Readers' Ranking: Our Streep Fixation
Thursday, February 2, 2012 at 11:17AM It's our first "Reader Ranking" project. The subject was the one and only Meryl Streep. Recently I gave you a little bit of a statistical tease about reader ballots including little tidbits like Ironweed (1987) being the least seen and Prada (2006) the most. Since it's too early to know where The Iron Lady (her 17th Oscar nomination) will fall in long term evaluations of her career, I asked readers to rank all 16 of her previous Oscar nominations (only the ones they'd seen) and I weighted the ballots so that the more you'd seen the stronger your voice in the final tally. This would give the little seen movies a fighting chance if the people who'd seen them loved them. For the readers who had seen everything, I contacted them to hear more about their Streep fixation.
Wanna hear some of their stories?
I thought so.
We'll start the countdown tomorrow with #16-#11 but here is a prologue to get you in the mood. Not that you need a mood setter for Streep. You're always in that mood. I'm saving some of the quotes for the countdown but here are a baker's dozen discovery stories...
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ERIK
When did you first discover Streep?
"Kramer vs. Kramer, 1979. It opened on my birthday and at the time my parents were on the verge of divorce. I didn't know anything about Streep at the time but I was transfixed immediately. It was amazing that I could be watching something about a situation I was actually going through but instead of dwelling on that I was so absorbed by her and her performance."
Top of his ballot?
Bridges of Madison County. "I could have a different 1st place almost any day of the week."
Hey, couldn't we all?
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BEAU
When did you first discover Streep?
"My first memory of watching Meryl is Death Becomes Her (1992). I was 11 when it came out and my mom and I watched it in the theatre. It was just so much fun. My fascination with her and her career came a few years later when I was shown Holocaust (1978) at school. I will never forget how I felt watching her dedication to James Woods and her eyes telling such a heartbreaking story. It was after that, at age 13 or 14, that I became a Streep devotee."
Top of his ballot
Sophie's Choice. (I always forget that it was her second Holocaust related movie. I've never seen Holocaust!)
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MARTIN
When did you discover Streep?
"Silkwood, blown away immediately buy her performance. Movie poster was up on my wall next to Duran Duran. I was always addicted to the Oscars and Meryl quickly became one off my favorites next to Katherine Hepburn, Jodie Foster & Doris Day (yeahh I know, but I still think she delivered some great performances - she's my Sandra). I love the way her acting mind works...
MORE READER ♥ STREEP AFTER THE JUMP
...little things - like when she discovers that her costume doesn't have side pockets to put her hands in when she meets up Tom Cruise nervously for an interview in Lions & Lambs". She really is the best!"
Top of his ballot?
1) Sophie's Choice
2) Julie & Julia
3) Out of Africa
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LUKE
When did you discover Streep?
"My first experience with Meryl was thanks to obsessive childhood big-six-Oscar-winning viewing. My house was filled with VHS tapes loaded with material courtesy of the once aptly named "American Movie Classics." Though I came for the familiar Dustin Hoffman (I'd seen Hook a time or two, of course), I left Kramer vs. Kramer with a newfound love of Meryl. It was one of the first times I recall being impressed with a performance above and beyond the film itself."
Top of his ballot?
1) Silkwood
2) Sophie's Choice
3) Adaptation
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ADELA
When did you discover Streep?
"It wasn't the first Streep film I've seen but since Death Becomes Her I became acutely aware of Meryl. Until then most of her films were a big sobbing party (at least for my young self ) and this one opened my eyes on what she can do, besides looking pretty and suffering on screen. After that I started to revisit her films and really look at her performances not just the films themselves."
Top of her ballot
1) Silkwood
2) Adaptation
2) Postcards From the Edge
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JORGE
When did you first discover Streep?
"I come from a family that loves cinema and loves going to the movies. Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman, as they were my mother's favorite actress and my father's favorite actor, were introduced to me at a very early age. My mother showed me the Streep classics Sophie's Choice, Kramer vs Kramer, Out of Africa and Bridges of Madison County while I was still a pre-teen boy. And when I began discovering my cinephilia, then came Adaptation and that scene when Meryl cries in The Hours... And I was foverer commited to loving her on the big screen."
