Remember me? I said I would write here regularly, regardless of how boring
2020 turned out to be? Well, I lied! I know, I know! So much has happened
since then! An entire awards race! The Golden Globes were just cancelled, in
fact. But I have no energy to rehash this last year. Onwards and forwards.
If I want to pick this back up, I can't try and fill up the gap of what
happened over a year or I'll go mad. The Awards Race, in whatever shape or
form, will rear its ugly head eventually, and then we'll address it as it
unfolds. But in order to do so, one thing remains pending: my Nicole Kidman
career retrospective.
Remember that? There was a
poll where you could vote for your favorite Nicole Kidman performance, and
I previously wrote about the films I'd seen in chronological order,
from 1989's Dead Calm to 2003's Cold Mountain, and from
2004's Birth to 2015's The Family Fang.
And today, it is time to talk about the later part of this legend's career
and the poll results (as they have stood for a year because it's taken me
that long to finish this). I'll also throw in those films I've seen from her
during this months as I continue to suffer throughout the insane choices
this woman has made. Let's go!
So it's no secret Nicole's career is doing much better now than in the late
aughts-early 2010s, and that has everything to do with a little show called
Big Little Lies (more on that later), but her career resurgence
undoubtedly began some months earlier, when she picked up an Oscar
nomination for Lion. It's not my favorite performance of hers, and
I'd swap this nom for other leading works that went unrewarded (the film
itself is gorgeously shot in the first half, but feels a bit white savior-y
for my taste), but I can imagine why Nicole chose to do it, the topic being
close to her heart, and Patel is amazing in it, so I can't hate it
either.
It's 2017! It's here! The year I spent saying the words "Nicoleassance"
over and over again. The Cannes dominance, that award they made up after
perennially dragging her through the mud, the articles reevaluating her
career, the beginning of her never-ending TV stint that will lead me to an
early grave... Yes, Big Little Lies became an audiences and awards
juggernaut, after not being taken that seriously. And although the entire
cast shines in this, Nicole Kidman stood, crowned at the cusp of her
comeback, as she collected Golden Globes and Emmys. Her performance here is
among the best of her career (which is saying a lot), and gave her back a
lot of goodwill she had lost throughout the years. People will forget the
second Debra Messy opens her mouth, but for a second there she recaptured
everyone's attention and made them remember she's the best of the best. None
can touch her when she hits.
The first of her four Cannes entries. One could say horny Nicole Kidman is
the best Nicole Kidman, but like 50s repressed lesbian housewife Julianne
Moore, it also is the ONLY Nicole Kidman. I liked this film more than I
thought I would. It has a surprisingly high camp value (the Colin Farrel
touching, the Edwina admonishments, the anatomy book!) and I saw it in a
packed theatre, which feels like gone times. The first of two Colin Farrell
collabs (plus, the one where he's hot), with Kristen Dunst living, serving
cunt and then dying (more or less, I can't really remember it). It's not
Nicole's best, but it's a solidly commanding leading performance that
usually flies under the radar.
So, truth time: I didn't use to be a big Lanthimos fan. *Gasps in the
audience* HERETIC! Yeah, I don't know, but the overly misantrophic
world view didn't sit right with my spirit. And I tried. I tried with
The Lobster, which I didn't like that much, and with this, which was
a small improvement I did enjoy, even if I was like wtf is going awn, on my
way to falling in love with The Favourite. I would die for Nicole to
work with Lanthimos again, in the kinds of projects he's booking right now
(and I try to read all the books they'll be based on, never losing hope
there'll be a character there for her), because she was great in this, and
they make quite the pair. Her mashed potatoes monologue attests to how
atuned she's with his sensibilities. Extra points for the second Farrell
collab (non-hot edition, this time).
We don't claim whatever this was. She lived, she queerbaited and then she
packed her ugly ass wig and she left.
It's no secret Nicole only works with Campion in her flop projects (just
like many other directors who worked with her in their sophomore efforts
after great first ones), and Top of the Lake's second season is no
exception. Mess of a season aside, her character here reinforces the
conspiracy theory that Nicole Kidman is the closeted homophobe that has
fought the hardest for the gays (even if it was unbeknownst to her). The
immense camp value she provides us can only be offset by her playing
lesbians who either a) kiss their sisters, and then die b) are batshit crazy
c) all of the above. I don't know the process Campion followed to create
this character, but I want the same prescription drugs she takes.
So I'm a huuuge Lucas Hedges fan. Evidently, I lost my shit when he was
cast with Nicole in a gay role. I bought the memoir, read it, the whole
thing. Everything began spelling Oscar nomination back in these days. And
then everything turned to shit! I'm kidding, but there was a lot of
scrutiny over the casting and bts people in this being all straight in what
was a queer story, prompting Hedges to come out as "not totally straight,
but also not gay and not necessarily bisexual". Sweety, then what! He
probably thought bisexual is supposed to be right in the middle of the
Kinsey scale and wanted to point out he leaned to a side, but c'mon, where's
that sexual education, America? Anyways, the end result, Joel Edgerton
aside, was far better than people claim it was. Yes, I'm a
Boy Erased supporter, and proud. We exist! It isn't the only kind of
queer story a gay person should aspire to have in terms of representation,
but it's thoughtful and thoroughly well-acted. Nicole served as always, this
time with one of her worst wigs, and Lucas embodied the lead character
soulfully.
