The Best Director

As the nominations for the 60th Golden Globe Awards were announced, media and the public alike ignited a new round of heated discussions. Ignoring that movie called “District 9” for a moment, the list of nominations seemed predictable and mostly within the anticipated hot favorites. “Chicago,” “The Hours,” and “The Pianist” effortlessly secured their respective nominations, with only Roman Polanski’s exclusion from the Best Director category coming as a surprise.

But “District 9” is on the list: a cult sci-fi film! A genre unseen in 20 years at the Golden Globes. This made it the most unique and attention-grabbing presence in the list. Every year there are various formulaic academic films, solar eclipses happen twice a year, total solar eclipses every two years, the Leonid meteor shower annually, crop circles many times a year, the Olympics and the World Cup every four years, presidential elections every four years, the Golden Globes and the Oscars once a year…

And after 20 years, a sci-fi film’s shadow reappears. It made fans excitedly boil with enthusiasm and gave the media a topic to boost sales and attention. “District 9” and the phenomenal Wang Yang took over numerous headlines and even entertainment news. One could neglect a detailed report on an academic film like “About Schmidt” or “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” but couldn’t overlook this “spectacle.”

“Magical Yang aiming for Golden Globes with aliens & drunkards!” — The New York Times; “Magical director makes a strong comeback, earning another Best Director nomination at the Golden Globes!” — San Francisco Chronicle; “A bright day for sci-fi! ‘District 9’ rightfully this summer’s best film.” — Chicago Sun-Times…

“Magical Yang completes what he couldn’t two years ago,” reported Yahoo Entertainment. Two years prior, amid unanimous praise, “Juno” failed to secure a Best Screenplay nomination and “The Pursuit of Happyness” missed the competition for Best Drama. However, this year, Magical Yang received the accolades that should have come two years earlier with two films at opposite ends of the spectrum, the article read: “He has achieved something simply unbelievable.”

This wasn’t an exaggeration. At 22 years and 10 months old, Wang Yang had already earned two consecutive Best Director nominations at the Golden Globes, outshining many old hands familiar with playing the art and commercial game. Moreover, this year, he produced and directed two films, each earning a nomination for Best Drama and Best Musical/Comedy, successfully handling both serious human nature topics and vulgar comedy.

There was also a global box office of $750 million, the highest R-rated comedy opening results, continuously smashing various records held by R-rated films…

Steven Soderbergh was heralded as a miraculous baby, a wunderkind director at 26 with “Sex, Lies, and Videotape,” and was first nominated for Best Director at the Golden Globes at 38. Wang Yang, now 22, had already been nominated twice, becoming the youngest and second-youngest nominee. How could this not endear him to people, or drive his fans completely crazy?

In an accompanying poll asking, “Do you support Magical Yang’s nomination for Best Director?” 87% of netizens voted in support, 9% wanted him to go away, and 4% didn’t care.

In the report’s comments, user Toby Waters was extremely excited: “This guy just makes it impossible for you not to pay attention to him, Best Screenwriter, Best Director, Best Picture… Keep going crazy, Magical Yang! You are my idol!” and Marissa F, with a girl’s avatar, excitedly wrote: “Oh my God! Another nomination for him? Incredibly cool! Will he win the award?!”…

Of course, the title and treatment of a “teen idol director” wasn’t anything new. Recently, in People magazine’s “2002’s 50 Most Beautiful People in the World” list, where public figures including film stars, singers, models, musicians, and sports stars were voted for internally and by the public, Wang Yang was ranked 26th. For his status as a “film director,” this was even more unbelievable.

There was only one film director among the 50 people, with performance artists accounting for 80%. Natalie Portman ranked 13th. In Premiere magazine’s “50 Most Handsome Men in the World” ranking, Wang Yang was placed 18th. The magazine’s commentary stated: “He possesses both the charming air of youthful vigor and the ruggedness of a man. As he matures beyond his youthful naivety, he is becoming increasingly sexy.”

