I remember having parts of this interview posted before, but somehow – I guess with the new video archive – this one got lost. So here’s a treat from the past I was reminded of when preparing “The Manchurian Candidate” as Movie of the Week. In 2004, Jonathan Ross aired a half-hour interview special with Meryl as part of his “Film 2004” series. The full interview can be watched in two parts in the video archive.

Besides the insightful and funny interview, footage from the 2003 BAFTA Awards (“I would like to spank Spike Jonze”), the 1983 Oscar press room as well as from the makings of “The French Lieteunant’s Woman” and “Plenty” are – unfortunately only briefly featured. Screencaptures from the interview have been added as well. My thanks to Alvaro, who originally taped and sent this to me. Thanks!

This week we spotlight “The Manchurian Candidate”, Jonathan Demme’s remake of John Frankenheimer’s 1962 classic film. New DVD screencaptures have been added as well as new video clips – including a full making of and deleted scenes in the video archive. Production notes and my review can be found after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on the film in the comments. Also, watch out for a special treat in the following update!

Lots of pictures from yesterday’s Public Theater Gala’s benefit reading of “Romeo & Juliet” have been added to the image library, most of them in high quality.

According to BBC News, George Clooney is to produce the film version of Tracey Letts’ play, August: Osage County, which will star Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts. The play, about a dysfunctional family brought back together after their poet father disappears, won the Pulitzer and the Tony awards for best drama in 2008. Streep and Roberts will play mother and daughter in the film. “It’s such a terrific group and we feel honoured to help bring it to the screen,” said Clooney in a statement. The Weinstein company is backing the movie adaptation, while John Wells is directing. Wells is best known for his TV work including ER, Mildred Pierce and the US adaptation of Shameless. And Clooney will be joined by co-producer Grant Heslov, who was also behind the star’s previous films The Ides of March and Good Night and Good Luck. “Grant and I are thrilled to work on this project… I can’t think of anyone better than Harvey to put this all together,” Clooney continued. Weinstein returned the compliment: “George and Grant are gifted producers, with great taste and instincts, and a work ethic that is second to none.” Streep will play a matriarch who is addicted to prescription drugs, while Roberts will portray her eldest daughter Barbara. The play made its Broadway debut in December 2007 after premiering at Chicago’s Steppenwolf theatre earlier that year. The rest of the cast has still to be announced. Shooting will begin in the autumn.

The Public Theater today presents Kevin Kline as Romeo and Meryl Streep as Juliet in a one-night-only benefit reading of “Romeo and Juliet” – the 50th Anniversary of the opening of the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. The cast will also feature F. Murray Abraham, Christine Baranski, John Cullum , Raúl Esparza, David Harbour, Bill Irwin, Jesse L. Martin, Sandra Oh, Phylicia Rashad, Jerry Stiller, Michael Stuhlbarg, Christopher Walken, Sharon Washington, Sam Waterston and Jeffrey Wright. Conceived by Public Theater founder Joe Papp as a way to make great theater accessible to all, over the past five decades, more than five million people have enjoyed more than 150 free productions of Shakespeare and other classical works and musicals at the Delacorte. Directed by Daniel Sullivan, this star-studded cast will be joined on stage by live musicians playing original music by award-winning composer Jeanine Tesori.

This Sunday’s spotlight is “The Hours”, Stephen Daldry’s Oscar-winning drama that combines the stories of three women’s life in a day – a fantastic film I can only recommend. New DVD screencaptures have been added to the image library, three new clips, a complete making of and television spots have been added to the video archive. Also, a good occasion to replay the 2002 Oprah Winfrey Show, featuring in-depth conversations with Meryl, Julianne and Nicole. Production notes and my review can be found after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “The Hours” in the comments.

The president and first lady Michelle Obama made a rare joint fundraising appearance when they visited the home of actors Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick. The intimate dinner banked about $2 million, with 50 people paying $40,000 each. Speaking in a dimly lighted, art-filled room, Obama told supporters they would play a critical role in an election that would determine a vision for the nation’s future. “You’re the tie-breaker,” he said. “You’re the ultimate arbiter of which direction this country goes.” Among the celebrities on hand to hear Obama’s remarks were Oscar winner Meryl Streep, fashion designer Michael Kors and Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who moderated a private question-and-answer session between the president and the guests. Broderick, who was starring in a Broadway musical, was absent. The few pictures from this event posted so far are all paparazzi shots which I’m not going to post. Thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

We always come back, because the good nights at the Delacorte have a rare, peculiar magic. Wind stirs the trees, the skies darken, the stage fills with a blending of real and artificial moonlight; then one of our country’s greatest actors, working for sub-minimum, steps forward to speak the best and most beautiful words ever written, revealing aspects of ourselves we never expected to encounter in Central Park. Boundaries dissolve, between actor and audience, self and park, art and nature.

We discover anew how porous boundaries always are. This summer, for the price of a little urban strategy, Sitzfleisch, and faith, we’ll walk into the woods of Central Park to enter… the woods, either Shakespeare’s or Sondheim and Lapine’s, their ersatz forests onstage not a twig more unnatural than the park the stage is nestled in. Gloriously self-invented and self-deceiving, Lily Rabe’s Rosalind will speak, and Donna Murphy’s witch will sing, and our knowledge of what it is to be human will deepen. In this theatrical heart of this communal dream of paradise that’s the heart of the ceaselessly inventing, deluding, magical city surrounding us, our hearts will skip a beat, or momentarily stop, or swell to bursting – and then begin beating anew, pumping through our veins and arteries revivified and richer blood.

Yesterday, Meryl Streep applauded Viola Davis as she handed her a top prize at the 2012 Women in Film Crystal + Lucy Awards. The Help star was honored with the Crystal Award for Excellence In Film at the Los Angeles ceremony. She called Davis “a lion-hearted woman;” a gifted and determined actress who studied at Juilliard, won Tony Awards and captivated Hollywood with her eight-minute performance in “Doubt.” “She was a newcomer at 45,” Streep joked. Davis returned the love as she accepted the award. “I have a confession,” she said, sharing how touched she was when Streep sent her a card after the film wrapped. Davis also kept a photo of the two of them together on set. “OK Meryl, I framed the card,” Davis said. “So you can never come over to the house.” Pictures from the event can be found in the image library. Edit: Some 100 more pictures have been added. Click the second row of previews to launch all last added images.