Update on Oscar race

As of this afternoon, I have seen all twenty acting performances nominated for an Academy Award this year.  Sadly, Meryl is not included in the list, and I briefly thought about making this a "snub" post but I'll need that to marinate a bit longer.  I do believe Meryl should fit into the top five, however.   I'd definitely put her performance in Hope Springs above that of both Quevenzhane Wallis in Beasts of the Southern Wild and Naomi Watts in The Impossible.   Not to take anything away from their fine performances, but Meryl in a non-baity role is still usually going to be top five. 

The last of the films I finished was Amour.  I have to give Emmanuelle Riva kudos for what was in my opinion the best performance by an actress this year.   My overall run down on ranking the lead actress nominees based on quality of performance is as follows:

1.  Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
2.  Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
3.  Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
4.  Naomi Watts (The Impossible)
5.  Quevenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)

Fairly big gap between Riva and Chastain and very small gap between Chastain and Lawrence.   After the Globes, my predictions for who will actually win goes like this:

1. Lawrence
2. Chastain
3. Riva
4. Watts
5. Wallis

Small gap between Lawrence and Chastain.  It'll be very interesting to see what happens next weekend at the SAGs and then at the BAFTAs on Feb 10.  Riva is not nominated at the SAGs but is as BAFTA.  I'm already wondering about the possibility of Riva pulling an Adrien Brody, who was not expected to win in 2003 for The Pianist over Jack Nicholson in About Schmidt and Daniel Day-Lewis in Gangs of New York.  Staying tuned. 

Meryl misses Globes ceremony due to illness

Sadly, Meryl was too ill with the flu last night to participate in the Golden Globes ceremony.  She was due to present Best Actor in a Drama and was of course herself up for Actress in a Musical/Comedy for Hope Springs.

As expected, Jennifer Lawrence took home the award in Meryl's category for her turn in Silver Linings Playbook. 



There was an absolute feeding frenzy of anger among some Streepers on Twitter and around the web after her comment about Meryl.  Had they known she was quoting Bette Midler in The First Wives Club, it would've saved a bit of awkward embarrassment.  Those who made nasty comments about Lawrence should seriously check themselves.   I picture Meryl being absolutely abhorred by such thoughtless and hateful commentary.  We already know that Lawrence loves Meryl.  How quickly we forget a recent article in which Lawrence makes known her adoration, saying:  "One time someone was introducing me to Bill Maher, and I saw Meryl Streep walk into the room, and I literally put my hand right in Bill Maher's face and said, ‘Not now, Bill!,' and I just stared at Meryl Streep."

As far as full results from last night, they can be seen here.  I did particularly well in the acting categories, with the exception of Cristoph Waltz winning for Django Unchained.  I predicted Tommy Lee Jones to take it for Lincoln, but I was pleasantly surprised by Waltz's win, as I saw it as the superior performance.  Possibly a bit if category fraud, but that's not his fault.

Meryl is not up for any more awards the remainder of this season, so fingers crossed that she agrees to present Best Actor at the Oscars next month. As I've said before, I just want to see her and Daniel Day-Lewis on the same stage.

My Golden Globe predictions

Hey folks.  Tomorrow's Golden Globes is the first major televised awards show.  As we know, Meryl is up for her ninth win with a nomination for best performance by an actress in a musical or comedy for Hope Springs.  Last summer I thought she stood a shot at the win, but the overwhelming favorite in this category will be Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook.  I predict Jessica Chastain for the win in drama, which will set up an interesting night at the SAGs.  My full predictions in the major categories are as follows:

Best Picture Drama: Lincoln
Best Picture Musical/Comedy: Silver Linings Playbook (possibly crazy not to pick Les Mis, but whatev)
Best Director: Steven Spielberg (Lincoln)
Best Actor Drama: Daniel-Day Lewis (Lincoln)
Best Actress Drama: Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty (which I saw today and enjoyed btw))
Best Actor Musical/Comedy: Hugh Jackman (Les Miserables)
Best Actress Musical/Comedy: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Best Supporting Actor: Tommy Lee Jones (Lincoln)
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Miserables)

I'd have to put Meryl in third behind Lawrence and Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel) as far as chances for a win.  I've seen all three, and strictly on performance, Meryl is a solid second place.  Again, had she not won the Globe and Oscar for The Iron Lady last year, she'd probably be in much better standing.  Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to a fun night watching the ceremony with Scooter and Kristan and seeing Meryl present as well.   Let the games begin.

