Cast of "August: Osage County" receives Hollywood Film Award

The cast of Meryl's upcoming film August: Osage County will be awarded the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award for 2013.  My first reaction to this news was "big deal."  I know very little about this award, but needless to say it's not particularly prestigious.  I'm sure it's a nice recognition nonetheless, but I wonder if any of the major stars of the film will be attending the ceremony on October 21st in Beverly Hills.  Julia Roberts I imagine would be the most likely, as last week we learned that she's been awarded the Supporting Actress award to be presented the same night.  Julia's award suggests she's officially being pushed supporting, an idea further advanced today by updated predictions and a little blurb from the folks at In Contention.  Looks like Meryl may stand alone in the Lead Actress race for the film.  This customer satisfied.

Sandra Bullock in "Gravity"

Houston, we have a problem.  Now having seen both Cate Blanchett in Blue Jasmine and Sandra Bullock in Gravity, doubts are increasingly building in my mind for Meryl's chances to be a threat in the Best Actress Oscar race this year.  Yesterday my friend Scooter and I sprung for 3D IMAX tickets to Gravity, and needless to say, both of us were very impressed.   

The true star of this film is without question its spectacular cinematography.  Bullock however does a fantastic job in the role of Dr. Ryan Stone, who gets marooned in space following a debris collision.  I'm sure it's a challenging prospect to have so much time alone onscreen.  Much of the film has little dialogue, with Bullock basically having to portray someone in a constant state of fear and anxiety.  In that sense Bullock was particularly effective at drawing me in.

An enormous asset to Bullock's chances is going to be the tremendous box office returns her film will garner.  Already in its opening weekend Gravity set an October record with $50 million earned.  With the moderate reviews that we had for August: Osage County out of the Toronto Film Festival, Meryl will likely have nowhere near the word of mouth publicity when her film is released at Christmas.  I expect August to do well, but $100 million would be a tall task, something Gravity will accomplish in a matter of three weeks.   Add that to the fact that Meryl's performance reviews, while good, aren't amazing.  I still expect a nomination but vying for the win right now seems like a very tall task.

    

Grab bag

The post title refers to the fact that I'll be briefly touching on a handful of random topics.  The first is that last night Joe and I were pleased to be invited to our friend Annie's place for dinner and Meryl.  She selected Adaptation.  We all thoroughly enjoyed it of course, along with the delicious roasted chicken apple crisp!  Thanks again, Annie.  Joe astutely observed how Meryl in particular had the difficult task of portraying a real person (Susan Orlean) for the first half of the movie and has to completely switch gears and then portray someone who really has no connection to the original character's motivations and typical behavior (hope I didn't butcher that, babe).  I commented that it was likely good practice for what would be her upcoming participation in Angels in America, where she took on the task of four different character depictions.

In other news, tickets for the Twin Cities Film Fest's showing of August: Osage County go on sale tomorrow.  It's showing Saturday, October 26.  I'll be out of town that weekend, but if anyone is in the area and gets a chance to attend, report back!

Lastly, I saw an article today which claimed to show a "first look" at Johnny Depp as the Wolf in Into the Woods.  As you can see from the photo below, I'm guessing he's not actually in costume.  The second pic shows Jack's "beanstalk."  Filming is currently underway in and around London.

Holmes, Swift join "The Giver"

Katie Holmes and Taylor Swift (ugh) have evidently joined the upcoming film adaptation of Lois Lowry's novel The Giver.   Not like I'm thrilled about Katie Holmes being cast, but at least she's an actress.  She is to play the main character's (Jonas) mother.  No word on which role Swift may play.  Maybe the previous "Receiver"?  Hopefully whichever part it is, it's small.  Fingers crossed that she surprises me.  

The article linked above mentioned that shooting is to begin in South Africa on October 7th, with Meryl's scenes potentially shot in the U.K. where she's currently filming Into the Woods.   That would make sense since the filming schedules overlap so much.  Here's where we stand on casting for The Giver as of today:

The Giver:  Jeff Bridges
Jonas: Brenton Thwaites
Chief Elder: Meryl Streep
Jonas's Father: Alexander Skarsgård
Jonas' Mother: Katie Holmes
Lily: Emma Tremblay
Asher: Cameron Monaghan
Fiona: Odeya Rush
annoying: Taylor Swift 

 

First look of Meryl as "The Witch"

Entertainment Weekly has posted the first pic of Meryl in character as the Witch in Into the Woods:

My first reaction (aside from her looking like a cross between the French lieutenant's woman and Aunt Josephine) is that this styling makes her seem rather young.  I think it's the hair.   It makes sense because although she's supposed to look haggard as the old witch, just from this one shot we get a sense of a character who looks a certain age but is young.  If she looks this good in the "before" shot, I can't wait to see how she looks when her youth and beauty are restored. 

First cast pics from "Into the Woods"

Broadway World has posted the first pics of the cast from the currently filming Into the Woods.  It appears they're filming Cinderella's (Anna Kendrick) wedding, with her Prince, Chris Pine which takes place at the end of Act I.   Included in the link are pics of many of the other cast members in various scenes from early shooting.   Sadly, Meryl is in none of these, as the Witch is not present at the wedding.  We'll get a few glimpses of her soon enough I should think.  Filming reportedly took place at Dover Castle.   

First set pics from "Into the Woods"

Earlier today Broadway World provided us with the first looks from the set of Into the Woods which is currently filming near London.  Sweetheart Anna Kendrick was kind enough to post a pic of the woods to her Twitter account:

Looks pretty cool.  Also shown was an "in-construction" version of what is to serve as Rapunzel's castle, which evidently was at one point an old abbey in Surrey. 

Meryl will no doubt be in scenes in and around both of these sets.  Keep 'em comin', Anna!