Nicole would love to stay and chat...

...but she's got places to be.
*

Links. Episode #∞

Noupe interesting overview of current movie poster design trends.
Black Book interviews the lovely Farran of 'Self Styled Siren' on classic movie blogging.
Go Fug Yourself "Unfug or Fab" catches up with Nicole Kidman & Keith Urban-Kidman.
Cinema Blend Emma Stone gone blonde for Spider-Man's "Gwen Stacy".
Back Stage Blog Stage Rob Reiner wants to make the stage musical Next to Normal into a movie. He wants this badly.
Low Resolution makes a case for an undersung Twilight player Jackson Rathbone. Wait, what? "It's seriously that shallow of a post. I can't defend it." Hee.
Pussy Goes Grrr looks back at Pedro Almodóvar's Matador and King Vidor's Duel in the Sun.

Oscar buzz Cinema Blend Winter's Bone collected two more trophies at the Torino Fest. It's all about the little wins.
New York Mag Speaking of that Ozarks drama. It tops David Edelstein's top ten for the year though he gives over 36% of the list to documentaries. You know, I liked Winter's Bone a lot (bullseye B+) but I admit that I don't quite get how it's winning "#1s" in so many places. Was no one else bothered, for example, by how pristine white that banjo is at the end? It's as if it had just been picked up from the store brand new at top price. Nitpickers unite!

The Hollywood Reporter 5 films nominated for Best Movie at the Annies (for animation): Tangled, The Illusionist, Toy Story 3, Despicable Me and How to Train Your Dragon. Of course two of them will have to go at the Oscars since there'll be only 3 nominees (my predictions). You may remember that Disney and Pixar dropped their support of the Annie awards this summer over disagreements on the way films were honored and the makeup of the nominating body which is said to be highly populated by Dreamworks employees.

 Disney/Pixar got their Annie nominations in the top categories, but not elsewhere. For instance, the "Best Character Animation" category is entirely Dreamworks and "Animated Effects" is 80% Dreamworks. I worry that the Dreamworks-bias of the Annies will end up reflecting badly on any potential wins How to Train Your Dragon receives which is a real shame as it's such a worthy feature.


TV.
Parabasis looks back on Season 1 Buffy, and the balance between stand-alone vs. serial stories.
blastr Frank Darabont fires the writing staff of The Walking Dead. Weird way to celebrate the first season of a huge hit, right? (Not that I think it's very well written what with the paucity of interesting characters.)

Have you seen this making of preview of HBO's Game of Thrones? As stated before, I think it's an ideal property for television as it's so sprawling in scope, longform in plotting and character development and ensemble driven in every way. But I still worry about the sets, costumes and the budget.



I have a real problem with wigs in fantasy movies. Must get over that. They distract me. It's the Storm in X-Men problem. I'm supposed to be seeing hair and I see wig. Gemma Jackson is the production designer (Oscar nominated for Finding Neverland). The costume designer is Michele Clapton who hasn't done anything on this scale previously though she's worked on recent UK television events like The Diary of Anne Frank and The Devil's Whore.

Swan dive? Finally, there seems to be a small but growing contingent of people who are not as impressed with Black Swan as the rest. Will they be burned at the stake in our internet film culture which doesn't value actual discussion so much as the dogpiling of raves and pans as if there is only ever one opinion worth having on any movie? Here are three thoughtful non-rave reviews worth discussing from Bryant Frazer, Nick Davis, Kenneth Turan and Timothy Brayton all of which fall into the "It has it's moments but..." category.

If you'd like more "!!!" instead, since most seem to be feeling that way, try the recent raves from His Eyes Were Watching Movies and Serious Film.

Actors on Actors: SAG Buzz

Have you read the Variety feature where SAG card holders are essentially campaigning for other actors for awards season? Sometimes the admiration is surely talent-based and not about who they're friends with or have worked with and sometimes it's clearly a mixture of the two.

Nicole Kidman, marvelous again in Rabbit Hole.

Marion Cotillard worked with Nicole Kidman on Nine, for example, but her tribute has one very insightful observation. She's talking about how, in the first moments of Rabbit Hole you know nothing about Becca's (Kidman) story but you're instantly drawn in despite her abrasiveness.

"Becca" is so far and yet so close at the same time. The space that is created between her and the audience is simultaneously delicate, strong, violent and full of life. A part of her is gone and will always be gone, yet you feel nothing but life.

Marion & Nic' last year

And when Marion concludes her tribute with...

She is simply one of the world's best actresses.

You have to say "amen." That's too true and a half, whether or not the actresses hit it off on musical soundstages.

Reading all the articles is a pain since Variety takes such measures to hide their content but read we must. Helen Mirren loves the theatricality and imagination of Lesley Manville in Another Year, Alec Baldwin was wowed by the authenticity of the duet in Blue Valentine. And a few actors cite the cast of The Kids Are All Right. Laura Dern calls Mark Ruffalo one of her acting heroes and delivers an astute read on why he's so magical in that very difficult part (which, alas, probably won't look difficult enough to voters less discerning than Dern). Amy Ryan gives props to The Bening, particular in the Joni Mitchell scene (her obvious Oscar clip, yes?) and Colin Firth's ode to Julianne Moore (his co-star last year in A Single Man) is wonderfully expressed. His conclusion gives me hope that The Kids Are All Right will get that "Ensemble" nomination it so richly deserves at the SAG Awards.

