King of Hollywood-Chapter 183 - Vanity Fair Party (Part One)
Chapter 183: Chapter 183 Vanity Fair Party (Part One)
“So, the winner of the Best Director is,” Oliver Stone opened the envelope in his hand, paused for a moment and then read out the name, “Clint Eastwood for ‘Unforgivable’!”
“Yes!” The old cowboy immediately raised his fists and shouted. The ‘Unforgivable’ crew also erupted into cheers, with one person even catching Eastwood by the shoulders from behind and shaking him vigorously, the excitement evident.
Although Adrian’s heart sank upon hearing the name and a strong sense of disappointment washed over him, he adjusted himself within a few seconds. After experiencing so many setbacks in his previous life, he had become a steady man, and after rebirth, he had etched calmness into his bones, so at this moment, he was still able to smile and applaud his opponent.
Besides, having already secured the main objective of the night—the Best Actor and Actress awards—he had set a tone for Best Director from the start: “If it can be fought for, then fight for it; if not, then it doesn’t matter.” If he could win, it would be like adding a halo to himself ahead of time and maximizing his influence for the night; if not, it didn’t matter. On the one hand, he could keep his prominence within a manageable range, not too outstanding, and on the other hand, that award would eventually be his—the ace had always been in his hand, unplayed. So after receiving sympathetic looks from Laverne and Roger, Adrian quickly gestured with a reassuring wave of his hand.
“It’s okay. I’ve already got myself an Oscar statuette tonight; I can’t expect to take home all the major awards on my second Oscar night, can I?” he said to those trying to console him, with a smile, nonchalant, and extremely generous in spirit.
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By this time, Eastwood had finished his acceptance speech on stage. Like many winners, he held the Oscar statuette high and yelled “Thank you,” then walked down amidst thunderous applause, his voice more authoritative than others. After all, having been nominated for Best Actor several times without winning, how could he not be excited to win Best Director on his first nomination? Moreover, Eastwood was known for his fiery temperament.
Experience really is a wonderful thing, Adrian hummed softly to himself. Otherwise, with his two Best Director nominations, he should have taken it, no matter what. But it didn’t matter; experience was something that could be accumulated, and while important, it wasn’t everything. Some things were even more valuable—like capital!
Just wait and see. Adrian finally calmed down completely. Judging from the Best Director outcome, the Best Picture probably belonged to ‘Unforgivable’ too. It was rare for Best Director and Best Picture to go to different films, and ‘Scent of a Woman’ and ‘Howards End,’ one a remake of an Italian film and the other showcasing Victorian style, how could they compare to ‘Unforgivable,’ which reflected a domestic story and broke the Western hero myth for the first time?
Adrian’s guess was spot-on. As the final presenter announced, the ‘Unforgivable’ crew bubbled up again, with film producers joyfully taking the stage to receive the award for Best Picture. The ‘Scent of a Woman’ and ‘Howards End’ crews fell into complete silence, and Laverne’s disappointed expression was particularly apparent as he had wanted the company’s film to win Best Picture, only to fail in the end.
In any case, with the final award handed out, this year’s Oscars came to a close, with ‘Unforgivable’ rightfully becoming the biggest winner. But the night’s revelry wasn’t over yet, for at the Melita Hotel not far from the Music Center, ‘Vanity Fair’ magazine hosted a grand party called “Oscar Night,” inviting all the stars who attended the award ceremony.
“To speak frankly, tonight’s award ceremony was terrible. Whether it was ‘Scent of a Woman,’ ‘Howards End,’ or ‘Pulp Fiction,’ all of them are excellent films, but they only gave you one award, which is just too unfair,” Tina Brown said to Adrian as she sat in the middle of a circle of couches.
“It’s okay, that’s normal. They have their considerations, and their viewpoints might not be accepted by everyone. If the situation was reversed tonight, there would be no shortage of articles lamenting for ‘Unforgivable’ tomorrow. What’s done is done, and no amount of debate can overturn the decisions of the judges, so there’s no need to be too concerned,” Adrian, sitting on the couch with his legs crossed, shrugged his shoulders and gently swirled the glass in his hand, looking effortlessly graceful.
“You really have a broad mind, Ed,” laughed the middle-aged man seated opposite him. His face was somewhat plump but without the usual naivety of overweight people. Instead, he gave off a sense of sharpness, particularly his eyes—small but very keen.
“Sometimes I have to consider a lot of things; I don’t have time to nitpick. Although making movies requires a lot of thought, thinking too much isn’t always better. You have to look at the big picture, and you must let go of what needs to be let go,” Adrian continued.
“I agree, when it’s time to let go, you must. If you were the CEO of a company, I’m sure you would do a great job, Ed,” said the senior man seated near Tina Brown.
