The Prestige TV Podcast - The Guide to Streaming Meryl Streep in December

Episode Date: December 14, 2020

Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins break down two new Meryl Streep movies currently available on streaming, 'The Prom' on Netflix and 'Let Them All Talk' on HBO Max. Hosts: Juliet Litman and Amanda Dobbins Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's to picking up the conversation where we left off. And here's to reconnecting the gang of three we used to be. Did you always talk like that? I'm going to start work on my manuscript. Swim at three, dinner at seven, back onto it to work, or bed. I'm both. I'll probably work in bed. I kind of feel like I'm spending time with three almost like... Dinosaures.

No. You believe Alice and her book determined your whole life? The consequences on my life of her actions were unacceptable. You want to go have a drink later? No, I can't. I just don't know who you are anymore. Does anybody trust you? We really lost each other.

How is work going? I've hit a wall. Well, maybe you should take a breather. Sometimes the sources that a writer uses are very close to home. There is a lot of excitement. or anything you might be able to share with us? Not really, not at this point, yeah. Whatever character I write about

is essentially about me. That's a little pompous. Who is the real you? Welcome to TV concierge. I'm Juliet Litman. I'm Amanda Dobbins. We are here to talk about Meryl Streep. It is the holiday season,

and we've all been gifted two new Meryl Street movies available right now on streaming. There is the prom on No. and let them all talk on HBO Max and then a lot of other Merrill movies too. More on that in a minute. Let's start with these new ones. Amanda, how are you feeling about the Meryl Streep experience in 2020?

So I think Meryl Streep is our greatest living actor, probably. I mean, if we had to, we could argue about some other people. I think the New York Times recently did like the greatest actors of this century and they had Denzel Washington number one, which I think is really interesting. I agree with that as well. but Merrill's got to be in the top five. So agreed. I mean, it's like unimpegible.

Yeah. So I think even in 2020, which has been just a very difficult year in a lot of different ways and very difficult for the movie industry. And even we'll debate the quality of these films. But you got to feel good that you're getting two Merrill Streep movies in your home on a Friday. Like that's what a world. It's amazing. This is how I felt when Hamilton came out. I was like on Disney Plus.

I was like, this is amazing. You can stay home at any time of any day. You can just fire up a Meryl Street movie. And there's two new ones. Like all of the ones you love and now these two new ones that are that are both from like autos and just very interesting studies. My main thought as I watched the prom and then let them all talk is how does Merrill Street choose for movies and like what is the process?

I just, I need to know because these two movies could not be more disparate. And they could not be two more disparate Merrill performances. That's very true, though. The prom fits into a Merrill subcategory, which is Merrill Streep singing, which I do think that we'll have to discuss at some point. Because every once in a while, every few years, Merrill is like, yes, I would like to let out my inner Broadway. And I would like to sing.

A lot of entries right now, or recently. Like in the last like 10 years, we've got Mamma Mia, the Turtle song, and Mary Poppins, too. Oh, God. Or like upside down, whatever it was called. Into the Woods. Also, James Gordon. She's in that, isn't she?

Yes, she is. Yeah. Is it prom? What else is she in that I'm forgetting? She sings in. So there's Ricky and the Flash, which I do think is the last 10 years. And then she also does sing in postcards from the edge, which I recommend if you have never seen it.

That's like... I never have. Yeah. It's like 20 or 30 years ago. But Merrill enjoys singing. A musical number. Yes. So I think that that factors into the decision. And then as far as the Soderberg goes, I do feel that Meryl is just in the this seems interesting to me. So I'll try it phase of my life. And I think particularly in the context of Steven Soderberg, who is also in that phase. And it's been in a lot of those versions of that phase throughout his career. It's like a why not project. And that is one of the benefits of streaming services that cool people just get to kind of go make stuff on a cruise ship. I love the laundromat.