Top of his ballot
Silkwood tops his ballot but I am just feeling so proud because he says he finished watching all of her work due to the "Streep at 60" series we did right here at The Film Experience a couple of years ago. Wonderful! Thanks for really soaking it in, Jorge!
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J.T.
When did you discover Streep?
My first memory of Meryl is that my parents used to argue about her (I vividly remember them disagreeing about Out of Africa). Then one day my dad decided to flat out refuse to see a movie if Meryl was in it (crazy I know), so my mom and I watch Meryl movies together.
Top of his ballot?
"I adore Meryl in Adaptation!"
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NICK DAVIS
When did you first discover Streep?
"I would have first learned about Streep in relation to Ironweed, because that's the first year I watched the Oscars when she was a nominee. (This partly explains why I loved in spirit the massive Ironweed shout-out at the Kennedy Center Honors tribute to Streep, even though - sorry, Nathaniel! - I didn't think the number itself really worked.) I had never heard of Ironweed, whereas you could be a young child and definitely have heard of Moonstruck and Fatal Attraction and Broadcast News. My parents explained, with neither enthusiasm nor criticism, that it didn't matter what Ironweed was because Streep got nominated every year, no matter what. When we watched the show, I was really happy when Cher won, and Streep was even happier, which made me love her. So, that was my first intro to her: the awesome best friend in the audience, the pretty blonde blowing kisses to her brunette bestie. If this woman got nominated every year, it was pretty clear to me that I was cool with that."
Top o' Nick's Ballot?
"I hate not voting for Bridges, but if I had, I'd hate not having voted for Silkwood."
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BEN
When did you first discover Streep?
"I can't remember not knowing who Meryl Streep was. As a child my Mother was a big fan of her 80's pictures. The first film I definitely remember seeing her in at cinemas was Death Becomes Her (1992) which I loved. Although before this I saw Jennifer Saunders' excellently silly impersonation of Meryl in Comic Strip Presents Strike."
Top of his ballot
1) The French Lieutenant's Woman
2) Postcards From the Edge
3) The Deer Hunter
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PAM
"I was 20 years old, living in Oklahoma and working part-time for a small oil company, when Silkwood was released. I knew Oklahoma, knew companies like Kerr-McGee, and I knew the good ol' boy network only too well. I remember sitting in the movie theater being blown away by Meryl Streep's portrayal of Karen Silkwood. She had the Okie/Texan twang down, the working class girl emotional baggage and physical presence (even the way she smoked!), and an amazing believable chemistry with all of her co-stars. A couple of years later, I went to see Out of Africa, and couldn't believe that this was the same actress!"
Top of her ballot
1) Silkwood
2) Sophie's Choice
3) A Cry in the Dark
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WILLIAM
When did you first discover Streep?
"A woman wearing a long cloak is standing on a jut of rocks that extend out into a rough sea. The wind is fierce, tearing at the cloak – the woman’s curly, reddish blond hair is whipping around her head – she turns and faces the camera – and I’m hooked. It was at that moment, while watching The French Lieutenant's Woman, that I fell in love with Meryl Streep onscreen and my love has never wavered since.
Top of his ballot
1) Silkwood
2) A Cry in the Dark
3) Sophie's Choice
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DAVID
When did you discover Streep?
"I first discover Meryl Streep in Death Becomes Her when I was like five or six years old (it's one of my favourite childhood movies, I still love it so much!), and I thought she was one of the most beautiful women I'd ever seen. I also thought she was incredibly funny, I remember being so surprised when my mother told me that she was more famous for doing dramatic roles. I couldn't believe it: Madeline Ashton WAS NOT that woman's best performance??!"
Top of his ballot
1) Postcards From the Edge
2) Silkwood
3) A Cry in the Dark
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CHRIS
When did you discover Streep?