However, although his mouth spoke praises, his face was expressionless, so another gentleman couldn’t resist teasing, “It doesn’t seem like you’re complimenting him at all, Mr. Si.”
Everyone seated on the couch burst into laughter, and although the man referred to as Si hummed disapprovingly, he wasn’t angry and remained stoic, as if born that way.
Adrian had suggested to Tina Brown at last year’s “Silence of the Lambs” celebration party to host a grand soiree in the name of “Vanity Fair” to gather all the Oscar celebrities, and this year they indeed turned the idea into action, making Adrian a lifetime honorary member of the party.
The “Vanity Fair” party was glamorous and luxurious, with a spacious hall divided into several areas for the attending celebrities to choose whether to sit and enjoy the food while chatting, or to stroll around different circles with a glass of wine in hand, or to sit on the sofas near the bar and talk with acquaintances.
The most dazzling presence at the entire party, or rather the one who attracted the most attention, was not Clint Eastwood, who had just won Best Director, even though “Unforgivable” won some of the heaviest awards at the ceremony; nor was it Al Pacino, who finally achieved his dream after eight nominations and won Best Actor. The person who attracted the most attention was Adrian, who had suffered a spectacular defeat at the Oscars!
Not to mention that upon arriving at the hotel, he was surrounded by many actors, directors, and producers for small talk and greetings, but right now, those sitting with him were all top-notch figures. For example, the noticeably plump middle-aged man, Don Simpson, one of Hollywood’s top producers, who made Tom Cruise immensely popular with “Top Gun.” And that always stern-faced old man was Si Newhouse, the sect leader of the Newhouse family who owns “Vanity Fair.” The one teasingly speaking to Si was Gerald Levin of Time Warner—who was rumored to be soon taking the throne as chairman of the board.
In addition to these, there were many other companions, such as Oliver Stone, who was the presenter of the Best Director award earlier, or Robert Redford, who is outstanding as both a director and an actor, as well as the couple Tom Cruise and others big-name stars.
If before tonight, the title of “Miracle Director” might have had a hint of hype, then after tonight, Adrian had firmly established himself with that honor. There have been directors like last year’s Jonathan Demme who sent both a leading man and lady to win Best Actor and Actress, but there has hardly ever been someone that did the same with two different movies in the same year!
Besides that, there was John Travolta’s nomination for Best Actor, Samuel Jackson’s nomination for Best Supporting Actor, two Best Picture nominations, two Best Director nominations, both adapted and original screenplay nominations—and even two in the adapted screenplay category—as well as a whole slew of technical award nominations.
More importantly, these were three movies of differing genres: the cult-style “Pulp Fiction,” the American mainstream “Scent of a Woman,” and the English classical styled “Howards End.” This meant that Adrian could direct any style of movie, each likely to propel actors to the throne of Best Actor and Actress, and each potentially bringing home Best Picture—everyone knew that Adrian’s defeat today was definitely not due to the quality of his films.
What kind of allure would such a director and producer have for actors, the media, and film companies? In the entertainment industry, reputation is always the top priority, whether for individual actors or for film companies, hence the competition at the Oscars was always extremely fierce, with a plethora of tactics at play.
And now, a director whose films, regardless of genre, could all vie for Oscar-quality, who was also so young, owned his own company, and had a dazzling list of achievements, it would be a wonder if he weren’t sought after—hence it was no surprise to see such a situation. Adrian had worked hard and long for this very moment after all.
“In fact, I’m not good at management—I understand some principles are the same, but it’s another matter entirely to put them into practice,” Adrian shrugged his shoulders, “So I asked a friend of mine to manage it for me.”
With that, he turned his head to look around but didn’t spot Claude’s figure. Claude also received an invitation from “Vanity Fair,” and upon Adrian’s persuasion, agreed to come, but disappeared without a trace just minutes into the party.
“Clarence is an outstanding manager, a young man full of energy and more adventurous than us,” Si Newhouse remarked. The Newhouse family had some connections with both the Cowell and Ronris families, albeit not very deep.
Adrian, overhearing this, just smiled without joining in but steered the conversation back to movies.
“It really surprises me, Ed—I had heard that you seldom take such a long break without planning any new projects,” Cruise suddenly interjected as Adrian revealed he was still resting recently.
Compared to his seemingly nonchalant demeanor at the Cannes Film Festival, although Cruise maintained his signature sunny smile the whole evening tonight, Adrian always felt that Cruise was a bit off, seemingly hostile towards him.
“Having been busy for so long, it’s not excessive to take a longer break,” Adrian tossed aside those mysterious thoughts for the time being, shrugged with a smile, and then deliberately looked at Cruise with a serious expression, “But…”