I believe you did as well. Yes. One of the most underrated movies of the last two or three years. Great movie. And I wish I had, I wish that had been longer and there had been more of it. And like while this movie doesn't have that much in common, it felt like very much of a piece. And so that was really exciting with, with Let Them All Talk. We just need to talk about the prom for a minute.

We just, we just need to get it out there. I mean, the prom is directed by Ryan Murphy. The script. is so incredibly inside baseball musical. I was just like, this is like written for people who are deeply missing theater right now. But also at the same time, like pretty wild offensive. Like, it's like James Corden playing a gay theater actor and doing an American accent. And it's like, I didn't see cats, but this has to be like close to the nader of James Corden's career, of whom I'm a fan.

Meryl and Keegan Michael Key were actually very good together. That was the highlight of the movie for me. I thought that was actually like a surprise, very charming. But I was just shocked at how I found this movie to be quite offensive. And it's stereotyping of gay people and lesbians was just super uncomfortable. So I'd like to say off the bat, having seen cats in a theater, that this is not as bad as cats. And that is actually what I texted you when I finally sat down to watch the prom last night. that this is not as uncomfortable as cats.

And I did think of cats because of the James Corden experience and also in the context of musical film adaptations that I was very uncomfortable while watching. I can't believe you made it more than five minutes, Amanda. This was the most like musical theatery movie I've seen in a long time. Yeah. So I started fast forwarding at some point because I wanted to be able to speak authoritatively here without having to sit through all of it. So the prom is directed by Ryan Murphy.

I did not know until I started Googling that it was adapted from a real Broadway musical. So I am giving some of the, especially the book and the song choices and the setup. I'm putting on them. And it was apparently successful or people wanted to see it. So I guess if this is your taste, so be it. I should the premise is that a young woman in Indiana a lesbian high school student wants to bring a female date to the prom and the PTA and the various members of the school are against that and so they cancel the prom. And so then four washed up Broadway stars go to Indiana to like make a stand but also as a way to revive their careers because they think that like being active. is like the on-trend thing to do.

And then hijinks of a sort, if you could call them hijinks ensue. The four Broadway stars are played by Meryl Streep, James Gordon, Nicole Kidman. She was good. She was great. Did not give her enough to do. And also, let me just say, what a delight to see Nicole Kidman in a role where she can have fun and doesn't have to look completely traumatized the whole time. Yeah.

Yeah. It was great. And the wonderful. Andrew Reynolds. Love Andrew Reynolds. Wonderful, Andrew Reynolds. Yeah. So as best I could tell Merrill Street was just doing a Patty LaPone impression for two hours.

Like, and they had styled the wig just so. And it was very over the top, which was in keeping with the script. I did kind of think as someone who watched, believe it or not, several seasons of glee, really enjoyed glee. This, it seems like this musical was like a consequence of glee. it was like the glee thing iterated and iterated. And now we've come back and it's like folded back on itself. Yeah.

So Ryan Murphy goes back to a high school in Indiana. Right. But not as good as the first time. And like more self-aware and cynical and kind of making fun of itself. And also the songs aren't as good. It lacked the sensitivity and like pathos of glee. That was the weird part. Like there were a lot of good performances like Andrew Rannels, King and Michael Key, Nicole Kidman,

Merrill Streep, obviously. Even like Carrie Washington, I thought was like doing a kind of good version of Carrie Washington. Can I just say? Sure. It had 90 seconds of pathos. So Carrie Washington plays the mother, one of the PTA members who is against the prom and against letting this student bring a date to the prom.

And then her daughter turns out to be a secret queer person. and so whether her daughter is going to, you know, come out and stand up for who she is is like one of the plot points of the movie. And so eventually she does. And then there's the moment of reconciliation between Carrie Washington and queer child. And Carrie Washington did full Carrie Washington. And I fast forwarded to this 90 seconds. I'm like, I teared up.

Like, Carrie Washington got me to tear up in this otherwise, like, pretty insensitive and just kind of like distant and cynical movie. So that was a nice moment. Congrats to Carrie Washington. Yeah, the performances were good. They honestly were. Just the script was so confusing. And I think it, like, Glee had the real soft touch to go along with its razor edge.

