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Awards || ||

Amy Nicholson's / Top 10 of 2012 / Written In Haiku

Amy Nicholson's / Top 10 of 2012 / Written In Haiku

2012 was a ho-hum year for "serious" cinema. As proof, the Oscar race has narrowed to films like the chipper Argo and dreary Zero Dark Thirty — a chase so routine that the alternative is a Steven Spielberg period piece as wholesome and agreeable as enriched bread. But it was also a banner year for the films that we'll still want to watch in 2022: Ambitious over-reachers (Cloud Atlas, The Master, Les Miserables), loony passion projects (Killer Joe, Magic Mike, The Paperboy), and perfect popcorn flicks (Step Up 4, The Expendables 2, Premium Rush).

That last category is frequently left off top ten lists, but it deserves our applause. When studios get tired of risking $250 million on a single blockbuster (and audiences get tired of paying $14 just to keep up with water cooler conversation), mid-priced modest hits like Looper will be our collective salvation — and help build the next generation of filmmakers and stars. The films that made my Top Ten did so because they were bold, memorable and flawless (or at least two of the three). But of course, if critics can judge art, we should take our own creative risks. And so I've written my remarks in haiku.
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Awards || ||

Hey Academy! Time To Take Nicole Kidman's 'Paperboy' Role Seriously!

Hey Academy! Time To Take Nicole Kidman's 'Paperboy' Role Seriously!

Once, Nicole Kidman barely had to raise an eyebrow to get awards attention. Now, she barely can raise an eyebrow and her best work in years is being completely ignored in the Oscar conversation. The Paperboy stars Kidman as Charlotte Bless, a damaged attention-seeker who becomes sexually obsessed with a convicted murderer (John Cusack), while cock-teasing the only man—or really, teenager—who truly loves her (Zac Efron). It's Kidman's bravest, boldest, and most committed performance ever, and no one cares for the short-sighted reason that the movie is terrible.

How unfair. The Nicole Kidman of To Die For used to have a bright future before that bright future came true and blinded everyone to her comedic gifts. Once Kidman scored her first Oscar nomination for 2002's Moulin Rouge, she became the prey of the Hollywood awards hunt, in which the chase for For-Your-Consideration goes like this: take one prestigious actress (see Kidman, Berry, Jolie, Swank), make her play someone vulnerable (see Cold Mountain, Things We Lost in the Fire, The Changeling, Conviction), then cross your fingers. This is why we've had a full decade of Kidman drifting about in period costumes or, god forbid, stretching herself to play a movie star in Nine. And people, this is why the Oscar season is boring. This formula guarantees a chase to the middlebrow, and it's why every Best Picture Oscar winner since Silence of the Lambs is something your grandma would see at an arthouse matinee.

There's only one thing we can do to save the Academy Awards: nominate Nicole Kidman for The Paperboy.

Just because The Paperboy is bad doesn't void the bravery it took to make it. Kidman's Charlotte is a balls-out wonder. She's pure sex and need, at once over-confident and fragile. Slithering around in her neon polyester pants, Kidman is fully alive for the first time since Baz Luhrmann murdered her with tuberculosis. And The Paperboy even has not one but two stand-out scenes that will live on in infamy—Sally Field standing on a table in Norma Rae can't compete with Kidman peeing on Zac Efron or giving John Cusack an orgasm just by breathing at him from across a prison cell.

Imagine if Oscar voters were able to parse the jewels from the schlock. Why should Les Misérables clutter up every acting category? What if this year's ceremony didn't just include the dull favorites like Daniel Day-Lewis in Lincoln and Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark Thirty—roles everyone respects, but no one loves—but made room for Michael Shannon in Premium Rush and Michael Sheen in Breaking Dawn – Part 2. Imagine just being able to say, "The Academy Award-nominated bike messenger thriller Premium Rush."

Plus, this wouldn't be the first time we've given an actor a statuette for good work in an awful film. We did it three years ago when Mo'Nique won for Precious. It's no coincidence that Precious and The Paperboy were both directed by bizarro auteur Lee Daniels, a former casting agent and producer with the clout to get serious actors to take him seriously. He convinced the likes of Helen Mirren, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Joseph Gordon-Levitt to star in his debut film, Shadowboxer—-and that's despite a script which opens with Stephen Dorff shoving a pool cue up a guy's ass.

In fact, let's go one step further. Not only does Nicole Kidman deserve a Best Actress nomination for The Paperboy, Lee Daniels deserves Best Director. He's clearly one of the greats. Not because his films are any good, but because his actors would do—and do do—anything for him. Anthony Minghella, Sidney Pollack, Rob Marshall only wish they could pull as passionate of a performance out of Kidman, and Daniels behind-the-scenes alchemy is that powerful with every single one of his actors. He not only convinced Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. to shoot a strip scene in Shadowboxer, he convinced them to commit to it like it was high art. And The Paperboy performs more stunt-casting miracles: An American sweetheart, John Cusack, is loathsome; Macy Gray is the next great actress and Zac Efron, convincingly, can't get laid. Could Steven Spielberg swing that? Never.

Luckily, we're not alone in appreciating this wonderful, terrible gem. In October, a group of rogue cinephiles launched a For Your Consideration Facebook page flogging Nicole Kidman's outstanding work in The Paperboy. As of today, the page has 10 fans. Let's get that number growing.

Biz Break || ||

Christian Bale Back On David O. Russell Con Artist Project; Osama Bin Laden Raid Film To Air 48 Hours Before U.S. Election: Biz Break

Christian Bale Back On David O. Russell Con Artist Project; Osama Bin Laden Raid Film To Air 48 Hours Before U.S. Election: Biz Break

Also in Monday morning's round-up of news briefs: Bradley Cooper is to receive a Hollywood award. CNN is launching a unit for documentary distribution and The Paperboy scores in the specialty box office over the weekend.
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Watch This || ||

WATCH: The Paperboy is dangerous, and Nicole Kidman likes it that way.

WATCH: The Paperboy is dangerous, and Nicole Kidman likes it that way.

When The Paperboy premiered at Cannes earlier this year, some people were delighted. Some were downright appalled. According to the film's director and cast, that's exactly what they hoped to accomplish.

When I spoke to them on the red carpet at the 50th Annual New York Film Festival on Wednesday, they were passionate about the film — and its right to offend.  more »

Biz Break || ||

Lee Daniels' Paperboy Gets Delivery Date, Ryan Phillippe Readies Directorial Debut: Biz Break

Lee Daniels' Paperboy Gets Delivery Date, Ryan Phillippe Readies Directorial Debut: Biz Break

Also in Wednesday afternoon's round up of news briefs, Rob Reiner may join Martin Scorsese's latest project and Zooey Deschanel has a round about kind thing to say about the internet. And what does Piranhaconda director have to say to a critic who panned his latest? It isn't pretty...
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Caption This || ||

Help Movieline Caption This Picture of Nicole Kidman Having a Moment in The Paperboy

Help Movieline Caption This Picture of Nicole Kidman Having a Moment in The Paperboy

A flurry of new images recently hit offering a sweaty, revealing look at Lee Daniels' Precious follow-up, the '60s-set adaptation The Paperboy -- so how's about a round of Caption This! After the jump, help Movieline caption this startling image of Nicole Kidman as the sensual woman at the center of this dark Southern potboiler, here seen having what I can only imagine is quite a moment while sandwiched between Zac Efron, Matthew McConaughey, and David Oyelowo.
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