Chapter 158: The Award Ceremony

Tonight's 60th Academy Awards ceremony will begin at 6 p.m. Pacific Time.

Janet rushed over from Malibu just before 5 o'clock, helping Simon get ready in the office of Daenerys Film Studios. Together, they boarded the stretch limousine that had been prepared in advance and headed to the Holy Citizens Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles.

Due to a screenwriters' strike, although it was the Oscars' 60th anniversary, many parts of the ceremony were simplified. Around 5:30 p.m., Simon and Janet arrived outside the Holy Citizens Auditorium. The red carpet in front of them was only about twenty meters long, running directly from the roadside to the entrance of the auditorium.

The limousine stopped at the entrance to the red carpet, and as soon as Simon and Janet got out, the media reporters and spectators on both sides of the red carpet noticed them. The intense flash photography, along with the shouting from the stands, attracted the attention of many guests wandering on the red carpet.

Patricia Kingsley, who had arrived early, also came over and reminded Simon and Janet to pause for photographs with the media.

A moment later, Simon heard some voices from the stands again and turned to see Sandra Bullock, dressed in a white off-shoulder evening gown, walking towards him and Janet.

The media reporters, who had already taken enough material, became agitated again upon seeing Sandra.

Noticing that Simon only briefly hugged Sandra before planning to move forward with Janet, a reporter shouted, "Simon, Sandy, how about a photo together?"

Before Simon could respond, Sandra had already nodded in agreement, then turned to Janet, who was holding Simon's arm. Janet smiled, let go of Simon's arm, and stepped aside, allowing Sandra to step in.

With somewhat stiff smiles, they posed for the photographers. During a brief change of position, Simon nearly used a ventriloquist's voice to whisper to Sandra, "You really want to see Janet cook me, huh?"

Sandra leaned closer, even resting her head on Simon's shoulder, responding carefreely to the increasingly excited shouts of the reporters, "Yeah."

Simon could only lament his poor luck.

Finally, after the photos were taken, Simon didn't linger any longer, quickly walking through the red carpet with the two women and directly into the auditorium, feeling somewhat relieved that tonight's red carpet was short enough to avoid further incidents.

Although "Run Lola Run" was last year's box office champion, it only received a somewhat trivial Best Editing nomination. Thus, only Simon and Sandra were invited from the entire crew, and they were also presenting the award for Best Cinematography tonight.

Oscar's significant guests could bring partners, and Simon brought Janet, while Sandra came alone.

Upon entering the auditorium, Simon found that the Oscars' organizers, ever keen on stirring things up, had deliberately placed the three of them together, with Simon in the middle, Janet on one side, and Sandra on the other.

With some time before the ceremony started, Simon spent over ten minutes mingling with familiar guests in the auditorium but eventually had to return to his seat. He initially wanted Janet to sit inside, but she smiled, shook her head, and pushed him into place.

Once Simon sat down, Sandra immediately came over as if nothing was out of the ordinary, "Simon, have you prepared your acceptance speech?"

Simon, puzzled, "Hm?"

"For the Best Editing nomination?" Sandra reminded him, patting his shoulder lightly, "You're pretending to be dumb, right?"

Simon hadn't thought about it and shook his head, "For a nomination with almost zero chance of winning, there's nothing to prepare."

"Maybe you'll win," Sandra said, soon adding with a bit of indignation, "Run Lola Run could have gotten more nominations, if it weren't for those old fuddy-duddies."

Simon made a shushing gesture and glanced around, "Keep it down, or I'll never get nominated again."

"Ha, ha," Sandra laughed carelessly but then added, "If you really win, remember to thank me."

"No problem."

Sandra nodded in satisfaction and then asked, "What's your plan after the ceremony?"

"Go home, sleep."

"Really? That's so boring, like an old man," Sandra glanced at Janet on the other side, "How about we go to Warner's party?"

"Hm?"

"You know, I've taken on Warner's 'Dangerous Liaisons'."

"Oh."

Simon nodded, recalling the movie adapted from a French epistolary novel, also a hot contender for next year's Oscar nominations.

He had heard that Sandra was given a role initially meant for Michelle Pfeiffer, who even received an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for it.

After some casual inquiries, Simon learned that Warner had indeed intended for Michelle Pfeiffer to play the role. However, following a series of agency switches at the beginning of the year, Warner decisively chose Sandra over Michelle, considering their popularity.

As a period drama and a supporting role, Sandra couldn't demand a high salary; such scripts were for accumulating experience and nominations.

Hearing Simon's noncommittal response, Sandra nudged him, "So, are we going?"

Since Daenerys Film Studios didn't prepare a party due to the single nomination, Simon had received invitations from Warner, Orion, and other companies but hadn't planned to attend. Hearing Sandra's persistent inquiry, Simon looked towards Janet and repeated Sandra's question, "Shall we?"

"Sure," Janet nodded and gave Simon a look, turning to Sandra, who had been ignoring her, "Sandy, haven't you thought about finding a boyfriend?"

Sandra candidly replied, "I'm trying."

Janet leaned closer to Simon, threatening in a low voice, "You'll get your face scratched for this."

Sandra shrugged indifferently, leaning closer to Simon, "Then, I'll have to cling to Simon for the rest of my life."

Janet glanced at someone pretending to be invisible on the chair, "If I scratch his face too, would you still want him?"

Sandra cheerfully said, "I'd take him even if you cooked him."

Janet narrowed her beautiful eyes, teasing, "To keep for the winter?"

Sandra nodded, "Yeah, remember to add more salt when you cook him."

