Anybody watching "Postcards From the Edge" on TCM right now?

There were four M films in a row on TCM last night. I had to lie down with a sick headache.

It's a great dramedy, even if you have to look at Shirley's weasel face

I watched this movie obsessively for a couple of months after Carrie and Debbie died. It helped me grieve.

I know.... MARY!

...but you weren’t wearing any underwear...

R3 You're not alone.

This is an old favorite movie of mine. Only thing wrong was that Meryl & Shirley look nothing alike (supposed to be mother / daughter).

[quote] You are jealous because I can drink and you can't take drugs any longer.

Love this one, warts and all.

First time I noticed Annette Bening, Shirley is perfect and M is good until some idiot let her sing at the end.

I'm Still Here, "It twirled up!" and vodka in the Slimfast. Heaven.

I liked Meryl singing at the end. I was surprised at her voice. Can she go out and cut an album? No. But decent voice.

I liked Meryl singing at the end, she has a good voice, and is a better singer than Fisher herself. Who was born with a good voice that she never trained properly - I know MARY.

It's a fairly good movie rather than a great one, and FYI better than the book, which was as self-indulgent as you'd expect from a Hollywood princess's first book. The movie is a nice sharp satirical look at Hollywood, with some real laughs, good performances, and some insights into Fisher's private life for us nosy bastards.

Dennis Quaid looked so handsome in the movie. A total California boy.

I especially loved the shower scene.

Wish I could find photos of it, but none came up.

The house Shirley lives in was Connie Stevens. The production rented it and Connie was Carrie Fisher's stepmother at one time.

I still use the line "any more people in here and we're gonna need a lubricant" from time to time.

I discovered the fabulosity of Elaine Stritch from an adjacent internet search for ‘I’m Still Here” as sang by Shirley. So I’ll always be grateful for this movie.

R10- here ya go.

Yap yap yap. That's all you do, all the live long day.

Come and give your fat gramma a big hig!

A hig! Just for that, I'm gonna wash your mouth out with soap!

You know how much the queens love me....

We often use the “Well...” as a response. As Doris Mann did when it was pointed out she wasn’t wearing underwear when her skirt twirled up.

Love those "endolphin" rushes!

I saw a TCM screening of it. When Mary Wickes name came up at the end there was a lot of ahhs and oh yeah. (I guess recognizing her from Now, Voyager.

Ben Mank came out after the film for the discussion (Richard Dreyfuss was there) and said you know you are at a TCM event when Mary Wickes's name gets the biggest reaction from the audience.

Interesting bit of casting. I'm sure Carrie had Now Voyager in mind when she named the character Suzanne Vale. (Charlotte Vale was the lead in Now Voyager.)

Shirley lives in Connie Stevens?

I enjoy this movie, too, but I just don't buy Meryl as a druggie; she just seemed tired and had stringy hair. The movie is oddly vague about drugs, particularly regarding what Suzanne took and why. The actual problems of addiction and recovery are kind of glossed over in favor of a clever but insider-y Hollywood satire. The book is about Suzanne's recovery and her inner demons (her mother is barely present), and it's that candor to which audiences first responded. The movie is still funny, but its depiction of drug use is not especially subtle or knowing given the source material.

Favorite exchange, Doris: "I don't get your generation's humor" Suzanne: "I don't have a generation" Agent: "well then I think you should get one!"

Gary Morton allowed Gary Morton to accept the role as the agent.

[quote]as sang by Shirley.

Oh, dear.

What is it with people and past participles/past tense/passive voice these days? It's not that challenging.

Thanks, R14! Dennis was at his peak hotness in this movie.

[quote] I liked Meryl singing at the end.

I didn't care for her country song at the end at all. She screamed and shouted throughout the whole song.

Her performance of "You don't know me" was much better.

But then of course, Shirley did "I'm still here" right after that, and blew her out of the water. It was such an interesting dynamic because I almost felt like Shirley Maclaine was purposely upstaging Meryl in her performances. Part of it was the character, but I think part of it was truly Shirley trying to out-do Meryl.

Shirley knew she was the better performer, and made that very clear.

I thought the Hollywood celebrity addiction story was very relevant both then and now. I also found it humorous how the attending physician fell for Meryl's character, similar to the doctor falling for CC Bloom in "Beaches." Is that a real thing in Hollywood? It seems to be a theme in movies.

In any case, this movie was made in 1990, and I think it definitely stands the test of time some 30 years later.

She landed her high note.

It's McClain's movie all the way. Just a great comic performance and no matter who says what next - much of what she did was not only funny, but very original. She knew what she wanted from her character.

Streep is miscast and wan and doesn't portray any real kind of drug addiction. What the fuck was her problem, except that she spoke in bored sarcastic "rehab" language? She looked old and didn't pull off the wardrobe OR the singing. The Blue Rodeo song was ATROCIOUS. And the moron who said that Streep sings better than Carrie Fisher is a fool. Neither are great, but Streep is a non singer. We laughed at it. She was okay in her timid moment with the Ray Charles song in the living room - because that was just the kind of weak singing most any actress could do. But the country drag and the method paint by numbers key change "I'm Checkin Out" really ruined the end of that movie. Shirley looked great looking down on her from the rafters though. The way it should be. One of Streep's worst performances. The list is long.

This is the only one of my nominations I didn't attend the ceremony for. I was pregnant with one of the girls. Not sure which. Doesn't matter really. Actually I think I just was trying to avoid having to sing the song live since it was nominated.

This is one of my favourite Meryl performances, up there with Silkwood which is my favourite. She's funny and charming, though I thought she looked too good as a drug addict.

Love the scene with Gene Hackman when she is looping dialogue. In fact, I love Hackman's performance. He has two scenes but he is so commanding in both. Paternalistic, no-bullshit but also caring.

[quote] the method paint by numbers key change "I'm Checkin Out"

What does that mean?

[quote] She was okay in her timid moment with the Ray Charles song in the living room - because that was just the kind of weak singing most any actress could do. But the country drag and the method paint by numbers key change "I'm Checkin Out" really ruined the end of that movie.