Even according to statistics from the Social Security Administration released mid-year, the most popular names for newborns in 2001 continued to be Emily and Jacob at the top, with Biblical names like Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Christopher, and Matthew still dominating for boys. However, the number of babies named “Young” surged dramatically, breaking into the top 500 for the first time at 486th, clearly influenced by Magical Yang.

And it’s unknown if these were the children born out of the pregnancy trend ignited by “Juno.” With Wang Yang’s strong comeback with “District 9” and “The Hangover” in 2002, the ranking is likely to climb further in 2003.

Foreign media also reported the Golden Globes nominations widely. Hong Kong’s Ming Pao Entertainment headlined: “Wang Yang breaks into Best Director competition!” The lead stated: “Zhang Yimou and ‘Hero’ achieved the goal of contending for the Golden Globes. Wei Zhao said it’s worthy of celebration. After a year of silence, Magical Yang’s films received 6 nominations, including Best Director, helping a sci-fi film make a comeback at the Golden Globes, bringing a pleasant surprise that was somewhat expected…”

Little Robert Downey Jr., nominated for Best Actor in a Drama, once again became the focal point. His transformation in “District 9” was lauded by many media outlets. In an immediate phone interview with the Los Angeles Times, Robert Downey Jr. laughed, saying, “Very happy, really happy! One or two years ago, I didn’t think I would see this day, all thanks to that director, I thanked him privately.”

“The judges made the right decision, and now I’m interested in turning on the TV,” said Roger Ebert, commenting on this year’s nominations, which, as he predicted earlier, left room for academically oriented films, fantasy epics, and cult sci-fi films. Perhaps it was about ratings and attention, but why only consider it after 20 years? “District 9” possesses the credentials to be considered and to be chased after.

The last time, in 1983, “E.T.” eventually took the Best Drama Picture, but Best Director went to Richard Attenborough for “Gandhi.” So what can “District 9” achieve in 2003?

Surrounded by several classic art films, still, nearly no one had faith in this bloody special effects movie. “The Hours” and “The Pianist” were the mainstream favorites; and in the fierce competition for Best Director, one could say that just being nominated already demonstrated the strength to win. Often, when the gap between a movie’s reviews and sensational impact wasn’t too wide, the judges would consider more of those external factors.

The average age of the six directors was 41, with the oldest being 60-year-old Martin Scorsese and the youngest being 22-year-old Wang Yang, while the other four were either 40 or 41. Age played a significant role, as it also indirectly represented experience; whether they were in the ascendant phase of their golden era of directing, when there would be plenty of awards to win in the future, or if they were so old they were about to retire, and if they weren’t given the trophy this time, who knew if they would even appear again, and then “it was time.”

From another perspective, the 22-year-old Wang Yang’s age was enough to look down on the rest. Winning an award for “District 9” seemed reasonable. But at 22, is it the beginning of ascendency or nearing retirement? What about at 60? This marks the fifth time Martin Scorsese has been nominated since making his directorial debut in 1967, 35 years ago, with all previous four coming up short. Although 60 isn’t necessarily retirement age, tradition and experience suggested the old man was decidedly the favorite this time around.

Famous betting company Bet365 had already set the odds for the Best Director category, and Martin Scorsese of “Gangs of New York” was the most favored, with odds of 1.53-to-1; Stephen Daldry with “The Hours” was second lowest, at 2.36-to-1; Peter Jackson 4-to-1, Rob Marshall of “Chicago” 4.25-to-1, and the amazing Yang at 6-to-1 odds second highest. The highest was Alexander Payne for “About Schmidt,” at an impressive 10-to-1.

However, the movie fans and supporters didn’t care about all of this. Many hardcore fans had already started advocating for their idols online, with their voices heard on entertainment websites, forums, blogs, and countless articles emerging.

Film fan Gary Parent said, “This Best Director belongs to the science fiction movie!” Jenny Bukas declared, “Let a Golden Globe cement history! The amazing Yang is the most potential director since the birth of cinema. If we don’t let his 22 years leave a mark, even God would be angry!”

