Oscar, Oscar

The Artist really racked up the Oscars (literally in this poster) on the Academy Awards show last night. I haven't seen it yet, but most folks I have spoken to who have said that it was kinda boring and, although good, just not that great. However, I do enjoy watching Jean Dujardin, so we'll see what I think when I finally catch it OnDemand one day soon.



I don't care what anyone says, I'm really happy that Meryl Streep finally won for Best Actress! She constantly gives great performances and should have won several other times over the years. I liked Billy Crystal's line about how she deserved an award just for having to sit through the other 14 nominations in the past and acting like she didn't care that she lost again.

Here is a great article on the Art of the Meryl Streep Acceptance Speech from The New Yorker (thanks for posting Kerry!). I think many people assume Meryl wins Oscars all the time, but she doesn't...

What you may not realize is that Streep has not won an Academy Award since 1982, for “Sophie’s Choice,” and before that she had won only for “Kramer vs. Kramer.” Yes, she’s been nominated a record-breaking seventeen times, but that means she’s lost fourteen times, which puts her firmly in Susan Lucci territory.



I'm glad The Descendants won for best adapted screenplay. It was one of my favorite movies of last year.



My Week With Marilyn didn't win anything, but I've heard it's good and my friend Joel did such a good job with this poster that I didn't even realize that it's my friend Andrew. Hilarious!



Hugo won five awards and, again, most people I know thought the movie looked good, but was too long.

I haven't seen this...



or this...



or this (nor did I recognize my friend John in this poster)....



It seems I will be using OnDemand a lot over the next few months.

I did see The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo and really enjoyed it. I also enjoy that my friend Chris (featured here in the poster) will be moving to Atlanta very soon!



Overall, I thought Billy Crystal was a fine host and, although he seemed a bit off than in years past, it was nice to see his opening movie montage again. I always enjoyed those in previous years.

I also enjoyed Ellen's new JCPenney commercials. Here are some fun outtakes:



Jimmy Kimmel also had his Oscar follow-up show and presented his Movie: The Movie that "packs everything moviegoers love into one spectacular motion picture event" and includes all of these actors: Ryan Phillippe, Jessica Alba, Taylor Lautner, Antonio Banderas, Josh Brolin, Colin Farrell, Jeff Goldblum, Bryan Cranston, Gary Oldman, Samuel L. Jackson, Cameron Diaz, JJ Abrams, Martin Scorsese, Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Jessica Biel, Chewbacca, Helen Mirren, Steven Tyler, George Clooney, Charlize Theron, Tom Hanks, Ed Norton, Meryl Streep, Matt Damon as a bunch of grapes, and Gabourey Sidibe.

Chewbacca and Helen Mirren in one movie!



Here is a Behind-The-Scenes video of the making of Movie: The Movie:



As always, thanks to my friend Joel's hilarious Oscar Party posters for this post. They always make me laugh and remind me how much I miss attending that party and seeing all of my friends at his house each year. He started making these posters a few years ago and they quickly became the anticipated highlight each year to see which friend would be featured and how.

Click on these links to see the fun posters from 2011, 2010, and 2009.

Also, yesterday marked my FOUR year anniversary of writing this blog.

Thanks to everyone who has continued to read it over the years....it is very much appreciated!

Prom Queens

Ryan Murphy and Netflix are taking Meryl Streep and Nicole Kidman to the Prom...

Not yet a year into his expensive five-year deal with Netflix, Ryan Murphy is about to deliver his biggest get for the streamer. Deadline hears he will direct and produce the feature adaptation of the Tony-nominated stage musical The Prom and has secured a cast that puts Netflix in new star-power territory. 

Meryl Streep will star alongside James Corden, Nicole Kidman and Ariana Grande, with Awkwafina, Keegan-Michael Key and Andrew Rannells playing key roles. Sources said Murphy will get underway directing the film adaptation of the Broadway hit in December, for a fall 2020 awards season release in theaters before it airs on the streamer. 

