The Best Director

Chapter 422: Chapter 422 Fierce Battle Underway

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“The 63rd Golden Globe Awards Nominations Are Out, ‘Brokeback Mountain’ Leads with 7 Nominations” — Yahoo Entertainment; “Firefly Earns 6 Nominations, Science Fiction Returns to the Golden Globes!” — Los Angeles Times; “Magical Yang Accomplishes the Impossible, Flame Films Emerge as the Big Winner” — The New York Times; “Wang Yang Creates a Record, Dominating the Golden Globes” — Sina Entertainment; “Film Industry Stays Up Late to Cheer, Magical Yang Becomes the Most Talked About” — ; “Miss Golden Globe Turns Out to Be a Wang Yang Fan” — YOUTUBE; “Magical Yang Lands a Punch on Critics with 6 Nominations” — San Francisco Chronicle; “Firefly Adds Golden Globe Momentum, Science Fiction Spring Has Arrived” — Arizona Republic…

Three years later, after earning 4 nominations including Best Director in 2002 for ‘District 9’ and ‘The Hangover’, both in the drama and musical/comedy categories of the Golden Globes, Wang Yang has replicated this feat again this year but even more spectacularly! ‘Firefly’ and ‘500 Days of Summer’ together brought in 5 nominations, and ‘The Big Bang Theory’ makes it 6! The ‘Nomination King’ has undoubtedly become the absolute protagonist in the new round of heated discussions among the media and the general public!

Whether in North America, Asia… Whether it’s the entertainment event itself or related tidbits such as “Dakota Johnson Moved While Reading Her Idol’s Name” and more, global media outlets are competing to report it. The fact that Wang Yang just became a father a few days ago is further fueling the conversation. There’s also the support and admiration from Ang Lee, the Ledger family, and other ‘Brokeback Mountain’ crew members, Joseph Gordon Levitt, Natalie Portman, and situations similar to the TV awards. The amazing director has made other nominees like George Clooney, Spielberg and others seem dim in comparison.

Heath Ledger, who was nominated for both Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor in the drama category, still managed to shine. However, in an immediate phone interview with The New York Times, he couldn’t stop talking about Wang Yang: “Michelle and I are very grateful to Yang, he’s my life mentor. He’s helped me a lot, both in my acting and in life. Michelle and I got together because of ‘Brokeback Mountain’, and we’ve learned a lot from him during and outside of shooting ‘Firefly’. I love my family, my fiancée, my daughter… My whole life and career, everything has changed massively.”

Heath Ledger has always been quite proud where did he start praising someone so much? Fans who saw the news couldn’t help but feel that Magical Yang really has the knack for turning rebels around.

“Yang has a very special charm,” Natalie Portman said to the Los Angeles Times, discussing why she always performs outstandingly when working with Wang Yang. “He can make you think about every problem calmly, while at the same time, you really don’t want to be outdone by him, you seek his praise, and so you’re very motivated.” She added, “Of course, there’s more than that, he knows what role you fit, he knows how to motivate and inspire… I think that’s why everyone wants to act on his set, no one dislikes that atmosphere. Yes, we’ve already congratulated each other, and I really thank him.”

“Does anyone remember the overwhelming criticism that Magical Yang received after ‘The Devil Wears Prada’?”

That’s how the Yahoo Entertainment praise article “Yang’s Perfect Revenge” starts. It even listed a series of skeptical comments — all about business, satisfied, fallen… completely forgetting they too had once looked down, “Now, facts have proven who was right and who was wrong in the war of words they had back then.”

Without a doubt, this article is a great irony to those naysayers of Yang, but at this moment, who would come out and humiliate themselves by arguing a few words?

Even Jeffrey Westhoff, a famous critic of Yang from The Northwest Herald, could only offer a mild jab in his blog comment, “Flame always manages to win the judges’ hearts,” with the comment section filled with scathing retorts from a large number of movie fans; Roger Ebert, however, was much wiser. The old man had long returned to the camp of hardcore fans of Magical Yang. He had checked off all 6 of ‘Firefly’s nominations when predicting the nomination list, and he said, “I can’t believe how traditional Flame Films has become, aren’t they embarrassed when looking at ‘Brokeback Mountain’? ‘Firefly’ had the full potential to compete for Best Actor, but what did they do?”