I agree with you 100%! You expressed my sentiments exactly!

Just listen to her screech through this song.

I'm still here in D-flat.

So amazing.

Now you know why "the queens love" her so much.

Sachi Parker wishes her mother was that stable and loving.

Hey, what about me? I was in it, too!

Did Steve come up from the dungeon to rewrite I'm Still Here for Shirl?

Yes and Tommy Tune choreographed it without credit.

[quote]When Mary Wickes name came up at the end there was a lot of ahhs and oh yeah. (I guess recognizing her from Now, Voyager.

Siqmund and the Sea Monster.

Shirley was always fab. She's not my mother. I don't know why DL hates her. A uniques actress, comedienne, singer and dancer with real intelligence & an abundance of talent and personality. Of course she outshone Meryl.

This is priceless and tense. I'm still team Shirley.

Loyalty is a marvelous thing R40. To me she was completely obnoxious and I am, in general, a fan. She's done some really great work.

Many great scenes.

I always marvel at the scene when Shirley is in the hospital after her "car accident," and she looks like absolute crap in the hospital bed.

And in just a matter of minutes, she's transformed into a glamorous diva!

Some false eyelashes, an eyebrow pencil, some eyeliner, blush and lipstick, earrings, and a nice fur coat. Then, voila!

Women are lucky they can do that.

Streep was miscast IMO. She doesn’t look right to play an LA chick and is mismatched with Debbie Reynolds.

I love M in this and thought she and Shirl played off each other surprisingly well. The hospital scene at the end where Suzanne becomes the parent is really sweet.

Apparently Lana Turner was upset by Shirley's reference to her along with Joan Crawford in regards to being a bad movie star mother.

Years ago, I was a VJ for a Broadway night at a West Hollywood video bar. I'd play "I'm Still Here!", and when Shirley would do her piano bang, everybody standing around tables or at the bar would do the same thing.

There was a picture of lookalike Baby Sachi and Shirley that was supposed to represent Doris and Suzanne. It was too much of a stretch,

Meryl was too beautiful to be weasel-face's daughter

Well, M looks more like Sachi than Debra Winger does. And she had more natural chemistry with Shirl than Debra did (ToE is the superior film but Shirley/Debra had to make loving goo goo eyes at each other to convince us that they cared for one another).

Apparently there was a scene cut from PFTE that had Jerry Orbach playing the Eddie Fisher role!

I thought Meryl was hilarious in this.

"I don't like this side of you" "I'm not a box, I don't have sides"

"Relax, they're blanks. AssssHole" (after shooting at sexy Dennis Quaid in her cop uniform).

Her line delivery was brilliant and she was not out-acted by Shirley.

In the previous Shirley thread we noted her as an axample of The Academy losing complete interest in them after finally giving a win. Apparently she refused to be campaigned in Supporting for Postcards and it cost her a nomination and possible second Oscar.

Shirley absolutely deserved the Oscar for Supporting in Postcards, but I wonder had she been nominated if she would have been able to stop the Ghost juggernaut.

no r51 she campaigned in supporting (it was just the BAFTAs that put her in lead. They made their own sometimes odd rules back then.)

I love the Dennis Quaid bed shots in his shorts. A beaver in his underwear.

What a lovely crotch.

It's not in the final film but I remember huge laughs at the trailer where she is dangling from a building and then lets go in frustration at something. It completely broke the illusion that she was dangling.

It is in the final film.

Not in the same way r56. She's lying on the set but there isn't the same out of nowhere moment where she lets go. It doesn't play as comedically as it did in the trailer.

Meryl does seem a bit wholesome to be a drug addict. Debra Winger was the first choice supposedly (pre-Mike Nichols signing on)

I guess that would have kept Shirley out of the movie.

[quote] Not in the same way [R56]. She's lying on the set but there isn't the same out of nowhere moment where she lets go. It doesn't play as comedically as it did in the trailer.

Sweetheart, it's the exact same shot. I just watched the movie last night on the TCM app and I just looked at the trailer now. Your memory is playing tricks on you.

But R55 was sure Meryl was dangling from a building!

Meryl performance in this is so odd. She seems oddly out of sync with the rest of the cast, which maybe was her intention, but it doesn't work.

Shirley and Annette wipe her off the screen.

Ok. I guess I'm wrong. But for some reason it isn't as funny in the film. Don't they kind of give it away earlier in the film that she is lying down?

Relax, asshole, they're blanks!

Oliver Platt: I've been in the theatre. I'm actually a theatre director. Sometimes certain line-readings apply. Like in comedy, it is a rule. Inflections go up at the end.

Suzanne: That's a comedy RULE?

R49, Hi, M! Have you recovered from your Emmy loss?

Have you recovered from your 8 Oscar losses, G?

Meryl is flat in every way in this film. Her hair looks sick - and that seems to be the extent of her characterization. (Her hair always looks that way - but she's meant to be cool in this The movie does have amusing dialogue, but only McClain makes you laugh. Dreyfus gets a smile and Annette is radiant. It's a very poorly imagined performance by Meryl. She misses the mark of a 35 year old hip Hollywood B level actress drug addict who loves bad boys by a LONG mile. She's dull, looks old and badly styled and her line readings are so thrown away that they're barely audible. She's so fucking wan and those cowboy skirts don't hide the non movie star hips. Suzanne Vale is dull. She means to suggest ennui and a certain disdain for her whole predicament, but she's really just warming up for that ATROCIOUS closing display of EGO and grotesque singing that U know STREEP thought would give her dull Suzanne a place to land and Pre-Vale!! It's neither comic or tragic or satirical. Just a dead, lifesucking performance. Kind of like Lange in Feud. So terribly concocted and badly managed that it seems she is in a dull movie of her own making. McClaine brings it back to earth and life, over and over. Any of Streep's decent scenes are with her.

Carrie Fisher must deserve some blame. There is not a moment of anything resembling the life of drug addiction or rehabilitation in this film that doesn't lead to "Suzanne's" big comeback. It's crass and worse. Unfunny.

Shirley MaClaine gives a master class however. Too bad the press and award shows overlooked her stellar performance.

