Chapter 790: Two Technical Awards

The moment their eyes met, Natalie Portman looked away. Her exquisitely made-up face tightened instantly. Over there sat the biggest obstacle to her goal!

Everything had been going smoothly, unfolding exactly as she had planned. She had swept nearly every Best Actress award during the awards season leading up to the Oscars, with only one exception—the Screen Actors Guild Award!

Though she already held a Golden Globe, Natalie Portman knew the race for Oscar Best Actress was too close to call. If it were just Scarlett Johansson, she believed she had a great chance of winning. But with the man sitting next to Scarlett Johansson... calling their odds fifty-fifty was nothing more than self-comfort.

"Nat, don't worry!"

Her mother reached over and reassuringly patted her arm. "Many people have promised Martin and me that you will definitely win Best Actress."

"Definitely win?"

Natalie Portman's eyes shifted down to her bulging belly. Perhaps this was her greatest guarantee of winning?

Then she shook her head. If that news hadn't broken, it would indeed be a guarantee. But ever since that woman started shooting her mouth off to the media, even Natalie had no confidence in how much of a guarantee it still provided.

At that thought, Natalie Portman turned to look at her fiancé. Seeing his face stirred an involuntary wave of resentment. If he hadn't been so indecisive, if he had just broken up with his ex-girlfriend sooner, none of these recent troubles would have happened...

"Are you feeling unwell, darling?" Benjamin Millepied asked with concern.

Natalie Portman shook her head. "I'm fine."

She was a rational person, after all, and she knew she couldn't entirely blame her fiancé.

Looking through the layers of the crowd, Natalie Portman caught sight of his figure almost immediately. He stood tall and straight, as if nothing could ever bend him; his face was resolute, as if he feared no hardship; his expression was placid, as if he wouldn't flinch even if the world collapsed around him.

He... was her nightmare! Her inner demon!

Natalie Portman leaned back in her seat, thinking of the bad blood between them. Her burning desire for the Oscar gradually went cold. She had perhaps already realized that while she was only inches away from the Best Actress crown, that tiny distance would be incredibly difficult to close at this year's Oscars.

On the internet across the Pacific Ocean, many people following the Oscars launched into heated discussions leading up to the ceremony. The topic gradually shifted to the Best Actress race.

"I hope Natalie Portman wins!"

"Me too!"

"Nat will definitely win! She's the embodiment of perfection."

"Hollywood has never had a female star as outstanding and unique as Nat."

"Nat is already a winner in life, and she'll be an Oscar winner tonight."

Without a doubt, despite lacking any truly outstanding works in recent years, Natalie Portman had still painstakingly crafted a pristine public image, winning the support of a massive global fanbase.

As Duke's fan, Wang Ziming couldn't bear to stay silent and typed out a line of his own.

"I think Scarlett has a higher chance of winning!"

Countless replies immediately followed.

"Scarlett Johansson is just a big-boobed, brainless blonde. How can you even compare her acting to Nat's!"

"It's a complete joke that eye candy like Scarlett could even get an Oscar nomination..."

"Scarlett Johansson is just a homewrecker. She only became Duke's girlfriend by stealing another woman's man!"

Scarlett Johansson had plenty of fans of her own, and they instantly launched a counterattack. The arguments didn't cease until the awards ceremony officially began.

Arguments like this were never going to produce a winner. Meanwhile, inside the Kodak Theater, the Oscar fanfare had already begun to play!

In the very center of the luxurious stage sat a massive screen, playing a comedic short film that edited the hosts into this year's nominated movies.

Unlike in the past, this year's Oscars featured a dual-host setup, co-hosted by James Franco and Anne Hathaway.

The parodied films included Inception, The King's Speech, True Grit, Black Swan, The Social Network, Gravity, and the classic 1985 time-travel movie Back to the Future.

The short film's theme unfolded in the style of "Inception". Anne Hathaway and James Franco infiltrated the dreams of former Oscar host Alec Baldwin to steal some hosting secrets. The airplane scene from Inception was recreated, with Alec Baldwin himself making a cameo. Laurence Fishburne also made a cameo in the elevator scene.

"Alec Baldwin wanted me to narrate the dream," he said, "because I have a voice that is maddeningly cool."