There were also aggressive declarations from female fans like “Ten reasons why the amazing Yang should win Best Director!” The author, Adriana, wrote, “First, he’s my idol; second, he’s handsome; third, he’s funny and humorous; fourth, he’s young; fifth, he’s strong; sixth, he knows Kung Fu…”

“This is what I think, maybe ‘The Hours’ and ‘The Pianist’ are worth 90 points, ‘District 9’ 80, but when it comes to the contribution to the audience, the award should go to ‘District 9’ and the amazing Yang, or ‘The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers.\'” A male author, Patrick, wrote, “Those art films’ box office totals wouldn’t even come close to ‘District 9’, how many viewers watched them? How many were influenced? Who said you can’t present a profound story while entertaining the audience? Why complain that viewers don’t understand cinema? I support the amazing Yang winning!”

There were even fans of “The Hangover” already clamoring in the musical comedy category to FUCK off the top favorite “Chicago.” What? “The Hangover” is just a bunch of shit, piss, farting, and middle fingers, with no meaningful content? Many of its fans didn’t think so.

“‘The Hangover’ is actually a great movie; it’s just been misunderstood through laughter!”

The wild Las Vegas and the warmth of home constitute what it means to be a man. Stu reclaims his masculinity there, transforming from a hen into a tiger; Doug shakes off the pre-marital panic and tension, and in the end, all he wants is to go home—the importance of a wife and home to a man cannot be overstated. As for Phil, he represents the long-married man who always yearns to indulge, yet he’s still a good husband and father; Alan, on the other hand, is the classic case of a boy who’s never grown up, stupid, neurotic, excitable, rude, and filled with salacious thoughts…

Miss Miller symbolizes the kind of troublesome woman that men fear and despise, violent, powerful, rude, with no brains—even though she’s hot and beautiful, no one wants to fuck her; stripper Judy represents men’s fantasies and desires for a fling, hot, tender, and adoring you (thinking that Stu is a doctor), but reality is often cruel—she’s a prostitute with a child. The bride Tracy represents the perfect woman that everyone desires, hot and beautiful, understanding your father-in-law, giving you a Mercedes sports car as a present; she initiates your bachelor party, forgives your wedding delay…

After analyzing all the characters and details in ‘The Hangover’ thoroughly and convincingly, the author of this review, William Brobon, wrote: “‘The Hangover’ analyzes men so thoroughly! In the end, the wondrous Wang Yang tells us, men can be wild at times, but after the madness, they still have to go home, for that’s where their true destination lies. As for whatever happens in Las Vegas, let it stay in Las Vegas.”

This review immediately received widespread acclaim from many movie fans, and everyone went “ohh.” ‘The Hangover’—stupid and boring? Not at all! It’s just as William said: “It hits men right in the heart!” So let’s just fuck ‘Chicago’ off!

However, in the eyes of the media and betting companies, regardless of whether ‘The Hangover’ is a great movie, it’s still not very likely to win the Golden Globe. At Bet365, its odds of winning are 4 times, while ‘Chicago’ is at 1.26 times.

All work had naturally come to a halt over the Christmas holiday, and in the blink of an eye, it was the peaceful Christmas Eve of the 24th. This year’s Christmas feast was prepared personally by Wang Yang and Jessica, with a lavish spread of both Chinese and Western cuisine, celebrating a joyful Christmas Eve with both families. Then came Christmas Day, last year as basketball fans, the two missed the NBA Christmas showdown, but they didn’t want to miss it this year: Los Angeles Lakers VS Sacramento Kings.

The Staples Center, filled with festive cheer, was bustling at this time, teeming with spectators, fully booked. People chatted and laughed with their friends, there were waiters walking up and down the aisles with food and drinks, and children were twisting and dancing, awaiting the basketball game that was about to start.