All of the actors in this film are on the same formidable level. I kept thinking what a joy it must have been for them to all play off of each other.

Colin & Sally. She moves him.

But my favorite might be Colin Farrell's ode to Sally Hawkins in Made in Dagenham since he admits their offscreen friendship right up front but is clearly bowled over by the talent of the friend in question. Here's the fun intro.

Sometimes I see a film. Sometimes I see a film that moves me. Sometimes I see a film that has a friend in it. Sometimes that friend's name is Sally. When I see a film with a friend in it and that friend's name is Sally, that film moves me.

I can't say that I know the feeling exactly as I have few close friends that I regularly just happen to catch on the silver screen. But I can say that I know the feeling; when I see a film with a stranger in it and that strangers name is Sally, that film moves me.

Related Posts: 

• Sally 'I Beat Meryl' Hawkins
• 7 Word Review: Rabbit Hole
• Nine thoughts on Nine
• SAG Live Blog Jan 2010

*

Live Blog: The Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable 2010

The actual hour-long Hollywood Reporter video of the six actresses who grace their cover: Annette Bening, Nicole Kidman, Amy Adams, Hilary Swank, Natalie Portman and Helena Bonham-Carter. Here's how it breaks down if you don't have a full hour to watch (video at bottom of post). Unfortunately you can't "scroll" so the time stamps are useless as I type away.

0:01 Helena talks about first day-i-tis. Never thinks she can do it. I can't act!
1:30 Amy talks about being unemployed and feeling sorry for herself (interesting bit... both sad and funny) and the long time period where she considered giving up. But now that she's successful, what doesn't she like about her career?

Amy: I feel very vulnerable. I don't like it at all. You're very subject to other people's opinions. You know when it doesn't go well. 

Hilary: We know when it doesn't go well. We don't need to be beat over the head with it.

Oopsie!

5:00 Swank talks about trying and even if you fail, always try your hardest. Ah platitudes! I didn't get enough of 'em on election night.
6:48 Annette is asked about her input into making The Kids Are All Right more of a comedy than it originally started as...

Annette: I just didn't want it to be earnest. But she's (Lisa Cholodenko) also kind of too generous when she talks about me and my contributions.

9:00 Helena interrupts to talk about the vibrator scene (but says she hasn't seen the movie).
10:30 Hilary complains that she can't find good comedies. Uhnnh, you're not a comic actress. We're 10 minutes in and Nicole has said NOTHING. I need Nicki. But she was like this at the Margot at the Wedding press conference I attended, too. She is kind of robotic until directly addressed. I say that with the utmost love but it's like she's a robot until the movie camera is on or the press cameras are off. It's... odd.
12:00 Natalie Portman calls the Black Swan screenplay "a blueprint." and reveals that she and Darren Aronofsky have been planning to make the movie for the past 9 years (!) and credits Nicole with the following great career advice...

Natalie: Nicole said it to me a long time ago when we were doing Cold Mountain. 'Always choose by director. You never know how the movie is going to turn out but you're guaranteed an interesting experience.' I've always remembered that.

Oh bless you, Nicole. We knew this about you already. Strangely, Nicole hasn't seen Black Swan.

16:00 Nicole speaks! She lists the plentiful injuries she got on Moulin Rouge! after the other actresses keep egging her on. The actresses discuss moments when you should say no, or call it a night, but you keep going. The knee injury, which took two years to recover from, happened at 3 AM.

Nicole: When you're so in the role, it's almost like a high. It's like a drug. There's no way I was going to stop.

Oh, we knew this about her, too.
18:00 Amy follows that up with a story about Leap Year. No really.

Nicole's "what was that?" love affair.

19:00 Nicole is praised again about something from outside this conversation (clearly the woman is more animated when she's not doing press) and asked if she's ever had conflict with a director. She seems confused by the question (bless) and says instead

Nicole: It's like a love affair for a certain period of time and then I walk away and go 'what was that?!?'

...which gets a big laugh from the other five. I know people think I'm undiscerning when it comes to Kidman but the truth is I deeply dig actresses who are auteurists at heart. Truth: They're always the most interesting ones.

Annette "Balance" Bening

20:00 Unfortunately then she starts talking about not feeling the same pull to work anymore. Damnit! Thankfully, Annette amends this, explaining that even though she went through that once she had children, the desire to work returns and there is something about the acting process that fulfills you in a way that you can't get elsewhere. Having a balanced life "sounds good" but...

Annette: Creativity is really about excess and when you want to make something there's a kind of obsession that has to come with it -- in a healthy way, in a way that is intoxicating. You're engulfed by something.

(Are you listening Michelle Pfeiffer? Come Back to the Five and Dime Michelle Pfeiffer, Michelle Pfeiffer.) She then goes on to reveal that she wanted the Debra Winger role in The Sheltering Sky.

