Chapter 162: Rage for a Beauty
While Li Chen was still flying, the Hundred Flowers also announced the nominations for this year's awards.
By the time he arrived in Los Angeles, it was already past 1 AM on the 30th local time.
Tim picked him up, and a group of bodyguards escorted Li Chen into a stretched limousine.
As soon as he got into the car, Li Chen first called Miss Liu to report his safe arrival; it was already the afternoon of the 30th in China.
"You've arrived?"
"Yes, just landed."
"Oh, by the way, Han Dong called you, but your phone was off, so he called me. I told him you were still in the air," Miss Liu said with a smile.
"Okay, I saw the text message reminder. I'll call him back in a bit."
After hanging up, Li Chen called Han Sanping.
Han Sanping was very happy on the phone, chatting with him for a long time, and then asked about the situation with the thieves.
Finally, Han Sanping suddenly said, "Li Chen, the Hundred Flowers nominations list is out."
Li Chen was stunned, not yet reacting, when Han Sanping added, "I have some other things to attend to, so I'll talk to you later."
Li Chen held the phone, frowning slightly, a bit puzzled.
Why would Old Han suddenly mention the Hundred Flowers nominations?
Li Chen then called Yang Siwei.
As soon as he heard Yang Siwei talk about the Hundred Flowers nomination list,
Li Chen was immediately overwhelmed with anger.
Miss Liu was nominated for Best Actress, and he was nominated for Best Newcomer!
Even more exaggerated was that the main theme film Zhang Side was also nominated for Hundred Flowers Best Picture along with those years.
The box office difference between the two was eight times! It was too fantastical.
Was this the result of the online voting and phone voting that the Hundred Flowers organizing committee claimed to have added this year?
Was this truly fair and just?
Were there really so many netizens, ordinary people, and cinema managers who voted for this main theme film?
Li Chen scoffed at this.
This main theme film was the Premiere of the first movie Li Chen attended after his rebirth.
No choice, Old Han was the producer of this film.
More than two years had passed since then; he attended the Premiere in September 2004.
He remembered it very clearly; it was now September 2006.
If it weren't for the Hundred Flowers nomination, he would have almost forgotten about this film, even though the Hundred Flowers is held every two years.
From a rule perspective, it seemed there was nothing to fault about this film being nominated.
But this was the Hundred Flowers, an award chosen by the audience, and they dared to play it like this.
It seemed he had thought things too simply, too naively.
He now understood what Han Sanping's words just meant.
He was the producer of Zhang Side, and to speak to that extent was quite considerate.
It was almost as if he was explicitly saying that Zhang Side would definitely win an award.
Last year's Golden Rooster Awards, Zhang Side made way for cocosilili.
Taro Lu still had solid backing!
This year, they intended to make up for it!
And it would likely be more than one award, and definitely not a minor one.
Li Chen could bet that several directors nominated for Best Director, such as Zhang Yimou, Feng Xiaogang, and Stephen Chow, would most likely not attend.
As for Tang Jili, it was hard to say.
Li Chen cursed inwardly, what's the point of going now?
Fortunately, he hadn't submitted painted skin, lost in thailand, or father's love is like a mountain for consideration.
Originally, he just wanted to make room for Miss Liu.
So, he only submitted those years. Now it seemed, it was a blessing in disguise.
Otherwise, if a large number of his company's works went and ended up just being cannon fodder,
That would truly be a disgrace. The organizing committee might be thick-skinned, but he was not, and he couldn't afford such embarrassment.
Li Chen called Yang Siwei again.
Yang Siwei was stunned when she heard him: "Boss, why are you suddenly not going?"
"Online voting shows Yifei has a very high chance for Best Actress, and I believe her votes will be substantial."
Yang Siwei was puzzled. With Yifei's unparalleled fan base, wouldn't winning an award be a piece of cake?
Why did the boss suddenly decide not to go?
When they registered, her boss even mentioned the right time, place, and people, but things changed too quickly.
Li Chen didn't want to explain further: "Don't ask so many questions, just do as I say."
"Even if Xixi wins an award, you can accept it on her behalf."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Li Chen felt a bit harsh, after all, Yang Siwei was still young.
Immediately, Li Chen softened his tone.
"Go and carefully look at the nomination list yourself. If you still don't get it, then you're a lost cause!"
