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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Surprise, "The Boss Baby" is Good.

A slightly shorter version of this review was originally published in Nathaniel's column at Towleroad...

With a childish man-baby terrorizing us from the White House who needs a movie about one? Shocked as I am to say this… “surprise!,” this past weekend’s #1 film The Boss Baby is actually good.  For those fearing a one-joke gimmick film (Baby in a suit. Get it?), fear not. The new Dreamworks comedy actually has at least five broad joke topics. In descending order of amount of miniature jokes mined from the big ones:

1. Corporate culture
2. Babies
3. Childhood imagination
4. Sibling rivalry
5. Puppies

While Dreamworks pictures largely still lack the emotional complexity of their Pixar counterparts — this isn’t Inside Out or anything, let's not get carried away — at their best they still offer plenty to giggle with and gawk at for fans of animated comedy...

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Doc Corner: Is 'Five Came Back' Netflix's Oscar Moment?

by Glenn Dunks

It can sometimes feel like we’ve seen WWII from so many perspectives that there can’t possibly be new ways to convey the weight of its tragedy. That Five Came Back, a new three-part mini-docu-series on Netflix, manages to succeed at doing this is just one of its many virtues. Adapted from Mark Harris’ book of the same name by Harris himself and directed by Laurent Bouzereau, this is a three-hour documentary about the work of five of Hollywood’s biggest directorial names of the 1930s who enlisted to support the American war effort the only way that they knew how: through film, and the personal battles they fought in order to do so.

They were Frank Capra, John Huston, George Stevens, William Wyler and John Ford – the latter of whom gets the biggest laugh labelling documentaries in the 1930s as “silly things that rich kooks made” – each of whom left behind successful careers without the promise of anything when they came back.

If they came back at all. The series charts their early efforts before America’s entering the war after Pearl Harbour in 1941 before digging more deeply in the works that they produced from the front lines on the ground and in the skies....

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Prime for April - Screengrab Roulette

As we do, we've frozen random new to Amazon Prime titles and grabbed the first screengrab that popped up. Though they're leaning heavily on 1990s titles at the moment, their quality of offerings is far outpacing whatever B pictures Netflix has been licensing of late. Comment Party: Which will you be watching and which of the "new" streaming titles would you most want to read a write-up on this month? I'll obey your consensus command. 

Okay on to the random screengrabs.

Every morning the ground is soaked with blood. The workers believe I brought this terror since it didn't begin until my arrival. Whatever I try they seem to know. All the deaths are on me. 

The Ghost and the Darkness (1996)
Yes, yes, great Vilmos Zsigmond cinematography, a sound Oscar, and killer lions and but on a scale of 1-100 how kissable were Val Kilmer's lips in his prime? My vote: 118.

[no dialogue]

Sliver (1993)
Remember when wealthy perv Billy Baldwin was spying on all his tenants including sexy Sharon Stone who caught on to him? The 90s were THE decade for erotic thrillers, which have gone completely out of fashion, just like romantic comedies. 

more after the jump...

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"Chewing Gum" Season 2 is Here!

Chris here. One of the delights of this television season has been Chewing Gum, Netflix's wacky sex-crazed British import. Written by and starring Michaela Coel, the series follows Tracey as she haphazardly tries to lose her virginity in a conservative household. Think of it like a dopier alternative to Amazon's Fleabag, but just as much of a breakthrough for its writer-star. The silly and sweet comedy came to stateside Netflix only in October, and thankfully the wait for the second season has been short: it arrives today!

But why is Netflix launching so quietly? If you want a trailer for the season, you'll find some from its British launch but none from the streaming service. Lately, Netflix has become a dumping ground for all too much great product they don't properly promote - like this year's Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner I Don't Feel At Home in This World Anymore. This show may have not made waves like other new shows, but Chewing Gum has the makings of a cult phenom - all led by the distinctive voice and brilliant physical comedy of Coel.

And better yet: each season is a lean six episodes! If nothing else, you have a raunchy palette cleanser for your Big Little Lies obsession! Have you caught up to Chewing Gum?