Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 307 This wave is in the bag!
Why do you always want to create a big news story?
While a confident and flamboyant image may leave a good impression in social situations, it may not be as appealing as a public image. A humble and polite gentlemanly image, on the other hand, is still more widely appreciated.

That's how it is, at least in this era.

"Leonardo is a very good actor. From the moment I started writing the script for The Artist, I was thinking, who else in this era could portray such a superstar? It must be Leonardo!"

After exchanging some pleasantries, Gu Bei deflected host Tim's interview questions by using the timing as a way to gracefully conclude, "However, in terms of the awards ceremony, the acting awards are announced earlier than the directing awards, so Leonardo's will definitely be announced earlier."

"Thank you, Bruce!"

The host, Tim, looked somewhat helpless.

The essence of his question was actually directed at Leonardo DiCaprio, a perennial runner-up.

Even with such a strong lineup of artists this year, many still believe that Leonardo DiCaprio is repeating what happened four years ago with The Aviator, winning the Golden Globe but falling short of the Oscars.

Even if Gu Bei becomes the youngest Oscar winner for Best Director in history, he still has a slightly higher probability of winning the golden statuette than Leonardo DiCaprio.

But Gu Bei didn't respond to his question and instead changed the subject to the timing of the awards ceremony, so the question no longer had any explosive repercussions.

"but……"

Gu Bei couldn't suppress his urge to stir things up, so he changed the subject, "Maybe tonight we'll see Jack and Rose from Titanic fulfill their dreams at the same time!"

Is that what you think?

Tim immediately became interested; the old ship was truly unforgettable.

Jack and Rose from back then are now not only embarking on a revolutionary journey together, but also receiving help from artists and readers.

This is absolutely a perfect dose of nostalgia!
"Of course, they are all very excellent actors!"

Gu Bei said with a smile.

"how about you?"

Tim laughed and asked in return.

"I am still young!"

Gu Bei shrugged indifferently.

It appears calm and collected, yet its sharp edge is undeniable.

"Of course! You are the youngest winner of the Best Original Screenplay award, and also the only person in history to win four Oscars for a single film!"

Tim repeated Gu Bei's achievements from last year, "I hope you can win the Oscar that belongs to your directing career soon. Thank you again, Bruce!"

Tim's idea also represents the opinion of most people within the academy.

Almost no one thinks Gu Bei won't get the Best Director Oscar.

After all, Gu Bei is only twenty-two years old and has more than fifty years of creative career ahead of him, so it can be said that Gu Bei is loved and even favored by film critics.

The only remaining question is whether Gu Bei's Golden Age biography can lower the age limit for the Best Director award to under 25.

After the interview,

Gu Bei walked the red carpet alone and sat down in a seat inside the Kodak Theater.

At this time last year, he was accompanied by Liu Yifei, but now he is only accompanied by photographer Eric and a slightly nervous Leonardo.

"Barbie, you need to comfort your boyfriend!"

Gu Bei leaned forward and spoke to Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend, Bar Refaeli.

Bar simply smiled and did not participate in the argument between the two.

"I do not have……"

Leonardo immediately retorted.

"Actually, you don't need to be too nervous. You've already won a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award, making you the biggest favorite for this year's Oscars."

Gu Bei said lightly.

"Didn't the news say that I'm still no match for Locke?"

Leonardo looked at him helplessly. His fellow wrestler from Rose Films was the biggest threat to him. "He also has a Golden Globe, a British Academy Award, and an Independent Spirit Award!"

"Okay, we can remove the qualifier 'maximum'."

Gu Bei shrugged.

He had always thought Sean Penn,

He is Leonardo's biggest competitor.
It's easy to forget that Sean Penn also pulled off a stunning upset this year.

"You don't need to worry, I'm not worried at all!"

Photographer Eric chuckled and said to the two, "For me, winning the Golden Orsella Award for Best Cinematography in Venice is already enough; I don't care about the Oscar statuette at all!"

"Stop talking, you haven't even won the trophy yet!"

Gu Bei immediately retorted.

Eric's award was accepted on his behalf.

However, Gu Bei's acceptance of the document does not mean that he can take it with him.
If Eric wants to take it with him, he will need to go to Venice next year to claim it again.

Leonardo DiCaprio's Silver Bear for Best Actor at the Berlin International Film Festival is still in the Berlin Film Festival's warehouse. It's unclear whether Berlin will still give it to him if he tries to claim it now.