"As a youngster I first saw Meryl belting out 'I See Me' (hysterically) in Death Becomes Her but first became aware of her brilliance I think watching The Bridges of Madison County where her Francesca moved me enormously."
Top of his ballot
1) Sophie's Choice
2) Kramer vs Kramer
3) The Bridges of Madison County
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YOUR TURN!
When did you first see or notice or fall for America's Greatest Living Actress
Continue on to the Streep Rank Countdown #16 through #11
Reader Comments (52)
Yay!!!! Feels like all is right with the world here on the Film Experience :)
I'm still relatively young and a newcomer to cinephilia so my first acknowledgement of her was in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events because I loved the series and I wanted to know who was playing my beloved characters. I remember my 14 year old self thinking "Who the hell is the Meryl Streep lady?" Silly past me. Only the best actor on planet Earth.
Oh Martin! I love Meryl's reaction to his hotness!
Peggy Sue --- thanks for noticing. I had fun with the juxtapositions. JT's being my favorite :)
Surprised not to see any high rankings for her in Prada. Still one of her most memorable character creations for me.
First Meryl Streep film – ‘Out of Africa’ – I remember my Mother and Auntie blubbing in the sofa uncontrollably.
When I became a devotee – ‘The Bridges of Madison County’ – so heart breaking and so fully realised. The way she shuts the fridge door with her foot to her hand clutching the door handle to the truck for the courage that never came. Amazing.
Favourite performances:
1 ‘Bridges’
2 ‘A Cry in the Dark’
3 ‘The Devil Wears Prada’
Oh, I totally forgot to reply your email! May I still do it? (Since the question was different, I assume that'll be for another post)
Oh, Michael, I love they way she touches Clint's neck when they're in the kitchen.
Your blog is so full of lovely details... just like Meryl's performances!
I honestly can't recall the first time I saw Meryl Streep on a conscious level. I think my first movie must have been She-Devil - it used be an "Afternoon Session" hit and I must have been eight or nine years old. There were other movies such as The Hours, Prime and A Prairie Home Companion, to name a few, during my teens but none of those made an impression to last until I first watched Out of Africa some four years ago. I was absolutely enraptured. The scene where Redford washes her hair remains as one of all-time favorites.
I'm proud to say I have watched about 90% of her work, and I know I'll never tire of looking at Meryl Streep, regardless of which character she might be playing next.
My ballot?
Out of Africa
Silkwood
Postcards from the Edge
Hm... I'm just realizing that my very first Meryl film was DEATH BECOMES HER. I find that so hilarious.
I think the first movie I saw of hers was 'The River Wild' and maybe a couple more. But I became a fan (without knowing at the time) with 'The Bridges of Madison County'. I was alone in my house (maybe at 14) and I started watching 'Bridges' I liked her all the movie, but was her final scene when she was in the car, in the red light, when she holds herself to the door handle of the car, that really blowed me mind... There I was, a young boy without any experience in love connected in magical ways with that mature woman. I was in tears, it wasn't Eastwood's melodrama, it was all Streep.
Ps. I love David's comment: "I couldn't believe it: Madeline Ashton WAS NOT that woman's best performance?!" ♥
First noticed as an actress but before I was putting names to faces: Mary Fisher in She-Devil!As a youngster, was such fun at the time!
When I became fully aware of 'Meryl Streep': I think it was an ex-rental VHS of The Hours that my Mother bought my Nana that I watched one arvo. I was moved by the whole film and the brilliant performances all around. I was actually really transfixed by the cover of the three ladies, spent a lot of time staring at that :)
I love this post! I didn't vote in the poll because I hadn't seen all of Streep's nominated films, but the poll actually motivated me to rent her 5 or so nominated films I hadn't seen (I just saw A Cry in the Dark and have Postcards from the Edge waiting for me), but she is one of my favorite actresses. I first noticed Streep with Kramer vs. Kramer - I saw it on tv when I was in grade school and it was one of the first "adult" films that made a lasting impression on me.
