar nominations. Although the latter is a political satire, it also touches on the gay community.

"The Dirty Milk" ultimately won five awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, and Best Original Screenplay.

In addition, Lee An's previous film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, also received ten Oscar nominations, making him a familiar face at the Oscars.

Therefore, both the media and many people in the film and television industry are generally optimistic about "Brokeback Mountain," believing that Li An has a chance to recreate Cao Yang's glory this time, and that he will definitely win either Best Picture or Best Director.

Then there's Cao Yang's "Juno," which received five nominations: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Editing.

As for why Cao Yang is credited as the director of "Juno," both domestically and internationally, the media has provided a brief explanation, even though Cao Yang is not the director of the film.

Simply put, Hollywood's system is different from the director-centric system in China; it's a producer-centric system.

Cao Yang was the producer, executive producer, and screenwriter of "Juno." The director was just like the other staff members, regarded as a "tool" to carry out the filming process. So, in foreign countries, this is Cao Yang's film.

Furthermore, the media revealed that the film "Juno" is adapted from a novel, which was written by Cao Yang.

This left many people confused. Isn't Cao Yang an internationally renowned director? When did he start writing novels?

Then, after checking relevant information online, I was shocked.

Cao Yang is not only a famous director, but his book "Cao Yang's Fantastic Journey" is also a bestseller in North America, and it has been in the top 50 of the bestseller list for the past two years!
As a result, "angry" netizens flooded into the "Cao Yang Bar" forum, criticizing the numerous moderators and administrators for failing to update Cao Yang's information on the forum.

The administrators of the forum quickly explained, summarizing it into three reasons.

Firstly, who would have thought that a big director like Cao Yang would "neglect his proper profession" and write novels?

Secondly, Cao Yang's Cao was translated as "Tsao" in the novel, while Cao Yang's Cao was directly translated as "Cao" at film festivals or other occasions, so many people did not make the connection.

Third, Cao Yang has never mentioned this matter in the country.

The moderators and administrators of the forum thought that netizens would not let it go, but after their explanation, almost no one mentioned the matter anymore.

Those "troublemakers" started discussing on the forum whether Li An could catch up with Cao Yang in Hollywood if he won Best Director or Best Picture.

Alright, netizens are quite understanding of the forum administrator. Despite his high status and influence, Cao Yang is very low-key. He only acts and rarely appears in public.

In addition, as I said before, who would have thought that an internationally renowned director could also write a best-selling book on the North American charts?

CCTV's movie channel has also made changes to its broadcast of the Oscars this year.

Perhaps due to the heavy criticism received for previous broadcasts that were delayed by twelve hours, CCTV promoted the news when the Oscar nominations were announced, stating that this time the broadcast would not be delayed by twelve hours.

Of course, a broadcast without any delay is also impossible.

We're not an English-speaking country, after all. If we broadcast it directly in English the whole time, without subtitles, explanations, or translation... how many people would actually watch it?
The CCTV Movie Channel's broadcast was delayed by only one hour. According to them, they brought in many translators and simultaneous interpreters to prepare for the narration.

Not only CCTV, but also Sina Entertainment, although it did not have the broadcasting rights, specially invited famous filmmakers Zhou Liming, Zeng Zihang, Cheng Qingsong, and Liu Miaomiao to Sina to provide timely commentary on the Oscars for netizens.

Every year, the Oscars red carpet is a platform for female stars to compete for attention and outshine each other.

This year is certainly no exception.

Zhang Ziyi's outfit was different from her Golden Globe appearance. This time, she wore a unique two-piece gown: a black lace, rhinestone-studded, low-cut, form-fitting top that revealed her cleavage, paired with a gray snowflake-blend flared long skirt. Her breasts were quite eye-catching, and a large expanse of her white back was also exposed.

Fat Bing dressed much more conservatively, wearing an ivory white silk satin corset evening gown that was neither low-cut nor backless.

