Miami-bred Perez Hilton and Miami-based Matt Drudge have an awful lot in common. Both have built mini-media empires around self-published web pages. Both, for better or worse, influence the coverage of mainstream media. Neither has made a convincing public case for their heterosexuality (not that it's any of our business, Matt). And now, both seem like they can't stand the sight of Nicole Kidman's shiny little face.
Hilton's big story right now is the surprise Heidi and Spencer nuptials, and Drudge is more concerned about a Russian analyst who thinks the USA is going to implode, so they rarely find themselves covering the same beat. But both found time to publish a link to , some random British columnist who pens a couple hundred words about how much she hates Nicole Kidman and how she's just no good in her upcoming flick, Australia (though it's not clear if the columnist has actually seen the film).
Nicole and I, unlike Matty and Perez, have little in common besides a
shared birthday, but allow me to come to her defense. The majority of
the reviews so far collected on Metacritic don't have a bad thing to
say about her performance. The Hollywood Reporter calls it "one of her most engaging performances." Reid goes to great lengths arguing that woman hate Kidman and her sucess stems from all of her male directors wanting to bone her. Uh, okay, but it should be noted that review was written by a woman.
Sure, sometimes we squirm at Kidman's mainstream work (Uh, what the hell was Bewitched, anyway?), but her roles in indie flicks pay off. She has been undeniably great in Margot and the Wedding, The Hours, and To Die For. She stole the show in Dogville,
one of the most adventurous films to star an A-list cast in years. And
besides her recent string of mainstream bombs, she has helmed box office
hits such as Moulin Rouge and The Others. She is not the most versatile actress, but in the right roles, she is magnicifent, and unlike other A-listers, often forgoes the $20 million paycheck to work on films with artistic merit. So excuse me, Matt and Perez (and this random columnist), but we don't get the Kidman hate.