In Prom, Streep will play Dee Dee Allen, a two-time Tony winner who teams with Corden’s Barry Glickman in a flop musical about Eleanor Roosevelt. After career-ending reviews, they decide — along with Broadway babies Kidman as Angie Dickinson and Rannells (Book of Mormon) as Trent Oliver — to champion a cause to rehabilitate their careers. They find one in Emma, a high school senior in Indiana who isn’t allowed to take her girlfriend to the prom. 

A nationwide search led by casting director Alexa Fogel is on to fill the role of Emma. Grande will star as Alyssa, a popular daughter of the head of the PTA. Awkwafina will play the group’s publicist Ms. Sheldon, and Key will play Streep’s love interest and Emma’s ally, Principal Hawkins.

I haven't seen the show, so I am really looking forward to seeing this once it's ready to go next year.

The Mane Event

The first picture of Meryl Streep from the upcoming movie/musical Into The Woods was released today.

Here is a bit about the story:

Meryl Streep ventures “Into the Woods” as the Witch who wishes to reverse a curse so that her beauty may be restored. The humorous and heartfelt musical, a modern twist on the beloved Brothers Grimm fairy tales, explores the consequences of the quests of Cinderella, Little Red Riding Hood, Jack and the Beanstalk and Rapunzel—all tied together by an original story involving a baker and his wife, and the witch who cast a spell on them.

It looks like the curse took away her manicurist and Wella Balsam as well.

The film also stars Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt (who worked with Meryl in The Devil Wears Prada), and Anna Kendrick. It opens Christmas 2014 and is being directed by Rob Marshall (who directed Chicago).

The Oscar Lady

Can you believe Meryl Streep has been nominated 16 times for an Oscar (more than anyone in history) and has only won twice? She's always so consistently good that, over time, I believe people just think "Oh, Meryl gets nominated all the time...let's just vote for that Marisa Tomei instead."

Well, the first trailer for her new movie, The Iron Lady, was just released yesterday and everyone is already buzzing about Meryl's next Oscar for her portrayal of Margaret Thatcher (who, in this trailer looks kinda like Faye Dunaway in Mommie Dearest).



I'm sure Meryl will be great and will likely get nominated for it.

She just better hope that Justin Bieber doesn't get nominated for Never Say Never this year too.

That young lady has quite a dedicated fan following.

Bad Dog

It turns out that Lindy Chamberlain wasn't lying 30 years ago...

A coroner ruled Tuesday that a dingo, a wild dog native to Australia, caused the death of a baby more than 30 years ago.


Azaria Chamberlain was just two-months-old when she disappeared from a tent during a family holiday to Uluru, also known as Ayers Rock, sparking one of the country's most sensational and enduring murder mysteries.



The girl's mother, Lindy Chamberlain-Creighton, long maintained that a dingo took her baby, even as she was sentenced to life in jail for her daughter's murder, a conviction that was later quashed.


During the trail, a witness recounted the then 32-year-old mother's cries of a "dingo's got my baby", which was immortalized in the 1988 film "A Cry In The Dark"starring Meryl Streep, who earned an Oscar nomination for the role.





Meryl did her usual amazing job in that film and looked and sounded just like the mother.

I can't wait for the sequel, The Devil Wears Dingo.

Therapy Becomes Her

Meryl Streep started a three episode story arc yesterday on Lisa Kudrow's hilariously awkward Web Therapy online series. Meryl plays Camilla, a sexual orientation therapist who is working with Fiona's husband, Kip, to try to straighten out his sexual issues with men with the hope of saving his political career and marriage.



"I think Kip's confusion about what excites him, sexually, may stem from his relationship with a...mannish-woman."

My fruit shake almost made an unexpected exit out of my nose when Meryl said that.

The last two episodes air tomorrow (Nov. 10th) and Friday (Nov. 12th). Check back on the LStudio Web site to see how things work out for Kip and Fiona.

It doesn't look good.

Big Little Accents

Well, it looks like the second season of Big Little Lies just got a lot bigger..

Meryl Streep, the most Oscar-nominated actress in history, is joining the second installment of HBO’s Emmy-winning limited series Big Little Lies. 

Streep will play Mary Louise Wright, the mother of Perry (played by Alexander Skarsgard in Season 1). Concerned for the well-being of her grandchildren following her son Perry’s death, Mary Louise arrives in Monterey searching for answers.

