Before we get to the trailer, quick uncensored thoughts as they come to me regarding the poster and some new images so it's several posts in one after the jump...
Oh, girl. I'm ready! I've been ready.
"why is no one rehd-dee"?
I love women of a certain age in braids. It's so hippie chic.
...actually I love women of all ages in braids. And select men, too.
or at least Cary Fukunaga
For some reason I don't think Miranda Priestley would like this outfit but Andie would. Didn't Andie wear something dark and chainy in The Devil Wears Prada? With smokey eye.
Always Meryl singing. Always The Hours. Always the smokey eye.
Every time that Jonathan Demme makes a movie with a great starring female role, I feel bad that his working relationship with Michelle Pfeiffer -- who he raved and raved about after working with her for Married to the Mob -- didn't extend beyond 1988. He clearly wanted to work with her immediately again but she said "no" to Silence of the Lambs and it appears he never asked again. A part of me can see her in this role.
One thing that's great about Meryl Streep is you get the sense that she doesn't care about "acting her age" so she's kind of perfect casting for this aging female rocker role. The media and public doesn't mind Streep doing crazy "young" things either which is weird because they're so vicious to every other aging female celebrity who risks doing anything youthful. (sigh)
I rode an elevator with Rick Springfield two years ago and I stupidly asked him if he was Rick Springfield even though I knew he was. He was super polite about it but afterwards I felt like such a jerk. I did not ask him about this movie because at the time I didn't know he was making it which was probably for the best.
Is he making obscene dirty dancing moves here or pretending to play guitar for Ricki? Is he "The Flash"? No, not that one.
Do younger readers know who he is? Those of us who lived through the 80s do but I can't keep track of which 80s stars prompt "who?" from millenials and younger. I really can't. Sometimes it totally surprises me who people know and who they don't. Show of hands in the comments please.
[quick IMDb check] Rick Springfield has never been nominated for an Oscar but I wonder if he writes any song for this movie? I think he wrote something for a movie in the 80s once. "Hard to Hold" maybe?
Mamie Gummer was at this party I went to recently and she was tiny, like the skinniest thing. I did not speak with her but I immediately flashed to that awful lizard girl tattoo torture she went through in American Horror Story: Freakshow.
One thing that's weird about casting either of Meryl's actual actress daughters as her daughters in any film is that they look so much like her that it will suddenly be really weird to see anybody else playing her daughters in other films.
Do you think Henry Wolfe, Meryl's musician son, will be weirded out watching her play a rocker? Do you think her kids see her films? (P.S. his music is good.)
This photo. ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥
OKAY. That trailer. Let's watch!
The way Yes No Maybe So works is self-explanatory. BUT in this case since I'm a big "yes" it's more of a... well, it's a tradition that must be honored.
Yes
• It's great that Meryl sounds a little hoarse and low in these scenes... She's always had a very expressive voice but sometimes its less so when doing contemporary American parts.
• The cast Demme has assembled here is pretty compelling. Audra McDonald - hello!?! Yes please. Though it'll be weird to see her in a music picture and not hear her sing.
• "Mom, you're here. It's like the 80s all over again."
• That leg kick. Oh, Meryl. Never stop being a ham.
No
• Visually it looks kinda blah from these images? Which is... I was hoping for a little more pep from Demme
• If this is going to be all about shaming a career woman and creative personality for not being more traditionally stay-at-home maternal, it's going to be unfortunate and possibly even tremendously obnoxious.
Maybe So
• The trailer is probably trying to be sentimental and crowd-pleasing and heteronormative as possible for maximum box office appeal... but Diablo Cody can deliver a sharp bite with her screenplays and Demme is usually a little more off center. Are they weirdly negating each other? Or is the trailer sanding off their edges that are still in play in the actual movie?
• We're not hearing enough of the music to tell us whether that'll be stirring and a bonus for the movie though Meryl singing usually is.
Mom you're here. It's like the 80s all over again."
If I didn't love Meryl and Audra and Jonathan Demme I might not be excited but I do x 3 so I am. YES.
How about you?
P.S. if you haven't seen it, check out the new Best Actress chart and the first big Best Actress 2015 discussion