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Nicole Kidman Refused to Be Racist

Nicole KidmanNicole Kidman refused to say "the N word" on the set of The Paperboy.

The movie has proved controversial because of a scene where Nicole's character urinates on another, but when it came to making a racist remark, she outright refused. Director Lee Daniels told UsMagazine.com, "I asked her to use the 'N' word. I could feel the racial tension there in the town. She said, 'I won't do it.' I told my producer, 'She won't do it!' Then he mapped it out - 'Lee, day one she is on a washing machine, day two she is urinating on Zac Efron, day three she's having telepathic sex... I think you can forgive her."

Nicole plays a woman obsessed with marrying a death row inmate in The Paperboy and she said it "didn't feel right" to use the racially-offensive word. Of her refusal to make the requested remark, she explained, "I just didn't feel it was right for the character. I have a son [Connor] who is African American. I just didn't feel like it was right. What I try to do as an actor is fulfill a director's vision. I have opinions, but at the same time I'm not there to stop him from anything. I've really tried to do that in every film. I never want to pull them off their vision."

The Paperboy also stars Zac and Matthew McConaughey as brothers investigating the case of the inmate who Nicole's character is set on marrying.


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2010 Academy Award Nominations

Academy Award nominations 2010

After the list of nominees were announced this morning, two movies rose to the top of the pack. Avatar and The Hurt Locker - helmed respectively by James Cameron and Kathryn Bigelow - both lead the field with nine nominations each. Thankfully, the formerly married directors still get along.

Even though this will be the first time since 1943 (when Casablanca won) that ten films will go up for Best Film, this year’s list only revealed a handful of surprises. Those who have been following other ceremonies during this awards season saw very little changes in the acting categories.

Here are some of the noteworthy mentions/omissions from today’s nominations:

  • Many had hoped The Hangover, Star Trek and/or (500) Days of Summer would go up for Best Picture. Many were left disappointed.
  • Is this the first time Daniel Day-Lewis wasn’t nominated for simply breathing?
  • Acting queen is up now up for her sweet 16th nomination for her role in Julie & Julia. (I believe I will one day see her 20th.)
  • Speaking of leading women, there will be three newcomers going up against vets Streep and (The Last Station): Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side), Carey Mulligan (An Education) and Gabourey Sidibe (Precious)—someone who wasn’t even an actress to begin with!
  • Disney/Pixar’s will be double-dipping it this year. The feature has been nominated in both the Best Film and Best Animated Film categories.

Click to continue reading 2010 Academy Award Nominations

Read More | Oscars

Box Office Breakdown: New Moon Covers Its Blind Side

New Moon

What looked like a possible upset early in the game ended in another win for . Although the film pulled in another $42.9 million over the holiday weekend, the Twilight sequel dropped approximately 70% from its first frame and escaped second place by a mere $2.8 million.

The vampires were given a run for their box office dollars by The Blind Side, the sports drama starring Sandra Bullock. Unlike Moon, the heartwarming film actually saw improvement in its second week. The entry also managed to hold off the Chris Weitz-helmed project on Thanksgiving Day.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: New Moon Covers Its Blind Side

Read More | Variety

Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

New Moon

After months of endless promotion, finally opened this weekend to monster-sized numbers. But how exactly did the film compare to the other theatrical giants?

  1. Despite earning over $142 million since midnight Thursday, the adaptation’s debut still falls behind The Dark Knight ($158.4) and Spider-Man 3 ($151.1 million).
  2. The sequel did, though, beat Knight for the best first day open ($72.7 compared to $67.2 million).
  3. It had the largest midnight opening ($26.3 million) to date. (Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince grossed $22.2 million.)
  4. Moon also topped Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire‘s 2005 November debut ($102.7 million).

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: A Bloody Good Debut for New Moon

Read More | Variety

In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009

The Blind Side

Here are a few selections in theaters this weekend:

  • The Blind Side (PG-13): starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron (directed by John Lee Hancock)
  • New Moon (PG-13): starring Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner (directed by Chris Weitz)
  • Planet 51 (PG): starring Dwayne Johnson, Seann William Scott, Jessica Biel (directed by Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad)

Click to continue reading In Theaters This Weekend: November 20, 2009


Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Disney's A Christmas Carol

We’re still weeks away from Thanksgiving, but theatergoers already have Christmas on their minds.

, the umpteenth version of the Charles Dickens tale, brought the story back to life with a visual rendition. Robert Zemeckis’ latest holiday creation earned over $30 million, surpassing Polar Express’ open by $7 million. Although the Jim Carrey film didn’t come close to its reported $180 million budget, Carol still has weeks to go before Avatar takes over 3D screens.

Meanwhile, a film with no bells or whistles made an impact just outside the Top 10. , Sundance’s Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize winner, broke a record while in limited release. The 12th place entry averaged a whopping $104,025 this weekend over only 18 theaters. That’s the largest per screen average for any film opening in more than 10 locations.

Click to continue reading Box Office Breakdown: Christmas Carol Wins, Precious Soars

Read More | Variety

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