Meryl Streep Tagged Articles at Cinematical

"I can write a blog. I have thoughts!"

The first trailer for this summer's Julie and Julia has just arrived online (courtesy of our friends at Moviefone), and the thing simply looks sweeter than a piece of pie. With this film, writer-director Nora Ephron brings us two adaptations for the price of one: Julie Powell's Julie & Julia and My Life in France, by Julia Child with Alex Prud'homm. Amy Adams plays Powell, a struggling cubicle worker looking for purpose in life, while Meryl Streep plays legendary chef Julia Child who, though separated from Powell by time and space, is going through a similar crisis in her life. The film, Julie and Julia, then intertwines the lives of these two women as they embark on a journey of self-discovery ... and lots of tasty eats. Remind me not to go into this one on an empty stomach.

I happen to think this looks delightful, funny and more charming than anything arriving in theaters this summer. Could Meryl Streep land another award nod for this role, or is that a stretch? What do you think? Despite the fact that people will constantly fudge the title ("Is it Julia and Julia? Julia and Julie? Julie's Julia?) -- do you think this one has the potential to keep you entertained for a couple of hours? Check out the trailer below; Julie and Julia hits theaters on August 7.

It was last night's Meryl Streep chit-chat that got me to thinking; Hell, 15 nominations is impressive enough, and she's even won the dang Oscar twice! For Kramer vs. Kramer and Sophie's Choice. But while in the lovely land of Hollywood that's a track record to be amazingly proud of, the simple truth is that, in the land of baseball, Meryl Streep would be batting a lusty .133. I've seen American League pitchers who can bat .133!

And that silly thought led to the next logically silly one: If Meryl Streep is batting .133, who ELSE is batting poorly? And conversely ... who's leading the league? Now, I've got to limit eligibility to those who've been nominated at least three times, because otherwise we'd have Anna Paquin as Mickey Mantle. And I'm limiting this project to actors only, because that way one can squeeze another post or two out of this lame concept if people actually like it.

1.000* -- Hilary Swank (2 for 2); Kevin Spacey (2 for 2)
.500 -- Daniel Day-Lewis (2 for 4)
.400 -- Sean Penn (2 for 5); Tom Hanks (2 for 5); Denzel Washington (2 for 5);
.333 -- Maggie Smith (2 for 6); Tommy Lee Jones (1 for 3); Helen Mirren (1 for 3); Philip Seymour Hoffman (1 for 3); Marisa Tomei (1 for 3); Alan Arkin (1 for 3); Renee Zellweger (1 for 3); Kathy Bates (1 for 3); Geoffrey Rush (1 for 3); Julia Roberts (1 for 3); Russell Crowe (1 for 3)
.285 -- Michael Caine (2 for 7)
.250 -- Jack Nicholson (3 for 12); Julie Christie (1 for 4); Cate Blanchett (1 for 4); William Hurt (1 for 4); Frances McDormand (1 for 4); Morgan Freeman (1 for 4); Ben Kingsley (1 for 4); Diane Keaton (1 for 4); Holly Hunter (1 for 4); Jon Voight (1 for 4);

More after the jump

The Critics Choice Awards, given out by the Broadcast Film Critics Association, have successfully picked the Best Picture Oscar winner seven out of the last ten years (they went for Saving Private Ryan instead of Shakespeare in Love; Sideways instead of Million Dollar Baby and Brokeback Mountain instead of Crash). So things are looking better and better for Slumdog Millionaire, which all but swept the awards last night, taking Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Young Actor, and Best Composer.

Heath Ledger won Best Supporting Actor, and The Dark Knight won "Best Action Movie," a nonsense new category invented for the sole purpose of giving The Dark Knight an award. Sean Penn won for Milk, surprising no one. Anne Hathaway for best actress (tying with Meryl Streep) and Kate Winslet for Best Supporting Actress were less foregone conclusions.

