The Big Picture: The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’

Published 2025-01-08; 2:39:37 by the feed.

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

The extraction calls the show “The Big Picture (The Ringer)” and the episode “The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and 'Babygirl'”.

Hosts: Sean Fennessey, Amanda Dobbins. Guests: Halina Reijn.

Subject films: Babygirl (2024).

On the transcript: No speaker labels and the two hosts overlap heavily, so host attributions inside the Hall of Fame draft are mostly 'unknown' (Amanda's husband Zach, son Knox and the 17-in-2001 line identify her; Sean is the interviewer in the Halina Reijn segment). Producer Bobby Wagner is addressed from the control room; Chris Ryan is mentioned several times but does not appear.

Films that came up

Claims (136)

theme (theme): Babygirl → Hedda Gabler. A speaker reads the movie's edges as Hedda Gabler-style constructs (transcript garbled).
“the further you get to the sides of some of the head of gabbler constructs, some of the robot concepts.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:03:29 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Babygirl → Basic Instinct. Babygirl is divisive because it borrows the erotic-thriller look but is not Basic Instinct.
“One of the reasons why I think it's so divisive is, this is not basic instinct.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:05:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Babygirl → Fatal Attraction. Babygirl has no murder and no killer; the stakes are a career, unlike Fatal Attraction.
“You know, this is not fatal attraction.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:05:14 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Babygirl → Basic Instinct. No Sharon Stone throat-slashing here; the thriller stakes are only a fall from power.
“there's no Sharon Stone slashing someone's throat.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:05:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Babygirl → Fatal Attraction. It lacks even the mania of the bunny-boiler Glenn Close film.
“It doesn't even have the mania of like the rabbit with Clint close.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:05:42 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Harris Dickinson → Beach Rats. Dickinson's run is Beach Rats, Triangle of Sadness, The Iron Claw, the A24 tall British boys.
“Star Beach Rats, Star Triangle of Sadness, Star of the Iron Claw.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:09:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.55 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Babygirl → The Substance. Same year as The Substance; both are women-made films confronting an actress's aging, one literal, one metaphorical.
“it's an interesting time for this movie to come along in the same year as the substance where that movie makes the metaphorical literal.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:18:51 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Babygirl → Eyes Wide Shut. The stoned late-night bedroom lecture after the rave echoes Eyes Wide Shut.
“Nice callback to eyes wide shut and lecturing Tom Cruise in the bedroom while stoned out of their minds.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:24:49 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Babygirl → Secretary. The film that Babygirl is most often compared to.
“The movie that I've seen this movie compared to quite often is Secretary, have you seen Secretary?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:29:26 · Amanda Dobbins (0.55 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Babygirl → Secretary. A wide shot in the motel scene immediately recalls Secretary.
“There is like a, like a beautiful wide shot that you immediately do think of secretary.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:29:33 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): Harris Dickinson → Paul Mescal. Dickinson's chain in Babygirl is likened to Paul Mescal's chain in Normal People as a meme object.
“Harris Dickinson's chain is like the new Paul Mescal normal people chain.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:30:56 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Babygirl → INXS. A needle drop, 'Never Tear Us Apart', lands when the affair starts hitting hard; Reijn later calls it a song from Kidman's character's generation.
“In excess never tear us apart. I think is the song that hits when their affair starts really hitting hard.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:31:25 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Babygirl → Robyn. 'Dancing on My Own' is a much-used song that still feels appropriate in Babygirl.
“Robin's dancing on my own, which has been used quite often in the last 10 years.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:31:31 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
industry (industry): A24 → Civil War. A24's year: hit lots of doubles and a home run with Civil War, then Heretic, We Live in Time, Babygirl, The Brutalist.
“They had a home run with Civil War, but, you know, you had, we live in time, we had heretic, now this movie, then the brutalist,”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:36:32 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Babygirl → We Live in Time. A24 is finding female audiences: We Live in Time was huge with women and Babygirl would be too.
“You know, we live in time was huge with female moviegoers in this movie, obviously, would be true.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:36:48 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
career (career): Nicole Kidman → Destroyer. She is one of the only female stars who works hard to work with female directors.
“She's one of the only female stars that works hard to work with female directors.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:38:12 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Nicole Kidman → The Golden Compass. Kidman dots her ambitious work with supporting parts in popcorn movies like The Golden Compass and Aquaman.
“And then she tends to dot it with, I think, pretty smart supporting work in popcorn movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:38:30 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Nicole Kidman → Meg Ryan. Too beautiful in her 20s to be cast as the Meg Ryan rom-com lead, she took girlfriend parts instead.
“But she's almost like too beautiful in her 20s to be cast as Meg Ryan.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:40:59 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Dogville → Nine Perfect Strangers. Her range: comfortable in a Lars von Trier film and in a glossy streaming series.
“just as comfortable in Dogville as she is in, um, 9 perfect strangers.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:41:37 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Nicole Kidman → Tom Cruise. Unlike her ex-husband, who has stuck tightly to one thing, Kidman does not stay in her lane.
