By Liz Smith: 28th June 2006

HOT TOPICS included Nicole Kidman and Robert Downey Jr. in Steven Shainberg's "Fur," which is a dark, dazzling, almost magical "Alice in Wonderland" look at the life of the fabled photographer Diane Arbus. Miss Kidman, a star who jumps between big-budget Hollywood and ambitious indies, is said to give the performance of her career, with Downey not far behind. At a recent screening for reps who worked on the film and with the actors, the room exploded into a standing ovation as the final credits rolled. One who was there said, "A more jaded audience you cannot imagine. I have never seen such a thing in my life." This will be seen in November via Picturehouse.

Thanks .

That was a delicious read .

thanks so much for that wonderful article montage...
i can't wait to see fur...i hope she'll be nominated for an oscar...

"...dark, dazzling, like Alice in Wonderland" sounds amazing.
"...Performance of her career..."?! Oh my... better than in Dogville or Moulin Rouge? I can't wait for Fur.

I have just finisher reading Diane Arbus biography by Patricia Bosworth.
Amazing, dark, disturbing and complex character.

I can't wait to see this film. Thanks for sharing this.

Thanks for the article


Is the November tentative release date worldwide, I’m hope so!!!

what's that I hear? is that Oscar buzz? Boy, I certainly hope so, I can't wait to see this!

omg this sound fantastic. let's hope the reaction of critics and media will be as good as this when fur is finally released

WOO HOO! Can you hear Oscar? Yay!!! I've said it before and I'll say it again, I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THIS MOVIE!

My heart skipped about reading the comments. Oh I can hardly wait. I miss her in movies!!!

Wow wot a fantastic article I cant w8 2 c da film
Thanx Montage

~Viviana~

Good news, although I sort of knew the comments will be this good. Because they're about Nicole's performance ;) hehe.

Thanks for the article, very interesting to read it. Liz Smith as I remember well has been harsh a couple of times before, and I believe she writes gossip columns and everything. So it's good to see she's writing this comments on fur and Nicole.

Marie

WOW... that is some wrap. A standing ovation and how can Nicole get even better but she can! Thanks Montage

Thanks Montage!!! Oh I can not wait to see the movie! It sounds absolutely fantastic!!!

A standing ovation! Wow.. I'm soooo happy for her u know... She really deserves the best. Can't wait to watch it.. Thanks Montage!

From Liz' fingertips to God's ear. I know Nicole already has an Oscar to her credit and we will forever be able to call her "Academy Award winner" but I think she's a little overdue for some more love from the Academy, especially after her performances in Dogville and Birth were completely (and shamefully) overlooked. What other actor (female or male) is doing the complexity of work she does, is as daring, as willing to risk critical bludeoning over controversial choices, and displays the same range she does? Daniel Day-Lewis, perhaps (I finally saw Gangs of New York two weeks ago and am stunned that he didn't win an Oscar. Stunned.) - but, alas he hardly works.

BTW Ronnoco, Liz has - or claims to have - a friendship or rapport with Nicole; when I've seen write about Nicole, she's generally quite complimentary and even affectionate. She's a smart lady and knows who butters her bread.

Thanks Montage for great article

I FEEL THE SCENT OF AN OSCAR

WE CROSS THE FINGERS PEOPLE!!! AND WE HOLD READY FOR FEBRUARY 2007

after reading that, my excitement just went over the roof! i want to see it now! liz smith likes nic doesn't she? why are we being tortured like this? i really really really can't wait! i have high hopes for this but of course, we already know nic's going to be great as she always is

OMG OMG OMG!!

I want to see this NOW!

i can't either

Me too.

Oh Thanks!
Nic is great!!!

I can't wait to see the movie.

Thanks, Montage. I can’t wait either. Pray that Fur will be shown near where I live.

Alright, I found this on IMDB. Someone posted it saying it came from another blog site. Here are a couple of the responses:



http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=21...997582454971400

Thanks NicoleFan17 .

wicked.
thanks montage!!

In America, is it a brand for film marketing? Is it a way to supplement actor’s income?

I know RedSatinDoll, your statements are pure…





Not only Daniel Day-Lewis hopefully!

In my experience, most often than not when the Academy Award title is prominently used in trailers, the movie most likely won't live up to expectation.

So why do they continue doing it Skanky ?

They do it because they think using the title signifies quality, shows the prestige of the movie so people will go see it but in my movie going experience 3 out of 5 of movies advertised that way don't achieve top marks.

oOoOoO i cant wait to see it!

So, do you think they will do it for Fur ?

Thanks Nicolefan17. I know other bloggers (assuming they are not all anonymous studio hacks) had said they disliked the rough cut and found it boring and Arbus' character uninvolving. To each their own and we shall see, won't we? (I've come to distrust that anything I read posted on the internet is genuine anyway. It's too easy to use the anonymity of the 'net to create false "bloggers" and try to build a buzz for a film.) But - we can only hope.

Even if it is a great performance, the Academy seems adverse to handing out multiple statuettes to one person, preferring to spread the wealth. Or at least that's my perception of it.

I don't know, they might especially since it doesn't look like it will be a mainstream drama that will peak major interest like The Hours or Cold Mountain, if they want to increase the hype then they will. The have an AA winner (NK), 2 AA nominees (Downey Jnr and Jane Alexander), also Bill Pohlad, the producer of Brokeback Mountain.

I am just sooooo glad.
I have high hopes for this movie and I believe I won´t be disappointed (like I ever was from Nicole´s work )!!!!!!!!!!!!

