Beauty vs Beast: Look Who's Still Here
Monday, April 24, 2017 at 2:30PM 
Jason from MNPP with our weekly "Beauty vs Beast" fun-time - I'm surprised it didn't occur to me to do this one at the start of this year when we were mourning the epic loss of both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds (I even re-watched this film at that time) but perhaps the pain was too much. Anyway as Nat told you earlier it's Shirley MacLaine's birthday so the right time has revealed itself, and today we'll tackle Mike Nichols' glorious 1990 comedy Postcards From the Edge, starring MacLaine and some Meryl woman, based on Fisher's thinly veiled book about a drug-addict actress and her let's-say-ebuillent actress-mother. Mother-Actress? Actress-Singer-Mother? Well that's the question, isn't it?
PREVIOUSLY I'm shocked and flabbergasted by you people - hasn't Jennifer Garner suffered enough? We wished her a happy birthday last week with some 13 Going on 30 love and y'all rejected her star-making performance for Adorable Mark Ruffalo. I... well he is pretty damn adorable. Said Dave S:
"Ruffalo in this movie is top-tier among underwritten love interests; I think him ceding the stage for the female lead is actually a point in his favor. He gets to fill the somewhat vaguely defined dream guy role in a way we're more used to seeing actresses relegated to. See also: Aidan Quinn as the projectionist in "Desperately Seeking Susan"."
Reader Comments (17)
You are pitting a recovering drug addict vs. her alcoholic mother? These are the options?
Stalemate...cannot vote.
Yeah , This feels a little insensitive
Team Shirley, err Doris. If she can't win the Oscar nod, I'm going to give her the win here.
"Lana or Joan? These are the choices?"
This one's a toughie. But the queens like her for a reason--I wanna make one of those music videos with Doris.
Team Doris, because it's the better performance. Yeah, I said it. Sorry, Meryl!
Even if it wasn't her birthday it would still have to be Shirley/Doris as it would be Debbie if it was the real life mother daughter in competition. I'm a big admirer of both Meryl and Carrie but Shirley and Debbie are on another plane.
Doris get the showstopping "I'm Still Here" number!
Yeah,but the end song sung by Streep
I'mChecking Out is a blockbuster!!!!
Aren't Debbie and Carrie actually on another plane, since they are no longer with us and in heaven? I think the casting was good if people consider the stars to be like each other (Meryl-Carrie, Shirley-Debbie). But don't make me choose. I can't choose.
Debbie and Carrie are in movie star heaven
Difficult to choose... has to be a tie!
Team Doris all the way. It took me a nanosecond to decide.
Suzanne! It's one of Streep's best, maybe the funniest I've seen her, using her entire body in the performance on top of some spectacular line readings the whole pretty picture. It's a hilarious, subdued performance with Carrie Fisher's wit and sensibility without playing Carrie Fisher, helps Dennis Quaid find his footing, and keeps that great Shirley McLaine performance from flying away on all Doris's hot air. They're a lovely pair, but we know who's leading.
'Postcards From the Edge' is such a great book and screenplay - and if there were some weird award for adapting your own book into a completely different movie, Carrie Fischer should have won it.
'It twirled up!'
They're both great, but if I had to choose.... it's Meryl. But really just by a hair.
"I only drink in company." "I only take drugs in company."
"It TWIRLED UP!" "And you had no underwear on."
Where is the "Both" button?