Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 932 Oscar under strike

   "Welcome to the 60th Academy Awards live broadcast..."

  At their house in Staten Island, New York, Ronald's aunt Karen watches live TV with her boyfriend. She prepared snacks and black tea early, tuned to ABC TV station, and just waited for the live broadcast to start.

"The 60th Academy Awards were star-studded, with the beautiful 'Dirty Dancing' actress Jennifer Gray, Best Supporting Actor nominee Sean Connery, the most popular actor Michael Douglas, and his Nominated for the film 'Fatal Attraction' beautiful female producer Shirley Lansing…

  The two men holding leather bags are accountants from Price Waterhouse CPAs, and inside the bag is the list of winners tonight, which guarantees the secrecy and professionalism of tonight's winners list..."

  Aunt Karen saw the leather bag containing the results, picked up the latest issue of Vanity Fair magazine, turned to the Oscar prediction column, and said to her boyfriend:

   "Look at this. The probability of winning is analyzed above. Ronald's best director is only ranked third after the last emperor and famous attraction. Isn't there great hope?"

   "I'm rooting for Ronald. But, honey, you care so much about whether Ronald wins or not. Why don't you want to go to the awards ceremony when he invites you?"

  Aunt Karen slapped her boyfriend, "I'm sorry..." It turned out that Aunt Karen had long suspected that Ronald wanted to film the story of the widow finding love, which was somewhat related to herself. The protagonist played by Xueer is quite similar to her own situation.

   "Look, is that Ronald?" Aunt Karen and her boyfriend chatted affectionately, and the live TV footage captured Ronald and Diane...

"Ronald Lee for Best Director for Lustful Luna...Also with Louis Malle and his beautiful girlfriend Candice Bergen, superstar Mel Gibson, The Last Emperor actor and today's Presenter John Lone..."

  The camera of Ronald and Diane flashed by, and Aunt Karen was still very happy, she shed tears excitedly, "Oh, if only my sister could see today..."

  …

   Outside the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, this Moorish-style building is the site of the new awards show of the Hollywood Academy Awards.

  Ronald and Diane had just passed the TV station cameraman, and were blocked on the sermon between the place where they got off the bus and the gate. Ronald had to let Diane walk in front of him to keep the new dress from getting dirty.

  This new venue is larger than the old venue Dorothy Chandler Hall, and it was originally the temple of the Temple Brotherhood, one of the largest branches of Freemasonry in America. Ronald looked at the domed towers on the four corners of the building, full of Middle Eastern Arabian style. When this organization was established, it was deliberately made into a Middle Eastern style in order to attract members.

  But now it is completely different from the original religious use. Now it is mainly used for rock concerts and large-scale events.

   It is said that the entrance here is very wide, so it would not be congested. It's all about Chevy Chase, the host of this year's Oscars, the comedian who is full of bad taste.

"Hello, hello, how do you feel?" Chevy Chase didn't know whose hand he shook. The people who came with the luxury cars were lied to. Although they are famous actors, directors, screenwriters, producers, but today they are all very nervous, just a... well, just a nominee..."

   "I'm not nervous, just let us go in." Ronald cursed secretly, what's going on with this kind of bad talk show at the gate?

   "Didn't you prepare your acceptance speech?" Diane ruthlessly exposed him from the side.

   "What if?" Ronald smiled... and greeted Olympia Dukakis who was also blocked behind. She also dressed up today and came with her husband.

  The flow of people ahead finally began to loosen, and Ronald and his party were able to move forward. When I passed Chevy Chase, I saw him take off the microphone and check the time with his assistant, "Did I say a minute? Did I say it?"

  Ronald also shook his head and smiled wryly. It was really difficult for this old man who could only talk about jokes to host the Oscars for the second consecutive year.

But the producer of the awards ceremony, Samuel Godwin Jr., is also unavailable. This year's screenwriters went on strike, and the screenwriters union refused to grant special permission to the Oscars. Chevy Chase continued, those bad words just now were all played by him on the spot, which is really a headache.