Another nom for Meryl Streep? Why the fuck? Why?

Please stop pretending you can sing. It's gross.

7 bitch.

“The non movie star hips.” Mary!

Even G would likely admit that M's hair was stunningly gorgeous in "Manhattan".

I re-watched it for the first time after seeing it in the theater 30 years ago. I liked it more than I did then, and agree it was an improvement on Fisher's novel (but the script is still pretty formulaic). For me Hackman, Quaid, Bening, Morton, and Rob Reiner were the best, as memorable as you could possibly be in their small roles; they all had some really good lines. MacLaine and Streep were OK. MacLaine's song was delivered exactly how Doris would do it, so it made sense, but objectively it was a travesty of a great song. The cinematography was the most boring I've ever seen from the late, great Michael Ballhaus. But overall, it was pretty fun entertainment.

I don't think Meryl was miscast but I do agree that she looks a little too good? I thought Suzanne looked fine for most of the movie. I thought Meryl looked fabulous in this and perhaps that took away from the "managing addict" part of the story. I would have expected her to look shitty after coming out of rehab.

Still, I thought she was great in this, and had chemistry with everyone. But I do think some of the bit players really steal the movie. Gene Hackman, Oliver Platt and Annette Bening really make an impression. Bening reminded me of how dazzling she was when she first came on the scene with Valmont, The Grifters and Postcards.

I agree that the Carrie Fisher character in the book is very two-dimensional. She's more like a mouthpiece for scathing one-liners, or the genesis for a one-woman show which Carrie ultimately did. Better casting might have elevated the part beyond the page.

Mike Nichols is the culprit. He made a dramedy when it should have been a subversive dark comedy.

I think there was a shift in tone during the making of PFTE. Those above who say that Streep’s performance seems disconnected from a lot of the movie are right. She’s playing primarily dark and small while Nichols ended up with frothy and fun.

I don’t think the finished product is what they all had in mind going into this.

The movie ended up being a half and half. There are a lot of those. Something changes from the final screenplay to the end of filming that screws up a significant element of the work.

It’s definitely less successful than it should have been.

That's what I mean. It's not that Streep's performance is bad so much as its just completely different from what everyone else in the movie is doing.

Shirley's transformation in the hospital is still dazzling no matter how many times I watch it.

Meryl underplays whilst Shirley overplays.

Yin and Yang.

Brilliant chemistry.

[quote]Another nom for Meryl Streep? Why the fuck? Why?

I know. I should've gotten that nomination.

[quote] Ok. I guess I'm wrong. But for some reason it isn't as funny in the film. Don't they kind of give it away earlier in the film that she is lying down?

Yes, the shot in the trailer is actually the 2nd time we see the hanging off the bldg scene in the film and we know it's a fake set. In the trailer, there's been no reference to it at all throughout and when we see her, she's in place and hanging on to the ledge, then lets go.

Trivia tidbit: it’s Bway composer Scott Frankel (Grey Gardens, War Paint) at the piano accompanying Meryl & Shirley in the party scene.

i was wondering who that was. He was sort of cute.

R66 Glenn has 7 nominations, 1/3 of what Streepie, the 18-time loser has.

Why did the old bag Shirley need choreography for that piano banging?

Ending up with Richard Dreyfuss as a potential love interest doesn’t seem fair for all the shit Suzanne has to go through in the movie. I would have much rather be paired off with the production assistant (JD Souther) instead.

Love Mary Wickes! "Howdy's got worms!"

Who did Shirley piss off to lose a nomination?

I assumed Shirley didn’t get nominated because of category confusion. Her part was too small for leading and too big for supporting.

I think Shirley's I deserve this Oscar speech alienated future voters.

[quote]What is it with people and past participles/past tense/passive voice these days? It's not that challenging.

I'm sure it keeps you up at night.

I'm not a big Jamie Lee Curtis fan (and get exasperated when the horror stans here rave about her) but for some reason I really pictured her as the lead character in the book when I read it.

Suzanne Vale's supposed to be an insecure, kind of B level actress who's had one big hit, and is just trying to survive job to job. Streep can't really sell that, because she's MERYL STREEP! But Curtis could have embodied that well.

R88, good casting.

I love this movie. It’s a great mother daughter film like Terms of Endearment. It holds up remarkably well and the cast is great.

I watch it every Mother’s Day.

The idea of Jamie Lee Curtis as Suzanne is great and I'm sure she could relate to the daughter-of-a-movie-star part of the role. Of course, she's notoriously scared of singing, so who knows if that would have ruined anything. They could have always dubbed her.

MacLaine is really excellent in this and the high point of the film. I hope Debbie Reynolds was able to watch her performance and smile, knowing it's based on her. It's such a kooky, loving portrayal. You can really tell Carrie must have adored Debbie with the way she portrays her in this movie. She has her flaws like everyone, but she's still got so much love to give and just doing her best.

No, Debbie and Carrie went overboard insisting the characters were NOT based on them.

It really was a great trailer! One of my favorites, an almost perfect little 2-min film.

Meryl’s hair bothered me.

Meryl was too old and wasn't convincing as an out-of-control drug addict. The rest of the cast was fabulous.

She made it work. It’s why people love it.

Shirley Maclaine is why people love the movie. She shares the screen with Streep as a true collaborator and creates a real mother figure. Maclaine has been worshipful of Streep as a costar. But Shirley steals the movie. Streep is wan. If it's a character choice, it wasn't good. She looks old and her hair and makeup and wardrobe are terrible. Since when do drug addicts not wear lipstick? Streep was in another first class up her ass Mike Nichols production and she aimed her performance so far from Carrie Fisher as to become Carrie Nation. She's really bad and her singing at the end is horrendous. Meryl did NOT make that work. This is Shirley's movie. Her fantastic always enjoyable performance went unrecognized - but she knows how good she was. Streep likely doesn't know how boring and ineffective she so often is. She always just wants to sing. YUCK.

I like Meryl's singing. She really acted the song and built it to a dramatic climax. (helped by the great pan of the camera upwards to Shirley above.)