25:00 Hilary refuses to rest on her laurels (would that be two Oscars?) and reveals a knowledge of writers and seeks out screenplays that aren't even sent to her. Good for her (I'm not saying that facetiously.) Talks about a part she didn't get and Annette teases her about it.
26:00 Nicole Kidman has seen Star Trek. She bought a ticket and everything (?). Hilary doesn't like science fiction. (Is that distaste a post-The Core problem? She doesn't say.)

Amy exfoliates

28:00 Amy vows to spend time with her daughter instead of doing movies -- damn you, infant! KIDDING! please no one bite my head off though infants have taken many of the great actresses away from us. And this conversation is further proof. (Sigh)
29:00 Nicole considered not making Rabbit Hole after having Sunday and struggling for financing. This part is a snooze fest.


31:00 Hilary and Amy talk about not doing certain roles and how it's disrespectful to the actor who did it to talk about roles you wanted or turned down. Natalie says that if directors vacillate about who to cast it's not a good sign "never a good sign" actually. It shows they don't know what they want. Hilary vaguely claims to have been"coerced" into certain roles. By whom? Are we talking about The Core again? Let it go!
32:00 Amy reveals panic about super tight close-ups and wondering if she exfoliated properly. I hate those too, Amy! But for different reasons. I like to see like hair, shoulders, hands. I want to see how the actor uses their body, not just their eyes nose and maybe top lip.

Helena continually cracks Natalie up.

33:00 INTERESTING. Now we're getting into it. Helena Bonham-Carter talks about her discomfort with Lars Von Trier (!)..."but I didn't realize this man was a visionary". Admits she turned down Breaking the Waves. Natalie Portman is very excited about this reveal. Nicole says it's one of her favorite films (of course it is!) which eggs Helena on in the story. HBC thinks it was really weird that Emily Watson told everyone (she did? I don't remember this) that Helena had turned it down  'because that film made her!'

35:00 Helena talks about her 'late bloomer' personality and that she's finally comfortable with her sexuality. 'There were lots of parts I was just not ready for.' This all makes me wonder how the hell she got through The Wings of the Dove (1997) in which she is freakishly perfect and totally erotic, too. And for which she won the Oscar (SHHHHHhhhhh. Let me live in my fantasy world where deserving things happen.)
36:00 Nicole says she still e-mails Lars Von Trier (!) but agrees that he can be mean. The moderator brings up The Five Obstructions as an interesting portrait of Lars. Nicole "I don't need to see that. I worked with him."

38:00 Helena discusses Tim Burton at length but tells a great story about befriending a focus puller on Sweeney Todd who totally helped her get more takes since Tim wouldn't give them too her.
43:00 I am totally losing focus now as The Bening discusses stage vs screen.
45:00 Interesting... she's giving a lot of credit to Milos Forman for helping her to understand film acting. Funny that she brings this up because I was just watching Valmont again the other day and she is really quite fantastic in it and its' about a 180 from Glenn Close's interpretation of the same role.

The Bening as the evil Merquise de Merteuil

Watching them back to back would surely remind us that no two actors will give you the same thing. Ever. (Now, admittedly the cast, director and screenplay are different, too. But still. They are SO different within the exact same story / character.)

The Bening kicks the story up a notch by imitating Forman's directions in his voice.
47:00 Okay now I love Milos Forman more than I ever have in my life. Natalie loves Annette's story and shares her own (also in Forman's voice from her time with him on Goya's Ghost)

Natalie: You're acting like you're in -- like this is a bad movie. This is not a bad movie. This is a good movie.
Annette: That is brilliant

48:00 Nicole tells a Jane Campion story! No way. Okay this is getting better and better. It's a story about a Jane Campion short she pulled out of because she didn't want to wear a shower cap OR kiss a girl. 'I was 14. I wanted to kiss boys!' Hahaha.
50:00 Amy Adams calls the moderator on his "baiting" when he is talking about movies being only made for young boys now. None of them take the bait except Hilary....
51:00 ...who weirdly goes on a bizarre tangent blaming critics (!) for the failure of dramas. Yeah, that's right. Ticket buyers totally listen to unemployed critics. 'Critics don't like linear storytelling anymore!' They don't? This is news to me.


52:00 Nicole and Helena both praise HBO and TV in general (?) Kidman says she's doing something for HBO. She is? I so cannot keep up with upcoming movie news.
54:00 Amy hates that being an actress means you're supposed to also be a model. Helena tells her she doesn't have to pretend to be a model. 'Wear whatever you like. You'll get criticized for it but..." Helena would know.
56:00 Natalie explains that she was lucky to finish high school before the internet explosion of actors having no privacy. She can't imagine what the famous teens go through now. Nicole says she wishes she had been a director instead of an actress (!)
58:00 Annette talks about the "crazy intimacy" of acting and goes on and on and on and on some more about how acting really has very little to do with the acoutrements of fame and red carpets and whatnot. Interesting stuff if I weren't already exhausted and since i can't rewind, I can't quote anymore.