And this just was missing that. But, I mean, I still liked it in a weird way. I was like, well, I missed theater. So at least there's this. I think it's both miraculous that all of these very famous movie stars are in like a full-blown musical directed by Ryan Murphy. And shot by Matthew Limitique, by the way. who shot A Star is Born and Venom also that were released the same weekend.

That is on Netflix that anyone can watch. I also, it did feel a little X-Roc to Netflix. Clearly all shot on sets. You can't really see the choreography. It's like they seemed like they were having a nice time, but the nice time wasn't completely communicated to me visually. But, you know, whatever. If you enjoy over-the-top musicals starring Meryl Streep,

James Gordon, Nicole Kidman, and Andrew Reynolds. Here's another one for you. You got it. This is for you. I have to say, Nicole Kimman and Meryl Streep are so hardworking. They are in so many things. It's kind of wild. I really admire it.

Carrie Washington, too. She is in a lot of shit. It's wild. Yeah, I think kind of when you break through and people are willing to let you do stuff, and Nicole Kimman in particular has started producing a lot of her own projects. So I think once, you know, once you can be in charge, why not? It's cool to see people who are like, sure, I'll try this.

Yeah, I agree. I agree. It was just like, I was like shocked by it at first. I was like, this is what we're doing. The script is just shocking. The performances are good. Yeah. That's where I land on it.

I can't say that I'm going to be rewatching it. Nor can I say that I watched it fully without fast forwarding. But, you know, I enjoy Merrill Streep. And if you enjoy her and that, then you definitely enjoy her and love them all talk because that is like. like a very nuanced and like deliberate performance that it's it's like just um this movie is like straight hook line and sinker for i think you and me it's like involves so many things we like namely being on a boat great stuff it did remind me i was like where do i know the story from of

the person who's too scared to fly but needs to get to england and i realized in the ed shiren fake documentary on apple tv plus benny blanco one of his collaborators needs to go with him to England to, to record stuff, but he's too scared. So he takes the boat, takes a cruise just like this. So I was like,

shout out to Bending Blanco. Perhaps he inspired this in some way. Also, Stevens Vodberg noted below deck band. So perhaps that was also a bit of an inspiration. I had really missed Lucas Hedges in my life as well. So I was super happy to have him back. And also,

I love Gemma Chan. Love. Yeah. So the other two members, this movie was, filmed on the Queen Mary 2, which is a cruise ship. And let me see if I can get the plot right. I mean, it does have a basic plot, but it's based on a, it's a Deborah Eisenberg

screenplay. They apparently improvised some of it. How much was improvised is like a little bit in debate right now. Merrill Streep, Candice Bergen, Diane Weiss, are three old friends. The big three. And Merrill Streep is like a very successful, respected novelist who has won a lot of prizes, but has maybe not published like a great novel in a little while. But she's sailing to receive some prize and invites her two old friends to go with her.

And also her nephew, who's Lucas Hedges. And then Gemma Chan is her agent, I believe, or her editor, one of the two who they really need her new manuscript. So she like takes the cruise with these people, but at a distance to try to find out what's going on with the manuscript. And then hi, Jane's and Sue. I have to say I loved having Candace Bergen back in my life. She was really fun. She was probably the most fun of the three, but also probably the best role. Yes, because she plays one of the friends whose life may or may not have been used in some of

Merrill Streep's characters writing and is salty about it. And so you get salty Candace Bergen, which I enjoy. Best Candice Bergen. Would this movie get made if it weren't for streaming? No. Well, I mean, that's hard because I think this is the new. new integration of Steven Soderberg trying to do something with a relatively low budget, short period of time, or kind of trying to work all the angles in order to get like a smaller

project that a studio usually wouldn't make. But like, you know, he did that with girlfriend experience and a lot of other movies 10 years ago. So I think it doesn't get made if it's not Steven Soderberg. But that's also true for the idea and the execution. It's a very Soderberg, like why not kind of movie. Yeah. And it just seems like him wanting to try out some ideas and also like shoot on a on a cruise ship, right? That probably had to be a big part of the appeal.

