Meryl Streep and the Oscars | Part 5: The Rest of the 1980s
Meryl Streep and the Oscars | Part 5: The Rest of the 1980s
Meryl Streep is the most honored actress of all time, with 21 Academy Award nominations to her name. In this fifth video of my series, I discuss Streep’s career from 1983 to 1989, including her Best Actress Oscar races for Silkwood, Out of Africa, Ironweed, and A Cry in the Dark. #merylstreep #oscars #academyawards #bestactress…
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I know this is all about Meryl and her Oscar nominations, but may I just say, Kurt Russell is suuuch a Babe!
There is no other actress who deserves such an extensive video series!
i love how you mentioned she devil at the end and no its not forgotten its a cult classic and she was beyond funny in that movie
My pick Jessica Lange in Frances
Be Kind Rewind described Meryl Streep the best (I’m paraphrasing here) Meryl couldn’t be type casted because she doesn’t have a particular type, she can do everything and become anyone. That’s the main reason for her longevity in Hollywood.
I love your videos as I am a big movie fan and Oscar fan. I was lucky enough to get bleacher seats in 2013. Thanks to you I just watched All of Us Strangers, amazing. Thank you so much.
The fact that she can still have her movies green-lit (even in her 70's) makes the possibility of several more nominations an inevitability.
I felt in love with her after Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia! Then I found out more about her films in the past. To me, "2000s" was the most important decade for Meryl Streep because she caught the love of gen Y, gen Z and became "The Meryl Streep" we know nowaday. I cannot wait for "2000s"!
I loved Meryl in Plenty..And you cannot go wrong with Charles Dance.
You left out that she won Palme d'Or at Cannes for a cry in the dark.
RE: Jimmy Kimmel moment; I’m guessing he had “Evil Angels” (the alternative title) in his list.
I think she's the greatest actress of my generation but she really doesn't deserve to be nominated just for showing up in a part. Was she really that good in "Music of the Heart"?
fantastic video as usual. I find with Streep that some of her best nominated roles were where she was playing difficult or complicated characters – think Ironweeds, A Cry in the Dark and Silkwood. Evil Angels sounds so ridiculous, like a straight to video horror movie, I imagine that kept audiences away too because A Cry in the Dark was an excellent movie with Streep playing a character, who back then, was seen as unsympathetic and hard, so… guilty. It was terrible what Lindy Chamberlain went through for years and years. I was a fan too of Plenty – overlooked and definitely not to everyone's taste – I love the score and the supporting cast. In my opinion probably Streep's weakest attempt at an accent ranging from upper class in some scenes to almost cockney in others – it's a bit distracting but I thought the story by the great David Hare, was great. As someone else pointed out, the 80's was where she was a force of nature. She elevates anything she's in.
It's such strange revisionist history that Cher says "Silkwood" was her first movie.
Besides the movies she made with Sonny (the arthouse indie "Chastity" and the musical "Good Times") but clearly her first serious acting movie was "Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean".
"Ironweed" looks good but lost to time. Also, such a crazy, competitive year.
Surprised "Heartburn" bombed with critics and at the box office.
Thank you! I thought her performance in A Cry In The Dark ranks as one of her all-time best 💞
THE RIVER WILD IS MY FAVORITE MERYL STREEP MOVIE!
I love A Cry in the Dark. I was familiar with the Lindy Chamberlain story as a kid and later on, I was excited to find out a movie was made about her and Meryl was playing her. Meryl brought so much sympathy and humanity to Lindy, the whole movie exposed how she was unfairly maligned by the unjust media for a crime she didn't commit. And Meryl being the queen of accents, it was astounding to watch her play an Aussie.
A Cry In The Dark was actually a kiwi accent playing Lindy
my absolute favorite of her 80s performances is in OUT OF AFRICA. i also loved her in IRONWEED, mostly because at the time of production i was dating jack nicholson's dresser. so, i was privileged to be able to be on the location sets in albany for some of the film's scenes. her performance is intimate and heart-wrenching.