As opposed to Boy Erased, everyone was on board with
Destroyer serving, but in a Being the Ricardos-like twist (we
truly are going through it, you guys), the first promotional pics were...
WELL. The wig and make up department were on strike, I guess. Listen, the
film is a bit wack, but Nicole truly gave it her ALL. Like that one time
they told her not to throw knives in Paddington because one one had
asked her to do it and she was scaring the kids. It was her first truly
leading performance (if you don't count The Beguiled) in a while, and
it would be the last until Being the Ricardos is released later this
year. One could argue she decided TV was safer for her, after being burned
by stuff like Grace of Monaco. In between several supporting
performances that have sort of wasted her, though, Destroyer stands
as Nicole at her most committed.
So one thing this renaissance was brought us is a never-ending parade of
televised precursor nominations. Since Lion (technically since 2015's
Grace of Monaco, although we're gonna pretend that film doesn't
exist), she's received a GG/SAG/CC/Bafta nomination for at least one project
per year. For Lion she hit all four, for BLL she won
everything there was to win, Critics' Choice nomination and Golden Globe
nomination for Boy Erased and Destroyer, respectively.
Bombshell translated into two SAG award nominations (cast and
supporting actress) in an answer to the question "who even is this film
for?": actressing fans. It's a movie made to get Oscar nominations that had
no fans on either side of the conflict, where Nicole (surprise!) sported a
horrible wig and (surprise!) had like 15 minutes of screentime but still,
and not to be petty, was better than eventual Oscar nominee Margot
Robbie.
Nicole Kidman The Undoing HBO Max walking Nicki Minaj Roman holiday meme reaction video funny pic.twitter.com/YnxonrIMId
— Reaction search bot (@ReactionGay) December 4, 2020
My TL was this for weeks. Good times!
Nicole's TV return after 2017 (and no, BLL2 doesn't count not
because I didn't thoroughly enjoy it, but because a) I have no energy to
fight Meryl Streep right now and b) I can't have Nicole Kidman hinting at a
third season one more time). Is this show technically "good"? No. But does it
need to be? Are six hours of Nicole Kidman tirelessly walking the streets of
New York with an accent that clearly doesn't belong there, prompting memes
and Nicki Minaj-scored edits, simply not enough? The Prom's era and this
carried me through a hellish semester. Thank you for your service,
Legend.
Like The Undoing before it, The Prom has more camp and meme value than the actual qualities of the actual thing. It was the first in two back-to-back films with Meryl Streep I had to endure because someone I liked was in them (Lucas Hedges in Let Them All Talk being the second one). This had James Corden in it, too, and it still was better than the other one. Now, is it a good film?, you ask while I cry mid-laugh. Well... not really, if one measures it by normal movie standards. By Ryan Murphy standards, though... you check your brain out at the door. It has its saccharine heart in the right place, and even if overlong to cater to Streep and Corden's musty asses, the film comes to life every time Nicole shows up. She's in it quite a lot, actually, but in true character fashion, in the background, banging on a cowbell (not kidding). Her Zazz number is still best in show, though, and she was the only adult in it who understood her character, and the film she was in, from the very beginning. Nicole Kidman works for the project, not for herself, and although that leads to people ignoring her all too often, it is also the sign of a truly great actress.
Besides watching my yearly crop of supporting film performances and compulsory TV projects, I continued to watch the few remaining (worthwhile) movies I still hadn't seen. That includes Practical Magic, Birthday Girl, and an answering machine voice in Panic Room (as the one time she worked, albeit briefly, with David Fincher, after getting injured on the set of Moulin Rouge and before having to drop the project). For some reason, her character in Practical Magic deviates from the cute Halloween vibes the film was going for to toy with overt sexuality and one or two exorcisms; leave it to Nicole Kidman to go to the extreme for no apparent reason. Birthday Girl is quite the cult phenomenon within her fans on twitter, but I've seen one too many Nicole-Kidman-abused-by-a-lover projects already, and with how hot the cast was, I thought they could've had more fun with it.
I know I'm setting my girl up with this one
And now, onto the future! Although there were rumors of Nicole working with Alice Winocour in what sounded like a great European project (and a leading role at that!), it didn't work out in the end. Still, her upcoming slate looks promising, or at least exciting in a fight or flight kind of way, more so than these last couple of years have proven to be.
