Showbiz History: A Very Meryl Streep Kind of Day
Tuesday, December 8, 2020 at 8:00AM 5 random things that happened on this day, December 8th, in showbiz history
1861 Marie-Georges-Jean Méliès born in Paris to boot factory owners. He would eventually become a stage magician and then in the early days of the silent era, a popular filmmaker. He is often regarded as the father of visual effects so he really ought to be more canonized given that that's the kind of movie the public cares most about for many many years now. You might recall Ben Kingsley played him in Scorsese's Hugo.
Gene Kelly, Meryl Streep, and Matthias Schoenaerts after the jump...
1949 The Gene Kelly musical comedy On the Town has its premiere in NYC though it strangely waits until after Christmas for a general release. It wins the Oscar for Best Scoring of a Musical Picture (a now defunct category that ran from 1942 through 1962... one of Oscar's many experiments in trying to figure out what to do with musicals onscreen.
1970 John Cassavettes Husbands opens in US theaters. Happy 50th to the film which received a Golden Globe nomination for its screenplay.
1978 ...AND 1982 ...AND 1989 December 8th is a Meryl Streep kind of day in history. It's the day that The Deer Hunter premiered (the first of two consecutive Best Picture winners she starred in and received Supporting Actress nominations for). It's also the day Sophie's Choice would open four years later, cementing her legend as a thespian and then-new leading lady status. AND (no really) it's the day that She-Devil hit theaters, her big transformational move in becoming a comedy star (which eventually worked) after a full decade as America's preeminent dramatic actress.
Today's Birthday Suit
Matthias Schoenaerts in "A Bigger Splash" one of many pictures in which he reveals his very European comfort sans clothing
Happy 43rd to 'the Belgian Brando' Matthias Schoenaerts born on this day in 1977 in Antwerp, Belgium to the popular stage actor Julien Schoenaerts and the costume designer Dominique Wiche. He made his first movie at 15 and became an international star by 34. He's currently in The Old Guard on Netflix. His next picture is the crime drama Brothers by Blood with Joel Kinnaman and then Terrence Malick's The Last Planet about the life of Christ in which he plays Peter. His Oscar-related titles in case you're curious:
- Daens (Belgium, 1992) His debut film at 15 (his father is also in it). Best Foreign Language Film Nominee
- Black Book (The Netherlands, 2006) Oscar-Finalist for Foreign Language Film
- Bullhead (Belgium, 2011) Best Foreign Language Film Nominee
- Rust & Bone (France, 2012) Marion Cotillard nearly snagged a Best Actress nomination for this brutal but mesmerizing romantic drama (if the precursors were accurate). Sadly it didn't come to pass.
- Death of a Shadow (Belgium, 2012) Best Live Action Short Nominee
- The Danish Girl (UK/US, 2015) four Oscar nominations with 1 win (Alicia Vikander for Best "Supporting" Actress)
- Racer and the Jailbird (Belgium, 2017) Oscar-submission for Foreign Language Film
Other showbiz types born on this day (NOT a complete list): Oscar winner Kim Basinger, Hobbit Dominic Monaghan, Bill who was Killed David Carradine, entertainment legend Sammy Davis Jr, Director most likely to make you want to remodel your house Nancy Meyers, Oscar winning actor and multi-hyphenate talent Maximillian Schell, Mrs Tony Leung Chiu Wai and star in her own right Carina Lau, Oscar winning Makeup legend Rick Baker, and queer Argentinian director Marco Berger.
Reader Comments (14)
Let's stop pretending that Meryl is good in comedies.
Yesterday, I spend some joyful minutes watching a couple of Melies' shorts. His films are pure delight and I adore the picture book scenography as well as the early special effects wizardry.
Sometimes I think On The Town is better than Singin' in the Rain. Plus he has the spectacular Ann Miller who forms my favorite pair of the genre with another of my favorites, Jules Munshin and my favorite number, Prehistoric Man. 🍧🍩🍪🥧
Oh yes, Matthias Schoenaerts...
Given Meryl's penchant for appearing in prestige pictures with lots of Oscar love I'm a bit surprised she's only had three films that opened on the 8th.
Bless Matthias for being so comfortable with his body, of course if you look like that why not?
If you have body like Matthias Schoenaerts one should be naked all the time
Meryl is very good and quite funny in Adaptation, The Devil Wears Prada, and Julie & Julia. None of these are pure comedies, but she's definitely a skilled comedic actress.
I watched The Old Guard just last night. I didn't know Mathias S. (not going to attempt that last name spelling) was in it. If we must have superhero movies, then this is more like what I can stand. Relatively believable within its own rules. And I have to say that Charlize Theron or her people really do have good taste in action movies. Now I really want to see Daens to see what Mathias was delivering as a teenager.
I have been waiting for the right time to break out my 3D version of Hugo that I scored from a thrift store. Hard to find at a reasonable price. I want to check out Asa Butterfield as a kid actor again after admiring his performance in Sex Education.
And I think Meryl is good at doing the drama within the comedy movies she's been in. She's not "funny" really, but kept comic confections like Postcards From The Edge and Devil Wears Prada aloft with her charisma and, well, acting.
Who is pretending????? She is good in comedies
The ones already mentioned and Death Becomes Her.
Clearly it pains some people, including the NY Times, that Streep excels in drama, comedy and musicals. Matthias is so good in that movie The Mustang. A very underrated actor.
The Last Planet has been re-named The Way of the Wind.
Bless the movie Hugo for not just being a great film, but a film history and for introducing millions of movie fans to the works of Méliès.
Oh Matthias! Please be naked more often!
- Schoenaerts and Kinnaman in the same film? One can only pray that they play lovers on the run in a tropical climate...
- There are some classic moments in On the Town, but it's hard to overlook how often it butchers the original stage version...
- Death Becomes Her, Adaptation., The Devil Wears Prada, It's Complicated, Web Therapy...hello?