Letters to Meryl Streep
Do you love Meryl Streep? How much do you love her work? How many times has she been robbed of the Oscar? Which movie lines of hers have you memorized and used in daily conversation? Have you told her?
Write Meryl Streep a fan letter and post it in Comments.
The authors of the three letters we like will receive this:
The official Julie & Julia movie poster.
Julie & Julia opens in Metro Manila theatres on Wednesday, October 14.
Deadline for submission of fan letters is Sunday, October 18.
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 13th, 2009 at 14:27
Dear MERYL ( aka JULIE & JULIA):
MAMMA MIA!
FIRST, DO NO HARM.
Stop playing your DIRTY TRICKS on me.
I cannot count THE HOURS you made me CRY IN THE DARK watching you IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT. Indeed, you have STOLEN my CHILDHOOD.
I KNEW IT WAS YOU, the SHE-DEVIL who WEARS PRADA.
I knew without a DOUBT that IT’S COMPLICATED, but there are PLENTY of reasons to love you.
Your screen RENDITION and ADAPTATION always spell CHAOS in the THEATER OF WAR.
You were the IRON WEED, the SILK WOOD.
You were the THE VELVETEEN RABBIT, the LION FOR us, LAMBS.
You were the HURRICANE ON THE BAYOU.
You’ve been everywhere as an OCEAN VOYAGER, to a DEER HUNTER, to a PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION sending POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE. You even went OUT OF AFRICA to go to MANHATTAN just after the BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY straight to MARVIN’S ROOM in THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS gracefully DANCING AT LUGHNASA in the MUSIC OF THE HEART.
You are indeed the ONE TRUE THING, an ANGEL IN AMERICA, and you are not even past your PRIME.
If it’s SOPHIE’S CHOICE that DEATH BECOMES HER for not surviving the HOLOCAUST, then I’ll die DEFENDING YOUR LIFE.
And we’ll call it KRAMER VS. KRAMER.
FALLING IN LOVE with you,
The FANTASTIC MR. FOX: Xaru
October 14th, 2009 at 04:36
Mahal Kong Meryl,
Ako po’y isang probinsyano at nasa unang baitang pa lamang nang una kitang nagustuhan sa “The River Wild”. Wala na akong masyadong maalala sa palabas, pero imposibleng makakalimutan kong iyong pagmumukha. Hindi ko pa kilala si Vilma, kilala na kita. At hindi ko alam kung bakit pero mula noon, sinubukan ko talagang hindi palampasin ang anumang palabas kung saan ang gamit na poster ay pangalan mo, o kahit mukha mo lamang, ang nakalagay.
Matapos mo akong ginulo sa The Hours at pinaisip ng senswal sa Adaptation at inudyok na magalit muli sa pambansang gobyerno sa The Manchurian Candidate at ginawang tanga sa The Devil Wears Prada at Mamma Mia at binitin sa Manhattan (parang sahig ng simbahan ang buhok mo dun!Ganda!) at pinagalit ulit dahil hindi kita nakita sa hindi kompletong kopya ko ng Angels in America, hindi na imposibleng sabihin ko na ang paghanga ko sa iyo ay hindi kalayuan sa paghanga ni Nora kay Philip sa Bona.
Hindi ko gusto ang ginawang pagpapatawa ni Kate Winslet sa iyo sa panalo niya sa Oscars. Hindi pedeng hindi dapat sa iyo mapunta ang panalong iyon, at kahit alam nang lahat na nagpapatawa lang siya sa “Suck it!”, hindi ko talaga kayang gawin siyang kaaya-aya. Nagmumukha siyang ingrata.
Gusto ko talaga ang mga linya mong nagpapahayag ng pagbabaliktad, pero hindi ko talaga pedeng ilagay ang sarili sa paggamit ng mga linya mo, hindi lang dahil hindi ko pa mahanap ang tamang oras na pede ko siyang magamit (dahil wala naman sa mga kaibigan ko ang kilala ka, o kung narinig man nila ang pangalan mo, wala silang pakialam), pero dahil na rin hindi ko naman kayang gawing kahit katiting man lamang na kasing lupet mo ang pag sabi nito. Nagmumukha lang akong mapagpanggap.