Oscar noms and Meryl wins People's Choice Award

Last night Meryl received the "favorite movie icon" award from the People's Choice Awards.  This is like her thousandth 'People's" award.  I don't make a big deal about these, but it's a nice recognition and good to see so many fans out there who enjoy Meryl!  Oh, and the Oscar nominations came out this morning.  No surprise nomination for Meryl unfortunately.  The full list is here, but the women nominated in lead are:

Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Emmanuelle Riva (Amour)
Quevenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

Well, I was four-for-five.  I'm glad Riva ended up getting in.  If you look at my post from yesterday, I didn't predict Wallis, but that's kind of cool that she got in too.  Both the oldest and youngest lead actress nominees in history in the same year, one in a foreign language film, one African American...not too shabs.

Yesterday I retweeted a tweet from Sasha Stone over at Awards Daily saying that "57% of those polled thought that Meryl should've been a top five finalist for her role in Hope Springs."  I'm not exactly sure who "those" are, but it may have been something she read about Academy voters, or perhaps it was people on her own site.  Regardless, I'm part of the 57%.  Meryl was fantastic as Kay Soames, and if she hadn't been nominated or won last year I think there's a good chance we'd see her nominated this year.  But again, I'm more looking forward to next year where she'll likely be on the top of many people's list for a nomination for her role as Violet Weston in August: Osage County.  Yesterday I came across the first official 2014 predictions from a site called Film.com.  No surprise, they have Meryl in their top five.

Meryl Streep receives Golden Globe nomination for work in "Hope Springs"

This morning the Hollywood Foreign Press Association announced its nominees for film and television "excellence" for 2012.  As expected, Meryl was included in the list of actresses in a musical or comedy for her role as Kay Soames in Hope Springs.  Her fellow nominees are as follows:

Emily Blunt (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen)

Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel)

Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)

Maggie Smith (Quartet) 

Of the above list, Meryl is probably in second or third place as far as likelihood of winning.  I'd be amazed if Jennifer Lawrence didn't take this handily, although HFPA historically loves Meryl, as this is is 27th nomination overall (a record of course).   The Golden Globe ceremony will be held on Sunday, January 13.   The full list of nominees can be seen here. 

SAG nominations announced

And they didn't include Meryl.  This was completely expected.  Here are the five for Actress in Leading role:

1. Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
2. Marion Cotillard (Rust and Bone)
3. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
4. Helen Mirren (Hitchcock)
5. Naomi Watts (The Impossible)

I'm a little surprised by Mirren.  But with Quvenzhane Wallis inelligible, Mirren's likely the fifth slot.  I would've been less surprised by Emmanuelle Riva over Mirren, considering it's only actors voting, and although not well known, I could see Riva's performance being rather striking to a lot of actors, especially those over 50.

Tomorrow is likely to provide a different result for Meryl when the Golden Globe nominations are announced.  This morning's announcement pretty much put the nail in the coffin for Meryl's Oscar nominations chances for Hope Springs, but I've seen weirder things happen.  Stay tuned.

Full results are here. 

Awards season really begins

This week we've seen awards given out by the New York Film Critics Circle and National Board of Review.  As most of you know, although I enjoy seeing how all categories turn out, my blogging efforts will focus on the Best Actress race, particularly as it pertains to Meryl.  I concede that Meryl will NOT be winning an Oscar this season for her work in Hope Springs.  Even a nomination would be a huge surprise.  With that, we are highly unlikely to see her name mentioned by any critics' groups.  As I've stated before, we can however expect her to get a Golden Globe nomination for Actress in a Musical or Comedy.

Keeping an eye on how these critics' awards play out can help us get a sense if there's any chance for Meryl beyond the Globes.  The NYFCC awarded Rachel Weisz for her work in Deep Blue Sea.  From what I've read, it took multiple ballots to reach that conclusion, with Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook (which I'm seeing with Joe and Scooter tomorrow) a close second and Jessica Chastain for Zero Dark Thirty not far behind that.  Today the NBR awarded Chastain their prize.  I think we can realistically expect that Chastain and Lawrence are good bets for Oscar nominations (sort of old news).  Weisz, despite this win, would be a tougher sell, but this certainly didn't hurt her chances.

