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Chapter 218: There Must Be a Conspiracy
🕑 Added 2025-01-01 10:41:29 +0000 UTC"This is a report from ABC Television sent back from the Los Angeles Music Center, where the 68th Academy Awards ceremony is about to begin. Who will be the biggest winner tonight?"
As the question from the television faded, Kunitz on the sofa waved his arm vigorously, "Of course it will be Duke Rosenberg and *Saving Private Ryan*!"
"Can you be quiet?" His girlfriend, Haley, expressed some dissatisfaction.
Kunitz knew that his girlfriend was not a fan of Duke's films, so he simply closed his mouth. The TV screen had switched to the studio.
"Will *Saving Private Ryan* sweep the awards? Or will *Braveheart* make a comeback? Or will *Sense and Sensibility* pull off an upset? Now, let's welcome the famous film critic Roger Ebert to analyze this."
This was a preview program before every Academy Awards ceremony, and Roger Ebert's appearance had become a tradition in recent years.
"…I believe *Saving Private Ryan* will win Best Picture, but Duke Rosenberg will miss out on Best Director. He is still young and has plenty of time to rise…"
Listening to Roger Ebert on the television, Kunitz frowned tightly. He had an extremely poor opinion of this short, fat man. Since the list of nominations came out, Ebert had continually praised the themes and values of *Saving Private Ryan* in his columns while belittling the director's techniques. In short, he believed Duke Rosenberg was unworthy of the Best Director award.
"Those bastard film critics!" he muttered under his breath.
"Don't underestimate them." Haley worked in media related to film, and it was precisely because of their mutual love for movies that they had gotten together. "There are rumors in the media industry that critics like Roger Ebert, David Denby, and Gene Siskel have been advising the Academy's judges not to vote for your favorite director. With them around, Duke Rosenberg's chances of winning are at least thirty percentage points lower."
Despite his dislike for film critics and not choosing movies based on their reviews, Kunitz still recognized his girlfriend's words.
"Those critics are always up to their tricks. Duke, you need to be mentally prepared."
Hearing Charles Rowen's words, Duke raised his right hand and pointed to his chest. "I've been prepared for a long time."
"We're going to steal your chance to go on stage!"
Robin Grand laughed from the other side, "Don't forget, only two producers can go on stage to accept the Best Picture award."
"Have you prepared how to thank me?" Duke jokingly said.
Back in this era, many of the Academy's regulations were rather rigid. For example, for the Best Picture award, in the past decade or so, it had often happened that the entire crew would go up to accept the award. Now, only two producers could go up.
After joking with Charles Rowen and Robin Grand, Duke linked arms with Catherine Zeta-Jones and walked to their seats.
"Mom…" He broke free from Zeta-Jones's arm and walked over to gently hug his standing mother. "I'm so glad you could come."
"I have to witness your most important moment in person."
Lady Leah smiled lightly and then turned her gaze to Duke's side, saying with great interest, "Aren't you going to introduce me?"
"Mom, this is Miss Catherine Zeta-Jones, the leading actress of my new film," Duke briefly introduced. "Kate, this is my mother."
"Hello, Mrs. Rosenberg."
Zeta-Jones wore a particularly warm smile, and Lady Leah nodded to her. "Hello."
After the three of them sat down, the theater became much quieter. After a few minutes of waiting, as the announcer's voice rang out, Whoopi Goldberg walked onto the stage, and her opening remarks quickly descended into raunchy humor.
The Academy Awards ceremony is one of the highest-rated programs in North America, typically ranking in the top five or even the top three, especially when hot films become nominees, attracting even more viewers.
"Who will be the first award presented?"
Sitting in front of the computer, Allen watched television while typing on his keyboard. Since the release of Microsoft's latest Windows system last year, he had discovered a great way to share information and movies—through computer networks—and quickly found a film and television program forum. What surprised him the most was that there was a dedicated section called "Explosive Madman," where most of the users were young people like him who enjoyed Duke's films.
"No matter who it is, we definitely won't have a share."
Refreshing the webpage, he saw several replies already following his post. A user named Duke of Destruction commented, "I have the program list; the first award is for Best Costume Design, and *Saving Private Ryan* isn't nominated."
"Does *Braveheart* have a nomination?" asked a guy named Rose Mountain.
"They can't possibly win, right?" Allen quickly typed. "Don't forget Mel Gibson's scandal."
"Oh no! The first award was snatched by the most hated crew."
Ryan's comment quickly popped up, "*Braveheart* actually won Best Costume Design!"
"Can a few skirts without underwear win an award?" Duke of Destruction clearly disagreed with this result. "Is there something wrong? The Oscars must be rigged! There's definitely a conspiracy!"