The first movie I saw with her was Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events when I was 11. In didn't think too much of her, and completely forgot about her till the 2005 Oscars (my first Oscars ever). She and Lily Tomlin presented the Honorary Oscar to Robert Altman, and I thought they were hilarious!! I looked her up and couldn't believe how many Oscar nominations she had. My mom (a Meryl fan since Holocaust in the 1970s) rented A Cry in the Dark shortly after and we watched it together, and I was hooked.
Love this project and looking forward to many more!!
I am in love with all the Silkwood mentions!!!
My first glimpse of Meryl came when I was a mere boy because my mother LOVED Out of Africa (which also happens to have been released the year I was born)...but my all time favorite Meryl anything is obviously Silkwood!
I find it amazing that so many people discovered her in Death Becomes Her, myself included. I bet she would be surprised. I was obsessed with that film for years.
I was actually thinking of Meryl as Maggie Thatcher today, during one of our meetings at work. It was so boring that I couldn't help but play out one of the scenes in my head. It was the scene where she says: "With all due respect, sir, I have done battle every single day of my life, and many men have underestimated me before. This lot seem bound to do the same, but they will rue the day!" I think I was pretty good, even if I say so myself.
First time with Meryl had to have been She-Devil, probably one of the first PG-13 movies I got to see as a kid on TV. She's always been good at comedy like in Death Becomes Her or Defending Your Life, but I loved the bitchy but fragile Mary Fisher as I grew up and eventually discovered her dramatic works later.
My Top 3:
1. Sophie's Choice
2. The Devil Wears Prada
3. Angels in America (she played a male rabbi convincingly for crying out loud!)
I first saw Streep on TV in "Holocaust" in the 70s. I was a little kid and my sisters were younger, but somehow the whole family sat down and watched a mini series on the Final Solution. The 70s were weird.
I'm glad to see so many mentions for A Cry in the Dark. It's at the top of my list:
1. A Cry in the Dark -- Meryl playing an incredibly unsympathetic character
2. Adaptation -- Mega Meryl: Smart, sexy, funny, sly
3. Silkwood -- Heartbreaking
Quite funny, but my Meryl's discovery and my top 3 are actually the same as those mentioned by James.
I remeber being a kid and being extremely amused and awed by her performanced in SHE-DEVIL.
SOPHIE'S CHOICE is definitely my number 1, followed by "The Devil Wears Prada", "Angels in America", "Adaptation","Silkwood", "A Cry in the Dark" and "Ironweed"
When I was a mere kid (14, I think) in high school, I became obsessed with acting, theatre and filmmaking. One day I decided to skip school (I thought there was nothing else the "idiots" could teach me!). My parents thought I was in school, but actually I walked around town, went to see movies, spent a great deal of time in the library learning what I wanted to learn and then watched movies on cable. And there was this tribute series that showed Meryl's most famous performance. She was already the most nominated actor in the history of the Oscars, but the first movie I saw was Sophie's Choice. I remember that what I felt was the absolute sense of intimacy - she was a human being breathing and living, who could made me believe anything. I loved her eyes and I called her 'the actress with the nose'. Then I saw Kramer vs. Kramer, Adaptation, Out of Africa, Silkwood, A Cry in the Dark, The Bridges of Madison County, The Hours, Postcards from the Edge.
My favorite Streep performances (of the nominated ones):
1. Sophie's Choice
2. The Bridges of Madison County
3. Adaptation
4. Silkwood
5. Kramer vs. Kramer
6. A Cry in the Dark
7. The Devil Wears Prada
8. Ironweed
9. Postcards from the Edge (a very underrated performance! love her in it!)
10. The French Lieutenant's Woman
11. Out of Africa
12. The Deer Hunter
13. Julie & Julia
14. Doubt
15. One True Thing
16. Music of the Heart
Of her non-nominated performances I adore these two:
1. Manhattan (it would have been in my top 5; she's so beautiful there and even though her character is perversely linked with her Kramer vs. Kramer character, it's a completely different human being; she's absolutely different in a role that could have been a twin!)
