Meryl Streep in "Little Women"

Why she's in every film?

I assume she's Auntie March,right? Well doesn't she kick it at the end of LW and leave the house to Jo?

I'm sure this version will be wiped clean of the "RACIST/SEXIST/HOMOPHOBIC/TRANSPHOBIC/XENOPHOBIC" subtexts of the previous versions. About time.

She's a gigantic horse cunt.

There is no point to doing yet another version of Little Women.

Well there goes G's Oscar.....

Meh.

She'll never come close to June Allyson.

R8, perhaps in her need for Depends.

Zzzzzzz, r3.

r4, it's better than the hippo cooch you have.

Is R3 supposed to be funny?

Is she their grandmother?

Yawn is right. Haven't there been, like, 40 Little Women adaptations in the past few years? What's going on? What a waste of time and talent.

I am getting such a Sofia Coppola/'Marie Antoinette' vibe from this version of LW.

Seriously - female auteur gets major acclaim with a small, character-based indie, earning huge clout to make her next project. She then proceeds to make a bloated, uncompelling mess of a period film, overstuffed with 'edgy' actors and big names, dripping with self-consciousness. Film bombs hard, and her clout evaporates. It takes more than a decade for her to climb back even close to where she was after that early hit.

I liked Ladybird, but the knives will be out for Gerwig with this. I wish she had chosen something less shopworn for her next step.

People are so negative now without any basis. It's frightening.

[quote]Haven't there been, like, 40 Little Women adaptations in the past few years? What's going on? What a waste of time and talent.

Been seeing trailers for this one lately.

It's a chick flick OP. Are you a chick?

I will see this for Louis Garrel

Chick-adjacent.

It would be nice if Linnea Quigley gets a cameo on this.

R14

[quote] It takes more than a decade for her to climb back even close to where she was after that early hit.

Nothing of the sort happened to Sofia bc she's a Coppola

R18 ditto for Tim

Meryl would have been fantastic in Requiem for a Dream or In The Bedroom. Not a rehashed version of this. Why would they greenlight this so soon after the TV version which was well received?

Tim is going to look like a child playing the Bale role in this

R21, Sofia Coppola's filmography after Marie Antoinette speaks for itself - it took her four years to release another movie (Somewhere) which came and went with a whimper. Three more years until The Bling Ring, which was slightly higher profile than Somewhere, but nowhere near Lost In Translation. Neither Somewhere nor The Bling Ring made their money back. It wasn't until last year with her remake of The Beguiled that she really seemed to be on the radar again, though it only just broke even. In between she was doing promos for Dior and stuff like that. Yeah, she's a Coppola and it's kept her in the game when another female director probably would have ended up doing TV. But her reviews and acclaim for Lost In Translation were rapturous (just like Gerwig's for Ladybird) and she has yet to get anywhere near those heights again, either in terms of acclaim or box office. Women directors - especially those who are auteurs - do not get the same kinds of chances that male directors get when they fail.

This bloated remake seems incredibly unnecessary. This year we had two versions of LW.

R25 Lost in Translation was not all that, the buzz had something to do with who her dad is; whilst Ladybird was a film that was genuinely liked and was all Greta (no daddy). And please compare their filmography, they are like cheese and chalk, so different. Greta IS a genuine filmmaker; Sofia just churns out vanity projects for hipsters.

R27, I disagree about Lost in Translation. It really was all that, a beautiful film that perfectly balanced comedy and pathos.

R15. It's Datalounge. I'm not sure we like anybody or anything. Except the Golden Girls.

[quote]Lost in Translation was not all that, the buzz had something to do with who her dad is

I remember the acclaim for Lost In Translation very clearly when the film was released; possibly Coppola got some goodwill from fans of her father's work, but by and large its critical success was all hers to own - and she has the screenwriting Oscar to back it up. You can make arguments about any of her other films if you like - I haven't liked any of them, so I don't care. But Lost In Translation is regarded as a modern classic, and rightfully so.

And as a big fan of the films of Greta's boyfriend, Noah Baumbach, I can tell you that his style and sensibility are all over Ladybird, so the notion that the movie was 'all Greta' in a vacuum with no external influences doesn't quite ring true. I liked the movie a lot, and I have liked Gerwig's acting as well in the past, but to me it remains to be seen how great a director she is. Hopefully things will work out for her. We'll see.

And cock R29, always cock

Meryl’s just taking any boring role that comes along at this point.

She needs to do something different and exciting...really out of her comfort zone.

Meryl would have perfect in The Wife. That's really her kind of role.

R30 About Sofia, let's not be naive about why some people are given all the publicity/marketing /promotions and opportunities in the world in HW and in other areas of the creative industries. I personally prefer someone with the breath in output of Greta's CV, where she built her own contacts and took her own risks (with or without the partner). It is still not clear to me what Sofia has achieved on her own terms as a filmmaker, it is clear she has received enormous help.

