Kidman in Cannes. Part 5.

Jose here. As the Cannes Film Festival came to its end two very sad things became obvious: first, who knows how long we'll have to wait to watch all the winners on screen and the second - perhaps most heartbreaking of all - is that there will be no more daily Nicole Kidman-sighting anticipation. Queen Nicole couldn't let us down of course and she showed up one last time looking absolutely regal.

Who She Wore: custom made Giorgio Armani.
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: ALL of them, This lavish silk dress is essentially a less controversial redux of her infamous bow-dress from the 2007 Oscars only this time she's using subtlety to remind them all that she is indeed a gift to the movie world.
What would Diane Arbus think of this: "I saw you through my window and right away I wanted to take a portrait of you." 

 two more & the wrap-up

Click to read more ...

Best Actress Predix: Authors & Astronauts & Immigrants (oh my)

And princesses too! Actually I'm predicting neither Princess Grace (Nicole Kidman) nor Princess Diana (Naomi Watts) for the eventual shortlist though their names will undoubtedly continue to come up. Yes, the Best Actress Chart has arrived. 

Who wins ANOTHER Oscar this year? So many previous winners are back

My final shortlist is all Oscar winners -- which has only ever happened once (just last year in Supporting Actor ) but this is what my crystal ball is telling me so I obey. And anyway, it's a Previous-Actress-Winning Heavy year at least in terms of who got jobs headlining major motion pictures. Even lower in the charts there are a lot of Oscar winners, all told.  It's (maybe) that kind of year... though I could see a scenario where unOscared supporting chart players hop over to Lead Actress if they see a window and their roles are substantial enough (Adams? Harris? Winfrey?). And with 235 days left to go before Oscar nominations are announced, a lot could change: a quickly filmed or under-the-radar movie could hit it big on the fall festival circuit; holiday box office could shift focus around substantially at year's end; films could suddenly be moved to '2014 TBA' status.

Marion Cotillard will win Cannes Best Actress for... oh wait, people said this last year too and it didn't happenThe Wild Card
This time it's not a person but The Weinstein Co. themselves.  They've got more actress hopefuls than even they can handle since they're representing Grace of Monaco, The Immigrant, Philomena, August: Osage County and The Butler. (Does this clear the way for Sandra Bullock to win a second Oscar? I'm only mostly kidding) There is about a 1% chance that TWC will stay supportive of all of those films since they regular abandon their runts rather than nurturing them, to concentrate on the pick of the litter. Some of the ladies in question can generate some degree of media and internal industry interest even without puppet masters behind the scenes but not all of them. What do you think TWC will do when it's time to play favorites?  

Fun Trivia About The Top Ten on This Chart

• They have 47 acting nominations and 11 acting Oscars between them
• They range in age from 37 to 78 (will it really be a year skewing that mature?)
• 6 of them have competed directly with Meryl Streep for Oscar glory but only one, Sandra Bullock, has ever prevailed in head-to-head combat. (7 & 2 if you count Nicole winning the only Best Actress nomination from The Hours.)
• 3 Australians, 1 French, 3 Brits, 3 Americans

All First Wave Oscar Predictions
Index | Picture | Director | Actor | Actress | Supporting Actor | Supporting Actress |  Screenplays | Visuals | Sound | Animation 

Kidman in Cannes. Part 4.

Jose here. Late last night I found myself cursing at the heavens for not making Nicole as ubiquitous as Uma, Kate Beckinsale and Diane Kruger were during their own Cannes jury duties. Then she went and did this:
 

Who She Wore: Valentino. And not just Valentino, but the Valentino Anne Hathaway refused to wear to the Oscars (because Amanda Seyfried was wearing something similar...) ending up with the satin Nipplegate and that awkward PR thing the day after. Like they say, one person's garbage is another person's treasure and the truth is that Nicole could retire from red carpets forever and this look would still be talked about for decades to come. She even outdid Fan Bingbing!
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: I want to say Ang Lee, but that's only because he's there and I'm too distracted by the dress' prettiness to think harder.
What would Margot think of this: something about weddings? Really, the dress is impeding my ability to think. 

After the jump, more of Nicole in the dress and a look we forgot in Part 3...

Click to read more ...

Kidman in Cannes. Part 3.

Jose here. I succumbed to what felt like a Satine-sque bout of consumption over the weekend and to show her sympathy Nicole Kidman stopped showing up at Cannes events. What do you mean she doesn't know who I am? She made two appearances on Sunday bringing the one accessory she'd been hiding so far, her husband Keith Urban.

Who She Wore: her face designer L'Wrenn Scott
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: this dreamlike blue, red and black leaf pattern was obviously made to grab the attention of the mysterious Apichatpong Weerasethakul who's known for his exotic settings and even weirder plots. (Nicole calls him "Joe" like the rest of the world but knows how to pronounce his name.) If this dress doesn't scream Uncle Boonmee then I don't know what does...
What "Charlotte Bless" would think of this: "Mmhmm"

More Kidman and the big Keith reveal pics after the jump...

Click to read more ...

Kidman in Cannes. Part 2.

Jose here. After abandoning us for what felt like years OK it was just one day Cannes jury member extraordinaire Nicole Kidman is back to show us how it's done!

Who She Wore: Calvin Klein (it was a CK party after all...)
Which Director She's Trying to Lure: why Lars of course. It's no coincidence that she came out as a dominatrix the day after that gorgeous publicity shot of Nymphomaniac was unleashed on the world. If I'm not mistaken, wasn't she supposed to play the part that went to Uma? Make up your mind Nicky!
What "Alice Harford" would think of this: "So, because I'm a beautiful woman, the only reason any man wants to talk to me is because he wants to fuck me? Is that what you're saying?"

Is it me or is she bringing her game back in a way she'd only been doing at the Grammys? Not only are these wider skirts a welcome refresher from her usual column gowns with feathers or studs, but she also looks SO happy to be there! 

...oh we're happy to see you too, Nic!