With Meryl Streep’s Ricki and the Flash hitting theaters, there’s no better time than the present to revisit some of the greatest living actress’ films. So buckle down, curl up, veg out, and dive deep into this weekend’s mini movie marathon: The Merylthon.
Act 1
Music of the Heart (1999) dir. by Wes Craven
Meryl’s own Stand and Deliver-genre entry, Music of the Heart is as airy and uplifting as it sounds — the antithesis to all other Wes Craven films. With 1990’s staples Aidan Quinn, Angela Bassett, and Gloria Estefan of Miami Sound Machine, Music of the Heart is the 90s at its most unoffensive. And Meryl, never one to give a bad performance, is engaging as ever. Act One will soften you up for Act Two’s tearjerker. (Netflix)
Act 2
Sophie’s Choice (1982) dir. by Alan J. Pakula
This film adaptation of William Styron’s novel, Sophie’s Choice awarded Meryl Streep her second Oscar. Beating out Natalie Wood, Barbara Streisand, and director Pakula’s envisioned favorite, Swedish actress & Ingmar Bergman muse Liv Ullmann, Streep’s performance is considered to be one of cinema’s best. Rumored to have begged for the role on her hands and knees, the final result is gentle, impassioned, and utterly enrapturing. Be sure to take a break after this heavyweight. (Netflix)
Intermission
I would take a break if I were you. Drink some water, do some stretches, take deep breaths, and get back to it. You’ve yet to finish the race!
Act 3
The Hours (2002) dir. by Stephen Daldry
We close out Mini Movie Merylthon’s final act with an ensemble cast in which Streep shares the stage with fellow Oscar winners Nicole Kidman (Best Actress for playing Virginia Woolf) and Julianne Moore. Based on Michael Cunningham’s harrowing, Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name, The Hours fictionalizes three women connected by Woolf’s deeply effecting Mrs. Dalloway. Streep stars opposite Ed Harris, a man dying of HIV/AIDS, and gives an atypically understated performance that lends Harris the limelight. (Netflix)
Acknowledgments
We’d like to thank you for your tears, and Ms. Streep for giving us some of the best performances in the history of film. Stay tuned for the next Mini Movie Marathon, for which we may or may not promise less crying.
Duration: 6 hrs 28 mins