"Could it be that the scandal didn't affect *Braveheart*?"
Watching the screen, Allen typed worriedly, "In fact, it might have promoted the film? I think after Mel Gibson's scandal, *Braveheart* became even more famous."
"That is a possibility…"
In the Chandler Hall, the *Braveheart* crew was celebrating joyously, causing Duke to glance over in that direction. The crew had endured tremendous pressure because of Mel Gibson, and at this moment, it seemed like they were all releasing it. After all, they had secured the first award of this year's Oscars.
Just a glance revealed to Duke that Mel Gibson was also sitting among the crew. He hadn't appeared in public for a long time.
"Did they win?"
Although he wasn't the one to win the golden statuette, it ignited a spark of hope in Mel Gibson's heart. Perhaps the Oscars hadn't abandoned *Braveheart*? Perhaps the scandal wasn't as terrible as it seemed? After all, there had been those in Hollywood who won Best Director despite being embroiled in scandal!
He turned to look at the *Saving Private Ryan* crew; if he could win Best Director and turn his luck around, he wouldn't have to go to that bastard and bow his head to apologize!
Even the most desperate person has a glimmer of hope in their heart, and Mel Gibson was no exception.
"Mom, this is just my own opinion; the Academy is signaling an attitude to the outside world, and this is just a consolation prize."
When his mother asked, Duke leaned in and whispered, "I think the Academy is conveying this message: 'We are very fair. We gave the first award to *Braveheart*, and we are not influenced by the Mel Gibson incident at all.'"
Whether this speculation was accurate could easily be determined by observing the next few awards.
After Kevin Spacey won Best Supporting Actor for *The Usual Suspects*, Alicia Silverstone stepped onto the stage to present the award for Best Makeup. Both *Braveheart* and *Saving Private Ryan* were nominated for this award.
Mel Gibson stared intently at the stage. One award could be seen as a coincidence, but two awards would say a lot!
Hope burned fiercely in Gibson's chest.
Alicia Silverstone's voice immediately extinguished that fire, "The winner is Talia Shire for *Saving Private Ryan*!"
"Yeah!"
Cheers erupted around. Duke clapped his hands enthusiastically, and Zeta-Jones stood up and said, "This is our first award!"
"There will be more to come."
Duke also stood up, embracing the makeup artist he had collaborated with three times and was about to work with for the fourth time. "Congratulations, Talia."
"Thank you! Thank you!"
This was her first Oscar win. Talia Shire looked very excited.
Looking at the members of the *Saving Private Ryan* crew who stood up, Mel Gibson felt a hint of unwillingness in his eyes. Was the Academy merely giving *Braveheart* a token recognition?
A sense of despair surged within him, but after despair came more hope.
"*Braveheart* still has a chance! I still have a chance!" Gibson murmured softly to himself.
"YES!"
In front of the television, Allen waved his arms vigorously. Seeing his favorite movie triumph over his hated rival to win a major award naturally made him very happy, and he quickly typed on the keyboard, "We've won our first Oscar! There will be more Academy Awards to come, Mr. Oscar!"
"I told you, the Oscars are the fairest film awards!"
Seeing Duke of Destruction's follow-up comment, Allen's forehead was filled with black lines. Wasn't he the one who just said there was a conspiracy at the Oscars?
"Go, *Saving Private Ryan*! Go, Duke Rosenberg!"
Rose Mountain's words received agreement from everyone, and the chatroom was filled with supportive comments for *Saving Private Ryan*.
The performance of *Saving Private Ryan* did not disappoint its supporters, winning in all the technical categories where it was in direct competition with *Braveheart*, including Best Score, Best Sound Effects, Best Art Direction, and Best Sound Editing, bringing home a total of four technical awards!
It's only been an hour since the 68th Academy Awards ceremony started. "Saving Private Ryan" has already won five statuettes, achieving a 100% win rate for all the awards it was nominated for. With an absolute advantage of five to one, it temporarily leads over "Braveheart" and all other competitors.
Liam Neeson, a tall and slender man, walked onto the stage. He looked at the envelope containing the list of winners for Best Original Screenplay and said, "The script is the foundation of a movie. Every successful script embodies the hard work of the playwright. Last year, I saw many excellent movies, and they all share one characteristic: they all have equally outstanding scripts."
"Woody Allen's 'Not a Strong Aphrodisiac' features the typical talkative style of Allen, Randall Wallace's 'Braveheart' resonates with a spirit of freedom between the lines, while Duke Rosenberg's 'Saving Private Ryan' is filled with profound humanistic care..."
