Congratulations to Meryl for receiving a Golden Globe nomination as Best Actress in a Musical or Comedy for “Hope Springs”. She shares the category with Emily Blunt (Salmon Fishing in the Yemen), Judi Dench (The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel), Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook) and Maggie Smith (Quartest). Streep’s nomination remains the only one for the film. This is Meryl Streep’s 27th nomination for a Golden Globe and the eighth in the comedy category. The Golden Globes will be handed out during a live ceremony on January 13, 2013.

Make sure to get your DVD, Blu-Ray or on demand copy of “Hope Springs”, out in the USA on December 04. The DVD, in various formats, offers director commentary, a five-minute gag reel, a four-minute featurette with Streep and Jones talking marriage, and 17 minutes of alternate takes. The Blu-ray offers four additional featurettes. Over 1.000 Blu-Ray screencaptures from the film have been added to the image library, with many thanks to my friend Lindsey, who got her pre-order a day early. Enjoy the screencaptures.

With the Golden Globe nominations being announced next week, both Meryl and Tommy Lee are favors to receive nominations in the categories for Comedy actor and actress, respectively. The film has received generally positive reviews upon its release, the New York Times wrote, that “Mr. Jones and Ms. Streep keep the therapy scenes lively, despite Mr. Frankel’s stolid direction, as he cuts between Dr. Feld, murmuring thoughtful, Oprah-eseque banalities from his chair, and Kay and Arnold, plopped side by side and sometimes squirming and mugging on the couch. Mr. Frankel has a tougher time once Kay and Arnold, who travel to Maine to work with Dr. Feld, retreat into their separate corners.”

To further heighten your mood for the film and its special features, Entertainment Tonight has published a compliation video clip from the disc’s gag reel on their website. In the bloopers, an excerpt of one and a half minutes, you can catch Tommy Lee Jones proclaiming that “Meryl Streep does not make mistakes – sometimes the world can not just keep up.” and Meryl herself failing to strike the garbage can. More features can be found on the DVD, with additional featurettes on the Blu-Ray disc.

New article about Tracy Letts’ adaptation of “August: Osage County” for the big screen courtesy The Los Angeles Times: Letts’ play tells of several generations of the colorful Weston family, particularly drug-addled matriarch Violet (Streep) and troubled professor daughter Barbara (Roberts), as they gather in the family home for a few weeks one summer, each personality trying to get the better of the other as they cope with their complicated lives. “I think it’s very recognizably the same piece,” he said. “There’s not a lot of invention per se. There are opportunities to let them loose from the house, and I did some cutting to try to find those places in a play that sound maybe a little theatrical to the ear if you were doing them on screen. But that’s about it.” Several months ago, as he was preparing for that show, Letts traveled to the Oklahoma set of “August” to join actors at a table read and field questions. Roberts, Streep and others peppered him with the meaning of the text. (He said their questions were “workmanlike” queries about their characters and his intentions, “things an outsider might find banal but that are important to an actor.”) The complete article can be read here.

The nominations for the 15th annual Moët British Independent Film Awards were announced today. Nominations for Best Actress go to Alice Lowe for Sightseers, Andrea Riseborough for Shadow Dancer, Elle Fanning for Ginger & Rosa, Judi Dench for The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady. Abi Morgan has also received a nomination for Best Screenplay. The winners will be announced at the 15th awards ceremony on Sunday 9 December at the impressive Old Billingsgate in London.

In an early announcement to retailers, Sony will be releasing ‘Hope Springs’ on Blu-ray on December 4. So far, no information on its special features has been released. Kay (Meryl Streep), and Arnold (Tommy Lee Jones), are a middle-aged couple whose marriage has declined until they are now sleeping in separate rooms and barely interact in any meaningful loving way. Finally, Kay has had enough and finds a book by Dr. Feld (Steve Carell), which inspires her to sign them up for the Doctor’s intense week long marriage counseling session. Although Arnold sees nothing wrong with their 30 year long marriage, he reluctantly agrees to go on the expensive excursion. What follows is an insightful experience as Dr. Feld manages to help the couple understand how they have emotionally drifted apart and what they can do to reignite their passion. Even with the Doctor’s advice, Kay and Arnold find that renewing their marriage’s fire is a daunting challenge for them both.

Here’s the very first look at Meryl Streep in character on the set of “August: Osage County”. Pictured with her is Margo Martindale, who’s playing her sister, Mattie Fay. The film has started shooting this week and includes an all-star cast, featuring Julia Roberts, Sam Shepard, Chris Cooper, Juliette Lewis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Abigail Breslin and Ewan McGregor. When the family patriarch vanishes, the Westons return to rural Oklahoma to care for their afflicted, manipulative mother (Streep), who’s armed with prescription drugs and paranoid mood swings. Many thanks to Joan for the picture.

According to this article by The Wrap, Meryl Streep is attached to Tommy Lee Jones’ next effort as a director. With the American Film Market just around the corner, a number of pre-sales projects have begun to circulate among buyers, including “The Homesman” with Streep and Swank part of the package, TheWrap has learned. In May it was announced that Jones would write, direct, produce and star in the period piece, which follows a pioneer, played by Jones, and a frontier woman as they escort three insane women across the American prairie. No additional cast was announced at that time. Now an individual familiar with the project has told TheWrap that buyers are being presented with a pre-AFM package that includes the two A -list actresses. Swank will play the frontier woman, but it was not clear which role Streep would play. Streep also starred with Jones this year in “Hope Springs.” The complete article can be read here. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

According to the New York Daily News, the casting for “August: Osage County” has been finished with the latest addition of Julianne Nicholson as Ivy Weston, as the film is about to start shooting next week. Tracy Letts’ sprawling family saga “August: Osage County” starts filming on Monday. Asked how he whittled down his 3 1/2 hour play for the big-screen, he told me: “I was doing rewrites a couple nights ago.” Asked about his role in picking the cast in the film directed by “ER” alum John Wells, Letts admitted it was minimal. “I don’t know how much they listen to me,” he said, adding that he’s pleased with the cast headed by Meryl Streep as Violet, the mad matriarch. Julia Roberts plays her eldest daughter, Barbara. “The ironic thing is that the more successful a play is the more likely it is that actors will be shunted aside for movie stars. That’s the way it is.” Playing Roberts’ sisters are Juliette Lewis as Karen, and Julianne Nicholson as Ivy, Letts told me. Letts was in Oklahoma on Monday for the first table read. “It is the only day in the entire process I’m able to be there. They asked lots of smart questions.”

According to Deadline, Ewan McGregor has been cast alongside Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts in August: Osage County, the movie adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Pulitzer- and Tony-winning play that begins production September 24. The Weinstein Company made the announcement today. McGregor will play Bill Fordham, the estranged husband of Barbara (Roberts) and son-in-law of pill-popping matriarch Violet Weston (Streep). A college professor, he left his wife for one of his students but wants to be there for his family. His marriage is disintegrating and his patience is running thin. And according to Variety, Misty Upham has joined the cast as well. Upham will play a college student who comes to work for Streep’s character.

According to Variety, Academy Award-nominated actor, director and playwright Sam Shepard is currently in talks to star as Beverly Weston in the forthcoming film adaptation of Tracy Letts’ Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning play “August: Osage County”. Shepard will reportedly star alongside previously announced Academy Award winners Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, as well as Tony nominee Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Chris Cooper, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dermot Mulroney and Juliette Lewis. August: Osage County will be adapted by Letts, directed by John Wells and produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, along with Jean Doumanian, Steve Traxler and Clair Rudnick Polstein. Filming is set to begin in September.