We’re counting down to the Oscars by introducing you to some of the best and sometimes overlooked performances of this year's Oscar contenders. Today’s episode: The 14th Time’s a Charm.

Probably the easiest question I’ll toss you for Oscar trivia is this: Who is the single most nominated actor in the history of the Academy Awards? Duh. Meryl Streep. Hell, when people insult lesser actresses they quip, “Well, she’s no Meryl Streep.” Because Meryl Streep is it. The real deal. Two-time winner and fourteen-time nominee, she is a Hollywood legend that is showing no signs of stopping. I certainly don’t anticipate her winning this year, but only because she’s got two already and there are so many other deserving and unrewarded actresses in the category this year. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a number of gems in her career worth revisiting.

Essential Filmography:

Adaptation. The most recent of her truly great roles, here she plays the novelist responsible for the work being adapted, which halfway through turns from a piece of nonfiction into a lurid, bizarre character study and experiment in why Charlie Kaufman should never be given a novel to adapt again. Most notable for the Golden Globe Streep received in which, during her acceptance speech, she openly and lovingly apologized to the woman her character was based on – for the liberties they took with her.

Defending Your Life. Okay, this one isn’t at the top of everyone’s Streep Best Lists, but it is at the top of my favorites. This 1991 Albert Brooks comedy is about a man facing his trial in the afterlife who meets and falls in love with a woman (Streep) there for the same reason. Trouble is, Brooks is in for a long, tough trial while the woman he is falling for is sailing through without a catch. Adorable, funny and about as pithy as they come – this is one of the rare times Streep is allowed to be sweet, funny and unburdened with layers of pathos. A must for any Streep fan.

Sophie’s Choice. If there could be only one Meryl Streep film in all the world, which would it have to be? Tough choice? Well, the answer is, no doubt, Sophie’s Choice. Heavy, dark, brooding and one hell of a tearjerker – Streep plays a Jewish woman post-WWII who must come to terms with a decision she was forced to make during the war. She speaks German, she speaks with a German accent – hell, she speaks and you cry.

A Cry in the Dark (aka Evil Angels). While this is a good movie and I mean no disrespect, I really only put this here because it allows me to type the words “A dingo ate my baby!” This of course is the film about the infamous trial in which a woman claimed a dingo actually ate her baby. Heart-wrenching and a mystery to this day, this is the film that not once, but twice allows me to type the words “A dingo ate my baby!”

Why she probably shouldn’t get the gold: Surprisingly, Streep doesn’t have nearly as many clunkers in her closet as her contemporaries. Sure, she did She-Devil and Death Becomes Her ... in the off time between Postcards From the Edge and Defending Your Life. She’s got more than twice as many Oscar nods as she has questionable films. So the only reason she won’t get the gold is because she’s gotten it twice before and the other gals all really deserve it.

This is part of Film.com's coverage of the 2007 Academy Awards. For more Oscars articles, analysis, news, and red carpet photo galleries, visit our Oscars page.

Recommend (0)

|  Comments (0)

|  Email

|  Share

Share  Facebook Digg del.icio.us