“I mean, her ex-husband is sort of like in the last 15 years has been like, I'm good at running and being serious and executing missions and is stuck pretty tightly to that.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:42:00 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Nicole Kidman → Meryl Streep. Because she makes up to five films a year, Kidman is not a rare object like Brad Pitt or Meryl Streep.
“So she doesn't hold that same level of, 0 my gosh, Brad Pitt is at the party or 0 my goodness, it's Meryl Streeper.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:43:40 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Nicole Kidman → AMC theaters ad campaign. The AMC spot changed public understanding of her, making her an ambassador of movies.
“And as an ambassador of movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:45:56 · unknown (0.20 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Nicole Kidman → Jennifer Lopez. Jennifer Lopez longs for Kidman's stature as an elevated celebrity who is also celebrated as an artist.
“That's the thing is when you see Jennifer Lopez longing, what she really longs for is Nicole Kidman's stature.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:49:16 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): Dead Calm → Phillip Noyce. A small thriller directed by Phillip Noyce with Sam Neill and Billy Zane, her big breakthrough performance.
“This is her big breakthrough performance in a very small thriller, directed by Philip Noyes, co-starring Sam Neil and Billy Zane.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:56:05 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
people (people): Dead Calm → Titanic. Billy Zane's madman on the water is framed as preparation for Titanic.
“Sort of sort of preparing for his role in Titanic.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:56:19 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Days of Thunder → Tom Cruise. Days of Thunder kicks off her relationship with Tom Cruise but is not a Hall of Fame movie.
“obviously it kicks off her relationship with Tom, but for her, I don't think it's a Hall of Fame movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:57:37 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Flirting → Nicole Kidman. A pretty good movie that still lands red.
“I think flirting is going to be red, but it is a pretty good movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:58:16 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Billy Bathgate → Nicole Kidman. Too long, overstuffed and not very good: red.
“it is way too long and overstuffed and not very good.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:58:37 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Far and Away → Nicole Kidman. Not that good; both leads miscast.
“This movie's not that good.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:59:04 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Far and Away → Tom Cruise. The land-race finale shows extraordinary production value and shades of future Tom Cruise.
“At the end, he just, he rides the horse, you know, shades of future Tom Cruise.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:59:32 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Malice → Aaron Sorkin. Malice has a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.
“Uh, 1993's malice with a screenplay by Aaron Sorkin.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:00:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Malice → Days of Thunder. Malice subverts expectations: more going on than being the doctor in the NASCAR movie.
“Um, than just being the doctor in the, you know, NASCAR movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:00:55 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Batman Forever → Nicole Kidman. Important to her visibility as a star, but no performance anyone cares about: red.
“Batman Forever, I think important to her visibility as an as a movie star, but I don't think it's a really a performance anyone cares about, right?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:02:46 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): To Die For → Nicole Kidman. The speaker's favorite Kidman movie and the first hard green.
“This is my favorite Nicole Kidman movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:03:25 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): To Die For → Gus Van Sant. A Gus Van Sant satire of a real-life story with great Phoenix, Dillon and Douglas performances.
“It's a Gus Van Zandt. Satire, I guess, about a real life story”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:03:30 · unknown (0.20 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Portrait of a Lady → Jane Campion. One of Campion's worst movies, not going in.
“I think it's one of Campion's worst movies personally, and I'm a big fan of her movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:05:45 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Peacemaker → George Clooney. They wish someone would make a million Peacemakers, but it is not going in.
“I wish they would make a 1000000 peacemakers right now, you know?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:06:17 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Practical Magic → Hocus Pocus. Practical Magic is described as a slightly more grown-up Hocus Pocus.
“it's like slightly more grown up Hocus Pocus.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:07:06 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Practical Magic → Nicole Kidman. One of her most beloved movies; first yellow, later one of three final picks.
“I think this is among her most beloved movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:07:19 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Eyes Wide Shut → Stanley Kubrick. A masterpiece, Kubrick's Christmas movie, and an automatic Hall of Fame inclusion.
“Obviously, a masterpiece, Stanley Kubrick's Christmas movie”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:07:44 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Eyes Wide Shut → Tom Cruise. A complicated movie for Cruise and Kidman, tied to their relationship and the last thing Kubrick made.
“the last thing that Kubrick made.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:08:22 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Eyes Wide Shut → Babygirl. Kidman's Eyes Wide Shut work reads as an early beginning of the capstone that is Babygirl; the two films are in conversation.
“a nice little beginning of the capstone to baby girl.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:08:56 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Moulin Rouge! → Wicked. Moulin Rouge plays for a huge number of people the way Wicked plays for the speaker.