Celebrities filled the courtside seats, with Wang Yang wearing a white shirt and blue jeans, his well-proportioned sturdy body and mature face, did not lose his title of “18th most handsome man in the world” under the TV live broadcast cameras. Sitting beside him was Jessica, with her hair tied in a ponytail, dressed in a black leather jacket, blue plaid shirt, and black casual pants, big silver hoops adorning her ears, her face lightly made-up, looking refreshingly charming.

Listening to Britney Spears playing in the arena, with the cheerleaders dancing energetically, Jessica glanced at Wang Yang, who was conversing with Kirsten Dunst beside him, and couldn’t help but recall the Christmas showdown two years ago. At that time, Britney and Justin, the couple acknowledged as the Golden Boy and Girl, were sitting beside them. After two years of romance, they had already announced their breakup in March this year.

Couples breaking up is a common sight, with some parting ways after finding they’re not suited for each other, or falling out of love, and, of course, there are those who split due to infidelity. The reason she feels somewhat sentimental, the reason all of America feels somewhat sentimental, is because Britney and Justin were childhood sweethearts as well as each other’s first love. Their relationship always seemed so sweet and good, so how did it suddenly come to an end? And why would the breakup be so heartbreaking afterward?

There were all kinds of gossip about the reasons for their breakup, but naturally, she had no idea what really happened, and their close friends probably didn’t know either, let alone mere acquaintances. Regardless, under this all-too-familiar atmosphere, she just felt it was such a pity, and also a bit…

Suddenly, Jessica remembered an animal idiom from her recent Chinese lessons, though she wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to use here: “When the rabbit dies, the fox grieves.”

“What are you thinking about?” Seeing her so engrossed in thought, Wang Yang laughed and patted her hand. Kirsten had just mentioned how much she liked “The Hangover” and congratulated him on the Golden Globe nomination, something he’d been hearing a lot these past few days. Following her gaze to the cheerleaders in the center of the court, he joked, “Thinking about showing off your street dance moves up there?”

“No, not interested,” Jessica snapped back to reality and chuckled softly, leaning into his ear and whispering, “I was just thinking about Britney and Justin.”

Wang Yang uttered an “Oh,” their breakup reason was a mystery. Some said Britney cheated, some claimed Justin did—who knew? He nodded in understanding, suddenly grasping her thoughts, and asked with a frown, “What? Do you mean us?” Jessica quickly replied, “No, no, no! I just feel sorry for them, that’s all.”

He looked into her eyes, which held a kind of whimsy unique to girls. He smiled gently and earnestly said, “Every person’s approach to life, every relationship, is different.”

“You know, there are playboys and wild party girls out there,” he shrugged slightly. Paris Hilton? He continued with a smile, “But then there’s Tom, who’s been with Jamie since he was nineteen, and aren’t they now happily married? What’s most important is, there’s also Yang.”

Jessica burst into laughter, tapping her forehead. They were always so cheerful and sweet with no hidden troubles. That idiom didn’t fit at all, absolutely not!

“Brother.” Wang Yang frowned again and asked, “Are you trying to dump me?”

“I want to punch you!” Jessica playfully hit him on the shoulder with her fist. He sighed and stroked his face, feigning injury in his voice, “You always want to hit me, but I’ve fought off so many people for you in the past.” Jessica leaned on him and chuckled softly, “That’s because you wanted to fight. Do you think I don’t know that?” Wang Yang looked at her in surprise, “Oh! You’ve broken my heart, truly broken it.” Jessica laughed and took hold of his hand.

The Christmas Day game officially began with the jump ball between Shaquille O’Neal and Chris Webber. This year’s Sacramento Kings, playing the Princeton offense and under the guidance of coach Rick Adelman, composed of talented players like Webber, Stojakovic, Christie, Bibby, Divac, had secured the top spot of the Western Conference through their seamless passing and cutting; but the Lakers, the three-time defending champions with the O’Neal-Kobe duo, were not rookies to be trifled with.