   Ronald was likely to win, so he sat on the edge of the aisle in the front row. In the front is the heroine Cher and her boyfriend of "Moonlight Sultry", behind is Dukakis and her husband, on the left is Diane, on the right is Donna, and in the past are screenwriters Shanley and Nicolas Cage, separated from the left Down the aisle were Patrick Schwytz and Jennifer Gray of Dirty Dancing.

  The person who arranged the seats did everything, Ronald unbuttoned his dress and sat down. On solemn occasions, no one spoke much, waiting for the opening of the ceremony.

  After the lights in the hall went down, the lights on the stage came on, and the small white grids like the windows of each building represented the work of each type of work in the movie. The actors in it acted poorly, and the actions in many places were wrong...

   Ronald wanted to cover his face very much, this is what acting without a script looks like.

In the end, a dozen or so dancers wrapped in golden tights, holding a big sword in their hands, began to dance to the music. The laser light in the center of the stage reflected golden light on them, and finally they boarded the small stage. On the stage, put the big sword on the ground and turn into little golden men.

   "Good evening, Hollywood hypocrites..." Chevy Chase came up and started tonight's awards ceremony. "As you all may know, the screenwriters union is on strike, so I hired a comedian to be the host. Tonight we won't follow the script, so I'll hurry up and save time"

   As he spoke, he took out a handful of envelopes from his pocket, "Bertolucci, Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep", and then flew the envelopes down the stage one by one.

   "Oh, Shxt", Ronald scolded in his heart, and kept his face calm. This host has no taste. The Oscars party under strike was disastrous from the start.

   "Just kidding, just kidding, what I just said is not a winner.  …"

   Ronald froze, this level of jokes is simply too bad, you might as well not say this last sentence. Nicholson and Streep were both nominated for a romantic tragedy, so what's the curse on them not getting an award?

  Most of the audience didn't laugh, and a few who laughed quickly realized that something was wrong and stopped laughing. There was a rare cold scene at the scene.

An idiot like Chevy Chase also found out that it was wrong, so he had to say, "The Writers Guild is still on strike, so all my lines tonight, which were neither written by me nor members of the Writers Guild, were actually Donated to me by several undergraduates at USC…”

Ronald turned his head to look around, and found that the old lady Olivia de Havilland, the supporting actress of "Gone with the Wind", seemed to feel the same way as him. Not satisfied with his vulgar jokes.

   Then Chevy Chase half-jokingly asked the audience to forgive possible mistakes during the live broadcast, because there is really no script, and also introduced that there will be other comedians who will be responsible for the interludes between different award stages...

  Ronald can only smile wryly, there is really no other way, let the comedians delay the time, they tell some jokes to delay the lack of live performances.

Sean Connery first presented the award for the best special effects. He went up and said that a bunch of special effects can create volcanoes, avalanches, explosions and other clichés in movies, and then announced the list of nominations. Innerspace), except that only one other "Predator" was nominated.

The poster of the award-winning movie was played on the big screen. This movie is Dennis Quaid, starring Meg Ryan. Ryan.

  The screen was quickly removed, and the team with two acceptance speeches per person ended up. Next came the first performance award tonight, Best Supporting Actress.

"The award for us is a blockbuster movie with an interesting plot. A professional woman has a one-night stand with a colleague. She doesn't want to have a one-night stand, so she takes a knife and wants to break up the colleague's family...Fatal Attraction ..."

   After Chevy Chase finished speaking, the big poster of Fatal Attraction on the stage was lifted up, followed by the award presenters, Michael Douglas and Glenn Gross.

   "I feel very happy that we can do this together..." Glenn Gross, who is already pregnant, said a line from the movie... A pun was intended and all the guests on the scene laughed.

   "Uh..." Michael Douglas paused deliberately, and more audience members understood, and the laughter became louder again, "This lady is really very active...Let's give the award quickly..."

