Meryl Streep Is Overrated

You don't always have to talk about politics or religion to piss some people off.   Any opinion you express will likely find someone on the opposing side--sometimes a lot of people.

Today

         Long before Donald Trump's notorious tweet and Streep's unnecessary acceptance speech at the Golden Globes ceremony, I've always said that I thought the multi-Oscar nominated actress was overrated.  Now do I not only think that she's overrated, but she's also an idiot.  But that's my opinion and I'm sure that I'll make some of you cringe with that statement.

         My sister and I have gotten into arguments every time I've said this over the years as she is a firm Streep adulator. Others have also found it a bit disturbing when I express this opinion of mine so I try to stay mum on the topic most of the time, but if her name comes up in a conversation I can't help but blurt out something like, "I can't stand Meryl Streep--I think she's a bore."

          Thinking that I might be wrong after hearing the floods of Streep accolades after her recent controversies and yet another Oscar nomination (oh no, not another stupid award nomination for Streep!), I decided that I should check her filmography to see if maybe I'd made an unfair assessment of Meryl Streep.

         Checking the IMDb site I discovered that Meryl Streep has been a part of  nearly 70 films and of those films there are 12 that I've definitely seen and maybe a few more that I might have seen and have forgotten that I've seen them.  Only one of these was a movie that I purposely saw because she was in it and that was A Cry in the Dark (1988) which I watched this past week-end mostly because it sounded interesting. It was good, but not necessarily because of her performance.

      I liked the The River Wild (1994) because it was a good story, but I actually didn't recall Streep being in it. I guess she did a fine job, but there are a lot of actresses who would have been good in this film. This is the case with many of the films I've seen Streep in--any actress would have been fine in the role that she played and some might have been better. Some of those films being Defending Your Life (1991) (she must have had a cameo in this one), Music of the Heart (1999) (I think I saw this, but it didn't make any impression I guess), Out of Africa (1985) (I don't remember this other than it being rather a bore as I recall--probably a suitable film for her style), and Holocaust (1978) (actually a TV mini-series that is one of my wife's favorite "films" that I bought her on DVD and I liked for the story--don't recall Streep's role that much).  

       Then there was the 1979 Woody Allen film Manhattan and that great film The Deer Hunter (1978), both which garnered early Oscar nominations for Streep.  However, if you had asked me before I had looked it up if Streep had been in either film, I would have said that I didn't think so.  In other words, the roles she played in those films made no impression on me.

        Streep also starred in two films that I absolutely hated.  The first is The Bridges of Madison County (1995).  I hated the movie and equally hated the book and didn't care for Streep's role in the movie that I hated.  This one is a big source of contention between my sister and I and will always result in an argument when the topic comes up so we usually don't discuss it.  Most women seem to love this dumb movie, but to me it's a rotten enough movie to make a case for disliking Meryl Streep period.

         Another "hate it" role I'll add is the one from the remake of The Manchurian Candidate (2004).  For one thing the role Streep played reminded me too much of Hilary Clinton of whom I'm no fan either.  The only consolation about that role is that Streep's character gets killed--oops!  Sorry for the spoiler, but if you haven't seen it, don't.  See the original from 1962.  In my opinion the remake is typical modern Hollywood liberal garbage.  Hated the film.  Hated Streep's role.

          So, I guess the argument I'm making is that I don't like Meryl Streep's acting and I don't particularly like the way she looks.  There is something about her that creeps me out.  And now she's added her political opinions to the mix and that's all the more reason for me to dislike her.

          For those who think I'm being superficially judgmental about looks and beliefs and that those things shouldn't affect my opinion of acting ability I'll offer another case--Sean Penn.  Can't stand the way he looks and hate his politics.  But every role that I've seen him in has been great in my opinion.  I can watch one of his films and forget his looks and his politics and walk away thinking he did a great job.  Too bad he's such a jerk.

        Of course, many will disagree with my assessment.  But then, many would likely ridicule some of my favorite actors like Nicholas Cage or Jean-Claude Van Damme--hey, my wife and I both like those guys and have enjoyed every film we've seen them in.  And we've seen a lot of their films.  We also think Tom Cruise, Mel Gibson, Leonardo di Caprio, and Christian Bale are far better than Streep.

        Funny, but I tend to find actors more memorable than actresses.  There are plenty of actresses I like, but none that stand out as much as actors.   Of great actresses from the past you can give me Giulietta Masina over Streep any day.  I think the roles played by either Charlize Theron or Christina Ricci in Monster blow away anything Meryl Streep has ever done.  But that's just me speaking here.  Maybe you agree or maybe not.

         If you're a Streep fan and I've offended you then I apologize.  After all, I'm just expressing my personal opinion.  And if you're Streep and you're offended then I don't really care.  You shouldn't be spouting politics on a stupid  awards show.  If you really feel the need to shoot off about your political beliefs then start a blog or something.  The ABC Network daytime show The View would probably even give you a seat right there with Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar.  If you were on that show I'd have yet another reason not to watch it.