Dito na lang muna, Meryl. Shift ko na. Sulatan kita ulit.
Nagmamahal,
Jose
xxoo
October 16th, 2009 at 11:53
Ms. Streep,
Hi! It always bugs me how can you act so naturally that critics just take it for granted when you are spectacular in a film and make it a big issue if you performed at par with others. Anyway, I am a big fan and I wrote a poem for you. Here it is.
M-ary Louise Streep, how I admire your spark
E-vening, The Hours, even A Cry in the Dark
R-emembering how great you are in …Wears Prada
Y-ou gave me goose bumps in Angels in America
L-owly I bow to the great Ant Queen! Mama Mia!
S-he deserves more awards for her awesome talent
T-ake Rendition or The Manchurian Candidate
R-eally, how can they not see how splendid she is too?
E-verytime I watch her movies, I feel she’s true
E-legy of my heart, hear its verses so blue
P-lease, please! When will I finally meet you?
I hope I will see you soon. Really.
Love,
Autumn
October 17th, 2009 at 20:55
Madame Streep,
You are dog-eared in the histories of my cinephilia and, well, the diary of my undernourished pet thespian dreams (i.e. “struggling actorâ€delusions), harbored yet walked/lived out. I am in love with how you have made your path to this career. An uneventful stint as a college student. I am not talking about whether you have overdosed at some sorority party and woke up by the toilet bowl the next morning or not. It is “uneventfulâ€compared to the clichéd spontaneous road trip in a beat up car to Hallowed/Hollywood. Knowing that appeased the lashings I gave a younger self for not being “artist material‗ in college, in a prelaw course determined for me by my parents, and gifted with the most cowardly guts I know. I could not even get myself to take nonbeaten paths in endeavours where I only have BIG stakes (as in) such as, take note, RECREATIONAL writing. Won’t even risk a tinny mistake. And I even dare dream of messing with tightrope walks such as art. So so far no movement yet in that department.
Anyways my parents didn’t get their barrister son. I dropped out of college and eking out a living as some BPO company slave. Reeling on the fact that I’ve fallen on “the brave path.†I tried keeping it together, keeping up my golden academic career til the end but I am just hopeless against a late-onset ADHD.
Anyways while happy, I can’t help but fear I am becoming a cliché. You see,I caught a profile of a successful local actress, Gina Pareno, on TV just recently. She told the interviewer her acting draws from a well of experiences. Experiences is sometimes euphemism for soap opera life. True for her. She got hooked on drugs, a career low, an implied lesbo lover (termed a “friendâ€)—a dentist who repaired her dentition, ETC. I am not trying to diss her okay. In fact, I admire her, but…the profile made me think that how is it acting when you are being yourself, in a way. Yup, I can not be fully smitten with method acting, though one gets the results in a finished film. Sure,I heard you say in an interview that acting is in a way looking for a part of yourself that relates to a character you’re playing.
Anyways, I guess I’d like to say you are such a wise person, and an ARTIST,an inspiration, dogeared in the lecture notes of someone learning life.
Cheers! Hope I achieve an inch of my dreams (starting over again) and be REALLY “inspired’ by you and your triumphs.
Hope I get to meet you and work with you (Dreams are for free)…
Pantas_magoria
P.S. Loved you in “Devil.” Fashion and film fans in me was just in heaven.
October 17th, 2009 at 20:56
were just in heaven, I mean.