   "Great idea...the best supporting actress nominee is..." Glenn Gross began to read the list of nominations.

   "Norma Aleandro, 'Gabby: A True Story'"

  The camera caught her, an Argentinian Latino actress. The movie is a co-production between America and Mexico.

   "Ann Sassen - The Whale of August", this is an old lady, everyone's applause was warmer. It's not because of Ann Sassen herself, but there is something unbelievable about this movie. The heroine is Lillian Gish, the first female star of the silent film era, and she collaborated with Bette Davis.

  The actress who made a film with director DW Griffiths (who made a feature film for the first time and invented many editing methods) is already in her nineties. Many people don't know that she is still alive, and she can also make movies as the heroine. She was too old to come to the scene, but some old people still applauded because of her.

  The big screen on the stage of "Olympia Dukakis—Moonlight Sultry" showed Dukakis talking to Cher...and then switched to Dukakis himself sitting in the audience.

  The applause and cheers of the audience suddenly increased in volume, and some people blew loud whistles at the scene.

   Ronald was startled, why is Dukakis so popular? It seemed like the whole audience was cheering for her.

   "Anne Archer—Fatal Attraction," Glenn Gross laughed when he announced it. This is the supporting actress who played Mrs. Douglas in Fatal Attraction, and ended up shooting Gross's character with a gun.

   The cheers and applause suddenly decreased, Ronald looked to the left, and Diane also looked at him in surprise. I don't understand why "Moonlight Sultry" is so popular with the audience.

   "Anne Ramsay - Throw Mommy off the Train, and the winner is..." Michael Douglas raises his voice...

Ronald drove past Diane, and across the aisle, Olympia Dukakis was too nervous to speak. She just sat there dumbfounded, watching Glenn Gross tear down the stage. envelope.

   There was a drumbeat, and Glenn Gross finally opened the envelope:

   "Olympia Dukakis!"

  Olympia Dukakis next to her let out a sigh of relief. She kissed her husband, then stood up, and stepped forward steadily. Ronald saw a sparkle in her eyes.

  The scene began to play Dean Martin's song, a variation of the theme song of "Moonlight Sultry". Lead the new best supporting actress to the stage to accept the award.

The applause at the scene began to grow louder again. Dukakis walked steadily. When she walked past Xueer's row, she shook hands with Xueer. She didn't stay for too long. After finally taking the stage, she took the trophy.

   "Well, I'm very honored", Dukakis paused, and then began to speak.

   "Thanks to the members of the academy..."

  Dukakis was obviously very excited, her eyes sparkled, but she was an actress in a stage play, so she tried her best to put away her excitement, "I have said it many times, and I still want to say,

  Thanks to Ronald Lee…

  Thanks to John Patrick Shanley

  Thanks to my husband for all these years...as my life and work partner for supporting me

   Thanks to my friends and colleagues…

  Finally, Michael—Let’GO!”

Olympia Dukakis controlled it very well. She knew that there was not much time for the award speech for the supporting actress. After thanking her for a while, she finally showed her real excitement. Shout out to the leading candidate, let him work as hard as himself to win the upcoming Super Tuesday primaries!

   Another burst of Dean Martin's "That's Amore" sounded. The hosts of this year's Oscars were poor, but the coordination of various details was very good. The audio equipment in the new venue is much better than the old venue, and the winner's theme music can be switched at any time.

  The screen that rises and falls at any time is wrapped in an oil painting frame. Along with the winners, award presenters and other guests on stage, there are stills of their masterpieces as background introductions to familiarize the audience.

  The stills of the mother played by Dukakis wearing pajamas in the breakfast scene slowly rose as she finished, and the audience applauded non-stop to express their congratulations.

   Ronald stood up, waited for Dukakis to come down, gave her a hug, and kissed her on the cheek.

   "Congratulations!" Thousands of words are in this sentence.

