another Oscars thread - but what's the deal with Meryl Streep??

[cbdo2007]

Really, she's the best actress around in everyone's opinion? Really??

I'm sure she's had some incredible performances over the years but in the past 5 years or so all she is doing is playing Meryl Streep in all of her characters, at least that's what I see. Yeah, I saw Julie and Julia and it was alright but you just never get over that it's Meryl Streep there because she looks, acts, and sounds like Meryl Streep with a funny voice. It certainly wasn't a great performance that should have been nominated for an oscar.

and before that in Devil Wears Prada. Sure, it was an enjoyable movie but she wasn't THAT great in it. She was alright playing a bitchy Meryl Streep but she shouldn't have been nominated for that either.

Am I the only one who thinks this crazy "Meryl Streep worship" is going way overboard?

[Lilith Velkor]

1. She was awesome in Doubt

But yeah, she doesn't have to get nominated for everything she does.

[tigereye]

2. yeah, you are!

:rofl: Seriously, I tend to forget it's her - in Julie and Julia, in Prada, and other films I've seen recently, and to me that is the sign of incredible skill. I even forgot it was her in Mamma Mia- her versatility and creative ability, plus experience seem unmatched to me. She was incredible in Doubt- amazing.


In fact, I was thinking of doing a Streep film marathon to see some of her films that I've missed.

[old mark]

3. I used to occasionally watch Julia Child's TV show - Streep NAILED her.

I think if she is not the best actor of her generation, she is in the top 3.

mark

[trof]

28. SHE DID!!!

I don't know if the movie was Oscar quality or not, but 5 minutes into it I was no longer watching Streep.
I was watching Julia Child.
Fantastic performance.

[soleft]

4. She exits on another plain of existence

It's Meryl - and everyone else.

Though, there are a few actresses that I think come closer than others.

Toni Collette
Kate Blanchette

[CTyankee]

9. I agree. She is so good. I've always loved going to her movies with the exception

of Mamma Mia which I nearly walked out of.

Love Kate Blanchette. Don't know Toni Collette...

[soleft]

12. You never saw the Sixth Sense?

I rented Mama Mia and had it on the back ground while I cleaned my office. Very palatable that way. Well, except maybe for Pierce Bronson singing.

[CTyankee]

14. Pierce Brosnan in blue platform shoes singing "Dancing Queen" was the BEST thing

in that movie! I laughed myself sick and I still get a chuckle from it!

Yes, I did see Sixth Sense...I forgot that was Toni Collette. That's one of my very favorite movies and she was terrific in it...

[bigwillq]

5. Streep is the best living actress.

Her performances are effortless. She's that good. At least I think so. Love, love, love Meryl.

[Shell Beau]

6. She's pretty fantastic.

[Fire Walk With Me]

7. Your description is how I see Tom Cruise and Julia Roberts-

just themselves in different roles. Utterly unconvincing, often disturbingly uncomfortable to watch.

I do like Meryl, however.

[Ron Green]

8. Also, I'm frightened by Julia Roberts'

giant lips.

[mitchum]

10. Add Jack Nicholson for the trifecta

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. Change that to Robert Mitchum in his later years and I'll agree.

[mitchum]

17. Hell, that would apply even in Big Bob's younger years...

with a few exceptions.
RM:"Seemed like I was wearing the same raincoat in the same movie over and over again"

[Fire Walk With Me]

29. Um...

...you're Robert Mitchum, aren't you.

:hide:

[fishwax]

11. I thought she did an outstanding job in Julie and Julia

I didn't see it as Meryl Streep with a funny voice at all.

I can agree with your take on Devil Wears Prada, though ... Her other recent nominations (J&J, Doubt, Adaptation) were all well-deserved.

[frogmarch]

15. Meryl Streep is my favorite actress.

I don't worship her, but I almost do.

[liquid diamond]

16. You're not the only one.

She's overrated in my opinion.

[Tommy_Carcetti]

18. Meryl Streep could play Batman and she'd be the right choice.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjTCOivQGD0

Sorry, that's the first thing that came to my mind when reading this. I'm totally neutral on her myself.

[LeftinOH]

19. Supposedly, Katherine Hepburn didn't think much of Streep's acting..

Kate was probably jealous; Meryl has great acting range.

[muffin1]

20. Meryl Streep is a goddess.

Another poster nailed it up thread. She's almost TOO good, even in The Devil Wears Prada. I forgot it was Meryl when I was watching that movie.

Her range is amazing, as well:

The Deer Hunter
Sophie's Choice
Out of Africa
Kramer vs. Kramer
Postcards From the Edge (if you haven't seen it, you must)
The Devil Wears Prada
Doubt
Julie and Julia

On top of everything else, she is a genuinely nice, down-to-earth woman.

What's not to love?

[Glorfindel]

23. Have you seen "Angels in America?"

Meryl Streep plays three roles in it to perfection: An elderly rabbi, a man's "ex-lover's lover's Mormon mother," and Ethel Rosenberg. She is totally fantastic!

[muffin1]

24. You know, I haven't.

And I own it. I am going to get on it very soon. Thanks for the recommendation, and the nudge!

[Darth_Kitten]

21. She's a very good, very versatile actress...........

I could believe she was Julia Child. :)

[Mike 03]

22. In a sense I agree, there is almost a genuflection to Meryl Streep, but she was so incredible

in SOPHIE'S CHOICE that it is hard not to grant her the respect she merits.

Sometimes a performance is so breath-taking that it is hard to erase it from memory in the context of acknowleging that actor. With Nicholson it was CHINATOWN or ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO'S NEST, and for Brando it was some other film (before my time), and Liz Taylor...

There is also her early performance in THE DEER HUNTER, and later amazing work in THE HOURS.

She has done incredible work.

ON EDIT:

I reject comparisons between Streep and people like Julia Roberts and Tom Cruise.
They are "Celebrities" and "Movie Stars." Streep is an actor.

[Orrex]

25. Meryl Streep has been stalking me for more than 14 years.

It's getting kind of embarrassing by this point. She really needs to accept the fact that it's never going to come together between us.

[Midlodemocrat]

26. Dude. That was Merrill Lynch

and asking you to invest with them can hardly be called stalking.

:eyes:

[Orrex]

27. That explains it!

I kept wondering why she was hung like a bull.