America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 722 The 84th Academy Awards

On the afternoon of February 26, 2012, the 84th Academy Awards, an annual grand event in the North American film industry, kicked off at the Hollywood & Highland Center.

Thanks to the previous media smear campaign, this year's Oscars have garnered unexpectedly high attention.

The red carpet event had barely begun when ABC's ratings were already catching up to last year's Best Supporting Actress awards.

The data was fed back to the college president, Tom Sherak, which made him wonder if he should do something about it next year.

Nowadays, people have so many entertainment options that they won't get attention unless they stir things up.

Just then, Martin walked down the red carpet with his girlfriend Elizabeth Olsen, eliciting thunderous cheers.

Seeing the leader of the Cola Cult once again walk the red carpet and raise a glass with his followers, Tom Sherac suddenly had a ridiculous idea pop into his head.

Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Nicholson are a notorious trio of troublemakers in Hollywood. Should we let them be the planners or directors of the Oscars next year?

Just then, Vice President Catherine Kennedy came over, and Tom Sherac explained his thoughts, asking, "You've worked with Martin and his team on a film before, what did you think?"

Kathleen Kennedy, who worked with Martin on "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," was visited on set by Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicholson during filming. Witnessing the trio's excellent work ethic, she remarked, "This theater might get blown up, and the audience and guests might go crazy."

Tom Sherac considered the rumors surrounding the three men, hesitated briefly between popularity and dignity, and ultimately chose dignity.

After all, the Oscars are the face of the Academy.

…………

"Hey Martin, according to the media predictions, you're the top favorite for Best Actor tonight."

In the media area, Melissa from ABC asked Martin, "You're going to win Best Actor tonight, right?"

Martin's routine reply was: "I'll answer your question in three hours."

Melissa, knowing Martin was a difficult person to deal with, shoved the microphone in Elizabeth Olsen's face and asked, "Ms. Olsen, how do you plan to celebrate Martin winning the Academy Award for Best Actor?"

This guy is determined to kill Martin!

Elizabeth knew she couldn't make any rash predictions, much less open champagne halfway through the event, and the prepared congratulatory gift absolutely couldn't be told to outsiders, so she said, "We'll talk about it after the results are in."

Seeing that the two weren't getting along, Melissa saw Johnny Depp and Amber Heard coming hand in hand behind her, and abandoned Martin and Elizabeth to embrace the famous Hollywood couple.

These two are more talked about than Martin and Elizabeth.

Depp saw Martin ahead, and his spirits, which were already high after taking a hit, instantly soared.

Sometimes, narcotics can be impulsive. The corroded brain nerves are completely different from those of a normal person. Depp instinctively grabbed his waistband, wanting to unbuckle his belt and give that bastard another sip.

Amber Heard looked at it and thought to herself, "Should I crouch down and cooperate with Depp?"

Depp is unreliable, and Amber Heard is equally unreliable, but remembering what Megan Ellison had told her, she quickly pulled Depp back, reminding him, "This is the Oscars!"

Fortunately, Depp's loyal bodyguard was right there on the red carpet. He knew at a glance that the drug kingpin was about to have another fit of madness, so he quickly went over and, together with Amber, escorted her into the media area.

This situation was not suitable for an interview, so the three of them quickly left the camera's view.

Elizabeth, arm in arm with Martin, glanced back before entering the theater lobby and saw Depp and his wife come in.

She knew what the poisonous insect had done and said, "I want to hit someone."

Martin noticed her gaze and said, "Wait a few more days, and you'll see a good show."

He has always had dedicated channels for information about Depp.

Depp's fishing investment manager has always been a master at turning other people's money into his own.

The accountant who oversaw this fisherman's investment manager was his own brother.

The kind of brotherhood where you fight tigers together.

Martin and Elizabeth entered the hall and headed straight for the front row, where the "Mars Rescue" crew sat in the second row from the middle.

Director Ridley Scott didn't even come. Jessica Chastain did receive a Best Supporting Actress nomination for her role in "The Tree of Life," but she wasn't here either.

On the contrary, those two bastards, Leonardo DiCaprio and Nicholson, managed to sneak into the crew and sit right next to Martin.

Martin helped Elizabeth adjust her dress so she could sit down comfortably.

He glanced at Leonardo and said, "I thought you weren't coming."

Leonardo said, "How could I not come? We've been working on this for months, of course we want to see the results with our own eyes."

Nicholson reminded him: "Don't take credit for yourself. Your sob story plan was a complete disaster. It collapsed as soon as the nomination votes came out. It was Martin and I who saved the day with our 'failure-competition' plan, which led to today's results."

"Okay, I admit it, my sob story plan failed," Leonardo retorted angrily. "But what does the 'worst of us' plan have to do with you?"

Nicholson responded with an incredibly thick skin honed over seventy years: "I cheered."

Leonardo was dumbfounded; how could someone be so shameless!