Yes. If you go to Candace Bergen's Instagram, she documented this experience. Like her state room and Steven Soderberg with his kind of his wheelchair filming contraption. It seems like they had a lovely time. Given all of the options, are these the two Meryl Street movies you would pick this weekend? Or are there other ones that you, that you would throw into the ring? I personally would pick, let them all talk.

I really recommend it. Soderberg for life. I would not revisit the prom as previously discussed. So I've chosen two Meryl Streep options currently available on streaming to fill that void if you need a second film in your life. Number one, which is available on Amazon Prime is Heartburn, which is the 1986 adaptation of the Nora Ephron novel, which literally an excerpt from this novel was read. read at my wedding. So that is how much this means to me. It's Merrill Streep. It's Jack Nicholson. Really underrated, I think. It wasn't a success at the time, but it's a success in my heart. And then the other film, which is available on Stars, if you subscribe to Stars, which I do because I enjoy the library.

Great library. It's always been great. Is Greta Gerwig's Little Women from last year, even though it feels like five years ago. Forever ago, yeah. This is Marilyn a supporting role. But of the essence of Merrill's still with us and then a lot of other actors who I think are her caliber, but of different generations. And so it's a lovely warm embrace of Merrill Streep and kind of the world that Merrill Streep created for the rest of us. It's also like a very impactful but smaller performance. It's really lovely. What a lovely movie from Happier Times. I was saying to you earlier, I missed their Sharonin. That's that's a reason enough to watch.

Yeah. I have two alternates to throw into the mix as well. Okay. Although, again, I agree. Like, get involved with the Soderberg movie. And HBO Max is a great platform. So check it out. Good library as well, yeah.

Yeah. The other two that I want to throw out. One, all-time classic to a very small group of people, Prime, which Merrill Street is a therapist whose son, Brian Greenberg, starts dating one of her patients, Uma Thurman. It's really like Brian Greenberg is just so hot. I highly recommend it. It's fun to revisit.

Also like, you know, Oomutharman, who says no to that? That is available on Peacock, another network with a great library. And lastly, Julie and Julia always hits right. It's a great quarantine movie. It's currently on Showtime. It's got cooking. It's got Julia Child. It's got Merrill Streep as Julia Child.

Stanley Tucci, Amy Adams. It's just like a great very heartwarming movie. I really enjoyed it. I think it's one of the great underrated Merrill Street performances. It's absolutely tremendous. The Paris, the Merrill Street, Stanley Tucci chemistry, half of it is delightful. Also, if you love Devil Wears Prada, you know, you can kind of see the connection, these people going on a film journey together.

I love it very much. And also, I too have been cooking a lot like Amy Adams' character. I haven't been blogging about it. But I did recently acquire the Julia Child cookbook that's at the center of this film. So maybe I'll try something. A lot of, a lot of like gels and jellies in the movie that are a plot point in the movie, but that I'm intimidated by. So we'll see.

It's kind of funny that we picked two pieces of Nora, Nora Ephron material. But like, it's not funny because I find myself frequently wondering what she would think about the pandemics. So, you know, get a little bit of Nora in your life and a whole lot of Merrill. There's a lot out there for you on streaming. Showtime has a shocking number of Meryl Street movies right now. Yes. I wonder why. There are so many that at some point, and she has been in a lot of classics and a lot of movies that were considered classic at the time and that maybe you don't want to revisit now.

But that's okay. Yeah, she's prolific. She really is. It's quite impressive. You should partake in Merrill Street this week. Why not? You know? Check her out.

Check out our wrecks and report back about the prom. Hit us up on social media, maybe. Thanks for listening. More TV concierge later this week.