And about Greta, you remind me of the people who claim 'To Kill a Mocking Bird' was written by Capote, a great friend of Harper Lee's. How do you know that is not the opposite, that Baumbach hasn't been influenced by Greta?

Still I think it's mistake to equate the influence that Francis Ford or the whole Coppola clan could exert in HW with that of a Baumbach.

[quote]How do you know that is not the opposite, that Baumbach hasn't been influenced by Greta?

Maybe she has influenced him as well in some ways, but he's been making films since the 1990s, and the style and sensibility was evident even back then, long before he knew her. And I never said Baumbach pulled strings for Greta in Hollywood or exerted any influence for her in that way - I meant that he obviously influenced her writing and her directing to some extent, because Ladybird feels a lot like one of his films.

I'm done talking about Sofia Coppola. I said what I believe and stand by it. Keep arguing by yourself if you want.

Meryl needs to do something very unexpected of her in a daring script with a great new director. Maybe in Italian. With full frontal nudity.

R35 I think you what you are trying to say is very clear: you are trying to discredit Greta and claim that she is derivative and has no artistic or creative integrity just by virtue of being someone's partner. This Baumbauch guy's work, I see no similarities with hers. Greta is an excellent filmmaker/writer/producer/actress as she has demonstrated it in several occasions and I look forward to seeing her next project Little Women, which is what this thread is about; not about S. Coppola or Baumbauch or whatever.

Streep has done everything but a western.

R38, wasn’t The Homesman a Western?

Streep has never done horror. 'Only Death Becomes Her' and' Into The Woods', which were fantasy. 'Adaptation' kind of had some scary/freaky vibes but no gore.

I found The Iron Lady horrifying.

r14 describes Lucrecia Martel.

And Dolly, R29.

I loved Sofia's first film, The Virgin Suicides. I have a virulent opponent on this topic; wonder if he'll show up here.

The Little Women remake is a yawn idea, although the mencast as Laurie and Biehr (Jo's eventual husband) can be snacks.

Another day, another Tim O'Tay.

I wish M had done Requiem for a Dream or Notes on a scandal. Great dramatic roles.

Meryl does not choose daring roles, at least for the past years. She is good at elevating trash or boring commercial movies. I like her as an actress but do not admire her choice in movies at all...

[quote]She is good at elevating trash

This is mostly what she does these days.

Producers with garbage projects are willing to pay for her because they know she will bring some attention and acclaim to the project.

Streep has Big Little Lies, Mary Poppins Returns, Little Women, and a drama on the Panama papers, The Laundromat with Steven Soderbergh, all completed or about to start production.

[quote] I found The Iron Lady horrifying.

Meryl was good in this scene. It's probably the one scene from the movie that won her the Oscar because otherwise the film as a whole is a bore.

Yes, Meryl plays Aunt March. It's an interesting cast, with Timothée Chalamet as Laurie, Emma Watson as Meg, Laura Dern as Marmee, James Norton as John Brooke, and Saoirse Ronan as Jo, so they have some decent names and talent.

She would make a good Hillary Clinton in a biopic.

When Meryl hosted Tracey Ullman at Tribeca a few weeks ago, I was actually taken aback at how much Meryl doesn't know about world politics or even world leaders. She came across as (gasp) sorta dumb. I was also shocked at how Tracey was able to call her a bitch straight to her face. I guess that comes with being friends for 40 years. Still though, with how celebrated Streep is, you'd think she'd know the basics on what's going on in the world. She sounded almost as dumb as Trump.

R52, actors generally aren’t as smart as you think they are.

Tracey's been the one to pretty much shatter the illusion of Streep these last couple of years, saying she's just a regular woman and people treat her as though she's Jesus when they meet her. She's very ordinary, and she's not joking, giving all sorts of anecdotes about her to back up her assessment. Streep is a good actress, but she's not Mensa material by any stretch, she's typical Hollywood. She's very nice and silly. Thankfully she doesn't take herself as being intellectually gifted. Some actors think they're absolutely the smartest people who ever walked the face of the Earth and they barely made it out of high school.

I've literally seen Streep go out of her way and spend time with her fans doing the most mundane shit. I can't hate her. She gets on my nerves as far as being in everything taking parts away from other actresses, but I can't hate her for how she treats people. I've witnessed her behavior toward everyday people first hand and she got my respect.

I thought that it was going to be taking place in present day, the costume in the picture says period.

I really don’t think anyone believes you that Streep is “as dumb” as Trump. She went to Vassar and Yale, and is sharp.

Streep definitely studies up on the characters and historical periods she is playing, but yeah... she might not be aware of everything going on in the world.

She does have a Master’s degree from Yale, so she’s not uneducated.

R18, I will pass on this for Louis Garrel.

While I believe she leads her life as an elitist, I think she's a powerful actress. I'll see this because I believe it's an unwritten law that every gay man must see every version of Little Women.

R42 Lucrecia Martel is a sublime director. Zama is a masterpiece. Neither Greta Gerwig or Sofia Coppola can touch her in terms of talent and vision, but I look forward to watching all three of their films in the future.