Here's the whole interview if you have the hour.



Some armchair possibly inaccurate observations:

• Helena Bonham-Carter is very funny.
• Hilary and Annette both talk with their hands a lot .
• Nicole & Natalie are both shy but not inattentive
• Amy Adams doesn't want to be in this room at all. ( But hey, she's got an infant daughter. She's justifiably distracted. We'll cut her some slack.)

I say goodbye to these six lovely ladies for now.

Related reading:

• Best Actress predictions (yes it needs an update)
• Best Supporting Actress predictions (ditto)
• The Beautiful Decay of Helena Bonham-Carter (2008)
• Top 50 Female Performances of the Aughts (3 of these women make it)

Six Actresses Walk Into a Room...

The Hollywood Reporter is proclaiming that "Awards Season Begins Now" but the cover is freaking me out. Did Nancy Meyers direct it? It's so beige.

Do Amy Adams, Nicole Kidman, Hilary Swank and Natalie Portman all suddenly have the same hairstylist & colorist these days? They're interchangeable. And with women that special, that's a big no-no. Kidman's styling bugs me the most. It's so Blair on Facts of Life.

Am I right?

"I've got another one of my brilliant ideas."

Even craycray HBC looks like she's been stripped of her actual wardrobe in some coordinated Bossy Stylist intervention -- guarantee you she's never worn that before -- "You must be on trend, Helena. Muted colors this Oscar season! Think: Vanilla!"

But I'm intrigued by her fessing up about her working relationship with Tim Burton

I did do a film with him before I slept with him, and it's very different. We went through a really bad time on Sweeney Todd. ... I didn't get one compliment (from Burton). He really had this whole thing, like he didn't want to seem as if he was favoring me. So he'd go in the opposite direction. And Tim and Johnny, they have their lovely relationship, you know, they get on so well. So that was a difficult one. ... I really didn't think he'd ever want to work with me again. On Alice, I said there were going to be rules. ... I listed the Ten Commandments of how to work together.

I'd like to know what those Ten Commandments are. But I'm guessing she doesn't get into it in front of 5 other actresses.

Meanwhile, back to that cover -- this post is a runaway train (of thought) bear with me! -- notice that The Bening is propping herself up by her chin, biding her time, knowing they'll photoshop her in later.

I suppose it's possible that they were all in the room together, but I'm guessing it was more like Skype. The photo sure doesn't look like it's all one photo, does it?

Come to think of, I'm waiting for the day when some famous magazine or celebrity photographer refuses to do any more shoots where you have to photoshop busy people together later on. This didn't used to happen of course. Part of the jam-packed celebrity schedule used to include making time to be photographed with other celebrities. There's just something so dehumanizing about the photoshop mash-ups. I do them for humor but I hate it when they're presented to me like a photo I should believe in. (At least those Vanity Fair covers do a good job of tricking you about it... and you know that at least sections of it involve actual stars, draped about each other in real time.)

I miss stars being photographed together in the flesh where they can totally feed off each other's energy. Like...

Michelle Pfeiffer & Jessica Lange in 1997 (one of my favorite celebrity photos of all time even if their movie wasn't good.)  Or how about Keanu Reeves & River Phoenix in 1991?

Of course this still happens now but almost exclusively with only two people. Larger groups? Forget it.

Currently paparazzi photography is so much more exciting than actual portraiture. I mean, would any magazine ever be able to schedule The Town cast to be photographed in a room together at the same time and capture this much interpersonal energy...

Isn't that a sweet pic? I think it's my favorite movie premiere shot from 2010. I've looked at it so many times since September.

But back to The Hollywood Reporter to wrap up. I haven't seen the mag yet but I'm loving some of the quotes I'm reading like this exchange between Swankster & Adams

On losing roles 
Swank: There was a script I fell in love with back in August that was sent to me...I went in and I didn't get it.
Bening: Who did?
Swank: Do you really want to know?
Bening: Amy, you got it, didn't you?
(Laughter)
Swank (to Adams): Did you read it? Did you like it?
Adams: I'm not getting into this! (Thunderous laughter)
Swank: Amy got the role! Amy will be playing the role that I wanted! (Laughs)
Adams: Let me just say, I'm not doing it. We don't normally talk about this!

Hee. I've never liked Swank more than reading that exchange. And I've never felt better about The Bening's winning chances in February than I did while "hearing" her tease Swank and Adams on this topic.

MORE ON THE WHOLE HOUR LONG VIDEO HERE.

I'm suddenly very excited for awards season. Maybe it did begin just now?

*

Helena Bonham-Carter Annette Bening

What if "Australia" Had Ended Here?

On this very day in 1939, Australia's Northern Standard incorrectly assumed that The Lady Ashley (Nicole Kidman) and her Drover (Hugh Jackman) had both perished in the Kuraman Desert!

Newspapers. They've always had it rough; The second you publish something it's ancient history.