Seeing the two women beside him jokingly discussing chilling topics, Simon raised his hands in a surrender gesture, "How about we change the subject to something more positive?"

Janet and Sandra both rolled their eyes at him, ready to continue, but staff began reminding guests to take their seats, and the two women quieted down.

At 6 p.m., the award ceremony officially began.

Following the opening song and dance and the Academy president Robert Wise's speech commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Oscars, the ceremony's host, Chevy Chase, took the stage.

Chevy Chase, one of Hollywood's most famous comedians from the '70s and '80s, known for his role in "Saturday Night Live" and the box office hit "Animal House" in 1978, hosted the ceremony.

Perhaps due to the writers' strike, Chevy's performance seemed lackluster, with his five-minute monologue mainly consisting of straightforwardly introducing the nominated films, interspersed with a few not-so-funny jokes.

Compared to Chevy's dry humor, Simon preferred Billy Crystal, who wouldn't start hosting the Oscars for a few more years.

Although the ceremony had little to do with Simon, he enjoyed the lively atmosphere, occasionally chatting with the two women beside him, not feeling bored.

Half an hour later, as the Best Cinematography award was about to be presented, Simon and Sandra left their seats for backstage.

Simon hadn't rehearsed in advance, just received a script for warming up the audience. Guided by staff, Simon and Sandra took the envelope with the award results and stood at the stage entrance.

Watching the Best Animated Short Film winner give a speech on stage, Sandra took Simon's arm, holding up the envelope, "You should have been one of the nominees, it's so unfair."

Simon smiled, "Actually, I quite like this unfair world, Sandy. It's only those at the bottom of the pyramid who seek or fantasize about fairness."

"You're really not angry at all?"

"I find myself rarely feeling angry, or many other emotions," Simon shook his head, "It might be some kind of emotional deficiency."

Sandra paused, then asked, "Do you love Janet?"

Without hesitation, Simon nodded, "Love."

"Do you love me?"

"No."

"But I love you."

"Thank you."

"Jerk," Sandra pinched Simon's arm, "I won't let you off."

They whispered, and as the award recipient finished their speech, Chevy Chase's voice rang out again, "Hollywood has always been a place full of miracles. In the past year, miracles seemed to happen more frequently than ever. Someone took on the roles of director, writer, cinematographer, lighting, and many other jobs to create an outstanding movie. Someone's first film became the box office champion of the year. Someone became the world's youngest billionaire overnight after making a movie. The most miraculous thing is, all these miracles were created by one person. Welcome Simon Westerlow and Sandra Bullock."

Amidst warm applause, Simon and Sandra walked onto the stage and stood before the microphone.

As the applause died down, Simon looked at the dense crowd in the auditorium, waited a moment, and noticing Sandra hadn't started her lines, gently patted her back to reassure her.

Feeling Simon's touch, Sandra regained her composure and began, "Cinematographers are often the first people we meet when joining a film crew. For actors, we might hope they make us look prettier, but in reality, they can do so much more. Even if you're just running boringly for over an hour, they can perfectly showcase your run on the big screen through countless methods."

Amidst light laughter from the audience, Simon continued, "Great films always have outstanding cinematographers who contribute indelibly to establishing a movie's artistic style. The nominees for this year's Oscar for Best Cinematography are:"

"Alan Daviau, 'Empire of the Sun.'"

"Vittorio Storaro, 'The Last Emperor.'"

"Michael Ballhaus, 'Broadcast News.'"

"Philippe Rousselot, 'Hope and Glory.'"

"Haskell Wexler, 'Matewan.'"

After introducing the five nominees, Sandra handed the envelope to Simon, who smiled, opened it, glanced at the result, and announced, "The winner is Vittorio Storaro, 'The Last Emperor.'"

An unsurprising result.

Vittorio Storaro walked onto the stage amid applause, taking the Oscar from Simon. Oscars usually allocate brief speech time for technical awards, and after a simple speech, Simon and Sandra quickly accompanied Vittorio Storaro backstage.

Staff took Vittorio Storaro to install a nameplate on his Oscar and take photos, leaving Simon and Sandra with some free time.

Due to the initial mishap, Sandra was still a bit tense. Simon didn't rush back to the hall but found a sofa backstage for them to sit down. He got a bottle of water from a staff member, opened it, and handed it to her, "How do you feel?"

Sandra drank a few sips and expressed her concern, "Simon, did I mess up?"

"Of course not, you were just a bit slow to react," Simon reassured her with a smile, "Besides, even if you did mess up, as long as you remain a big star, the Oscars will definitely continue to invite you as a presenter."

"I thought it would be an easy task. You know, I've performed in stage plays in New York," Sandra recalled the experience, "But I've never seen so many people in front of me all at once."

Simon hadn't paid attention to the audience size, but judging from his memory, there were at least two thousand people in the Holy Citizens Auditorium. Plus, considering the ceremony's heated atmosphere, it wasn't strange for Sandra to feel nervous on such a stage for the first time.

After drinking some more water, Sandra finally relaxed, glanced at Simon, and asked, "Aren't you even a little bit nervous?"

"Why would I be nervous?" Simon wondered.

Sandra hit him playfully, "Alright, you really are an emotionally deficient guy."

Simon smiled and continued chatting with Sandra for a while before saying, "So, if you're okay now, let's go back. If we stay here any longer, Janet will think I'm having an affair with you."

Sandra instinctively nodded, catching the joke in Simon's words. Her eyes twinkled, she glanced around, and suddenly leaned closer.

Simon felt the woman's cool lips kiss his cheek and immediately thought of a previous experience, quickly saying, "Don't bite."

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