"Or maybe one day you should change your name from Yang Siwei to Yang Tianzhen (Yang Naive)," Li Chen said, suppressing a laugh.
Yang Siwei was depressed, hanging up the phone.
Yang Siwei looked at the nomination list again.
And she tasted something different.
Especially Zhang Side, nominated for Best Picture, and Wu Jun, who played Zhang Side, nominated for Best Actor, and Zhang Yu, who played Ren Changxia, nominated for Best Actress.
Yang Siwei scratched her head; she didn't know either of these two people and had to look them up online to identify them.
And as for the movie, she hadn't even seen it.
"No wonder the boss isn't going, the secret is here!"
How could a movie she hadn't even seen be nominated for the Hundred Flowers?
After calling Yang Siwei, Li Chen called Miss Liu again.
Miss Liu was greatly puzzled upon hearing that they wouldn't be attending the Hundred Flowers: "Why aren't we going? Didn't we agree?"
Li Chen didn't keep her guessing: "The situation here is a bit complicated. Even if you go, you won't win an award, so why be played for a fool?"
"How do you know I won't win? Everyone says my chances of winning are very high."
Li Chen said, rubbing his temples, "Just listen to me. I wouldn't harm you. If you really win, even if you're not there, the award won't run away."
"I'm just afraid that if you go, you'll end up just being a runner-up. It would be better to take your movie Love Winner to participate; at least losing wouldn't be embarrassing."
"After all, its box office was tiny, but those years' box office is one of the top three domestic box office hits. Neither you nor I can afford this humiliation."
Miss Liu was speechless; she understood Li Chen.
If Li Chen said this, there must be some inside information.
Miss Liu was disheartened: "Alright then, I'm quite busy with the end of the year approaching anyway! If I don't go, I don't go!"
Li Chen chuckled: "Don't be discouraged, you'll win an award eventually."
After settling Miss Liu, Li Chen felt at ease.
The box office for father's love 2 reached 12.5 million on the second day.
On the third day, it was 13.5 million.
In comparison, Jackie Chan's rob-b-hood seemed slightly inferior.
With Li Chen absent, Yang Siwei took the crew of father's love 2 to strike while the iron was hot.
They continued to appear on shows for promotion and released press releases.
When asked about Li Chen by the host, the public then learned that Li Chen had already gone to Hollywood.
insidious 2 would be released at the end of the month.
After the National Day Golden Week, father's love 2 had been released for 9 days, and its total box office exceeded 120 million.
rob-b-hood, however, only had less than 60 million in box office revenue.
The box office for the banquet had stalled around 107 million, its potential exhausted.
Netizens were discussing animatedly.
"Feng Kuzi has once again become a member of the 100-million-club directors!"
"Xiao Li Zi's films have already formed a brand effect. I'm afraid that even if he makes art films in the future, the box office won't be less than 100 million!"
"Huayi Brothers' two films, the banquet and rob-b-hood, both had higher investments than father's love 2, but in terms of box office, they still need to be combined to compete with Xiao Li Zi."
"Huayi Brothers lost their shirts! rob-b-hood's box office, after taxes, also has Jackie Chan's share!"
"Now it's up to curse of the golden flower at the end of the year. If Zhang Yimou also fails and can't surpass painted skin's box office, then Yi Mou and Two Li's will become Xiao Li Zi's sole dominance!"
"The times are changing, Xiao Li Zi is about to be crowned..."
Feng Xiaogang no longer paid attention to these netizens' crazy remarks.
He was fully immersed in the filming of assembly.
If he couldn't break into the 200-million-club, his words wouldn't carry much weight.
father's love 2 undeniably dominated the National Day period with a Hu Ge box office advantage.
By mid-month, the banquet had been released for a month, and its final box office settled at 109 million.
A few days later, rob-b-hood had been released for three weeks, and its box office reached 75 million.
Meanwhile, father's love 2, which was released one day later than rob-b-hood, also broke through 150 million in box office.
Even so, father's love 2 still had a daily box office of around 1.5 million.
Industry insiders predicted that father's love 2's final box office would settle around 160 million.
At this time, less than 10 days remained until the opening of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival.
The film festival organizing committee was also repeatedly confirming attendance with a host of big names.