Just as soon as this news was making the rounds the lady and her cattle driving man, rode into town in a cloud of triumphant dust and defeated their main rival. They won! Celebratoryparties, long delayed lovemaking and a return to the now thriving Faraway Downs followed.  After a short orgiastic montage of Australia's natural beauty (the country's and the movie's), the epic movie ends with a speech by the young narrator Nullah (Brandon Walters)

Just like Drover say 'that rain make everything come alive.' The land it grow green and fat and we all go back to Faraway Downs. Mrs Boss happy. Drover Happy. 

I hear for the first time that thing called Christmas. Then the rain, it stops. And then Drover, he go droving. The Mrs Boss, she always misses Drover. But I know, he's going to come back.

How perfect are these golden shots as closing romantic images?

Only there's no closing. The epic movie didn't end there, not on October 29th (and the cattle drive was already quite a movie) or with Nullah's first Christmas. Or even after the Drover went a-drovin' again, an amusingly brief montage which consists only of this leaving and returning, beautifully illustrating a family falling into its future pattern.

But there's a lot more adventure, World War II adventure, coming. There's roughly sixty more minutes of it. I've often thought that had Australia wrapped up with that three shot shown above and this clear romantic narrative about the formation of a family (after one hour and forty-three minutes of a rousing western adventure), the critics and audiences might have been kinder. Wasn't Australia's main sin only that it was desperately overstuffed, that it didn't trust that one adventure, one tone, or one lead character arc was enough and it had to pack in at least a few of everything? Sometimes less is more, even for gorgeous sun-kissed epic that aspire to the mythic.

Australia came out two years ago and though two years isn't a long time, you rarely hear people discuss this one anymore. Have any of you watched it recently? If you haven't seen it since its premiere, what is your most vivid memory of it?
*
*
*

Yes, No, Maybe So: "Rabbit Hole"

I probably need to start covering movies I'm not absolutely drooling for in this yes, no, maybe so trailer series. It gets hard to pick the "no" and "maybe" elements for a film like, say, this one here...



John Cameron Mitchell's RABBIT HOLE will hit theaters, albeit only a few of them we're guessing, on December 17th, a date obviously chosen with the perception that it will maximize Oscar prospects.

YES I am, for better or worse, what is known as a "fan" which is to say, once I love something, it tends to be intense (hair pulling excitement, joyful weeping... metaphorically speaking!) and it takes a lot for that love to die out . The word "fan" used to have both negative and positive connotations but now, I suppose, with the invention of the terms "fanboy" and "fangirl", the simpler word "fan" has lost some of its negative connotations.  So I'm okay. I'm still discerning. Unless you think I'm a closer to a Kidman "fanboy" in which case, well, yeah, maybe but shut up -- [hyperventilating, crying] She is awesome!

NO Grief as Major Theme is tricky to pull off. There are all sorts of movie potholes on that journey: pornographic actorly histrionics, pandering "everything happens for a reason!" sentimentality, monotony of tone, boredom of plot. Plus the best work in this genre is nearly impossible to live up to. The best grief dramas are always French (Ponette and Trois Coleurs: Bleu) or are one hour long and found in really unexpected places ("The Body"). But it could be I am just overly touchy on this subject because it cuts too close to the bone when it's sharp. When it's dull, it just makes an awful mess of an important and universal topic. I hope this one is sharp, even though that means it'll hurt more.

MAYBE SO Ever since I heard about the artistic teenager that becomes intermingled with the grieving family, I was curious about how John Cameron Mitchell, who proved a very visual director in his first two features (Shortbus and Hedwig and the Angry Inch), would work that in. I'm pleased to note that the marketing team has used it as a sort of guiding motif in the trailer. I love the linear drawing emphasizing the Academy Award titling, don't you? It somehow seems more playful -- and the Oscars should be cuz they're fun! -- than the boring title cards we usually get when studios want you to know that "A PRESTIGE MOVIE IS COMING!"

Even if this movie didn't have such great festival buzz and Best Actress hype, I would still be a YES as all three principle actors are people I either obsessively love (Kidman) have loved ever since I can remember and always will (Wiest) or generally quite like (Eckhart).

But maybe your reaction veers far off in some other direction? Are you a yes, no or a maybe so when it comes to Rabbit Hole and why?
*

IMDb Top 20 Actress List. A Few Late Notes.

Have any of you read this IMDb list which purports to evaluate the "overall importance and impact" of film actresses across the span of the past two decades. That'd be 1990-2009 (though obviously they're including 2010.) I had somehow missed this list which arrived in September I think but I can't let it go by without some comment. I'm not sure what they mean by "impact" exactly... global fame? If so, Angelina is too low. And "importance" is another highly subjective word. The list is as follows.

[I've added the "peak periods" after their names to attempt to show when they were most "important/impactful" or, rather,  "when people cared about them the most" in film.]