“I'm aware that this plays like Wicked played to me for a huge number of people.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:09:57 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Moulin Rouge! → Nicole Kidman. Going in because of box office, awards and new audience despite one host's hatred.
“It's definitely going in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:10:36 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Moulin Rouge! → Nicole Kidman. Arguably the most important movie of her career: original, singing, awards, box office.
“Yeah, it's a huge, huge movie, arguably the most important movie in her career, right?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:11:34 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): The Others → Alejandro Amenabar. A ghost story directed by Amenabar (transcribed 'menu bars').
“Alejandro menu bars, ghost story.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:11:59 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Others → Nicole Kidman. Going in; a beautiful, stately ghost story with a great in-theater twist.
“Insane twist, like one of the great in theater twist.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:12:22 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Others → The Sixth Sense. The Others arrived on the heels of The Sixth Sense and the two are paired in many ways.
“Coming hot on the heels of the 6th sense is these 2 movies are sort of paired in many ways.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:12:26 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): The Others → Moulin Rouge!. Same year, polar opposites: the restrained ghost story against the Moulin Rouge excess shows her range.
“The exact polar opposite of Moulin Rouge, and the fact that they happen in the same year shows like her incredible.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:12:45 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Birthday Girl → Nicole Kidman. Not a success, and more like her later career.
“Birthday Girl was not a success.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:13:30 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Hours → Mrs. Dalloway. The Hours is a nesting-doll take on Mrs. Dalloway, with Kidman as Virginia Woolf in one of three timelines.
“It's like a nesting doll take on Mrs. Dalloway, the Virginia Wolf novel.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:13:51 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Hours → Nicole Kidman. Won her Oscar but yellowed; she is not a fan of the film.
“So I guess we have to put it in, but do I want to put it in?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:14:23 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
industry (industry): The Hours → Moulin Rouge!. Her Oscar for The Hours is read as making up for passing her over for Moulin Rouge and The Others.
“I think it is a little bit of a like, whoops, we should have given it to her for Moulin Rouge and the others in a collective way and did not do that.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:14:31 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Dogville → Nicole Kidman. Debatable; the start of her really taking chances. Yellow.
“I think it's debatable whether or not it should go in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:14:58 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Dogville → Manderlay. Kidman did not return for the Dogville continuation Manderlay; the role was recast.
“She did not return for the continuation of this manderlay.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:15:10 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Human Stain → Nicole Kidman. Really bad; Anthony Hopkins as Anatole Broyard was a mistake.
“He is notably played by Anthony Hopkins in this movie, which I would say is a mistake.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:16:04 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Cold Mountain → The Talented Mr. Ripley. Minghella's Cold Mountain follows The Talented Mr. Ripley, which followed The English Patient.
“Anthony Mingella's follow-up to the talented Mr. Ripley.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:16:16 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Cold Mountain → Nicole Kidman. She had the thankless part, with no Oscar nomination; out.
“Nicole Kimman has sort of the thankless part.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:16:28 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Stepford Wives → Nicole Kidman. Kidman is good but the remake is not as good as the original.
“Like the movie is not good and not as good as the original.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:17:36 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Birth → Jonathan Glazer. Birth is the speaker's favorite Glazer film and one of the best of the century.
“This is one of the best films of the century.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:17:54 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Birth → Nicole Kidman. Her controlled unraveling here, with no effort to be liked, is the signature Kidman thing.
“Like that is the Nicole Kidman thing is that she's not like ever trying to make it prettier or make you like her.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:19:10 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Birth → Margot at the Wedding. Both are streaming on the Criterion Channel in a Kidman collection.
“I know Margo at the wedding is also on criterion right now, along with some others.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:19:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Interpreter → Peacemaker. The Interpreter is another Peacemaker-style generic international thriller starring movie stars.
“This is another peacemaker thing, you know?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:20:11 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Bewitched → Persona. Ephron's blurring of the actress and the real witch is persona-esque.
“this blurring of the Isabel Bigelow actress character and Samantha the real witch”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:21:50 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
people (people): Bewitched → Nora Ephron. Ephron knows the industry well, so the Hollywood backlot material is the good part.
“is like very good because Nora Efron knows it so well and it's like filmed in LA.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:22:10 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Happy Feet → Prince. Prince's 'Kiss' in the opening minutes of Happy Feet is how the speaker first realized Prince was cool.
“I think that this might actually be the 1st time that I realized Prince was cool was because they sing Kiss in the opening like 5 minutes of this movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:23:41 · Sean Fennessey (0.60 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Happy Feet → March of the Penguins. Released alongside March of the Penguins, which the speaker found less fun than the animated dancing penguins.
