Oprah:
What can we say that Lainey hasn't? Hugh Jackman saved it from being hokey; he explained away Nicole Kidman's interpretation of the love scenes as being one of truly dual ecstasy to being a job with a love scene. Make no mistake that showing off the picture of the baby wasn't planned. Kidman used the occasion to sell her movie and her daughter. Kidman has worked in films since she was a teen she knows when the little red light is on; she had lasik surgery on her eyes she can see the camera is running. But, of course, Julia Roberts showed off her youngest on Oprah, so why not Nicole? I just can't get over how banal Kidman really is.
Speaking of banality and Julia Roberts, Monday night Glamour magazine had its Women of the Year awards in New York City and Kidman showed up. Also there and breathing in her neck was Keith Lionel Urban. Didn't you figure since he didn't show for the ELLE awards he would be at this event? I know I did.
It was a cold but lovely night; forget about Hillary Clinton and the others - it was Nicole's night to shine. Taking a page right out of the script for Pretty Woman, Kidman got up on her balcony, oops, stage and uttered that three and a half years ago she was doing okay, working, had two children but something was missing. She wasn't loved! I suppose those of you who may be fans of hers will take offense at that. Then she met a man who said ‘Come to Tennessee; yes, we will sell my house that you don't like, we can change my wardrobe and kill my career because you deserve to be loved. Let’s be together and make a baby’. She then thanked Keith Lionel. Yep, she called him that just so you know they have been intimate. It was nauseating and it was reported differently by all the outlets that reported on it. But they saved one another! Just like Julia and Richard Gere. Too bad she has never had a unique idea in her life.
The DVD:
I sat through this and while it was okay, it just didn't make me recall the tour or to be excited about his performance - maybe because that person who shows up in the DVD is actually a creation. Yes, Kidman is in it, and yes the credits are about her and not about the tour at all. He seems insincere, packaged, and phony these days which leads us to the new single, Sweet Thing.
The Latest Single:
Jumping the Shark - this is a Hollywood term originated from an episode of Happy Days where Fonzie actually jumps a shark on his motorcycle because the show had nothing more to say. Jumping the shark applies to Sweet Thing. I wonder if Keith has writer's block or his best days are behind him? While pining for your loved one is fine for an 18 year old like Taylor Swift, it sounds predatory from a man in his forties. Maybe because he is excessively rich and doesn't live among the real folk anymore, Keith can't actually write as an adult male? This man may have seen his best work in days gone by. Keith Lionel Urban is capable of better.
What can we say that Lainey hasn't? Hugh Jackman saved it from being hokey; he explained away Nicole Kidman's interpretation of the love scenes as being one of truly dual ecstasy to being a job with a love scene. Make no mistake that showing off the picture of the baby wasn't planned. Kidman used the occasion to sell her movie and her daughter. Kidman has worked in films since she was a teen she knows when the little red light is on; she had lasik surgery on her eyes she can see the camera is running. But, of course, Julia Roberts showed off her youngest on Oprah, so why not Nicole? I just can't get over how banal Kidman really is.
Speaking of banality and Julia Roberts, Monday night Glamour magazine had its Women of the Year awards in New York City and Kidman showed up. Also there and breathing in her neck was Keith Lionel Urban. Didn't you figure since he didn't show for the ELLE awards he would be at this event? I know I did.
It was a cold but lovely night; forget about Hillary Clinton and the others - it was Nicole's night to shine. Taking a page right out of the script for Pretty Woman, Kidman got up on her balcony, oops, stage and uttered that three and a half years ago she was doing okay, working, had two children but something was missing. She wasn't loved! I suppose those of you who may be fans of hers will take offense at that. Then she met a man who said ‘Come to Tennessee; yes, we will sell my house that you don't like, we can change my wardrobe and kill my career because you deserve to be loved. Let’s be together and make a baby’. She then thanked Keith Lionel. Yep, she called him that just so you know they have been intimate. It was nauseating and it was reported differently by all the outlets that reported on it. But they saved one another! Just like Julia and Richard Gere. Too bad she has never had a unique idea in her life.
The DVD:
I sat through this and while it was okay, it just didn't make me recall the tour or to be excited about his performance - maybe because that person who shows up in the DVD is actually a creation. Yes, Kidman is in it, and yes the credits are about her and not about the tour at all. He seems insincere, packaged, and phony these days which leads us to the new single, Sweet Thing.
