S01.E04: Brave New World

[Zonk]

11 hours ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I’m relieved her accent doesn’t bother me at all.  The only kind that annoy me to no end are the fake southern accents you see occasionally.  Omg. Most non-southerners over do it on the twang.   I couldn’t watch Kyra Sedgwick in The Closer due to that.  

Okay, for reference: Think The Closer, but about ten times worse. That is how bad Kidman's ruassian accent is.

1 hour ago, JasonCC said:

I'm a man pushing 50, but I think what is tough in this industry is people will compare you to how you used to look. Kidman looks great but does she look like 90s Kidman? No. If she was a new actress seeking roles for fortysomething characters I don't think we'd even comment (aside from her shitty Russian accent and bad wig). However, because we all have a soft spot for "Far & Away" era Kidman we judge her face based on that. She doesn't look like that anymore. She also doesn't look like our 54 yr old coworker. 

I'm not even sure I've ever watched a movie with her in it and only now know how she looked like from the foto in this thread and already thought she overdid it with the plastic surgery before I had seen that.

But I think a lot of women and some men in Hollywood do.

Anywho, that's the last I'll say about that topic. It's really not that important.

1 hour ago, JasonCC said:

I think all the acting is top notch in this. Kidman gets extra scrutiny because she is a holdover of the Big! Movie! Star! days. I think with streaming and international markets that unique hierarchy is in decline.

Nah, her accent is just horrible and drags the whole performance down.  I think she is trying with all her might to maintain it and has no resources left for anything else. They should have just made her an australian and this would be a lot better.

 

[chocolatine]

1 minute ago, Zonk said:

Okay, for reference: Think The Closer, but about ten times worse. That is how bad Kidman's ruassian accent is.

I haven't seen The Closer, but I cosign on Nicole's Russian accent being really, really bad. Russian is my first language, and I cringe every time she opens her mouth. I've known many Russian expats (being one myself), and while everyone's accents vary widely, *nobody* speaks like that.

[SunnyBeBe]

I regret that Nicole may not shine in this role for some.  I’m a huge fan, so perhaps my view is biased.  Before writing her off, check her out in The Hours where she plays the character of Virginia Woolf.  And, a convicted murderer, based on true story, in To Die For. Both standout performances.  
 

 

[dmc]

25 minutes ago, chocolatine said:

I don't know. I have a hard time differentiating flirting from sarcasm, which is probably why I'm single. 😀

You could still be right though because there are some people who have a flirtatious vibe with their friends.  I think there’s a connection there but it doesn’t necessarily mean that connection happens to be romantic.   
 

In my opinion this highlights where the show his gone wrong and I basically like it on the whole.  But the show tries and fails at is being mysterious.  That’s also to me the pitfall of Nicole Kidman’s character she’s failing at being mysterious. I think we’re supposed to wonder about her and I don’t.

Edited August 29, 2021 by dmc

[chocolatine]

44 minutes ago, SunnyBeBe said:

I regret that Nicole may not shine in this role for some.  I’m a huge fan, so perhaps my view is biased.  Before writing her off, check her out in The Hours where she plays the character of Virginia Woolf.  And, a convicted murderer, based on true story, in To Die For. Both standout performances. 

I think this is precisely why many people are so put off by her performance on this show - we know she can do much better.

[Ms Blue Jay]

For some people, needless and excessive plastic surgery is incredibly distracting.  Instead of concentrating on the actors, we're horrified that their faces no longer move naturally or look human anymore.  Sure, call it 'shaming', whatever, but it's distracting.  We could say the same if somebody got a face tattoo.  It would be distracting and it would take us out of the show.  We want to fall into the show and be wrapped up in the plot, not constantly think about an actor's face.

Pete Davidson for example is paying to have his tattoos removed so he can be a more convincing and hireable actor.  Nicole could do something similar by laying off the excessive Botox.  It's just so much.

Edited August 30, 2021 by Ms Blue Jay

[mostlylurking]

I was kind of excited when I saw two pages of comments for this episode but now I see most of them are about Nicole Kidman’s appearance. Heh. Well, I’ll add my two cents. Yes, she’s been botoxed to within an inch of her life. But it’s not quite fair to compare her today to what she looked 20+ years ago. I mean, most people look different. Her Russian accent bothers me more than anything. It’s god awful. She does a really good “American” accent. Or you know, just let her be Australian?  

