Reborn Action Star: Starting in Hollywood

Chapter 584 Backstab, Falling Out

When the audience heard director Nolan's complaint, they burst into good-natured laughter.

Lian Chenlong, Li Renjie and Zhang Ziyu also laughed helplessly.

They could not have imagined that the first Chinese-language film to win the Best Foreign Language Film in Oscar history was not made by the Chinese who had been eagerly awaited for many years, but by an authentic British person.

At this time, the camera lens zoomed in on Lin Yuan's face, obviously wanting to hear what he would say.

Lin Yuan, despite his "legs and feet being inconvenient," didn't stand up from his seat. Instead, he took the microphone handed to him by the staff and said, "Director, this proves your ability. You've taken on two roles and achieved the combined achievements of Bernardo Bertolucci and Jeremy Thomas."

Lin Yuan's words immediately aroused applause from the guests present, and everyone was very respectful.

Bernardo Bertolucci is the director of The Last Emperor, a co-production between China, Britain and Italy.

Jeremy Thomas is the producer of "The Last Emperor".

This movie won the Best Director and Best Picture awards at the 17th Academy Awards 60 years ago, and was extremely popular at the time.

However, there have been different opinions on who should be credited for the successful filming of "The Last Emperor".

There is no doubt that Bernardo Bertolucci's contribution as a director can be said to be enormous. His understanding and digestion of Eastern culture, and his narration in a way that Westerners can understand, have enabled the film to receive praise from both Eastern and Western film critics.

Producer Remy Thomas also tried his best to clear countless obstacles during the filming process. Without him, the film might have died halfway through.

Finally, there is Zun Long, who plays Puyi. His handsome and elegant appearance and outstanding acting skills are a great plus.

In general, "The Last Emperor" is not a pure Chinese-language film, because the film's narrative and plot are completely controlled by a European and American team, and Chinese actors filmed according to the guidance of the European and American team.

Moreover, in Lin Yuan's opinion, this movie is suspected of glorifying the Qing Dynasty and portraying a traitor as having no choice. This has always been something that Lin Yuan cares about.

In the European and American film industry, the most award-winning "Chinese-language film" is actually a film that glorifies a traitor. Therefore, he hopes to use the film "The Heroes of Tang Dynasty" and the role of the brave and fearless Tang Dynasty man to wash away the impression left on Europeans and Americans by Puyi.

Obviously, he will accomplish this feat today.

Hearing Lin Yuan's words, Director Nolan shook his head and said, "No, no, no, everyone knows that the most crucial factor in the success of 'The Song of Tang Dynasty' is you. You filmed the grassland battle scene with nearly 10,000 people, you jumped at Hukou Waterfall, you flew the human slingshot, and you created the magnificent night market in Chang'an.

I just used my camera to record those incredible scenes."

At this point, director Nolan laughed and joked, "Don't think that just because you praise me, I will work with you on a movie again. Hahahaha, I've said it many times, and I will never go back on my word."

Lin Yuan had already said this to Director Nolan in private. The reason he said it again in public was to deepen the impression that Director Nolan and Lin Yuan were "decoupled" and to make the public pay more attention to Director Nolan's upcoming "Batman: The Dark Knight".

That movie is the "masterpiece" that truly proves Nolan's directorial skills.

Amidst a flurry of banter between Lin Yuan and director Nolan, the Best Foreign Language Film award ceremony concluded successfully.

The only awards left are the final four: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

The first award was for Best Actress, which undoubtedly went to Hilary Swank for "Million Dollar Baby".

If it weren't for Lin Yuan's "The Legend of Tang Ying", director Eastwood would have swept the four awards for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Actor with "Million Dollar Baby".

It can be said that such an exaggerated result is, on the one hand, because "Million Dollar Baby" is indeed very well made, and on the other hand it is also the Oscar organizing committee expressing respect for the old director.

After all, he is over 70 years old and still working on the front line of film shooting, and he has achieved such outstanding results. He is indeed a legendary image that should be created.

But they didn't know that director Eastwood would continue to work hard for another 20 years. It was a bit too early to give the big award...

Director Eastwood and Hilary Swank took the stage together.

Hilary Swank spoke first, and she did the usual thing of thanking investors, directors, audiences, and compatriots. There was nothing new.

Director Eastwood, who was speaking later, smiled and said, "Fortunately, my film is a female-led film, so I avoided competing with Lin Yuan and won the big prize. I didn't lose out."

After hearing the old director's words, the guests in the audience whistled and cheered.

Hollywood is such a small place that no information can be hidden from people.

Everyone has long known that the old director had been recruited when filming the movie "Jungle Bully" starring Lin Yuan. Lin Yuan even helped him to sleep with the girlfriend of the grandson of the Greek shipping magnate.

Therefore, no one present felt sorry for the old director whose award was snatched away by "The Legend of Tang Dynasty". They were all family, so what was there to fight about?

What's more, the veteran director filmed Lin Yuan's "Jungle Bully". Judging from the several guide trailers released so far, this will be another commercial film with explosive results, and it may even go straight to the top of the movie box office list.

Everyone could no longer suppress their envy for the veteran director.

Seeing the envious looks in the audience, the veteran director provoked them further with a sly tone, "I won't say much about 'Million Dollar Baby'; the glory belongs to Hilary Swank. And the courage in 'Bullet' belongs to me. I bet your jaws will drop when you see me fighting a 400-kilogram tiger!"

After hearing the old director's words, the audience immediately became excited. The guests could not imagine that Director Eastwood, a man in his 70s, would actually film a fight scene with a tiger?
Even a light pat from a tiger as a joke can cause a bone fracture or even break in an elderly person with osteoporosis.

Fractures caused by falls are fatal for the elderly. Many elderly people's physical condition deteriorates rapidly after a fall and fracture. Whether it is blood clots, organ failure, or even lung infections, they can take their lives.

Not to mention how the veteran director was so brave, how did Lin Yuan and Meng Tao, who were responsible for action design and safety, actually agree to shoot such an action scene? How did they do it?
Director Eastwood was clearly not prepared to give an answer, but instead said with a smile: "Are you looking forward to it? Are you curious? Then please go to the cinema in May and witness the miracle for yourself."

"cut!"

"Just leaving suspense without giving any answers, how abominable!"

There was another round of complaints from the audience, but one had to admit that curiosity was aroused. Taking advantage of the extremely high ratings of today's Oscars ceremony to promote "The Jungle Book" would definitely attract more attention to the film.

The old director and Hilary Swank laughed and talked for a few more words on the stage, then came down from the stage with the award, ending the Best Actress award ceremony.

Next are the final three awards: Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor.

Everyone knew that the award should belong to Lin Yuan and "The Song of Tang Dynasty", and many people were ready to stand up and give the warmest applause.

At this moment, the staff backstage cheered in surprise, "Director! The ratings have exceeded 71.5%! This is probably an unprecedented rating."

The director smiled wryly and said, "I'm feeling a mixture of joy and sorrow right now. I'm happy that I directed the Oscars, which had the highest ratings ever. I can brag about this for the rest of my life."

Sadly, with Lin Yuan no longer attending any award ceremonies, this will likely be his last performance. I'm afraid nothing I do will ever surpass the feeling I had today, which is really frustrating."

"We'll talk about the future later. This is 71.5%! It's 20 percentage points higher than the last time." The staff shouted.

Under normal circumstances, the ratings of the Oscars are between 13% and 18%, and whether it is close to the upper or lower limit depends on the popularity and appeal of the stars.

Since Lin Yuan participated in the Oscars, he participated in the 75th Academy Awards as a member of the "Hero" crew, performed a knife throwing show, and helped the ratings of the awards ceremony reach 31%!

At the 76th Academy Awards, Lin Yuan brought "The King of Spy" and performed a sword-slashing plate armor scene. The wonderful live performance brought the ratings to a terrifying 51%.

At today's 77th Academy Awards, Lin Yuan had clearly stated that there would be no exciting performances, but the ratings exceeded 70%!

This unimaginable viewership rate shows Lin Yuan's terrifying popularity.

If he had not made it clear that he would not enter politics, would he have become a presidential candidate that both parties were vying for?

At this point, the next award to be presented is Best Director.

Under the guidance of the host, the award presenter, director Steven Spielberg, walked onto the stage.

As perhaps the top director at present, Spielberg's status in Hollywood is roughly equivalent to that of director Zhang Mou in the domestic film industry.

The fact that he presented the award to Lin Yuan reflects the organizing committee's intentions.

At this time, the on-site director's camera was given to the crew of "The Legend of Tang Dynasty". Director Lin Yuan and Nolan were sitting on the chairs with smiles on their faces, looking confident.

Director Nolan put his hands on the armrests of his chair, waiting to stand up from his chair and go on stage to receive the award once his name was announced.

Seeing him like this, Lin Yuan complained in disdain: "You said you didn't value this award, but when it was actually given to you, you were so excited."

Director Nolan was a little nervous, his voice trembling a little: "After all, it's Best Director, the highest award in our industry. I won it at such a young age, so what's wrong with being excited?"

At this time, the list of nominees needs to be played on the stage as usual, which are:
Christopher Nolan: The Song of Tang

Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby

Martin Scorsese: The Aviator

Taylor Hackford, "Soul Singer"

Alexander Payne, Sideways

After the process was completed, Director Spielberg walked to the microphone, opened the envelope in his hand, and drew out the list of winners.

He read out the winners on the list without hesitation:
"Clint Eastwood! ...Million...dollar...baby?"

Hearing what Director Spielberg said, Director Nolan stood up without hesitation, and then sat awkwardly in his seat...

Million Dollar Baby?

Wasn’t it agreed to be “The Song of Tang Ying”?

In the history of the Oscars, the awards that had been revealed before the ceremony were all set in stone. How come it suddenly became "Million Dollar Baby"?
Director Nolan's face turned pale and blue, and he stood there in a daze, not knowing what to do.

Lin Yuan's expression also grew serious. "How could this go wrong? Was it intentional? Or was there a reversal during the final vote count?"

Director Eastwood, who was suddenly dazzled by the award that fell from the sky, was also in a dilemma.

His name was called out on the stage. Should he stand up and go on stage?
But just sitting there is not a good thing. Director Spielberg in the center of the stage was also confused: How could this happen?
As a key judge on the jury, he witnessed many old friends voting with him to ensure that Lin Yuan would win the award.

But what is happening now?
So Director Spielberg used his fingers to pry open the envelope again, trying to find another list inside, which was just accidentally placed in the wrong place.

But the envelope was empty, there was no second list at all.

This only list clearly states:

Best director!
Clint Eastwood!
Million Dollar Baby!
There is absolutely no room for ambiguity; this is the final result.

At this time, the camera was facing Lin Yuan. Director Nolan and Director Eastwood shot the scene directly, showing this embarrassing scene to audiences around the world.

Lin Yuan knew that he couldn't drag it on any longer.

Perhaps there was a reversal during the final vote count. After all, the assurance given by senior experts was only based on private communication with the judges, and it is not impossible that an accident would occur when the voting really took place.

So Lin Yuan pointed to the stage and motioned director Eastwood to come on stage to receive the award.

Regardless of whether it was an accident or not, the situation has already happened. The lottery results have been presented to audiences around the world. We can't just deny the results on the spot, right?
This will make Lin Yuan's reputation very bad. After all, the fact that the selected candidate did not win the award cannot be made public.

The old director and Lin Yuan had been filming together for the past six months and had already developed a tacit understanding. He could immediately guess what Lin Yuan was thinking just from his eyes and gestures.

So director Eastwood walked onto the stage with not-so-brisk steps.

Director Spielberg awkwardly handed the Best Director trophy to the veteran director and said, "Let's congratulate Director Eastwood and 'Million Dollar Baby'!"

The applause from the audience was sparse, and it was obvious that the guests present were also confused by this accident.

They don't hate the old director, but this award should obviously belong to "The Legend of Tang Dynasty".

Anyone with a little knowledge of movies knows that filming an epic masterpiece like "The Legend of Tang Dynasty" is far more difficult than "Million Dollar Baby".

This is equivalent to a top 3A masterpiece losing to an independent mini-game from a studio.

It’s not that independent games are bad, but compared to top 3A masterpieces, they can’t even compare.

(Really? The little robot actually beat Black Myth)
"Director Eastwood, can you say a few words to everyone?" said Director Spielberg.

No matter what happens, you still have to maintain the necessary decency.

Director Eastwood stood in the center of the stage with a solemn expression: "I don't know why this award was given to me, but in my heart I don't deserve it. This trophy is not an honor to me, but a shame.

Although the Oscar organizing committee gave me this award because of their favoritism, I will just lock it in the cabinet and never take it out.

I sincerely apologize to the crew of "The Legend of Tang Dynasty" and director Nolan. I'm sorry!"

Director Nolan picked up the microphone and said, "Old Director, this is not your fault. You don't need to apologize. This was just an accident. Let's not take it to heart."

Director Eastwood nodded, and without staying on the stage any longer, he came down with the award.

This scene made this award, which should have been full of ceremonial sense, seem rather sloppy.

At this moment, the staff in the backstage shouted in surprise: "Director, the ratings have exceeded 80%!"

The director smiled wryly and said, "I'd rather not have such unexpectedly high ratings. I'm sure countless netizens are online, accusing us of shady dealings at this year's Oscars ceremony. I'm afraid I'll be cyberbullied, too."

The staff member said helplessly, "Yes, in an instant, 7 comments appeared under the official news page! No! , ...! It's already exceeded !"

