"I can't believe we're doing this"
Saturday, May 19, 2012 at 9:57AM I assume that many of you have seen the very brief daydreamy clip from The Paperboy (2012) in which Zac Efron fantasizes about Nicole Kidman in a wedding dress before she kisses the camera. I can't stop watching it. I love the overlapped images and Kidman's accent and the snap back to reality. After the strange Shadowboxer and the moving but divisive Precious we all know that director Lee Daniels is confident (or over confident if you will) about bizarre flights of fancy in imagery and performances that run racing to the cliff's edge.
All of which might make him an ideal candidate to direct the ever fearless still underappreciated Nicole Kidman. I say "underappreciated" about this major star and Oscar winner only because she takes a lot of guff from critics, general audiences, and media types who all seem giddy about disparaging her work for shallow reasons. She's clearly one of the most important actors of either sex in the past twenty years and it seems obvious that future generations will still know her thanks to that auteur-friendly filmography. I'm gushing and I haven't seen the movie yet. (I hate when people do that so apologies.)
As for Zac Efron. First he duets with Michelle pF'in Pfeiffer (New Year's Eve) and then lusts after Kidman (The Paperboy)? This is the closest I've ever felt to him... and the most envious. Who's next: The Bening, Juli, Tilda, Ms Hathaway, Kiki Dunst? HE'S INSIDE MY MIND !!!
*deep breaths deep breaths*
The Paperboy premieres on Thursday May 24th at Cannes, in the last rush of films before the jury makes their decisions. Can Kidman give Marion Cotillard a run in Best Actress? Or will some non-Oscared international actress emerge triumphant?
Actressexuality, Cannes, Nicole Kidman, Oscars (12), The Paperboy, Zac Efron
Reader Comments (33)
Looks interesting. Not sure about Kidman being one of the most important actors of the last 20 years though (but that may be just me).
Speaking of Juli: Here's the "What Maisie Knew" sales promo / trailer with Moore, Alexander Skarsgard and Steve Coogan:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6AYG5A-kXVw&feature=player_embedded
the clip screams Oscar :)
and I support all the claims you've made about Nicole
I really cannot wait to watch this film!
I think that Best Actress at Cannes is between Kidman and Cotillard. I don't know about Oscar, though. The trailers suggested that Laura and Viola are not that Oscary in their respective roles so who can win? As much as I want you to be right, I don't see Dame Maggie triumph. Nicole's role is more Supporting winner type, but she'll be campaigned lead I guess. Anyway, suspense is always great.
Seriously, this year's Best Actress race seems so shady and mysterious that I'm praying that Hilary Swank doesn't turn up out of nowhere to campaign herself a third win (God forbid). Maybe that's what the Mayans predicted to be the Apocalypse. :/
@dinasztie
Thanks for the heads up on the "Never Back Down" trailer. Although only three Academy associated actresses are advertised in the trailer at—there's a clip of Oscar nominee Marianne Jean-Baptiste! Viola would have an easier time with Supporting with this project but she certainly could be the first double female black Oscar winner if Fences and the Barbara Jordan movies get off the ground.
Eyes Wide Shut was a more impressive leap forward for Kidman than To Die For which has a very HBO quality to it. I'm so excited Lee Daniels is making a leap forward with this project.
@4rtful It would be nice if she became the first black actress to get two Oscars but first she has to win her first. I think she already should have won for Doubt. :) I loved her in The Help, she just wasn't my first pick. I think that Barbara Jordan bio is her best chance. Won't Back Down seems to be more about Maggie (seriously, why is mainstream Hollywood afraid of making a black actress the complete lead). Never mind. The thread is about Nicole, not Viola. :D
I suppose winning a second Oscar would be the sweetest revenge on Nicole's loudest critics. Her last nod was also a triumph on them, I was so glad about it. :)
I don't know how many times I've watched that clip!! I cannot wait til next week and read some reviews!!
I think (if the movie is good) she will go leading in this movie.
I love the 70s vibe music that's used in the clips. It has a trashy 70s movie look to it; very interesting. Hope the movie is great.
I'm with you in the impressive, auteur-friendly resume. However what I don't understand and would like to ask Nicole - is why Just Go With it & Trespass? Those two I don't get. I get why she made Bewitched, Stepford Wives and The Invasion but those two stump me.
@Murtada
She began to doubt herself is the only logical explanation.
LOVE Nicole Kidman. AMAZING actress. I hate Lee Daniels, Zac Effron and Mathew McConaughey and yet I'm dying to see this. The power of Kidman.