But whether it was big directors like Zhang Yimou, Li Chen, Feng Xiaogang,
Or big stars like Jackie Chan, Andy Lau, and Liu Yifei,
They all played tai chi, responding very artfully: "Will definitely come if free."
The subtext was, "Sorry if I'm not free."
Li Chen was in Hollywood, the organizing committee knew that.
But Liu Yifei was in the capital! As long as Liu Yifei came, Li Chen would definitely come too.
If Li Chen and Liu Yifei, this dazzling celebrity couple, didn't come,
Then the momentum of this year's Hundred Flowers Film Festival would definitely be greatly diminished.
The organizers even prepared a Qiantang River Star Avenue that cost 1.6 billion to create.
If there were no big-name stars to support it, then what kind of Star Avenue would this avenue be called? It would be a hammer!
Would it be worth the 1.6 billion spent? Would it be worthy of the Qiantang River?
Liu Yifei was so annoyed by the relevant personnel of the organizing committee.
In a fit of pique, she directly took her two assistants, pulled her suitcase, and headed for the airport.
Unexpectedly, she was caught red-handed by reporters at the airport entrance.
Today, Liu Yifei had a bob haircut, wearing a pair of dark sunglasses that covered half her face.
She wore a khaki stand-collar trench coat, making her look valiant and heroic.
However, as soon as she got out of the car, she was completely surrounded by reporters.
"Yifei, where are you going? To Hollywood to find Director Li?"
"Yifei, are you not attending this year's Hundred Flowers?"
"Yifei, everyone is unanimously optimistic about you for Best Actress at the Hundred Flowers. Do you have anything to say?"
Liu Yifei maintained a smile throughout.
She thought to herself, "Director Li, oh Director Li, please don't blame me. As a boyfriend, sometimes you should stand in front of me."
Liu Yifei said with a smile, "Director Li suddenly called me and told me to go to Hollywood, without saying what it was about."
"So I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the Hundred Flowers Film Festival. Sorry, please make way."
Over a dozen media outlets were in an uproar.
According to this, Li Chen and Liu Yifei, this celebrity couple, would both not attend this year's Hundred Flowers.
Liu Yifei shook off the reporters and quickly entered the airport.
Then she called Li Chen.
Now it was impossible to keep it a secret; she had originally planned to surprise Li Chen.
She estimated that the news of her going to the US would be online soon.
Rather than that, it was better to inform Li Chen in advance.
After hearing it, Li Chen didn't blame her. Let her come.
Otherwise, if he was alone in Hollywood, leaving Miss Liu in the capital not attending the Hundred Flowers,
And she had to deal with these reporters and media, it would indeed be a bit unfair.
As soon as the news of Liu Yifei's trip to the US went online, it sparked heated discussion.
Over at Rongchen Film and Television, their own artists were also filled with curiosity.
The so young crew had already begun their national promotional tour.
The first round was at various well-known universities across the country.
When they arrived at the Shanghai Theatre Academy, it was Hu Ge's home turf.
Hu Ge and Yang Mi had long since become familiar with each other, so they spoke without reservations.
On a luxurious minibus heading to the Shanghai Theatre Academy.
Hu Ge and Yang Mi sat together.
"Why aren't Director Li and Yifei attending the Hundred Flowers?"
Yang Mi was also confused: "I don't know. I heard Siwei say earlier that Senior and Yifei were going to attend."
"Perhaps something changed, I'm not sure, but Senior definitely wouldn't tell me what decisions he makes."
Hu Ge nodded and smiled: "That's true, Director Li has always been a law unto himself."
"I've heard Siwei complain that managing you four artists isn't as hard as serving Director Li alone."
Yang Mi laughed: "Siwei is both suffering and happy. She's actually delighted inside, who doesn't know she's Senior's number one fan?"
After Miss Liu clearly stated she would not attend the Hundred Flowers.
Reporters called several other famous directors and A-list celebrities.
It seemed that with Miss Liu taking the lead.
Everyone else also had their seals broken.
"assembly is starting, I don't have time!"
"The Olympic Organizing Committee still has things to do, I'm afraid I can't get away."
This made the Hundred Flowers awkward.
Currently, the only confirmed attendees were the previous Hundred Flowers Best Actress, Fan Bingbing.
And another Bingbing from Huayi Brothers.
Because of a world without thieves, she was also nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
But Double Bing were nine times out of ten not going to attend the opening ceremony.