The Latest Single:
Jumping the Shark - this is a Hollywood term originated from an episode of Happy Days where Fonzie actually jumps a shark on his motorcycle because the show had nothing more to say. Jumping the shark applies to Sweet Thing. I wonder if Keith has writer's block or his best days are behind him? While pining for your loved one is fine for an 18 year old like Taylor Swift, it sounds predatory from a man in his forties. Maybe because he is excessively rich and doesn't live among the real folk anymore, Keith can't actually write as an adult male? This man may have seen his best work in days gone by. Keith Lionel Urban is capable of better.
62 comments:
Yeah, I got a big laugh out of that Oprah "endorsement" of the movie! I mean, it's very rare that oprah loves, I mean truly loves the movies of the celebs who are shilling them on her show... she never just gushes to the celebs how fabulous their films are! This is a first!!
This blog is so full of it. Nicole called Keith "Keith Lionel" to prove they were intimate? I think the fact she had his baby is better proof. I know Hugh Jackman's middle name. I must have slept with him to know that! LMAO
And the lies UMyths you are spreading! Keith thanked everyone from the crew to his family, friends to band members in those DVD liner notes.
Keith is now predatory? You must be talking a page from the E! Skeptics playbook. Cant really prove any of the allegations so start call them perverts and predators. This song is just what the public needs right now. A light fun tune about those first few months in a relationship. Those feelings can happen at any age.
You must really be bitter UMyths with Keith and Nicole experiencing such a positive time in their lives. And all when you though their marriage would have imploded by now.
Well if you listen to the lyrics of Sweet Thing and consider they're in present tense being sung by a 40 something married father - it's a little odd. Most artists when they reach Urban's age have matured artistically. He on the other hand seems to have a case of the Benjamin Buttons. Maybe Nikkers can use some of TC's wealth and hire King George to consult on Keith's musical choices for his next album. It sounds like he might need some help.
DID HE WRITE IT?
Co written bu Urban and Monty Powell. The lyric I read is harmless.
Good Luck Keith
...deep man, really deep...
"oh comon sweet thing
won't you climb on out of your window
while the world's sleepin
you know i need you and there's
no way i'll be leavin
till we're kissin on the porch swing"
...the orb no doubt feeding into kidman's adolescent mentality... probably read it in her "diary"...and certainly they are of the thought that it will be perceived as just soooo "cute"... can't wait to to hear about the one where he has her meet him at the malt shop...where they share a strawberry malt... while he puts a quarter in the jukebox and plays ackey breaky heart repeatedly....
The song sucks, to put it bluntly RC. It's time for Keith to return Rascal Flats' sound to them. If this is his best foot forward for the new album...... jumping the shark happened before this song.
And how the hell did Monty Powell have anything to do with this???
well, just out of curiosity...being that the orb is really off my radar, usually... but checking out the CMA awards website, not surprisingly, the winners list looks pretty familiar though...all the top awards littered by the usual suspects...chesney, underwood...paisley...swift... but also not surprisingly... the orb is nowhere in sight...well all is not lost though, kidman gets some face time on stage and on national TV with her leading man....jackman... boy with this, and the debacle of another flailing movie promo campaign from kidman... they make it so easy for me to come up with material to mock them...
Song SUCKS the big one. Hate the lyrics, love the music.
This overheard backstage at the CMAs:
"Did Keith Urban steal that song from Taylor Swift?"
Geeze-- 18 year old Taylor is too mature to sing this sappy, shallow song-- Miley Cyrus is too mature for this piece of pabulum!
Bloody Hell-- the man drives a G.D. Bentley and he's singing about borrowing a car that he has to have back soon?
Rhetorical question: Does anyone think Keith paid attention when every artist thanked their fans?
...HA!...this is just too much fun... just went to peruse the mood over at monkeyland... and boy the monkeylanders are not happy at all...chesney is especially getting bashed...hes a no talent, repetative hack! Boy those monkeys sure are bitter, hateful and disparaging... what are they? Jealous? Why dont they get a life? The comment of the cma thread is definately this one...."I am disgusted at the music industry because it is now obvious ALL they go off of is popularity and album sales. They DO NOT go off of sheer DEVOTION and TALENT." Hilarious... devotion? Who's?... You very few monkeylanders left who do not buy enough of the orbs albums? What the orbs talent isnt powerful enough for you lot to buy multiple copies to help the dude out? Oh the irony...
