- Be your very best
- Be dramatically potent.
- ... then unexpectedly hilarious.
- Fake a new accent every hour.
- Imitate the dial tone on your phone.
- Run around like a joyful madwoman with your hands in the air, stopping only to kiss people.
- Run around like a joyful madwoman whilst singing your favorite ABBA song.
- Accentuate your WASPiness... (or fake it).
- Stay married to the same person for decades, confounding Hollywood protocol.
- Pretend your significant other is a sculptor, make them use their hands.
- Befriend Cher.
- Watch Kramer vs. Kramer again.
- Watch Angels in America again.
- Consider yourself overrated... "but not today!"
- Be highly quotable.
- Memorize the entire Miranda Priestley "Cerulean" monologue.
- Ask your best friends to call you "Mary Louise" for the remainder of the week.
- Stweep!
- Give to charities.
- Sing more spectacularly than is humanly fair considering all of your other talents.
- Watch Julia to see how it all began.
- Say "That's ridiculous" with a Polish accent all day.
- Visit Simply Streep and Meryl Streep Online.
- Idolize your mama.
- Make out with someone who looks like Robert Redford, Bobby DeNiro, Kevin Kline, Kurt Russell or Alison Janney
- Send mixed messages to someone who looks like Jeremy Irons
- Enjoy Silkwood all over again.
- Flash your left tit and laugh about it.
- Appreciate one of her rare underappreciated performances like the one in A Prairie Home Companion.
- Stare off into space while dreaming of that farm in Africa, the French Resistance, your life as a singer, Virginia Woolf, the drugs you wish you were on or that French Lieutenant who will never return.
- Wear a Vassar t-shirt.
- ...or Yale paraphernalia
- Pretend you've won an Oscar.
- ...and another.
- Pretend you've won a third since you deserve it.
- Polish Meryl's star at 7018 Hollywood Blvd.
- Stare at the sea provocatively whilst practicing "Obscure Melancholia"
- Speak highly of New Jersey
- Take your family white water rafting.
- Watch Out of Africa again (you haven't seen it since the 80s).
- Lighten the room when you walk in.
- End your conversations with a dismissive "that's all".
- Work towards making lots of "All Time Great" lists in whatever it is that you do.
- ...actually deserve the honor.
- Don't take yourself too seriously.
- Proclaim "the dingoes got my baby!"
- Have some cream of watercress.
- Mix a drink for your friends (or frenemies) and pretend it's an immortality potion.
- Be a legendary household name whilst avoiding any personal drama.
- ...stop to consider and then appreciate how truly difficult that is to do.
- Read up a little on the amazing Julia Child before Meryl's next picture Julie & Julia arrives.
- Take a hot bath and fantasize about Clint Eastwood.
- Make your significant other wash your hair outdoors.
- Play dress up like Sophie or Kate Gulden
- Be proudly liberal and politically active.
- Make the world a better place.
- Inspire future generations in your field.
- Raise talented children
- Age more spectacularly than a good wine.
- Share this tribute post & video with Meryl-loving friends!
THAT'S ALL.
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54 comments:
Completely, completely, completely fabulous. (That's really 60 "completely"s - each one stands in for 19 others.)
Nathaniel I am astounded. You actually wrote sixty things, that's a feat because they're all interesting and funny and I felt (almost) horrible because I am not in love with Meryl Streep, but this was great. This is a really cool blog...I guess you know that...but it won't hurt.
LOL. Nice ones.
If anyone can help me out here, Nathaniel, it's you.
When did Meryl say at some awards ceremony: "Some days even I think I'm overrated .. but not today." (your #14!)
Feel like I'm probably the only person to have watched Out of Africa twice within the past year. Its one of the few DVDs I own. That, Julia and Babe (I'll go to my grave defending my belief that Babe is one of the greatest movies ever, period, regardless of what a lunatic it makes me look like).
Hope I could eat cake with Meryl. Wouldn't that be loverly? That's all.