         On the other hand, Meryl Streep, send me some of your money and I'll delete this post and replace it with one telling how much I think you're the greatest ever and write glowing reviews of all your films.  I might even watch Mamma Mia! and give it a great review.  For that you'll need to send a lot of money.

         Have I been overly harsh in my assessment of Meryl Streep?    Is there any particular actress or actor that you think is overrated?    Do you think actors and other entertainers should be expressing their political opinions and causes on public forums like award shows and concert appearances?  

         Join me next Wednesday March 15th for the Battle of the Bands.   If you love music then why don't you join us with your own Battle post.  Let me know if you'd like to join in and we can add you to the participant list.

Related articles

• Fox News viewers turned their backs on the Oscars this year, which saw its ratings drop
• Oscars draw 32.9 million viewers, lowest rating since 2008
• BWW Profile: FLORENCE FOSTER JENKINS's Oscar-Nominated Stage and Screen, Meryl Streep
• Meryl Streep Is FURIOUS After What She Just CAUGHT Melania Trump Doing
• Melania Trump's Making a Statement to the Academy Awards, Reveals Big Event She's Got Planned That Night

#IWSG: Mad About Movies

         Time for another meeting of the Insecure Writer's Support Group conducted by founder Alex J. Cavanaugh.   This is the time when writers everywhere can bitch and moan about life or do happy dances depending on what kind of spirits they're in.   And if your problem is being in the spirits too much then you're looking for the 12 Step group down the hall--please leave immediately so you don't drag us down into the depths of despair any more than we are now.



My Insecurity for Today

        For the past few posts I've been researching the topic of preferences and why we like what we like.  Last Friday I suggested that Flannery O'Connor's "Revelation" is the best short story ever written.   After that I posted my Battle of the Bands post with a discussion about what makes music good.  If you have not visited that post and voted I hope you will--I'd love to get your feedback.

         Both those posts stirred some interesting discussion and maybe bordered on ticking a few readers off.  After all I gave my warnings that I might be saying some outrageous things.   This post will be no exception.

         Today I'm going to go even further.  I'm a little concerned that I might irritate some readers in such a way that they might want to avoid me in the future.  Trust me--I'm doing this in the name of science or something like that.  Please don't get too mad at me.   So here I go...

Crappy Movies

         One of the worst movies of recent years is 2012's The Avengers.  The movie concept held promise and most people seemed to love it.   Why, why, why?   That was one of the dumbest movies I've seen.  I mean really now--a wormhole opens up to let some angry bunch of aliens through to attack Earth.  I like wormholes almost as much as Stephen Tremp, but this was a bit much.

         Then there was that stupid cast of superheroes.  Thor is a freaking idiot so I'm not even going to go there let alone go to Asgard.  I do kind of like Captain America and Iron Man, but why do these movies have to go so over the top with things.  The Hulk was one of my favorites when I was young, but now he's bigger, badder, stronger, and more annoying than ever.

         Part of the problem is the filmmakers are drunk on CGI.   I'm starting to get so sick of computer generated imagery.  I used to think it was really cool--and it is--but then the effects departments started going overboard with it.   Now one movie has to top everything that came before with bigger more elaborate computerized effects.  Pretty soon we won't need actors, which actually could be a good thing, but that's the subject of a future post in some far-off galaxy.

          Think about it.  How stupid was it to see the Hulk flying through the air almost like he was Superman?  Those scenes were so phony that they were laughable.  I know this is comic book stuff but I don't think it was intended to be outright comedy.   The Avengers was less of a movie than it was an overly long computer simulated amusement park ride.   Fifteen minutes of that crap would have been enough for me.

         I've lost interest in superhero movies and haven't seen any of the latest ones.  Let's face it--they've all gotten very similar.   Mega budgets with storylines to match--if you can call them storylines.  I've been going back to the simpler films and enjoying them much more.

Better Movies

         Give me more sedate thoughtful movies where actors act and screenwriters write stories with decent dialogue and thought-provoking plots.   I don't need no stinkin' CGI.  Well maybe small doses sometimes, but not the whole movie.  Let my car chases be done with real cars on real streets and have stuntmen doing more realistic stunts than flying through the air like Superman.

          Better movies that I enjoyed more than any of the recent CGI extravaganzas?   Nebraska was nice.  It was about an old man going somewhere and it was so quiet that you could have slept to it.  But the story kept me awake and it had kind of a nice message that was more down to earth than false gods on imaginary Asgard.

           A series that has its flaws but stimulated my thinking was Atlas Shrugged Parts 1 and 2.  Part 3 is supposed be in the theaters in September.  I'm not thrilled by breaking the film up like that, but I like the idea of mixing entertainment with a thoughtful message.   The film had CGI, but the effects did not drive the film, the story did.