“This came out like concurrently with March of the Penguins, which was like a documentary about Emperor Penguins.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:24:03 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Invasion → Invasion of the Body Snatchers. It is a Body Snatchers remake, and that story always feels resonant.
“This is an invasion of the Body Snatchers remake directed by Oliver Hirschpiegel who directed Downfall, the film about Hitler.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:24:20 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Margot at the Wedding → Nicole Kidman. Unpleasant, expertly done, and green.
“It is expertly done and knows exactly what it's trying to be unpleasant.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:25:06 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Margot at the Wedding → The Squid and the Whale. Baumbach's follow-up to The Squid and the Whale.
“I think it's his follow-up to the squid and the whale.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:25:12 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Margot at the Wedding → Hard Truths. Margot at the Wedding pairs neatly with Hard Truths in its refusal to make a nasty character likable.
“you know what it is really a neat little pairing with is hard truths, which have you seen that yet?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:25:35 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Margot at the Wedding → Rachel Getting Married. A run of films about actresses being awful at small family weddings; Kidman goes further than Hathaway's Rachel Getting Married character.
“But so there was like the this era of actresses you like being really awful at small family weddings.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:26:07 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Golden Compass → His Dark Materials. The film adapts Philip Pullman's series, which was adapted for TV as His Dark Materials.
“The series is called the His Dark Materials.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:27:59 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): The Golden Compass → The Invasion. Daniel Craig appears in both The Invasion and The Golden Compass in the same year.
“In the same year, Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman made a movie together.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:28:24 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Australia → Faraway Downs. The extended four-hour series cut of Australia is Faraway Downs.
“I just watched in its entirety, the extended version of this movie, which is called Faraway Downs.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:28:31 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Australia → Strictly Ballroom. Speaker loves Baz Luhrmann's first two, Strictly Ballroom and Romeo + Juliet, and nothing since.
“I really love the 1st 2 Baz Lorman movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:29:04 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
career (career): Rabbit Hole → Hedwig and the Angry Inch. Mitchell's follow-up to Hedwig (with Shortbus possibly in between).
“directed by John Cameron Mitchell, which I think is his follow-up to Hedwig.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:29:53 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Rabbit Hole → Nicole Kidman. One of the best things she has done; yellow.
“I would say we should at least yellow it because it's damn good.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:30:18 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Just Go with It → Adam Sandler. Sandler takes his friends to a beautiful destination; compared with Zohan and Murder Mystery.
“Adam Sandler takes all of his friends to a beautiful destination for an extended period of time films.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:30:36 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Just Go with It → Murder Mystery. The first Murder Mystery is the favorite of the Adam Sandler vacation films.
“I liked the 1st murder mystery.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:31:05 · unknown (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Paperboy → Nicole Kidman. One of the funniest performances; incredibly brave, weird movie.
“I think this is one of the funniest performances.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:31:44 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Moulin Rouge! → The Paperboy. For viewers who like camp Kidman, The Paperboy gives a different version than the Moulin Rouge kind.
“I don't want the Lumon Rouge version.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:31:49 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Stoker → Park Chan-wook. Stoker is Park Chan-wook's only English-language film, with Kidman in the lead.
“I think this is his only English language film.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:32:25 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Stoker → Nicole Kidman. Loved on release, ignored; yellowed to come back to it.
“I loved it when it came out.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:32:38 · unknown (0.20 sure it was them)
career (career): Stoker → Nicole Kidman. After Stoker she enters a real movie dead zone.
“She also goes into like real movie dead zone after this movie where there's a bunch of stuff that just doesn't work or doesn't hit or isn't good.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:32:48 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Grace of Monaco → Jackie. Same project as Pablo Larrain's Jackie but with less craft.
“But this is also sort of like the Pablo Lorraine project like before Jackie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:33:47 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Grace of Monaco → La Vie en Rose. Director Olivier Dahan made La Vie en Rose, so it should have been good.
“Olivier Dahan, I think, is the filmmaker who made La Vian Rose.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:33:53 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Grace of Monaco → Diana (Naomi Watts film). Two films at once chasing the famous dead blondes.
“This is also right around the time that Naomi Watts makes her Princess Diana movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:34:02 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Paddington → Paddington 2. Paddington 2 is preferred in the household and seen as the higher achievement.
“Um, Paddington 2 is preferred in my household.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:35:00 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Secret in Their Eyes → Julia Roberts. The only film pairing Kidman and Julia Roberts; a remake of the 2009 Argentine film.