Excellent video, Brian. Silkwood is in my top 3 favorite Meryl performances, so natural and affecting. She's great in A Cry In The Dark which did win her Best Actress at the New York Film Critics Circle, the Cannes Film Festival & AFI Awards (Australia's version of the Oscars now called the AACTAs) which is what most likely got her the Oscar nom. Great in Ironweed & Out Of Africa, though I don't love either film much as a whole. It was great to see her experimenting in comedies with Heartburn & She Devil, which lead us to Death Becomes Her & It's Complicated in later years. And I totally agree to this day that Glenn should have won in 1989 for Dangerous Liaisons and it's still criminal that she didn't. Riveting video as always, Brian ❤
CAN MERLY DO A HORROR FILM
Love your work. 🫶🏽
I prefer 90s/00s Meryl Streep more than 80s because she had much unique and diverse roles in those decades
BRIAN I am CACKLING at the long delay in between these, but I love and respect you and your work so I know why 💕
My favorite Meryl anecdote from this period:
When shooting "Out of Africa," there's a long, complex scene where Karen returns to the plantation to a formal welcome from all her employees. They had to get the shot with a certain light, so they were down to their last chance, and it would be a huge cost to restage it the next day. Streep knew she had to nail the final take. They go through the whole scene, Meryl as Karen is sedate and controlled; the scene is done perfectly. Pollack yells "cut" and Streep starts screaming and ripping at her costume. The dresser comes running over, they get the dress unbuttoned and a huge insect that's been crawling up her back falls out.
A CRY IN THE DARK was a staggering achievement, possibly Streep's best behind Sophie. And I think PLENTY is a misunderstood and underrated film. For those who have an ear for English humor, it's very witty. Both are examples of Streep's willingness to delve into characters who aren't the most likable or appealing.
Favourite MS movie from the 80's – Sophie's Choice.
Favourite MS movie from the 90's – The Bridges of Madison County.
I hope you do a video on how Moonlight defeated LaLa Land for best picture.
Glenn Close should have won for Dangerous Liaisons. Her best performance on film ever.
Awesome to see another video on Meryl Streep’s many Academy Award nominations. Keep up the great work Brian, take care!
Sophie's Choice aside, my favorite performance of hers (in the 1980s) was A Cry in the Dark. So convincing and heartbreaking. Her talent for accents is uncanny.
Loved the movie Falling in Love and you’re right, it’s very underrated.
I loved A Cry in the Dark. Nobody talks about that film!!
Jack Nicholson and Meryl Streep are two of the greatest actors but Ironweed was so boring. I stopped watching after 20 minutes.
The dingo ate my baby.
A Cry in the Dark remains my favorite Streep performance. Not her most popular by far, but compelling from start to finish.
I didn’t know Meryl Streep played George Harrison in a bio pic 😮
I loved Out of Africa
Cannot wait for 90s – ‘Death becomes her’ is cinema perfection 👌
VISBILITY is why The Oscars matter. As a society , we ought to highlight excellence in society.
If Mery had never been nominated, her career would've been just as good but much LESS visible.
I hope that actresses like Cate Blanchett, Emma Stone, Lily Gladstone and Margot Robbie continue to push themselves in a transformative manner.
Thanks, Brian, for another awesome commentary! I loved Meryl in "Silkwood." I look forward to your next video about her career in the 1990s, especially her spot-on performance in "Bridge of Madison County."
Meryl is the mother of all mothers
Meryl Streep is always amazing. Along with Bette Davis and Katharine Hepburn , she always gives you something more. You just know. Amazing always
I love this series — so well done! You are a true kindred spirit in Meryl fandom! I noticed her as early as Julia, but it was as a high school senior I really fell hard for her in French Lieutenant's Woman — so gorgeous! And then of course Sophie's Choice, my god … and then, and then… In the early 1980s, my parents opened and ran one of the first home video stores in our city, so I could watch all her films over and over again. We often got promo movie posters, and hers always went on my walls. I just rewatched Silkwood a few weeks ago — fantastic all around, but again, Streep leads the way. I agree Plenty is a bit of a jumble of a film, but Meryl is exquisite and does have that great vicious scene at her dinner party where she goes off the rails into her "psychiatric cabaret" as Ullman's character calls it. There are clips on YT.
Silkwood is up there as one of her finest performances
Simply the best actress evee
I ❤️ She-Devil! I have the DVD and watch it several times a year.