I really enjoyed the first season and was already looking forward to the second before this was announced.

Mentally setting my DVR right now.

Doubt

This new Meryl Streep film, "Doubt", looks really good. Can't wait to see it.

I do love me some Meryl Streepness.

Bon Appetit!

I saw the new Meryl Streep movie, "Julie and Julia" this weekend. It was wonderful! One of the most enjoyable movies I've seen in a while...and I don't even cook.

But don't go in with an empty stomach.

Otherwise, with all of the amazing gourmet meals being prepared in front of you throughout the film, you'll be salivating uncontrollably for two hours, which is never attractive.

The movie follows and parallels two true stories.

One storyline follows Amy Adams rut-stuck office worker who decides to cook an entire book of Julia's recipes in one year and blog about it. The other follows Julia Child during the time when she first started to cook and how that changed her life, and many others, forever.



Amy is fun, but it's Meryl, as Julia Child, who takes the cake (oh...cake sounds good right now).

I didn't really know much about Julia Child before the film, other than her history as a tall, warbly-voiced television chef that Dan Akroyd parodied on SNL many years ago. But, Julia really had a very interesting life and a wonderfully loving husband (played by the always delightful Stanley Tucci). Besides the food, their relationship was one of my favorite parts of the movie.

So, have a nice meal and, afterwards, take yourself out to see "Julie and Julia".

It's the perfect dessert.

2010 Oscar Nominations

The Oscar nominations were announced this morning and Meryl Streep and Stanley Tucci each have reason to celebrate.

This is Meryl's 16th nomination, which gives her the most of any actor and Stanley (her co-star in "Julie and Julia" and "The Devil Wears Prada") also got a nomination for his performance in "The Lovely Bones" (which I still have to see).

I'm a little disappointed that "Star Trek" didn't get more nominations other than the usual Sci-Fi nods for makeup, sound and visual effects. At least it wasn't completely ignored...so, I guess I can live with that.



It will also be interesting to see how the "Best Director" category turns out, since James Cameron and his ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow (nominated for her film "The Hurt Locker"), are up against each other.

March 7th could be a vewwwwwy interesting night indeed.

Margaret Dearest

This is Margaret Thatcher.



This is Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford.



And this...is Meryl Streep playing Margaret Thatcher in a new movie called The Iron Lady.



I am sure Meryl will be amazing in the role (because she rarely disappoints).

However, I'm going to be very nervous in the theater if her character happens upon any wire hangers along the way.

A Winning Streep

Look who's on the cover of the new Vanity Fair...



It's Meryl (Miss Streep, if you're nasty).

I think she's great and am so happy that she continues to do such a wide variety of work all these years later. Vanity Fair has written a "30 Years With America's Favorite Actress" article on her, so I guess I'm gonna have to get myself over to the Piggly Wiggly and get a copy.







She has done so many wonderful serious roles with a variety of accents in the past ("Sophie's Choice", "Silkwood", "A Cry in the Dark) as well as some very fun not-so-serious-actress roles ("Death Becomes Her", "Adaptation", "Devil Wears Prada") and, of all things, played the delightful Julia Child last year in "Julie and Julia".

I'm looking forward to "It's Complicated" with she and Alec Baldwin too. They should be a fun team.

I also like that she's so normal and funny whenever she is interviewed or giving a speech. Here she is giving an award to Stanley Tucci in New York recently...



Meryl dropped the F-bomb.

Enjoyable.

No Doubt

I'm really looking forward to Season 2 of Big Little Lies and it's definitely worth the wait, knowing that Meryl Streep is along for the ride.

That wasn't a question

After playing the editor of Vogue in The Devil Wears Prada, Meryl Streep has finally made the cover of the real magazine at the age of 62.

Now she’s 62, playing Margaret Thatcher—from 49 to 85—and the cover star of Vogue. She has such a big laugh bubbling under her serene expression that it finally bursts out as I duck around the o word: “I was joking with the ladies earlier,” she said (when they were having their picture taken). “And I told them I was probably the oldest person ever to be on the cover of Vogue.”





You can read the full article here.

Also, here is the latest trailer for the Iron Lady...