Time flew by as the three of them bantered and exposed each other's shortcomings.
The lights in the Kodak Theatre suddenly went out.

The 81st Academy Awards ceremony has officially begun.

Gu Bei looked at the setup on the stage.
Given that last year's Oscars had the lowest viewership in history, averaging only 3200 million viewers, the Academy has drastically revamped this year's Oscars.

A new production team has been signed, and the overall setup is now even more dreamlike.
A ring of arched crystal chandeliers creates a dreamlike atmosphere.

The string orchestra, which was originally backstage, was moved to the back of the stage so that the audience could see the source of the music.

And the list of presenters for this year's Oscars ceremony will be kept strictly confidential.
Even the awards ceremony host was changed from a traditional talk show host to the more popular Hugh Jackman.

Hugh Jackman's arrival has indeed brought about real changes.

The previous tradition was to start with a montage of this year's nominated films.

This time, it was a musical performance by Hugh Jackman.

At the beginning of the show, he was sitting on a chair similar to the one in the millionaire show on stage.

Then he went to the front row and sang a love song for Kate.

He then stood on the podium again to study Milk's speech.
They even rode in a paper Batmobile, singing 'Everyone should go see the Dark Knight.'
Then, behind the cardboard, they imitated the changes in different age groups from the movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button."
During the latter half of the opening show, he even went to the front row, picked Anne Hathaway up in a princess carry, and went on stage to perform the tap dance that the artists did at the end of the show.

Then they performed all the major Hollywood movies of the year.

This is the advantage of keeping the award presenters confidential.

When Gu Bei saw Wolf Uncle pick up Annie, he felt a hint of surprise.

If the list were announced in advance, most viewers would probably know it was pre-arranged, and there would be no surprises.

The last part of the opening show,
Hugh Jackman stood between two Oscar statuettes, raising his hands high: "This is the Oscars, my dream. I am an artist, I am a poor man, I am a wrestler, and I will read 'The Reader'."

Finally, he concluded with a roaring tenor: "I am Wolverine!!!"

The tenor's final note lasted for a full ten seconds, his voice as steady as a professional singer's, earning him applause from the entire audience.

Gu Bei couldn't help but clap his hands as well.

Just based on Wolverine's last line mentioning Wolverine,
That alone is enough to earn that applause. This year's Oscars, indeed influenced by Hugh Jackman, are completely different from previous years. If I had attended last year's Oscars like Gu Bei...

I knew last year's Oscars program would be incredibly long and tedious.

The first award is Best Costume Design, an award that has no appeal to the general public, and there is only one awards ceremony.

And this year,
The first award was Best Supporting Actress.
And unlike usual, the award wasn't presented by last year's Best Supporting Actor.

Instead, they invited five actresses who had previously won Best Supporting Actress awards to introduce this year's Best Supporting Actress nominees one by one.

The public likes to watch celebrities.
So let's show you some celebrities.
The Oscars really crave high ratings!
"The Oscar winner is..."

Tilda Swinton, who will play the Ancient One in the future Doctor Strange, opened the note in her hand, still keeping everyone in suspense.

Leonardo DiCaprio, who was standing next to him, leaned forward and asked, "Do you think Marion can win this award?"

The female lead in the film, Marion Cotillard, also avoids fierce competition by subduing the supporting female characters, but the competition among the supporting female characters is no less intense than that among the female leads.

Gu Bei said calmly, "It's unlikely. She just won the Oscar for Best Actress last year. It's unrealistic to expect her students to win it again this year!"

The voice just fell,

“…Penelope Cruz!”

The artist's first nomination was rejected!

Gu Bei clapped his hands, his heart at peace.

It's normal for this award to drop a bit.

Only Tom Hanks won Best Actor two years in a row with Forrest Gump.

It would be quite difficult for the female protagonist of the artist's story to achieve this.

This year's Oscars were quite fast-paced.

After showing the public five actresses and a new Oscar winner,

They proceeded directly to the awards ceremony for the Best Original Screenplay and Best Adapted Screenplay.

"Two outstanding award presenters are walking toward the center stage..."

A letter-sized sheet of paper appeared on the big screen.
This is the standard paper size in North America, a few millimeters narrower and ten millimeters shorter than A4 paper.
For a country that still uses inches, this paper standard is quite humane, at least it's about the same size as A4 paper.

