Best Actress: Nicole Kidman

Before we dive into Queen Nicole Kidman's performance (my favourite modern actress by a longshot), can we talk about how absolutely golden the trio of Nicole, Meryl Streep and Julianne Moore headlining a movie is? 

via rhera

I mean, god damn. You know you're about to watch excellence in The Hours just because it's Nicole, Meryl and Julianne. They all have leading actress Oscars now, by the way.

The Hours is divided into three stories: Virginia Woolf, played by Nicole, is depressed and working on Mrs. Dalloway in 1923; Laura Brown, played by Julianne Moore (who scored a Best Supporting Actress nomination for this performance), is a depressed and detatched housewife in 1951; and Clarissa Vaughn, played by Meryl Streep, is an artist and caretaker for her best friend Richard, played by Ed Harris, who's slowly dying of AIDS in 2001. Laura and Clarissa are connected to Mrs. Dalloway in some fashion, while Virginia's timeline shows her working on the novel and living in Richmond under the watchful and claustrophobic eyes of her husband, her household staff, and her visiting sister.

Each segment is poignant and depressing with standout acting and emotionally resonant scenes. For Nicole, her biggest scene is at the train station when she's screaming at her husband about how she doesn't want to live in a quiet little town, living a life she doesn't recognize as her own. It's devastating to hear her beg for freedom and to know Virginia's ultimate fate. 

The Hours is perfect from beginning to end, totally absorbing with knock-out performances from the trio of main actresses to the supporting cast, anchored by Ed Harris (who garnered a Best Supporting Actor nomination), and bolstered by John C. Reilly, Jeff Daniels (in a scene-stealing role), Claire Danes, Allison Janney, Miranda Richardson and Stephen Dillane.

Finally, I just want to talk some more about my love for Nicole Kidman. She's fearless and brave and such a chameleonic actress. I will literally watch her in anything, from prestige films (Birth) to dogshit movies (the only good thing in Grace of Monaco). 

I've been a fan since Moulin Rouge! came out when I was in Grade 7 and that film had a chokehold on me. I love her so much for making so many types of film, for her fashion sense, for the way she carries herself as a star, and I hope she someday wakes up with more than one Oscar in her tropy case because it's a crime she's never won a second (or third, or fourth...).

If you want a few Nicole Kidman recommendations, here are some of my absolute favourites: Moulin Rouge!, To Die For, The Hours, Margot at the Wedding, Birth, The Others, Rabbit Hole, Lion, Being the Ricardos, Babygirl... 

Nicole was nominated against Salma Hayek (Frida), Diane Lane (Unfaithful), Julianne Moore (Far From Heaven), and Renee Zellweger (Chicago). This is a goated line-up of actresses and performances; I've seen them all, I love them all! 

Julianne Moore and Renee Zellweger shouldn't have needed to wait a decade or so after this year to get their own Best Actress statuettes (Renee would win Best Supporting Actress in 2003, ironically for a film co-starring Nicole). Salma and Diane should have Oscars by now. 

But, I have to give it to Nicole. Honestly, she should have a cabinet full of Oscars. She should get an Oscar every year just because. She should get an Oscar just for showing up in couture and jewellery she can't clap in. She should be the Queen of Oscars.

DID I LIKE THE HOURS? 
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Did you like The Hours? What are your thoughts on Nicole Kidman's Oscar win? 

Keep up with all my Rewatching the Best Actresses posts here.