Thursday, August 16, 2007

Kidman and Urban Flopping Down the Bunny Trail

What is she going to do? Her career is in the toilet, Tom is getting popular again, that damn kid is everywhere, I am getting older, Keith isn’t “the same” to his fans... random thoughts lashing through the mind of Nicole Kidman.

Are you going to go out and see The Invasion? From what I am reading it would be best to save your ten dollars, pull out your old Barbie and Ken and pretend Midge, Skipper, Tutti and Alan have all become zombies. Barbie must get out of the way before they take young Kelli with them.

Yet another Nicole Kidman movie that is a flop. Not just a flop, but one of the biggest stinkers of the year. Oh, I can only imagine how hot the Australian Outback is right now. I can also imagine one Keith Urban is trying hard to avoid calling back to Oz to check on the beautiful, beautiful princess. What will Mr. Kidman do? Let’s face facts. You can't keep having these kind of flops and get the paycheck that she gets. Yes, she is producing more of her own films but after awhile even those won't make a studio want to touch her. Her appeal is worldwide, so they say. What I don't understand is, what is her appeal?

I will admit when this whole contracted relationship started with Keith, I went and looked at some of her films, and with the exception of To Die For, I wasn't impressed. The whispered voice, the same delicate mannerisms, the red hair and perfect skin - yes that is part of the package. The looks that some find beautiful. When you get down to it - she isn't a good actress. I think for so long Hollywood bought this myth about Kidman being good. She made some "artistic" pictures, and she did a thriller or two. But what really pushed her to the A-list was her association with her former husband. Tom was THE thing and with her on his arm they were THE couple. She got the good scripts because it was a way to get to her husband.

And then it ended... it was over. "THE" couple got divorced and the murky details helped no one. Poor Nicole. Tom left her and why? No one knew except that Nic knows, but to this day that is just gossip and speculation and what was a 33 year old former Australian television actress to do? Well she lived with one of the best press manipulators ever. Nicole learned from the master.

She turned the divorce around and damaged the golden boy. She played “Polly Pity Me” to the hilt. She got the best publicist and with that the scripts kept coming and they were A-list scripts. Nicole Kidman won an Oscar for being a deserted wife more that her performance in The Others. After the Oscar, it should have been easy, but the roles were not good. Why? Because she has a limited range and a limited appeal. Diane Lane should have won the Oscar that year - she actually acted. Diane didn't have to put on a rubber nose and pull angst out of her pocket. Kidman's appeal has been like watching someone after they have been sick trying to regain their strength. When they get on their feet they don't need us. But Nicole needs us. To this day she is still trying hard to prove something and enough time has passed that her connection and her break up with Tom are in the past and some don't even remember it.

Is she a good actress? No, look at her body of work. Anyone could have done these roles and in some movies you wonder if they could have done them better. The Others was her last real hit. It was okay, but what if someone else had been in that role? There is a whole group of actresses who are far better than she is. She was going to be in Panic Room. Can you imagine that film with her instead of Jodie Foster? I can't.

What Kidman did was played the victim to further her career, but now the gig seems to be up. She is in another flop and people are wondering if her career may be up, too? She is getting older. There are a lot better actresses out there. Even her best friend Naomi Watts is a better actress. So what will be her next move? Kidman has always used her personal life to get attention, the attention she couldn't get with her acting. I predict that with yet another flop we will be hearing about Nicole Kidman “the woman” more and more. Pictures of her with her husband and more pictures of her trying to look like a mother.

Nicole doing her part with the UN. All of this to make us think of her as a celebrity, and not just an actor. The two things that could happen are a baby for the Kidmans or a divorce. I think either will be played to the hilt. Nicole Kidman, who had a hard time conceiving, conceives, or humanitarian Kidman finds a young child in China or India and she and Keith bring the baby back to Nashville and they become very public parents. The baptism, first steps, traveling to visit mom on the set. Little baby (Suri) Kidman-Urban will be a star in its own right. Of course no one would ever ask why not adopt from the US or Oz? Maybe because those pesky rules about having a parent who is a recovering addict might be used to stop the adoption. The happy family unit - working mom, devoted dad and little acquired baby just warms the heart doesn't?

My, oh, my, you don't win an Oscar for changing a nappie do you? But you can for being a victim. Kidman knows that by experience. So how does one achieve that? You have your marriage fall apart and it’s not your fault.

Keith goes back to being Keith and Nicole kicks him out. Of course she will be lauded. She was his savior but he was weak. She stood by him and he played her for a fool. He used her fame to get more for himself. Poor, Poor, Nicole.

I can't predict which one she will use but eventually one of these scenarios will come true. Flop after flop after flop. Nicole, I bet you have all your eggs in the basket of the Golden Compass. Happy Feet is for kids right? Rumors are already rampant that they have changed several of the characters, especially Kidman's character so much so that the loyal book reader may turn on the movie. I guess because I like Keith so much, I hope she gets some kind of hit and can keep working and eventually the marriage will lose its appeal. It’s already as if they aren't "the couple” in that sense. Nicole, I suggest you find that special television project that will endear you, as you totter into oblivion and one that will allow you to be happy enough to quit seeking fame by any means necessary. Do you really need to do that your kids and the incredible guy you are currently married to?

18 comments:

Perspone said...

It's my opinion that it's not a choice between one or the other scenario, but instead she will adopt a child and then dump KU and do it for the good of the child. The NK gets to be the Mother who puts the childs well being ahead of her own wants. I can actually see her saying "I will always love Keith, but he can't control his addictions and I can't have him around the child." She may not be able to act, but she knows how to cultivate sympathy.

One Stop Insanity said...

I just don't see the scenerio of her adding a child only to divorce. My God, why the hell would she want to be "stuck" with a child? Even if she can play martyr with it in the end? It's not like she can return it to Target with the swiffer.

The child would just be raised by nannies. I'm sure in the seperation it will come out with something like she decided not to have kids with him because of his "habits". And therefor she must leave him because she so desperately wants kids and a family. And for her career to slow down.

Because her acting sucks, her movies suck and she needs the attention.

maclen said...

Thats a very insightful scenario, perspone, it could certainly be a convenient out for her with the added advantage of being very self serving.
I have been, for a couple of years anyways, totally exasperated at how much acclaim she has been given, and how many passes she gets from the industry for all the box office flops. Any other comparable actress's after just two failures would be written off in many of their minds. But I agree with you Urban Myths, kidman is absolutely a creation of, and nurtured and coddled, by the "hollywood industrial complex". Orphaned when cruise divorced her, she was adopted and spoiled (no doubt, and probably ironically, like the fortunate African orphans taken in by brangelina) to somehow thrive on a record of such mediocrity. She, as Urban Myths notes, learned to play the game from the "Top Gun of the 90s", but Urban is an amateur, and doesnt have the Country music industry in his back pocket, although it did look for a while he could have. So he is not in the postion, I feel, to resist taking her lead, and either be relagated to her permanent escort, house husband watching the kid, or to be just cast aside and left behind for kidmans insatiable and inexplicable need to make terrible movies.

notachance said...

Can't wait for the next chapter....

doublewide said...

has anybody found one review of the invasion that doesn't rip it to shreds? he he he

banbotox said...

doublewide-nope not a one. Only hype it gets around me is to go view it for all the mistakes made in the settings. I've heard they have downgraded the amount of money this film will make over the weekend by about half. Hmmm.

It scares me to think that they would bring a child into this diaster. Keith seems to be backing off of his "I want to be a dad" lines, which can only be a good thing.

She has her own production company-is that to make sure she continues to get scripts after the large studios cut her off?

maclen said...