"Thank you, Ronald." Olympia Dukakis couldn't bear it anymore, and hugged her husband's shoulders tightly. Her husband is also a stage actor. The two of them worked hard to play the supporting actress in "Moonlight Sultry" , It was a decision to change her destiny for her.

  Seeing that the audience was still applauding, Ronald looked at the crew around him, and Nicolas Cage also looked over. He also noticed the abnormality of the applause for Dukakis.

   Then there was screenwriter John Patrick Shanley, who was involved in the Oscars for the first time and didn't know that Dukakis' unexpectedly loud applause was particularly rare.

   "What happened?"

  With a big question mark in his heart, Ronald put away his doubts and sat down.

   "The next award is the best art direction..." Chevy Chase didn't tell his bad jokes this time.

  Boom boom boom boom... The drumbeat began to sound, this time not after the winners were announced, but before the winners were announced.

   "Ladies and gentlemen, our presenter is... five-time Oscar nominee, two-time winner, Olivia de Havilland..."

  The picture frame above is a still of Gone with the Wind played by de Havilland, which slowly rises. The scene began to be accompanied by the theme song of "Gone with the Wind". After the last note stopped, the stills rose to the highest level, and the lights hit the back...

  Olivia de Havilland walked to the podium in an all red gown with a big sapphire necklace.

   ho...

   This scene was even bigger than the winners. All the audience stood up to pay tribute to this Hollywood legend. The applause was comparable to that of Dukakis just now.

what's up? This abnormal applause is already the second time today.

   Ronald also sat down slowly.

  The old lady's lines are excellent, and her speech is cadenced, which has the charm of a classical actor. People can't help but recall the Melanie she played decades ago.

  “I have played eight centuries of stories on the screen, from Robin Hood to the Civil War, actors can enter the play, and need the help of art director…”

   "The winner is..." Olivia de Havilland paused for an accent, "Ferdinand Scafioti, the last emperor"

  The graceful, silk-and-zhu tune, full of oriental charm theme song of "The Last Emperor" sounded, and several winners began to accept the awards on stage.

   But this time the applause was much smaller, and even the theme song was not changed, and the soft orchestration in it could be heard clearly.

   Feeling strange, Ronald looked at Donna on the right. I saw that she didn't clap hard.

  Today is the first award ceremony held in the new venue, because there are many more seats, nominees can bring their family members to attend, and Donna also came to participate.

   "Why didn't you applaud? I think you applauded Dukakis very enthusiastically just now?" Ronald asked his cousin in a low voice.

   "I've watched Moonlight Sultry, Olympia is so good, I haven't watched The Last Emperor yet, I don't know if it's good..."

  Donna's words seemed to give Ronald an inspiration.

  De Havilland's Gone with the Wind, the most watched Hollywood movie of all time. Many of the audience were outsiders like Donna. They didn't know about "The Last Emperor" and movies like "Moonlight Alluring" were their favorites.

  Ronald took out the list of all nominated films prepared by his agent, and scanned them casually, and sure enough, his guess was right.

Many very successful films at the box office, such as his own "Dirty Dancing", "Beverly Cop 2", "Lethal Weapon", "Predator", "Robocop", "Spirit" and so on. No nominations, or only one or two minor awards.

As for the films nominated for the best picture, director, performance, screenplay, and other major awards, except for "Moonlight" whose box office figure has reached 25 million after the nomination, "Fatal Attraction" 140 million, "Broadcasting News" was 35 million, and none of the films nominated for other major awards exceeded 20 million.

The best-performing "Last Emperor" only earned over 10 million after a long release, and there are several films nominated for best film, best director, best actor and actress, and best screenplay, with one or two million more , less than hundreds of thousands, except for insiders, very few viewers have seen it.

"No wonder they applauded Olympia Dukakis. She played a good role and made people impressive. On the one hand, Anne Archer of Fatal Attraction, the supporting role of the wife, compared with the hero and heroine, the audience has little impression. Other nominations People, the audience didn't see it much, how to applaud it."

  (end of this chapter)