“The day ‘Firefly’ came out, I knew it would lead this year’s Golden Globe and Oscar nominations,” commented Roger Ebert on the freshly released nomination list. He once again expressed sympathy for Robert Downey Jr., feeling it should have been 7 nominations, adding, “Nothing much to say, the judges just made the decision any sane person would have.” Compared to the surprise and delight with ‘District 9’, this year, whether from the perspective of the film itself, audience attention, public opinion, and so on, no one dare not nominate ‘Firefly’, a sort of “Royal Visit”.

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“‘My pursuit is to become a filmmaker who is both profound & superficial. I wouldn’t say this should be the goal for everyone, boys, girls, anyone, but it is mine.'”

Excerpts from “Yang’s Perfect Revenge” featured Wang Yang’s famous blog post published on the eve of Christmas in 2003, “I Want to Be a ‘Profound & Superficial’ Filmmaker.” The article concluded with, “Profundity and superficiality, art and commerce, for the amazing Yang, whether producing separately or in a fusion, had already become an effortless task. He always found a way, a startling method. Now he’s shocked the world with six nominations and at the age of 25 years and 10 months, he tells everyone that he is just starting out.”

However, there always seems to be regrets. The third season of “Prison Break” failed to be nominated for Best Drama Series, and additionally, Wang Yang had exited the creative team, preventing him from achieving the spectacular feat of receiving nominations for all four major awards at the same time. Yet he still had a good chance to become the first person ever to have won all four awards, as the first season of “Prison Break” had won Best Drama Series at the 61st ceremony, and he is only three Golden Globes away.

Even though “District 9” made history by winning Best Director at the 60th ceremony, it did not break the 20-year “Best Picture drought” for science fiction films, which would reach 23 years by the 63rd ceremony. Could “Firefly” fill this gap?

This year’s Golden Globe nominations for Best Motion Picture – Drama were predictably in line with academy tastes: the adapted novel themes of homosexuality in “Brokeback Mountain” and politics and love in “The Constant Gardener,” the political black-and-white film “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the comic-book adaptation with an exploration of human nature in “A History of Violence,” and the sole surrealist themed film “Firefly” with its elements of politics and humanity.

This list was largely expected and is essentially a battle between academy favorites and science fiction films. Within the competition of academy films, “Brokeback Mountain” undeniably had the highest buzz, leading the media to believe that it will either be “Brokeback Mountain” or “Firefly,” with the judges likely choosing between the two.

Compared to the Oscars, the Golden Globes have been more accommodating to science fiction films. In 1983, “E.T.” won Best Motion Picture – Drama, but Steven Spielberg lost Best Director to Richard Attenborough for “Gandhi.” In 2003, “District 9” lost to “The Hours,” but Wang Yang surprisingly got Best Director. Back then, the buzz, evaluation, impact, and box office earnings of “District 9” were far less than “Firefly,” which was the “Star Wars” and “E.T.” of the 21st century. Yet, once again, a science fiction film was pitted against a movie about homosexuality…

Truly a situation shrouded in fog! This was reflected in the betting odds quickly released by the famous betting company Bet365, where “Firefly” had the second-lowest odds and “Brokeback Mountain” the lowest.

This problematic situation for gamblers was even more severe in the Best Director category. Everybody knew that Wang Yang had been nominated three times for the Golden Globe’s Best Director, the first for “Juno,” where he did not win; the second time for “District 9,” he did win, when the Golden Globes and the Oscars unexpectedly favored elements such as young, Asian, and science fiction film directors, and the absence of a clear favorite, aided by the robust campaigning from Flame Films, led to the surprise win.

In his third outing, the disparity in winning potential, film critiques, and sensation effects was vast; Wang Yang shimmied and transformed, becoming the absolute hot pick! Without the Best Director statuette for “District 9,” his odds might have been as low as 1.00001, but now due to the short three-year interval and his young age, he has entered a dilemma.

George Clooney was 44 years old (1961-5-6), Peter Jackson 44 (1961-10-31), Ang Lee 51 (1954-10-23), Fernando Meirelles 50 (1955-11-9), Wang Yang 25 (1980-2-5), Steven Spielberg 59 (1946-12-18).