Amidst the roaring cheers of the crowd, the game was fiercely contested, with scores rising back and forth, finishing the first quarter at 24-24. Now in the final stretch of the second quarter, the score was 49-48.

“Bobby Jackson has the ball, with Kobe defending him, the pass is intercepted!” shouted Kenny Smith, the commentator for TNT covering the game. His partner Charles Barkley quickly added, “Bobby was too careless!” The television screen showed Kobe Bryant slapping the ball mid-air at the court, sending it flying towards the spectator seats at the edge of the court. Right there beside it, Shaquille O’Neal lunged forward, desperately trying to save the ball!

“This Kings team, always passing and moving, full of energy… Whoa! The ball is knocked loose, O’Neal saves it!” CCTV5’s commentator Zhang Weiping’s voice also heightened, with Sun Zhengping about ready to say something when…

Watching Shaquille O’Neal hurtling towards him, a giant mass of over 300 pounds, Wang Yang’s body tensed and his feet instinctively braced against the ground. To have such a large man fall on you could easily take up two to three seats! Jessica! In a split second, he pushed Jessica, who was too slow to react, out of the way with one hand. Twisting his waist, he let out a grunt as he extended his right arm to catch the flying O’Neal at his midsection, his hand latching onto the big man’s waist. Propelling his body upwards, he raised his left hand under O’Neal’s armpit and with a sweeping motion of his feet and a concerted push from both hands, he hurled him to the side!

Thus, everyone watching the Christmas Day game—viewers all over America and around the world—witnessed the scene: Shaquille O’Neal flying toward the courtside seats, then a man suddenly standing up from those seats to body slam the incoming giant, followed by O’Neal lying on the floor.

“Oh—!” A murmur of surprise rippled through the Staples Center as nearly twenty thousand spectators fixed their eyes on the corner, wondering what had just happened.

Jessica, pushed to one side, had her mouth wide open in astonishment, while celebrities like Kirsten Dunst, Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, players like Kobe, Webber, Fisher, as well as Phil Jackson, the referees, and the cheerleaders under the basketball hoop… they all froze, only the photographers kept excitedly snapping pictures.

“Oh my God!” The TV camera had already zoomed in on the courtside seats, and Barkley exclaimed, “Magic Yang knocked Shaquille down!” He let out a series of astonished chuckles, “Incredible! 300 pounds brought down by Magic Yang in an instant! Wow—” Kenny Smith laughed loudly, “Charles, I bet if it had been your butt sitting there, Yang definitely couldn’t have pushed it away, too fat!”

Wang Yang looked down at O’Neal on the floor, also momentarily stunned, and asked, “Shaquille, are you alright?” Then he glanced at Jessica, relieved that she hadn’t been hit. Nearby, Jack Nicholson, dressed in a black suit and purple shirt, wearing sunglasses, nervously stood up, clapping his hands, “Guys, no one got hurt, right? What just happened here!?” Kirsten Dunst, looking at Wang Yang, let out a light “Wow”: “Kung Fu…”

“Uh oh, I’m fine.” O’Neal, lying on the floor, got up with some effort, waving his hands left and right, laughing in a deep voice, indicating he was alright. When he heard Wang Yang say, “Sorry, buddy, it was a reflex,” O’Neal let out a loud laugh, then suddenly stepped forward, holding Wang Yang’s head with both hands, bending over to plant a strong kiss on his forehead: “MUMU——”

The giant TV screens above the court instantly displayed the image of Wang Yang being forcibly kissed by the “Shark”, and the surrounding spectator stands erupted with whistles of joy and laughter, with many clapping their hands. The camera then panned to Jessica standing courtside, showing her amused smile; Kirsten Dunst, also standing, laughed to her, “He’s really strong!” Jessica applauded and laughed, “Yes.”

“Jessica’s going to swear now!” On TNT channel, Barkley mimicked in a high-pitched voice, “Back off, that’s my turf!” Kenny Smith suddenly laughed, “Charles, are you proposing a new bet? If Magic Yang’s next movie box office exceeds how much, you’ll kiss my ass?”

