Sunday, June 30, 2019

Episode 4 of "Big Little Lies"

SLAP!

Nicole Kidman's left hand may be the MVP of episode four. Within the first ten minutes, Meryl's character, Mary Louise, shows up unannounced to a pumpkin-carving party and says some things that would make even Mother Teresa want to take a whack. Mary Louise continues to try to infiltrate the lives of both her daughter-in-law (Celeste) and her newly-discovered grandson (Ziggy), by renting an apartment in the same building as Ziggy's mother, Jane. Bonnie is worried that Mary Louise suspects her in Perry's death (based on a "look") and Renata and Madeline continue their seemingly losing battle within their marriages. 



"Foreplay?" What a bitch. That was a pretty quick synopsis, but the thrust of tonight's episode involves Mary Louise's machinations to secure custody of her grandchildren. Following Celeste's car accident, the discovery of multiple prescription pill bottles, the slap, and ultimately walking in on Celeste in a post-coital Ambien hangover, Mary Louise is ripe to strike. Although we realize Streep's character is a total opportunistic loon, it's difficult to disagree with her concerns for the boys when considering it from the perspective of the other characters. Her brief scene with Shailene Woodley (Jane) was again packed with a lot of dramatic punch. 

Meryl had a lot of screen time this episode. I'm still expecting her to go supporting for Emmy consideration, but at this point, I don't think it would be out of the realm of possibility to see her fielded in lead. Could that be a thing? Imagine Reese Witherspoon, Kidman and Streep all nominated in lead and Dern, Woodley and maybe Kravitz nommed in supporting.

I'm enjoying every minute of season two. 


Tuesday, June 25, 2019

Streep to star in Ryan Murphy's "Prom"

It seemed like only a matter of time before Meryl and Ryan Murphy were able to join forces for a project. Looks like that's about to happen, as Deadline is reporting that Murphy will be producing and directing a feature film adaptation for Netflix of the Tony-nominated musical, The Prom, to be retitled simply, Prom. Streep would play the lead Dee Dee Allen and is to be joined by James Corden, Nicole Kidman, Andrew Rannells, Ariana Grande, Awkwafina, and Keegan-Michael Key.

The synopsis as described by Deadline reads:

~In Prom, Streep will play Dee Dee Allen, a two-time Tony winner who teams with Corden’s Barry Glickman in a flop musical about Eleanor Roosevelt. After career-ending reviews, they decide — along with Broadway babies Kidman as Angie Dickinson and Rannells (Book of Mormon) as Trent Oliver — to champion a cause to rehabilitate their careers. They find one in Emma, a high school senior in Indiana who isn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. A nationwide search led by casting director Alexa Fogel is on to fill the role of Emma.~

This could be good! I have to admit that I had never heard of this musical. It apparently just opened last fall but was nominated for like seven Tony Awards. Streep's role will definitely be a lead performance. The cast, as expected in any Murphy project, is diverse, and this may be the first time Meryl's love interest is a person of color (Key)?

More details are sure to come in the near future, but filming is expected to get underway this December for a late 2020 release. 

Love new project announcements!

Streep, Kidman, & Murphy

Monday, June 24, 2019

Episode 3 of "Big Little Lies"

Well, the drama continues. Tensions are running high in Monterey and few people are happy. Mary Louise is being her creepy self and going as far as to show up at Jane's (Shailene Woodley) place of work to ask about her "encounter" with her son. A paternity test?! "Take a hike, bitch!" is what I'd probably say if I were in Jane's shoes. Mary Louise's behavior is classic victim blaming, and Meryl is making it very difficult to feel sympathetic for her. But I have to say her character is showcasing an interesting history of what kind of home Perry may have grown up in.

I think the show is doing a good job of showing how moving on from an abusive relationship isn't as easy is it may seem. Celeste (Nicole Kidman) is struggling with missing Perry, and with the help of her therapist trying to get past the feelings of emptiness she has now that her husband is dead...even if he used to beat the shit out of her. Madeline (Reese Witherspoon) and Ed (Adam Scott) even get into the therapy act, after Madeline had revealed her infidelity to him last episode.

With all the grieving going on, it can get a little heavy-handed. But thanks to the spectacular Laura Dern, we're getting a bit of comic relief with how over-the-top ridiculous Renata is. From insisting her daughter be transferred to Stanford hospital for an anxiety attack, to calling someone a "pussfuck," there were several times I laughed out loud at how derailed she lets herself get. And that alligator blazer! She was my favorite this week (aside from Meryl every week. of course).



Hard to believe that after next week the season will already be more than half over!

Saturday, June 22, 2019

The big 7-0

Happy birthday to our favorite! Today is a milestone for an iconic woman, who, through the sheer force of her talent, has almost single-handedly rewritten what it means to be an actress in Hollywood over the age of 40. Even twenty years ago, it seemed almost impossible that someone in her demographic could consistently be afforded the opportunity to turn out amazing performance after amazing performance. Thankfully, it's not just Meryl anymore. Ever increasingly, we are seeing women of all ages portrayed in complex roles, especially with the television renaissance of the past decade. It's fitting that as Meryl turns 70 this weekend, she's currently showcased in one of the most popular television series of the past five years, receiving some of the best reviews she has this century.

Is it wrong to think that 70 is still young? When it comes to Meryl's screen work, I hope not.

Here's to another 30 years of wowing us (I'll maybe be OK if she wants to retire at 100)!