Meryl is now out of the top ten on Gold Derby, even behind Laura Linney.  Really?  Well, things could shake up next week, as both the Globe and SAG nominations are revealed.  Meryl is almost a sure thing for a Golden Globe nomination, but far less likely for SAG.  If by some strange scenario Meryl happens to get nominated for a SAG, then her chances at a 18th Oscar nomination will skyrocket.  Until then, we'll just continue to let the results roll in.   The Los Angeles Film Critics Association announces on Sunday. 

Meryl bits and bytes

I have a few brief things to cover in this post.  Firstly, the Hope Springs DVD will be released on Tuesday (December 4th).  I'll probably wait a couple of weeks until I can buy it for like $5 used on Amazon.  I'm most looking forward to a featurette on Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones in the special features section. 

Secondly, I found an Instagram photo/quote from Juliette Lewis from the wrap party of August: Osage County.  This is the shit I live for.  Lewis calls Meryl and co-star Margo Martindale two of her "heroes" and describes the characters as "some of the most intense and challenging."   I also came across a photo of Meryl with Misty Upham, who plays Johnna.  From the look of it I'm guessing Meryl's skin hasn't seen sunlight in the past forty years.  I suppose that's how she stays so young-looking.  

Lastly, Meryl was seen hobnobbing with Secretary of State (and 2016 president-elect (fingers crossed)) Hillary Clinton at the Kennedy Center Honors this weekend.   Earlier this year there was speculation about the possibilities of a Clinton biopic, with Ms Meryl in the title role.  Of course there is no real plan for such a project, but you never know.  If Clinton were to run for president in four years and get elected, and then reelected, it'd be worth a film.  The problem is that Meryl is basically the same age as Clinton so, doing retrospective work of her as first lady in the 1990's when Hillary and Meryl were both in their mid 40's may not be practical if Meryl were in her mid 70's come 2025.   I'd settle for someone else portraying Clinton if I get to have her succeed Obama in the White House.  Cute pic, ladies. 

   

"August: Osage County"--that's a wrap

Filming has evidently been completed on the set of Meryl's latest film project, August: Osage County.  This means that all of the footage for which Meryl will hopefully receive her fourth Academy Award has already been shot and recorded.   It reminds me of a thought I had about a month ago watching Katharine Hepburn in The Lion in Winter.  It was interesting to think that most of the footage Hepburn shot for that film likely took place before she had won her second Oscar for Guess Who's Coming to Dinner in April 1968.   The Lion in Winter was of course released later in 1968, for which Hepburn won her second consecutive, and overall third Academy Award for Best Actress.  Fingers crossed that Meryl has similar luck in early 2014, sans tying with another actress.

The shoot was only about eight weeks long, but I suppose this was adequate, considering we know that the majority of the story takes place inside a single house.  I've been snooping around the internet for any tidbit of info I can find regarding shooting, promotional stills or quotes from cast and crew.  Lately the finds have been pretty sparse, but this week I was able to find a few photos from the wrap party for the film earlier this week.  Here's one of Meryl enjoying a glass of wine.  I also prefer the white.  Atta girl, Meryl.  

We can hopefully look forward to a few more formal production stills in the next few months.  Certainly the main film buzz these days centers around the current season's Oscar prognosticating, which is no doubt in full swing.  Come Monday, February 25 however, attention will begin to shift toward films of 2013.  It'll still be fun this season to look forward to a Golden Globe nomination for Meryl in Hope Springs, but I think her chances of an 18th Oscar nom for Springs are pretty bleak at this point.  Although she'll hopefully present Best Actor at the ceremony, quite possibly to Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln (which I'm seeing tomorrow btw).  That would be a fun sight, seeing Meryl and her male acting equivalent sharing the stage at the Academy Awards.  Even more fun would be if he handed the trophy right back to her for August: Osage County a year later.