Then the plot twisted. It turned out the duo wasn't in Alec Baldwin's dream at all, but rather inside James Franco's own dream, as Alec Baldwin had "incepted" him with the idea of hosting the Oscars.

After the short film ended, Anne Hathaway and James Franco walked onto the stage. Neither were professional comedians, nor did they deliver the customary Oscar banter. Everything proceeded in a very safe and steady manner.

Duke watched for a little while and concluded that the ratings for this year's Oscar Awards Ceremony would likely be dismal. An outstanding host was crucial for boosting viewership.

Anne Hathaway and James Franco's performance could only be described as average; they were still a long way from brilliant.

Since it was an awards ceremony, the main theme was, of course, giving out awards.

A severely out-of-shape Tom Hanks walked onto the stage as the first guest presenter.

Classic shots from Gone with the Wind appeared on the large screen in the background. Blowing kisses to the audience, Tom Hanks walked energetically to the very front of the stage, turned slightly, and looked at the background footage.

"Gone with the Wind was the first film to sweep Best Picture, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction," he said. "For a movie to become an enduring classic, it must express its story through visual concepts and design, brought to life by the art director and the cinematographer..."

He paused slightly, matching the new images lighting up the stage background.

"Later masterpieces that swept these three major awards included Ben-Hur, Lawrence of Arabia, Schindler's List, and Titanic," he continued. "And the most recent film to sweep all three appeared several years ago..."

Just then, the classic soundtrack Old Friends from The Lord of the Rings trilogy began to play, and the background screen transitioned to Minas Tirith.

Thunderous applause filled the auditorium. The camera gave Duke a close-up, and he smiled faintly as he clapped along with everyone else.

Tom Hanks continued, "This was Duke Rosenberg's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Through this epic masterpiece, he showed everyone just how much cinematographers and art directors contribute to creating dazzling, classic scenes."

"This year, four films have been nominated for more than three awards, so let's get started." Tom Hanks's expression turned serious. "The nominees for Best Art Direction are Robert Stromberg for Alice in Wonderland, Stephenie McMillan for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2, Eve Stewart for The King's Speech, Jess Gonchor for True Grit, and Hannah Serena for Gravity."

After reading the list of nominees, Tom Hanks opened the envelope directly and announced, "The winner is Hannah Serena for Gravity!"

A wave of cheers immediately erupted around Duke. People rushed to congratulate Hannah Serena, and Duke gave her a hug as well. However, Hannah Serena herself wasn't particularly thrilled; this wasn't her first time winning the Golden Statuette for Best Art Direction.

Duke was naturally delighted that the crew had gotten off to a winning start. What he didn't expect, however, was that the second award would also go to his team.

Following Hannah Serena's brief acceptance speech, Tom Hanks stood at the center of the stage once more. "The nominees for Best Cinematography are Matthew Libatique for Black Swan, John Schwartzman for Gravity, Danny Cohen for The King's Speech..."

And Tom Hanks announced the result: "The winner is John Schwartzman for Gravity!"

Cheers erupted once again from where the Gravity and Inception crews were seated. Duke's team had swept the first two awards. This was also not John Schwartzman's first time winning, and much like Hannah Serena, he wasn't overly excited either...

Seeing John Schwartzman walk onto the stage, Duke frowned slightly. Even among the slew of technical awards, there were varying levels of prestige. Best Cinematography and Best Art Direction were undoubtedly two of the most significant, yet the Academy had practically shoved both Golden Statuettes into Gravity's hands.

Everyone in the Hollywood circle knew that Hannah Serena and John Schwartzman were his most important assistants. Handing them another two awards when they already had Golden Statuettes to their names forced Duke to overthink the situation.

This undoubtedly pointed to two possibilities.

The first was that the Academy truly favored Gravity and appreciated his proactive alignment as a non-Academy director, wanting to mint a massive winner at the ceremony.

The other was a scenario Duke didn't want to see, which was also the most common treatment blockbusters like Inception and Gravity received at the Oscars—missing out entirely on the heavyweight awards, only to be handed a few consolation technical awards to avoid public criticism.

Duke couldn't say for sure which treatment he was facing. He could only watch patiently to find out.