I really hope in the future the Academy will appreciate Nicole´s work more appropriate. I mean I just can´t get over the fact, she wasn´t even nominated for Dogville!!
I mean the other movies like Birth, well I am not so sure wether that was or was not an oscar performace, but with Dogville. It screams from inside out OSCAR!
(By the way she should have been nominated for best supporting actress for The Human Stain, she was terrific in that one as well!!!!)

So, if they do it, we hope that this film is among of the 2 out of 5 movies advertised that way that achieve top marks!

Absolutely .

I recall Meryl Streep saying or quoted as saying (was it the DVD commentary?) that she had told Stephen Daldry that maybe "40" people would be interested in The Hours - and he was quite convinced it would do a bit better than that. So one never knows. (I thought Dogville deserved better, but ah well - and so did The Human Stain, and POAL and To Die For- and don't even get me started on The Others, and....the fact that Nicole has actually won ONE Oscar almost seems a fluke in hindsight.)

That's what I've been saying all along . It was as if they just realised that she has actually been doing great work in years and should be patted on the back so they decided to do it in 2002 and 2003, they've forgotten her again, they will be back in awhile to hype her to the high heavens soon *sigh*.

Okay... knowing almost nothing about the film industry, I have to ask a really stupid question. Is this something that will be in major theatres or am I going to have to go to the place downtown that shows the indie and not-so-mainstream stuff to see it... because I will see it... I'm rather intrigued.

Although whether she gets another Oscar is another matter; I think it is possible to be "too rich or too thin" metaphorically speaking, or too successful, or too old (when was the last time an actress over 40 won best actress? Nicole's a year away from that) at least as far as the Academy is concerned.

It will be released in limited -mid range theatres and then perhaps in more theatres if the buzz is good, reviews are good and people seem to go and see it. It will depend very much on the initial BO and accessibility, I think. Dogville was very limited (3 hours long, very hard movie to watch), Birth was mid range (a little more accessible than Dogville but still tough for mainstream audience), it will depend on how accessible the movie is to the audience.

You are telling me .
People say AMPAS loves her because she was nomed 2ce, she should be more than a double nominee, she should have gotten 2 if not 3 noms in the 90s for TDF, PoaL and EWS, if Laura Linney or Julianne Moore had been the actresses that played Alice in EWS, they would have been nominated. If it was Winslet in PoaL, she would have been nomed, they just decided not to give her any kudos.

People talked about her and Dogville for over 2 years even after Oscars came and went, people are still talking about that opera scene in Birth, that alone is enough for a nom.

Even the Independent Spirit Award don't care much for her work, it seem. Dogville and Birth seemed to have escaped them.

This is not about spreading wealth, it is about not giving someone her due in a specific year.

The same thing is happening to Blanchette who is always overwhelmingly praised for her work but come award season and they just forget her.

So, when I read people stating that AMPAS loves NK and that she is sure to be nominated, I tell them, "we'll see."

Why not ? but only a nominee because it seems their destiny for the AMPAS !



May be… but only a nominee because it also seems her destiny for the AMPAS !

That's what I'm sayingl, archer .

Thanks for the Geat news I cannot wait until this amazing movie comes out!!!

i really wonder why she's not getting enough love from the ampas or the sag awards or the critics choice and even the independent spirit awards. she's been doing mainstream and indies for quite a while now and absolutely deserves recognition. in fact, last night i was reading an article where charlize theron was given a special award for the films that she made (indies were mentioned especially monster, a movie which i personally think is waay overrated. as a whole, it wasn't great and charlize's performance was superb but less believable than naomi watts in 21 grams in my personal opinion). shouldn't nicole have gotten that? here she is with a handful of indie films that were extremely challenging and they give that special award to someone who did one indie film that was given all the hype. frankly, i've gotten tired of these award shows. i'm looking forward to fur and i absolutely trust nic's performance. unfortunately, i can't say the same from those award giving bodies.

Well when it comes to the critics choice, she has done pretty good there. They even nominated her for Cold Mountain(as we all know, the Academy snubbed her).

And to tell you guys the truth, I honestly never get why people are so shocked to see that she didn't get nominated for Dogville or Birth(even though she is amazing in both). The subject matter in both are both considered taboo(a film that is widely seen as anti-american, and a movie which involves a love story with a young boy). The Academy has opened up a wee bit(they are more open to gay-friendly films such as Brokeback Mountain) but there are still some things that the Academy remain too stiff and boring on.

And regarding Fur, I honestly think she's getting nominated seeing as the subject matter is not as hard to swallow(and it's a biopic for christ's sake...baity as you can get). And regarding her 'age' I see why some think that there is a new wave of 'younger' people winning and such but the actresses who are said to have lost because of their 'age' are all over 45(at least in the lead actress cat. in the last few years when the 'younger' crowd started showing up) so seeing as Kidman is only 39, I honestly don't see it as that much of a stretch for her winning again. People like Jessica Lange, and(I may well be wrong on this) Meryl Streep won their 2nd oscars either in their early 40's or late 30's. It's not impossible or anything, lol.

Nicolefan17, Fur is not a biopic, it is an imaginary tale on Diane Arbus, it is not telling the whole story of Diane Arbus per se, they've created a whole other dimension to it. And from all that has been written about it, it seems to be more similar to her more quirky and darker work than traditional biopics, people who have seen it consider it to be something AMPAS doesn't usually go for.