On the evening of the twenty-fifth, the opening ceremony and gala of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival were held at the Hangzhou Grand Theater.
If viewed from the 'grandeur' a national film festival should have, the opening ceremony on the evening of the 25th could only be described with four words: dim star power.
Unlike some commercial fashion award ceremonies that are often packed with big names and glamorous attire.
This year's Hundred Flowers Awards opening surprisingly had no stars to support it.
Instead, it featured hundreds of artists from 26 ethnic minorities.
They came from distant grasslands or deep mountains.
Presenting fresh songs with unique, original ecological performance styles.
It was indeed unique.
However, it did not meet the expectations of the host, the Hangzhou municipal government.
In their view, the opening ceremony gala should at least be a concert of classic movie songs, with celebrities gathered.
That would be worthy of their 1.6 billion yuan.
Not the current cover versions by folk artists.
Or Zhang Yimou's original ecological live song and dance performance, 'Impression West Lake,' would also be acceptable.
Not the current original ecological form in a grand theater.
The dim star power became a persistent embarrassment throughout the film festival.
Although the organizers spared no expense this time, touting Hollywood.
They built a costly Walk of Fame.
Where celebrity handprints were supposed to be left.
However, judging by the current situation, there might not even be many footprints, let alone handprints.
The organizers were destined to be greatly disappointed.
Looking at the Hundred Flowers nomination list.
Despite the appearance of big names like Zhang Yimou, Li Chen, Miss Liu, Jackie Chan, Stephen Chow, Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, Jet Li, and Feng Xiaogang.
None of these people attended.
The reason they gave was that they all had work commitments.
It wasn't until the Hundred Flowers Awards were announced that the organizers understood the mystery of why these people didn't come!
They cursed the old guys from these associations to death in their hearts.
On the evening of the twenty-eighth, the Hundred Flowers Awards ceremony was live-streamed with text and images on Sina.
It was still early morning, just past five in Los Angeles, when Miss Liu pulled Li Chen out of bed.
She insisted he stay up with her to watch the announcement of the Hundred Flowers Best Actress.
Yang Siwei went to the scene on behalf of the two and directly turned on the speakerphone function on her cell phone.
When he heard that Best Supporting Actress Li Bingbing lost to Yuen Qiu, Li Chen knew what was going on.
It was time for the announcement of Best Actress.
Miss Liu sat up straight.
The sound of the scene came through the phone.
"The winner of Best Actress: Liu — Ruo — Ying!"
Li Chen secretly thought, as expected.
Miss Liu relaxed all over, like a deflated balloon, her disappointment evident.
When she heard the 'Liu' character, she thought there was no one else but her.
Because a few minutes earlier, she was leading with 25 votes.
How could it be that just a few minutes later, Rene Liu surpassed her by 8 votes, winning Best Actress with 33 votes!
Looking at Miss Liu's crestfallen face, Li Chen hugged her.
"Alright, don't be like this, we don't care about the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers!"
"How could this happen? I was clearly in the lead!" Miss Liu said with a bitter little face.
Li Chen's clear voice, like a bell piercing through the fog, rang in her ears.
"Best Supporting Actress went to Yuen Qiu from Hong Kong, so Best Actress definitely has to go to Rene Liu from Taiwan. This is called 'sitting in a row, eating fruit,' emphasizing 'never empty-handed'!"
"It's a pity, Rene Liu probably doesn't even know she won, she didn't even come!"
Li Chen scoffed.
Miss Liu suddenly realized: "This is why you didn't let me go!"
Li Chen chuckled: "What else? If you went to the scene, I'm afraid you would cry!"
"You, the most popular Hundred Flowers Best Actress, ended up empty-handed. The greater the hope, the greater the disappointment, I was afraid you couldn't handle it!"
Li Chen's words came true!
Miss Liu, nominated for Best Actress, didn't go to the scene, and with Li Chen comforting her, although she was very disappointed, she indeed didn't cry.
But Li Bingbing, nominated for Best Supporting Actress, was truly in tears.
It was said that at the scene, her eyes were already moist, and her expression was downcast.
Afterward, facing the celebration banquet prepared for her by over thirty fans, she cried even more profusely.
She openly stated at the scene that the Hundred Flowers was unfair, that she had traveled so far and made so much effort, only to end up with this result!
Not to mention Li Bingbing, even the media and reporters were taken aback by the award results.