Oscar chances update

As Barack Obama's statistical chances of a repeat win for the presidency continue to improve this week, Meryl's chances at repeat Oscar gold have drastically decreased.  Let's get something straight, however: no one, myself included, has been under any illusions that Meryl might actually win a fourth Oscar for Hope Springs. But for a brief period this fall, it looked like she stood a reasonable chance at an 18th nomination.  Gold Derby currently has her dropped to #11 on the Best Actress poll. With Jennifer Lawrence surging since Toronto for Silver Linings Playbook and both Helen Mirren (Hitchcock) and Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty) recently added to the mix, Meryl has been left by the wayside.  I mean seriously, they now even have her behind Laura Linney, whose film Hyde Park on Hudson got shitty reviews, and Helen Hunt, who's being campaigned in supporting for Christ's sake. 

I think Meryl is still basically a lock for a Golden Globe nod, but I'm finding that the Best Actress Academy Award race is looking more like I thought it would earlier this year, despite the glimmer of hope over an early autumn fortnight.  Possibly not that dissimilar to what many Republicans are thinking to themselves right about now...

Oscar race update

I know, I know, it's September.  Looking past the obvious reservations some may have at prognosticating about what mood the collective minds of voting members in the AMPAS will be in around January, I'd like to share my thoughts about the current "state of the race."   When I  last posted on this topic,  I  guessed Meryl would fall anywhere from sixth to eighth in the run for an Oscar nomination.  As of today, with updated predictions on Gold Derby from "experts" this week,  I probably have to keep her in the same slot.  I've been regularly perusing the scratchy comments from the rabid divas on Awards Daily Forums, and with some interesting points being made on the "best actress" thread, I thought Meryl's chances may be better than I had originally predicted.  But I think Gold Derby tends to be a little more accurate come awards season, and it's probably because they mostly predict safe bets at this point.  Again, we have four months before Oscar nominations come out (and for the first time before the Globes), so plenty can change.  Meryl may be an afterthought in six weeks, or she may firmly solidify herself in some top five lists.  In fine pessimistic tradition, I think her chances at an 18th nomination for Hope Springs this year are dubious.

In beginning my lazy scouting of Meryl's competition, last night I dragged Joe to Beasts of the Southern Wild.  I have to admit, Quevenzhane Wallis was superb.  As a caveat to that statement however, I'd categorize the performance as superb for a nine year-old (she may be ten now, whatev).  It's a hard sell for me to believe that someone that young is really making organic and skilled acting choices.  I wonder how much of what I saw was from the director's point of view...a sort of "puppeteering" rather than an individual characterization from the actor.  The question makes including Wallis's performance in the Academy Awards conversation a bit of an enigma for me.   Regardless, Joe and I both enjoyed the film.  Although I found it at times fantastically gross, I left with an overall sentiment of family and community preservation.  And yes, a great impression if its young lead.  

Update on Meryl's chances for Oscar

This morning I took a look at Awards Daily forums, thinking I would casually peruse the comments on where things stand with best actress.  I found myself engulfed in an almost endless litany of personal top ten lists.  After only 36 pages(!), I came away with a very different outlook on this year's race for Oscar.  As I wrote earlier this week, Helen Hunt had been moved to the supporting category for The Sessions on Gold Derby, and with what I read today, that seems to be the near consensus.   In addition, I was surprised to see that not only did Laura Linney's performance in Hyde Park on Hudson not receive much love, she was essentially removed from all top five (and many top ten) lists.  That's a huge jump.  

Maggie Smith's upcoming Quartet (which seems to be very much up my alley) has been gaining major steam.  But the biggest revelation at the Toronto Film Festival this weekend appears to be Jennifer Lawrence's performance in the dramatic comedy Silver Linings Playbook.  I mean, some people on the forum are basically describing this lack luster best actress category as "game over" now that Lawrence's performance has been unveiled, after it seemed that Quvenzhane Wallis was the overwhelming front-runner.  Up until this morning, I was giving Meryl a pretty good chance at slipping into that fifth slot, but those chances may become increasingly more dismal over the coming months.  The news of Lawrence also bodes poorly for Meryl's chances at the Golden Globe in musical/comedy, as Silver Linings Playbook will likely be included in the same category.  Acknowledging that it's only September (for crying out loud), here are what seem to be the top five chances at Oscar nominations:

1. Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
2. Quvenzhane Wallis (Beasts of the Southern Wild)
3. Maggie Smith (Quartet)  
4. Marion Cotillard (Rust & Bone)
5. Keira Knightley (Anna Karenina)

Knightley could fall by the wayside pretty quickly if reviews for her turn out to be lack-luster.   Streep, based on this list, would probably fall between sixth and eighth.   Of course, as fickle as these things can be, we may be saying something completely different in a week.   But I wager the top five will include at least three of the names in the above list.   I'm not too bummed about Meryl's buzz dropping considerably.  I really can't be, considering before Hope Springs came out I had zero expectation of anything more than a Globe nomination.  And even if somehow Meryl does get an Oscar nod, in a year as weak as this, it'll be more of a filler.   If she doesn't get any love from the Academy this year, all the more chance that she'll be recognized next year for you-know-what (wink).
 

Meryl up to #5 on Gold Derby Oscar predictions

I happened to check out the latest Gold Derby rankings last night and was pleasantly surprised to see that Meryl has moved up to #5 on their best actress predictions list.  Helen Hunt has been removed from the list entirely.  It was a bit confusing because I thought maybe they were going to push back the release of The Sessions, similar to The Great Gatsby, but John Hawkes is still among the best actors at #2.  I didn't see it last night, but today I noticed that Helen Hunt is now listed at #6(!) on the supporting actress list.

This is good news for Meryl's chances at an Oscar nomination for Hope Springs.  I don't know if Hunt is officially going to be campaigned in supporting, but Regina at FYC Meryl Streep and I both agree that it's a stupid idea moving her to that category.  That coupled with the underwhelming reception of Laura Linney's performance in Hyde Park on Hudson at this weekend's Telluride Film Festival signals an uptick in buzz for Meryl.  We'll have to wait and see if more sites begin to push Hunt over to the supporting category. 

Things

Nothing major to report, just wanted to throw down a few thoughts.  Hope Springs is doing okay at the box office.  Opened at #4, dropped a bit in week two.  The most important thing is that Meryl is getting amazing reviews. Gold derby continues to list her as #6 in the Best Actress Oscar hunt.  I made a bet with a friend this weekend (who said he had no interest in seeing Hope Springs and shall therefore remain nameless) that I believed that Meryl would win a Golden Globe for her role.  He was abhorred at the idea of her winning and thought it an impossibility...despite not seeing the film.  I told him that if Meryl wins in January (of course in musical/comedy) that every time he saw me for a year he had to bow down.  I will have to do the same if she loses.  I think she has a great shot at winning in this category.  The Hollywood Foreign Press is bananas for her, and there don't seem to be any other lead musical/comedy actresses that could outshine her at this point.  Everyone in Les Mis will go supporting.  Unless they commit category fraud with Hyde Park on Hudson for Laura Linney like they did for Michelle Williams last year with My Week with Marilyn. 

August: Osage County starts shooting in about a month.  Truly this is going to be an apeshit, 18-month ongoing siege of mine on the blog.  This weekend they posted video and pics of the house that was purchased for filming in Oklahoma.  Yes, that's worth reporting.  What's also worth reporting is that imdb has some teenage girl named Agathe Anne G listed as "rumored" to play Luna Weston in the film.  Um, who the fuck is Luna Weston?  I have not been able to fine anything else about this online.  Any further info would be much appreciated.  Sadly it's almost like I feel protective of the original script and cast of characters.  Okay not almost.  Completely. 

Film review: "Hope Springs" (2012)

As you can see to the right of your screen, I've had to update my profile to read "33 year-old."  Which means happy birthday to me!  As part of my fun-filled birthday weekend plan, Scooter and I did our usual cheesecake and Meryl movie combo last night.  We were finished with dinner a little early so we sat outside our theater for a bit while the showing before ours wrapped up.   As the 7:30 Hope Springers exited, I remarked to Scooter that the average age looked to be around 58 and female.  Sadly,  I felt right at home.