Mildly off-topic, John Adams won the award for best TV Movie; Generation Kill, which remains my favorite film of any sort in 2008, wasn't even nominated, which is absurd.

The full list of winners is after the jump.

Cinematical has received this exclusive final poster for Doubt, which proudly displays its many much-deserved award nominations. Based on the play by John Patrick Shanley (who also adapted and directed this big-screen version -- listen to our audio interview with him here), Doubt is exceptional because of its cast -- with all four players (Philip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep, Amy Adams and Viola Davis) turning in sharp, powerful performances. Set in the Bronx, New York in 1964, Doubt plunges right into the heart of a Catholic School and follows the two nuns who suspect a priest of making unwanted advances toward the school's first black student. Easily one of my favorite films of the year, this is definitely one you don't want to miss -- especially on a cold dark weekend in the middle of winter.

Doubt is in theaters now. Check out a larger version of the poster by clicking below.

As many movie fans know by now, the prologue to last summer's Tropic Thunder features some brilliant spoof trailers, including one for a phony film called Satan's Alley (which won the "coveted Crying Monkey Award at the Beijing Film Festival"). Better seen than described, it's a brilliant deconstruction of every pompous award-hungry film that comes out in December. The trailer for John Patrick Shanley's Doubt looks a lot like that, but if I've learned one thing this year, it's to not trust trailers. Happily, the real Doubt is a great deal sprightlier, cleverer and more powerful than its dreadful promo would suggest.

Shanley is a playwright who occasionally forays into movies, and he adapted his own 2004 play into the screenplay for Doubt. He won a Best Screenplay Oscar for Moonstruck (1987), and his other writing work ranges from Five Corners (1987) to an adaptation of Congo (1995). As a director, Doubt is only his second feature; his first came 18 years ago, with the bizarre, wonderful, underrated Joe vs. the Volcano (1990). That movie was a highly stylized, colorful, very dry, very black romantic comedy that left most Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan fans (or, to put it another way, just about everybody on the planet) completely baffled. Shanley brings some of that same skill and style to Doubt, although this time expectations and delivery are more in harmony.

"I went to a church school in the Bronx in the early '60s, and I had the Sisters of Charity (as teachers) who wore these very particular, very peculiar Victorian black bonnets; I had an interesting and good experience there. It was a time of great certitude; it was a quieter time, and yet it was on the cusp of great change. There was a big sound coming from over the hill, and that sound was the '60s; it came crashing in shortly after that. ... At the time I wrote the play, again, it was a time of great certitude -- it was the lead-up to the invasion of Iraq, and I didn't feel certain, I felt doubtful. ... I (thought) I wanted to write something... that shows what is lost and what is gained when the world changes."

Playwright and director John Patrick Shanley can tell you where his film Doubt, starring Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Meryl Streep and Amy Adams, came from; as it's being released into a busy Oscar season with high expectations, he can't quite tell you where it's headed. The Oscar-winning screenwriter of Moonstruck and the writer-director of the cult fave Joe Versus the Volcano also talked about the challenges of opening up his play for the big screen, how tough times can mean great opportunities for writers and the pleasure of working with noted cinematographer Roger Deakins. Shanley spoke with Cinematical in Los Angeles; you can listen to the podcast here at Cinematical by clicking below:


You can also download the interview in full right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

I've already told you about the excellent news that Julie Taymor is cooking up a Tempest starring Helen Mirren. Now The Hollywood Reporter has listed two other names added to the already impressive cast list: Chris Cooper and Reeve Carney. Cooper will play that dastardly usurper Antonio, while Carney gets to be the son of the king of Naples, or in other words, the son of Jeremy Irons. Between the material, and Taymor, and this cast, I predict one hell of an amazing Shakespeare adaptation. But even if it's merely a fraction of Titus, it should still be good.

And there's also that little bit about Jean Claude Van Damme heading back to the world of Universal Soldier. Remember how he said that he was told that there wouldn't be any value in casting Dolph Lundgren? Well, now MTV has talked to Mr. Lundgren, who says that is "absolutely untrue." In fact, he goes on to say he's been resisting the film because it needs some work. He thinks it should be all Dolph and Jean-Claude again. I just can't believe the guy who wants to be taken seriously (JCVD) is in a movie even Lundgren wouldn't sign up for.

In much more vanilla news -- Variety reports that Meryl Streep is going to the cats. Well, more precisely, she's signed on to star in Dewey -- a film about "a stray cat's impact on the town of Spencer, Iowa." If that sounds too random to be fiction, that's because it is. The fact-based story is about the author of Dewey (Streep), Vicky Myron, who was working at the local library when a kitten got into the library on a cold night through the after-hours book slot. The feline then became a library mascot and heart-warmer. A pretty damned cute one too.

If you were checking out the casting bites back in August, you might recall that Meryl Streep was looking to sign on to a new romantic comedy penned by Father of the Bride and Irreconcilable Differences scribe Nancy Meyers (which Meyers will also direct). The film was said to focus on a love triangle, and now Variety reports that the beaus fighting for her affection will be: Alec Baldwin and the just-signed Steve Martin.

But still, we know nothing about the plot other than the fact that both will play rivals fighting for Streep's affections, and that this mysterious project will leap into production during the month of romance -- February.

At the very least, it looks like this could bite on the question: Which do ladies prefer -- the sexy guy or the funny man? Baldwin comes from a pack of bros so sexy that his last name became a term for hotness in Clueless. As for Martin, well, he might be a wild and crazy guy, but he's also a bit of a goof.

If you had your choice, who would you pick?

I am pretty sure I saw at least two, and possibly three, future Oscar nominees in the new trailer for John Patrick Shanley's Doubt, now available over here. If nothing else, you'd be a fool to bet against 1) Meryl Streep, 2) playing a righteous nun, 3) in an adaptation of a Pulitzer-Prize winning play. There are few sure things in Hollywood, but come on. I'd almost say the same for Philip Seymour Hoffman as a (possible) child molester, and I think the oddly unrecognizable Amy Adams has a sporting chance as well.

Streep's role here -- a stern nun who accuses a priest of sexually abusing a young boy -- looks like a variation on Miranda Priestly from The Devil Wears Prada, if The Devil Wears Prada had been serious business instead of silliness. "I was not inviting a guessing game, Sister Raymond." Her response to Hoffman's hateful "I can fight you" is basically the greatest line delivery of all time. "The dragon is hungry," indeed.

I can't wait to see this; I really wanted to see the play on Broadway, but never got around to it. Watching Streep and Hoffman face off, with strong material backing them up, is a dream come true. Doubt is set for a December 12th release.

If you're one of the many moviegoers who loved Mamma Mia!, perhaps you thought the only thing missing from the experience was the shrill sound of your fellow audience members screaming the lyrics of "Dancing Queen" along with Meryl Streep and her lady friends. Well, Universal Pictures has read your mind, and Mamma Mia!: The Sing-Along Edition will open on Aug. 29 in select theaters. It'll be the same movie, only with all the musical numbers subtitled and audience members encouraged to join in on the vocals.

All we have so far is a press release from Universal, which doesn't say how many theaters the sing-along edition will be in. You are encouraged to visit the Mamma Mia! website for updates, however. These will be regular screenings at regular movie theaters for the regular prices; all that's different is that the lyrics will be on the screen, karaoke-style. And the best part is, even if you're a terrible singer, you can take comfort in knowing you're still better than Pierce Brosnan.

ABBA's music is famous for being catchy, and as a result many people overlook the actual words. This sing-along event will be an opportunity to really notice and pay attention to the subtle complexities of lines like this, from "Money, Money, Money":

In my dreams I have a plan
If I got me a wealthy man
I wouldn't have to work at all
I'd fool around and have a ball

Hooray for girl power and rhyming!