Tuesday Top Twenty: Ranking Nicole Kidman's Work

By Nathaniel R

Nicole at the ACM Awards this weekAs mentioned in our piece on the finale of Big Little Lies the internet is finally accepting that Nicole Kidman is a genius. Why they haven't noticed that she's been a regularly gripping actor since Dead Calm (1989) with her ascent into intermittent genius happening as early as 1995 (twenty-two years ago!) with her sly breakthrough as fame-obsessed Suzanne Stone in Gus Van Sant's To Die For (Golden Globe win, Best Actress in a Comedy) we will never understand.

But it is what it is. Actresses not named Meryl Streep have to go through this from time to time with people doubting their talent. One imagines if Michelle Pfeiffer is brilliant in any of her comeback roles this year we will get a raft of "who knew this 80s sex symbol, Catwoman herself, was also a great actor?!" articles and we will have to roll our eyes with a "anyone who was paying any attention at all!" answer and a weary shrug.

But it's fun to do quick rankings, so herewith...

Nicole Kidman's 20 Best Performances

The order would vary if the list were composed on a different day though the top eight would remain the top eight, give or take the exact numbers...

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"Big Little Lies" Finale - The MVPs

 Previously: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, and Episode 6 

by Nathaniel R

Is Big Little Lies the richest miniseries in recent memory? Its seventh hour was burdened with extravagant expectations and seemingly far too many character arcs, story suggestions, actual plot, and general areas of concern (domestic abuse, female friendship, infidelity, emotional crises, childhood bullying, responsible parenting) to cover in sixty minutes. An impossible task in terms of satisfying its rabid fanbase, surely. And yet here we are. Jean-Marc Vallée (who directed every episode), his crew, and his astonishing actresses, pulled it all together gorgeously and even completely (no second season is necessary, thank you; leave beautiful things alone).

Spoilers obviously follow in this wrap-up list...

Top Ten Top Twelve MVPs of Big Little Lies, Episode 7
"You Get What You Need"

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 6 "Burning Love"

 Previously: Episode 1 and 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, and Episode 5. 

by Spencer Coile

In the penultimate episode to HBO's actress juggernaut, Madeline comes to terms with her affair with Joseph and discovers Abigail's secret project: auctioning off her virginity to fight against sex trafficking. Celeste adopts an exit strategy from Perry... but also breaks his urethra. The memory of Jane's rape continues to haunt her, even after realizing that Saxon Baker was not the culprit, but when she finds out there's a petition going around school urging for Ziggy's suspension, she takes matters into her own hands and reconciles with Renata. Meanwhile, Avenue Q finally opens and musical theater fans rejoiced! 

With everything coming to a head in next week's finale, there are still so many questions left unanswered. Still, let's take a moment and reflect on the genius that was "Burning Love." 

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 5 "Once Bitten"

Previously: episode 1 and 2, episode 3 and episode 4. Here's Nathaniel's take on Episode 5

In the fifth episode, we've reached what has to be a boiling point as Jane, Madeline, Celeste and Renata all seem to be coming absolutely unhinged simultaneously. Spoiler alert for the rest of this post: this show is just superb and it's giving us more actressing than we even know what to do with. *tosses roses at television*

Top Ten MVPs of Big Little Lies. Episode 5 "Once Bitten"

10. Madeline's Dream
Bonus points to the show for having a sense of humor about its hardcore annoying refusal to let us know who was murdered. Also any Avenue Q reference is golden.  

09 "Bully Free Zone"
That damn bright yellow & red sign. 

Don't you feel like it's constantly just taunting everyone in the school? At least half of the adults in this show are bullies themselves and everyone seems so helplessly ill equipped to deal with bullying in school on top of their other issues... 

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Big Little Lies MVPs: Episode 4 "Push Comes to Shove"

Editor's Note: We're passing the baton around for Big Little Lies so that we keep up. Nathaniel took episode 1 and 2, Spencer looked at episode 3. Lynn Lee takes the baton for episode 4....

Coming off the high of Episode 3, Episode 4 couldn’t help but feel like a bit of a comedown, even as it ratcheted up the multiple tensions just a wee bit more.  Feels like something’s gotta give soon, doesn’t it?  We are, after all, at series midpoint and we still don’t know who the murder victim is.  It doesn’t bother me, though, as long as we’ve got such juicy character dynamics and relationships, not to mention such fantastic actressing, to distract us...

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