Chapter 498: The First Golden Statuette

"Duke Rosenberg is not among the best directors on this planet."

The television screen switched to the studio, where Roger Ebert continued his self-assured lecture, acting as though he had already won a total victory. "Without the recognition of an Oscar Golden Statuette, no matter how outstanding his commercial success is, he will remain on the same level as Michael Bay. And there is no way he will ever earn the Academy's recognition..."

Tearing his gaze from the television, Norman Miller suppressed the urge to spit at the ugly guy on the screen and looked at his computer monitor instead. On his Instant Sharing feed, countless people were already hurling insults.

Insults directed squarely at Roger Ebert!

As fans of Rosenberg-style films, they naturally knew who Duke's main enemies were and understood the origins of their grudge.

"Spouting nonsense on TV for his own selfish motives—and he calls himself a Pulitzer Prize winner? Pfft!"

His feed was practically flooded.

"Can someone gag this ugly freak? He's more disgusting than a fly!"

"I'm usually in a good mood when I watch the Oscar Awards Ceremony, but seeing Roger Ebert at the very beginning always makes me want to throw up!"

"He says Duke can't win? As if the Oscars are run by film critics! What do professional critics know anyway?"

"They're just a bunch of outdated, obsolete trash!"

Norman Miller was relatively calm, and the message he posted was fairly restrained. "Wait until Duke takes home an Oscar Golden Statuette. I wonder what color this guy's face will turn then!"

"He'll definitely pass out from anger..."

"He might just die of rage..."

"Enough about him, the awards ceremony is about to start."

Inside the Kodak Theater, the crowd was gradually quieting down. Taking advantage of Ivanka stepping away to greet other people, Mrs. Leah, who had hurried over that afternoon, asked a few questions.

"I heard some rather bad news in New York," she said in a low voice. "Ivanka intends to bring Donald's Trump Group into your company."

Duke nodded. "I've stalled it for the time being."

Ivanka wanted to take the company public. Before the IPO, she was planning a rights issue, and the most crucial aspect of that share placement was introducing capital from the Trump Group.

Although Ivanka hadn't explicitly stated it, Duke had already gotten word while he was in Paris. That was why he had dragged out the IPO.

This had happened after Ivanka returned to New York a few times. Duke knew very well that, just as Mrs. Leah was to him, Donald was equally important to Ivanka as a father. It was obvious that Donald Trump had used family ties as a weapon to persuade her.

However, Duke did not intend to make any more concessions to Donald Trump. Human greed was limitless. Giving way too often would only invite further avarice.

"I know what I'm doing," Duke said softly.

Mrs. Leah gently patted his hand. She had been somewhat worried earlier, afraid that Duke was letting himself be blinded.

Ivanka soon walked over. Unlike before, Mrs. Leah only gave her a slight nod.

Music suddenly flared on the stage. Everyone directed their gazes forward, joining the rest of the audience in a round of applause as the 76th Oscar Awards Ceremony officially raised its curtains.

Perhaps because the ratings over the past few years had been abysmal, this year's ceremony not only featured a much more extravagant stage setup but also carried a hint of nineties retro flair.

After a three-year absence, Billy Crystal stepped onto the Oscar hosting stage once more. He had been edited into the nominated films: setting sail with Russell Crowe in Master and Commander, engaging in a sword fight and catwalk-off with Johnny Depp, hoisting the Holy Sword of Anduril high in a shot where Viggo Mortensen's head had been cropped out, transforming into Legolas to take down a massive oliphaunt, and even making a fully nude appearance...

For the sake of ratings, the comedian had really gone all out.

"It is time," Arwen encouraged him. "The Oscars need you!"

"Take all the honors you cherish and return to the Oscar stage..." Aragorn shouted, riding a rearing horse and brandishing his sword.

"You'd best continue this job, Lord Crystal," Captain Barbossa warned solemnly, having turned into a skeleton.

Finally, escorted by Jack Nicholson dressed in white robes, he passed through the Holy White City and arrived in front of the Kodak Theater.

"It's your turn to go on." Gripping a cane, Jack Nicholson took off his iconic sunglasses and handed them to Billy Crystal. "Go win a standing ovation, Billy!"

"Let me show them what I've got!" Billy Crystal put on the glasses and walked into the Kodak Theater.

The stage lit up brightly. The moment Billy Crystal made his appearance, he received a full house of applause. As the most outstanding Oscar host of the turn of the century, he won peals of laughter from the live audience without even saying a word.

After poking fun at Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp for a moment, the famous comedian brought out his signature Oscar-hosting routine—a massive musical medley of the nominated films.