The screen played an animation of a typewriter typing while reading the text that had just been typed.

This is a completely new format, and it's refreshing.

But Gu Bei's gaze was fixed on the envelopes in the hands of the two people, which contained the names of the two screenplay award winners.

"Bruce..."

Leonardo turned his head and saw Gu Bei's gaze. He was very interested in continuing to guess the winner with him, after all, it was Gu Bei's own nomination.

"Shut up!"

Gu Bei didn't even turn his head.

"OK!"

Leonardo was somewhat disappointed.

"The Oscar winner is... Dustin Lance Black for Milk!"

The artist has dropped points again!
Gu Bei breathed a sigh of relief, but he wasn't too disappointed.

Although the artist lost both awards in a row.

However, both of these awards were won by Gu Bei and Marion last year.

It's not uncommon for a film to receive two consecutive awards, but the film must be of a certain quality; otherwise, people will start to wonder if they should give other films a chance.

Otherwise, she'll end up like Meryl Streep, who has been nominated for fifteenth time this year but has only won Best Actress once and Best Supporting Actress once.

After the original screenplays are awarded, it's time for the adapted screenplays:
"The Oscar winner is... Simon Beaufoy for 'Slumdog Millionaire'!"

Slumdog Millionaire got off to a flying start, winning its first award on its first nomination, temporarily putting it ahead of the artists!
After the screenplay award,

It will immediately be awarded Best Animated Feature and Best Animated Short Film.
It remains a topic of interest to the public.
This award is almost a foregone conclusion; it will definitely be:
"The Oscar winner is... WALL-E!"

An award that no one questions.

This year's best animated feature film has to be the masterpiece WALL-E.
Pixar's exceptional creativity remains as strong as ever.

"but……"

Gu Bei looked at the winners on stage and said, "In two years, this award should belong to us!"

WALL-E is very powerful.
But Frozen is equally powerful.
In the realm of animated feature films, which only large companies can successfully operate,

Gu Bei couldn't imagine any movie that could compete with Frozen in the future, not even Pixar. Gu Bei had already reserved this award for Rose Pictures.

Meanwhile, Liu Yifei, far away in China...
She took the day off and is sitting in front of the TV with the people at the base, watching the Oscars ceremony at lunchtime.

At the same moment, she also thought of Frozen: "The story of Frozen is no less interesting than that of WALL-E. I wonder how the final movie will turn out?"

Liu Yifei wasn't sure if she was biased or trusted Gu Bei too much, but she preferred the story of Frozen.

The Ice and Snow Studio has now been acquired and renamed.
Production of Frozen is progressing steadily.
The main studio lacked experience in animated feature films, possessing only extensive experience in short films and outsourcing, resulting in slower-than-expected progress.

After two animation awards
The awards ceremony finally presented three technical awards.
Best art direction, best costume design, best makeup.
Let the audience catch their breath for a moment.
The artists nominated the best art direction and best costume design.

however……

"The Oscar winner is... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!"

Snapped!
"The Oscar winner is... Michael O'Connor for *The Duchess*!"

Snapped!
"The Oscar winner is... The Curious Case of Benjamin Button!"

This time there's no need for sex.
Because the artist was not nominated for this Best Makeup award.

Four nominations

0 awards
Gu Bei and the entire artist troupe sat there for an hour.
Nothing to show for it!

While technical awards may not be of much public interest, they serve as a barometer, reflecting the attention Oscar voters pay to nominated films, since many voters have only seen a handful of movies.

Gu Bei's expression remained unchanged. His only goal was those two major awards, and at most, an award for Leonardo DiCaprio and Eric.

"Bruce..."

This time it wasn't Leonardo speaking.

Instead, it was Eric next to Gu Bei.

The middle-aged man that Gu Bei had known since New York looked at Gu Bei nervously under the lights of the Oscars, because the next award was his Best Cinematography award.

This might be the only time in his life he'll be nominated and have a chance to win!

Even during the opening show, he said that he already had an award in Venice and didn't care about the Oscar at all.

But when people actually face the little golden statue,
I doubt any Hollywood professional would remain unmoved!
The person presenting the award this time was Natalie Portman, whom Gu Bei knew. She glanced at the name on the envelope and immediately turned to look at Gu Bei in the second row.

Gu Bei immediately understood.

This is a sure thing!
"The Oscar winner is... Eric Christie for *The Artist*!"

(End of this chapter)