I grew up a TV junkie, not so much a filmgoer. In 2020 I started a deep dive to improve my appreciation for movies. This blog is a diary of my film-viewing journey since then!
I thought it fairly obvious from its title what this film would be about. I was right… and at the same time so very wrong… and delightfully so! Defending Your Life is a topnotch flick released in 1991 that stars Albert Brooks and Meryl Streep. Brooks is also the writer and director.
Since my teenage years, I have always had a strong affinity for old-time radio. To this day, the radio in my truck can often be found tuned in to the Sirius Radio Classics network. It’s an amazingly underrated art form that, sadly, for the most part, was forced into retirement with the advent of the television. One of the few outliers from the golden age of radio was a weekly 2-hour variety show called A Prairie Home Companion that aired every Saturday, broadcasting out of Minnesota. It was hosted by Garrison Keillor and it originally ran from 1974 to 1987 (it would be revived in 1992 and air through 2016). The show appealed largely to a mid-western audience and featured a variety of country, bluegrass, and folk music mixed with recurring comedy skits and storytelling.
The French Lieutenant’s Woman (1981) would earn Meryl Streep her third acting Oscar nomination. The film would reconstruct the book it was based upon by reimagining it as a movie within a movie. Streep and Jeremy Irons play dual roles. In the current day, they are both actors, having an affair while working on a movie together. The movie they are filming, The French Lieutenant’s Woman, has them playing Victorian-era characters who are also embarking on an affair.
The
movie uses the two contrasting time periods to question topics of social growth
or stagnation as it regards women’s abilities to have independence, the
consequences of infidelity, social oppression, and sexual repression/hypocrisy.
The two main actors give standout performances… Streep in particular as she
flawlessly inhabits both a current day American actress and a Victorian age
British character.
Meryl
Streep has starred in two films opposite Jack Nicholson. The first of those
films is Heartburn, released in 1986. The two play Rachel Samstat, a food
critic, and Mark Forman, a newspaper columnist. They meet at a wedding they are
attending in the opening scene. They soon leave the wedding, have sex, get
married, and move into a house that requires major renovations. Then their
lives carry on. This movie tries very hard to make the intimate and mundane
seem interesting, though it doesn’t succeed.
In 2009, Meryl Streep starred with Alex Baldwin in It’s Complicated. Like most films directed by Nancy Meyers (Private Benjamin, Parent Trap (II), The Intern) it’s a lightweight, feel-good romp.
My quest to view all movies featuring Meryl Streep continues. This time around it’s Falling in Love, released in 1984.
Molly
Gilmore (Streep) and Frank Raftis (Robert De Niro) are strangers who bump into
each other in a bookstore while buying Christmas gifts. Turns out they often
take the same train into Manhattan. Both are married to other people but
eventually fall in love with each other. And that’s about it. Both actors give
solid performances, but the story is completely uninspired and trite.
In 2007 Lions for Lambs was released. This war-themed drama features Meryl Streep, Robert Redford, and Tom Cruise.
In 1994, Meryl Streep took on the action/adventure genre with The River Wild. This is the story of a family outing gone extremely wrong.
Dancing at Lughnasa (1998) is the tale of six adult unmarried Mundy siblings who reside together in a small Irish town in the fall of 1936. The eldest, Father Jack Mundy (Michael Gambon), is a priest who has returned after 25 years of being a missionary in Africa. Kate (Streep) is the eldest of the five Mundy sisters. She is a schoolteacher and has assumed a “head of the household” role. Agnes (Brid Brennan) makes income by knitting gloves along with Rose (Sophie Thompson) who is developmentally challenged. They refer to her as “simple”. Maggie (Kathy Burke) is the smart aleck cut-up who helps keep tensions to a minimum. And the youngest is Christina (Catherine McCormack), the unwed mother of Michael. During the time of the film, Michael is 7 years old. The story is narrated through his adult eyes as he reminisces about this special moment in time, one spent with all these adults who each showered him with love and education. It would be the last summer all of them would share together.