"Over there is Sofia Coppola, the first American woman in history to receive a Best Director nomination... She finished shooting her movie in just 47 days, while her good friend used that exact amount of time just to wake Elijah Wood up from his sleep..."

"Frodo and Sam were walking across a mysterious land when Smeagol suddenly popped out, just like Janet Jackson's right breast! Britney and Jennifer Lopez dumped their husbands after watching this movie; they thought it was called The Lord of the Returned Rings..."

"Lithium salts, sake, antidepressants, and hallucinogens, plus the drugs supplied by Truman Capote." Billy Crystal shifted his teasing target to Duke. "Those were the exact things Duke Rosenberg was consuming when he produced The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. By shooting such a magnificent trilogy, he's just as amazing as God. I absolutely loved every single frame in The Lord of the Rings! Duke Rosenberg, maybe your name will be recited on stage tonight!"

Next, Billy Crystal poked fun at Russell Crowe and Clint Eastwood, and then the first award officially arrived.

Serving as the guest presenter was an old acquaintance of Duke's—Catherine Zeta-Jones.

Although the British actress had starred in Chicago earlier than expected, leading to her only receiving a Best Supporting Actress nomination that year, she had still managed to win Best Supporting Actress last year thanks to an indie drama film.

Seeing the actress with waist-length hair and a slightly voluptuous figure, Ivanka frowned slightly. This was her first time accompanying Duke to the Oscar Awards Ceremony, and the experience could hardly be called pleasant. Even though she had long heard the rumors about Duke's past flings and didn't care too much, having these people constantly pop up in front of her was definitely not something to be happy about.

As an ensemble cast film, The Return of the King hadn't been nominated for any acting awards. The Best Supporting Actor award presented by Catherine Zeta-Jones was pocketed by Tim Robbins.

Duke joined the live audience in a light round of applause. The moment belonging to The Lord of the Rings Trilogy still required some waiting.

He knew very well that, just like Titanic back in the day, even if it received nominations, The Return of the King wasn't going to make a splash in the acting categories.

Between being a blockbuster commercial film and having an ensemble cast, trying to win an acting award was simply too difficult.

As a die-hard fan of The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Brad Miller had been keeping a close eye on the Oscars. He worked in IT, and like many young people, he had his computer and television on at the same time, watching the live broadcast while following the trends on the internet.

"This website is really great!"

He logged into his Instant Sharing account. This rising social networking site, relying on its lightning-fast response speed and clean, fluid sharing features, had already completely surpassed blogs to become the most popular social networking site in America.

"What's the next award?"

Someone in his feed asked the question, and someone else immediately replied below, "Best Art Direction! The Return of the King is nominated for this one!"

"Oh, the first award. I wonder if it can pull off a strong opening win?"

"It definitely will. Just think about the other nominated films—which one can top The Return of the King in terms of backdrops?"

Reading this, Brad Miller recalled the nominees for the award and couldn't help but nod slightly. The gap between the other nominated films and The Return of the King was simply too obvious. If this award didn't fall into the lap of The Lord of the Rings, then the most basic fairness of the Oscars would be called into question.

At Brad Miller's age, even if he wasn't a Hollywood industry insider, he had seen enough to understand how many things worked.

On the television screen, Angelina Jolie walked onto the stage as a guest presenter. She would be handing out the first award related to The Return of the King.

On the live broadcast, Roeper asked Roger Ebert, "Roger, which film do you think this award will go to?"

"Master and Commander!" Roger Ebert answered without hesitation, acting as if he could decide where the award went. He even added an explanation. "Master and Commander relies more on traditional sets, whereas The Return of the King leans heavily on computer special effects. The former is far more qualified to win this award than the latter."

On the stage, Angelina Jolie stepped up to the microphone, and the two men instantly fell silent.

"The job of art direction is to design and sketch out everything on the silver screen, to make you believe you're at a racetrack, to make you believe you're inside a hobbit's dwelling or on a British warship, or even in a Japanese samurai village..."

Having finished her routine introductory remarks, Angelina Jolie spoke in tandem with the footage on the giant stage screen. "The nominees for Best Art Direction are: Hannah Serena for The Lord of the Rings 3: The Return of the King; Ben van Os and Cecile Heideman for Girl with a Pearl Earring; Lilly Kilvert for The Last Samurai; Jeannine Claudine for Seabiscuit; William Heidel for Master and Commander..."

Hearing the list of nominees read out, the air around where The Lord of the Rings Crew was seated seemed to freeze. It wasn't just Hannah Serena; even people like Elijah Wood, Billy Boyd, and Viggo Mortensen were a little nervous. After all, if the film achieved a sweeping victory, a share of the glory would belong to them too.

Besides, a successful beginning often pointed to a beautiful ending!