The Paperboy (2012)

Despite my aversion for Matthew McConaughey —the less I see of this guy, the better I feel— I watched The Paperboy anyway because it has Zac Efron and Nicole Kidman peeing on his face and genitals and I wanted to see what he did to deserve that. 

The story follows an idealistic reporter, Ward Jansen (Matthew McConaughey), who returns to his hometown when Charlotte Bless (Nicole Kidman) asks him to prove that Hillary Van Wetter (John Cusack), the man she met via letters and whom she is in love with, on death row for the murder of a sheriff, is innocent, and drags his college-drop-out younger brother, Jack (Zac Efron), into the investigation.

The Stepford Wives (2004)

I don't know if you've noticed but I've been watching a lot of crappy movies lately because I'm too lazy to pick movies so I watch whatever trash Netflix suggests me. The Stepford Wives is one of those movies and I gave it a chance because of Nicole Kidman. 

Based on Ira Levin's novel of the same name, the story follows Joanna Eberhart (Nicole Kidman), a successful TV executive. When she is fired and has a nervous breakdown, her husband, Walter (Matthew Broderick), decides to move the whole family from Manhattan to a community in Stepford, Connecticut. There's something weird going on though as their female neighbours are a bit too perfect and the men just seem to sit around in the men's club all day. 

Destroyer (2018)

One of the last few remaining 2018 films on my watchlist —some of those are nowhere to be found so expect my list soon—, Destroyer ended up on my radar because of Nicole Kidman's highly praised performance which got her a Golden Globe nomination.

The film tells the story of now-alcoholic LAPD detective Erin Bell (Nicole Kidman) who, seventeen years ago, was placed undercover with a veteran partner (Sebastian Stan) and infiltrated a vicious gang of bank robbers led by Silas (Toby Kebbell), a master of manipulation. When Silas reemerges, she is forced to reopen old wounds and face her demons. 

Boy Erased (2018)

I was very looking forward to seeing Boy Erased as it deals with a very difficult and important subject and has many good actors —Nicole Kidman, Lucas Hedges, Joel Edgerton, who is also directing, and Russell Crowe. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a disappointment.

Based on Garrard Conley's memoir of the same name, the story follows Jared Eamons (Lucas Hedges), the son of a Baptist preacher (Russell Crowe) and a religious woman (Nicole Kidman) in Arkansas. When he comes out as gay, his parents send him to a church-supported gay conversion camp to cure him of his homosexuality.

Dogville (2003)

As I've said the other day, my resolution for 2019 is to watch all those movies I've been meaning to watch since always but kept putting off for a reason or another. Dogville I put off because of the length and because, being honest, you have to be in the right mood to handle Lars von Trier. 

The film focuses on Grace Margaret Mulligan (Nicole Kidman), a beautiful young woman on the run from the mob who seeks refuge in Dogville, a small mountain town with a tight community of people who look after each other. The residents are reluctant at first, but, persuaded by the town’s philosopher, Tom Edison Jr. (Paul Bettany), they agree to hide her. In return, Grace agrees to work for them but nothing comes without a price and soon the people of Dogville begin to abuse her.

Aquaman (2018)

I love superhero flicks but usually, I'm more excited about MCU than DCEU as the latter often turn out to be not so good while the first, while pretty much all identical, are entertaining. It's different with Aquaman. I was over-the-top excited about it —entirely because of Jason Momoa at first; also because of James Wan after watching some of his horror flicks. 

The story follows Arthur Curry (Jason Momoa), the son of a lighthouse keeper, Thomas Curry (Temuera Morrison), and the princess of Atlantis, Atlanna (Nicole Kidman). When he learns that his half-brother, Orm Marius (Patrick Wilson), seeks to unite the seven underwater kingdoms to declare war to the surface world, Arthur must step forward and fulfil his destiny of becoming king.

The Others (2001)

There's a song by an Italian rapper which spoils the ending of some of the films with the most shocking twists. I love that song but it spoiled several films for me —The Sixth Sense, The Prestige, The Game (which I'm yet to see), and The Others. This is the reason I've been putting off this film, hoping that I would eventually forget about the twist. I realised that, unless I hit my head really hard, I will never forget it so I finally watched it. 

