Florence Foster Jenkins

Stephen Frears' gorgeously appointed, audience-friendly take on the real-life arts patroness who gained immortality by singing everything but the notes is marvelous. Meryl Streep's jaw-dropping virtuosity and seriocomic fulsomeness deserves another Oscar, period, and Hugh Grant, as loving common-law husband St. Clair Bayfield, has literally never been better. Simon Helberg nearly steals it as accompanist/audience surrogate Cosme McMoon; Nina Arianda devours her small yet critical role; and Nicholas Martin's fact-compressed script neither panders nor over-explicates. At once uproarious, sympathetic and, by the climactic masterstroke borrowed from Stephen Temperley's play Souvenir, truly affecting, it's a heartfelt testament to why "amateur" means "for the love." La Incredible! Lives. Accept No Streepstitutes. Unmissable.
*****

I second these emotions. Streep deserves the Oscar she didn't deserve for The Iron Lady (no fault of hers; it was the movie that sucked).

My favorite Streeps: 1) Postcards from the Edge; 2) Florence Foster Jenkins; 3) Defending Your Life; 4) Ricki and the Flash; 5) The River Wild. Oh, yes, I'm one of those people. (Full disclosure: sacrilege: I have never seen Sophie's Choice.)

I could not stand Ricki and the Flash. Preposterous to me😝

I liked Julie and Julia and The French Lieutenant's Woman and Silkwood. And Kramer vs. Kramer. Florence will be dvded.

Well, you've just named several other favorite turns, particularly Julia Child (the only one that's ever gotten a full-length formal review from us on 3rd Eye) and Joanna Kramer (which cemented our infatuation after the NYSF "Shrew" with the late, great Raul Julia) and would add Clarissa Vaughn, Kate Gulden, certainly Miranda Priestley and Lee Lacker to our desert island short(ish) list. SASSY has spok'n!

And see, to me, Dustin H. was right at the time when he predicted she'd be the Eleanor Roosevelt of acting. As ever (inla's mantra) it's all so subjective.

IMO she IS the Eleanor Roosevelt of acting. Just not the Michelle Obama.

That would be Viola Davis...

Except for How to Get Away with Murder, in which Davis follows the pattern set by other great actors Angela Lansbury and Vincent d'Onofrio, who, faced with parts for which they are astonishingly overqualified (in Murder, She Wrote and L&O: Criminal Intent respectively), proceed to overact their ways into the kind of horrific performances only great actors can achieve.

Beauty and The Beast (2017)

By some miracle of timing and/or integrity, Bill Condon's live-action remake of Disney's historic 1991 animated masterwork proves to be, if not an improvement, a remarkably well-executed and beautifully executed companion piece. Emma Watson and Dan Stevens manage remarkable character truth and genuine chemistry given the CGI/previous expectations bombardment they face; Luke Evans almost steals it as villainous Gaston; and Josh Gad justifies the choice to make sidekick LeFou a gay bromancer. Techincal and design achievements are stellar; updated story elements are subtle but definitely Now; and it kinda sorta sent us into orbit. Highly recommended.

*****

Was so prepared to give this one a miss, but now I cannot. Can't wait, in fact.

willybeeds, trust me, no one was more surprised than me, and it's not without its overblown, overlong qualities, but what can I say? I laughed, I cried, it became a part of me. Utterly charming, essentially worthy, and by and large the A-List cast of voices for the servants-turned-objects is inspired. Hope you enjoy it.