The View From Jackie’s Head – #9
Let’s talk about Meryl Streep. During the recent Golden Globes Awards Show she was presented with the Cecil B. DeMille Award. This award is presented to someone associated with the motion picture industry who has made outstanding contributions to the world of entertainment. It has been presented since 1952 and past recipients look like a who’s who of Hollywood.
In the past, recipients talked about their careers and people who had mentored them, encouraged them, inspired them, etc. But Ms. Streep decided not to follow this path. Instead she went on a political rant about Donald Trump (though never using his name). Now does Meryl have the right to speak her mind, of course she does. But there is a time and a place for all things and this was the wrong time and the wrong place. Most of us did not tune in to watch a political discourse on the state of our United States.
Meryl Streep is not the first actor to go off on a political tangent. Vanessa Redgrave did it, as have others. Even Marlon Brando in a sense did it by sending a representative to collect his Oscar. I didn’t like it then and I don’t like it now. Meryl Streep was being honored for her acting, her career. She was not invited to address a political party. She should have just said thank you. That would have been enough.
If you are trying to decide which movie to see these days let me give you a guide, first off see “Hacksaw Ridge”. If you have seen it then move on to “Hidden Figures.” This is such a good, entertaining movie. And for a third recommendation, go see “Patriot’s Day.” Director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg keep churning out the hits (“Lone Survivor” and “Deep Horizon”), and now a new movie from this dynamic duo is one to lift your spirits as it celebrates heroism.
“Patriot’s Day” is just one of five new movies coming out this weekend. You also have Jamie Fox in “Sleepless,” the horror film “The Bye Bye Man” (I’m really looking forward to that one – NOT!) “Ben Affleck’s “Live By Night” and “Monster Trucks’ starring Lucas Till. Till’s family lives in Atlanta and his mother is a Facebook friend of mine so I watch his career closely.
On Thursday, January 24, the Academy Award nominations will be announced. The actual presentation will be on February 26. I am not pulling for any of the favorites – “La La Land”, “Moonlighting,” “Manchester By the Sea.” They all disappointed me one way or another. I am hoping I am surprised and “Hacksaw Ridge” and “Hidden Figures” do good.
Just finished a new book THE GIRL BEFORE by J P Delaney. It will be released on January 24. The book is about two women who live in a modernistic home in London. Jane is the woman who lives there in the present, and Emma is the girl who lived there before. The story alternates between the two women’s lives and rather quickly you see a common pattern of behavior between the two women.
Early nto the book you learn Emma is dead. You do not know how or why she died but you are suspicious of a number of people introduced in the story. Then you begin to wonder if the same fate awaits Jane. That question is what keeps you reading.
I can’t say I loved the book but it did keep me thinking about these two women even after I had finished the story. I also think fans of THE GIRL ON THE TRAIN will eat it up. I wasn’t fascinated by that book either. Still keep this in mind if you are looking for something to read on a winter’s day, especially if you have already read Karen White’s THE GUESTS ON BATTERY STREET and Beatriz Williams THE WICKED CITY.
Finally, I was so glad to see Billy Bob Thornton win a Golden Globe for his acting in “Goliath”. He deserved it and also it bodes well for a second season for that show. I have my fingers crossed.
JACKIE K COOPER
