The Oscar nominations were hardest in the Best Actress category this morning. Annette Bening and Amy Adams, who’d been on everyone’s lists and did tremendous work in “20th Century Women” and “Arrival” respectively, were shut out.
It seems like their spots went to Ruth Negga for “Loving,” and Meryl Streep, for “Florence Foster Jenkins.”
For Streep, this is her record breaking, historic 20th Oscar nomination. She started in 1979 with a nod for Best Supporting Actress in “The Deer Hunter.” The next year she won Best Supporting Actress for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” She won the Oscar in 1983 for Best Actress in “Sophie’s Choice.” What followed was 12 more nominations with no wins. Finally she won again in 2012 for “Iron Lady” playing Margaret Thatcher.
Streep’s artistic triumphs cannot be denied. It’s pretty hard to be a living legend, but she handles it with grace and humor, and an occasional martini. What’s really admirable about her is that she sees herself, rightly, as guiding light and a moral compass for Hollywood. Her speech at the Golden Globes was stunning and perfectly put. I expect we’ll see and hear a lot more of her activism in the years — or maybe months– to come.