          There are plenty of other decent films but I'll let you add your own choices in the comments.

Best Films

           I don't think any films of the past several years can be ranked among the best ever made.   So what are the best films ever?  There are so many, but I'll name a few.  I can't imagine that anyone would disagree with me, but you can try.

1.   Fellini's Roma
2.   Fellini's 8 1/2
3.  Fellini's Ginger and Fred
4   Just about any movie by Federico Fellini
5.  Citizen Kane
6.  Singin' in the Rain
7.  Wizard of Oz
8.   Kiss Me Deadly
9.    Apocalypse Now
10.  The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

         All better than The Avengers.

         I doubt whether I'll have any disagreement on this so I'll ask why you think my choices are among the best films ever made?   If in the unlikely case that you disagree with me then what do you think are some of the best films ever made?   If you happened to actually have liked The Avengers please tell us why.  

          

Related articles

• Godzilla Movie Review, How I Found the Write Path, IWSG Milestone, and Ninja News!
• Flannery O'Connor's Everything That Rises Must Converge
• #IWSG: 5 Insecurities and 5 Inspirations
• IWSG - Controlling Your Peanut Butter

Worst Movies Ever Blogfest

Happy Blogoversary to Tossing It Out!!!
Two great years starting with the first blog post on September 19, 2009

       And now for the Worst Film Blogfest:

      The ever amazing blogfest innovator Alex J. Cavanaugh is hosting the Worst Movies Ever blog fest today.  You can click the link to pop on over to join up if you haven't done so yet.


Here's the scoop:
Worst Movies Ever Blogfest!
On Monday, September 19, post a list of up to ten of the worst movies you’ve ever had the misfortune to watch. Films that just oozed awfulness and featured plot holes so big you could drive a bus through them. Any genre or year, but only theater and straight to video/DVD titles. (Otherwise we’d all list every movie ever made by the SyFy Channel!) Sign up, grab the button, and on September 19, give us the worst! And be sure to visit others participating in the blogfest.
So, are you ready to warn the world about some really bad films?


A few of my Bad Film choices:


           I try to avoid bad films unless they have been labeled "The Worst" and then I often find those to be so bad that I actually kind of like them.   Of course sometimes you can't help but catch a real stinker.  I've found that many films that have received absolute raves are pretty darn bad in my opinion.


            Some bad films that I've seen I tend to just forget them because they were so bad they weren't worth remembering.  For this reason I'm sure I'll miss some films that I thought were bad when I saw them.   The films that I've listed are the ones to which I had a strong negative reaction of dislike, anger, disgust.


The Horror of Party Beach (1964)   --  FOR YOUR PROTECTION! We Will not permit you to see these shockers unless you agree to release this theatre of all responsibility for death by fright! (original newspaper ad).   With an advertising blurb like this you know it's going to be pretty bad, but it is one of those films that is almost so bad that it's good.  It's the monster costume that does it for me.  This is one terrible costume.  Plenty of bad acting and run of the mill beach music.  Okay, in the right frame of mind this could be an enjoyable flick for some.  I don't really hate this one, but it is pretty bad.   This is one of the better films of the ones I've chosen today.





            Death Tunnel  (2005) -- The set is the best thing about this film.  The best thing about the DVD is the special features.   They should have had more special features on the DVD and skipped the film.  Although in all fairness, if scenes of naked and skimpily clad college girls cavorting about before they are brutally killed is your cup of tea, then this film might be just what you were looking for.

 Marley and Me (2008)--  I know this film is much beloved among many film viewers, but I am not one of them.   This film drove me nuts.  My wife and I were screaming, "Get rid of the damn dog already!" throughout the movie.  There is no way I would keep a dog that did that much damage.   Did not care for this film and didn't like much of anything about it except when it was over.





Descent (2007) --  This film is not to be confused with The Descent, the film about the young women who get lost in the cave.  This Descent stars Rosario Dawson as a college co-ed who is raped and decides to get revenge.  Revenge films can be pretty good sometimes and I thought this film would be okay.  I was shocked by the perversity of it.    All I can say is that Descent is a pretty disgustingly bad film.





The English Patient (1996) --  Just because a film is beautifully filmed, has acclaimed acting, and won a bunch of awards doesn't certify that it's good.  Granted it's my opinion, but this movie is a load of pretentious bull crap.  For me it was a real borefest.    I not only hated this film but it kind of pissed me off.   







The Bridges of Madison County (1995) --  Okay so it was a bad time of life when I not only saw this film but also read the book.   I had recently gone through a divorce so this was not the kind of film I wanted to see at that time.  I actually went to the theater by myself to see this because so many people had raved about it. As I was leaving the theater I too was raving, but in a lunatic sort of way.  I absolutely hated this film then and I still hate what the film represents.  Oh, and did I mention that I hate this film?