Its design is exquisite, with a corset embroidered with tulle and embroidery, and a draped skirt and front made of ivory transparent stiff tulle, decorated with floral patterns embroidered with polished gold thread.

The skirt features a double-layered pleated ruffle hem, with layers of organza and ivory satin creating a visually rich and layered effect.

This outfit is somewhat traditional, and compared to the other female stars on the red carpet, it appears very conservative.

Almost all the Hollywood actresses on the red carpet wore low-cut dresses, and many of them not only had low-cut dresses but also exposed most or even their entire backs.

Unfortunately, March 6th is a Monday, but due to the time difference, the Oscars will be broadcast in the morning in China, which is why there are quite a few people watching the Oscars.

CCTV delayed its live broadcast by an hour, so everyone flocked to Xinlang Entertainment to watch the guests' real-time commentary on the Oscars.

The guests invited by Xinlang Entertainment are either film critics, screenwriters, or directors, so their comments are quite professional.

It can also occasionally insert anecdotes about the actors or directors who appear on camera, or what movies they have made or what their deeds are.

This made netizens who didn't know much about these people suddenly realize, "Oh, it's him/her!"

An hour later, many people turned on their TVs to watch the live broadcast on the movie channel.

Not long after, many people turned off their TVs and flocked to Sina Entertainment again.

Even with a one-hour delay, CCTV's live broadcast was still a disaster.

Loud audio, lack of subtitles, and insufficient film knowledge all negatively impacted the translation quality to varying degrees.

It's not that the translation skills are the problem, but rather that these translators clearly don't understand the film and television industry. Many words are translated very awkwardly, it's just a "hard translation".

In short, the translation lacks film expertise, making it particularly awkward to watch.

After walking the red carpet, the awards ceremony officially began.

The first award presented this year was for Best Supporting Actor.

Nicole Kidman, as an award presenter, wore a low-cut ivory white floor-length dress that tapered at the calves, highlighting her exquisite curves. With her long golden hair and milky white skin, she looked like a mermaid princess.

The Best Supporting Actor award went to George Clooney for his role in "The New Rina".

His acceptance speech was quite interesting. His first sentence was, "It seems I'm not suited to be a director; acting suits me better."

He then added, "Wow, that's great, but maybe it means I won't get the Best Director award! I'll become an Oscar winner, and people can finally forget about all the bad movies I made in the past..."

George Clooney made this statement not only because he received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for "New Rina," but also because he received nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Original Screenplay for "Good Night, and Good Luck."

For some reason, he came on stage confident that he would only win Best Supporting Actor that night and wouldn't win any other awards.

Is this an expression of dissatisfaction with the Oscars?
Several awards were then presented, but there were no surprises. In fact, many of the awards were predictable and not unexpected.

This doesn't prove anyone has amazing predictive abilities; it just shows that the Oscars are getting increasingly boring.

As online information increases and information technology continues to develop, Oscar has become increasingly devoid of individuality, and has learned to divide the pie, to be moderate, and to offend no one.

The awards ceremony lasted for almost two hours, and the technical awards were almost all given out. So far tonight, the biggest winner has actually been "Memoirs of a Geisha".

This film, which received only two Golden Globe nominations, garnered six Oscar nominations, though all were technical awards.

The six nominations for "Memoirs of a Geisha" have been announced, and the film unexpectedly won three awards: Best Cinematography, Best Costume Design, and Best Art Direction.

In contrast, Brokeback Mountain, which received eight nominations, has only won one award for Best Original Score so far.

Actually, this wasn't exactly a surprise. Only in China was "Brokeback Mountain" considered a big hit. In Hollywood, many media outlets predicted that "Brokeback Mountain" would be a disappointment at the Oscars.

The reason is obvious to everyone: how could the Oscars allow a Chinese person to win the most important awards, such as Best Director or Best Picture, for three consecutive years?

(End of this chapter)