Blind passion is an interesting thing isn't it? Keith hasn't thanked the remnants of his fan base in years. On the rare occasion now when he gets a chance to speak his appreciation and gratitude is always and ONLY about how Kidman and how she saved him. Saved him from what? Career success?
I think Keith is not and will not be relevant in the realm of CMA, or any other awards show. He has peaked and failed to capitalize on it and is now paying that price. He will get nominated but he won't win. And with the younger ones coming up the chances get slimmer & slimmer.
I only hope that someone can dethrown KC for EOTY next year. Shit, I'd even take RF.
VaRRRRROOOOOOOOM, I can see the fin and potty water spiral out of control. Jumped the shark??? Please.. He jumped when he recorded Romeo's tune on the Best OF KU, who are we kidding. Keith has lost intrest in Country music and his own career. I feel bad for him, he lost his identity while living in the NK vacume world of botox and Juvaderm.
berry hill - What about Kenny Chesney and "Here Goes My life". He has no kids. Alan Jackson singing about the little man when he lives in a mansion. Tim McGraw sings "The Last Dollar" and we know he's far from having no money.
noatachance, Keith is not relevant? Not relevant means you get the 2 biggest noms and they allow you to perform twice? I don't think so.
maclen, you do realize that Kenny winning was a complete embarrassment? His performance was awful and then the man goes and takes EOTY. I realize you won't take off your "orb glasses" so I'll say it this way. Take Keith completely out of the equation. Kenny beat Brad for EOTY. Kenny beat Sugarland for EOTY. Kenny beat George for EOTY. After KC's horrible performance and George's great one I was ready to give it to him, and you know how I feel about GS and the EOTY award. And then KC has to come up there in his Men's Wharehouse/Panama Jack Jewelry/cowboy hat ensemble and the first thing that comes out of his mouth is that Shania looks good (in a God-awful looking dress by the way). I was so disgusted. Kenny has been coasting with his own show and using other artists to fill those stadium seats and he gets the awards. The man is no entertainer. He's a party host that has pulled the wool over the CMA voters eyes.
"He's a party host that has pulled the wool over the CMA voters eyes."
Totally agree on that one RC.
But, I guess we'll just have to disagree about Keith. He got 2 performing slots - not because of his work and status, but because he piggybacked on the host - that's the reason. He was only entitled to one for the nomination.
Face it, mojo moved.
You guys, I've just been over to Lainey's, where I saw our favorite gal's picture, and she is, of course, feeling her gut up. After the comment on the snippet from Oprah about a boy for Conner being God's plan, you don't think. . . .
She is just doing that because she does that, or she wants the speculation, right? Gut watch!!!!!
Please just screen the **** epic, take out her batteries, put her back in her box.
hoosierlady said...
"She is just doing that because she does that, or she wants the speculation, right? Gut watch!!!!!"
..."if the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear as it is....limitless..."
...so, yes... the PR possibilities, especially to kidman who's options... what with her flick clearly careening once again to a discombobbled end, are always desperately limitless. But again, I have to point out that option, which seemed to have worked out soooo perfectly with her first PR baby for her career... the possible flaming of another one will certainly work the second time! Dont you think? But certainly another magazine cover and personal expose will do the trick...another insight into her marriage to cruise... another baby tidbit will sufface, another fact on the orbs deep deep devotion to her will certainly result in a box office success? Well, it worked for compass...it worked for margot...it worked for invasion... it worked for fur... it worked for stepford... for bewitched... for birth................
clearly careening once again to a discombobbled end
poetry, my dear, simply poetic, if I may say so, myself, I truly love the way you slid those together in an almost effortless fashion! See, this is the reason I keep coming back!
Good lord, can you imagine. . . two in two years? I don't think I can endure another urbkid this quickly. PLEASE GOD, let them use birth control..
Since we're on the subject, what on earth is "spinning". That exercise she did the entire time she was pregnant? Every time I read it, all I could picture was, yes, I know, but, her spinning a web from her long long back legs, (the other 6 are hidden, you know).
Yeah, thanks for asking, I'm very happy Brad and Andy won for best Video. It's about time!!!!!!! You Go Brad! You be a normal person!!!! You have a normal life/wife!!!!!
See RC? No jealousy at all and I think he's like 100 times the relevant musician KU is. You wait and watch about 10 years, and see who's still around.