          Those are my picks and I'll stand by them.  I'm sure there are some who will sharply disagree with me on a few of these.   What do you think?   What are some of your picks?




..






...

Bad Movies-- Not Like In Bad, But Not Very Good

          When I'm talking about bad movies in this article, I'm not necessarily referring to rated X, or evil, or morally offensive, although it could also be any or all of those.  I'm talking about that genre of movie that is sometimes referred to as "so bad that it's good".  These "bad movies" are the ones that become standards by which we measure how bad a movie can be.

          One of my favorite good movies of all time is ED WOOD with Johnny Depp and Martin Landau, who won an Oscar in this film for his portrayal of Bela Lugosi.  This film is a bio-pic based on the life of bad filmmaker Ed Wood, who has been often referred to as the worst filmmaker of all time. The film ED WOOD is one of the best films about optimism ever made. If you have not seen this film, I would highly recommend it for the acting and story. The film certainly paints a far brighter picture of the character of the real life Ed Wood, but in essence I think Tim Burton, the director, accurately captured the spirit of the early years of this bad film director.

         Ed Wood the director made a lot of bad movies.  As far as I know he never made a good movie,  but his movies were so bad that he has earned a place in cinema history.  The most well-known film that Wood made is certainly the science fiction absurdity PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.  I recall seeing this as a child back in the late 50s and being quite frightened. The movie impressed me so at the time that it stayed with me for many years, but I never saw it again until the 90's. Watching the film as an adult I realized how absurd  and unrealistic were the acting, dialogue, and special effects. This is why the film has achieved cult status.  If you've never seen this movie and you like campy, 50s sci-fi, then you might get a kick out of PLAN 9.  This is not my recommendation, I'm just saying some of you might get a kick out of it.

            What has made me think about Ed Wood is a film that I saw recently called THE ROOM.  I had read an article in the Los Angeles Times about this film and became curious. The Times story told about how this film had achieved cult status and was playing to sell-out midnight movie audiences. The article went on to compare the status of the film to ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW , a schlocky rock musical from the mid 70s. Most people are now familiar with ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW but if you're not the film has been playing to midnight movie audiences for over 30 years now. It is not so much of a movie that you would go to see as it is an event that you dress in costume for and you participate along with the film when you are in the audience. If you watch it at home you're not going to have the same experience as you would when seeing it with an audience.  You really have to attend a showing to get the full effect, but if you're like me it shows past your bedtime.  If you have never been to a showing of ROCKY HORROR , and can stay up that late and enjoy utter wackiness then you might like to check it out.

             Now comparing THE ROOM, which was first released in 2003, to ROCKY HORROR I do not understand.  Maybe it's a new generation thing.  The schlock-rock musical is a fun fest where you can dance, sing, and act along with intentionally hokey dialogue.  THE ROOM was originally intended to be serious. After it was released some critics were calling it the worst movie ever made.  Wikipedia states that at it's premiere "people in the theater began laughing at the film within the first ten minutes, and by the end, some of the crowd were "rolling around" and "crying with laughter"." 

           Tommy Wiseau was the star of the film and also wrote the screenplay, produced,  and directed it as well.  He states that everything he did in the film was done intentionally, however his attempts certainly did not come out as he planned.  He was attempting to make a Tennessee Williams style drama filmed ala David Lynch.  Unintentionally he ended up with an absurd film with which a certain segment of movie audience became endeared.  So after having read the Times article I felt compelled to see this movie for myself, especially being a big David Lynch fan.  I won't say it's the worst movie I have ever seen by a long shot, but it's pretty bad.  The dialogue and acting are pretty laughable and the story is rather peculiar to say the least. I guess I'm glad I watched it to satisfy my curiosity about what I'd read. I would not recommend it to anyone unless they were a fan of bad movie-making.

           I'm not sure what it is about camp, schlock, and bad movies, but some people just love them.  And I guess it's especially more fun when you're in a crowd and everybody's laughing and having fun with it.  I don't know how Tommy Wiseau really feels about the reception to his film, but I guess he's thankful that he's making money with it and apparently has been pretty good-natured about the whole thing.

          If you've seen THE ROOM what did you think of it?  Do you like to see bad movies?  What particularly bad movies have you seen and what made them so bad?  How do you think you would feel if you created a work that you deemed very serious and instead it was received with such ridicule that it gained notoriety?  If you have to pick one, what's more important to you: the status of your work or the money you make from it?

          One final note--at the beginning of November I stated that I was hoping to gain 100 followers by the end of the month.  At last count I had 57.  After a little over two months of blogging, I guess that's really not too bad.  I'm not displeased with the count at all and I am quite thankful for all those who have signed on to follow this blog.  And if you don't follow yet then how's about you clicking on that little ole follower button there on the right?