Streep can't sing. period. She likes to sing. But she is incapable of singing.

I really do love Streep in this film. I think she’s wonderful at comedy and the darker moments. Seen it numerous times and still have an old VHS of it. MacLaine was robbed of a nomination. I would’ve taken Mary McDonnell out in Dances With Wolves of supporting actress who barely registers in that film. MacLaine unfortunately suffers from the here’s your Oscar now we ignore you for future nominations thing for older actresses who win.

The premise of the story was that Suzanne Vale was still young enough to get her shit together and make a comeback. Streep was in her forties, she was too old. They should've cast a 30-ish actress. Carrie Fisher was around that age when she wrote the book.

I disagree r100. She sang well in Ironweed and brought great depth to Stay with Me in Into the Woods. She acts the songs.

Her demo type of Evita was said to have delighted Andrew Lloyd Webber. He really wanted her to do the film but she had a falling out with Oliver Stone apparently.

Meryl cannot sing Cinesnatch. Give it up R103. She's terrible in fact.

Cinesnatch is one of my favorite songs. (WTF?)

Great movie.

Only one poster in the world defends Streep's terrible non singing. Cinesnatch. That old racist man thinks he's a measured piece of work. Trolldar "it" and see the insults and slurs she posts daily. She doesn't always sign them. You'd be surprised what a monster Cinesnatch can be.

It/he/she/they know nothing about film or life. Just a weird Streep Troll who thinks it can browbeat others into believing things that are impossible. Meryl Streep cannot sing. She cannot technically sing. She might sing Happy Birthday. But she won't fucking keep it to herself. She won't stop making movies where she sings. And she can't sing!!! Her singing was dubbed and doctored "Into The Woods." She can't even do her own bad singing anymore. Sondheim said, not on my watch and words. Fix it. Call Donna Murphy.

This argument does not hold up. She has been singing in movies for decades. People like her singing. Give it up.

[quote]Sondheim said, not on my watch and words. Fix it. Call Donna Murphy.

Too bad Stephen didn't call Donna after hearing Shitley's "I'm Still Here".

I wish Meryl had recorded an album.

Meryl can't sing, but she's on a few albums.

Donna Murphy has said that she did not do any dubbing or work on the film of Into the Woods. I think she called the idea ridiculous.

She starred in the Broadway musical Happy End and sang in Mother Courage in Central Park just fine.

Her singing was not dubbed. Give it up Donna Murphy troll. You are just jealous and I fear you have gone mad.

She sings better than G.

That M and G shit has never been funny.

It's tradition r116.

I know that Donna Murphy sang most of Streep's difficult passages Into The Woods. Everyone does.

Listen to this. Shirley MacLaine is not a great singer - but she's a GREAT musical performer. Streep doesn't have a musical bone in her body. I smell Cinesnatch all over this thread. No reasonable person thinks that Ricki and The Flash can sing. To deconstruct Meryl's singing voice is not even worth a trained singer's effort. Streep not only can't sing well, she is not remotely musical. She sings in a grossly affected way, charged up with her grossly affected characterizations. It's paint by numbers and painful noise. The bitch been warbling since Silkwood. She can't even sing badly well. Terrible egotistical mess. It's her great folly. Quite a destruction of her legacy. But knock yourself out Cinesnatch. Mamma Mia.

Meryl Streep does not sing better than Glenn Close either. Not once, not a phrase. Glenn Close knows how to sing. She, like Shirley MacLaine has a limited but quite effective instrument. And theatrically, they're bliss. Meryl actually thinks she can sing - like have hit records kind of singing. She's a loon. Probably the most overpraised actress of all time.

Listen to this. It's Shirley. Dramatique. She' been a LIVE and living performer for her whole life. Not only a canned film actress afraid to get on stage. Streep is a fraud. But if you have trained ears - y'all ready know she can't sing.

you sound insane r118

They wouldn't need Donna Murphy to come in and dub. They could just enhance it with computers.

In Todd Fisher's book he says that the twirled up thing really happened.

He confirms that Debbie had a drinking problem that she always denied.

He said she would often get drunk and complain about Eddie Fisher which would drive a teenage Carrie crazy.

Streep trained as a young girl with the same teacher as Beverly Sills. She has sung on stage and in movies. You are completely insane to say a woman who sings cannot sing. Are you off your medication? I find your obsession to be very strange, delusional and paranoid.

Inspiration

To add to R120, I remember seeing a picture of Debbie Reynolds that was shot from below. She's wearing a dress with no panties. You can clearly see her crotch, and it's clear she is unaware.

It was in High Society magazine back in the 70s. (remember that piece of shit magazine???). I did a quick google search but nothing came up.

I wonder what the film would have been like with Carrie in Meryl's role.

But I'm not insane and I don't sound insane. Meryl can't sing. Sondheim would not allow even her autotuned protool "perfected" voice to be used. Into The Woods. Donna Murphy sang large portions and small phrases of Streep's Witch part. It's not only common knowledge, we can all hear it. Some of us know better. You sound nuts. Cinesnatch. Streep trained with a lot of people. She still can't sing. She wishes she could. She certainly has shoved it down the public throat. Nothing you got is as big or forceful, so back the fuck off R121. (the off your meds remark is a Cinesnatch line - he's an old woman) Believe whatever helps you sleep at night gramps. Meryl Streep cannot sing. She's terrible. Donna Murphy is the least of her problems. Streep has a very long list of films where she sings/acts/looks/characterizes and showboats terribly. She's a hack. As a singer, she's a fraud. Not because others sang for her -Sondheim couldn't let her grotesque attempt be associated with his name. Understandable. The rest of the cast passed. Merly Streep done sung terribly and with a lot of energy and bad taste in a lot of other crap moments in film too.

She could ruin Postcards, because that final number is just so stupid. Who the fuck put that on film, over and over again? We're left with the great image of MaClaine, looking younger and more vital than any moment of Streep in the film. Streep's atrocious singing. You have to laugh at her version of I'm Checking Out? Get this - Merly is supposed to be filming a music VIDEO with that!?! How old are fags to lap that up. Mike Nichols was overrated his whole career - but how many blow days did it take for them to film that mess? And she recorded it first!! Blue Rodeo is a weak band but they must have had some laughs at the end of those days. Mike Nichols never directed another musical, but unfortunately Meryl continued singing. A grotesque display of ego. She can't sing. Not. At. All.