There are worse places to have Zac Efron, I suppose...there are better places as well, though. :)
As for Best Actress, I think that Cotillard is going to take it at Cannes, and start a wave of support for herself at the Oscars. Double winners almost always win within about 5 years of their previous win, so if she wants to take that second trophy (and considering the pedigree of her directors since-Marshall, Allen, Nolan), she probably does, this would be a great time to do it.
I'd place a bet that Best Actress at Cannes is going to the two women in Beyond The Hills. It doesn't always go to the names.
Regardless, this looks amazing. Does everyone remember when Sofia Vergara was going to play this part?
I've also been pretty addicted to that clip. The music (!!!), Nicole (!!!!!), the editing, the overlapping images..... I can't wait to see more. It almost verges on being heavy handed but I think the snap back to reality makes it really work. It all looks so awesome and funky.
Hope it goes well for them next week when it screens. It's exciting to have Kidman back in Cannes after she was robbed blind for Dogville. I'm still sour about that, ugh.
@ Murtada
Just go with it : she got to spend time in Hawai, where she was born, with her family. She also probably thought it would be good for her to have a funny cameo.
Trespass : it's a strange choice since she's been in a thriller before so there was nothing new for her there so my guess is that she wanted to work with Nicolas Cage.
Now I hope that working with Olivier Dahan will lead her to work with more accomplished European auteurs and that she'll work with other leading Asian auteurs following chan-wook Park
Nicole Kidman is one of the greatest actress of her generation and of movies history, for many reasons, well knwon to everybody. People tend to undervalue this great talented actress for shallow reasons like Nath said. She's living a more than deserved come back. In the last decade she did incredible movies and some mistakes, but who didn't? And her "less good" movies like Birth, Margot At The Wedding and Fur are now considered pure indie masterpieces, in particular Birth which I think is an amazing movie and Nicole did a hearbreaking perfomance. And the "flops" like Australia (which is not a flop BTW) and Nine are anyway good enjoyble movies. She achieved in 10 years more than anyone else could and in 30 years of career she built an image of professionalism and integrity. She puts a little bit of morality and self-reliance in a world and in an industry where nicety is rare stuff
I'd love to see either of these ladies win Actress at Cannes, especially working for interesting directors (Audiard is quickly becoming an all time favorite for me, and it'll be interesting to see how Daniels fairs). I won't be surprised if either takes it, but Kidman is easily one of my favorite actors working. I completely support your claims about her, Nathaniel, and I hope she takes it to add to her many honors.
I don't think either of these ladies have a shot at Oscar though. I can't imagine them handing a second Oscar win out to either unless it is far, far ahead of any competition. (A nomination for Kidman, maybe in Supporting, doesn't seem out of the question though. If Cotillard can pull off a second lead nomination for another film in French, hats off to her.)
Paperboy is high of my list of "want-to-see's" this year. Oddly though, mainly because of Lee Daniels. It will serve as proof for me whether he falls more on the side of Precious (read "amazing!") or more of the side of Shadowboxer ("huh?"). The preview has significantly raised my hopes :) As for Kidman, I love her more and more with every passing year, and every new film. This performance seems like it won't let down.
I've lost count of how many times I've replayed this clip, I want MORE! Zefron bores the living daylights out of me, so I share your lack of enthusiasm about having to watch him on screen with these goddesses. I'm so glad Nicole has all of these projects coming up, even if they aren't all great they're sure to at least be interesting, which means they're still a huge step up from Just Go With It and Trespass.
You're so spot on with what you said about Nicole Kidman. When people ask me about my favorite actresses I'm like: Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett and they're fine with it and then when I say: Nicole Kidman, they laugh like: why? Dude, she's brilliant, that's why!
Love how Kidman seems to be channeling an Ann-Margret late-60s sex kitten vibe with comedic overtones in this scene.
I loved Nicole Kidman before she completely destroyed her natural beautiful face, now it is just too distracting for me. I coudn't watch the clip without noticing her botoxed face. I know she has many supporters here, but those botoxed lips is just a big no for me.
I think Nicole has a shot at the Cannes Best Actress Award, although Cotillard is a strong competitor. Nicole already has two votes from the jury: Ewan McGregor (co-star in Moulin Rouge!) and Jean-Paul Gaultier (designer of Nicole's Oscar dress in 2003). Not to mention, Diane Kruger is in the jury and we know how mad Kruger is at Cotillard. So I think Nicole has a shot at this, after being overlooked for Dogville.