Wednesday, June 19, 2019

First look at "Little Women"

Vanity Fair has released an article with our first look at multiple production still from the filming of Little Women. I've included some of the best below:

Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan & Eliza Scanlen

Saoirse Ronan & Timothée Chalamet

Director Greta Gerwig with Meryl Streep

Eliza Scanlen

Emma Watson, Florence Pugh, Saoirse Ronan & Eliza Scanlen

The photos looks stunning, and they bode well for the film's Oscar chances in costume design and possibly production design. Looking forward to the teaser in a few weeks!





Monday, June 17, 2019

Episode 2 of "Big Little Lies"

OK, so a lot of heavy shit went down this episode. The biggest thing is probably that Jane and Celeste end up telling their kids that Perry is Ziggy's dad. Bonnie's basically suffering from post-traumatic stress, so Nathan asks her mom to come out and help. Her mom is pretty in tune with what's wrong with Bonnie, and she's apparently some kind of like witch doctor who's using crystals to help her troubled daughter. Madeline confesses to Ed that she had an affair (thanks to the second time in two days one of her daughter gets a little loose with her language). Renata's dick husband has allegedly squandered all their money on some risky business venture, and we get to see pretty clearly what's behind her motivation for success.



And then of course, there's Mary Louise. She gets creepier by the minute. She's also sort of an awful person, if we didn't already realize that. After hearing the painful revelation from Celeste that Perry was physically abusive, instead of being sympathetic, caring and a listener, Mary Louise can do nothing but deny the possibility that her son could have been that way and that he could have raped someone as well. Essentially it's an exercise in denial, and Meryl plays it well, in that I wanted to reach through my TV and slap Mary Louise into reality.

Shailene Woodley was best in show for me tonight. The scene where she's telling Ziggy the truth about his father--it was pretty easy to feel her pain, and I thought she did a wonderful job conveying that.

With all this stuff out in the open already in week two, there's a pretty solid framework for a five more episodes of conflict. Fifty minutes never went by so fast...

Wednesday, June 12, 2019

Teaser for "Little Women" coming in July

Film Updates is reporting that a teaser trailer for Greta Gerwig's remake of Little Women will be attached to Quentin Tarantino's film Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. The film opens in theaters on July 26.


We can probably expect to see only a tiny snippet of Meryl, as it's just a teaser and she likely has a rather small role.

Sunday, June 9, 2019

Episode 1 of "Big Little Lies"

I'm writing this literally five minutes after having watched the first episode of season 2 of HBO's Big Little Lies. Spoiler alert if you plan to watch and don't want details. Historically I'm pretty bad at accurately describing everything I think or feel about a Streep performance very shortly after seeing it, but I also think there's something good about a fresh reaction. So please bare with me and my tendency to ramble.

Suffice it to say, Meryl has done it again. She's managed to surprise me. I pictured the character of Mary Louise Wright as someone a little bit "off," and I think I'm right in that respect. But Meryl figures out a way to undermine our suspicions and expectations of who we think a character is going to be in the first few scenes. There's an unsettling quirkiness about Mary Louise as she settles in Monterey to get to the bottom of how her son died. At the same time, she's the most put-together and in control of anyone in the town. There are enough glints, however, of her own (obviously mistaken) perception of her son, and how that opinion will shape her need for answers.



Basically, the first episode showcases how Bonnie is struggling with the fact that she's killed Perry by pushing him down the stairs to save Celeste. Celeste is having nightmares, and OMG all I could think about seeing Nicole Kidman with Meryl was how fucking awkward it would be to have to be hugged by the mother of your abusive dead husband, especially when that woman happens to be a little cuckoo (see scream scene). Madeline is maddeningly able to just seemingly move on fret about forcing her daughter to go to college, while Renata is not-so-politely instructing a super sexy teacher on how to educate her daughter. Jane's got a romance brewing with a co-worker and is refusing to accept estate checks from Celeste (since Perry was Ziggy's biological father).

I like how the directing seems to be consistent with the style of the first season. It would have been strange to feel like it was a completely different mood. Andrea Arnold has done a great job of maintaining that feel, as well as fashion a sort of melancholy tone for what's supposed to be an angsty return to the first day of school for the Monterey Five--contrasting that with the necessity for the moms to put on a show of normalcy.

As it stands Sunday night, the second season is at a whopping 97% on Rotten Tomatoes and 82 on Metacritic. Both of those scores are higher than the very well-received first season, but could possibly go down a smidge as more reviews come in.

Two years ago I binge-watched the entire first season in one day on the advice of my friend Scooter. I'm mad I have to wait seven days to see episode two and six more tortuous weeks for the whole story. But it'll be fun taking in the slow burn of all the fun twists and turns that the show and Mary Louise have in store as season unfolds.


Sunday, June 2, 2019

First reviews of "Big Little Lies" cite Streep as standout

We're exactly a week away from the debut of the first episode of season 2 of Big Little Lies. A couple of days ago, reviews started to come in from critics, whom I believe were made privy to the first two episodes. The general consensus is that the second season is very good. More excitingly, Streep is being singled out for Emmy love in most accounts I've read. Not that this is particularly shocking...Meryl is usually best in show. But up alongside the likes of Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon and and Laura Dern, it's still a tall task to stand out.

There are only five official reviews on both Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic, but the season is charting at 80% on RT and whopping 81 on MC. Certainly we'll get more reviews once the show actually airs and everyone gets to see all the episodes. But so far, things look pretty promising for how viewers are going to react to the quality of round two of the series. 

Can't wait 'til next weekend!