The Best Actor in the Vase of Meiyu

Chapter 1909 The Beginning of Breaking the Ice
It's Oscar year again, another awards season, a time of noise, excitement, and revelry.

However, after the glorious conclusion of "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" the previous year, which swept across the world and brought the epic series to a perfect end, the expectations and popularity of the series reached a peak. It would be extremely difficult to surpass this year, as can be seen from the traffic generated by the first phase of the Academy's public relations efforts.

One statistic illustrates this point simply and intuitively—

box office.

Of course, awards season films are never judged solely on box office success, but it is undeniable that "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," "Chicago," "A Beautiful Mind," and "Gladiator"—all films that topped the Best Picture list in the past four years—achieved box office success, even unbelievable success.

On the one hand, the "Oscar effect" reached its peak around the turn of the millennium, becoming an important indicator of how the general public viewed movies.

On the other hand, the Oscars have found a delicate balance between commerce and art, achieving a certain degree of compromise between popular aesthetics and professional judgment.

In fact, this is also the source of Frank Pierce's confidence. In just four short years, all of which took place during his tenure as president of the Academy, he pushed the influence of the Oscars to a new peak. Not only did its authority increase, but its popularity and public appeal also continued to rise, truly allowing people to appreciate the charm of the Oscars.

Frank's refusal to bow to Anson in his final year in office was less a matter of strategy and more a matter of pride.

Otherwise, given Frank's strategy, he should have proactively invited Anson to attend; but clearly, he remains a high-and-mighty academic at heart, and accepting the general public is merely a business tactic, nothing more.

Against this backdrop, box office revenue has become an important tool for the Academy's public relations efforts during awards season. Producers and distribution companies constantly emphasize that their works are not "highbrow and inaccessible," and the film's mass appeal and universality have become important bargaining chips in the public relations process, being included in the scope of discussion.

This year is no exception.

However, the situation is not optimistic. Although no one expects another "Lord of the Rings 3" to be released this year, and everyone knows that it is almost impossible, as of the Golden Globes, none of the films leading the awards season have managed to break $100 million at the box office.

This is still shocking.

Undoubtedly, the release period needs to be taken into account. "The Aviator" has only been released for three weeks, and "Million Dollar Baby" has only been in theaters for a month. Given the limited release time, it is normal that the box office of these films has not reached the heights that everyone expected.

But the reality is still heartbreaking.

"The Aviator," $50 million; "Sideways," $32 million; "Million Dollar Baby," $8 million.

These figures are really nothing to brag about.

Currently, the top-grossing award-season hit is "Ray," which has grossed over $70 million since its release in October.

That's all.

Everything seems unbelievable, especially after four glorious years under Frank Pierce's leadership; this year's desolation and ruin are truly unbelievable.

Furthermore, when the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences announced its nominations, there were no surprises or unexpected twists; it was the same familiar faces from the awards season.

"The Aviator" is leading the pack with eleven nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Supporting Actress.

Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio, the ambitious Oscar-caliber duo, are undeniably leading the pack, the undisputed whirlwind of this year's awards season, and will continue their strong run towards the finish line. "Million Dollar Baby" and "Finding Neverland" both garnered seven nominations, tying for second place in the nomination round; "Ray" received six nominations; and "Sideways" had five.

Everything proceeded as planned, without any surprises or unexpected events.

Strictly speaking, this is not entirely accurate, because the sudden emergence of "Searching for Neverland" was somewhat unexpected, sparking whispered discussions.

Starring Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet, this film focuses on the story of Peter Pan's creation of this fairy tale. However, the film's positioning is unclear. It was originally intended to be a typical biographical film aimed at the awards season, but Miramax, a subsidiary of Disney, hoped to replicate the box office success of "A Beautiful Mind".

After the Weinstein brothers left Miramax, Disney practically abandoned the company, leaving it in a state of internal chaos. As a result, their public relations positioning for "Searching for Neverland" was unclear and inaccurate, ultimately leading to a situation where they failed in both directions and ended up in an in-between position.

As of the Golden Globe Awards, the film had only grossed $30 million and received a disappointing 67 rating from critics.

however!
When the Oscar nominations were announced, "Finding Neverland" surprisingly garnered seven nominations, becoming the most mediocre and overrated film of this awards season, yet still standing proudly under the spotlight. The entire Hollywood community gasped and exchanged bewildered glances.

The reason couldn't be simpler—

The Academy is heavily promoting Johnny Depp. Even though Miramax's public relations efforts were lackluster, the old academics at the Academy still showered Johnny Depp with affection, giving him a second consecutive nomination after his inexplicable Best Actor nomination for "Pirates of the Caribbean" last year.

If last year's "Pirates of the Caribbean" was a critical and commercial success, and the Academy's bold and innovative awarding of Johnny Depp was a change worthy of everyone's applause, then this year, with "Finding Neverland" failing to win either critical acclaim or box office success, Johnny Depp's continued nomination is something to ponder.

The answer is obvious.

Anson Wood.

Despite the lack of evidence and grounds for complaint, it's clear to anyone with eyes to see that Frank Pierce's support for Johnny is aimed at suppressing Anson.

Both rose to prominence through commercial popcorn, and both took unconventional and rebellious paths, but the Academy chose Johnny and still looked down on Anson.

Even though rumors circulated that Johnny lacked any professionalism—refusing to memorize lines, demanding his assistant stand behind the camera with the lines so he could read them, arriving at the set drunk and causing delays, refusing to cooperate with his co-stars and displaying a complete lack of acting skills that angered Kate Winslet, and so on—this still didn't stop the Academy from continuing to award Johnny.

To be honest, this nomination list is completely unsurprising, and I don't even feel like complaining about it.

Fortunately, things finally changed this year when cracks appeared within the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, breaking the deadlock for the first time.

"The Sun Shines Within" received two nominations.

"Spider-Man 2" received five nominations.

Both films have unexpectedly secured a place on the Oscar nomination list, sparking heated discussions amidst controversy and anticipation.

Ultimately, traffic still needs to rely on Anson.

(End of this chapter)