If you haven't already seen a synopsis of this film 1) get out from under your rock, and 2) continue reading.   Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones play Kay and Arnold Soames, a married Omahan couple whose relationship has become a tad stagnant.    Kay is particularly unhappy and decides to book a week-long trip in Maine for intensive couples therapy with renowned shrink Dr. Bernie Feld, played by Steve Carell. 

During the first moment of Meryl onscreen I was taken aback by how similar her appearance was to my own mother.  The outfit, necklace, glasses, hair and nose.  Eerily similar in this film to mom.  The other thing I quickly noticed was how Meryl decided to change her voice.  She lightened it in decibel and heightened in tone to depict a person who, very much like her character Linda in The Deer Hunter, deferred to others.  Namely her husband Arnold.

I grew up in the Midwest and I totally know this type of couple.  Married forever, kids are out the house, sex is long gone.  And nothing serious is talked about.   Decades of this pattern have virtually stifled Kay.  Arnold is content to stay quiet, grumpy, watch the Golf Channel, and sleep in a separate bedroom, historically due to his apnea and bad back.   Kay is unsatisfied with this, and after some grumbling and complaining, Arnold decides to join her on the uncomfortable journey of restoring intimacy back into their relationship.

The pair of actors do an exquisite job of portraying a couple with a long history.  I found myself taken through a series of several emotions throughout the film.  I actually laughed out loud at several points, which doesn't happen often for me at movies.  Streep and Jones did particularly good jobs of getting us to feel uncomfortable along with them as they were answering questions from their therapist as pointed as "do you climax." 

After several awkward assignments and conversations, Dr. Feld gets Arnold to get past his anger and tell his wife what he's thinking and feeling.  When they return home to put what they've learned into practice, Arnold quickly regresses to his old pre-Maine, closed off self.  When Kay ultimately realizes that if the status quo continues she won't be able to stay, Arnold comes to his senses and the two of them enjoy an apparently cathartic roll in the hay.  Yay.



In addition to Meryl's typical near perfection, Jones really shines in his role.  He plays Arnold as so damn cranky and frugal.  I remember Meryl saying in a promotional interview that during shooting she encouraged Jones to be as surly as possible, suggesting that is was sort of a Jackie Gleason effect.  The meaner you are, the more they'll like it.   And let's not forget Steve Carell, who was great in an understated, yet very believable role as Dr. Feld.  

This film is no exception when it comes to Meryl convincing me she's someone else.  Not for a moment did I doubt who she was.  Again, I think this was particularly challenging in this film for me, as I feel I know the type of woman she plays so well from my upbringing.  Bigger picture ideas are great to take away from the movie as well.  I don't think it should be considered a film only for seniors.  If anything, I think the message is more poignant for young adults in fledgling relationships.   Remembering that words matter.  Contact is necessary.  That we can't take our partners for granted.  These are not necessarily novel concepts, but seeing it represented in a comedic way, and with Meryl(!) helps as a fun refresher.

Having actually seen the film now, I can totally see how it could reasonably be pushed for acting awards.  Again, considering Meryl's history and the fact that she won the Oscar only in February, I think it's less likely for her than it would be for Jones.  That said, I would be shocked if Meryl weren't nominated (and won, frankly) the Golden Globe for actress in a musical or comedy.   I'm just going to sit back and let the web rumble with rumors and speculation.  As we conclude the Games of the XXX Olympiad this weekend, let the real games begin. 

"August: Osage County" filming update

I came across an article today with some great info on filming info for Meryl's upcoming film August: Osage County.   I won't get into all the details, but one of the main things I noticed was Tracy Letts quoted as being in a struggle with Harvey Weinstein about the length of the film.  We have to keep in mind that the play was about three hours in length, but Letts reports that he's fighting a losing battle keeping it anywhere near that length.  Ultimately he thinks it'll end up being closer to a two hour film.   I get that the production company will find it more difficult to get butts in the seats with a movie over two and half hours in length, but having read the script, I really hope that a reasonable compromise is met so as not to delete too much of the titillating dialogue.  Especially Meryl's.  Here's hopin'.

I recommend people check out Awards Daily for a fun Meryl movie matrix that was posted today.  I enjoy the character heads.  Also, there are currently a bunch of great video clips of Meryl in interviews promoting Hope Springs on Simply Streep.  The film is getting really good reviews.  White-knuckling it until tomorrow night.    Go see it!