I already do 4 and 46...all the time. I'm pretty sure "the dingo ate my baby" was the first time I had ever heard of Meryl Streep.
to Max: when she won the emmy for best actress in angels of america.
I love love love Meryl Streep. May she have a wonderful birthday.
It's amazing!Tanks Nathaniel!I print it and i hanga it in my bedroom...I'll follow this roles every day!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY MERYL!!!
I know this isn't a Blog-a-thon, but it feels like one, so I wrote this. Enjoy!
I LOVE this!
That's all.
this is absolutely great. very well done! 60 rules to follow and one step closer to merylness ;)
Happy birthday Meryl!
Nate, your suggestions are all great but am I allowed to have a bath without fantasizing about Clint Eastwood? Please? :p
Who is this Meryl person, anyhow?
Just kidding. ;-)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE GREATEST ACTRESS IN THE WORLD!!!
Nice post Nat!
I try to follow these rules everyday... but I didn't manage to imitate the dial tone properly, yet! =)
Anyway, great way to celebrate Meryl's birthday! "Thank you so much"... (next year we'll add the 61st rule... say thank you for everything, that's what Meryl is also famouse for! ahah)
Ps. Finally I got Plenty, Julia and Manhattan... I'll watch them asap!
Happy Meryl Streep's birthday to everyone!
That's all!
yay! Happy Birthday Meryl! Rock on!
As for the list, I already did 4,6, 18, 23, 33 and 34. LOL
I would like to nominate this for best fake Meryl Streep twitter: http://twitter.com/Meryl_Streep
THIS POST NOW HAS VIDEO. I fell asleep last night before it ws finished loading. watch zee video ;)
Brava!
yes by all means read Nick's tribute. It's lovely even handed and thought provoking
ENOUGH WITH THE MERYL STREEP MONTH!
Proclaim that there's no such thing as the greatest living actress
Nate, that video was just divine! The detail with the song saying reflection and at the same time we see her looking at her reflection... Great!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY QUEEN!!!! Only the best people are born in June!
A magnificent, opulent, tremendous, stupendous, gargantuan, bedazzlement, a sensual ravishment: It is Spectacular Spectacular!!!!
Amazing, Amazing post!!!
Very cool post! It rearranged my top 5 actresses ever.
This is absolutely marvellous.
An alternate: Watch Alice at the Palace to see Meryl Streep act the hell out of Lewis Carol's Alice books in one crazy musical. The clips are all over YouTube and they are phenomenal. It's the kind of thing that makes you realize how easily Streep will win a Tony when she eventually does a Broadway show again.
Hey, instead of a Vassar t-shirt, can I wear a Dartmouth t-shirt? (After all, both Meryl and Mamie are Dartmouth girls! :)
Seriously, this should be a blogathon!
Genius. If I could Stweep this whole blog, I would.
Can't realistically do #1 on a Monday, but I'll try.
I've already Stweep'd so I can cross #18 off the list.
I wish I can do #20 or #25.
I slept on my Vassar t-shirt last night, so yay for #31.
And finally it's be a miracle if #59 happens. But I can wish.
Happy 60th to our greatest living actress. Truly, a national treasure. May your splender continue for years to come...
oh my!
thank u nathaniel and nicksflickpick
superb superb pieces
u know whats amazing: how her stature, reputation, beauty, truthfulness, candour, grace, box office clout and general all round lovability just continues to grow.
there is really no other whose career continues on such a trajectory
you just dont have a sense of it slowing down. and u do want to imagine another 30 years of wowing us (her last being 1979 to 2009)
I have nothing to add except that Meryl is the best, so is this post, and so are YOU!
Love the video......
Just want to give a shout out to Defending Your Life. It comes from Meryl's "slower" period (1991) and was - for me at least - the first sign that she really was a great comic actress.
