Sunday, April 26, 2015

New production still from "Ricki and the Flash"

I cam across the latest production still of Meryl in Ricki and the Flash.  She's obviously joined by her co-star Rick Springfield.  The pair seem to be attending some kind of semi-formal event, possibly a wedding?


There have been a few pics/posters and articles on Ricki in the last several days, seemingly leading up to a trailer which I hope we can expect within the next few weeks.

Friday, April 24, 2015

Streep attends Sixth Annual Women in the World Summit

As she has in previous years, Meryl attended the Women in the World Summit on Wednesday evening in New York.  She happened to be interviewed by Jon Stewart as a member of a panel which included filmmakers Ava DuVernay and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.

Most of you know that on this blog I usually stick to topics pertaining to Meryl's screen work. I have, however, been known to dabble in covering her participation in any number of good causes.  Last night I was able to catch part of the original streaming of this interview, and right before the discussion began, they showed Streep's performance in her upcoming film Suffragette.  The clip they showed looked to be the entirety of Meryl's performance, but unfortunately it is not included in the clip below.  Regardless, more pearls of wisdom from our girl, coming off the heels of her personally funding a screenwriting lab for women over 40.

Thursday, April 23, 2015

First poster for "Ricki and the Flash"

Evindently a snippet from Ricki and the Flash was shown in Las Vegas at CinemaCon last night, and someone in attendance posted a pic of the first poster from the film:


Meryl looks pretty bitchin'.  JJ Duncan from Zimbio also happens to think this will nab Streep her 20th Oscar nomination, as the few minutes of film showing Meryl were apparently rather impressive. Couple that with another transformative look, and it's hard not to agree that she'll easily be in the conversation for awards consideration.  Rumor has it that we can expect the first trailer in the second half of May.

Sunday, April 19, 2015

Streep funds screenwriting lab

Several sources are reporting that Meryl has provided a "substantial" financial contribution for a New York Women in Film and Television lab involving women screenwriters over the age of 40.  The lab will be held over three days in September of this year to foster the talents of female American filmmakers, who currently make up only 11% of writers for top-grossing films, according to the Vanity Fair article cited.

Meryl is certainly no stranger to involvement with women filmmakers.  Over the last decade, Ricki and the Flash, Hope Springs, The Iron Lady, It's Complicated, Julie & Julia and The Devil Wears Prada were all pictures penned by women.  Although I don't imagine all female screenwriters over the age of 40 write exclusively about women, their perspective needs greater representation in the current state of cinema. Hopefully Meryl won't be the sole beneficiary from a proliferation of roles for women of her generation.  She no doubt already gets first dibs on juicy roles, but as Meryl once said when commending fellow actress nominees at the 2009 SAG awards, "everybody wins when we get parts like this."

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

First teaser for "Suffragette"

Several sources are reporting that Pathé has set an October 30th U.K. release date for Meryl' upcoming film Suffragette.  And with that announcement, we have our first trailer!



Probably the briefest teaser I've ever seen, but we do see Meryl as Emmeline Pankhurst at the end.  Not much to really say about it since it was so brief.  I'm not sure this could drastically sway anyone from either going or not going to see it in the cinema.  Even if it were god-awful I'd still be going, so maybe it's difficult for me to judge in that respect.  It will be interesting to see how attention for this film will be affected by the candidacy of one Hillary Rodham Clinton, who just so happened to officially announce she's running for president three days ago.  Hopefully they're mutually beneficial.

Monday, April 13, 2015

Nina Arianda joins "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Deadline is reporting that Tony Award-winner Nina Arianda has been cast in Meryl's upcoming film Florence Foster Jenkins.  Arianda will evidently play a showgirl by the name of Agnes Stark.  Filming is set to begin next month with Stephen Frears directing.

Recall that Arianda was at the original table reading for Rob Marshall's Into the Woods back in 2012 in the role of the Baker's Wife.  Emily Blunt of course went on to perform the role in the film version. The full cast to date for Florence Foster Jenkins is as follows:

Florence Foster Jenkins: Meryl Streep
St. Clair Bayfield: Hugh Grant
Cosmé McMoon: Simon Helberg
Bayfield's wife: Rebecca Ferguson
Agnes Stark: Nina Arianda




Sunday, April 12, 2015

Streep wins first MTV Movie Award

Well it may not be quite as prestigious as an Oscar, but Meryl took home the "Golden Popcorn" trophy for Best Villain for her role as the Witch in Into the Woods tonight at the MTV Movie Awards.  I'm pretty sure she wasn't in attendance.  According to Hitfix, the only other time Streep was nominated was in the same category for 2006's The Devil Wears Prada.  Congrats, Meryl!


Thursday, April 9, 2015

Entertainment Weekly previews "Ricki and the Flash"

This isn't that big of a deal, but we've been pretty deprived of any news on Ricki and the Flash, so it was nice to see that Entertainment Weekly had a little preview online today.   The article goes into a tiny bit more depth about the film's plot, even down to the types of songs we'll get to see and hear Meryl play on the guitar.  Perhaps this little bit of press is a sign that the trailer isn't far off?


In other news, last month Meryl's name was mentioned as attached to the upcoming Angelina Jolie pic Africa.  Today, Deadline is reporting that the production of the film is in jeopardy due to "budget and creative issues."  Meryl's participation in this was dubious at best, so we'll just have to stay tuned. Seems like a great story for a feature film, though.  

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

"Into the Woods" surpasses $200 million at global box office

Ok this didn't just happen today, but I had sort of forgotten that Into the Woods is still gradually being released worldwide and happened to notice that it recently topped $200 million in ticket sales.  Streep's last film to do that was 2009's It's Complicated, which maxed out at $219m.

The success of Into the Woods is the latest boon to Meryl's career, which helps the likelihood of getting projects green-lit where she's the main attraction.  With high-profile pics like Ricki and the Flash, Suffragette, and Florence Foster Jenkins coming up, I imagine the streak will continue.




Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Rebecca Ferguson joins "Florence Foster Jenkins"

Deadline is reporting that Swedish actress Rebecca Ferguson has joined the cast of Meryl's new film Florence Foster Jenkins.  Ferguson is set to play Hugh Grant's wife in the picture.  As we all know, the film will be directed by Stephen Frears and is set to begin filming next month in the U.K.  I've never heard of Ferguson, but I imagine it's a rather small part.  The full cast to date is as folllows:

Florence Foster Jenkins: Meryl Streep
St. Clair Bayfield: Hugh Grant
Cosmé McMoon: Simon Helberg
Bayfield's wife: Rebecca Ferguson