Why is Kruger mad at Cotillard?
those who laugh when you mention that Kidman is among your fave actresses, just tell them to watch "Birth", "The Hours", "Margot at the Wedding", "Rabbit Hole" and then come back with comments.
This is what I've been doing and people have been shutting up, permanently!
Yavor: Kruger was at one point married to Guillaume Canet (now Marion's man) and legend has it that he left Kruger for Cotillard.
Loooooove that clip and Kidman in it. She seems to be having a ball.
Thanks GM.
Go Kidman!
Actually, the decision of the jury will be interesting:
For Kidman side: Ewan McGregor, Jean-Paul Gautier and Diane Kruger
For Cotillard side: Emmanuelle Devos and Nanni Moretti -Fan of Audiard
Why not a tie between the two women?. It happened in 2010 with Javier Bardem and Elio Germano. These prizes will be a image for both sides of the Atlantic... The European cinema (Cotillard) and Hollywood cinema (Kidman)
If Cotillard can pull off a second lead nomination for another film in French, hats off to her... Agree, only Adjani, Loren and Ullmann made that, but with these news, maybe her best shot is "Low Life" -Now with Harvey behind-. Between "Rust and Bone" (Ditribuited by Sony Pictures Classic) and "Low Life" Cotillard is having a great year
http://thefilmstage.com/news/cannes-twc-go-after-james-grays-low-life-and-the-sapphires-sony-arc-and-filmdistrict-make-picks/
and considering the pedigree of her directors since-Marshall, Allen, Nolan
Also don't forget Cotillard's next film with Asghar Farhadi in France with Tahar Rahim:
http://thefilmstage.com/news/marion-cotillard-will-lead-next-film-from-a-separation-director-asghar-farhadi/
So I changed my prediction for Best Actress:
-Marion Cotillard, Low Life
-Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy (Maybe she'll go to supporting but this year isn't exactly strong for bigger contenders yet)
-Maggie Smith, Quartet
-Quvenzhané Wallis, Beasts of the Southern Wild
And the fifth spot between Laura Linney or Penélope Cruz
right now Huppert and Kidman are in a deadly battle career-wise :
Huppert : Kidman :
- Amour (Haneke) - Hemingway & Gellhorn (Kaufman)
- In another country (sang-soo hong) - Stoker (chan-wook park)
- La bella addormentata (Bellocchio) - The Paperboy (Daniels)
- Dead man down (Oplev) - The Railway Man (Teplitzky)
- Suspiria (Green) - Grace of Monaco (Dahan)
- Before I go to sleep (Joffe)
I think working with Haneke and Bellocchio give the edge to Huppert but as always Kidman is the one with the most diverse filmography/roles. What's interesting is that they're both going very international when it comes to the directors they're working with : Austrian/South Korean/Italian/Denmark/American for Huppert, American/South Korean/Australian/French/British for Kidman.
You're all forgetting that Marion's oscar winning gown amd cesar winning dress was created by Jean Paul Gaultier, she wore his designs on several occassions during her awards season.
How could we forget that? Cotillard mermaid dress was made by Jean-Paul Gaulthier and I remember she dressed at the Golden Globes 2009, so maybe Gaulthier could have a Sophie's Choice LOL
I dont think either Kidman or Cotillard have judges on their side. I think the jury will be partial and judge on performances alone rather than you they like/have worked with before. That siad while I hope Nicole wins I think Marion may have thedge, given she's French
I don't see how Marion has an advantage just because she's french? The members of the jury come from different areas of the world and backgrounds. If she wins it'll be because they saw her as most the impressive.
I'd love Nicole to win since she's been coming to the festival for almost 20 years now and was, as someone else said, robbed for Dogville (Marie-Josée Croze? Seriously?) but I don't want to get my hopes up since her film hasn't even premiered yet. But everything I see and hear about her performance in The Paperboy has me excited. Apparently the director of the festival, Thierry Fremaux, gave her a shout out at the press conference after the unveiling of the line-up. He seems to be really big on her performance in it. And it does have a ripe premiere date (the Thursday before the festival ends), but who knows if any of that will amount to anything.
Lol, it'll probably be neither Nicole or Marion and either the ladies from Beyond the Hills or Emmanuelle Riva from Amour will take it.
Sweating like a Pregnant Nun. Tee hee. Can't wait for the weather to change so I can use that.