Wednesday, February 27, 2019

Meryl's awards chances for 2019

Now that awards season is over (poor Glenn), we can turn our attention to speculation on how Meryl may fare for recognition for her upcoming projects. There are three chances for her this year: Big Little Lies, The Laundromat and Little Women.

By far, I think her most likely chance at nominations is going to be for BLL. With the popularity and quality of the first season, and the fact that Meryl's performance is so highly anticipated, I'll be shocked if she doesn't get nominated for at least a couple of the big three TV awards: Emmy, Golden Globe and SAG. Of course, since the show doesn't air until June, any Emmy love won't come until September, 2020.

By all accounts, and as I've previously mentioned, her participation in Greta Gerwig's remake of Little Women (set for release at Christmas) is likely to be too small for even supporting consideration. I'd be thrilled if I were wrong, but there are people who have read the script that suggest her part is indeed brief.

Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat is a bit more of an enigma. If Meryl really has more than just a minor role, I imagine there will be an awards push for her. Certainly Gary Oldman is a big-time name in the film who will garner an effort from Netflix as well. So, considering the press releases last year suggesting that Meryl's role is the "emotional throughline" of the story, maybe there's something there.

No news on what, if anything, Meryl will film this year. I still think The Nix would be awesome!

Saturday, February 23, 2019

My Oscar predictions--2019

The day is nearly here. Although our girl Meryl isn't up for anything this year (even if a film she was in, Mary Poppins Returns has a few tech noms), I'm still look forward to the culmination of a year's worth of prognosticating and tuning in to see who gets the big awards.

As I usually do, I'm throwing my two cents in on who I think might score in the top categories. None of these predictions are going to be out of left field, but I'll add a runner-up just for fun.

Hope everyone enjoys the show!

Best Picture
Roma
alt. Green Book

Best Director
Alfonso Cuaron (Roma)
alt. Spike Lee (BlaKkKlansman)

Best Actress
Glenn Close (The Wife)
alt. Olivia Colman (The Favourite)

Best Actor
Rami Malek (Bohemian Rhapsody)
alt. Christian Bale (Vice)

Best Supporting Actress
Regina King (If Beale Street Could Talk)
alt. Amy Adams (Vice)

Best Supporting Actor
Mahershala Ali (Green Book)
alt. Richard E. Grant (Can You Ever Forgive Me?)


Tuesday, February 19, 2019

Streep to lend her voice to new Audible comedy program

Multiple sources are reporting this morning that Audible has reached a deal with Broadway Video to produce audio-only original comedy programming. Meryl has apparently signed on as guest (voice) actor for the first show, entitled Heads Will Roll. It's described in Variety as a “workplace comedy that takes place in a medieval castle.”  Meryl will portray an actress assisting a peasant rebellion against an evil queen, portrayed by Saturday Night Live's comedy queen Kate McKinnon.

Others attached to the same project include Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones), Queer Eye's "Fab Five" and Bob the Drag Queen (Ru Paul's Drag Race). 

I'm a big fan of Audible and many of the other names mentioned above, and it's always exciting to see Meryl in a new project. Granted, I'd prefer one that's on screen, but I'll likely tune in to to listen to Heads Will Roll. The show is expected to run for ten episodes. No word on when it will be available for listening, but it's evidently already done filming and in the editing process. 

Sunday, February 17, 2019

Steven Soderbergh talks "The Laundromat"

Indiewire did an interview with director Steven Soderbergh the other day about his current film High Flying Bird, and in it he talks a little bit about The Laundromat. Meryl of course has a role in the film (probably small?). Don't get too excited. The article doesn't get too into the details of the story. It's more about the nature of the filming of The Laundromat itself, in that it required a variety of shooting techniques and settings to capture the type of story Soderbergh wished to convey. He states that it was fun project to work on. 

An interesting blurb includes Soderbergh addressing the fact that High Flying Bird was getting a brief theatrical release. He states that his communication with Netflix was essentially that he didn't really need for them to make any attempts at a theatrical release. But the optics of doing so for a "Meryl Streep film" and not for the film starring a cast of African Americans was an understandable consideration when hoping to create a level playing field for Netflix's future acquisitions. Regardless, I'm just glad that this venue will get as many eyes on both projects as possible, certainly more than traditional theatrical runs would be expected to.

The Laundromat is set for release sometime this fall. 

Sunday, February 10, 2019

"Mary Poppins Returns" shut out at BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts presented its awards today. Meryl, of course wasn't up for anything, but Mary Poppins Returns had been nominated in Costume Design, Production Design and Original Music. Unfortunately, the film came away trophy-less. We'll have to wait and see when the big night arrives in two weeks it fares any better, but considering it was a British film, I think BAFTA was its best chances at receiving some bling.

Not surprisingly, The Favourite came away with a haul, including Olivia Colman for Lead Actress and Rachel Weisz for Supporting. It might worry a few Glenn Close fans to see Colman take this one, but again, in a British film, I'm not particularly surprised. As I've said before, I'd love to see Close win the Oscar, but Colman was fantastic in her role and while I'd be disappointed for Close, a Colman win would be the next best thing. At this point, I don't see how Rami Malek loses the Oscar for Lead Actor, having swept the Globe, SAG and BAFTA.

Roma took the top prize, along with its director Alfonso CuarĂ³n. The full list of winners can be found here.

Friday, February 8, 2019

"Big Little Lies" officially returning to HBO in June

Executives at HBO announced today that the second season of Big Little Lies will officially arrive in June. Producer/star Nicole Kidman had previously alluded to that month being the potential return date, and now we have confirmation.

Well, I'm glad we know when it's coming, but I'm sad we have to wait four more months! It's also interesting that the June time frame means the show misses the cutoff for Emmy consideration for the current season. The show (now in Drama Series and not in Limited Series) was likely placed there so as to avoid a clash with awards juggernaut Game of Thrones in its final season. Any Emmy love for BLL will have to wait until 2020, but we could see noms for the Golden Globes and SAGs as early as December of this year.

Can't wait to see more of Meryl! Now time for news of a juicy new project.

Nicole Kidman and Meryl Streep

Monday, February 4, 2019

"Mary Poppins Returns" surpasses $300 million worldwide

Mary Poppins Returns has been in theaters in the U.S. for over six weeks now, and its domestic box office total is a healthy $168 million. Add to that an increasing foreign total of $160m and the film is certifiably a hit, against a $130m budget. Certainly it's going to make a bit more, as it hasn't been in some of the foreign markets for very long, but I post this mostly to make note of the financial success of Meryl's projects over the past year.

Including 2017's The Post, Meryl's last three films have earned a combined total of over $900m worldwide, and as mentioned, Mary Poppins Returns is still growing. Granted, she wasn't in Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again or Mary Poppins very much, but it's still not a bad haul to be a part of.

2019 is shaping up to be more a serious(?) year for her on screen, as after the frivolity of Mamma Mia! and Mary Poppins, we're set to see her in the second season of HBO's Big Little Lies, Steven Soderbergh's The Laundromat and Greta Gerwig's Little Women remake. I don'g expect either film to be box office juggernauts, but I hope they'll be well received by both critics and audiences.

And, of course, we're always looking forward to an announcement of what Meryl's next official project will be. Will they finally get around to The Nix? I think it's about time for some news on something.