Liars and Saints

  "Mamma Mia!" is so deeply strange. It is not a romantic comedy in the Nora Ephron sense. To meet Ephron's criteria, a pair of sparring lovers would need to separate, then reteam, then separate, then reteam. The End. "Mamma Mia!" is more like a domestic drama, like something by Eugene O'Neill. A young woman--Sophie--wants to discover who her father is. Being unwise and still sort of a teenager, she decides that the best route forward is to get married (though she does not want to get married). The wedding will allow her to invite a few "suspects" (possible fathers)--so that she can do some "sleuth" work and expand her circle of loved ones. Her fiance--bizarrely named "Sky"--is understandably upset when he uncovers this plot. But he still commits to getting married--for reasons unclear. The script seems to indicate that he is drawn to his girlfriend's "golden hair." Sophie is so confused and troubled, but her story...

 "Kramer vs. Kramer" is electrifying from start to finish. It won Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress, and several other prizes, and its "less starry" contributors (Justin Henry and Jane Alexander) were also up for Oscars. The movie helped to pave the way for a "troubled-family" decade of movie-making. ("Ordinary People" won Best Picture exactly one year later, and we had "Heartburn" and "The Good Mother" and other family/marital dramas....served up throughout the 1980s.....) In "Kramer"'s outstanding first fight, Joanna Kramer quietly confronts her husband. "I canceled the AmEx, the Visa. I removed $2,000 from our account, because that's what I had when we married. I took the dry cleaning out, and you will need to get it on Saturday. YOU, Ted. I can't do this. Our child is better off without me." Amazingly, Ted doesn't hear, and when he does finally stop for a m...

  It's Friday. Here is everything you need to know about Meryl Streep. *When, in youth, Streep saw what Juilliard would charge just for the privilege to apply, she wrote a sharply-worded letter and turned her attention to Yale. *One of Streep's major press errors was to choose a certain tee shirt for a "Suffragette" photo shoot: "I'd rather be a rebel than a slave." This hasn't aged well. *On the set of "Adaptation," Streep approached Chris Cooper and said, "Stop whining so much." Around this time, an affectionate colleague on another set referred to Streep as "oddly bossy." The colleague was Julianne Moore. *Streep is grateful to Jane Fonda for help on the set of "Julia." Jane kindly said, "Meryl, notice the X on the floor. If you stand on that X, you will be in the light, and in the movie." *After "Silkwood," Meryl and Cher drifted apart. Meryl blames Cher. But it seems that Cher didn'...

  Friday night in this house was EPIC. We watched "The Good Fight," but we had to pause the opening credit montage, because the exploding purses made our son upset. Then: get this twist. I had a thought that it might be fun to revisit the early-eighties Meryl Streep drama "Silkwood." We were so pumped! Another twist: "Silkwood"  is not available via streaming. Just when I thought the night couldn't get crazier, my spouse suggested "Mamma Mia." What happens in Maplewood stays in Maplewood..... We were hoping to leave the house at least once in the next 72 hours, but our various half-hearted drink-with-us texts had been rebuffed. We did manage to score a last-minute invite to the birthday party for a neighboring two-year-old. My husband said, "Clearly, we're not in the top tier of guests." And I shrugged. I'm not proud. On the screen, Meryl was wrapped in a forty-foot cape, and she was swanning around a yacht, singing, "M...

My husband and I very much liked "The Ladies who Lunch." A recap: This song is meant for one woman. But Audra et al. split up the duties. The first verse went to Christine Baranski--reasonably poised, with perfect hair and makeup. The second verse went to a more-beleaguered Meryl Streep--letting some of the rage show. The third verse went to Audra, who was like the ungoverned id--just full craziness, with wild hair and some drunken leering at the camera. A smart move. Also, it was great to make Audra the punchline, since we tend not to focus on Audra's comedic chops. I always like surprise casting. (Another example would be the opposite trick: when a comedian gets to be dramatic. Ted Danson on "Damages." Kristen Wiig in "Skeleton Twins.") I think Gemignani and Elizabeth Stanley were also stand-outs, and they're not getting the attention they deserve. I could have done without Josh Groban and Lin-Manuel. (The less said.....) And I'm de...

The NYT "100 Notable Books" list can be overwhelming. A few thoughts: *There is an interest in "genre fiction" here. This is slightly rebellious for the NY Times. It's like if Elizabeth II appeared in public and performed a Taylor Swift song. I'm thinking--especially--of "Mrs. Everything," "The Institute," and the Joe Hill title. (Plus the Tremblay stories.) *A surprising omission: Susan Choi's novel, which just won the National Book Award. No comment. *"Say Nothing" calls out to me--not only because people are so breathless about this book, but also because it seems to be (in part) about restitution. Restitution is on everyone's mind, in the MeToo era. When people behave badly, is there a way to "come back"? Apparently, people in Ireland are walking around with monstrous deeds in their past--and people aren't talking. It's a compelling situation. *I'd give a spot to Alison Lurie, for her bo...

Important Hollywood thoughts: *Mary Louise Streep became Meryl when her father realized that "Meryl" just seemed like a better fit. *Meryl's character in BIG LITTLE LIES is "Mary Louise"--which, as NPR notes, is simply a subtextual (or textual?) tribute to the greatness of Meryl. *Meryl, like Amy Schumer, was *not* an arty misfit in high school. (Many artists were.) Meryl was exceptionally popular--because, as she says, she studied how certain kids behaved and then "assumed a role." *Meryl begged for her part in SOPHIE'S CHOICE. She had to beg. *Meryl so loved the first season of BIG LITTLE LIES that she asked to be a part of Season Two--without having first seen any finished scripts. It seems clear to me that Meryl's interest is an outgrowth of her feminism: BIG LITTLE LIES is based on a novel by a woman, starring several women, spearheaded by female funders, in which the Bechdel Test is crushed, and crushed, and crushed again. Meryl...

Lest we forget.... -Irons: "French Lieutenant's Woman" -Eastwood: She adored him in "Madison County," and modeled Miranda on him -Nicholson: "Heartburn" AND "Ironweed" -Washington: "Manchurian C" -Broadbent: "Iron Lady" -Martin: "It's Complicated" -Redford: "Out of Africa" -Kline: Sophie AND Mother Courage AND Ricki and the Flash -Grant: Opera Movie AND Mamma Mia -Hoffman: Kramer and she did NOT like him -Tucci: a fave (hence Prada AND Julie/Julia) -Hanks: The Post Attention must be paid!!!!

I'm excited to catch up with Meryl Streep in "Big Little Lies" tonight! Let's consider her history of scene partners. Because: why not? *Renee Zellweger- "One True Thing" *Cher- "Silkwood" *Annette Bening- "Postcards from the Edge" *Viola Davis, Amy Adams- "Doubt" *Amy Adams- "Food Porn with Nora Ephron, Also Called JULIE AND JULIA" *Emily Blunt- "Into the Woods," "Devil Wears Prada," "Mary Poppins" *Julianne Moore, Allison Janney- "The Hours" *Audra McDonald- "Ricki and the Flash" *Olivia Colman- "The Iron Lady" *Zoe Kazan- "It's Complicated" *Christine Baranski- "Mamma Mia" *Emma Thompson- "Angels in America" The list goes on (and on and on and on)....Choose your own favorites today!