Nicole Kidman »

Welcome to a new series here on Cinematical where we select an actor or actress and the role we think is their all time best.

There is no doubt about it, Nicole Kidman is a big old movie star. But, what's always struck me as a little odd is that when you ask most people what they think of the actress, more often than not the reactions aren't all that positive. As for box-office, it's not like her numbers are going to blow you away either. But neither of those things have stopped Kidman from joining the ranks of A list actresses. So yeah, her career has spanned two continents and she has become an icon of glamor, but when it comes to her work as an actress, I happen to think that she peaked in 1995 in Gus Van Sant's dark comedy, To Die For. In Van Sant's film, Kidman played Suzanne Stone, a loose approximation of Pam Smart (the high school teacher who was convicted of conspiring with her 15-year-old lover, and his three friends to kill her husband), a ruthless and truly terrible person who will use her looks and just anything else she can get her hands on to make her dreams of stardom come true.

It was her role in the Aussie thriller, Dead Calm, which had Kidman as a grieving mother in a fight to the death with a psycho on the open sea that first caught the attention of Hollywood. Kidman had a charisma and natural beauty on screen that must have seemed like the perfect fit for blockbuster stardom -- and that's where things started to change. In her subsequent roles in the big budget racing flick, Days of Thunder, she was basically 'the girl', before turning to her first Hollywood role as a bad guy in the '93 thriller, Malice. But her turn as a con-woman in that film was no match for her performance as the murderous meteorologist in Van Sant's black comedy.

I may not be the biggest devotee of movie musicals, but I've been keeping an eye on Rob Marshall's adaptation of Nine (the Tony Award-winning musical) since the production was first announced back in 2007. The thought of some of the coolest chicks in Hollywood with Daniel Day Lewis in a musical about 8 1/2? Well, count me in. Despite early casting changes and rumblings about Lewis' singing abilities, I've held out hope for the flick, and now that the film's Christmas release date is a little over a month away the early reviews are trickling in. First up is AICN who scored an early review from a source going by the name of Tobby (You can read the entire review over there, but be warned, it's a little spoilery)

So let's start with the good news: according to this review, the film is pretty darn good. The reviewer had nothing but praise for Marion Cotillard as Lewis' wife, and even Fergie gets some love as the prostitute, Saraghina. As for Lewis in the role of the troubled director Guido Contini, it turns out those rumors of his lack of singing ability were just rumors, and he makes out pretty good in the review for the limited singing he does in the film (two songs) -- and I think we all knew his acting was never going to be the problem.

Of course, the film is far from perfect and there are some rough patches according to this reviewier. Most of the scorn was directed towards Nicole Kidman's performance as Contini's muse, and unfortunately one of the other problems with the film is Kate Hudson (who plays an American Vogue reporter) in what was described as a throwaway role. Bad timing, perhaps, now that Hudson's musical number, Cinema Italiano, is the bulk of the latest trailer for the film.

After the jump: Hudson's Go-Go debut and a musical layman's review of Cinema Italiano...

As you may have seen, Nicole Kidman is the focus of some ridiculous headlines today, with everyone from the AP to The Hollywood Reporter and E! blaring that Kidman "conceded" to Washington that Hollywood contributes to violence against women. It's the kind of headline I hate: Attention grabbing, anti-entertainment, and completely misleading.

Kidman is a Goodwill Ambassador for UNIFEM, and was testifying before a House Foreign Affairs committee. Her goal was funding and resources, and to discuss violence against women overseas. The committee is currently debating whether to pass legislation for humanitarian relief. In true government fashion Rep. Dana Rohrabacher ( R-Calif) decided having A Real Hollywood Star was a chance to shift the discussion into shallow ground, and ask Kidman whether or not the movie industry had played "a bad role." Kidman, who probably came prepared to actually discuss humanitarian efforts, gave a fairly bland answer: "Probably." She hastily added that she didn't feel her own roles had, that she was through with roles that portrayed women as weak or as sex objects. "I can't be responsible for all of Hollywood but I can certainly be responsible for my own career," she added, and argued that Hollywood had also "contributed to solutions."

Undoubtedly, many will blame Kidman for making a shallow statement, and poke fun at her poorer script choices, but surely the blame falls on Rep. Rohrabacher for such an inane question. While Hollywood's portrayal and treatment of women is hardly stellar (if you read Cinematical regularly, you know we complain about it on an obsessive basis), and is certainly harmful socially and culturally, I would hardly blame it for violence. That's just the usual government claptrap that loves blaming the big, bad movie industry for glorifying sex and violence, and would now attempt to dodge humanitarian obligations by blaming Moulin Rouge.

It's not that strange for two people who work together to fall in love, but it does seem to happen an awful lot in Hollywood (although to be fair, most of us don't spend our days rolling around half-naked with our co-workers). So even though it might be easy to fall in love at work, it isn't as easy for a couple to stay in love once they're spending every waking moment together -- and the latest celebrity couple who will put my theory to the test is Anna Paquin and Stephen Moyer (better known as Sookie and Vampire Bill) from HBO's True Blood. The two fell in love (and got engaged) while working on the vampire soap, and now they're heading back to work together in the thriller, Open House.

According to IMDB, the story will center on a couple whose marriage is on the rocks, and are trying to offload their palatial home during a weekend 'open house'. But, things start to get a little weird when it turns out one of the potential buyers never left. The film was written by Paquin's brother Andrew (who will be making his directorial debut), and the cast will include Tricia Helfer (BSG), Rachel Blanchard (Spread), and Brian Geraghty (The Hurt Locker) in unspecified roles while the True Blood stars will play the married couple.

Moyer and Paquin aren't the first real-life couple who like to work together, and over the years plenty of Hollywood power couples have tried and failed to translate that relationship onto the big screen. After the jump: some other famous real-life couples on the big screen...

