America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 644 Never Let a Brother Down

Beverly Hills, The Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

Martin has a long-term luxury suite here, and Leonardo and Nicholson have also arrived at his place some time before the nominees' luncheon begins.

Leonardo loosened his tie slightly and said, "Annapurna Pictures acquired the rights to those two scripts, and at an exorbitant price. What do you think?"

Martin was blunt: "What else can we say? Those thieves are definitely connected to Annapurna Pictures."

"Larry Ellison's son and daughter, instead of hanging around in Silicon Valley, are here wreaking havoc in Hollywood." Nicholson looked at Martin: "Don't be impulsive, they're not easy to deal with."

He said it was difficult to handle, not impossible.

Leonardo said, "She has a father who is worth nearly $300 billion."

Nicholson's tone changed again: "By publicly announcing the signings of 'Seventh Son' and 'Transcendence,' what is she trying to do? It's clearly a declaration of war!"

Martin was equally annoyed: "We're always the ones messing with people, but now we're being messed with by a woman, and a very troublesome one at that."

Leonardo DiCaprio retorted, "This is Hollywood, not Silicon Valley!"

Nicholson said, "I have a good idea!"

Martin and Leonardo both looked at him, because getting involved with Megan Ellison was indeed going to be a bit of a hassle.

"It's not hard to see from her high-profile behavior that this woman is learning from her madman father," Nicholson, with his rich life experience, analyzed. "So her personality is both arrogant and tough, as if she can do whatever she wants."

He summarized based on some cases he had experienced: "This kind of person has a weakness: once you break through her arrogance and toughness and completely conquer her, you can do whatever you want, and even turn her into a female slave."

Martin pondered for a moment: "That seems to make sense."

Leonardo nodded. "I've seen similar cases before." He reminded him, "Remember Nikesem? That's how some of Ranier's female slaves came about."

Nicholson called out to the side, "Old Brooks!"

Bruce pressed the remote control, and a large full-body photo of Megan Ellison appeared on the projection screen in the room.

Pointing at the photo, Nicholson said, "Martin, Leo, take the initiative! Show your masculine charm, conquer this woman, make her your slave, and do whatever you want with her! I have faith in you!"

Martin looked at the full-body photo of Megan Ellison, who was a younger version of Larry Ellison with longer hair and a fuller chest, and quickly shook his head, saying, "I'm a good person, a good person with morals, I would never do such a despicable thing!"

Leonardo was much more direct than Martin: "No long, golden-brown hair, bad review! Overly masculine facial features, bad review! Poor body proportions, no long legs, bad review! No way, I can't bring myself to do that..."

"You two bastards, how can you judge a book by its cover?" Nicholson said angrily. "Megan Ellison is someone who can share Larry Ellison's billions of dollars in assets. Just imagine if you could control her, you'd have hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth."

Martin still shook his head: "You're digging a pit on the spot, then lighting a fire in it, luring us to jump in."

Leonardo said, "Let's try another approach."

Nicholson looked disappointed: "How satisfying it would be to tame a billionaire princess."

"We'll find a way eventually, keep thinking and patiently looking for opportunities." Martin glanced at the wall clock, stood up, and said, "Let's go, the nominees' luncheon is about to begin."

The three of them went downstairs together and entered the hotel's grand ballroom.

The crews of "Shutter Island" and "Gone Girl" were right next to each other, and the crew of "Inception" was on the other side.

Martin greeted all the people he knew.

Both Nolan and David Fincher hope to achieve something at this year's Oscars, at least a Best Director nomination.

Martin had just finished greeting everyone when Natalie Portman, heavily pregnant, came over.

As time went on and various preliminary awards were presented, her accumulated advantages grew larger and larger, and her popularity increased, making her the absolute favorite for this year's Best Actress award.

Natalie was genuinely grateful to Martin. Looking around to make sure no one was watching, she leaned closer and said, "Has your company been robbed recently, and the script you were looking at has been stolen?"

Martin was furious: "That's true."

"I've met several astrologers and fortune tellers from all over the world, and some of them said they could help people reverse bad luck in my situation." Natalie was clearly not joking, and she meant well: "You haven't been having much luck lately, maybe I can help you."

Martin declined, saying, "Thank you, but really, it's not necessary. I've already gotten rid of my bad luck."

Natalie smiled and said softly, "You can come to me anytime before I give birth."

Martin was shocked, but he could sense Natalie's sincerity: "Natalie, I wish you success in reaching the top."

Natalie said, "You deserve half the credit."

The luncheon was about to officially begin. Martin returned to his table and had just sat down when Menez, from the Inception table, leaned over and said, "Boss, should I go?"

Martin was momentarily confused: "What are you going to do here?"

