Wednesday, February 28, 2018

My 2018 Academy Award predictions

The Oscars are on Sunday!  I'm putting this out a little early because I'll be traveling to sunny New Zealand and am not sure when I'll get a chance to post this weekend.  My choices are sort of lame because almost everyone at this point will (or at least should) have the same predictions in the picture/director and acting categories.  I'll provide my guesses for winners as well as a potential spoiler. Sad to say, Meryl will not be coming anywhere near a win this year.

Best Picture
Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri

alt. The Shape of Water

Best Director

Guillermo del Toro (The Shape of Water)

alt. Christopher Nolan (Dunkirk)

Actress in a Leading Role
Frances McDormand (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

alt. Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water)

Actor in a Leading Role
Gary Oldman (Darkest Hour)

alt. Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name)

Actress in a Supporting Role
Allison Janney (I, Tonya)

alt. Laurie Metcalf (Lady Bird)

Actor in a Supporting Role
Sam Rockwell (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri)

alt. Willem Dafoe (The Florida Project)

To be honest, I'll be really surprised if any of the above six picks don't win.  For a race that seemed rather open only two months ago, this now seems like one of the most predictable seasons in recent memory.

Happy watching!


Thursday, February 22, 2018

Results of poll #6

Poll #6 is closed and the overwhelming choice for whom people would like to see Meryl star with as a co-lead is none other than the great Cate Blanchett. I guess it's not that surprising...arguably the two greatest actresses working today.  Who wouldn't be interested in seeing them pair up? Jessica Lange came in a distant second (whom I voted for). I think it would be really interesting to see those two team for a biopic of Edith Windsor and Thea Spyer (Streep as Spyer). In third we have Sigourney Weaver. I've actually thought that she or Jodi Foster would be good choices to play best friend Bonnie Stoll, were Streep to take the title role in the Blacklist script Nyad. 

Sins of omission from the list options: Helen Mirren, Judi Dench and Kathy Bates. 

There were a few great suggestions for the next poll.  Any others?  These might be my favorite posts.

Thursday, February 15, 2018

Let's talk about..."Big Little Lies"

OK, I'm doing something a little bit different with this post. I realize that Meryl has yet to even shoot a single scene for HBO's series Bit Little Lies, but it's been a year and a half since I've posted in this section and have been wanting to discuss her upcoming role as Mary Louise Wright. With that in mind, for those of you who've seen the show, I'm interested to hear both your thoughts on the first season as well as any ideas or predictions for next year's. I re-watched all seven episodes with a friend on Sunday just to refresh my memory on the story.

Yesterday, several articles were released with quotes from both Nicole Kidman and Laura Dern about how excited they are for Meryl to join the cast. We don't know a ton about Streep's character, other than that she's playing the late Perry Wright's mother, Mary Louise, who comes to Monterey concerned for her grandchildren and looking for answers about the nature of son's death. There's a possibility of flashback scenes, which means Alexander Skarsgård may return for a few episodes. We can also expect some conflict with Kidman's character, Celeste, as apparently the two had a contemptuous relationship at times as mother and daughter-in-law.

Kidman is quoted in the articles from Wednesday as saying that both she and Reese Witherspoon ead the script for season two and thought Streep would be wonderful in the part. Let's not forget that author Liane Moriarty wrote the character with Meryl in mind. Knowing that domestic abuse is often an evil passed down from generation to generation, will Mary Louise be a survivor as well? Will it be a situation where Mary Louise resents her daughter-in-law for not being able to "handle" an abusive husband like she did? Will she be in denial about her son or will she accept the fact that in reality he was a monster and ultimately show empathy for Celeste?

Can't wait.

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Poll #6: With which actress would you most like Meryl to star as co-leads in a film?

Hey folks. It's been a while since I've done a poll, so off to the right you'll see the latest. I've always enjoyed when Meryl's sort of "buddy" projects with her contemporaries. Diane Keaton in Marvin's Room or Goldie Hawn in Death Becomes Her, for example. I thought I'd see what people's interests are on whom they'd most like to see Meryl star alongside as co-lead in a movie. The actresses I've chosen are mostly in her age demographic, realizing that Blanchett, Foster and Davis are a bit younger.  And don't give me crap about Oprah. The world would flip if they did a big film together. 

Happy voting!

Friday, February 2, 2018

Update on box office totals for "The Post"

The Post is entering its fourth weekend in wide release. To date, the film has earned about $62 million at the domestic box office and $24m foreign, for a worldwide total of about $85m. This weekend already has estimates for another $6m, which would bring its U.S. total close to $68m.  Against a budget of $50m, these are decent receipts. I've read that a film typically needs to make at least 2-2.5 times its budget to actually see profits, as marketing and other costs I probably don't fully understand factor in greatly. Overall though, I imagine that 20th Century Fox is pleased with the results.

What I like most about the fact that the film should have no problem getting over $75m domestic is that it reinforces Meryl as a financial draw for films. Of course I like that good numbers also show that people are actually showing up to her films too, but I care more that it keeps doors open for projects to get greenlit for production.  I remember reading that after The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl was "besieged" with offers due to the film's success, which is apparently what got Julie & Julia off the ground. 

With her only future projects at this point being for TV (Big Little Lies and The Nix), it's exciting to look forward to, and of course speculate on, what might be her next big role for the silver screen.  

Any guesses?