Well, as the news of fridays box office numbers come in... $1.9 mill from 2700 screens for kidmans new film, The Invasion...(not very good!) comes the announcement in Variety that she signed on to make "The Reader" with ralph fiennes... thats on the heels of only last weeks announcement that she'll be remaking a horror movie... along with stories she will remake Monroes How to marry a Millionaire, something called RAbbit Hole, another movie with naomi watts according to IMDB called Need... and that perhaps a remake of Lady from Shanghia is still on...
This is clearly a person who would prefer to live in fantasyland, living from movie set to movie set. And assuming that a few of these films, of course, will fizzle or languish, and never see the light of day, clearly a sign of reality avoidence... certainly not a person who is very serious of having a successful marriage or of starting a family. Who couldnt see that urbans marriage to her will end with the obligitory "Divorce, by reason of unreconcilable differences" followed by the typical interview explaination, "The truth is, we never got to see each other, we were both so very busy..."

Imahick said...

First of all, she seems desperate to work...to do anything...that proves she isn't too old to get a role. I think that NK is a passable actress in a specific type of role, but she doesn't have the range to play the variety of roles she's been cast in...thus the flops. She does breathy bitch well. She loves to play the vixen...but at this point, it just isn't believable.

The Reader, correct me if I'm wrong, includes an affair with a 15 yr old boy. She seems to enjoy erotic themes but why the second film that sexualizes children? That just seems wrong to me.

She is slowly becoming a bit of a joke, I think. Her plastic surgery / botox / restalin treatments etc. have made her look wierd. She has been part of some real bum projects (Bewitched; Fur; Invasion to name a few). It's starting to be obvious that she is no longer a 'draw' at the box office. How will this impact her career? She seems to fare well in spite of this?

Keith has made many personal and professional concessions for his beautiful beautiful princess. I fear that when she starts to feel that her career is sagging she'll clasp on to him and bring him down with her. I'm hoping he starts to see her for what she is...a self centered manipulative woman who is so afraid of aging that she's capable of doing almost anything to hold that inevitability off. He's shown a willingness to sacrifice his own success for her...and she's taking full advantage of that. I hope he finds the strength to pull away and protect himself, as her career fades.

maclen said...

yeah I agree, banbotox and doublewide, with her career clearly in shambles, it will no doubt affect her emotionally and thus, her relationship with urban.
And I agree imahick, she is desperately trying to hold on the that crown in her mind , where she remains the "Queen of the Prom"...an almost pathelogical need alot of actresses in hollywood develop to remain youthful and vibrant. Hence all the botox, plastic surgury, lip injections... Ive read she's really starting to over do the lip injections now. She seems to be so fully externally unaware, she obviously doesnt read reviews of her movies... otherwise she wouldnt make another 3 for next year, she obviously doesnt browse the internet and see the ridicule her facial make-overs is getting. Its all just a narrowminded need to stay in the limelight.

maclen said...

... its funny, just did a wikipedia search for this latest kidman movie to be novel... The Reader... yes, as imahick mentions, she plays a 30ish woman who has an affair with a 15 yr old, and the setting? She plays a german who is on the run, as a former Nazi who's later put on trial. So who right now is filming a movie in the role of a german Nazi officer? Yep, tom cruise. Just a coincidence? I remember back in 2005, the same week Cruise was premiering his sci-fi remake, War of the Worlds in LA, it was announced that kidman had signed on to do a sci-fi remake of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, the same Invasion that is crashing and burning this very second... so I'm wondering, how does Urban handle it when he must enter kidmans "shrine to tom cruise" when he must ask what she'd like for lunch... I tell you, she lives in a fantasy world, where its 1990, and superstar tom cruise is courting her to be in his movie, and then their eloping...

Urban Myths said...

so I'm wondering, how does Urban handle it when he must enter kidmans "shrine to tom cruise" when he must ask what she'd like for lunch... I tell you, she lives in a fantasy world, where its 1990, and superstar tom cruise is courting her to be in his movie, and then their eloping...

mclen, we are hoping that he will wake up and get the hell out of there... before it's too late...

maclen said...

yeah Urban Myths, that would be his best move, but ultimately, I really dont beleive he has a choice in the matter. Ive mentioned before, I dont think he'll put out a cd next year, so those rescheduled europeon gigs wont happen. He toured this year, so he'll probably concentrate on a new album next year, and that's when he's most vulnerable for a relapse. I think hes quoted as saying when hes busiest, its easier not to be tempted to fall off the wagon, which makes sense. When he's back in his memphis digs recording for an extended time, its so tempting to fall back into the usual routine. And with kidman signed do at least 5 pics, truly what support is she going to be for him, unless she has him cooling his heels in a hotel room near her latest film shoot, and again, that just leads to idle time.

cricket said...