Here is the film where she starts to loosen up and to defy the old Pauline Kael critique (sometimes justified) that her performances could be overly studied and robotic. Clearly that's not true any more.
all thanks for the kind words
anon relax. there's still non meryl stuff on the blog. the meryl madness will be over in mid July. At least until Julie & Julia opens ;)
joe which accents are you best at?
jim t fantasizing about Eastwood is optional. But if you really wanna be like Meryl, there are sacrifices that must be made!
terris i should probably write about PLENTY. I've seen it twice now and I just don't get it. Or i'm not sure it gets itself. weird movie. But i love Meryl's breakdown party scene. Wheeee
ryan t re #25... i gave you lots of options. Maybe you could find someone who looks like Peter MacNicol, Christopher Walken or Chris Cooper if the other lookalikes are nowhere to be found ;)
kristin you've still got 54 to go so get cracking!
trent i've been meaning to watch that forever. Perhaps I shall once my streep at 60 feature film rewatching is done. after a short break (whew)
I posted this in response to an earlier article, but I think it's very fitting here:
I rarely comment on these things - but I'd like to say something I think very important about Meryl. Of course, she gets all kinds of laurels and compliments, but I don't know if people actually realize that we're witnessing what Diane Keaton referred to as a 'trailblazing pioneer'. I hope people truly appreciate living in the era of Streep. Years from now, the hosannas she receives now will seem pale in comparison.
Seriously, she is nearing 60, headlining blockbusters, receiving unparalleled honors, keeping her private life just that, and delivering performances that defy belief. There has never been anyone before like her and odds are there will never be anyone like her again. I pity the critics of Streep because they are missing out on something huge.
This is a once in a millennium talent, and words cannot do her justice. I am thankful for an artist how gives us all hope!
eat like a pig (a la defending your life)
bake a cake while dressed like dorothy (a la one true thing)
write a book about my ex (a la manhattan)
all movies to watch tonight!
47a) Learn the French for "dog puke."
Happy Birthday to Meryl!
Awesome list Nathaniel, #25 sounds like the most fun. I will definitely do #45 and #48 today though.
Fabulous stuff Nat, and I'm particularly pleased to see so much airtime for Death Becomes Her. She rocks the house in that movie, right? I think the potion continues to take effect...
i'll drink to that Nathaniel! probably a meryl martini or cosmos!
brilliant line up of ways to celebrate meryl's sexy sixty!
wow, Freakin Brilliant!
what a wonderful tribute for meryl and streepers!
and I was actually laugh at #25.LOL
Even though I may never be able to do most to all the items on the list, I still wish to say Happy Birthday to the great Meryl Streep. I can't believe she's 60; to me, she's ageless!
Nathaniel,
Hands down the best tribute to the best actress ever. I also enjoyed the 60-things-to-do list. Thank you my fellow cineaste.
Navid Sitarian
navsit@comcast.net
Loved this! By the way, which film is the animated picture (with Meryl flashing her left tit?) from? She looks absolutely stunning...
Happy belated birthday to the wonderfully talented Meryl Streep.
Marcy that's from Silkwood which some people count as their favorite Meryl performance. it's in my top 5 for sure (though i haven't ordered them)
THANK YOU NATHANIEL! for this wonderful "60 Appropriate Ways to Celebrate Meryl Streep Month."
barrett, you're welcome.
i hope a lot of you newbies will stick around. more meryl to come in a few days (movie retrospectives/reviews / oscar year discussions)
7, 28, and 55 daily!!
Several others, I'll be trying soon!
TO ALL
return and report once you've completed a few more of these! :)
You are great at all you do ... but this tribute is GREAT... and Meryl deserves every bit of this adulation!!!!
Thank you, Nathaniel!
September 26th, 2009
What a great post- for any month- not just "Meryl Streep Month".
Like everyone else, I had to post about Julie and Julia, but how lovely to know you also appreciated Meryl's wonderful performance in Prairie Home Companion. Although the movie hadn't come out when Meryl & Lily Tomlin over-talked each other while presenting Oscars in spring 2006, I knew the eventual DVD had to be mine.
Annie at the Transplantable Rose
Wow - only six more years and she can retire. Sure hope she's been making those payments to Social Security))
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