"Hope Springs" arrives

I think this is only the second time in a year of blogging that I've gone a week without posting!  Joe and I were in Santa Fe for a long weekend for the opera so this post is going to be kind of a Meghan Hodge podge of info.  That last little bit was in reference to the fact that for about ten days I've been watching the Olympics almost incessantly, and volleyball is one of my favorite events.  

So, as the title reads, Meryl's latest film Hope Springs has officially premiered in theaters.   The New York premiere was two days ago and I could technically walk out of my house right now and go see it at any number local theaters.   But I'll be waiting until Friday for my usual date with Scooter which will likely include a meal of buttery pasta and cheesecake prior to seeing the film.  So Golden Girls.  Friday will be the start to quite the weekend for me.  I get to see a new Meryl movie, Saturday is my birthday, and Sunday is the one year anniversary of Word on the Streep!

Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones have been doing a fair amount of press for the film and it's getting really good reviews.  I happened to just see the two of them on The View.  I have to say that the women on that show are maddening.  About half of the questions they asked were appropriate or interesting, but they would barely shut up long enough to let their guests answer.  The best part about the appearance is that at the end of the segment, Barbara Walters asked Meryl and Tommy Lee what they have coming up next.  Of course they didn't allow Jones the opportunity to answer, but Meryl mentioned that she was going to be making a movie of the play August: Osage County.   Just hearing her say it out loud was so exciting!  There are few more cast members to be announced, but filming should start next month.

I also want to mention that Meryl has been moved up to #6 in the gold derby Oscar predictions for Best Actress.   This is solely because The Great Gatsby has now been pushed back to a summer 2013 release and Carey Mulligan will therefore be ineligible for the upcoming awards season.   I'm looking forward seeing if after this weekend Meryl starts to be more included in the conversation for awards.  I maintain that I expect her to be in the running for a Golden Globe, but it seems like the film might pack a bit more dramatic punch that people were expecting.  This is the shit I totally eat up.

As a complete aside, while I was waiting for over an hour in the surgeon's office this morning for a two minute follow up on my shoulder,  I noticed an article on The Huffington Post revealing that Betty White recently said that working with Meryl "would be the honor of her life."  Is it possible that Meryl might still play someone's daughter in a film?  I guess we'll have to wait and see. 

Streep and Jones "Hope Springs" interview

These clips have been out for several days, but they include some interesting insights from our stars of the upcoming film Hope Springs.  There hasn't been a ton of coverage or press for this film, but it's not a huge awards vehicle or expected to be an enormous box office draw. Or maybe there has been and I've just been too obsessed with looking for news on August: Osage County?  Yeah, that's probably more likely.  Anyway, check out these clips.  I'm not sure why there can't just be one single clip, but I was unable to find it.  I dig the Tolstoy quote.  Enjoy.

"August: Osage County" script

I don't think I've ever posted three days in a row, but this will be short.  Yesterday I finished reading August: Osage County (the play script) and it's even better than I remember it being on stage.  I know it won't happen because the play is like three and a half hours long, but I don't want them to cut any of the dialogue.  Well at least not any of Violet's dialogue.  It's so good!

Since I've been obsessing about August, I've sort of been neglecting news for Meryl's new film Hope Springs, which opens in just three weeks.  Check out Simply Streep for a brief interview with Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones regarding the new film.  It just so happens that the film opens the day before my birthday.  No big deal.

"Hope Springs" production stills

I'll jump on the bandwagon this week and add some photos that have been released from Hope Springs.   It's the first glimpse we see of Steve Carell in his role as marriage counselor to Meryl and Tommy Lee Jones.   There's been some buzz about the suggestive photos of Meryl with the bananas.  Rather uninteresting.  As I've suggested before, I expect this film to be a typical, fairly well-written, romantic dramedy.  The acting will be superb no doubt, but I'm not lactating with suspense. Any film from Meryl is fun news, but I'm probably spoiled after this awards season and my weird anticipation of August: Osage County.   Here are the pics:

 

 

   

 We can expect a trailer within the next month I would think?