“this is a film based on a very successful 2009 Argentinian Argentine film”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:37:45 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Secret in Their Eyes → Nicole Kidman. The remake of a great international film stinks.
“This version stinks.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:37:57 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Genius → John Logan. Written by John Logan, writer of Gladiator and Skyfall.
“This movie's written by John Logan, who wrote Gladiator and Skyfall and many, many good movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:40:20 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Babygirl → The Killing of a Sacred Deer. Both give Kidman characters with distinctive sexual habits.
“This movie, and Baby Girl have something in common about how Nicole Kidman's characters like to have sex.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:40:50 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Killing of a Sacred Deer → Nicole Kidman. One of the favorite Yorgos films; yellow but not necessarily in.
“I love the killing of a sacred deer.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:40:59 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
people (people): The Killing of a Sacred Deer → The Invasion. Kidman again made two films in a year with the same actor, as with Daniel Craig.
“Another situation where she made 2 movies in the same year with the same actor, just like she had the invasion and the Golden Compass with Daniel Craig.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:41:43 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): The Upside → Les Intouchables (the French original of The Upside). A remake of a French film.
“which is a remake of a French film that starred Brian Cranston and Kevin Hart and was a huge box office success”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:41:57 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Destroyer → Karyn Kusama. Kusama came on the show to discuss Destroyer.
“Karan Kusama came on and we talked about it, but I don't think you were on yet.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:42:28 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Destroyer → Nicole Kidman. Destroyer marks when she publicly committed to working with more female directors.
“And this is around the time that she very publicly is like, I am going to start working with more female directors.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:42:48 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Destroyer → Nicole Kidman. Loved; yellowed out of affection and for what it represents.
“I'm not sure if it goes into like a hall for Kidman, but it's meaningful for the reason that you just described.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:43:06 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): Aaron Sorkin → Being the Ricardos. Being the Ricardos is the movie that broke the curse on the Sorkin thing for the speaker.
“For the movie that to me that like broke the curse on the Sorkin thing for me, where I was like, oh, it's curtains for this dude.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:45:15 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Northman → Nicole Kidman. Amazing for eight minutes but yellow only.
“I don't know if this is going in, but she's amazing.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:46:23 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): The Northman → Alexander Skarsgard. A sequence with Alexander Skarsgard is the highlight of her few minutes in The Northman.
“But she has a sequence with Alexander Scarsgard.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:46:36 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): The Northman → Nosferatu. Robert Eggers, director of The Northman, is back with Nosferatu.
“Eggers is back in the news.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:46:54 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
people (people): The Paperboy → A Family Affair. A Family Affair reunites the Paperboy duo of Kidman and Zac Efron.
“A reunion of the paper boy duo.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:47:27 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): A Family Affair → A Perfect Couple. In both this film and the series she plays a writer of some renown.
“Also on Netflix this year, she plays a writer of some renown.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:47:45 · Amanda Dobbins (0.40 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Babygirl → Nicole Kidman. New films are rarely put in the Hall of Fame right away; yellow.
“We very rarely put the new one in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:49:23 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Spellbound → Nicole Kidman. Voice role in a Netflix film that neither host has seen.
“Spellbound is a voice performance for a Netflix film this year.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:49:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Nicole Kidman → Big Little Lies. No TV in the Hall of Fame except one exception.
“I don't ultimately think we should include any TV in here, but there would be one exception.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:49:46 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
theme (theme): Genius → Hemingway & Gellhorn. Another Kidman film about Ernest Hemingway, again with a British actor in the part.
“Yeah. Another film that she appears in about Ernest Hemingway.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:50:42 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
industry (industry): Big Little Lies → Reese Witherspoon. Kidman and Witherspoon doing prestige TV turned the tide for movie stars on television and started the book-adaptation wave.
“It's also, it starts the whole Reese Witherspoon thing, the book adaptation thing.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:53:34 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Big Little Lies → Nicole Kidman. Included, the first television show in a movie-podcast Hall of Fame.
“We can include it for the 1st time ever, television show, in a hall of fame, on a movie podcast.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:53:58 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Big Little Lies → AMC theaters ad campaign. Big Little Lies is a work of art and the Hall of Fame is for art, so it beats the AMC ad.
“big little lies is a work of art.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:54:10 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Molly's Game → Kevin Costner. The same fight happened over Molly's Game in the Kevin Costner Hall of Fame.
“So when you wouldn't put Molly's game in the Kevin Costner Hall of Fame, I was angry.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:54:36 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
people (people): The Northman → Big Little Lies. Skarsgard connects the two works.
