Nicole Kidman Tribute: Moulin Rouge! (2001)
Though many thought Nicole Kidman should have been welcomed into the Academy's good graces with 1995's To Die For, it would take six years until that early promise materialized in the actress' first Oscar nomination. Curiously, the path to such success went through a return to down under cinema that started to take shape with The Portrait of a Lady by kiwi auteur Jane Campion. This was also when Kidman began to challenge herself conspicuously by collaborating with true visionaries, picking projects based on who was behind the camera. That line of thinking took the actress into the dark reveries of Kubrick's swan song and, ultimately, the musical riot of Baz Luhrmann's Moulin Rouge!, which started shooting shortly after Eyes Wide Shut hit theaters.
As Satine, the cabaret's star performer, Nicole Kidman is at the height of her powers, delivering a feat of such off-the-charts star wattage it would have been inconceivable for the Academy to look away…