October 18th, 2009 at 23:50
Dear Meryl,
Isa ako sa maraming masugid mong tagahanga. Naging Streeper forever ako pagkatapos kong mapanood ang Sophie’s Choice. Grabe ang galing mo! Lahat ng klase ng emosyon, naipakita mo nang buong husay. Natural na natural ang dale mo at may bonus pang English-Polish accent. Yong eksena nang pagpili mo kung sino sa dalawa mong anak ang dadalhin sa crematorium ay talagang ubod ng tindi ang dating! Parang winarat ang dibdib ko’t nahirapan akong huminga. Kaya bet kita sa best actress sa 1982 Oscar. Asar nga ako sa isa kong amiga kasi si Jessica Lange (sa Frances) ang gusto nyang manalo. Parang mechanical daw ang acting mo at hindi nya maintindihan ang accent mo. Isa pa’y di hamak na mas sexy daw si Miss Jessica kaysa sa yo. Feeling Pauline Kael ang hitad! Nag-declared talaga kami ng war sa isa’t isa. Ganyan kasi ang karamihan ng mga Pilipinong fans. Mga fanatics at ilalaban ng patayan ang kanilang mga idolo. Anyway, nagkabati naman kami kasi parehong nanalo ang mga idols namin. Yon nga lang sa best actress in a supporting role nanalo si Miss Jessica (sa Tootsie).
Gustong-gusto ka namin ng friend ko as Karen Blixen sa Out of Africa. Ginagaya nga nya yong “I have a farm in Africa…at the foot of the Ngong Hills…” complete with his version of the Danish accent. At kahit nominated din si Jessica Lange para sa Sweet Dreams, pareho kaming pabor na ikaw ang manalong best actress noong 1985. Dahil talagang ang galing mo sa film na ‘to. Pareho rin kaming nadismaya nang si Geraldine Page ang nanalo para sa The Trip to Bountiful. You’d been robbed of your third Oscar Miss Streep! Sabi nila kaya daw nanalo si Miss Page dahil matanda na at ang award ay parang tribute sa kanyang entire career.
Ang pinaka-best mo para sa akin ay ang pagganap mo bilang si Lindy Chamberlain sa A Cry in the Dark noong 1988. Sabi nga ni Vincent Canby ay stunning ang performance mo at ginampanan mo si Lindy with the kind of virtousity that seems to redefine the possibilities of screen acting. Bongga di ba? Ang tapang mo talaga kasi ginampanan mo ang papel ng isang babaing di kanais-nais, distant, cold-hearted at parang walang pakialam sa pagkamatay ng kanyang sanggol na tinangay ng isang dingo. Ang pangit pa ng ayos ng buhok mo. Walang pa-cute o overacting na eksena ng pagdadalamhati pero damang-dama ng manonood ang sakit ng loob na nararamdaman ng isang inang pinagbibintangang pumatay ng sariling anak. Kahit hindi ka nanalo sa Oscar, winner ka naman sa Cannes at New York Film Critics Circle Awards.
Alam mo bang ang The Bridges of Madison County ay nabigyan ng X-rating ng MTRCB dito sa amin! Huwag kang matawa dahil totoo ito. Ang dahilan ay nagpakita ka raw ng pubic hair sa isang eksena at isa pa’y adulteress daw si Francesca. Ewan ko kanila, siguro kailangan nilang malatiba para luminaw ang kanilang pag-iisip. Pero yong renunciation scene ay paulit-ulit kong pinapanood at palaging parang kinukurot ang puso ko. Minsan sumisigaw pa akong buksan ni Francesca ang pinto ng truck at tumakbong papunta kay Robert Kincaid.
Yong puna ni Pauline Kael na “Streep acts only from the neck up” ay kalimutan mo na. Hindi naman totoo. Isa pa, patay na ang unanong yon. Ayaw mo bang maka-level sina David Lean, Robert Wise at Orson Welles na tinarayan at inokray din ni Miss Keal, the Queen of the Contrarians? Malas ka yata sa mga taong vertically-challenged dahil nakabangga mo rin daw si Dustin Hoffman noong ayaw nyang pumayag na isulat mo ang sariling dialogue sa courtroom scenes ng Kramer vs. Kramer kahit na may utos at approval ng director nyong si Robert Benton. Totoo bang sinabi mo raw na gigilitan mo ng lalamunan si Madonna kong sya ang mapipili as Eva Peron sa Evita at hindi ikaw? Ay naku Mary Louise, huwag ka nang bumaba sa level ng Madonnang yan. Dahil ikaw ang best actress of your generation at ayon yan kina Bette Davis, Diane Keaton, Jack Nicholson, Alan J. Pakula, Mike Nichols at marami pang iba.
Ang iyong avid fan forever,
Ligaya