Estelle Getty just called. She wants her Sophia Petrillo wig back.

Who has a link to the new Timo thread?

Wait, was the trailer shown upthread for a DIFFERENT, non-Gerwig version? A contemporary adaptation? And Gerwig is currently filming a traditional one with Meryl, Timotay and the gang?

If there are TWO versions coming out along with the recent BBC one, that is really too many. And I've seen all three of the classic film versions and grew up on the novel.

[quote] She came across as (gasp) sorta dumb.

She's always been a lightweight in the intellect department. This is the same woman who went around promoting the idea that Margaret Thatcher was a feminist, when Thatcher hated feminists and denounced the label. Streep, paying tribute to Vanessa Redgrave many years ago, admitted to not knowing anything about the political figures Redgrave was talking about when they rode a limo together to the premiere of "Julia." (Streep she never heard of the name Trotsky before.)

Streep is a phenomenal technical actress, and she does her homework when she plays characters far removed from her personality or background, but she's never been that bright.

In regards to Sofia Coppola - whom the lower denizens of DL have always hated - a lot of you don't understand the nature of film-making, especially as a director. There may be years between her output because of the nature of development. She may have had projects that were going to go and then didn't, etc.

The Bling Ring, which I ignored upon its initial release, is a great movie. Somewhere won the top prize at Venice, it's not my favourite film but it is hypnotic. Marie Antoinette is a perfectly satisfying film. She's got a great CV. I enjoyed The Beguiled as well - it was much better than the original. She is a very distinctive filmmaker.

I love the color palate of the costumes. This will be great. The cast is all emerging and legends.

Streep is smarter than you. Ha.

R2

EXCUSE me....but SPOILERS ! ! !

It’s a Lady Bird reunion, minus my favorite part of Lady Bird—Laurie Metcalf.

Being bright/smart and educated/intelectual are two different things. She clearly is the former (you only have to watch her being interviewed) and, for a hollywood actress, she is better thanmost for the latter.

R65, you seem to conflate being bright with being very well-read in history and politics. Meryl isn’t dumb by any stretch; she just isn’t an intellectual. Neither has she ever claimed to be. She has also never claimed that Margaret Thatcher was a feminist, just that she had tremendous guts and broke through a lot of barriers for women in politics. She has clearly said she admires those things about Thatcher, not her politics. I don’t know what this need is for DL to put her on odd pedestals not of her making, and then circulate false nuggets to “prove” something that wasn’t claimed in the first place. Maybe Americans need to stop asking actors and stars to be expert commentators on the world as well. Damned if she does use her celebrity for good causes, damned if she doesn’t.

[quote] She has also never claimed that Margaret Thatcher was a feminist, just that she had tremendous guts and broke through a lot of barriers for women in politics.

Yes she did. She said it to the Guardian when promoting The Iron Lady.

[quote] "She would have been kicking and screaming the entire way to the feminist altar, but she was a feminist, whether she likes it or not," added Streep, describing Thatcher as incredibly "brave" for her time. "A lot surprised me," she said.

First look.

I think Meryl just wants to get out of the house and away from Don, so she'll accept anything for an alta cocka, especially if she can take it away from Glenn.

Is Emma Watson still getting film parts? Wow.

I don't think Meryl's a genius by any stretch, but I don't think her calling Thatcher a feminist, particular within the context of how she said it, ie. acknowledging that Thatcher would never label herself as such, is evidence of that. It can definitely be argued that Thatcher's life and choices were very much within the realm of what would be considered second wave feminism

Here's the first look at the new Little Women; I have to say, period costume suits Emma Watson. Meg was always the dull one, so that should suit her too.

“I’m so blessed to work with [Saoirse] twice,” Gerwig says. “She’s such a filmmaker as an actor. She’s like a barometer of … that truth that rings true.”

Another LITTLE WOMEN?

[quote]Is Emma Watson still getting film parts? Wow.

There was a test screening on Long Island last week. Apparently several of Watson’s scenes have already been cut based off the script. She’s said to be pretty much a nonentity in the movie.

So how was it R80?

The buzz is very good, especially for Saoirse and Timmy. I guess it jumps through time/has flashbacks which will make it a bit different than the straighforward and linear style of the novel.

Is it too early to predict for another BSA nom for M?

OMG they are filming A NEW VERSION OF "LITTLE WOMEN"??? I am DEFINITELY going. I am so EXCITED by this !

I don’t think so r83. The raves were for Saoirse and to a lesser extent Timo; they were the two being singled out by those at the screening. Screenplay, costumes, BP if it really takes off.

"Saoirse" (WTF ??) is the best actress EVER. Her performance as Mary Queen if Scotts put VANESSA REDGRAVE and GLENDA JACKSON to SHAME. And she's SUCH a BEAUTY.

Lesbian directors/actresses are obsessed by Little Women. Talking about lesbians, i love Lucrecia Martel. Mujer sin cabeza was a fantastic movie.