On to the episode, two thoughts:

1.  Jessica is not being dosed.  She just wanted to be so badly that now she’s having a placebo effect. I think Yao lied about spiking her smoothie. 
2.  At first I thought the young girl (can’t remember her name) was saying she wasn’t close to her brother as a defense mechanism, but now I’m thinking that they really were not close and maybe she feels guilty about that.  

 

[Johnny Dollar]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:32 AM, RealReality said:

I can't understand the rush to cast her in every role that calls for a willowy woman of a certain age.  

Every one of her recent roles seems to call for a character who is very enigmatic. With the way her face doesn’t move anymore, she can’t help but appear enigmatic!

I read that Nicole stayed completely in character at all times on set. Since Melissa seems to be the type to keep things loose, I wonder how that went over with the others?  

[RealReality]

41 minutes ago, Johnny Dollar said:

Every one of her recent roles seems to call for a character who is very enigmatic. With the way her face doesn’t move anymore, she can’t help but appear enigmatic!

I read that Nicole stayed completely in character at all times on set. Since Melissa seems to be the type to keep things loose, I wonder how that went over with the others?  

Really?  

So is the intermittent accent a conscious decision?  Inquiring minds!

[Roxie]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:32 AM, RealReality said:

I can't understand the rush to cast her in every role that calls for a willowy woman of a certain age.  

I’ve been thinking this exact thing. 

[ElsbethTascioni]

Her accent doesn't bother me at all. Maybe I'm looking at it as someone whose first language isn't English, and also surrounded by people whose first language isn't English, but have all lived for decades in the US. Sometimes our accents are stronger than other times. Sometimes we don't have an accent at all. Sometimes we can say an entire paragraph of words, and only one ends up with an accent, or only some end up without accents. 

[IslandGirl]

On 8/29/2021 at 9:08 AM, dmc said:

I meant maybe the character is bisexual.  I don’t know anything about the actor.  But I would agree chemistry doesn’t need to be romantic.  But I think there is a vibe there.  Zoe says it herself…when she says what would (insert his partner’s name because I forget it) have to say about that.  It was very much a flirtation 

Lars also made a comment about how attractive Jessica is. Sure he's mostly gay, but I think he can't help but be turned on a bit by what he considers a good looking woman...

[Cinnabon]

22 minutes ago, IslandGirl said:

Lars also made a comment about how attractive Jessica is. Sure he's mostly gay, but I think he can't help but be turned on a bit by what he considers a good looking woman...

Sometimes heterosexual men comment on how good looking other men are. Does that mean they must be turned on by them?

[MicheleinPhilly]

On 8/27/2021 at 12:13 PM, Nellise said:

She's an executive producer on the last few series she's done so I'm guessing she's choosing these for herself mostly.

BINGO. She's also been optioning the books these series are based on precisely for the purpose of developing into series. 

I remember hearing that she had optioned this novel before it was even published (I believe she and Liane are friends). I don't think I knew that she intended to play Masha though. 

I'd like them to dig more into the psyches of each of the guests as individuals because for me, what I've seen thus far from Melissa, Bobby, Michael, and Regina have been the highlights. I'm more interested in learning about them and their issues than the "intrigue" of Masha. 

[IslandGirl]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:10 PM, Cinnabon said:

Sometimes heterosexual men comment on how good looking other men are. Does that mean they must be turned on by them?

No of course not! I wasn't making a general statement, just an observation about Lars as an individual; I get a bicurious vibe from his character.  When Delilah quipped about coming to his room with a rolled up newspaper for some puppy training, he also made a comment about how tempting that was. I know he's gay, but I think he's a bit attracted to women too. Just my opinion, & not any kind of sweeping generalization... 🙂

 

Edited September 10, 2021 by IslandGirl

[SoWindsor]

Woah so many comments that have nothing to do with the episode!!

I am enjoying this show a lot. I like Nicole Kidman in it. Bobby Cannavale was incredible in that scene!