On September 18, 1981, United Artists released “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”, in which a 32-year-old Meryl Streep played her first leading role in a motion picture. Two leading roles to be fair, since the story depicts John Fowles’ novel not only as a straight-forward adaptation, but as an embedded film within a film that portrays the lead actors’ laissez faire fling on a movie while performing the tightlipped Victorian romance between a palaeontologist and a social outcast – a contrast on how social perception or acceptance on infidelity has changed over the years, at least 40 years ago. “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” is a curious film, a drama for grown-ups, and a very odd choice for Streep’s first leading role. After her breakthrough years and an Academy Award in 1980, an All-American role like “Silkwood” would have seemed a more logical fit to hone a movie star image. But Streep, giving us a first taste of her transformative craft that would stun audiences in the many years to come, immersed herself into the British landscape and created two very unique performances in one film.

Instead of writing a long essay on the film’s anniversary I’ll rather guide you through the extensive collection of information, pictures and articles we have amassed over the last years. Have a look at the box on the left for shortcuts. I’ll give you my top takeaways anyway: The film was a critical and commercial success, receiving 11 BAFTA nominations with three wins, inlcuding Best Actress for Streep. She also won the Golden Globe as Best Actress Drama and received her third Academy Award nomination in four years, the first as Best Actress, which was awarded to Katharine Hepburn. Streep was not the first choice for the part – Fowles’ personal choice was Helen Mirren. But the studio deemed her unsuitable, thanks to the recent release of the notorious “Caligula”. Even more surprisingly, this was Jeremy Irons’ first leading role as well, and only his second motion picture.

If you want to treat yourself with an anniverary viewing today and don’t own the DVD, you can check out if it’s available to stream in your region. If you want to share your thoughts on the film, head over to Twitter for comments and selected pictures.

On we go with another Scan Sunday – featuring new articles and review ranging from 2004 to 2006 and covering “The Manchurian Candidate”, “Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events”, “Prime”, “A Prairie Home Companion” and the first batch of a lot of “The Devil Wears Prada” articles. For a complete overview, have a look at the list below.

In the first official look at the Netflix comedy Don’t Look Up, starring DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence, the teaser trailer centers its story around DiCaprio’s character having a panic attack ahead of an Oval Office meeting after uncovering an Armageddon-like revelation. Don’t Look Up tells the story of two low-level astronomers, played by DiCaprio and Lawrence, who must go on a giant media tour to warn mankind of an approaching comet that will destroy planet earth. The star-studded movie is written and directed by Adam McKay, the filmmaker behind the Oscar-nominated movies Vice and The Big Short. Mark Rylance, Ron Perlman, Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Scott Mescudi (aka Kid Cudi), Himesh Patel, Melanie Lynskey, Michael Chiklis and Tomer Sisley round out the cast. The teaser trailer only runs for one minute and 18 seconds, but prompts several chuckles as Kate Dibiasky (Lawrence), an astronomy grad student, and her professor Dr. Randall Mindy (DiCaprio) set an infuriating White House meeting with a room of indifferent government officials, including those played by Hill and Meryl Streep, to explain their dire discovery of a comet orbiting within the solar system. Don’t Look Up hits select theaters Dec. 10 and releases on Netflix on Dec. 24. With the release of the trailer, three brand new production stills featuring Meryl have been published as well.

This week’s Scan Sunday ranges from 2003 to 2004 and features lots of articles on the international releases of “Adaptation”, “The Hours” and “Angels in America”. There are also various reports on her 2004 AFI Life Achievement Honor, including a great cover from The Sunday Telegram. There’s also a very nostalgic article among the updates: I vividly remember flipping through my grandparent’s tv guide in 2003 to find an article on Meryl with a link to this very website. I felt like a rock star :-) How time goes by. Anyway, enjoy all the new updates and your Sunday as well.

A great Sunday to everybody! On we go with magazine scans from 1997 to 2002, featuring some lovely pictures for the television premiere of “…First Do No Harm” and reviews on “Dancing at Lughnasa”, “One True Thing” and “Music of the Heart” (I call those the twilight years :-) The update concludes with some lengthy articles on “Adaptation” in 2002. For a complete overview, have a look at the list below. Enjoy reading.

According to Variety and other news outlets, Netflix has announced release dates for its entire fall and winter film slate, a list of buzzy films that includes “Don’t Look Up,” a dark comedy starring Jennifer Lawrence and Leonardo DiCaprio and directed by Adam McKay; Jane Campion’s drama “The Power of the Dog” with Benedict Cumberbatch, Kirsten Dunst and Jesse Plemons; and Rebecca Hall’s directorial debut “Passing.” […] To close out the year, Campion’s latest “The Power of the Dog” arrives on Netflix on Dec. 1 (in theaters on Nov. 17), with Sandra Bullock’s “The Unforgivable” slated for Dec. 10 (in theaters Nov. 24), “Don’t Look Up” scheduled for Dec. 24 (in theaters Dec. 10) and Maggie Gyllenhaal’s “The Lost Daughter” on Dec. 31 (in theaters Dec. 17). In total, Netflix will release around 40 movies throughout the rest of 2021, continuing its promise to deliver new films every week for the entire year. Check out the full lineup over at Variety.

On we go with new magazine scans from the mid-1990s, in which “The House of the Spirits”, “The River Wild”, “The Bridges of Madison County”, “Before and After” and “Marvin’s Room” were released, all more or less successful with critics and the box offic, with the exception of “Madison County”. For a complete list of new articles, have a look at the list below. Enjoy your Sunday.

This week’s Scan Sunday covers Meryl Streep’s comedy years from 1989 to 1993, reviewing “She-Devil”, “Postcards from the Edge”, “Defending Your Life” and “Death Becomes Her”. Lots of articles and reviews from international magazines have been added to the photo gallery. Among the highlights is a brief mention in 1993’s Veronica magazine from the Netherlands of a big television interview to promote “Death Becomes Her”, which I have never heard of. I don’t know if it was filmed exclusively in the Netherlands, or during the UK oder French promotion for the film, so if you’re from the Netherlands and know more about this interview, please let me know. Enjoy reading and have a great Sunday.

Over the last weeks, I have worked behind the scenes on the career pages to make them more functional and easier to browse. Meryl Streep’s career is a massive task to cover, and yet it’s one of my favorite parts of the site, since it’s not only films, but heaps of documentaries, television specials and narration work. Plus, we have been able to source pretty much all of her 50 plus theatre performances since her time at Vassar College with lots of rare pictures and posters. So, let me introduce some nifty new functions: Each career site has been updated with full cast and crew information and shortcuts to the photo gallery, video archive and related reviews (there have been a lot with the ongoing magazine updates). You can check each project’s availablity on a wide array of streaming services in your country. Each page also comes with tags – so if you’re looking for similar work, you’ll find shortcuts like, for example, drama, based on a true story, and many more. Lastly, all career pages are connected with the chronology pages, so you can find all productions from a specific year listed by release. You can start by browsing the career main page with 12 subcategories and then lose yourself for a couple of days with over 330 productions to (re)discover :-). Enjoy browsing and check back tomorrow for a new Scan Sunday.

Our second Scan Sunday contains a wild ride throughout the 1980s with reviews and articles on “Silkwood”, “Falling in Love”, “Plenty”, “Out of Africa”, “Heartburn”, “Ironweed” and “A Cry in the Dark”. Among the highlights of this update is a wonderful cover from the French Le Figaro (1983) and a lenghty article and pictorial on “Out of Africa” from the French Premiere Magazine. As always, many thanks to Alvaro for the contributions. Enjoy reading and have a wonderful Sunday.