A question for Americans, following the recent CMA Awards:
http://nicole-kidman-journey.blogspot.com/2008/11/lets-promote-australia-any-chance-we.html
hooiserlady...Spinning is an aerobic exercise that takes place on a specially designed stationary bicycle called (obviously enough) a spinning bike. As you pedal, motivating music plays and the instructor talks you through a visualization of an outdoor cycling workout: "You're going up a long hill now, you can't see the top yet." During the class you vary your pace -- sometimes pedaling as fast as you can, other times cranking up the tension and pedaling slowly from a standing position. This helps you to focus inwardly and work on your mind as well as your body.
However, most of us think kidman couldn't find her mind to spend any time working on it.
I thought she looked ridiculous on the CMA award show. Totally stiff and out of place. Compared to Reese-kidman was a wax figure.
Wonder where Keith's muse is these days?
See RC? No jealousy at all and I think he's like 100 times the relevant musician KU is. You wait and watch about 10 years, and see who's still around.
I think both of them will be around. Probably Kenny Chesney too unfortunately.
I like Reese but she was so cutesy, almost to point of making me nauseated. Did she decide to go as Elle Woods that night?
hoosierlady said...
"clearly careening once again to a discombobbled end
poetry, my dear, simply poetic, if I may say so, myself, I truly love the way you slid those together in an almost effortless fashion! See, this is the reason I keep coming back!"
Thanks hoosierlady...I certainly am exhausting my vobabulary in a attempt to vary the endless descriptions of how kidman... and in an ever increasing manner, the orb... are themselves so effortlessly suffering from such...."suckage!" And I do also find your comments, hoosierlady, to be so... I dont know...replendently chidding?...and not all together lacking in wit and whimsy....uh... did I forget to mention that kidman and the orb suck? No?.... all right then...
Reese is great. Was her connection that she was in a country film once called Sweet Home Alabama?
Choice, Witherspoon won an oscar for playing june carter...wife of johnny cash in Walk the Line. She sang for herself in the movie and appears in songs released on the movie soundtrack. I would certainly submit witherspoon has a far more legit reason to be a the CMA's... more so than simply country bumpkin spouse kidman...or for that matter, although he may be a broadway song and dance dynamo...jackman. It was simple and fairly overreaching and pure exploitational Pr hackery for them to have presented at the country award show.
Maclen-
Not unlike a HOOVER.
With admiration,
hoosier
And to make everyone's day -
"The major faux paus of the evening goes to their (WKRN) entertainment reporter who was interviewing Keith Urban & Nicole Kidman, and to Keith specifically about playing with Brad Paisley on stage tonight (for the show opener), he actually said, “So this will be the first time you’ve played with him sober?“
Both Urban and Kidman looked mortified, as he tried to backtrack out of his words.
After the highly publicized time that Urban spent in drug and alcohol rehab, what a disrespectful, appalling thing to say. Yikes."
I was watching the local broadcast when Brad S. made that remark. It was definitely one of those "did he really just say that?" moments. Brad apparently apologized on air on the 6 o'clock news last night.
Reese grew up in Nashville and her family still lives here.
FWIW, the apology is here:
http://www.wkrn.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=3134276&at1=Entertainment&h1=CMA Awards show round-up, and apology
I don't imagine Brad will be getting anywhere close to Keith anytime soon....
although I do feel that was a wonderful opportunity for Keith to step up and show who the bigger person was and educate Brad on addiction and sobriety.
It was very upstanding and refreshing for Brad to look straight into the camera and say "I'm sorry" to Keith and the fans. Thank you Brad!
Maybe if Kidman would shut her freakinbg trap and stop yammering 24/7 about how upset she was that Keith went to rehab things like that wouldn't happen. It was 2 ytears ago but Kidman won't let the story die. Because it gives her a chance to be a victim and she has a flop to sell.
Actually cricket, if both Keith & NK would speak openly and directly about it would be far better than what she has been babbling about. She's putting something out there because she thinks she should, but because there's still this veil of secrecy around the whole thing she comes off as stupid and Keith and idiot.
Open & direct is the only way to dispell myths & rumours. It would be far better for a reporter to start a conversation with Keith by saying "You've been very outspoken about your sobriety...." than a true feeling remark like what came out of Brad's mouth.
cricket said...
"Maybe if Kidman would shut her freakinbg trap and stop yammering 24/7 about how upset she was that Keith went to rehab things like that wouldn't happen."
