Streep, Hanks and Spielberg visit Washington Post

I'd been wondering if filming was underway for The Post (no longer the title, but haven't seen official release on new title) as I had previously seen that May 22 was supposed to be the date.  It now appears that they may still technically be in pre-production, as Meryl, Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg were on hand this morning at the Washington Post to observe a meeting, likely for research purposes.

@DavidNakamura @washingtonpost For the curious, here's Meryl Streep pic.twitter.com/p8XuLSlZb3

— Phoebe Connelly (@phoebedoris) May 25, 2017

All previous indications have been that filming was set to start in May, knowing that it is supposed to be released in December.  Maybe it will officially begin next week (still May).  Regardless, just glad to see some action on this!

Poll #2: Which film that Meryl was at one point attached to star in do you most wish she had ultimately done?

That is probably going to be the longest post title I will ever have on this blog.  Hopefully people understand what I mean.  As you can see to the right, I've listed five films in which Meryl never starred:

Thelma & Louise
The Remains of the Day
Evita
The Last Station
Julieta

If you click on any of the above titles, you'll get the background on her potential involvement in each.   Chose which one you would've most like to see her in.   I'll of course hold off on talking about which role I choose, but you might be able to tell just from the links.

Excited to see everyone's responses!

"Mamma Mia!" sequel in the works

Among other sources, Variety is reporting that Meryl is set to reprise her role as Donna in the sequel to 2008's Mamma Mia!, entitled Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again

When I first read the news, I have to admit that I was disappointed.  Generally, I've never really thought that doing a sequel would be up to Meryl's standards.  Historically, what I've probably enjoyed most about her is the variety of characters she chooses to portray, and doing a sequel seems to fly in the face of that history.

It's not like Mamma Mia! was a great film, either.  However, it totally made the dough.  If we consider the fact that Meryl will turn 68 this summer, it might actually be a super smart move on her part.  Mamma Mia! grossed over $600 million worldwide in 2008.  What better way to give a boost to your "bankability" than to star in a cash cow that might bolster your status with filmmakers for a decade to come?

With that in mind, I can't help but wish this were news of The Good House instead.  I have to try to be pragmatic though, understanding that Meryl had a great number of doors open for her after the financial success of the original, and if the sequel were to do even half as well, it would provide for future projects that would likely be very much to my liking.

It's interesting that for a long time after Florence Foster Jenkins rapped in 2015, I lamented the dearth of projects on Streep's horizon.  Finally, in July of last year it was announced that she would have a bit part in Mary Poppins Returns, to be released at the end of 2018.  Now, however, we potentially have three projects that are set to film and debut well before that.  The Post, or "Untitled Steven Spielberg Project" has a release date of December this year.  The Nix could potentially get pulled together for a second quarter slate of 2018, and now Here We Go Again! already has a release date for July 20, 2018.  What a change from just a few months ago!

It gives me confidence in this new project that the writer of both Exotic Marigold Hotel films is penning this for Meryl.  That said, it doesn't seem that Ol Parker has necessarily established himself as a great director.  Regardless, we know he probably has a good handle on what makes this demographic tick, which is why I feel Meryl is hopping aboard.

Fingers crossed that this is a success and provides Meryl  multiple future opportunities to shine.

Final first poll results!

Well, the voting has ended for the first poll on Word on the Streep, and The Hours is the overwhelming top vote-getter (71%) to decide which performance was the biggest Oscar snub for Meryl.  I was one of the few who voted for The Manchurian Candidate.  While I absolutely believe Meryl should've been nominated for her performance as Clarissa Vaughan in The Hours, if we take into account the landscape of the films and performances that were up for recognition in both 2002 and 2004 (the release years for The Hours and The Manchurian Candidate, respectively), it's more of a snub that she missed out in 2004.

The Hours happened to be released the same year as Adaptation, a film for which she was nominated for Actress in a Supporting Role.  Couple that with the fact that The Hours was a film that essentially had three female leads in Nicole Kidman (ultimate winner that year in lead for her role of Viginia Woolf), Julianne Moore (nominated in supporting) and Meryl, and it gets tough to nominate two or especially all three.  If each were on the cusp of being lead or supporting and Kidman's performance was sort of undeniable for a nom, Meryl really had no chance for that film.  Keeping in mind that actors cannot be nominated for two roles in the same category.

Two years later, Streep missed out on a nomination for Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Senator Eleanor Prentiss Shaw The Manchurian Candidate.  She had no other films that year that were likely to result in nomination, and she had snagged both Globe and BAFTA noms.  I won't rehash why I think she should've been recognized, but I'll link my thoughts from the original snub post.

What do readers want as the next poll?!

'Poll' feature added to Word on the Streep

I've been considering for a while adding polls to the website to sort of allow some interaction among readers.  A few of you have offered suggestions and I'm happy to create several polls, but I think I'm going to start with a fairly easy one: Oscar snubs.  To the right you can see the first poll.

There of course is already a section where up to this point I have analyzed four instances where it could be argued Meryl should've been nominated and wasn't.  I'll include those four and add 1994's The River Wild.  

Please let me know if there are other ideas you  have or poll questions you'd like to me create.  This first poll will close in one week.

Is "The Post" now "Nor'easter"?

So, the website My Entertainment World is listing The Post under the new title Nor'easter.  Hmmm.  Well, I don't know if this will ultimately be the title at time of release, but the site also lists that filming is set to start on May 22 in New York, which seems to fit previous info regarding a late May shooting schedule.

I'm not so sure about that title.  The definition of "nor'easter" is 'a a storm or wind blowing from the northeast, especially in New England.'  Seems more like a new title for The Good House than The Post.  I suppose the idea of a storm brewing would be an appropriate usage in regard to the Pentagon Papers, but that title doesn't really give us any indication of what the film is about.  I'm curious to see if it sticks.

If May 22 is the true start date, casting info should be revealed very soon.