Streep honored with Britannia Award

Streep was on hand last night in Los Angeles to be honored with the Stanley Kubrick Award for excellence in film by BAFTA Los Angeles.  Introduced by director Stephen Frears, who earlier this year directed her in the upcoming Florence Foster Jenkins, Meryl ironically sported a lovely tuxedo as the first woman to be recognized with the award.  

                         

The event was also attended by the great Amy Schumer, on hand to accept the Charlie Chaplin Award for comedy.  Schumer thanked "God" saying "by God, I mean Meryl Streep."  If there were any possibility of Meryl in fact being in consideration to portray Amy's mom in the upcoming Jonathan Levine comedy, there seems to have certainly been ample opportunity to network.  IMDb Pro now has that film slated for a 2017 release, which of course suggests a 2016 filming start.  Meryl's schedule seems to be rather barren in the upcoming months as far as film production goes.  A couple days ago I came across info that suggests one of her "in development" projects may still have life.  More on that tomorrow.  

Ryan Murphy wants to work with Meryl

Happened upon this today.  Over the weekend at the Entertainment Weekly Fest, American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy was asked whom he'd like to work with.  See his response below:



Earlier this year I learned that it was indeed Murphy who was going to produce and/or direct Meryl in Dirty Tricks, an adaptation of the play about Martha Mitchell back around 2007.  I've also made it known that I'd think it a coup if he were able to team Meryl with Susan Sarandon in the 'making of' Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? project that HBO declined to produce when Murphy pitched Sarandon and Jessica Lange in the lead roles.

It's just fun to hear filmmakers reveal their interest in working with Streep.  Any connection to projects that I want to see Meryl do is worth my time so couldn't resist posting about this.

"Suffragette" arrives stateside

Being that Meryl attended the L.A. premiere of Suffragette earlier this week, I was under the impression that the film was set for wide release today.  Turns out it's only in New York and L.A.  Ugh, I wish there were one website that would clearly and accurately list both a film's limited and wide release.  IMDb isn't always reliable in this area.  Oh well.  I wasn't going to be able to see it this weekend regardless, so I'm ok waiting another week for it to arrive in the Twin Cities.  

One nice thing however is that we're getting numerous reviews pouring in.  As I write this post, the film currently stands at a very respectable 78% on Rotten Tomatoes, with a total of 65 reviews.  I'm expecting around one hundred more.  Early receipts in the U.K. were particularly favorable over the past week as well, with the film grossing over $4 million in previews alone.  

Of course I'm very much looking forward to seeing the film, and not only for Meryl's brief appearance.  I'd love to hear people's thoughts if you're already had a chance to see the film.  

                                                   

                                                     

Amy Schumer mother-daughter project moves forward

Well, it's far from having Meryl confirmed, but hypothesizing on Streep's future projects is possibly my favorite pastime.  As early as July, Meryl's name was mentioned as 'in consideration' to portray Amy Schumer's mother in a new comedy.  The details of the plot have been kept under wraps, but as far as I understand, it roughly follows a mother-daughter duo while on a vacation in Brazil.

At the time I first posted about this, there was not even a director attached.  Since then however, Jonathan Levine has been circling the project.  Today, he was "locked" as director.  Earlier reports had indicated that producers were hoping to begin filming before the end of the year.

Here's where I get a little too inventive.  I'm not sure how many people saw my fairly recent comments on how fun I think it would be if Meryl were not only involved in this project, but that she played Schumer's mother as a Brazilian ex-patriot.  What a perfect opportunity to play a legit Latina!  I may illicit a few furrowed brows with this suggestion, but let me remind you that Brazil houses millions of native whites, so it wouldn't be a major stretch for Meryl to portray a Portuguese-accented mom. I thought it'd be a fun arc in the story, and it may make the part a bit more enticing to Ms. Streep.

I realize this is far-fetched...even for me.  Laugh only when I'm confirmed wrong.  Stay tuned.

Streep pushes "India's Daughter" for Oscar

Meryl attended the official U.S. premiere of India's Daughter in New York City last night, suggesting it deserves to win an Academy Award.  Streep praised director Leslee Udwin saying "I'm on the campaign to get her nominated for Best Documentary."  The film had previously been privately screened this spring, where Meryl joined Freida Pinto in support.

The sobering film details the brutal 2012 gang rape and murder of Jyoti Singh, a physiotherapy student in Dehli.  I felt compelled to post about this film several months ago after after finding a link on YouTube before the Indian Government had it removed.  If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend taking an hour out of your day to watch.

Brava, Meryl.

Gloria Steinem, Meryl Streep & director Leslee Udwin

Streep named Jury President for Berlin Film Festival

Variety is reporting that Meryl will serve as the jury president at the Berlin International Film Festival in February.  This marks the first time Streep has been on a film festival panel.  Among her duties, she will involved in deciding, with others on the jury, which awards will be allocated to which films.

It's fun to see Meryl getting her hands a bit dirty in other aspects of film over the past few years.  She's conducted her first master class, funded a women's screenwriting lab and now this.  Certainly keeping busy.  I look forward to her involvement in this latest endeavor.

The Berlin International Film Festival runs from February 11-21, 2016.

                           

"Suffragette" premieres at London Film Festival

Meryl attended the U.K. premiere of Suffragette at the London Film Festival today.



Alongside co-stars Carey Mulligan, Helena Bonham Carter and Anne Marie-Marie Duff, Meryl's looking sharp in a royal blue ensemble.

It's no secret that there has been a fair amount of controversy surrounding certain comments Meryl has made over the past week.  I'm hesitant to give much credence to the hyperbolic accusations and interpretations of Streep's quotes, so suffice it to say, she responded to criticism in an interview today saying,

There is a phrase in the film- 'deeds not words'-and that is where I stand on that. I let the actions of my life stand for what I am, as a human being. Contend with that, not the words. 

Streep to team with Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy on new project?

Earlier this year, Meryl sat on a discussion panel at the Women in the World Summit in New York, alongside director Ava DuVernay and Academy Award-winning documentary filmmaker Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.  Today, Obaid-Chinoy posted a comment on her own Facebook page, indicating she's going to be involved with Meryl on a new project:

Of course I had to look up Faiz Ahmed Faiz.  Turns out he was a Pakistani poet and left-wing intellectual who was nominated for the Nobel Prize for literature four times.  

The real question is "what's the project?"  When I first saw the title of the article in my news feed, I didn't immediately recognize Obaid-Chinoy's name.  It seemed vaguely Indian to me so of course my weird brain went straight to thinking Meryl is finally going to portray Indira Gandhi.  What is more likely is that Obaid-Chinoy, herself Pakistani, is going to be making a documentary feature about Faiz and Meryl has agreed to narrate it.  Looking forward to learning more about the viability of this project.  Stay tuned.  

New clip of Streep in "Suffragette"

A few days ago, a new clip was released from Suffragette, showing a bit of Meryl's only scene:



The film is set to be screened at the London Film Festival next week.  Looking forward to getting more reactions to this.  So far we have only 13 reviews on Rotten Tomatoes, with the film starting out at 69% "fresh."