Is there no shame in the movie business?

[Burning Petard]

I suppose that is a rhetorical question (defined as a question where the questioner already knows the answer.)

I have been wiped out by the Tsunami of movie and tv productions of comic books. Then I saw a trailer for a 'new' movie coming out next month, starring Meryl Streep, about Florence Foster Jenkins. I did a little web searching and found there are actually two movies soon to be released about this woman, one from England, and one from France, both from respectable artists.

WHAAAAA!?!?! Ms Jenkins was a pitiful woman exploited by cruel 'friends' She graced the stage of Carnegie Hall in a sold out performance that she took as sincere adulation while the audience was there to laugh. She was a horrible singer; worse than Mrs. Miller. Ms Jenkins died a month after her Carnegie Hall concert.

Yet the stuff I have seen online says Streep does the singing herself for the movie. No way could this very fine actress 'act' anything like the reality of Jenkins' singing.

snailgate

[rubato]

Being able to play or sing 'badly' for someone who is an accomplished musician is an art. I'd be very interested to hear how Meryl Streep does at it.



yrs,
rubato

[Lord Jim]

I was going to start a separate thread about this unbelievably gross, awful, and idiotic piece of dreck, but given the subject line for this thread, this looks like an appropriate place for it:

[Big RR]

Being able to play or sing 'badly' for someone who is an accomplished musician is an art. I'd be very interested to hear how Meryl Streep does at it.



yrs,
rubato

While I know she sang (and not all that well IMHO) in a few films, none of them would lead me to call her an accomplished musician; but I agree, it is not easy to sing badly unless one does it naturally (and she does not sing badly naturally). But then, I really don't know why I'd like to hear someone pretending to sing badly when so many talented and trained musicians can't find work.

[rubato]

Your opinion is not shared by many movie directors, or other singers:

Movies Meryl Streep has sung in:

Heartburn
Postcards from the Edge
Ironweed
Death becomes her
Marvin’s Room
Prairie Home Companion
Excellent Moon
Mamma Mia
Into the Woods

And for a movie about a woman with tertiary syphilis who is unaware of her musical defects they need an actress who sings.


yrs,
rubato

[MajGenl.Meade]

I think that the tragic story of this lady is eminently suitable for a movie or two, as well as the various other ways it has been told on the stage etc. In connection with the 2005 Broadway production, Judy Kaye commented that

"It's hard work to sing badly well. You could sing badly badly for a while, but you'll hurt yourself if you do it for long."

On Rotten Tomatoes the film has a rating of 92%, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10, with the performances being singled out for praise, particularly Streep and Grant, with his portrayal of Bayfield being hailed as a career best

Given movies such as The Hangover, There's Something About Mary, Bad Moms and a myriad of others, I think that shame in the movie business departed the theatre a very long time ago.

A movie about Florence Jenkins is far from shameful if it has been well made (as it apparently has)

[RayThom]

Streep's rendition of "Springtime for Hitler" in Sophie's Choice was one of the best ever.

[BoSoxGal]

Please name one movie in which Meryl Streep gives a bad performance. I'm not sure she's capable of it?

[Big RR]

None I can think of BSG, although I do wish she'd stop the silly comedies and go back to drama, but I do not think she is a good singer. Adequate for the roles she filled? Absolutely. But saying she was one of the best singers in Mamma Mia is not saying all that much. Ditto with Prairie Home Companion (and I'll even stipulate she has a better singing voice than the host).

But that's Hollywood for you--there are so many well trained and genuinely accomplished singers who could at least dub musical roles, and the directors neglect them for established film actors who can carry a tune. Sometimes it doesn't make that much of a difference (like with Ironweed), other times the music is important, like with Mamma Mia or Les Miserables, and it does make a big difference IMHO.

[Gob]

WHAAAAA!?!?! Ms Jenkins was a pitiful woman exploited by cruel 'friends' She graced the stage of Carnegie Hall in a sold out performance that she took as sincere adulation while the audience was there to laugh. She was a horrible singer; worse than Mrs. Miller. Ms Jenkins died a month after her Carnegie Hall concert.

Yet the stuff I have seen online says Streep does the singing herself for the movie. No way could this very fine actress 'act' anything like the reality of Jenkins' singing.

Another attempt by Hollywood to nanny us all? There's a developing trend for no one to be demeaned or belittled or offended in culture these days. I'd be surprised if somehow FFJ doesn't sing like an angel at some point.

Fucking wank.

[Bicycle Bill]

Ditto with Prairie Home Companion (and I'll even stipulate she has a better singing voice than the host).

Garrison Keillor is a story-teller and I don't think he has ever claimed that he is anything more than a Saturday-night-in-the-shower/Sunday-morning-in-church singer.  Yes, he will sing on the show sometimes; but what the hell — it's his show, isn't it?

Not to mention that even at his worst he still sounds better than Dylan.

-"BB"-

[Burning Petard]

The new Hopeful Gospel Quartet: Robin and Linda Williams, Leonard Cohen, and making a special guest appearance on the New Prairie Home Companion, Garrison Keillor

snailgate

[Big RR]

Ditto with Prairie Home Companion (and I'll even stipulate she has a better singing voice than the host).

Garrison Keillor is a story-teller and I don't think he has ever claimed that he is anything more than a Saturday-night-in-the-shower/Sunday-morning-in-church singer.  Yes, he will sing on the show sometimes; but what the hell — it's his show, isn't it?

Not to mention that even at his worst he still sounds better than Dylan.

-"BB"-

I agree, it's his show and he can do what he wants. And I've never heard anyone claim he's a great, or even accomplished, singer.; but his audience seems to like it.

[RayThom]

Now that the droning, somnambulist, Keillor, is finished at hosting PHC I'm going to give it a listen whenever the show reboots. Some time in September, I think.