You are absolutely correct cricket...as with the usual talking points kidman has in her movie promo tourfest...ex-cruise...pr baby, there is the orb addictions that she is constantly referencing as some sort of source of such profound character building. But it doesnt surprise me, when they are not in the confines of the very controlled and heavily manipulated magazine or tv show interview... out in the real world they are reduced to the proverbial "deers in the head lights" dumbfoundery...for certainly, outside of the studios or hotel rooms... those arranged telephone or celeb living room interviews... those inane and unprofound quotes of "self realization on the meaning of what it means to truly exist on this plane of existance in every sense of the the struggle that is human mankind"... just dont seem to come to them on a red carpet when they are not in possession of their script or PR's pre written notes.
hoosierlady said...
"Maclen-
Not unlike a HOOVER.
With admiration,
hoosier"
Yes..but a hoover serves a useful purpose, and regrettably, kidman serves not even a likable, forseeable or popular purpose in her field of business...
I get he feeling Brad doesn't care for KUNK much. Notice the picture he lead with in his blog about the CMAs.
http://musiccitytv.com/2008/11/13/on-the-red-carpet-at-the-2008-cmas/#comments
Not a real flattering shot of the queen. As far as the question he asked Keith - it makes you wonder if someone might not be as clean as he professes. For his sake and Sunday's that's not the case
maclen said. . .
those inane and unprofound quotes of "self realization on the meaning of what it means to truly exist on this plane of existance in every sense of the the struggle that is human mankind"...
this is so perfect. This is just so perfect. Just absolutely nothing. A complete string of syllables that, to quote Tom Petty, "don't add up to nothing".
This is what these people are 24/7/365. They are fake people. They haven't a thought in their heads. I used to think it was just Kidman, but I'm starting to be inclined to think more and more the orb is more than just taken with her. Think about it. If there was actually anything of substance there. . . .
You don't lose yourself to another, you are complimented by them.
What do you guys think?
I remember reading this earlier the past weekend and having a laugh...
http://www.ahlanlive.com/8346-how-pretentious-nicole-is
"How Pretentious Nicole Is!"
The hours
Nic says: “I didn’t want to do [The Hours]. My friends all said, ‘Get on the plane and do it. Go get lost in it.’ [And] I thought, ‘Wow, I get [to]… exist within a character in a completely different way. I was just raw enough to do it.”
Being shortsighted
Nic says: “I never wore glasses. I could exist in my head. It was kind of my escape from the world and my protection.”
..and this one is my fav...
Being a child genius
Nic says: “I was 11 and 12 years old, sitting up in the beach house with my books. I read most of the Russians then, and I was really young and I was reading Crime And Punishment and War And Peace and dreaming that I was Natasha and becoming Madame Bovary.”
...ah, yes the russians...how very...grand and introspective....
Idiot twit.
Didn't we all read when we were children?
Never mind. I think I'm giving myself a hernia with the noises I'm making.
What a dumba**.
I could write better crap than this.
I do write better crap than this.
If NK uses the word ' extraordinary' one more time to describe her exquisite labor/experience in the outback/ resurrection of KU/last pussy fart, I will scream. PLease, can someone just gag her.
If it's that sickening why seek out what she says? You're just giving her the attention you claim she wants any which way she can get it.
I deleted what I said but I take it back. I want you peeps to know. This blog is just plain stoooopid!
Reina said...
"I deleted what I said but I take it back. I want you peeps to know. This blog is just plain stoooopid!"
Well, welcome to the "stoooopid"....I'm sure you'll feel right at home here, huh?
...the reason kidman is not a success...despite a few years of pity respect for getting dumped... she is so obviously unconvincing and transparently so "fake"... no one of even half of mind would buy her "act"... I've read that her "demographic"...her so called target audience is "mature woman"... but as has been shown, it is all she has. She has no pull for the teen audience... she cant do comedy...light or romantic...Compass showed she is not believable in "fantasy"... as unbelievable as that sounds! She gets props for being "brave" and "fearless" in her choices of roles... but that is just a polite way of saying she is too overly indulgant in the dreary and overbearingly overdramatic indie flicks that reach for some kind of as of yet unreachable or unspoken level of emotional connection or communication... and because these movies usually are ignored or rarely acknowledged... they all fail to achieve their intended results. As Ive written before... kidman is just so convinced that she can attain this unspoken level of expression... that she still insists on trying to act with her eyebrows....