Donna Murphy famously sings flat in just about everything. She would not be called in to sweeten Streep’s vocals.

Who the fuck is Donna Murphy? Can we get back on topic?

Donna Murphy. She can go flat and she (sometimes) has a wide vibrato. That's one of the reasons she was asked to sing parts for Meryl Strep's throat. But Donna Murphy is a consummate singer/actress. A great live performer. Streep is none of that.

Meryl Streep wishes she could do this. She can't. None of it. She has her talents. But she must never sing again. It's well known Meryl won't brave the stage. She's so afraid of being exposed. An actress who can create a character from within but can't project a believable life from that. Not without outside help and tricks. She needs camera, audio and post production help. Lots of it. Can't sing a bit. She's a bit funny though and has delivered some non shit performances, 25 or more years ago. Postcards From The Edge is not one of them.

Donna Murphy is a great big Broadway STAR.

Nobody fucking cares about Donna Murphy. You don't think Streep can sing. Okay, we get it. We don't need a fucking hagiography of Donna Murphy. Jesus.

^ Fuck off Gramps. Don't ask for proof and then get pissy when you hear it. Go to bed and put the bottle down R130. Your aggressive rants are not productive or healthy. I KNOW that Streep can't sing. Now you must rest.

I'm probably younger than you. This thread isn't about Donna fucking Murphy (who?) Jesus, nobody cares that you don't like Meryl's singing.

Donna Murphy Stan r130 you call others "gramps" when you're clearly an eldergay yourself. Your posts from another thread:

[quote]Have you ever been seated next to a celebrity or semi-famous person?

[quote]Shirley Maclaine sat next to me at the ABT tribute to Fred and Ginger. When Darci Kistler and Peter Martins were dancing divinely in this beautiful number - Shirl grabbed my thigh for a minute. Like with real pressure. Not sexual, just excitement at what we were seeing. Her date was the late Brian Linehan. Trust me, I have much better thighs. She also smiled at me several times and we talked about how beautiful certain moments were. Suzanne Farrell danced that night too, though she had retired a few years earlier. Shirley and Linehan were having a great time too. A lot of laughter. Shirley Maclaine is fun y'all. Or she was 27 years ago.

[quote]Have you ever been seated next to a celebrity or semi-famous person?

[quote]I met Ann Miller. At the perfume counter. She was performing Sugar Babies in my town, how would I know? I was 22 years old and didn't know anything about her except that I had to put my mom and aunt up overnight when they came to see Ann and Mickey Rooney. Toronto. 1985.

Carrie delivers a funny DVD audio commentary. She doesn't mention Debra Winger being attached. She just says she sent the script to Nichols and he wanted Meryl because she was his doppelganger. Regrettably Nichols always miscast Streep thinking she could do anything. Perhaps the songs were added for Meryl. I don't know that Debra Winger can sing but during her A-list years she wanted to make a biopic of singer Libby Holman, so maybe she can.

HUH? You're insane Cinesnatch. The most hated poster on Datalounge. Why don't you sign your posts anymore old man? Ancient racist white fag. Learn something from me AND learn respect. Take your seat and be prepared to be banned. You're blocked either way. I am not a Donna Murphy stan, but I've worked with her and have met Shirley MacLaine. Why would I brag about that? I am a musician and singer. You drink way too much for a young white guy, but you're way over 70!! Stop it old man. Please get some help. I pray that Jesus visits healing upon your troubled mind tonight R133/aka Cinesnatch.

Your obsession with Meryl Streep is a form of sickness. She can't sing at all. Not many would argue that. Ha. She's a universal joke.

Meryl is seriously miscast in this. I like the film except for her performance.

R95 Everything about M. bothers me.

Shirley should have been nominated for supporting, but that year had the most competitive category...like ever!

Whoopi Goldberg won for Ghost, beating out Annette Bening for The Grifters, Mary McConnell for Dances with Wolves, Lorraine Bracco in Goodfellas, and Diane Ladd in Wild at Heart, (probably the weakest).

Also not nominated: Winona Ryder/Mermaids, Glenn Close/Reversal of Fortune, Diane Keaton and Talia Shire/Godfather III, Laura San Giacomo/Pretty Woman. A category of riches all its own.

R138 I was great in Wild at Heart!

When I watched this again the other night, I was actually quite surprised at how decent I thought Meryl's voice was, certainly on the Ray Charles song, but even on "I'm Checkin' Out" The only questionable notes are when she tries to yip into a falsetto near the end. But she sounded way better than my memory had led me to believe, probably because she's sounded so awful in more recent films like Mamma Mia and the POS written by Diablo Cody. And I think that's likely because of age and diminished use of her voice. (And yes, however you want to credit it with happening, she was definitely "augmented" in Into the Woods.)

And she is far and away a better singer than Glenn Close, who has a truly terrible voice and always has.

Here's Meryl at the end of Postcards. I think she sounds like Jennifer Warnes.

Every actor was augmented to a varying degree in “Into The Woods” and that was fine. It wasn’t that awful auto tune thing like they did with Corey Monteith in Glee. It’s like good cosmetic surgery (Donna Mills) Vs. bad plastic surgery (Joan Van Ark).

Meryl may not be a musical theater STAHH but I also like her singing. Her a cappella rendition of Amazing Grace that plays over the final moments of Silkwood is quite haunting.

Meryl couldn't sing to save her life.

Laura Dern and Diane Ladd could've done Postcards.

R145 Yes - great casting. They would have slayed it.

First of all, Streep sounds like herself in Into the Woods. It’s her voice.