2. The Hours (the breakdown scene! and seeing her with the flowers -- the most painful The Hours story arc to me!; the only one that left me cold was actually Julianne's, which is a pity because I love Julianne!)
3. Falling In Love (I know, I know, but watching her playing somebody who could be your neighbor and yet making this person such a magnet is a pleasure to wacth!)
4. Prairie Home Companion
I fell in love with Meryl when I saw her in a Shakespeare in the Park production of Measure for Measure starring her, John Cazale and Sam Waterston. I adored her as a stage actress (The Cherry Orchard with Raul Julia, Mary Beth Hurt, Michael Cristofer and Irene Worth; The Taming of the Shrew opposite Raul Julia; the Brecht-Weill musical Happy End with Christopher Lloyd) before she became a movie star. I was nervous that Hollywood was going to kill her talent and her career. Call me Methuselah.
And it's Francesca FTW.
My Meryl introduction came when I walked into my parents' room while they were watching the end of One True Thing, specifically the monologue at the end where Meryl talks of motherhood and life and choosing happiness. God. The power of the words was especially remarkable given how frail she looked in that scene. The movie is forgettable, but I was transfixed with that monologue. Who was this women who could infuse such beauty and truth about the reality of our lives into only a few minutes of screen-time? I had to know more about this actress, so I started digging into her 80s filmography and ended up a Streep fan for life. When she's truly connected to her work, her acting transcends the medium of film; it becomes about something more. It becomes about the poignant grace of the human experience.
Okay, I have to respond to this becuase I was there and aware when Meryl was being "discovered" by the masses. The summer of 1978, I turned 17 so I could go see R rated movies and I worked at a Burger King so I had some serious cash. ;-) I decided to see The Deer Hunter on the big screen even though I couldn't get anyone to watch it with me (the Mormons said it was R, and the kids said it was depressing).
I didn't know what to expect and people around me were grumbling through the first hour that "nothing" was happening but I was mesmerized. There was this beautiful, kinda sad girl-woman who seemed to be aware of everything happening around her, even though everyone else wasn't. Her role wasn't huge, though the largest female one in the film, but she forced you to stare at her. I vividly recall the camera (and Robert De Niro) looking longingly at Meryl for a long time while the wedding went on around her. The sadness, longing, and even embarrassment were all there on her face.
Needless to say, I went back to the theater for four nights in a row. I thought the director, Michael Cimino, must have been utterly brilliant to get such great performances out of De Niro, Streep, and Walken and others, but of course, now I think he was lucky to stay out of their way.
I remember the Oscars that year and I knew that Meryl Streep had to win the award, but alas, she lost. Looking back on it, her category that year was really rich. And of course she won the Oscar the very next year.
I don't think I can rank Meryl movies because some are a dim memory, but probably the one that has stuck with me the longest is generally considered one of her "lesser" movies, and that's Plenty. To have your life peak so early and to be so vibrant, and then to be forced back into the kitchen (well, with servants), just really resonated with me. I've got to see that movie again.
Death becomes her was my first. And my personal favorite of her performance. She was just damn hilarious!
@ Paul Outlaw,
please tell more about Meryl's stage performances in her early career. I'm really curious.
I can't be the only one to have first discovered La Streep from The Simpsons, can I? For my money, she's one of the show's best guest stars - as Jessica Lovejoy, the reverend's rebellious daughter. As for best Streep ever, I'd have to go with Adaptation. Not only because it's one of my favourite films, but because she embodies everything that's good in an acting performance.
@ Zooey: Streep was an incredibly physical stage performer, equally adept at comedy and drama, and she could really sing. She brought a grandness and passion to her work that had people in the theater comparing her to old-school thespians like the Barrymores and Eva La Galliene. She was probably the best, most intelligent and mercurial Katharina in Taming of the Shrew that I have ever seen, the performance is still vivid to me. And then in the relatively small ensemble role of the maid Dunyasha in The Cherry Orchard she stole the show as a sexy young ninny. She could do anything and she was amazing.
