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