“Also, Alexander Scarsgard.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:55:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Nicole Kidman → To Die For. Final greens: To Die For, Eyes Wide Shut, Moulin Rouge, The Others, Birth, Margot at the Wedding, Big Little Lies.
“The greens are to die for eyes wide shut.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:56:14 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Nicole Kidman → Dead Calm. Thirteen yellows read aloud, starting with Dead Calm and Days of Thunder.
“Dead calm, days of thunder, malice, practical magic, the hours, dogville, rabbit hole, the paper boy, Paddington, the killing of a sacred deer, destroyer, the Northman, and baby girl.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:56:26 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Dead Calm → Nicole Kidman. Dead Calm and Practical Magic basically need to go in; leaving them out was delicacy.
“I think the Practical Magic and Deadcom basically need to go in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:56:58 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
career (career): Nicole Kidman → Practical Magic. A stretch from 1998 through 2004 where she is awesome in everything.
“I think also you get this sick period from 1998 through 2004 where she's just awesome in movies.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:57:12 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Babygirl → Destroyer. Amanda wants both Destroyer and Babygirl in; women can have it all.
“What if I want Destroyer and Baby Girl?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:57:46 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Destroyer → Practical Magic. Destroyer is liked more than Practical Magic.
“I like Destroyer more than practical magic.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:57:58 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Babygirl → Dead Calm. The speaker would rather rewatch Dead Calm than Babygirl.
“It's good, but like I would rather watch Dead Come than Baby Girl again.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:58:06 · Sean Fennessey (0.45 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): The Hours → Nicole Kidman. Late argument that an objective Hall of Fame would include it.
“I think if you were building a Hall of Fame as an objective member of cultural restitution, the hours would go in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:59:08 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Dead Calm → Practical Magic. Final draft picks from the yellows: Dead Calm, Practical Magic, Babygirl.
“Dead calm, practical magic and baby girl.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:00:21 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
verdict (verdict): Destroyer → Nicole Kidman. Destroyer is not going in.
“So all that and Destroyer is not even going in.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:00:27 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Babygirl → Nicole Kidman. A listener vote for the last spot is floated.
“What do you think if we put these other 10 things up for the public and they can have the 11th spot?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:00:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
career (career): Babygirl → Bodies Bodies Bodies. Blending tension and laughter was the same tonal search she began on Bodies Bodies Bodies.
“that with bodies, of course, we also really had to search for that.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:06:29 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Halina Reijn → Paul Verhoeven. Intense tension blended with absurdist humor that pierces it is a Verhoeven idea Reijn shares, partly as Dutch humor.
“that is a very distinctly verhoven idea too.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:08:49 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Halina Reijn → Paul Verhoeven. Reijn says she and Verhoeven are similar, earthy and Dutch with cynical, ironic humor.
“The Dutch have a lot of cynical, ironic humor.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:09:26 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
lineage (lineage): Babygirl → Basic Instinct. Reijn set out to converse with the 90s and early-2000s sexual thrillers she loved but found sexist.
“I wanted to be in conversation with all the sexual thrillers that I so loved in the 90s and the early 2000s, but then I also thought were incredibly sexist and not human.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:16:04 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
contrast (contrast): Babygirl → Fatal Attraction. Reijn made a thriller where every character is ambiguous, unlike the villain and angel of Fatal Attraction.
“I like there is in fatal attraction or so I really wanted to create my own path in that sense.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:16:30 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Harris Dickinson → Triangle of Sadness. Reijn found Dickinson by chance at the Triangle of Sadness premiere in New York while casting Samuel.
“went to see the premiere of Triangle of Sadness in New York.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:25:04 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
people (people): Harris Dickinson → Beach Rats. After the premiere she went home and watched Beach Rats and got obsessed with casting him.
“And then I went home and I immediately watched beach rats.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:25:23 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
career (career): Halina Reijn → George Michael. Reijn calls 'Father Figure' her lifelong anthem, tied to losing her father at 10, before it became the film's song.
“father figure has become my anthem of my life, I lost my father when I was very young.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:32:44 · Halina Reijn (0.95 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Babygirl → George Michael. Reijn chose Father Figure before writing: a younger man acting fatherly over an older woman with the power.
“I thought, 0 my god, father figure has all these elements, and if you play that, under a scene where this younger man acts fatherly over this older woman that has all the power, that could be so interesting.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:33:19 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
craft (craft): Babygirl → Yellow Claw. The rave, the film's climax, was made by Dutch DJs Yellow Claw to be the young people's world.
“rave, uh, composed or do you call that composed created by my friends of Yellow Claw?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:34:20 · Halina Reijn (0.85 sure it was them)
programming (programming): Babygirl → The Brutalist. Reijn's last great thing seen is The Brutalist; Sean agrees it is his favorite of the year.
“I am obsessed with the brutalists.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:35:20 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)