The staff turned the computer screen and displayed the screen full of insults in front of the on-site director:
"It's a shady deal! Absolutely shady! Even as an outsider, I know this year's Oscar committee wants to elevate Lin Yuan to a pedestal in exchange for him not accepting the award and giving way to other actors. Now that they've made a public promise, you're taking back the award?"

"The Oscars organizing committee is stabbing Lin Yuan in the back. They have no respect for their reputation!"

"What the hell is an Oscar? Lin Yuan still needs their recognition? It's just a fake award!"

"Are there any netizens here? Run up to the stage and smash this crappy awards ceremony!"

"The on-set director is rubbish! He's actually cutting Lin Yuan's close-up at this point? Is he trying to sow discord?"

"I know who the on-site director is, and I also know his address. I'll take you to his house later!"

……

The entire comment section has completely collapsed. Everyone is madly cursing the Oscar organizing committee, and no one speaks for the organizing committee.

Seeing this scene, the director on the scene slapped his forehead helplessly and said, "I thought being the director of this awards ceremony was a lifelong honor, but I didn't expect it to be such an endless abyss.

I feel so wronged, I don’t know anything!”

The director at the scene was only trying to quickly move past the current awkward situation and use the next few awards to dilute the audience's anger, so he said into the headset: "Speed ​​up the pace and give out the next award as soon as possible."

The next award was for Best Actor, and the presenter was the host Chen Long himself. So after receiving the director's instructions in the headphones, he opened the list that had just been handed to him by the etiquette lady.

The necessary procedures still need to be followed, and several nominated male actors have been announced, namely:
Lin Yuan's "The Heroic Song of Tang"

Jamie Foxx, "Soul"

Don Cheadle, Hotel Rwanda

Leonardo Dicaprio: The Aviator

Clint Eastwood, Million Dollar Baby

Chen Long opened the envelope in his hand and pulled out the white list.

"The winner of the 77th Academy Awards for Best Actor is... F*CK!" Chen Long couldn't help but curse out loud after seeing the list: "How shameless! Whoever wants to be the presenter can be the presenter!"

He threw the list to the ground angrily, stepped on it, and turned to walk off the stage.

This scene caused a panic and noise at the awards ceremony. This was an unprecedented time at the Oscars that the presenter actually threw the list on the ground, stepped on it and left.

At this moment, the camera lens was focused on the list on the ground.

On the white list, a large black footprint stood out, but it couldn't hide the name:

The 77th Academy Awards, Best Actor: Jamie Foxx, "Soul."

Seeing this scene, Lin Yuan laughed out of anger.

How could he not understand at this moment that he had been tricked?

First, they pretended to be friendly and asked him to voluntarily give up future award selection. Then, after he said the words of giving up, they made some tricks in the award selection.

Lin Yuan doesn't have to win this award. If he loses the taste vote, he can accept the result calmly.

But he already knew that out of 6000 public judges, more than 5500 would definitely support him!

Can he be overturned with this number of votes?

Obviously, someone is "openly" doing something "behind the scenes"?
Who is it?
The only person who could do such a dirty operation is John Donald, chairman of the Oscar Organizing Committee.

And why did John Donald do this?

The Mellon family is naturally behind the scenes, it’s not too easy to guess.

The counting of votes for the Oscars is often done by on-site notarization by the Big Four accounting firms.

In previous years, most people chose PricewaterhouseCoopers and KPMG, but this year it was EY.

Therefore, any abnormalities in vote counting must be confirmed by Ernst & Young, and there is no way around it if you want to do anything behind the scenes.

Ernst & Young has a very deep relationship with the Mellon Group. Several large companies under the Mellon Group, such as General Reinsurance Company, Gulf Oil Company, and National Steel Company, have been Ernst & Young's core clients for decades.

Faced with the Mellon Group's renewed efforts, Lin Yuan decided not to endure it any longer.

He had not immediately pursued the previous assassination attempt, having originally hoped to defeat his opponent fairly in the business world.

But unexpectedly, the Mellon Group kept chasing after them, using all kinds of shady tricks one after another.

Lin Yuan wondered if he gave people the impression that he was too easy to bully?
At this moment his cell phone rang.

A text message from Betty: "I support you in whatever you want to do, just go for it."

Lin Yuan typed back, "Falling out! Let's settle old scores together."

Since you have chosen to turn against your opponent, you must never leave any room for your opponent. Only by striking the first blow can you avoid a hundred blows.

Lin Yuan stood up from the chair with the help of a crutch.

All the guests and reporters in the audience focused their attention on him.

Lin Yuan picked up the microphone and said, "I'm going to hold an impromptu press conference at the Karen Hotel next door. Anyone interested is welcome to attend."

After saying that, he walked out without looking back.

(End of this chapter)