Nic says: “I was 11 and 12 years old, sitting up in the beach house with my books. I read most of the Russians then, and I was really young and I was reading Crime And Punishment and War And Peace and dreaming that I was Natasha and becoming Madame Bovary.”
Yep, that's how I spent my time at the beach at 11 and 12 years old...reading War and Peace.
What a freak!
maclen-even her eyebrows have given up trying to act!
So now her movie is rated PG-13. How nice we can spare our pre-pubescent youth from the 3 hour gag fest. Hopefully, she will keep her clothes on during this epic.
Don't forget the 'cheek nuzzle', and the 'full head back, show them all the dental work' laugh. . she learned those in her method acting classes, and those classes were expensive, not to mention:
They pulled me from the inner reaches of the most intimate part of the depths of my soul, so I could join with, partner, with my teacher, so as to learn, evolve, really into a character so much more whole, grainy, gritty, real. . . somehow. . . I'm talking too much, primal, that's it, as though I'm giving birth to the character, not adoption, but truly through my tummy, inside, my womb, not unlike a waterfall of creation, a waterfall of vodka, my husband and I, baring all, dirty, filthy, primordial sex, ten years, in two months, to reach a height, almost an orgasmic character. . .
does anyone need me to go on?
I can do this, unscripted for days.
It's not we, that are stooooooopid!
http://www.usmagazine.com/news/nicole-kidman-i-would-love-more-children
Reina, you certainly have caused quit a reaction! You definitely have a way with words LOL
timtam, good to see you back here
banbotox, "Australia" was always rated PG-13. Studios want that rating for the majority of their films so as to maximize the audience. Especially with the film opening on Thanksgiving weekend and so many families going to the movies.
hoosier, keep doing what you are doing. While Nicole's interviews are interesting, insightful and engaging yours are uh... entertaining, and not for reasons you might think. Ha ha ha!
Keith many look good in my shirt, but he does not look good in suits:
http://nicole-kidman-journey.blogspot.com/2008/11/suits-vs-jeans-its-no-brainer-keith.html
Yeah, choice, kidman makes the orb wear the monkey suits simply because she picks out his clothes now...
...as for another inane kidman promo piece, hoosier...that one of course is chock full of her usual mealy mouthed platitudes... where she once again speaks outside of both of her bloated lipped mouths...take this quote for instance....
"I would love more children - but that's up to God!" she told reporters Monday at Glamour's Women of the Year awards in NYC."
...up to god? ....the hell? Well, then I'm just assuming that those miraculous Aussie "fertility waters" are out of their baby making mojo... i guess the cast and crew of Australia just sucked out all the fertile impregnating juices, huh? That must really suck for all those desperate aussie woman hoping to concieve. And I'm also assuming that the orb is just not up to the task of helping her out, as I can just imagine the orbs highly coked up, strung out and highly tipsy "didgeridoo" is at this point shooting more blanks than his and kidman's faces on the red carpet these days...that kidman is now clearly hoping for divine intervention to somehow concieve... an "immaculate conception, if you will...but realistically, it'll take alot more than jsut renouncing Sci-tol... And another quote...
"If you take care of the women in the family – the mother in the family – then the children will be taken care of," she said. "We can all attest that the mother is the heartbeat of the family, and if you take care of her,
everybody does well."
..no doubt a philosophy she has developed and cultivated in her first marriage and family... which wound up with cruise dumping her, and her kids are raised and spend all there time away from her...truly spoken as a clueless narcissist... take care of me, and all will be right in the world...
...so last night, just out of curiosity I was googling Oscar buzz and prediction sites... wondering what was the buzz on kidman's next flop... and I probably found the most exact, right on comment on Australia...over at oscar frenzy....
http://www.oscarfrenzy.com/category/2008-oscar-predictions/
...and the quote, short, simple and to the point..."“Australia” looks really pretty, I mean really pretty. But we get the sense that the story is a little shallow."
...and that was exactly the sense, the perfect description of kidman's movies...
...so just now I see this article...
http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/wizard-of-oz-or-down-under-disaster-movie-1020507.html
... it talks about all up to date news...will the baz finish it on time...the studio worries about the $130 mill price tag... the controversy over the ending...yada yada... but this line I found interesting is this line...