Fun items (26)

fun, about Babygirl: The film opens on Kidman's orgasm sounds piped in loud; in one screening nobody made a noise for a long time, in another people laughed.
“And those sounds are like piped in loud and there's nothing else, no one else was making any noise for a very long time.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:06:30 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: Computer-safety gripe: after watching porn on a shared-house laptop she just closes the lid without closing the tab.
“She she doesn't hit stop and close the tab.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:07:30 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: Dickinson is two heads taller than the other interns in the bullpen, dressed in hand-me-down Brooks Brothers.
“And my guy is 2 heads dollar than anyone else.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:10:44 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: He tells the CEO not to have coffee after noon; she says she has had seven.
“Seven. Seven.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:13:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Secretary: Jesse Eisenberg's date to Secretary: his future wife put her coat over her head the whole time and he decided he wanted to marry her.
“And I believe his wife was so uncomfortable that she just put her coat over her head throughout the thing and he says, and then I was like, wow, she's so weird.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:30:14 · Amanda Dobbins (0.45 sure it was them)
fun, about Dancing on My Own: The Phillies' stadium cover of Dancing on My Own started with the Red Sox and came to Philadelphia with Kyle Schwarber.
“It started with the Red Sox, actually, and then Kyle Schwarber came to the Phillies and brought it with him.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:31:55 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Nicole Kidman: She has made 47 movies since 2000, more than any big star in the last quarter century.
“She has made 47 movies since 2000.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:37:54 · Sean Fennessey (0.40 sure it was them)
fun, about Nicole Kidman: She says she hated the fancy car Keith Urban bought her and drives her Subaru instead.
“Um, she's good at giving just the right amount of quotes that a recent interview about how Keith Urban bought her this fancy car and she hated it and she just drives her Subaru around instead.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:38:52 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about AMC theaters ad campaign: Her AMC spot became a sincere internet and theater sensation; the 2024 abridged version cut out Creed.
“When I saw it for the 1st time in 2024, when they introduced a abbreviated version, an abridged version with new films, Creed was cut out.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:44:40 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about Nicole Kidman: Her Letterboxd four favorites were Clueless, The Piano Teacher, The Piano and A Woman Under the Influence, though guests are tipped off beforehand to prep.
“Um, you know, I love Letterbox, but they're, these people are getting tipped off beforehand that they're going to get asked by Letterbox, so they're prepping.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:47:35 · Sean Fennessey (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about Nicole Kidman: Her top-10 worldwide grosses include Cold Mountain, Moulin Rouge, The Others, Just Go with It, Australia, Paddington, Batman Forever, The Golden Compass and two Aquaman films.
“The Nicole Kidman top 10 highest grossing movies worldwide is a hilarious list.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:50:40 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Aquaman: Plot interrogation of Queen Atlanna: an Atlantean who comes ashore and has a child with a fisherman.
“She is an Atlantean who comes to the shore and fucks a fisherman.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:51:58 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Billy Bathgate: Roger Ebert famously located her sense of humor in his review of this film.
“Roger Ebert famously located her sense of humor in his review of this movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 0:58:33 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Moulin Rouge!: A rant against the film, singing Smells Like Teen Spirit in a can-can, from a host who says it makes him want to be shot in the face.
“But with turn of the 20th century, France singing smells like teen spirit in a can can.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:10:02 · Sean Fennessey (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Moulin Rouge!: The defender was 17 in 2001 and calls the film a masterpiece and Baz Luhrmann a visionary.
“I think this movie is a masterpiece and I think Baz Lerman is a visionary.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:11:04 · Amanda Dobbins (0.50 sure it was them)
fun, about Happy Feet: Opening-minutes Kiss was how one host realized Prince was cool.
“I think that this might actually be the 1st time that I realized Prince was cool was because they sing Kiss in the opening like 5 minutes of this movie.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:23:41 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Paperboy: The infamous scene: Kidman pees on Zac Efron.
“Right. In which, remind me, is it, Nicole Kidman pisses on Zac Efron?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:31:34 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about The Family Fang: Wikipedia summary read aloud makes no sense, and neither host has seen the film.
“Baxter robs a teller for lollipops, shoots, and Caleb rushes.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:36:17 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Genius: The cast list reads like a bit: Jude Law as Thomas Wolfe, Colin Firth as Maxwell Perkins, Kidman as Aline Bernstein, Dominic West as Hemingway, Guy Pearce as Fitzgerald.
“Not a living soul has seen this.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:39:28 · unknown (0.35 sure it was them)
fun, about A Perfect Couple: The series' flash-mob title sequence was hated by the cast except Liev Schreiber, who insisted on doing it.
“which they all hated except for Liv Schreiber, who was like, no, no, no, I really want to do this.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 1:52:51 · unknown (0.30 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: The dog-and-cookie scene: Samuel calms a dog with a cookie, then offers her one. In Sean's screening that is where the laughter started.
“In my screening, that's when everyone started laughing was the, do you want one scene with the cookie?”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:07:22 · Sean Fennessey (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: Reijn writes by playing all the parts herself in her little house.
“No, I write very much, um, I just play all the parts.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:10:25 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: Kidman's husband has a baby girl tattoo on his neck and calls her that, which is why she was obsessed with the title.
“and she immediately got obsessed because apparently her husband has a tattoo of baby girl in his neck and he calls her baby girl in there.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:19:09 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: The milk scene is, per Reijn, the most sexual scene: nothing happens, they never touch, he says good girl as he passes.
“For me, that's the most sexual scene.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:30:39 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: George Michael's Father Figure is Reijn's anthem; she lost her father at ten and got the rights before writing the script.
“And so even before I started writing a new father figure, because father figure has become my anthem of my life, I lost my father when I was very young.”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:32:44 · Halina Reijn (0.90 sure it was them)
fun, about Babygirl: Kidman could not be dragged off the dance floor in between takes during the rave shoot.
“you couldn't get drag her off the dance floor in between takes”
The Big Picture · The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’ · 2:34:42 · Halina Reijn (0.85 sure it was them)