1. Julia Roberts  .............[1990-2001]
2. Meryl Streep ..............[1990, 1995, 2002-now]
3. Cate Blanchett ...........[1998-2008]
4. Kate Winslet  .............[1994-2008]
5. Jodie Foster   .............[1990-1997]
6. Nicole Kidman  .........[1995, 2001-2005]
7. Sandra Bullock  .........[1994-2000, 2009-now]
8. Halle Berry  ...............[1991-1992, 1998-2002]
9. Emma Thompson   ....[1991-1995]
10. Angelina Jolie   .........[1999-now]
11. Julianne Moore   .......[1998-2004, 2008-now]
12. Susan Sarandon   ......[1990-1995]
13. Helen Mirren   ..........[2001, 2006-now]
14. Gwyneth Paltrow  .....[1995-2002]
15. Hilary Swank   ..........[1999,2004]
16. Cameron Diaz   .........[1994-2005]
17. Renée Zellweger  ......[1996-2004]
18. Meg Ryan   ...............[1990-2000]
19. Jennifer Aniston   .....[2006-now]
20. Judi Dench   .............[1997-2001, 2005-2006]

I've never attempted to remove my own opinion for an objective list... objective lists are best done by committee. But I did notice that most of the objections to my own personal "Best of the Aughts list" (which only counted 2000-2004 as it was made in 2005) were based on the overall fame and consensus acclaim of the snubees combined with the willful refusal to see that it was a subjectively judged "best/favorite" opinion piece.

But even if you are trying to be objective with "impact/importance" there will be disagreements.

 <--- Nathaniel's #1 "Actress of the Aughts"... if you include the 1990s though, her rank would drop quite precipitously.

For example, I can't figure how Jennifer Aniston ranks at all since they're talking about a decade in Cinema. If you include TV, she is absolutely deserving of a top 20 spot given global fame and tv iconography. But even her romantic comedy features aren't the classics or blockbusters that the other romantic comedy women on the list (Julia + Sandra + Cameron + Meg) have achieved -- usually more than once, too. So I think they're confusing "fame" which she certainly has a lot of with "importance to cinema".

I also think Swank shouldn't rank. She's an active figure for only half of the time frame PLUS her only claim to fame is two roles when all is said and done. Sure those were Oscar winners but that's it. Is there any other modern actor who has managed so much credit for body from such a tiny tissue sample? Because the rest of her resume.. nobody cares. I don't think that's just a personal opinion influencing my observation. Consider that I'm not the biggest cheerleader for Renée Zellweger either but I absolutely agree that she deserves a top 20 spot on a list of this type covering this timeframe. I'd believe that about Aniston too, given her longevity, if anyone could point to any film that was a big deal, either critically or box office wise that she was intrinsic too. Maybe The Break-Up (2006) but isn't that the only possible argument? It's not like people paid for Bruce Almighty to see her.

Also: Gwyneth Paltrow. Similar situation in a way to Jennifer Aniston... i.e. unquestionably one of the biggest celebrities, but one of the biggest actresses? Unless "overall importance and impact" means "size of celebrity" in which case, the list would need serious reworking.

Most surprising (but deserved) inclusion: Meg Ryan. She's the only person who made the list who hasn't been capturing public attention recently and not generally treated positively. I'm proud of the editors for their objectivity there. See, you can usually tell when a list is made by what the rankings are; they always follow current perception meaning that however people are feeling about someone right then matters far more than whatever they felt about them over the course of whatever time frame they're judging. Take Helen Mirren for a prime example. She is very very very busy right now and has sustained the hysteria over The Queen (2006) surprisingly well -- good for her and her team -- so she makes the list but in actuality she has one of those filmographies/ careers where people flit in and out of interest in her quite easily. When she's out of sight, isn't she out of mind?

Missing from the list: I think the most obvious snub is Reese Witherspoon who was working for all of those 20 years and earned a couple of classics, a few self-sold blockbusters and an Oscar as reward.

Your turn. Do you think the editors made the right choices? Or are you mad that they snubbed Uma? Penélope or any other international divas? Oscar-regular Frances? 90s biggies like Michelle, Joan, Winona, Holly, Angela or Demi? Anjelica? Charlize? Laura or Laura? perpetual classic Diane? kooky Helena? bitch-goddess Annette? avant-garde Tilda? Keira or Scarlett? Or maybe Natalie Portman who has been famous for *gasp* 16 years now and still isn't 30.

Imaginary Actress Wars

Weird but true confession: Whenever I look at photos from film festival press conferences, I always end up imagining that it was one big press conference with all of the movie stars and films represented at the same table. This can lead to weird imaginary resentments, unspoken battles and other duets.


I mean what would Nic' & Hil' even have to say too each other? Not that Hilary wouldn't feign amiability and Nicole wouldn't glare frostily. Maybe they'd talk about Best Actress wins? It's the only thing they have in common.


And what does Juliette Lewis think of Vera Farmiga? Or maybe she's just wondering when Vera is due or what it's like to kiss George Clooney or maybe why they both don't get first choice of every movie script in town since they're so uniquely talented.

Perhaps you can make better sense of these imaginary mash-ups in the comments.

This message has been brought to you by ADD and afternoon boredom.

Hilary Swank Nicole Kidman

TIFF: A Glimpse of Rabbit Hole Enthusiasm To Come?

Nicole Kidman and hubby hit Toronto for the film festival. I haven't seen more than one true review yet, but she wore Prada. Just Jared has pics from the premiere.