Originally posted July 1, 2022
Fromage. Queso. Formaggio. Cheese. No matter what language or culture, cheese is a comfort food that is immensely enjoyable, but too much of it can become difficult to digest. Cheese is best served in small portions. Mama Mia! Here We Go Again (2018) is simply a cheese-tastic morsel!
The Bridges of Madison County is a lovely romantic drama that gently unveils the four-day relationship between a lonely Iowa housewife and a world-traveling photographer that occurred in 1965.
During my Oscar-winning Best Picture journey in 2020, I gained an appreciation for good westerns. This was a genre I had previously steered clear of because I felt they tended to be extremely formulaic in their storytelling. Films like Dances with Wolves and Unforgiven opened my eyes to how wonderful a well-developed Western could actually be. Now I’m going to add The Homesman to that list of highly entertaining westerns.
Rendition is a 2007 political suspense thriller that attempts to expose the CIA practice of extraordinary rendition, the kidnapping of people and sending them to countries where they can be tortured and abused in interrogations. The film is based on the true story of Khalid El-Masri.
There is no question that Meryl Streep is one of the most prolific performers of our generation in front of the camera. I would posit that Steven Soderbergh is equally as innovative and stimulating behind the camera. His 30+ year catalog of films is groundbreaking and filled with keen emotional insight and bold cinematic experimentation. These two entertainment juggernauts teamed up in 2019 to bring the highly entertaining The Laundromat to the screen (I reviewed that film back in January). In 2020, they would team up again to create Let Them All Talk.
Spit spot! Mary Poppins is back, and she has just as much to impart to us this time as she did her previous visit. Yes, times have changed since we saw her last, but life’s quandaries are still solved the same way. Mary makes sure we know that remaining positive will always give us the best outcome, that every task can have an element of fun if we choose to find/see it, and that one need never apologize for who they are.
What is the secret to taking a beloved classic story that practically everyone knows, a tale that has previously been turned into a motion picture five times and that has been adapted for television at least ten more times, and telling it in a way that is fresh and innovative? The answer is a simple one… you let Greta Gerwig write an updated screenplay and then let her direct a feature film based on her screenplay!
My quest to see all of Meryl Street’s movie performances continued in 2022. Next up was Prime, released in 2005. It tells the story of Rafi Gardet (Uma Thurman), a freshly divorced woman of 37, and David Bloomberg (Bryan Greenberg) a 23-year-old struggling artist. The two meet randomly at the onset of the film, and shortly thereafter, David asks Rafi out on a date. Rafi is a little distraught over the age difference, but David doesn’t see it as an issue. As Rafi struggles to balance the age difference against the emotional joy and sexual satisfaction that David is providing her, she confides intimate details of her budding relationship with her therapist Lisa Metzger (Streep).
Meryl Streep has received an unprecedented 21 Oscar acting nominations. That’s 9 more than any other actor has ever received. It was for this reason that I set my 2022 goal of viewing all her performances that I hadn’t already seen. One of her Oscar-nominated acting performances was in 1998’s One True Thing. And very deservedly so.
The Giver is a 2014 sci-fi thriller in the vein of Logan’s Run. A future dystopian society exists as the result of a catastrophic event referred to as The Ruin. Society has now removed emotion from the populace and individual jobs and purposes are all predetermined by a panel of Elders who oversee civilization. Babies are genetically manufactured and sexual desire is suppressed through daily chemical treatments that people accept as being in their best interest.
There are some comedians/actors that for me are just “too much”. They never seem to be able to turn it off or dial it down, and because of this, I tend to avoid their work. Robin Williams and Andy Kaufman were examples. Another is Jim Carrey. I don’t deny that any of the gentlemen I’ve mentioned have immense talent and uniqueness, I’m just saying that I find them to be too much. I say this because it was with trepidation that I ventured into viewing 2004’s Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events as part of my 2022 quest to see all the movies featuring Meryl Streep.
The
most recent film that Meryl Streep appeared in is the 2021 release, Don’t Look
Up. This star-studded apocalyptic film is a biting satire of our culture’s
current obsession with social media, approval ratings, and celebrity
self-importance. This is interwoven with the ineptitude of our self-serving
political system and the outrageous greed of the billionaire oligarchy. It’s a
lot, and I believe this film is one of those that you will absolutely love, or
completely loathe. It’s definitely not for everyone.