I've been aware of Meryl's existence like forever, I guess. She's my mother's favourite actress and intrigued as I was I remember seeing French Lieutenant's Woman and Sophie's Choice early on (I must have been ten or twelve maybe).
But when I really fell for Meryl was when I went to the movies for the opening of The Hours. I went there for one reason only - a major obsession with Nicole Kidman after seeing her in Moulin Rouge - and left the theatre madly in love with Meryl Streep. Have been ever since :)
This is so hard, but my top three would be:
1. Sophie's Choice
2. Silkwood
3. The Devil Wears Prada
...having seen 15 out of 16 nominated performances. Iron Lady opens here in Sweden tomorrow.
Death Becomes Her- A childhood touchstone for me.
Music of the Heart & Marvin's Room- Small films that taught me to cry on cue.
Out of Africa- For many years my only connection to Meryl's dramatic reign.
The Hours- Why can't all films be composed of actress ensembles?
The Devil Wears Prada- My introduction to eternal Meryl fandom (I attempted to convince my high school girlfriend of Meryl's brilliance in this film...in the butchest way possible of course).
My current ranking of the 17:
1. Silkwood
2. Sophie's Choice
3. Postcards from the Edge
4. Adaptation
5. The Bridges of Madison County
6. The Devil Wears Prada
7. A Cry in the Dark
8. Out of Africa
9. Julie & Julia
10. Music of the Heart
11. Kramer vs. Kramer
12. One True Thing
13. The Iron Lady
14. The French Lieutenant's Woman
15. Ironweed
16. The Deer Hunter
17. Doubt
Gosh, this reminded me of how old I am! I'm the first 'Reader Ranking' in Nate's fantastic column here. My 2nd is Adaptation but, like I said, I can have a different #1 for Streep every day. Can't wait for August: Osage County in 2013!
First full film viewing was Marvin's Room at 14. a friend wanted to see Contact and his gf wanted to see Marvin's Room 'cause Di Caprio was in it. I just wanted to see Diane Keaton but at the first minute Meryl take it all. That night House of Spirits was on TV and watched with the family. They loved it.
After that, a nonstop Streep-a-thon.
My top 3:
1. A Cry in the dark.
1. Bridges of madison county
1. Sophie's choice
if she was nominated, The hours.
I must be older than you guys :-) I first noticed Meryl in Holocaust. I was about 10 or 11 when the miniseries aired, and although it was dubbed in spanish, I was intrigued by Meryl and her performance. Then I saw her in Kramer vs Kramer and the inrtigue went on... until finally being completely won over with her performance in Sophie´s Choice. From them on she's my favorite actress ever.
My 10 favorite Meryl's performances are (cronological order):
Holocaust
The Deer Hunter
Kramer vs Kramer
Sophie's Choice
Ironweed
The Bridges of Madison County
Adaptation
Angels in America
The Devil Wears Prada
The Iron Lady
and If it's up to 3 (difficult task) it would be:
Kramer vs Kramer
Sophie's Choice
The Bridges of Madison County
when i was like 13 or 14 about 11 years ago i saw coming home and the deer hunter and was overwhelmed by those 2 movies (and 60s music and jane fonda and the whole era etc). i had aready known meryl streep, mostly from death becomes her and she-devil which i both loved as a child and young teen boy, and then i saw her in the deer hunter, and especially in that scene at the end when she's singing at the funeral (am i remembering it right?), so much emotion in her eyes! such great movies! the 60s! haha
and then i watched sophie's choice and some other movies and then ANGELS IN AMERICA...
she was there from the star of my movie-lovin'!
Muniel
Can't pick a favorite performance I just love every single one , Streep is simply the best actress in the world in my eyes so you can imagine how much I love this. keep it up.
I knew the name Streep before I had an idea of how to spell it correctly: and a face?--Forget it. I didn't see her face until the trailer for She-Devil. It was strange to me that such an important name to movies would be in a Roseanne Barr late-80s Orion Pictures junk. To prove my point I tried and failed attempting to make my way through all of She-Devil.
