One For Them, One For Me: Nicole Kidman - 'The Stepford Wives' and 'Birth'

A new series by Christopher James

Nicole Kidman at the Globes for Birth. They were the only group to embrace the film

Do one for them; do one for you. If you can still do projects for yourself, you can keep your soul.
— Martin Scorsese: A Journey

This week, Nicole Kidman earned her fifth Oscar nomination for Being the Ricardos, where she plays legendary star Lucille Ball. One can’t spend over thirty years in the industry without a couple of reinventions. The Australian star rose to prominence in America when she became Mrs. Tom Cruise after Days of Thunder. The entire 90s was spent breaking out of that reductive box. It wasn’t until the summer of 2001, when Kidman divorced Cruise, that she stepped into her own as a true A-list star. The one-two-three punch of The Others, Moulin Rouge and The Hours cemented her as both a real actress and a true movie star, culminating in a win for Best Actress for The Hours. At the top of the heap, Kidman decided to take many 'One For Them, One For Me' swings. They didn't always pan out but this post-Oscar period contains some of her best work.

Before her Oscar win she's already filmed The Human Stain, Dogville and Cold Mountain. So 2004 was the year where she really used her cache to gain both cultural clout and big box office...

Click to read more ...

All hail the glorious Glenn Close!

by Cláudio Alves

It's been over a week since the Oscars. Despite losing the prize, it's fair to say that Glenn Close came out of it all as a winner. Dancing to "Da Butt" and insinuating Daniel Kaluuya was too young to know Donna Summer's Oscar-winning tune, the most nominated actress never to have won the Academy Award brought needed playfulness to a mostly somber ceremony. The internet was riveted, and Close may have earned another legion of fans if her sterling filmography and acting acumen hadn't done that already. All this, and she's still making news…

Click to read more ...

22 Link Street

VF Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt & Goldie, on his 22 Jump Street experience
Digital Spy Mark Ruffalo talks the future of the Hulk. Solo movie, Avengers, so on. (BTW and unrelated: did you see Mark Ruffalo riding a unicycle on Graham Norton?)
MNPP wonders wtf Jude Law is wearing
/Film "40 things I learned on the set of Transformers: Age of Extinction"

Film Doctor has 10 notes on 22 Jump Street
Gothamist recommends 5 drive-in movie theaters near NYC. Holy hell. I didn't realize any were left nearby. I am so going. If uh... well, I don't have a car because I live in NYC. Never mind.
Pajiba an open letter to a kid at the theater watching How To Train Your Dragon 2 (spoiler heavy)
Empire whoops. Just days after that awful teaser, Paddington has lost his voice as Colin Firth exits
The Blot Michael Musto names his 10 greatest female movie stars of all time with the most recent addition being Cate Blanchett. A couple of strange choices. Of note: His three way tie (Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Judy Garland -I can't see what connects them) features three indisputables but that makes it a top 12

WTF?ness
Hollywood.com posted a list of 20 remakes that prove "original isn't always better" -- is it a prank that The Stepford Wives (2004) begins the otherwise kinda okay no wait kind of respectable but  random no wait insane list?

A Forever Must Read
"How to Deal With Criticism" - this piece from The Toast made me laugh so so much - the cave story is just. gah! -- and was also so inspiring. I've done some of these self-sabotage things. Listen, nobody is ever going to love everything you do. But you gotta do you. Chin up. Back to work.