Browsing Tag

Nicole Kidman

Nicole Kidman’s Reinvention as a TV Star

Nicole Kidman sits on the grass in a red dress on the cover of Harper's Bazaar

–Nicole Kidman graces the new issue of Harper’s Bazaar (though I wish they’d chosen one of the other photos for the cover instead). She talks filming Nine Perfect Strangers during the pandemic (“We just really bonded and that’s unusual for this day and age. Because a lot of times people are coming in and leaving and you don’t get that camaraderie and friendship”) and recovering from the harsh spotlight of her marriage to Tom Cruise (“I’m wary at times, and I’ve been hurt, but at the same time I much prefer a warm approach rather than a prickly shut-down approach. My husband, Keith, says that when he met me, he said, ‘How’s your heart?’ And I apparently responded, ‘Open'”).

-The Emmy Awards were last night and though there weren’t many upsets, most of the winners were solid choices. Fashion-wise, my favourite looks were from Anya Taylor-Joy, Yara Shahidi, Beanie Feldstein, Angela Bassett and Nicole Byer. I didn’t love Kathyrn Hahn, Juno Temple or Emma Corrin (but at least Corrin gave everyone something to talk about).

–Seth Rogen was the first presenter and kicked off the show with a bit about the seemingly lax covid protocols. “Let me start by saying there’s way too many of us in this little room. What are we doing? They said this was outdoors – it’s not! They lied to us…I would not have come to this.”

–Taika Waititi and Rita Ora were way too extra.

–Michaela Coel‘s speech may have destroyed me.

-Do I have to start watching Reservation Dogs? The cast got the biggest cheers when they presented last night, and critics (who always liked the show) seem to be raving about the final three episodes of the season.

–Adele made her relationship with Rich Paul Instagram official among a slideshow about her wearing a dress that’s very reminiscent of 90210’s prom episode.

–Gisele Bündchen is defending Dutch model Doutzen Kroes, who is facing backlash for posting an anti-vax comment on Instagram.

-After he was caught on tape saying the n-word, country music star Morgan Wallen pledged $500K to Black-led charities. Rolling Stone reached out to 57 state, regional and national organizations, and so far only one reported receiving any money from Wallen.

-I don’t understand why people don’t scrub their internet history the second they achieve a whiff of fame. Simu Liu is under fire after old Reddit posts he reportedly wrote were uncovered.

-Jane the Virgin star Justin Baldoni‘s does his best Backstreet Boy impression in his hilarious new HP Ink commercial.

–Emily Blunt and The Rock proved that tequila makes makes press junkets better.

-I don’t actually think I finished The Haunting of Bly Manor, but I’m going to check out Midnight Mass, Mike Flanagan’s latest for Netflix, because the reviews are excellent. Hamish Linklater and Zach Gilford‘s performances, in particular, keep getting shouted out as exceptional.

-Michael Myers is back in the final trailer for Halloween Kills.

–Tom Hanks, a robot, and a dog versus the world in the first trailer for AppleTV’s emotional survival story, Finch.

Angelina Jolie is Eternal

angelina jolie as her character from the eternals on the cover of EW

–Angelina Jolie and the rest of Marvel’s The Eternals cast are promoting Chloé Zhao’s upcoming film in EW, while a new trailer quietly dropped overnight. Marvel movies are often criticized for their cinematography but this one looks beautiful.

-The assault allegation against Britney Spears leveled against her by a housekeeper seems shady af. Obviously if it’s true, it’s horrible but one can’t help but wonder if this the new strategy against her? Make her seem violent/unstable?

-I’ve been trying not to get my hopes up about those Zoë Kravitz and Channing Tatum dating rumors because it sounds too good to be true, but dammit. This pic has locked my hopes firmly in the UP position.

–Nicole Kidman was able to skip quarantine in Hong Kong to film her upcoming Amazon series, which is generating some backlash.

-Speaking of Kidman, her new show Nine Perfect Strangers has already dropped its first three episodes — and there’s lots of talk about how it compares to the similarly themed The White Lotus. There’s also lot of talk about Kidman’s awful Russian accent.

–Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is expecting her second child with Jason Statham.

-After a recent Gofundme plea alerted the world that Grace Under Fire star Brett Butler was in desperate financial straits and facing eviction, she sat down with THR for this open and candid interview.

-This piece points out Hugh Jackman‘s long-running tendency to play depressed men chasing after a woman lost in space/time.

–Peter Gallagher is bringing his eyebrows to Seattle Grace.

-Variety’s TV salary report is out, with streamers offering larger than normal payouts. Robert Downey Jr. is rumored to have made at least $2 million per episode for A24’s Vietnam War thriller The Sympathizer — making him one of the highest paid TV stars of all time.

–Nine Inch Nails is the latest act to cancel all remaining concerts of the year.

-Never Have I Ever has been renewed for a third season. I still have to watch the second season but it’s a cute show so I’m glad Netflix is not cutting it short like they so often do.

-Upcoming Jeopardy host Mike Richards has apologized for those offensive podcast comments that surfaced yesterday. As others have pointed out, these comments weren’t decades ago. It was 2014, which is not only not that long ago, but also AFTER there were multiple lawsuits during his tenure at the Price Is Right from models claiming discrimination and insensitive comments.

