Pukzz, just wondering, how many reviews of J&J have you read?

David Denby The New Yorker:
"Like a tall ship in full sail, Streep leans, tilts, and billows. Odd explosions of air—whoops, exclamations—come hurtling through the passageways. She runs out of breath, and then settles, mysteriously, like an old Bible that italicizes ordinary words, on a single syllable. It’s all extremely funny, but Ephron and Streep stop short of camp. They know that there’s no way anyone can make, or would want to make, Julia Child look second-rate."

Peter Travers, Rolling Stone
Meryl Streep — at her brilliant, beguiling best — is the spice that does the trick for the yummy Julie & Julia. Streep digs deep into Julia in ways that go beyond impersonation, though her bon appétit warble is the niftiest since Dan Aykroyd's SNL spoof.

Owen Gleiberman - EW
It doesn't take long to get used to the funny, goose-honk perfection of Streep's impersonation. Only then, in fact, do we really start to connect to the serious, life-loving performance behind it. Julia's gangly eagerness conceals a will of iron, as well as a generosity of spirit that's too passionate to be merely funny. She's a woman who wants to feed everyone, gloriously — herself and her husband, her friends and the world.

Philadelphia Enquirer
Bewigged and booted to resemble the formidable figure who stood 6-foot-2, Streep has jolly fun channeling her inner Child, her piping voice swooping and whooping across the Atlantic and back. In losing herself in the larger-than-life Julia, awkward except when wielding whisk like scepter, Streep physically conveys the transformation and triumph of a lost woman who finds her vocation. She is transcendent.

Slate
Streep's incarnation of Julia Child towers, literally and figuratively, over the movie. She plays the beefy, 6-foot-2-inch Child with lusty comic verve, yet her performance isn't broad in the least. Every word that emerges in that familiar octave-swooping voice is both hilariously funny and deeply felt. When Julia learns that her sister (a sidesplittingly funny Jane Lynch) is pregnant, Streep makes all Julia's reactions—resentment, joy, grief, resignation—visible in quick succession.

Salon

Ephron does the smart thing in "Julie & Julia" and lets Streep carry the day, with a minimum of embellishment. Streep is too often praised for her ability to master an accent, which is evidence of her discipline. But a good performance has to offer more than just proof of how much work you've put into it, and Streep is always at her best when she makes it all look easy, instead of advertising how difficult it is. Her exacting, actressy turn in last year's "Doubt" is an example of the worst kind of Streep performance. What she does here, in its lightness and outright glee, is the best kind. Streep uses her gift for mimicry to make the link between Julia as pop-culture presence and human being. Just listening to Streep is pure joy: She gets the way Julia's voice resembled the unself-conscious chortling of an extremely happy bird.

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These reviews reminds me of just how much I enjoyed J&J, and in particular, Meryl Streep and some of her costars.
They could have cut out Amy Adams' half of the film and I wouldnt have cared.
J&J isnt everyone's cup of tea of course, but I found Meryl sublime.

To add my 2 cents, so did I. That was Streep at her best, yet again.

An Education opens tomorrow in NZ. Dunno if it'll be in my town then but I am looking forward to having an actual opinion on it

The 2nd trailer of It's Complicated is hinting at another Streep winner. It is possible that both her costars (Tucci and Baldwin) may be up for Best Supp Actor.

As good as Sidebe may be, when was the last time a debut performance won the lead Oscar? 1986?

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Recently - Jennifer Hudson.

I was about to say Jennifer too, but that was in the supporting category. Also, there's a lot of talk about the BAFTA voting block being a big factor in this category, and they have recently (at least seemingly, I think) been a little effective at times. Cotillard and Swinton in '07, The Reader, etc... Some people are giving the BAFTA voting block a lot of credit for that.

quote:

Originally posted by babypook:

quote:

Originally posted by seanflynn:
Someone else can plow through Metacritic and disprove what Pux said about the reaction to the performance.

But I read them. They were ecstatic. It was far more than how "fun" she was.

She came close to winning with mixed reviews for Doubt. Now she comes with virtually unanimous ecstatic praise. And better reviews than your Carey Mulligan.

I still think Streep is going to win this year.

I'm leaning towards it thus far.. I'm thinking her biggest competition will be Sidibe. The more I reflect on J&J, the more I appreciate the performance. It would certainly go down as a well-deserved win.

Past 500 folks.

Start a new thread.