Elizabeth had also witnessed Leonardo's sob story, and while she was grateful for his help in Martin's pursuit of the award, Leonardo's strategy was simply too unreliable.

Martin didn't want to talk to his two silly teammates right now.

But the purpose of having silly teammates is not just to watch you make a fool of yourself, but also to drag you down to the level of being silly.

Leonardo DiCaprio scrolled through Twitter and said, "What is Depp trying to do? Pee on you on the red carpet?"

Nicholson chuckled coldly: "I still have fireworks in stock."

Martin chimed in automatically: "If we win tonight, we'll let Depp off the hook; if we lose tonight, we'll just have to take it out on Depp first."

He suddenly realized something: "You two aren't award presenters, are you?"

Leonardo shook his head: "The Academy didn't let us award Best Actor."

Nicholson said, "We just had you and me present the award to Leo last year. Even if you win this year, we won't repeat the same old routine. Besides, Natalie Portman is here for the Oscars."

The Oscar tradition is that the Best Actress award from the previous year is presented to the Best Actor award, and vice versa.

Last year, Martin Scorsese and Nicholson were chosen to present the Best Actor Oscar, partly for publicity, and partly because the previous year's Best Actress, Sandra Bullock, was unable to attend the ceremony due to a leg fracture sustained while filming "Gravity".

As more and more people entered the hall, the sounds of discussion grew louder.

In the second row next door, Johnny Depp and Amber Heard had just sat down when they saw the "The Martian" crew across the aisle.

Martin turned his head and smiled and nodded at Depp, appearing very polite.

Elizabeth Olsen followed suit and turned to look in that direction, just as Amber Heard turned to look at her. She smiled and nodded at her in return.

Amber thought the youngest of the Olsen twins had a particularly sweet smile, but the two rows of white teeth she revealed gleamed coldly in the light.

She's like a lioness.

Looking at Martin again, Amber suddenly realized, "Isn't that a lion? A mighty male lion that established a pride, and in addition to the male lion, there is a group of lionesses."

While not as deeply disgusted as Depp, Amber Heard also disliked Martin and his ilk.

She thought to herself, "Don't be fooled by the male lion's current strength. When he gets old and weak, the lionesses will not only bite the eggs, but they will also rebel!"

Suddenly, Amber heard someone next to her chanting frantically, "Martin Davis won't win! Martin Davis won't win..."

Depp had a cross wrapped around his hand, seemingly praying to God.

…………

The Oscars ceremony was about to begin, and Matt Damon sat on the sofa with his wife, quietly watching the live broadcast on television.

Luciana is aware of what's been happening: "You've partnered with Steven Soderbergh, and we'll be back next time."

Matt Damon flashed a憨厚 smile: "I'm fine."

Luciana knew her husband hadn't let go yet; otherwise, he wouldn't have made time to watch the live broadcast tonight. He never attended the Oscars before and never paid any attention to them.

She got up and went to the bar in the living room, saying, "I'll go get some beer, we can drink and watch."

Matt Damon smiled and nodded at his wife, but the smile vanished the moment Luciana turned to leave.

Although he didn't do anything after returning from state prison, he definitely didn't want to see Martin win Best Actor.

Tonight, sitting here watching the live stream, Matt Damon just wants to see that hope that might not even exist, and to see Martin's helplessness if he were to lose the Oscar.

…………

Atlanta, Peachtree Street, the headquarters of the Cola Cult.

Robert, sporting a slicked-back hairstyle and a red cape, solemnly smeared a bottle of 03 Coca-Cola with a special olive oil before placing it on the old-fashioned desk.

He picked up the high priest's scepter and chanted, "The leader will prevail! The leader will prevail..."

After reciting the mantra several times, Robert walked out of the altar and into the large conference room.

Elena Carter, a cult leader dressed in a red dress, was sitting in the middle of the first row, surrounded by a dense crowd of people.

When Elena saw Robert enter, she glanced at the upcoming awards ceremony, took out an old-fashioned chastity ring, and put it on her finger.

Robert walked up to the big screen, raised the Coca-Cola scepter, and shouted, "The leader will prevail!"

Hundreds of people at the Cola Cult headquarters chanted in unison, "The Cult Leader will prevail!"

Then, the sound of popping and popping Coke bottles kept ringing out.

Everyone raised their cans of Coke and chanted again, "The leader will win!"

…………

Beverly Hills, Davis Estate.

Lily, dressed up carefully, sat alone in the living room, watching the live TV broadcast in a daze. A small, sharp carving knife twirled between her fingers like a butterfly flitting among flowers and trees.

"Martin must win Best Actor!" Lily had received a promise from Elizabeth that if Martin won, she would be given as a congratulatory gift.

This sounds very disrespectful at first glance.

But Lily really wanted to be this gift; she had been thinking about it for many years.

(End of this chapter)