Set around the end of WWII, the film follows Grace Stewart (Nicole Kidman) and her two children, Anne (Alakina Mann) and Nicholas (James Bentley), who are both allergic to sunlight. They live alone in a mansion on a British isle as the husband and father (Christopher Eccleston) is yet to return from the war and the housekeepers have mysteriously vanished. Suddenly, three friendly caretakers, an old lady, Mrs. Mills (Fionnula Flanagan), a mute young girl, Lydia (Elaine Cassidy), and a gardener, Mr. Tuttle (Eric Sykes), arrive, strange events occur and Grace begins to question her sanity.

Before I Go to Sleep (2014)

Since it's listed as a horror and it has a very interesting cast --Nicole Kidman, Colin Firth, and Mark Strong--, I picked Before I Go to Sleep as one of the movies to watch this October (I'm doing 31 days of horror).

The film follows Christine Lucas (Nicole Kidman), a forty-year-old housewife who wakes up every day with a stranger in her bed, her husband Ben (Colin Firth), who explains to her that she had a car accident ten years earlier which resulted in a brain damage that erases her memory when she goes to sleep. One day, when Ben leaves for work, she receives a phone call from Dr. Mike Nasch (Mark Strong), a neurologist who is apparently treating her, who reminds her to record her thoughts and daily progress on a camera and instructs her to not tell her husband. Soon, she starts discovering the truth.

Moulin Rouge! (2001)

There's something I've noticed over the past months as I started watching more musicals and reading what other people think about them; most of the time, people either love them or hate them. Moulin Rouge! too has such a divided audience, and, curious to see where how I'd feel about it, I decided to watch it.

The film is set in 1889 and tells the story of Christian (Ewan McGregor), a young English man who moved to Paris to pursue a penniless career as a writer. Once there, he meets a group of Bohemians, led by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (John Leguizamo), who tells him he should write a musical show for them to be performed at the Moulin Rouge. While in the process of selling the show, Christian meets Satine (Nicole Kidman), the night club's star and courtesan, and falls for her. She eventually falls for him as well but the club's owner, Harold Zidler (Jim Broadbent), is planning to sell her to a Duke (Richard Roxburgh) who will help him turn the night club into a theatre only if he can have Satine.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Genre

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

Director

Stanley Kubrick

Country

UK | USA

Cast

Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack, Marie Richardson, Todd Field, Sky du Mont, Rade Šerbedžija, Vinessa Shaw, Fay Masterson, Leelee Sobieski, Alan Cumming, Leon Vitali, Julienne Davis, Thomas Gibson

Storyline

New York City doctor William Harford (Tom Cruise), who is married to art curator Alice (Nicole Kidman), pushes himself on a harrowing and dangerous night-long odyssey of sexual and moral discovery after his wife admits that she once almost cheated on him.

Opinion

Last night I finally saw Eyes Wide Shut, film that will always be remembered for being the last work of Stanley Kubrick, one of the greatest filmmakers in film history. Just like every film he has made, this one has caused some controversy, and, I am sorry to say it, it did really disappoint me.

Overlong, tedious, and uneventful most of the way, Eyes Wide Shut is a major disappointment, and the writing is to be blamed.

Based on Arthur Schnitzler's 'Traumnovelle', the concept behind the story - a husband and wife rediscovering their passion through sexual experimentation outside the marriage - is interesting. But the slow moving story as a whole isn't particularly involving, and fails to make the viewer feel sympathy for the protagonists and care for their marriage.

The way too verbose screenplay does not tell through images, but through mostly banal dialogue most of the events.

Also, the film adds little to the stories of love, sex and betrayal used out of proportion in the film industry, and the veil of mystery and ambiguity that covers the film is not enough to save it.

Despite everything, the touch of Kubrick is there and you can feel it in the disturbing and creepy orgy scene, that shows perversion, and the negative side to lush without falling into pornography.

Fine acting from Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman, Sydney Pollack and Marie Richardson, but the upsetting thing is that there is no chemistry between Cruise and Kidman, and they were even married at the time.

Quotes

Dr. Bill Harford: No dream is ever just a dream.