Barkley, having already learned his lesson, of course wouldn’t agree, to bet on the unbelievable Magic Yang? Everyone said it couldn’t be done, but he was the kind of guy who could make it happen. He chuckled, “This isn’t basketball, we’re talking basketball! If Magic Yang can score over 20 points in a single NBA game, I’ll kiss your stinky ass!”

Kenny Smith laughed, “Be careful! He’s only 22 years old; if he entered the draft, teams would be fighting over him. Just look at how he took down Shaquille—his reflexes and physical condition, plus his IQ, he’s definitely a top PG…”

“Hehe, the camera is on the courtside, O’Neal is kissing the male fan who just knocked him down.” Zhang Weiping didn’t recognize who the black-haired Asian was, vaguely familiar but unable to pinpoint. Sun Zhengping obviously didn’t recognize him either and simply kept silent until he suddenly screamed, “Nice shot! O’Neal slams it in with both hands!” Zhang Weiping chuckled, “Now it’s getting interesting!”

After this unexpected interlude, everyone sat back down to continue watching the game. Wang Yang gently massaged the muscles of his right forearm, after all, O’Neal was a 300-pound heavyweight, and the lifting had hurt a bit. He looked at Jessica beside him and said with a quiet laugh, “You see, I fought for you again.” Jessica also reached out to touch his arm, smiling tenderly, “Thank you, my knight.” Wang Yang raised his eyebrows, saying with a laugh in Chinese, “It should be ‘hero’.” Jessica nodded, “Shrimp.”

In the last five-plus minutes before the end of the game, the Kings widened the gap to 13 points. Although the Lakers subsequently scored 5 points, closing the score at 89-92, Bibby’s steal and counterattack followed by Fisher and O’Neal missing three consecutive shots, and Webber scoring on a jump shot, completely destroyed the Lakers’ momentum for a comeback. The Kings secured an away victory with a final score of 105-99, fulfilling Webber’s pre-game promise to “bring the Lakers misery on Christmas.”

One day after Christmas, the calendar flipped to the 27th, marking the end of the screening week from December 21 to 26.

In the second week of the Christmas season, the total box office in North America reached an astounding 325 million US dollars. Topping this week’s charts was “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers,” which raked in 111 million dollars across 3622 cinemas, seizing the weekly championship with an overwhelming lead. The newly released “Two Weeks Notice,” in 2755 cinemas, earned 17.52 million dollars, coming in third and, in light of its 60-million-dollar budget, becoming another comedy casualty.

“The Hangover,” which “struck a chord with men,” claimed the runner-up spot, earning 61.24 million dollars across 2935 cinemas. Compared to last week, the box office decreased by 28%, a figure in line with the company’s expectations. After two weeks of screening, the total box office reached 146 million, almost certainly set to surpass “Beverly Hills Cop” as the highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever.

Overseas, “The Hangover” continued its outstanding performance this week, sweeping up 43.65 million dollars, boosting the overseas box office total to 105.8 million and global box office to 251.8 million, making the drunken brigade the global laughter champions of this Christmas season.

Other opening movies this week included “Gangs of New York” which debuted in 2170 cinemas and collected 15.92 million dollars at fourth place; “Catch Me If You Can” premiered for two days in 3156 cinemas and garnered 15.59 million, placing fifth; the critically panned “Maid in Manhattan” had a decent turnout and decreased by 19% totaling 12.87 million for sixth place; followed by “The Hot Chick” with 10.89 million…

In the following week, several more films were slated for release, including Oscar contenders like “Chicago,” and “The Hours” as well as the widely publicized “Mr. Hughes” premiering in 2675 cinemas by Fire Films.

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PS: Wow Lee continues to ask for monthly tickets and recommendation votes, thank you, everyone! How exactly can I touch everyone’s hearts? Wow Lee thinks and thinks and decides it’s still best to just work hard on writing!