Cannes Diary: Meryl, Streeped - 10 Anecdotes

Elisa Giudici reporting from Cannes

Meryl Streep, photographed by Elisa Giudici

I was fortunate enough to secure a ticket to the much-coveted rendezvous with screen goddess Meryl Streep. She was in town to receive the Honorary Palme d'Or. Herewith 10 of the most memorable moments from her interview panel. 

What did you do after winning the Palme d'Or? 

"I stayed up until three in the morning at Quentin Dupieux's film party, so I'm a bit disoriented. I really enjoyed the opening film and talked a lot about it with Quentin."

How seriously do you take your role as a member of the Academy? 

Click to read more ...

Showbiz History: A Very Meryl Streep Kind of Day

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...

Click to read more ...

Frances vs Sophie

by Cláudio Alves

With Sophie's Choice new to streaming on HBO NOW and Frances available to rent from Amazon, Youtube and others, we thought it could be fun to rehash one legendary Oscar race. It's when Meryl Streep and Jessica Lange battled out for the Best Actress trophy of 1982. Come explore this clash of acting titans as we investigate two great women's legacies, the pair of competing films and nominated performances in a detailed deep dive. In the end, who'll be the chosen victor? 

Click to read more ...

Months of Meryl: An Epilogue

John and Matthew watched every single live-action film starring Meryl Streep. 

Meryl has been a superstar for 40 years now

MATTHEW: You never forget the performers who first reach out to you from an illuminated screen and lay claim to your gaze, mind, and devotion. Before I knew anything about the art of screen acting, I knew about the miraculous and almost mythic marvel that is Meryl Streep. Months of Meryl was an undertaking that exhausted and aggravated me without end: for every unparalleled Silkwood in Streep’s filmography, there are at least two The House of the Spirits; for every forgotten or underrecognized gem like The Seduction of Joe Tynan, One True Thing, or A Prairie Home Companion, there are at least three Still of the Nights, Primes, or Dark Matters. But, more importantly, this project illuminated a great deal about a veteran artist whose empathetic interest in the lives of others moved me at such an impressionable age and will never cease to do so.

Watching and writing about Streep’s films side by side by side for well over a year has not taught me a single overarching lesson, but only deepened my appreciation for her mastery...

Click to read more ...

Months of Meryl: Sophie's Choice (1982)

Hi, we’re John and Matt and, icymi, we are watching every single live-action film starring Streep...

#8 — Sophie Zawistowska, a Polish Holocaust survivor now fighting back personal demons as a Brooklyn émigré.

JOHN: Meryl Streep is as defined by Sophie’s Choice as Tiffany's is by diamonds. Her “choice” is perhaps the most notorious scene in Streep’s oeuvre, known by people who have no idea that The Deer Hunter or Silkwood or Ironweed even exist. In only our eighth entry, we have already arrived at the performance in which the legend of Streep was crystallized forever...

Click to read more ...