Who's talking

Sean Fennessey (host): Saw Babygirl three months before the episode and again with his wife, and the second viewing made him want a dog. Names The Brutalist his favorite movie of the year and conducts the Halina Reijn interview. Attribution inside the Hall of Fame draft is uncertain, but the draft voice that reads the filmography, champions Dead Calm and wants to hold a listener vote is probably his.
Amanda Dobbins (host): Just returned from maternity leave with a new baby, and a self-declared Harris Dickinson fan. Defends Moulin Rouge as a masterpiece (she was 17 in 2001) and calls Baz Luhrmann a visionary. Wants both Destroyer and Babygirl in the Hall of Fame, and likes Kidman for dismantling her own glamour.
Halina Reijn (guest): Loves the 90s sexual thrillers but thinks they were sexist; calls humor a Trojan horse for dark material, prefers suggestion to two bodies just moving, and loves George Michael's Father Figure as her life anthem. Fan of A24's willingness to follow her into dark ideas, and a self-described prude from radical hippies. Last great thing she saw was The Brutalist.

The show's recurring bits

Drafts: Hosts and guests draft films in rounds; every pick is a recommendation with an argument.
Hall of Fame: A star's or director's best, ranked and argued.
Countdowns: Ranked lists, top five or top ten.

Names the transcriber got wrong

'Sean Fantasy' = Sean Fennessey; 'Amanda Dobins' = Amanda Dobbins
'Paulina Rain' / 'Helena Rain' / 'Hellena' = Halina Reijn
'Baby Girl' = Babygirl
'Bodies, bodies, bodies' = Bodies Bodies Bodies
'Sophie Wild' = Sophie Wilde
'Fernando Torres' = Fernanda Torres; 'Carlos Sophia Gascon' = Karla Sofia Gascon; 'Cynthia Rivo' = Cynthia Erivo
'head of gabbler' / 'how to gobbler' = Hedda Gabler (guess)
'Gus Van Zandt' = Gus Van Sant; 'Matt. Dylan' = Matt Dillon; 'Philip Noyes' = Phillip Noyce; 'Tendiway Newton' = Thandiwe Newton
'Menu bars' = Alejandro Amenabar; 'Mingella' = Minghella; 'Baz Lorman/Lerman/Bazliman' = Baz Luhrmann; 'Lumon Rouge' = Moulin Rouge
'Practical magic' dated '1988' in transcript (said as 1988, likely a transcript or speaker slip)
'Willisen Burke' (one of the early Australian titles, probably Wills & Burke); 'Windrider' and 'Emerald City' as spoken
'Billy Bathgate' cast: 'Lauren Dean' = Loren Dean, 'Just more more Kelly' = Moira Kelly (guesses)
'Karan Kusama' = Karyn Kusama; 'Kearson Dunn/Kirsten Dentz' = Kirsten Dunst; 'Joel Egerton' = Joel Edgerton; 'Rowan Joffi' = Rowan Joffe
'Alien Bernstein' = Aline Bernstein; 'Guy Pierce' = Guy Pearce; 'Lulu Wong' = Lulu Wang; 'Soy Saldania' = Zoe Saldana
'Noah Seco' (head of film, per Reijn) = unclear, possibly Noah Segal; 'Caris' and 'Brady and Mona' = Brady Corbet and Mona Fastvold (best friend 'Caris' unclear)
'Liv Schreiber' = Liev Schreiber; 'Jadgar Hoover' = J. Edgar Hoover; 'Javier Berg' = Javier Bardem (likely)
'Piano and a woman under the influence' in the Letterboxd list = probably The Piano and A Woman Under the Influence
'Clint close' = Glenn Close; 'Trespass ... Nicholas Cage' = Nicolas Cage
'Elf Fanning' = Elle Fanning; 'Zach Efron' = Zac Efron (Zach is also Amanda's husband)
'Hocus Pocus'/'Nick at Night' fine; 'Letterbox' = Letterboxd

The Big Picture: The Nicole Kidman Hall of Fame, and ‘Babygirl’

As extracted (engineer-sonnet-2026-10-13)

Films that came up

subject (1)

anecdote (9)

passing (29)

compared (28)

recommended (26)

dismissed (49)

Claims (136)

Fun items (26)

Who's talking

The show's recurring bits

Names the transcriber got wrong