And the Award for Best Streeper goes to...

So I went to see The Iron Lady the other night. It's a bio-pic about Margaret Thatcher, the United Kingdom's first female Prime Minister and noted battle axe and-what? Ok, yes, that was an extremely insensitive thing to say and I'm very, very sorry.

My apologies to battle axes and people who enjoy battle axes.

Really? Too soon? When this was
going on, Eye of the Tiger was big.

Of course, I've never sunk an Argentinian battleship over a couple of disputed islands of questionable practical and strategic value, so now who's the jerk? Anyway, back to the movie. It was, at best, m'eh. The film was not so much about Thatcher's life and political career as it was about how Meryl Streep is like, really good at acting. Acting for which she is, as I write this, accepting a Golden Globe-wow, lookit her go. In fact, maybe we should just get it over with and call it 'Streeping' from now on.

England's the one that looks
like a boot, right?

But Margaret Thatcher was a right wing nut job, why go see a movie about her? Well, while I disagreed with Admiral Firmus Piett's politics (he's pro-blaster and anti-wookie), I still enjoyed The Empire Strikes Back. Tory or no, Thatcher was a trailblazing woman who fought her way to the top of a male-dominated system. That should be pretty interesting, right? And I don't know about you, but I know next to nothing about Britain between WWII and AbFab so I was also hoping for a little edutainment. No such luck.

I mean he only got the job because he was standing next to Admiral Ozzel.

Damn. Now that is a meaningful gaze.

This was just two-hours of Meryl Streep acting the shit out of scenes from Thatcher's life. At least I presume they were scenes out of Margaret Thatcher's life. Not being British, or having access to Wikipedia during the film, I was missing a lot of the background and context necessary for the movie to make any sense (thanks public school). Who was that guy? Why did his car explode? How come Margaret Thatcher is shouting at Giles from Buffy the Vampire Slayer?

She'd still be in office, but in the end,
Thatcher pissed off the wrong Time Lord.

I didn't know what was going on and this movie felt no obligation to tell me but god damn, have I mentioned that Streep can act? It's like the filmmakers made the movie only for Thatcherphiles (ewww) who already know the story and Meryl Streep fans who don't care about the story. It was more pic and less bio and that's ok, but it would have been nice if the film told a story. Oh well, maybe they're saving it for the sequel.

I'm sure Streep will win an Oscar or something for this one too...
Hey, maybe her next role should be a woman capable of making a concise acceptance speech.

p.s. Here's another awesome picture of a guy with a battle ax: