Streep receives two SAG nominations

The nominations for the 20th annual Screen Actors Guild Awards were announced this morning and I'm pleased to report that our girl Meryl was recognized with nominations for her leading role as Violet Weston in August: Osage County as well as for being part of the ensemble for the film.  Julia Roberts was nominated for her supporting role as Barbara Fordham.  Congratulations to Meryl, Julia and the fantastic cast of this film.  The five nominees for Actress in a Leading Role are as follows:

1. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
2. Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
3. Judi Dench (Philomena)
4. Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
5. Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)

These were my predicted five but it was a pretty easy five to predict.  I've read that since American Hustle screeners were some of the last sent to SAG members that Amy Adams may have trouble getting in.  I don't buy that suggestion now, as Jennifer Lawrence got in for supporting, as did the ensemble.  Adams will get nominated for a Globe tomorrow and absolutely still has a chance at an Oscar nom, especially as support for her film grows in the coming weeks.

What was interesting to see was the support for both Oprah Winfrey and Forrest Whitaker for their performances in Lee Daniels' The Butler.  With those two nominations, Dench and the August girls,  The Weinstein Company landed five individual performance nominations to lead all studios.  Despite knowing Harvey's voracity at acquiring nominations for his films, I was skeptical of how well his films would do.  But many of the films he has in the running this year are rather "actory."  It's not a guarantee that this will translate into Oscar nominations, but I'm very glad he's in Meryl's corner.  Here's hoping his pushing of Judi Dench doesn't hurt Meryl's chances.  Regardless, I'm pleased with Meryl's nomination(s) and fully expect another one tomorrow morning.

Coincidentally(?), a new promotional clip of August: Osage County was released this morning, attempting to paint this film as an "outrageous comedy."  I guess that's sort of accurate, but the sugar plum fairy-ish music in the background is a bit much perhaps.  But hey, that's marketing.  As long as it gets butts in the seats.

The state of the race and SAG predictions

With the Screen Actors Guild nominations set to be announced tomorrow morning, I thought it best to take stock of where the Best Actress race stands, in particular as it pertains to Meryl's chances at recognition for her work in August: Osage County.  Several critics groups have given out their awards and/or nominations.  Thus far Meyl has been nominated by the following organizations:

Satellite Awards
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Associations
Detroit Film Critics Society
St. Louis Film Critics
Phoenix Film Critics Society

Not exactly cream of the crop.  Nothing from New York, L.A. or Boston.  Not a huge deal as the televised awards are a whole different ball game.  I'm predicting Meryl to be nominated for a SAG and I think the film has a great chance at an ensemble nod as well.  That said, it's not impossible for her to miss based on the predictions I've noticed throughout the web.  The Golden Globe noms are announced Thursday morning, but Meryl missing there is next to impossible.

Were she to be snubbed tomorrow morning, I think her chances at an Oscar nomination will dramatically decrease, as the actors branch is the largest in the Academy.  Fingers crossed!  My SAG predictions for Actress in a Leading Role:

1. Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
2. Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
3. Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
4. Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)
5. Judi Dench (Philomena)
 alternate: Amy Adams (American Hustle)

First set pics of Meryl in "The Giver"

Ok, I thought Meryl was already finished shooting in South Africa for The Giver.  Evidently not, as last week the first set pics were snapped of her in costume as the Chief Elder.

Fun wig, Mer.  She's typically pretty involved in the styling for her roles, as I'm sure she has a specific idea of how to characterize each portrayal physically.  It's been a rather "wiggy" career year for her, following Violet Weston's Liz Taylor do in August: Osage County and the set pic from Into the Woods a few months ago featuring a twig-infested witch's mane.  The Giver is set for an August 15th release.

Release date postponed for "August: Osage County"...again?

Ugh.  The Pittsburgh Post Gazette is reporting that the release date for August: Osage County is being postponed yet again.  The film was originally to be released November 7, then got moved to Christmas Day.  Now it's possibly being pushed back two weeks to Friday, January 10.  This was the only article I found making this claim, but it'd be pretty weird if it were just made up.  There are several films being released within a week's time of Christmas, so perhaps Harvey Weinstein wants to make August's opening a bit less competitive.  If I hadn't been able to see this movie at the Twin Cities Film Festival in October I would be livid at this point.  I think I'll wait for further confirmation before adjusting the countdown calendar to the right.  

"Eat the fish, bitch!"

A delightful new clip was released today from August: Osage County.  It's the famous "Eat the fish, bitch!" scene, with Julia Roberts bringing it home.  Meryl has some funny facial expressions.



Great stuff.  I gotta tell ya, I'm a little nervous about Meryl's Oscar nomination chances.  I know this role is pure bait and the film will likely do fine at the box office, but so many pundits and blogs I've browsed have Meryl predicted at 4th or 5th place.  Or not at all.  I still think that she'll get nominated, but I don't like when her placement doesn't feel safe.  As I've said before, the SAG and Golden Globe nominations next week will be extremely telling.  If Meryl lands nominations for both, that'll be some nice momentum going into the film's nationwide release around Christmas.  Hopefully buzz and good box office will be enough to accumulate a few first place votes among the Academy.

New promo for "August: Osage County"

This afternoon a promotional video/trailer was released for August: Osage County.  It includes some new footage of Meryl and others, with excerpts from a press conference last month which involved both Meryl and Julia Roberts.  In theaters in less than three weeks!

Meryl nominated for Satellite Award

"What's a Satellite Award?"  So came the question from Joe when he asked what I was going to blog about tonight for my 300th post on Word on the Streep!  The answer I gave was pretty vague, as I actually don't have a fantastic grasp on what they are either.  All I know is that they're given by the International Press Academy, which is a group of journalists who cover cinema, tv and print media.  Essentially they're the first organization to announce awards nominations and last to present (the week after the Oscars).  They also nominate eight potential winners in each category, so basically it's like "if you're in a non-shitty film fourth quarter of 2013...you're in."  The complete list for actresses in a leading role is below.  Zero surprises.

Amy Adams (American Hustle)
Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine)
Sandra Bullock (Gravity)
Judi Dench (Philomena)
Adèle Exarchopoulos (Blue is the Warmest Color)
Julia Louis-Dreyfuss (Enough Said)
Meryl Streep (August: Osage County)
Emma Thompson (Saving Mr. Banks)