"On top of that, the movie is also said to romanticise the situation of Aboriginal stockmen in the 1930s. In reality, Aboriginal people worked for outback ranch owners for little or no money, often just basic food rations and tobacco, and were treated as second-class citizens who were not permitted in the cattle companies' cars and trucks."
...and as I now recall the criticism of cold mountain not even addressing the whole slave issue of that civil war set epic... and not to mention the cracks of how kidman looked like a immaculate made up barbie doll in that flick. I'm sure if the issue were to come up, I have no doubt the baz may simply brush it off by claiming that Gone with the wind, for instance, for the purpose of "storytelling" just shallowly brushed over the issue. But that was 70 years ago...and just as the US had just recently elected it first african american president ever...I would say exuses, if that were the case, would not go over that easily, and clearly tag this film, as with Cold mountan...simply shallow.
Interesting articles Hugh. Back here in Australia, the media are predicting big crowds this Tuesday evening in Sydney alongside the red carpet (to throw tomatoes no doubt) but to be honest, not many people seem to be talking about. We will all just have to wait and see if the film will be a success. Would you like me to grab Nicole's autograph for you? Seriously I won't be lining the street let me tell you. Anyway, some other articles you may like to read which came out today:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/film/bazs-bigbudget-gamble/2008/11/15/1226318994490.html
And then here is Hugh, back on home shores ready for the premiere, caught out at Bondui Beach minus his shirt again. Actually, Hugh is well respected over here ... and chooses to live here, not like Nicole. Don't like the way Nic raves about how Australian she is but won't live here ever again. Too bad the grandparents won't see Sundae regularly. Maybe if she did, she wouldn't have the following problem:
http://www.smh.com.au/news/entertainment/people/mums-the-word-as-carpet-duty-calls/2008/11/14/1226318922224.html
Sorry Maclen, I called you Hugh!
Choice said...
"Sorry Maclen, I called you Hugh!"
That's alright, choice, actually I thought jackman was great in the first two XMEN movies... although the 3rd one sucked...but actually, nothing else jackman has done has been very memorable...which is the problem for Australia... neither he or kidman are very big draws. As for that article on the baz...clearly the baz suffers from a huge case of feet of clay... the guy must suffer from ulcers and insomnia...the guy needs to chill. And a further note, as I was googling Oscar sites last night, a comment I read about the baz, and that the commenter was hopeful that Australia would probably be good, because of the baz's "impressive body of work! Well, I checked over a IMDB, and do you know how many films the baz has made? He's made three films...that's THREE ....one..two..THREE... and with Australia, it'll be FOUR...boy that's some impressive body of work...I figure the baz will be done in by the kidman kurse...these rookie directors who disappear from the scene after working with kidman.
I know, 3 films does not make a body of work. And it takes him 7 years to release another one. Apparently the man is a perfectionist, but I think they mean he has OCD. Did you notice on OPRAH Nicole admitted she didn't read the script before signing on. How many times has she done that before and the movie flopped? I heard a rumour once that she can't read. Anyway, we will have to wait and see. The papers here are saying OPRAH's seal of approval can do wonders for a movie. Not sure about that. Didn't that Robin Williams movie flop even after her blessing?
Yeah, Ive read that the Oz tourism board who financed the movie and the baz's Oz tourism spots were overjoyed by oprah's "endorsement"! Which I of course find laughable...I havent really researched oprah's "oscar prediction" right/wrong percentage... or of her "power" to make a movie a hit... but how many times does oprah tell a celeb who's shilling a movie on her show that the movie sucks? Actually I do recall reading somewhere, when leonardo dicaprio was on her show plugging The Aviator, oprah gushed "Come on down and pick up our oscar leo!"... but then when jamie foxx was on her show a short while later... she gushed to foxx that he would win the oscar...so, as I said on my first comment... oprah's endorsment is a joke... she gushes to every celeb on her show that their movie it the greatest.
maclen once again your digging for any criticism that may stick falls short. Baz's work is extraordinary. Each of his films has been a success. "Strictly Ballroom" is one of the great Aussie romantic comedies ever made. And it has a satiric edge which is very hard to pull off in that genre. He reinvented Shakespeare for film. He brought back the movie musical in a big way with "Moulin Rouge!" and made romance come to life. So yes his body of work is impressive. Definitely quality over quantity. As for the so-called Kidman curse shouldn't it have already done him in since he's worked with her before???