The six directors had an average age of 45, making Wang Yang instantly 20 years older. If respecting elders was the criterion, Spielberg with two trophies (2/10) was the undisputed choice, and he didn’t need any compensation from the judges; talking about the combined strength of academy films, Ang Lee was the most popular, but they could also make a quirky choice like George Clooney; Jackson and Meirelles were in the race but seen as also-rans… Amazing Yang!? 25 and two Golden Globe Awards for Best Director!? 2/3?

The judges indeed had mixed feelings. They never expected Wang Yang to come back after three years. Where was Sam Mendes? Where was Steven Soderbergh? But to not give Best Director to a “masterpiece” with a global box office of 1.8 billion, that would also be…

Anyway, everyone in the media knew that the Hollywood Foreign Press Association jurors would have a mental breakdown considering the options, but the odds of another Chinese director winning the Golden Globe for Best Director were the highest. The betting odds for Best Director at Bet365 were, Ang Lee a solid 1.08, Wang Yang 5, George Clooney 9, Fernando Meirelles 17, Spielberg 19, and Peter Jackson 19.

“Tough bet!” Except for those who were extremely crazy, ordinary gamblers were reluctant to bet on these fixed odds. They’d rather try the floating odds, or wait for the Oscars’ fixed odds.

“Absolutely magical Yang, magical Yang, magical Yang… I love magical Yang!” Yang’s fans didn’t care about all this, the support from online movie fans had already been overwhelming, converging into one sentence: “Whether it’s the Golden Globe or the Oscar for Best Director, it’s Yang’s!!!” In the comments section of Yahoo’s report, Roge N expressed dissatisfaction with the article’s analysis: “Just because he’s young, should magical Yang’s achievements be overlooked? Age discrimination?! That’s the most ludicrous reason!” Michela K excitedly wrote: “26 years old, with two Golden Globes and an Oscar for Best Director, just thinking about it gets me sexually excited!”

How popular was the idol director magical Yang now? According to statistics from the Social Security Administration, the number of babies named “Young” had seen a significant increase for several years in a row. In 2001, “Young” entered the top 500 most popular baby names for the first time at 486th place; in 2002, it rose to 431st place; after he became the youngest Oscar-winning Best Director in 2003, “Young” exploded in popularity, soaring to 195th place; in 2004, it crazily climbed to 113th place.

Single-handedly, Wang Yang turned a niche name into a popular one, influencing the entire society’s preferences. To exaggerate a bit, “All Asian baby boys are called Young,” and now many people are waiting for him to announce his daughter’s name.

According to sociologist Paul Ray’s prediction, the first generation of magical Yang fans had gradually reached the stage of getting married and having children. Coupled with his current momentum, the ranking of “Young” is expected to rise in the next few years.

“It’s time to verify the authority of the Golden Globe Awards. If Wang Yang doesn’t make it, it will be a mark of shame,” film fan Dustin-Realize said. “Any doubts? Who else but magical Yang? This year, I only watched one movie, ‘Firefly’; the rest were just images.” Courtney-D said, while Catherine E said: “Magical Yang has done enough! He’s brought us all kinds of incredible shocks, just look at the actors and staff’s reverence for him, isn’t that the Best Director? Give me one reason he shouldn’t win the award?”

“Ten reasons why magical Yang won’t win Best Director!” This comment had a high approval rate, and commenter Molly-J wrote: “First, his ‘Paranormal Activity’ terrified many children; one little girl was almost scared to death. Second, his ‘High School Musical’ led many teenagers to become addicted to song and dance, affecting their studies, resulting in many Asians getting a B. Third, his ‘The Pursuit of Happyness’ inspired many middle-aged men to quit their jobs to chase dreams, leading to broken homes and a surge in divorce rates. Fourth, his ‘Juno’ caused a group of ignorant girls to get pregnant in groups, plus countless other girls who got pregnant alone, increasing the rates of teenage pregnancy.

Fifth, his ‘District 9’ made people feel unsafe, never knowing when Fuson would invade Earth with shrimp-bug aliens. Sixth, his ‘The Hangover’ taught people to overindulge in alcohol, leading to moral decay. Seventh, his ‘MIT-21-TEAM’ encouraged gambling and claimed it wasn’t gambling, using Natalie Portman to simultaneously smear MIT and Harvard, helping Stanford recruit students. Eighth, his ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ made many women aspire to luxury brands, but didn’t tell them that Jessica Alba looked prettier than them even in flea market clothes.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

Ninth, his ‘Firefly’ moved western cowboys into space, in a bad attempt to make ‘Indiana Jones’ unemployed, attacking Spielberg and Lucas, maliciously, plus IMAX raising movie ticket prices. Tenth, his ‘500 Days of Summer,’ though not yet released, one can tell from the title that it’s going to be one of those films that causes a surge in breakup rates. Tell me, with all ten of magical Yang’s movies being such jerks, how can he be awarded Best Director?!”