In late 2019, Nicole was cast in Robert Eggers' The Northman, and although there was a fair share of drama (when is there not?) when COVID-19 and the Nine Perfect Strangers shoot threatened to collide with it, she ended up flying to Ireland and doing her part. I'm not expecting it to be very big (although it shouldn't be too much to ask for a decent supporting role), but it's Robert Eggers! An exciting new director with horror-inclined sensibilities (I'm not a big fan of The VVitch, but a big one of The Lighthouse). It's also his biggest-scaled project to date, so there's awards buzz around it, and I sure love setting myself up for disappointment.
Then we have the aforementioned 9PS (everything is initials these days, there's no time to write the entire titles!), which didn't sound so promising when there was talk of the book being a minor Liane Moriarty entry, who has a hold on Nicole's soul for some reason, and a new Kelley reunion (who definitely wrote a script for The Undoing). For some reason, though, be it because of COVID-19 having actors bored or because this slaps, the cast is drop dead fantastic, and even if this is sold as a thriller, its actors suggest it will lean towards the comedic side, which makes it sound much more fun. And how can you not take advantage of Melissa McCarthy, Samara Weaving, Manny Jacinto, Regina Hall and Michael Shannon? The teaser looked divine and I can't wait to watch it. We were expecting a Spring release, but we've had no news so far on a date and the Emmy's deadline is way too close to expect it before it. As with a bunch of other shows that miss it and will make this summer a TV-filled one, it looks like 9PS is aiming for sunnier times.
And finally *shudders* Being the Ricardos. Someone tell Debra Messing to look away now. Listen, I was more or less on board from the beginning, because although this could destroy the goodwill she's fought to earn back, it's also a risk, and I'm all for one. And I still expect people to eat crow in the end, because, let's be honest, terrible biopics have received Oscar nominations before because they're baity as hell. But people have been nasty. The reasons that have led a mob of twitter trolls to storm the replies of any tweet that mentions this project? Debra Messing, misogyny, Nicole's lack of resemblance with Lucille Ball and... truly that's it. People are that basic. They'll have their knives out for this but the second a C-list actor like Lily James looks like Pamela Anderson because a make-up artist did their job, she's suddenly a thespian.
I won't stand for suggestions that Nicole Kidman isn't funny. Maybe you don't get her post-modern, unsettling humor brand. But me? She cracks me up. Now, more sensible questions have been placed on Aaron Sorkin as a director, but truly, is it that much to ask that he doesn't direct a flop right after getting a bunch of nominations for the godawful Trial of the Chicago 7? Well, his only other misstep (as in the only other yellow film he has on Metacritic), she did with Nicole, too! And the Globes won't be there to savage it if it's truly terrible. So fingers crossed.
Still, I will never stop rolling my eyes at how fast people forget Nicole Kidman is a genuinely great actress, and revert to comments about her face. It's as if she has to proof herself every time to people who name Debra Messing as an alternate even though she was never even considered and they have never seen anything she's done outside of Will & Grace, just because she once did an SNL-level sketch on her twice-cancelled show (a fact locals will never let die in those twitter replies). It doesn't help that Messing will continue to embarrass herself and beg for work on twitter like rent was due the very next morning. Sure, Nicole Kidman's history with accents has been spotty, and Ball is a beloved figure, but Javier Bardem is right there looking nothing like Desi and stealing another job from a Latin American actor, and no one will say peep. I'm sure if Cate Blanchett had stuck with this, she'd be predicted for an Oscar win, even though she would serve 100 pounds of ham and look not that much like Ball, either.
But we'll see what happens with all of that in the not-so-distant future. Right now, it's time to unveil the results of the poll you voted for. 59 people voted for 16 performances, with a very clear winner getting ahead quite early on. Here's the list, ranked from less voted to more beloved:
8th. The Others (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. The Hours (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. Cold Mountain (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. Stoker (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. Lion (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. The Beguiled (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. Destroyer (1 vote; 1,7%)
8th. Boy Erased (1 vote; 1,7%)
6th. Paddington (2 votes; 3,4%)
6th. Rabbit Hole (2 votes; 3,4%)
3rd. To Die For (3 votes; 5,1%)
3rd. Dogville (3 votes; 5,1%)
3rd. Birth (3 votes; 5,1%)
2nd. Big Little Lies (6 votes; 10,2%)
1st. Moulin Rouge! (31 votes, 52,5%)
Moulin Rouge! remains Nicole's most well-remembered performance, especially among general audiences. The rest of the Top 3 is a good reflection of what you'll get if you ask the same question to most of her fans, Birth being my personal favorite of the bunch. Others like Rabbit Hole sit right outside the top, as well as films like The Others or The Hours, or Margot at the Wedding, which didn't score any points, but I continue to encourage you to check if you haven't already.
And that's it! It was a looooong time coming, I know. But I've finally got on with it and finished it. Now I can move on with new things, as this hellhole of a University degree comes to an end. There won't be much going on, awards race-wise, for a while (and thank god for that!) but some exciting (and messy) films are coming up in the near future (The Woman in the Window about to serve Razzie-winning masterpiece!), and both a packed summer TV season, and the long-awaited Eurovision Song Contest are rearing their heads so, as Nicole would say, watch this space!