I enjoyed this movie so much that I’ve watched it three times. There are so many subtle bits of humor that make me laugh harder each time. The tone is set almost from the get-go, and the opening credits (retro 1960s) and soundtrack exacerbate that tone and drive the pacing throughout the film.
My quest to see all of Meryl Streep's films continues. This time the film is Evening from 2007.
Take two Oscar-winning iconic actors (Meryl Streep and Vanessa Redgrave)… pair them with their own real-life actor daughters (Mamie Gummer and Natasha Richardson)… throw in even more award-winning actors (Glenn Close, Toni Collette, and Claire Danes)… and you should have a monumental two-hour masterpiece. Or not.
Glenn Close is magnificent as Lila’s steely mother, and Hugh Dancy delivers an amazing performance as Lila’s emotionally tortured brother, Buddy. Really, all the primary players deliver fine performances. Despite all the premiere acting though, the film just doesn’t work. As Lord is breathing out her final hours, she’s visited by Lila (now portrayed by Streep). Yet despite their previous close friendship, neither of Lord’s daughters has met her. And Lord’s daughters can’t seem to figure out if they like each other, both bickering and believing the other is judging her. But saddest of all is that in her final hours, Lord is fixated on a man she barely knew from decades earlier in her life. I’m just not sure what I was supposed to garner from this film. Despite its wonderful cast, it was quite frankly a bore. It is a film that unfortunately gives “chick flicks” a bad reputation.
Hope Springs (2012) stars Tommy Lee Jones and Meryl Streep as empty nesters Arnold and Kay Soames. Arnold has settled into the routine existence that they share, while Kay is feeling trapped and ignored by that same mundane routine. At Kay’s insistence, they depart to Maine for a week of intense relationship therapy with professional counselor Dr. Bernie Feld (Steve Carell).
My goal to see all Meryl Streep movies continues. My most recent flick is The Manchurian Candidate. This is a 2004 remake of the 1962 film based on the novel of the same name.
The story revolves around a group of Gulf War veterans who are unaware that they were subjected to experimentation and brainwashing during their time in service. The purpose of this experimentation is to turn them into unknowing sleeper agents for forces bent on political and global domination.
The acting is extremely good all the way around, but Schreiber stands out as the smarmy child of privilege private and public personas are so at odds with each other. I give credit to director Jonathan Demme for altering and updating enough of the story to make it interesting to those who might have seen the classic original. This film keeps you guessing despite its iconic and well-known plot.
This is a solid film and one well worth seeing if good suspense is something you enjoy. But if pressed to choose between this version or the original, the original wins hands down.
1977’s Julia afforded Jane Fonda a nomination for a Best Actress Oscar and provided Vanessa Redgrave with an acting Oscar win, her only one out of seven nominations. The film is also notable for being the screen debut of Meryl Streep. My journey to see all Meryl Streep movies continues!
Julia tells the tale of two women who grew up as childhood friends and continued a close friendship through adulthood. Julia (Redgrave) comes from great wealth and is being raised by her grandparents in America. There she meets Lillian (Fonda) and the two seem to build an entire world around their unique friendship. The movie continually time shifts between the present day (the 1930s), their childhood past, and time periods in between the two.
After becoming a successful playwright, Lillian is invited to a writer’s conference in the USSR. Through intermediaries, Julia reaches out to Lillian to seek her assistance in sneaking money into the USSR. Julia is now working for the anti-Nazi resistance. Lillian eventually agrees to and embarks on a train ride to Berlin to see her longtime friend again. It is at this time that the film has its longest linear storytelling, and the film reaches its crescendo.
The acting is superb throughout, not only by the leads but by the outstanding international array of supporting actors including Jason Robards, Maximillion Schell, Rosemary Murphy, John Glover, Hal Holbrook, Elisabeth Mortenson, and the aforementioned Streep. Jane Fonda is reported to have told director Fred Zinnemen, “This one will go far”, referring to Streep! The cinematography is often breathtaking, and the film was awarded an Oscar nomination for it, along with costuming, editing, and musical score.