Menez said, "Annapurna Pictures and Megan Ellison, should I get involved?"

Martin patted his arm: "No need, she was born in '86."

"Judging from her appearance in the newspaper, she looks like a 40-year-old woman." This time, even Mr. Menez was at a loss: "If she were over 30, I'd be confident; if she's over 40, I guarantee I can handle her!"

Nicholson, who was standing nearby, heard this too and patted Menez on the shoulder: "Buddy, even this old bastard like me admires you!"

There are very few people he can admire, and even a bastard like Martin couldn't make Nicholson say such a thing.

Menez was quite modest: "Jack, I've always been learning from you."

Nicholson frankly admitted, "In some ways, I'm not as good as you."

Leonard then nudged a few people, reminding them, "Megan Ellison is here too."

Martin and his friends turned to their right, where Megan Ellison and her brother David Ellison were sitting at a table against the wall.

Nicholson said, "She's made everything clear. After the luncheon, you can come with me to meet her."

He looked at Martin: "If you really can't think of a way, you'll have to sacrifice yourself and tame her with your body."

Martin sighed deeply: "No matter how wronged I am, I can't let my own brother suffer."

Nicholson and Leonardo fell silent, because what he said made absolutely perfect sense.

The sound of high heels hitting the ground came from behind. Someone had pulled out a chair too far and bumped into the back of Martin's chair.

Martin turned around and saw a woman with long red hair, snow-white skin, and a retro-style makeup.

"I was so careless," Jessica Chastain apologized immediately. "Martin, I'm so sorry."

Martin smiled and said, "It's alright."

Seeing his excellent attitude and friendly smile, Jessica Chastain quickly introduced herself: "I'm Jessica Chastain, a fan of yours."

She opened her handbag, revealing a commemorative Coca-Cola logo: "Greetings, leader, I am a member of the Coca-Cola Cult."

Martin shook her hand: "Thank you for your support."

Jessica Chastain quickly replied, "You're my cult leader, supporting you is something I have to do."

"It's about to start, we can talk again later." Martin gestured to the stage, bringing the casual conversation to a close.

He glanced at Tom Sherac, the new president of the Academy, and Emily Blunt, who were walking onto the stage, and suddenly remembered Ridley Scott's upcoming film, The Martian, in which Jessica Chastain had played an important role.

But Martin didn't think much of it, because the nominees were being announced on stage.

Emily Blunt looked at the large screen to the side and read aloud, "The nominees for Best Supporting Actor are Christian Bale, John Hawkes, Menne Christie..."

Menez covered his mouth, unable to contain his excitement, and grabbed Martin's sleeve: "Boss!"

Martin said, "This is the result of your hard work."

Menez, however, knew very well that there were far more people in the industry who worked harder than him, and how many of them could make it as successful as he had?

Opportunity is far more important than hard work. Without the opportunity given by his boss, he would still be a small-time actor, just like his former colleagues.

When the Best Actress nominees were announced, Jennifer Lawrence almost pounced on Nicholson and gave him a kiss.

This actress, born in the 1990s, received her first Oscar nomination for her role in "Winter's Bone," recommended by Nicholson!

Tom Sherac personally announced the Best Actor nominations, and unsurprisingly, Leonardo DiCaprio was among them.

Nolan and David Fincher are among the nominees for Best Director.

Starting in 2009, the number of Best Picture nominees increased to ten. This year, all ten nominations were filled, with Martin Scorsese's two films, Inception and Gone Girl, and Leonardo DiCaprio's Shutter Island, all receiving Best Picture nominations.

After the nomination list was finalized, there was a new project that was only started this year, and the academy sent out invitations to many people to be award presenters.

Multiple envelopes were delivered to the appropriate recipients, including Martin and Nicholson.

The two quietly opened the box, each glancing at it, their burning gazes simultaneously landing on Leonardo.

Leonardo sensed something was wrong and asked, "What are you trying to do? This is a formal occasion, don't mess with me!"

"Let's go to the restroom." Nicholson left first.

Martin followed.

Leonardo gritted his teeth and went out too.

The matter of being a presenter needed to be kept secret, so once they were in a secluded spot, Nicholson lowered his voice and asked Martin, "Which one are you?"

Martin replied in a low voice, "Best Actor."

Nicholson nodded: "Me too."

Leonardo felt a sense of relief upon hearing this.

Martin grabbed his collar: "Don't relax! It's not time to pop the champagne yet. If you don't win this award, Jack and I will become the laughingstock of the world. Do you know how serious the consequences will be?"

Nicholson grinned maliciously and said, "We'll send you to the Holy Valley and hand you over to Pete!"

(End of this chapter)