Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Big Star


I feel like Chris over at the Mangina Monologues, needing a rescue for a blog post.

Oddly enough, I have some drafted already for end of the week, but nothing mid. Go figure. Someone tagged him for a meme, and he did it. No one tagged me, but I'm just picking up on it because.....well.........as I said, I need rescuing today.

What movie star (past or present) would you have to dinner and why.

I went with the first person I thought of: Meryl Streep.

The why is pretty obvious - she's brilliant at what she does, even when she's in crap. And let's make no bones about the most Oscar nominated female in history - she has been in plenty of crap.

But she floats effortlessly through drama to comedy - and yet most people would never see her as a comedic actor. If you've seen her in real-life, or in an interview, she is frickin' hilarious and very quick on her feet. It's why I'd like to have dinner with her - forget her body of work, she'd be fun company.

I first saw her in The Deer Hunter, which is a small small role, but pivotal for her career - and a movie I love (which is odd to say if you know it). The same year, I saw her in Wendy Wasserstein's Uncommon Women on PBS. I remember it more for Swoozie Kurtz, but Streep was there.

Then there were the succession of down, but great films: Sophie's Choice and Ironweed pop to mind. I saw but wasn't a fan of the French Lieutenant's Women, Falling in Love or Silkwood (one of only two films I've walked out of). Out of Africa bored me except for the cinematography.

But that's where she kind of got interesting. What possessed her to do She-Devil? Overall, it was a horrid movie, but you know what - she was fun to watch. Honestly. And then Postcards from the Edge? Still an all-time favourite. It's part her, part Carrie Fisher, of course, but Streep does it so well.

Comedy is hard though. Death Becomes Her? There's only so much you can do when working with Bruce Willis and Goldie Hawn. Then there's lots of mediocre crud: Bridges of Madison County, the River Wild and don't get me started on Mama Mia.

But other things I've mentioned here lately are still great and good: Angels in America and yes, even the Devil Wears Prada. If you have a chance to see the latter, there is one scene that just encapsulates Streep - and it's the last one she's in during the movie. She goes from indifference to reflection to almost joy to complete bitch in less than 10 seconds. It truly fascinates me.

So yeah - I'd go to dinner with her.

....or Jason Stratham. That wouldn't be for the conversation. Trust me.


Song by: 10,000 Maniacs

1 comment:

cb said...

Although I tend to agree with you about Meryl, I do have to say that the only thing worse than her singing in Mamma Mia was her acting.

Over the top, hammy, and atrocious.