Now I know I'm not the only one who is fascinated by the prospect of watching the great Daniel Day Lewis singing and dancing in Rob Marshall's Nine. But the first trailer has been released on Apple for Marshall's adaptation of the Tony-nominated play of the same name, and if you were hoping for a glimpse of Lewis doing jazz-hands, then you're going to be disappointed. But, jazz-hands aside, after watching this trailer I think I may have to change my opinion of the directing talents of Mr. Marshall -- because Marshall's musical skills look better without Renee Zellwegger doing '3/4 shot' dance numbers while warbling her heart out.

Nine is based on the classic Fellini film, 8 1/2, and centers on the famous film director, Guido Contini. The story is set in early-1960s Venice, and on the eve of Contini's 40th birthday he is struggling to complete his latest film, and attempting to balance the women in his life. Those women include his wife Luisa (Marion Cotillard), his mistress Carla (Penélope Cruz), his muse Claudia (Nicole Kidman), his producer Liliane (Judi Dench), and his mother (Sophia Loren). But that's not all, because as Monika told us back in 2008, Stacy Ferguson (better known as Fergie) will play a whore from Contini's youth, and Kate Hudson also has a small role as an American fashion journalist. It's not often you get this many big name actresses in one film, but I'm sure Lewis won't have any trouble handling all that estrogen.

So to the strains of 'Be Italian' we finally get our first glimpses of the big-budget musical, and it looks like Marshall may owe a small debt to the style of Bob Fosse's production numbers once again. But that doesn't mean Nine won't be a good time at the movies for fans of both Broadway, and classic cinema. So take a look, and tell me what you think. Oscar contender?

Nine will arrive in theaters on November, 25th.

Maybe it's a strange question, but: Whatever happened to Nicole Kidman? Now I'm only partly kidding when I say that, because if you look at the woman who appears in this fancy new commercial for Schweppes, she bears no resemblance to the plucky redhead who wowed us in flicks like Flirting and Dead Calm. The 'Gossips' like to blame the current state of the Aussie actress on Botox or sometimes it's the 'curse of Tom Cruise', but really, I'd love to know when did Ms. Kidman turn into the porcelain faced robot we now see before us? Now before you get all offended, keep in my mind that I actually quite like Kidman as an actress, and despite Australia's failings as a film, at least Kidman was showing some signs of life; signs that have long disappeared in this glamorous soda ad.

The commercial was directed by Elizabeth's Shekar Kapur and produced by Ridley Scott, and Kidman has been transported to an Indian palace alongside Slumdog Millionaire's Rubina Ali and Bollywood star Argun Rampal. As for the commercial, well, I'll give Kapur some credit if he was taking a gentle shot at Kidman's 2004 Chanel ad (Kidman famously pocketed $12 million to star in that commercial), since the two are almost identical. But if he's not, then what you end up with is a bit of a mess with beautiful set design -- and I'm not even getting into the implications of the 'colonial exoticism' of Indian culture that drips from every frame.

With his previous feature film Australian director Baz Luhrmann came within tasting distance of a Best Picture Oscar, as well as several other awards. Moulin Rouge! (2001) did win two, for Costume Design and Art Direction, but all the glory that year went to other things. He must have taken notes; The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring cleaned up in the technical categories with four Oscars, and Black Hawk Down took two more. Two serious, disease-of-the-week dramas won in the "upper" categories: A Beautiful Mind and Iris. The following year, Luhrmann must have watched while the jaunty Chicago won Best Picture, and Roman Polanski won Best Director for his lengthy Holocaust drama, The Pianist.

So Luhrmann set out to work on his fourth film, Australia. Maybe it started out once, many years ago, as a 90-minute pop-Western about driving cattle and saving the farm. This entire section is bright and quick and exciting -- and lots of fun. But then perhaps he decided that that just wasn't enough, or at least it's not enough for anyone who wants to win a great big Best Director trophy. So at the 90-minute mark, Australia more or less stops, transforms itself into a giant-sized World War II drama, complete with grayness, dropping bombs and angel choruses, and keeps going for another interminable hour. But is it enough to fool Academy voters?

The upcoming release of Australia -- directed by Australian Baz Luhrmann, shot in Australia and starring Australian-born actor Hugh Jackman, and Australian-raised Nicole Kidman -- inspired me to take a look at the Australian film industry, thinking I could easily pick out seven highlights. Unfortunately for me, but fortunately for everyone else, Australian films are a much richer and more daunting prospect. I decided to stick to films shot in Australia by directors born there, thus eliminating things like Nicolas Roeg's Walkabout (1971). I also eliminated New Zealanders like Jane Campion and Peter Jackson, who deserve their own list. At the 11th hour, I had to eliminate such an obviously great film as Babe (1995); though it qualifies under my rule, the Hoggett's farm could actually be just about anywhere (it's more of a fairy tale world, and Australia is never mentioned). And no, Crocodile Dundee (1986) didn't make the cutoff, but here's what did:

The Road Warrior (1981, George Miller)
This movie represents everything that's badass about Australia. It opened there in 1981 as Mad Max 2, mainly because everyone had seen Mad Max (1979). Here, it opened a year later, in the summer of 1982, with the changed title, hoping that Americans could be tricked into thinking it wasn't a sequel. It didn't matter; this film is far starker, funnier and all-around better than the original. Rarely have the roar of engines mixed so well with the wide, empty, sun-baked dust of the outback. Miller was -- and still is -- one of the most interesting Down Under directors, but he works slowly and sporadically and stays out of the limelight. (In the thirty years since Mad Max, he has directed only seven feature films.) And Mel Gibson may have gone a little nuts lately, but we'll always love him for this.