-Even disregarding his podcast comments, yesterday’s Ringer article clearly lays out how he hustled for the job and stacked the odds in his favour, and is already dismantling the show’s integrity.

–Lee Pace is a ruthless leader in the trailer for Apple’s sci-fi epic Foundation.

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost Have Baby Boy

–Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost have welcomed a baby boy named Cosmo(!) into the world. It’s her second child, and their first together.

-Congratulations to Outlander’s Caitriona Balfe and Tony McGill who recently welcomed their first child together — despite her fans not knowing she was pregnant.

–Chloe and Halle Bailey cover of Flaunt magazine.

-In THR’s new cover story, Michael Keaton admitted that he got lost when the Morbius filmmakers tried to break down what’s been happening in the MCU and how it makes sense that he’ll play Batman in The Flash thanks to the multiverse. “I’m nodding like I know what the fuck they’re talking about. I go, ‘Uh-huh.’ And I’m thinking, ‘You may as well be explaining quantum physics right now to me. All I know is I just know my guy. And I know the basics.’ So finally, they were looking at me, and they just started laughing. They said, ‘You don’t know what we’re talking about, do you?’ I said, ‘No, I don’t, no idea what you’re talking about.'”

-I don’t know what I’m less surprised by: that Carrie Underwood would like an anti-mask tweet from an extremist voice like Matt W*lsh, or that celebrities still haven’t figured out that we can easily see which tweets they’ve liked.

–Joshua Jackson really wanted to clarify that yes, Jodie Turner-Smith proposed to him first, but that’s not the whole story. “Yes, two proposals. And also for anybody who is freaked out by a woman claiming her own space, shut the fuck up. Good God, you cannot believe the things people were leaving my wife on Instagram. She did it. I said ‘yes.’ We’re happy. That’s it. That’s all you need to know. That has been a real education for me as a white man, truly. The way people get in her comments and the ignorance and ugliness that comes her way is truly shocking. And it has been a necessary, but an unpleasant education in just the way people relate to Black bodies in general, but Black female bodies in specific. It is not okay. We have a long way to go.”

-The Ringer talked to current and former colleagues of new Jeopardy host Mike Richards…and it’s not good! Also, his old podcast jokes have resurfaced online and they are also not good.

-According to The Daily Beast, Queen Elizabeth‘s lawyers wrote to major British newspapers warning them against taking or publishing pictures of the royals at Balmoral the same day that Prince Andrew arrived there. Interesting how they were willing to sic lawyers on the press for negative coverage of him but not Meghan Markle.

–Ant Anstead confirmed that he’s dating Renee Zellweger, saying “Look, everybody knows that Renee and I have become quite close… we kept it secret for a while, and unfortunately some pictures were taken and put out there.”

-Open arguments have begun in R. Kelly’s sex crime trial, and prosecutors said he used “every trick in the predator’s handbook.” Meanwhile, his lawyer seemed flustered in her opening remarks, accidentally saying “the girls” in reference to Kelly’s partners before quickly correcting herself by saying “excuse me, the women,” as well as saying: “You ultimately will have to find Mr. Kelly guilty — excuse me, not guilty.”

–Alyssa Milano and her uncle were involved in a car accident after he suffered a suspected heart attack while driving.

–Phoebe Dynevor has signed on to executive-produce and star in Amazon’s adaptation of Exciting Times and now everyone is wondering what that means for Bridgerton. She’s only in brief scenes in the subsequent books — because that’s how those books work.

-This is an interesting piece on Nicole Kidman the film actor versus Nicole Kidman the TV star, and how she seems to be choosing less interesting roles on the small screen vs the big screen.

-Meanwhile, I had no idea her new show Nine Perfect Strangers had already started airing. There’s too much TV.

-I was clicking on a celebrity-related tweet last week and it went to Gawker, which felt like a time warp. The site is back with an almost-all female staff.

-With Delta bearing down hard on the US, the movie studios are beginning to rethink their release schedule again. The fall film festivals are still rolling on, though.

-Oooh boy. Canadian director Denis Villeneuve said of Dune’s release, “The way it happened, I’m still not happy. Frankly, to watch Dune on a television, the best way I can compare it is to drive a speedboat in your bathtub. For me, it’s ridiculous. It’s a movie that has been made as a tribute to the big-screen experience” Sigh. Look, I get that as a filmmaker, he wants people to see his movies in the best possible presentation — not to mention his profits and ability to make a sequel are probably tied to box office receipts. But others have pointed out the elitism of his comments. Also, we’re in a pandemic! If people are more comfortable watching it on HBO Max, at least they’re watching it. And not to give James Gunn too much credit, but I did like what he had to say recently about movies becoming favourites because they’re re-run on TV, which seems especially true for a film like Dune, which is destined to be a cult fave due to repeated viewings.

-I don’t watch RHONY, but I really liked this interview with Eboni K Williams about getting along with costars like Ramona Singer who have different political views.  “I’m not looking to see if Ramona and I agree on North Korea, or mask bans, or anything like that. I don’t care about that. But I’ve got to see if we align on those basic principles of shared humanity. And if we don’t, that saves me time, and really, Ramona time.”

-Here’s the final trailer for Annette, which seems to have divided critics.