As for the review(s)? Well it's mostly tweets at this point though I expect more reviews to emerge soon. Let's start negative and get positive.

Negative

• @ioncinema "Belly flop for JCM. Wish entry point into story was at the 10month point. Wish final scene was extended by 90 mins."
• @matt_mazur "Rabbit Hole was really mediocre. Kidman was great but the rest uninspired. Let down"

Positive

• The Playlist "honest and powerful"
• Deadline NY "Nicole Kidman making a major artistic comeback"
• @PeterKnegt of IndieWire says 'Bad buzz be damned. Quietly haunting and very affecting. Very strong and naturalistic work from Nicole Kidman'
• @Scott_Tobias "B+) Movie about loss of a child, on no sleep and a week away from my own kid? No way this wasn't going to wreck me."
  
• @juanmgc "Powerful. Remarkable. Kudos to John Cameron Mitchell for pulling Kidman and Eckhart's best performance of both their careers."
  

Juan is the only tweeter among the positive voices that I wasn't really familiar with. But I never trust "career best" statements from anyone until I've seen the film in question. That's a common heat of the moment statement and with Kidman, that would basically position it as a best of the decade contender just as the decade has begun. But at any rate this is good news (so far) and we share @GuyLodge's feelings... "Very excited about early praise for Kidman: that "best of her generation" claim I've doggedly stuck to needs new foundations."

Finally, here's a tweet adressed to me from friend of TFE Katey Rich


There's also a strangely lengthy non-commital post at Awards Daily about why they haven't covered it much. The rest of what I've seen is various tweets with "quotes" around them as if more people have reviewed it than I can find. Curious. Perhaps my coffee isn't strong enough this morning or I have forgotten how to type words into search engines. Next!

A couple of clips hit the net too. In the best of these (thanks for the tip Kaye), we get a peak at the tense relationship between mom (Dianne Wiest) and daughter (Nicole Kidman) in a bowling alley...



There's also another clip about a grief support group in which I kept getting distracted by Aaron Eckhart's superhero chin. He really is a cartoon. In a good way, mind.
*

actual e-mail received last night.

LOL. I guess my friend wasn't happy that I dropped Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole from those Oscar predictions. The film has it's official premiere tomorrow in Toronto so expect a lot of net reaction for better and for worse. Please get distribution and release date nailed down Most-Desired-Film-of-Mine-Except-for -Black-Swan (sorry)! You can do it.
*

Breakfast With... Alexandre Desplat (Magnificent Film Score Repurposed.)

Press play for the musical accompaniment to this post.

Have any of you seen the new "wake up" commercial for Quaker Oats? It's one of those commercials that would look right at home during the Olympics, as it's full of gorgeous images of Americana, sunrise, sports and other daily wholesome endeavors like the building of skyscrapers. If I hadn't been looking away from my telly when it aired, I doubt I would have made the connection but the entire commercial is scored to the opening theme of Birth (2004). Alexandre Desplat is arguably the best movie composer working so why shouldn't his scores live on past their movies?

The commercial voiceover goes like so...

Wake up America. It's morning and morning is amazing: it's when we charge into the future, when we blasted off for the moon, scaled the heighest peak, and flew for the very first time. Morning starts and changes everything. It's a clean slate, a fresh start.

So come dreamers and trailblazers, champions ...come builders. It's morning. Wake up and be amazing.

Does your breakfast make you amazing?

You know what's amazing, oatmeal eaters of the world? Watching Nicole Kidman as Anna fall under the spell of a 10 year old boy who may or may not be her dead husband reincarnated. That's what's amazing. Though, I have to admit Anna's "trailblazing" does not exactly provide her with a clean slate or a fresh start.

And she does need to wake the hell up.


Wake up Anna. Wake up.
*
*

Nicki Kidman, Mallrat

Um... Perhaps our Brazilian friends could help us out with this one?



I saw this ad at Styleite and I have to echo their perplexed takeaway...

...then there’s the larger question at hand: Why on earth is Nicole Kidman doing a commercial for a mall in Brazil? And why does the commercial end with her walking down a red carpet in an ill-fitting gown?

I have never been to Brazil and this makes me sad. But if when I go I would like to travel like Nicole. Perhaps someone can roll a red carpet out for me at the airport?

Robert F Boyle (RIP), Designed Many Classics

Sad news to report. Robert F Boyle, a four time Oscar nominee for Art Direction and Alfred Hitchcock's Production Designer during the Tippi Hedren years, passed away on Sunday at 100 years of age. He nearly made it to 101.

Here he is at the February 2008 Oscars with Nicole Kidman when he was 98.


When I published the list of Oldest Living Oscar Nominees last month, I didn't mean it as a morbid countdown, but as a tribute to these enduring artists and I hope it reads that way, even as they depart. We all must pass on eventually. Boyle had been the oldest of them all. May Luise Rainier, now the oldest at 100, live as long as Methusaleh.