Second, Donna Murphy has said this myth is ludicrous

Third, the fact that you keep presenting it shows severe mental illness

Streep is a limited singer, but she can sing. If she's hitting the notes - news flash - she can sing. Now, we can talk for hours about how you might not like her tone or vibrato or that she uses head voice when she should be using chest voice or whatever, but she can technically sing. MacLaine has an even more limited voice, but you don't notice it as much because she's such a great musical performer. Some people just have it. It's like comic timing. Some have it and some don't and you can't fake it even if you're given line readings.

There are truly precious few actors who make bursting out into song work. It's one of the most difficult things to sell. Most people get really self-conscious about it and they might hit most of the notes, but there's something off about their performance. As much as Meryl seems to enjoy singing, she's not really a great musical performer and I don't have a lot of interest in seeing her in musicals. I shudder to think what she'll do with Beth Leavel's role in the movie version of The Prom. It's a belter's role and Meryl isn't much of a belter. Now that's a role for more of a Shirley MacLaine type.

Um Shirley is not a belter. Have you seen Sweet Charity? I saw that when I was younger and I thought couldn't they have found someone who actually can sing the notes?

Meryl’s opening number in “Death Becomes Her”, shows her to be a good musical performer with good comedic timing. It seems that there is someone who has been offended by her political comments on this thread...

Mary Wickes was one of the great character actresses of all time.

R150 I was going to post that! She was terrific, funny and looked sensational.

Especially considering she had a baby a couple of months before filming and was 42, her make-up man deserved an Oscar!

[quote]But I'm not insane and I don't sound insane. Meryl can't sing. Sondheim would not allow even her autotuned protool "perfected" voice to be used. Into The Woods.

Horseshit, he allowed this...you are dismissed.

M sounded a lot better on the Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again soundtrack than in the original MM film. I think they did some magic in the studio to augment her voice, but it was subtle and effective.

Five days before "Postcards From the Edge" was published I told Carrie it would be a hit. She was nervous but excited about it.

Meryl should have shot this in 1986 instead of that boring Heartburn.

....

....

Magic Meryl

Ugh. She's so terrible. Indecipherable. Don't post Meryl singing please. Let's enjoy our weekend.

More singing

Have a good weekend

Meryl can definitely sing, but some of the songs she's had to sing haven't been well suited to her voice. I thought she mostly sounded awful in Mamma Mia except for a few powerful notes in The Winner Takes it All.

Hearing her in Into the Woods was quite a revelation which is why I feel as if there has to be some sort of phantom voice augmenting a few of those big notes for her and, at the same time, her belt does have that same growl to it that was present in a few of those bits in The Winner Takes It All. Maybe it really was just a good score for her vocal sweet spots.

Nicole Kidman is the same way. She sounds sometimes lovely during Moulin Rouge, but her Unusual Way in Nine sounded really uncomfortable and strained.

Her voice is lovely. She will be remembered fondly.

This was a great thread until the shit hit the fan over Meryl's singing.

It's difficult to discuss Postcards From the Edge without mentioning Meryl's atrocious and embarrassing *singing* in the final scene. Wowzer it was terrible. She's Checking Out.

Please Meryl. Stop trying to sing. You're over 70. Never could and still can't sing.

When she was 18, she sang Ava Maria in French at her church. She sounded beautiful, according to her official biography.

Well, now that we have established that she is a great singer and will be more remembered than Barbra for being a movie musical star, I feel like we can move on.

🤣🤣🤣 r152

I like this one.

TwinsisthenewTrend. Who doesn't know that? WE love those boys. Only Agnetha sang the Winner Takes It All with such ringing vocal beauty and resonance, real tenderness and just enough drama. We love it, that way. Her voice was perfection. Don't say ABBA has no feels. Not just anyone can sing in F# Major. Hell nah.

Meryl always sounds like she doesn't have enough breath support, especially when she's trying to sound soft and pretty. I think her more belty moments usually sound better. They have a lot more power. A lot of women who are probably meant to be belters, but they delude themselves into thinking they're sopranos.

Wow. You know nothing about singing or vocal fach, tessitura or voice production do you R172? Meryl can't sing softly because she doesn't know how to sing. What you call "belting" is mostly screaming on her part. That is much easier for anyone to do, because it requires little breath control or legato or phrasing or vocal finesse. Ask any 4 year old. They can sing like Merly too. If you take a run at it with a big breath and get close to the note real loud - you're a singer?

There are some great belters in this world. But that's not all they do. Meryl is not one of them. And belting has nothing to do with whether you're a soprano or not. Any voice range can belt. Wow, such ignorance is on display here. Is everyone Cinesnatch?

Listen to 90 seconds of Kelly Clarkson. She can do anything with her voice and it's gorgeous. She knows how to sing -but she also has the instrument AND the taste. A vocal palette of exquisite color and a connected range with every ability under the sun. And Kelly is far from the best singer around. Meryl thinks she can do this - she can't. She's hideous.

Meryl has no resonance in her speaking or singing voice and she's mumbly and prone to asides in both. She's not a singer at all. And what she has attempted to sing is so far beyond her t i n y ability. She's terrible. We would all leave her and go inside at the BBQ, if she was singing during the "talent show."

There is little more tiresome than a pretentious queen with an ax to grind...

Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

Streep has sung in six movies not including "Florence Foster Jenkins" grossing over a billion and half dollars. She's been nominated for 3 Oscars and 4 Golden Globes for the roles. SHE WINS!

I love it r173. Kelly is amazing. Perfectly illustrative of your post.

There is 'little more tiresome' than a pretentious queen who uses that kind of phrase R174. First, I ain't no queen. Second, you're some ancient white queer trying to fight off a younger man with more meat, muscle, intelligence and far more expertise. Your attempt at wit and bitch leaves you only limp and short circuited. Your post reads like a vomited line from the Boys in The Band. Sad.

I saw Meryl singing live in production of MOTHER COURAGE in the park. She sounded great.

Yes, Meryl's famous night in the park. Long before many of us were born. She sounded sublime. She performed live in front of people. Speaking a role, acting and s i n g i n g. 🎀 All at one time! No one has ever, and she never did again. Too special.

And her acceptance speech at the end of the night was so disarming and FuNNy.

I love Meryl's voice. I hope they release a compilation of all her songs from her movies.