It is not a perfect film and suffers from the number of interlocking vignettes it tries to insert as a means of attempting to establish character and relationship development, as well as simply expanding the story beyond its suspenseful train journey. That said, it is still a wonderful piece of art and worthy of the Oscar nomination it received for Best Picture.
It’s
the early 1980’s and everyone smokes… a lot! The one character that doesn’t
smoke likes to kick back with his preppy collar up and drink lots of Tab! So
goes things in Still of the Night, a 1982 psychological thriller starring Roy
Scheider as psychologist Sam Rice, and Meryl Streep as Brook Reynolds, the
onetime mistress of George Bynum (Joseph Sommer), a patient of Dr. Rice who
turns up dead in the film’s first few minutes.
My journey to see every movie featuring Meryl Streep continues. In Streep’s fourth film outing, she played Karen Traynor, a Louisiana lawyer whose family has been in politics for some time. The movie is The Seduction of Joe Tynan which was released in 1979. It is an often-overlooked piece of Meryl's library of work... which is a shame.
The biggest takeaway from Before And After is that great actors don’t guarantee a great, or even good, movie. This 2012 film stars Meryl Streep and Liam Neeson as upper-class parents (the Ryans) in a small town where their son is being accused of murder.
Director
Chen Shi-Zeng presents the haunting tale of Liu Xing in his 2008 film, Dark
Matter. Xing is a brilliant Chinese doctoral student who is afforded an
opportunity to do research work in the United States. Xing dreams of winning a
Nobel Prize and eagerly dives into pleasing his mentor, Professor Reiser (Aidan
Quinn in an extremely well-nuanced performance). Meryl Streep rounds out the
cast as Johanna Silver. Silver is a wealthy and well-intentioned donor at the
University where Xing is doing his research, and she befriends him as he
attempts to acclimate to the many differences of living in the United States
versus China.
While Streep and Quinn both give outstanding performances, for me this film was carried by Ye Liu portraying the eager and devoted protagonist, Liu Xing. He is on equal footing with his elder co-stars and steals the camera and the viewer’s heart with his wide-eyed enthusiasm, naivety, and immense pride.
I consider Meryl Streep to be one of the greatest film actors of all time. It was because of this that I set a goal (in 2022) of viewing all her performances which I hadn’t seen already. A Cry In The Dark (1988) reaffirmed my opinion of her acting prowess. What an outstanding performance.
Originally posted January 28, 2022
I watched The Laundromat (2019) a couple of weeks ago but found I needed to mull it over before trying to comment. At the film's core, it exposes how the wealthiest people in the world are able to stay that way by filtering money through offshore bank accounts and shell companies. It is based on true events and characters that were exposed in 2016 when the "Panama Papers" were published. The way these privileged people are able to avoid paying taxes and how they prey on the vulnerable and unsuspecting is obscene. And it continues to this day.
This time around the film is Marvin's Room, released in 1996. The story of two sisters who have been estranged for over 20 years. Bessie (Diane Keaton) is single, lives in Florida, and is helping to care for her bedridden father and his aging sister. Lee (Meryl Streep) moved to Ohio, had two children, and worked to be independent with a career in cosmetology. After decades apart, Lee discovers that Bessie has been diagnosed with leukemia (the same disease that took their mother from them) and needs a bone marrow transplant. With kids in tow, Bessie heads to Florida and the dysfunction of all the characters is laid bare as they attempt to establish their own sense of family again.
In 2022 I set a film goal to watch every Meryl Streep movie I hadn't yet seen. Of the 59 films in which she had appeared to date, I started the year with 39 I would need to take in. With my viewing of 2015’s Suffragette, that number is now down to 38! Suffragette was selected randomly from my list, and it turns out to be an ironic choice since Ms. Streep’s on-screen time amounts to just 4 minutes!
Susanna York’s performance in Images earned her the Best Actress Award at the Cannes Film Festival. It was a well-deserved honor.