Among Doyle's credits are classics like North by Northwest (Oscar nomination), Fiddler on the Roof (Oscar nomination), In Cold Blood, The Thomas Crown Affair and Cape Fear (the originals). In the last ten years of his career (roughly the 1980s) he mainly worked on female star comedy vehicles like The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Troop Beverly Hills and Private Benjamin.

Clockwise from left: North by Northwest, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Cape Fear and Fiddler on the Roof

Clockwise from top left: The Thomas Crown Affair, The Birds, Marnie, and Staying Alive

He had a long and rich career. May we all find such great use of our talents.
*

A Story of Run-On Linkings

Sometimes when I fall out of the loop as I just did, taking a few days away from normal internettings to finish a freelance gig I have trouble getting back on the horse because I subscribe to a lot of websites and blogs and I almost never have time to read them and if I stop reading for even one day I end up lost inside multiple levels of nightmares while trying to find my footing again because there's an awful a lot of "news" on the internet that feels totally urgent even when it's not and it's less news than rumors and then retractions of rumors to be replaced by other rumors and which, well, we'd really all be better off it it was all opinion pieces


like "which will be a better 2012 film The Avengers or Batman 3?" because at least that's honest rather than the rumor mill which can take HOURS to sift through and only exists to generate page views and, really now, who cares if The Wasp is going to be in the Avengers when The Scarlet Witch (my favorite) isn't and why would anyone care that Joss Whedon is directing it when it's so sorely lacking in awesome girlpower (see the monotonous photo above for too much penis) and that's like his trademark thang and if people step outside their comfort zone it's sometimes really painful and that's what American Idol is always teaching us and don't even get me started on what a horrible lesson that is to drill into people week after week "STAY IN YOUR BOX!!!" because sometimes the world would really benefit from everyone stepping out of their boxes and doing something a little different, you know, instead of just relentlessly copying previous cool things whether it was their cool thing to begin with or not but...

okay okay okay some people like Gwyneth Paltrow probably shoulda stayed in the acting box instead of wasting her youth on GOOP and what is all this sudden buzz about her Oscar chances for a reboot of Crazy Heart because I had no idea she was acting again and everytime someone asks me about her and the Best Original Song category I actually have no earthly idea what they're talking about -- stop e-mailing me but yes, yes, I thought it was interesting what Tom Hardy said -- because I haven't really been reading the internet in three days because I haven't had much time but even when I don't have much time I totally notice things like how cute Nicole Kidman is looking or that Cheyenne Jackson is going to be on Glee even though he's not playing one of the mysteriously absent gay Rachel dads who make NO narrative sense because gay dads would be alloverthatshit if their daughter was that talented ...not that Glee has ever excelled in making narrative sense but my point is this: sometimes you just have to stop trying to catch up and you have to scream "Begone Old Movie News From Tuesday That I Never Read About!" and simply state "I'll just have to start again from Friday July 30th, 2010 at 5:01 PM," you know?

So that's what I'm saying and doing. How are you?
*

"Do I miscalculate?"

"Well, then. Is something detaining you?"

[Great Moments in Screen Bitchery #609, Nicole Kidman in The Hours]

Can you think of anything more exhilarating than a trip to London?
*

Beauty Break: Nicole Kidman

I've never been one to collect memorabilia, stills or autographs. But if I did I'd surely have a stash to represent my Kidmania. So happy 43rd to the Oscar winner.

all photos from this great website

In addition to that Trespass picture which sounds like a disaster, Kidman will soon be doing an HBO picture called Hemingway & Gellhorn. I smell Emmy nomination.

Here are arguably my six favorite pictures of Nicole from the past six years. Arguably because I argue with myself, don't you? Argue with yourself, not me, I mean.

random photo shoot, 2007

promoting Margot at the Wedding with Jennifer Jason Leigh in 2007

With Baz, her best iconographer, in 2008

random photo shoots from 2005 & 2007

<--- a 2006 photoshoot. I wish I knew the photographer's name.

Fansites like the great Nicole's Magic are a godsend. Visit them! I wish all actresses had fansites this devoted. It's easy to find similarly strong sites for other mega-stars like Pfeiffer or Streep. But sadly many of the great actresses have almost nothing online or scattershot, out of date sites. I've found that the name actresses from 70s through the early 90s are the biggest problem area. Once you hit the mid 90s, the internet had begun to take over and the stars from the 1950s and earlier will always have the "classic hollywood/nostalgia" factors going for them in terms of archiving. But inbetween those eras it's tough going if you want to see great photoshoots and whatnot.

Just about my only gripe with the best fansites of moviestars is that they tend to not list the photographers when they're sharing photoshoots from the years. Usually if you're scanning from a magazine the photographers name is right there and they definitely deserve the credit.

In chronological order, my six favorite Kidman performances: To Die For (1995), Moulin Rouge! (2001), The Others (2001), Birth (2004), Dogville (2004) and Margot at the Wedding (2007) with apologies to a handful of others. Here's hoping Rabbit Hole (2010) disrupts this list. Not that that will be easy to do because that list feels pretty untouchable. I didn't even have room for her 'violent jolt' in The Hours (2002).
*