Oh my top 5 performances
1. Sophie's Choice
2. Silkwood
3. Ironweed
4. Bridges of Madison County
5. Julie & Julia
Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan
See it on blu-ray !
Patryk -- i love MANHATTAN so much. so so much. It's one of my three favorite Woody Allen pictures all of which i think are unqualified masterpieces. and Streep is pretty great in it too, damn she made a lot of classic films in the first 10 years of her career.
I still love her and will always love her but i wonder what happened that the general quality of her filmography took such a nose dive? I mean i love Prada but her last great films were almost 10 years ago! and before those there's a huge gap of great films stretching back another 10 years or so. but at the beginning it was like BAM-BAM-BAM-BAM one classic after another
Nathaniel, the same could be said for so many actresses as they've aged. Most movies seem to center around protagonists in their 20s/30s. Meryl got those prime roles in those great movies you mentioned in her 20s/30s, and then she became middle-aged. Frankly, how many great roles in great films do we see for middle-aged women? For every Ellen Burstyn in Requiem for a Dream role, there's a gajillion stereotypical mom or grandmother roles that aging actresses are offered. No wonder so many of our prime actresses from the 80s are now doing tv. Glenn Close's Patty Hewes from Damages is a far more iconic role than anything she's done on the big screen in recent years, for example.
The worst offenders in the diminish quality of filmography category are Pacino and De Niro by a long shot. I wish I could freeze frame them in the 70s and never let them escape that era. We'd all be spared a lot of angst and anguish watching them crap on their own legacies.
Lindsay -- that's true for the most part about women as they age. but it's obviously not true for Meryl since she doesn't play those thankless parts. I'm talking about the movies she DOES do. and they are largely disposable ... it's just a pity is all.
but you're 100% right that Pacino and DeNiro are a whole different ballpark of no regard for quality (at least Meryl's movies are usually fun in some way)... and they have much less excuse because there are a lot of great roles for older men.
My very first EVER Meryl Streep sighting was at the 1996 Oscars, on the clip of the Bridges of Madison County (heck, I was 5 years old then). I didn't know that it was the Oscars. I just knew I was watching a boring awards show. :-)
I discovered Meryl early on TV in The Holocaust...My wife and i were blown away by her then and we knew immediately she was going to be the greatest ever...That small role in Julia in the restaurant scene in 1977 made everyone notice her..and then the magnificent career in films began....I am in awe of how she can produce so many great films and performances for this lengthy period of time..and there is no stopping her it seems...When i left the IRON LADY I just shook my head and cried in awe of this great performance of thatcher on so many levels..
MY favorite Meryl performances....( it can change now and then) after re-watching the films.
SOPHIE'S CHOICE
A CRY IN THE DARK
THE BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY
IRONWEED
THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA..
of the non-nominated ones
THE HOURS
PLENTY
THE RIVER WILD
DEATH BECOMES HER
MANHATTAN
Nathaniel: I do think that overall Meryl's filmography rivals most others ....
Jamie -- yes probably. i guess i'm just too demanding. Many of her films will last. I just am wanting one of them to be REALLY REALLY Great again. I can't be pleased ;)
I've already expressed my personal ranking with Sophie's Choice #1 among all Meryl's nominated performance. I would place TIL in the top10 even top 5 of her overall nominated roles.
My very favourite scene by Meryl is the car scene in The Bridges of Madison County.
What particularly moved me in The Iron Lady, instead, was the scene in which old Margareth Tatcher wants to drive away her husband Danis voices and turn on all the home appliances to cover them... such a tender and sad scene potraying an old, confused and helpless woman.
I first discovered Meryl Streep in the mini-series "Holocaust". It kinda frustrates me that people don't really realize that her first big exposure was through this and not her movies. For the first couple years of her film career I referred to her as the woman that was in "Holocaust".
Meryl Streep is the only actress to be nominated for an Academy Award in 5 consecutive decades! And still only 1 best actress and 1 supporting win :(
My first Streep film: Heartburn
My favorites:
Sophie's Choice
Angels in America
The Devil Wears Prada