Nicole Kidman Tribute: Malice (1993)

by Mark Brinkerhoff

The early ‘90s were a peculiar period in the ascendant career of young Nicole Kidman. Hot off her breakthrough in Dead Calm (1989), Hollywood poached her quickly, (mis)casting her in a series of prominent but mostly forgettable, largely thankless roles—from Days of Thunder (1990) and Billy Bathgate (1991) to Far and Away (1992) and My Life (1993). In between, her real claim to fame (for a time) was bagging Hollywood’s biggest star, not necessarily popping on screen. Or at least that’s how I viewed her in the fall of 1993, when the Harold Becker-directed, Aaron Sorkin-penned Malice was released in theaters…

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Super Mario Bros: The First Movie

by Cláudio Alves

The new Super Mario Bros. movie is upon us and some of the early reviews could hardly be more scathing. This Chris Pratt and Anya Taylor-Joy animated romp has sunk a few critics into pits of despair, with some unfortunate souls stating it's even worse than the 1993 flop. We won't know until we see it but one can envision it being a downgrade in terms of sheer lunacy.

Say what you will about the 1993 movie, but it's a fascinating piece of cinema worth revisiting, its abject failure never stemming from a lack of crazy ideas. A lack of conviction, perhaps, since you can smell the flop sweat of exhausted writers, not to mention the confusion of cast and crew and audience, too! It is one confounding mess, and to watch it is to sense one's sanity slipping away...

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Anthony Hopkins to play Sigmund Freud (and a little Oscar history)

by Nathaniel R

Hopkins image via The Guardian

Sir Anthony Hopkins, who is now 84, is in the middle of a late career golden period winning a much-deserved second Oscar for The Father and now getting mostly glowing reviews for a grandfather role in Armageddon Time.  He'll also appear in The Father 's thematic sequel The Son late this year, though this time he doesn't have the leading titular role. Yesterday we learned that Hopkins is set to play Sigmund Freud in a new film called Freud's Last Session. Announcements about famous actors doing biographical roles is not particularly noteworthy as it seems to happen about 24 times each year. But this news is amusing and interesting given Hopkins film history...

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