Maybe once Golden Compass flops as badly as The Invasion the studios will wise up and realize no one wants to see her anymore.I think they were banking on Daniel Craig being able to draw in the crowds since he went over well as Bond.But it looks like no one wanted to see him badly enough to have to sit through 93 minutes of the talentless Kidman prancing around trying to act like she gave a shit what happened to her kid.She's no better at acting like a mother on screen as she is off screen.So the Craig Kidman pairing didn't work on this movie,does anyone think it will have btter results in The Golden Compass?

notachance said...

This is a woman who is scared to death to stay in any one place for any length of time. She can't stay home, she must always be on the move. Scary, but I see this trait in my own daughter. They must always be going somewhere, never wanting to really put down roots - even though they say they do.

banbotox said...

I do think the Golden Compass will do better but not because of the Kidman/Craig pairing. Seriously, who wants to see another remake of Invasion regardless of who was in it? I don't think she helped one bit only hurt any chance the flop had of making a few profit dollars.

Why doesn't she want to put roots down anywhere? What is so scary about that?

maclen said...

Golden Compass I do know is being put out by New Line, and they are desperate for a hit. They havent had any luck since the last lord of the rings came out. Havent heard too much about compass... but I do figure it certainly wont do Rings numbers, if i had to guess, it's closer to Narnia... Lord of the rings had a generational following of fans, compass is more recent.

Imahick said...

Banobox said: "Why doesn't she want to put roots down anywhere? What is so scary about that?"

This is what I think. She's a poser. NK is insecure. She doesn't feel good about herself as a real person...without a script she is nothing. She feels the need to exhibit herself to get attention...
"Look at me...I'm Nicole Kidman and people say I'm beautiful" ... and she's desperate to keep it like that...thus the plastic surgery / botox / restalin etc.

Although she is arrogant, in my opinion, that's related to wealth and priviledge...not the sense that she is a better person than anyone else. She says the things about settling down and giving back ... because it's the thing to do. She IS wealthy, so she feels that she should have causes...so, she joined the UNIFEM team...she goes to the Children's Hospital in Sydney every once in a while ... she makes sure it's "public" so that everyone knows how great she is. She is a master at using her philanthropy for her own PR benefit.

She talks about being a mother, because that's the right thing to say. Children were expected in her marriage to TC...they're an inconvenience to her now that she's single and in a desperate search to stay working.

In reality, she is none of these things. She is a desperate aging actress who is not sure of who Nicole Kidman is. I remember reading something in Thompson's book about NK...someone who had known her for 20 years said she didn't REALLY know NK ... NK is just a shadow who molds herself into her next character so no one really knows NK.

She lives in a fantasy world ... that's why she's desperate to work. It's what makes her feel alive.

I think it's sad really. I also think it's sad that Keith Urban has been sucked into this relationship. God knows he has his own demons to fight, but a self absorbed, manipulative, controlling insecure woman isn't helping.

maclen said...

What is also sad and unfortunate for Urban, is that studio heads, producers and directors just cant see what the average movie goer see. And that is that Kidman is absolutely toxic to a movies success. She will not take a break from making movies, no matter how bad, unsuccesful or irrelevant they are, because in her mind she is successful simply because she is allowed to continue to make movies. Odds are that urban will be frustrated when his next album doesnt do as well, because he let his momentum stall, and his touring will be hurt by the continuing inconsistancy of it. She is set in her automated "cruise" control mode, and the question is will urban be satisfied to remain in his obviously supporting role in her career supporting team?