Now I have a big issue with the criticism of "Cold Mountain" Apparently those making this claim that it overlooks slavery are knee -deep in Civil War cinema stereotypes. "Cold Mountain" takes place in an area of the South, the Carolinas, where there were not, I repeat were not, plantations left and right. They definitely had slaves but they were not there in the numbers you would see in the cotton fields of Georgia or the sugar cane plantations of Louisiana. This story was focused on three white characters. "Cold Mountain" happened during the time of slavery but that was not the film's focus. One must also keep in mind that if you are looking for complete historical accuracy a romantic epic like "Australia" is not the place to look. Go find a movie that explores this in a meaningful way like "Rabbit-Proof Fence" or "Walkabout". Or better yet go find a documentary on The Stolen Generation. It really irks me when critics try to turn films into something they are not and were never meant to be. Obama has nothing to do with this and I laugh because only a skeptic so hell-bent on finding faults with a movie they haven't even seen yet would make this ridiculous connection. maclen, were you one to criticize "Friends" because there was rarely a black person on the show? Or was it only tolerated because Obama hadn't been elected yet? LOL Maybe I should boycott "Half & Half" because not one of the main characters is white. I'm all for diversity and representing everyone, but only when its in the correct context of the piece. Watering down the real intent of the story to satisfy every overly-sensitive politically-correct film critic is nonsense.
One more thing...Hugh Jackman isn't a draw? Hilarious!
http://www.flickfilosopher.com/blog/2008/11/
5_reasons_im_psyched_for_austr.html
5 reasons I’m psyched for ‘Australia’
posted by flick filosopher
1. That trailer! It’s pretty rare that a trailer actually gives me chills, but this one does: it promises all sorts of lush, gorgeous romance -- all kinds of romance -- which is what makes up the kind of movies I love best... the kind of movies movies were invented for. If I could melt into a puddle of well-wooed goo at the feet of a trailer, this would be the one I’d choose. Maybe the film won’t live up to this, but this is one of the best trailers I’ve ever seen. It makes me tingle with anticipation.
2. Baz Luhrmann is a god. His Romeo + Juliet might be the best cinematic adaptation of Shakespeare yet, in how it captures the timeless urgency of the Bard. And his Moulin Rouge! is one of my favorite movies ever: it’s the opulent emotionalism of this one that makes anticipate a lot more of the same from Australia. (I can’t believe I’ve never seen Lurhrmann’s first film, Strictly Ballroom -- I must remedy that soon.)
3. Hugh Jackman is a god. Even in crappy movies, like Kate & Leopold, he simply oozes old-Hollywood charm. He’s like Clark Gable and Cary Grant all rolled up into one irresistible package. And Australia makes it look like maybe there’ll be a little John Wayne-meets-Harrison Ford in the mix, too. Yum.
4. Nicole Kidman is a goddess, and was perhaps elevated to that deified station by Luhrmann in Moulin Rouge!. Is there a realm above that of the gods? Maybe Kidman and Luhrmann will find it here.
5. Australia. I dread revealing myself as a provincial American by saying this, but this is a land of exotic beauty to me, who’s never been further from home than Paris in one direction and Vancouver in the other. I’d love to visit, and this may be the closest I ever get.
Reality Check - all anyone can do is wait and see how the film will go. Alot of us won't be going to see it for a bunch of reasons, one of which is that it is nearly 3 hours long. Also, the trailers indicate a very botoxed Kidman which will be hard to stomach for that duration (she looks totally weird in the movie, not goddess). Hugh on the other hand doesn't touch the stuff, so his facial expressions will be realistic. Maclen is right though - Hugh has not had alot of hits lately so you cannot guarantee him being a drawcard, even if he looks good without a shirt. Thank you for posting that stuff from 'Flick filosopher' but even he will have to wait and see too. I don't know why you think those comments are valuable - especially referring to Nic and Hugh as gods and goddesses. As if! Hardly! The only thing worth noting is his No. 5 comment about Australia. It is a good place but alot of Americans dont come here as apparently it is too far away.
For now, let's return this Blog to Keith for a little while:
http://nicole-kidman-journey.blogspot.com/2008/11/suits-vs-jeans-its-no-brainer-keith.html
Hmm, choice... Why not say "Let's wait and see" to maclen after you read every negative comment she could find? We know what you wish to happen with this film.
RC-
Why do you care so much what "we" think, or say?
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