She is a legendary actress AND singer.

Deal with it.

Hold on to your hats. Marvin's Room is one of Streep's least assholy performances. She's quite good. and not too much of a pig in it. But then you invite Carly Simon in and Meryl insists on singing a song about SISTERS as the credits roll or wherever they put this piece of trash song. Meryl acts like she knows what's she's doing and hits a few not terrible grace notes. Tentatively, because she's heard herself before.

But Diane Keaton is a lovelier singer in a modest way. She has less imagined talent and much less pretension. She's a touching non singer. Meryl imagines that she actually can sing. So, Streep and Carly lame ass Simon and De Niro all get together in one room pretending to sing and appreciate each other's mediocre geniusnesses. What kind of hell was that place? Cycle Sisters on the Moon with a few lines of coke on the console.

Still, please see Marvin's Room. For Diane Keaton and Dicaprio and Gwen Verdon. THEY are all great in it. They don't sing either. It's a uniquely good film that Meryl doesn't destroy, even though she's in it. Mute the credits.

This thread really shit the bed.

I wonder who Carrie Fisher would have chosen to play the role. Trying to think who was popular back then.

Someone a little younger than Meryl. Michelle Pfeiffer would probably be good but maybe not as funny as Meryl.

Meg Ryan was also hot then but she seems too perky for the troubled character.

Julia Roberts was just getting started but she had the drug experience.

Jodie Foster may have been ok.

[quote]She's been nominated for 3 Oscars and 4 Golden Globes for the roles.

And never won? So sad.

I am sure Donna Murphy dubbed the singing for Meryl in Postcards.

[quote]Who the fuck is Donna Murphy?

Heiress to the Oil Soap family.

Huge Trump supporter.

Those were Donna Murphy’s tits in Adaptation!

Murphy posted on her instagram page once that she did not sing for Meryl in Into the Woods but carry on in your delusion r185.

R188 No. She dubbed her for Postcards.

Have you seen Ratched? I think a frontal lobotomy may help ease your pain and suffering. Something also tells me that you cannot sing yourself. At all.

So excited for Prom.

The scenes with Streep and Gene Hackman are great.

Has it already been mentioned that Janet Leigh desperately wanted to play the mother, alongside her daughter Jamie Lee Curtis as her daughter?

Isn't it Rich? Donna Murphy gave the definitive performance at Sondheim's 90th, while Meryl wore her pajamas and half sang flat and goof talked her way through Ladies Who Lunch. She had the good sense to not compete with the great Audra McDonald.

But Donna Murphy gave this gorgeous performance with exquisite understatement. Something Ms. Streep is incapable of, along with singing.

We hired Donna Murphy to dub Meryl but she never showed up so we had to keep bringing in Linda Muggleston.

In "The River Wild" that is Donna Murphy NOT Streep you see rafting in the white water scenes.

Donna Murphy is great in the water and she plays the violin too. Speaks Polish AND has slender hips!

I feel sorry for the MSCS troll. It’s really a sad and fearful affliction. Someone said once this person is constantly shot down in other web forums. That coupled with always trying to promote someone else. Very sad.

Of course Streep can sing! Studios do not run on a charity system. She also can sing in character which is much harder than it looks.

Mary Wickes!!!

I actually like the idea of Laura Dern and Diane Ladd in this. Dern probably would have been too young in 1990 to play the role but I think they would have been able to capture the tension in the mother/daughter relationship.

I think Michelle Pfeiffer would have been good in the role, but very different, probably even more insecure and neurotic. I would have believed Pfeiffer more as a struggling addict. She plays fragile perfectly.

Someone suggested Jodie Foster: it would have been fun to see her do Suzanne, with her "Freaky Friday" mom, Barbara Harris, as Doris. They were very funny together, and Harris, unlike MacLaine, could really sing.

Just the sight of Meryl, hearing her named mentioned or reading of it reminds me of Harvey. She knew.

[quote] I actually like the idea of Laura Dern and Diane Ladd in this. Dern probably would have been too young in 1990 to play the role

Especially since Laura loves to shave years off her age.

M is an actor who sings, not an Audra McDonald, a singer who acts.

But both of them are very good at both.

R177, I didn’t specify any poster in particular, but you must’ve seen yourself in my post. I guess if the shoe fits...

In the DVD commentary Fisher notes that her mother wanted to portray Doris but Nichols cast Shirley MacLaine instead. In her 2013 autobiography, Unsinkable, Reynolds noted that Nichols told her, "You're not right for the part."

Liza Minnelli reportedly told writer Carrie Fisher that the film resembles her own relationship with her own famous mother, Judy Garland.

Liza needs to sing more Blue Rodeo songs. She could only improve them.

Why are people so negative? It’s a good movie.

Opinions are like assholes. Mine is more beautiful than yours. Simple as that R208. Shirley MacLaine is fantastic and funny and campy and touching a bit of genius in the movie. She evokes and sends up old Hollywood. Many other (younger) actresses should have played Streep's part. Better. Or they could have given Meryl a soliloquy to perform at the end - instead of a song. Streep can't sing. That was her most embarrassing attempt, ever.

You’re just an asshole.

The mom character isn’t nearly so prominent in the book - which is energetically chatty but short on plot.

Please check out permanently, r209.

I think unfortunately that obsessed people like this ruin threads. They are so adamant in their opinion that they cannot allow anyone else to experience joy or express a fondness for a film. Streep in particular has drawn out crazy people from day one. The movie is memorable because of the sum of its parts. I would hate for people not to watch it because one psychotic person is obsessed in a strange way.

Donna Murphy is hardly psychotic. She just sang 85% of Last Midnight for Streep. Into the Woods.

Confirmation Bias. Once we have a belief, we tend to cling to it, even when it's untrue. The confirmation bias is the tendency to seek out information that supports what we already believe. ... Unfortunately, it also can keep us firmly believing things are false.

This may help you.

R173/77 sashays in here flashing her tessitura only to find no one gives a vocal fach...

Kelly Fartson is no Sam Bailey.

Any of the girls ever show their minge?