The main theme film "Zhang Side" won three heavyweight awards, including Best Feature Film, Best Director, and Best Actor.
The highest-grossing film, those years, ended up with nothing.
Best Supporting Actor Nicholas Tse defeated Andy Lau, winning the honor!
Best Newcomer went to Sun Li, thankfully not to Li Chen, otherwise Li Chen would have been more disgusted than if he had eaten a fly.
It was said that the 101 audience judges selected had an average age of 38.
After the awards ceremony, Miss Liu was in low spirits all day.
Li Chen specially accompanied her for a day, but it didn't have much effect.
The two walked along the beach, looking at the downcast Miss Liu.
Li Chen held her hand: "Come on, let's go home, I'll get revenge for you!"
Miss Liu was startled: "Revenge for what!"
"Just come with me!"
Li Chen pulled her back to Crystal Wu without another word.
When they got home, back in the bedroom, Li Chen opened his computer.
Miss Liu seemed to understand.
She quickly tugged at his sleeve and said softly: "What are you doing? Don't be impulsive, I'm fine now."
Li Chen patted her cheek and said gently: "I know what I'm doing, don't worry."
Miss Liu's guess was correct, Li Chen was about to fire another shot.
Li Chen quickly typed out a blog post.
At this time, the internet was already in an uproar.
Netizens were even more disgusted, especially Miss Liu's fans!
"Where did the 101 audience judges come from? Mars or Uranus?"
"Out of ten people who watch movies nationwide, how many are thirty-eight years old? What? We under thirty didn't pay for tickets? We don't count as audience members?"
"Good thing no one from Macau came, otherwise there wouldn't be enough awards to go around!"
"I finally know why Xiao Li Zi wanted my celestial fairy to go to Los Angeles! Well done!"
"The Hundred Flowers Awards should have been a grand event for the film industry, but celebrities are unwilling to show up, so they really need to reflect on that."
"A reporter interviewed a famous director by phone, and he clearly stated that he would not attend this film festival."
"And he bluntly said that the current Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers cannot be compared to before. In the past, the Best Actors and Actresses were truly voted by the public."
"But the results of the past few years have been truly disappointing, and it's very difficult to regain the credibility of those years."
"If the selection results were truly fair, would filmmakers not support their own film festival?"
The last sentence was heartbreaking.
Although the people from the Film Association were still defending how many changes they had made this year, judging by the results, it was really hard to convince people.
Netizens flocked to Li Chen's blog to leave messages, asking if that famous director was him.
No one expected Li Chen to reply.
At this critical moment, Li Chen's blog post completely set the industry abuzz.
"First, to answer the questions from netizens and fans, that famous director is not me."
"However, I want to state one thing: from now on, the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers should no longer send invitations to Rongchen Film and Television."
"When 'Golden Rooster crows at dawn, Hundred Flowers bloom brightly!'"
"You won't need to invite me; I'll eagerly sign up to support it, and celebrity artists will also actively participate."
"Who, with nothing better to do, would be willing to travel thousands of miles to Europe to attend someone else's film festival? Why don't you reflect on that?"
"The Golden Rooster is weak, the Hundred Flowers are withered, yet the two are always one family!"
"Since you've already decided on main theme films, you might as well find a few more main theme films to put together and just pick one you approve of."
"Why deceive yourselves by opening online voting and adding phone voting?"
"And why bother finding 101 38-year-old tools and dozens of commercial films to direct this farcical charade of burying your heads in the sand?"
"There were also two people out of the 101 who didn't come. Perhaps those two had a change of heart."
"I'm not saying main theme films are bad; the spirit embodied in main theme films is worth promoting."
"But even the best main theme films need to be watched by people to truly have 'meaning'!"
"What we should be reflecting on is how to make people willing to watch main theme films?"
"Let the audience willingly pay for tickets and walk into the cinema, instead of you arranging batch after batch of people to be passively educated."
"And certainly not like you, manipulating things behind the scenes and grandstanding."
"To have reached this point, who ultimately was educated? No one was educated!"
"If you understand cinema, do something meaningful for the film industry. If you don't, then don't act recklessly."
Miss Liu on the side couldn't help but swallow nervously.
Her clear eyes widened, looking at her boyfriend in shock.
This, this, this wouldn't cause trouble, would it...?