When Evelyn, Clair, and others saw this widely shared message, they couldn’t help but laugh out loud, feeling in-your-face, but they also forwarded it to their friends.

No matter what, the 63rd Golden Globe Awards ceremony is scheduled to take place on January 16th next year.

The 2005 award season was in full swing, with nominations or winners being announced nearly every other day.

Apart from the National Board of Review (NBR) and the Golden Globe Awards, another important Oscar barometer—the 31st Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards (LAFCA)—also recently announced its winners. “Firefly” took home “Best Picture, Best Director,” with “Brokeback Mountain” coming in as runner-up.

At the 26th Boston Society of Film Critics Awards (BSFC), “Brokeback Mountain” conquered Bean Town, receiving “Best Film, Best Director,” with “Firefly” as runner-up. The 5th New York Film Critics Online Awards (NYFCO) saw “Firefly” as the big winner, sweeping “Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor.”

All awards announced on the 12th included: The 4th San Francisco Film Critics Circle (SFFCC), where “Firefly” won another battle with “Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor,” and Heath Ledger took the Best Actor for “Brokeback Mountain”; at the 4th Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards (WAFCA), “Munich” took the trophies for “Best Film, Best Director,” with “Firefly,” which had 6 nominations, only winning Best Art Direction.

Another key indicator, the 71st New York Film Critics Circle Awards (NYFCC), saw intense competition, with “Firefly” taking home “Best Picture, Best Cinematography, Best Supporting Actor,” while “Brokeback Mountain” won “Best Director, Best Actor”; Best Screenplay went to Noah Baumbach for “The Squid and the Whale”…

As the calendar flipped to December 14th, the 10th San Diego Film Critics Society Awards (SDFCSA) was held, with both “Firefly” and “Brokeback Mountain” receiving nothing. Best Film went to “King Kong,” and Best Director to Bennett Miller for “Capote”…

On the 17th, the 10th Satellite Awards ceremony took place. “Firefly,” leading with 13 nominations, ultimately garnered “Best Director, Best Supporting Actor, Best Cinematography, Best Original Score, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, and Visual Effects, Best Art Direction,” tallying 7 awards. “Brokeback Mountain” acquired “Best Motion Picture, Drama and Best Original Song” (2/8), making the competition between the films and their directors even more inscrutable.

On the 19th, the 12th Dallas-Fort Worth Film Critics Association Awards were revealed, with “Brokeback Mountain” claiming victory with two major awards and “Firefly” ranking second in the top 10 movies; the 9th Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards (LVFCS) saw “Brokeback Mountain” again in the leading role, sweeping Best Picture, Director, Actor, Screenplay, and Score, with “Firefly” winning for Best Cinematography, Film Editing, Costume Design, Visual Effects, and Art Direction; at the 14th Southeastern Film Critics Association Awards (SEFCA), “Brokeback Mountain” took Best Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay…

On the 20th, at the 6th Phoenix Film Critics Society Awards (PFCS), “Firefly” decisively took home including Best Picture and Director, among a total of 9 awards; on the 21st, the 9th Toronto Film Critics Association Awards (TFCA), “Firefly” again won Best Picture and Best Director…

Meanwhile, “500 Days of Summer” received multiple nominations in categories for musical or comedy films; “The Big Bang Theory” and “Desperate Housewives” were repeatedly nominated and awarded in TV categories.

At this point in the Best Director race, Wang Yang already had two critical indicators with LAFCA and Satellite Awards while Ang Lee was equally matched with NBR and NYFCC wins. Up next, in addition to the Golden Globe Awards, are the Critics’ Choice Awards (BFCA) presented by the Broadcast Film Critics Association to be announced on January 9, and the 58th Directors Guild of America Awards to be disclosed on January 28, both of which are key battlegrounds. The outcomes of these awards combined almost presage the direction of the Oscars.

Amidst the feverish footsteps of the award season, the Christmas atmosphere became increasingly strong, with time steadily approaching December 23rd. (