She really is quite the chameleon and a very entertaining lady.

I bet she would be fun to have drinks with.

Peter O'Toole

Very sad news over the weekend...

Actor Peter O'Toole died peacefully Saturday in a hospital, his agent Steve Kenis said Sunday. He was 81. 

O'Toole's first major film role in the title role of T.E. Lawrence in "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1962 was "absolute genius," British film critic Richard Fitzwilliams told CNN. It earned him the first of eight Academy Award nominations and propelled him to world stardom.

O'Toole was presented an honorary Oscar by Meryl Streep during the 2003 Academy Awards. The engraving on the gold statuette reads: "Whose remarkable talents have provided cinema history with some of its most memorable characters."

He will be missed...

Into The Woods trailer

A new trailer for Into The Woods was released and this one even has some singing (something the previous version didn't have)...



With Meryl Streep, Johnny Depp, Chris Pine, Anna Kendrick, Tracy Ullman, Christine Baranski, and Emily Blunt...the cast is pretty well-rounded and it looks like the production values are good.

I'm looking forward to this fur shur.

The movie opens Christmas day.

Not so super

The first Supergirl extended trailer was released yesterday and, as much as I was looking forward to this show in the Fall, I'm a wee bit concerned now.

Here is the trailer...



My first impression was that it felt a little like an episode of Gossip Girl, if one of the girls just happened to be a Superhero. The dialog sounds kind of cheesy, Calista Flockhart (as much as I enjoy her) seems like she's just playing a bitchier version of Meryl Streep in The Devil Wears Prada, and the effects don't appear to be that much better than old The Greatest American Hero TV show from the early 80's.

Sigh.

A second, shorter, trailer was also released earlier today and it was SO much better...it focused more on the action without all the cheesy chatter. Unfortunately, CBS pulled it a few hours ago.

Sigh.



I want to like it. I want it to be good. I want it to be at least a little...super.

However, like The Flash and Arrow...I'll give it a couple of episodes in the fall and decide from there.

Sigh.

UPDATED: This review of the pilot gives me new hope.

Golden Globes

"We are of peace. Always."

The Golden Globes were entertaining to watch last night. I think Ricky Gervais held back a notch, but certainly managed to keep people entertained. I was pretty happy with most of the wins, Meryl Streep, Jessica Lange, George Clooney and all of the Descendants and Downton Abbey awards.

So, good times.

I'm usually not all the focused on what people are wearing (they're all pretty and can afford to look their photoshopped-best), but a couple of gals really looked great last night. Besides Angelina Jolie (who as I hinted at above, just looks otherworldly in the best possible way), I thought Sofia Vergara looked amazing (loved her "translated" speech when Modern Family won)...



She's beautiful and very funny.

Jodie Foster looked great and seemed to be having a great time at the awards with her two kids, even during Ricky's rant about not being able to talk about Jodie's "beaver".






I also thought that Lea Michele (from Glee) chose a beautiful dress and it looked great on her. As annoyed as I get with her character on the show, I like that she took a chance on an outfit that you'd normally expect on Charlize Theron or...Angelina.



But, honestly, I hope that scientists are stockpiling ample amounts of Brad and Angelina's DNA for use to repopulate our species after the Apocalypse.

They're mighty purty folks.

Here is Brad on the cover of the new W Magazine.

Hands-on Therapy

If you didn't get the chance to catch up on the last two parts of Web Therapy, with Meryl Streep, here they are. At the end of the first episode, it sounded like Fiona was about to lose her husband to Camilla (if you missed the first part, scroll down four entries or just click here to watch it).

However, as you'll soon see, Fiona figures out a way to use her husband's "issue" to her advantage in a very creative way to keep her marriage together.





Fiona is crafty.

My Fiona

Lisa Kudrow's popular online web-series, Web Therapy, is now a new half-hour series on Showtime Tuesday nights. If you haven't seen it before online, then you should try to check it out now. She plays an unlicensed therapist who does uncomfortable 10-minute online therapy sessions with people from her home computer.

Here is a preview of the show...



I love her and really need to get Showtime!

If you'd like to see some of her best online episodes with Meryl Streep and Julia Louis Dreyfus, check them out here.