The only cock I remember seeing was a freeze frame of Richard's when they stripped by the pool

Shirl loosened up and did a lot of nudity, as she matured.

Sorry wrong thread!

Sigh. This an example of a thread that has gone completely off the rails into delusions and pornography.

The Donna Murphy Stan though is a very unusual case. I feel very sorry for this person who believes a falsehood that they have decided in their mind with no evidence and completely on their own. And to be adamant about a false belief is a clear symptom of psychosis. Unfortunately this is becoming more and more common under Trump. Please talk to a mental health professional.

Meryl should have won the Golden Globe over Julia Roberts that year.

Meryl Streep plays the character of the spoiled child so well, it hardly seems like acting.

It was Julia’s coronation year. I like the folklore that Mike Nichols presented Postcards to Streep and she said, “I love it. Who will play my mother?” He had intended her to be the mom with Julia as the daughter (allegedly).

[quote]R222 Sigh. This an example of a thread that has gone completely off the rails into delusions and pornography.

Well, how long do you expect us to discuss a film of only middling value seriously?

As long as people want to. My point was that mentally unstable people ruin threads with their delusions. Mayr you should move on and go weave a basket.

For film buffs

[quote]R226 Well, how long do you expect us to discuss a film of only middling value seriously?

[quote]R227 As long as people want to.

It appears they don’t want to anymore.

It’s not that deep a film.

Jodie doesn't do funny, r200...

I agree with this guy. Postcards is essential viewing.

Shirley looks like Meryl's sister on the poster R231. That's part of the problem. As has been stated by many - she was miscast, even before she got in her country music yodelling drag. She reminds one of a young Florence Henderson.

And the Donna Murphy Stan is not in psychosis. Streep cannot sing - proven by her own disordered self delusions in Postcards and Mamma Mia. Rickie and the Cash. Suddenly she's belting out the witch's lament Into The Woods? No, they heard her work and had to fix it. Pro Tools can only work so much magic. Donna Murphy to the rescue. This is neither psychosis or a big secret.

Being the Meryl Streep Troll is psychotic. And pretty fucking mundane.

You keep proving my point. You have no evidence of this but keep promulgating it. It’s Streep’s voice. We know this because it sounds exactly like Meryl Streep. Donna Murphy has said as much, I am sure because she had to respond to weirdos like you.

Suzanne in the movie isn’t a musical star - she’s an actress who can sing, like Streep... she’s not someone with a string of hit records. (I don’t think the character ever sings in the book.) (I’m not sure the mother does, either, for that matter.) The musical numbers are just dropped in to juice up the action and give a sense of climax.

For all we know the character Streep is shown playing at the end isn’t even in a musical (just as POSTCARDS isn’t a musical.) What I’m saying is, the film sets the bar pretty low.

Meryl Streep does fine.

Didn’t Streep record Into The Woods with a live orchestrates? I don’t recall anyone saying she blew it and it had to be fixed. It was the opposite. She trained for it like all the other cast members (except Johnny Depp who sounded pretty bad). I think you are talking out of your ass.

And please identify any show biz person who shares yours crockpot theory.

It’s cute when Meryl walks down the stairs and tugs on Shirley’s wig when Doris is flirting with her boyfriend.

The "climax" of Postcards is meant to display that Streep's character has taken her mother's advice and become a singer. "Like that Madonna person." So yeah, she was supposed to wow us with that terrible display of *singing.* Have you seen the final scene? They all look at the cowgirl lady in awe and approbation. Because Florence Henderson singing Blue Rodeo brings that out in people. Especially after she recovers from her very vague, but deadly drug addiction. Oy.

Streep ruins the moment, the song and the end of the film. (not for the first or last time) She can't wreck the whole movie because of MacLaine's stellar performance, some great lines and the good work of many charismatic cameo players. Like Dennis Quaid would fuck Suzanne Vale? No, but Mary Wickes could definitely be Streep's mother.

She doesn’t ruin the film. You believe this but no one else does. I really think you should see a doctor.

Please also cite a review that says she ruins the film by singing. You can’t because you are talking out of your ass.

I find your obsession and delusion kind of sad R239. I thought you died long ago. God bless you.

Sure, Streep can’t sing but the song was nominated for an Oscar. That happens... never.

[quote]Suzanne in the movie isn’t a musical star - she’s an actress who can sing, like Streep... she’s not someone with a string of hit records.

As was Carrie.

This movie is iconic for LGBTQ. It’s one of the better ones from this time period. The negative people here are OTT and extreme. It’s a good mother-daughter film about drug addiction and show biz. Not surprised it’s still shown. To spit on it is to deface the memory of Carrie Fisher. Great and funny person.

[quote] The "climax" of Postcards is meant to display that Streep's character has taken her mother's advice and become a singer. "Like that Madonna person." So yeah, she was supposed to wow us with that terrible display of *singing.* Have you seen the final scene? They all look at the cowgirl lady in awe and approbation. Because Florence Henderson singing Blue Rodeo brings that out in people. Especially after she recovers from her very vague, but deadly drug addiction. Oy.

No it isn't at all. She's doing a new movie in which the character happens to sing. Gene Hackman's character is directing the movie. He even says to her in the looping scene- I have a job for you.

There is absolutely no way that Steve Sondheim would allow Streep’s vocals to be sweetened by Murphy or anyone else. It’s inconceivable and tiresome.

Meryl Can't Sing.

Three of my nominations came for roles where I sang. Good or bad doesn't matter. Its being nominated that does. (and of course winning once in a while too.)

“I had a fibroid tumor the size of a grapefruit!”

Sorry dear but the queens love me.

Some people really need to get over me or put me on ignore lol.

Nobody likes you, but it's important to keep track of the abusive racists out here, Cinesnatch. The better to report you to Tony at Mediapolis and have you permanently banned. Ignoring your dumb posts is easy. You're not even bright enough to sound pretentious. Something more dull and heinous, for sure.

one of my favorite films, but I hate the singing in the last scene and typically check out then.

[quote]check out then.

Out of the movie? Or the Heartbreak Hotel?

THIS is an actress who cannot sing