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.

Additional casting has been announced for one-night-only reading of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet at The Public Theater’s Delacorte Theatre in Central Park on Monday, June 18. The reading will be directed by Daniel Sullivan and will celebrate the 50th Anniversary of Shakespeare in the Park at the Delacorte. In addition to Oscar and Tony Award winners Kevin Kline and Meryl Streep in the title roles, the reading will feature F. Murray Abraham (Friar Laurence), Christine Baranski (Nurse), John Cullum (Capulet), Raúl Esparza (Sampson, Apothecary, Watchman 1), David Harbour (Abraham, Capulet Servant, Paris’ Page), Bill Irwin (Montague), Jesse L. Martin (Gregory, Friar John, Watchman 2), Sandra Oh (Lady Montague), Phylicia Rashad (Lady Capulet), Jerry Stiller (Peter), Michael Stuhlbarg (Paris), Christopher Walken (Mercutio), Sharon Washington (Stage Directions), Sam Waterston (Benvolio), and Jeffrey Wright (Tybalt), along with an on-stage band playing the music of Jeanine Tesori. The evening will also include dinner al fresco and a party immediately following the performance. Click here for more information and tickets to The Public Theaters gala celebration.

This year marks the 100th anniversary of the storied Paramount Pictures, the only studio to still call Hollywood (the L.A. neighborhood, not the state of mind) its home. Founded in 1912 as the Famous Players Film Company, it more than lived up to its billing, claiming silent greats such as Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Gloria Swanson, and Rudolph Valentino, not to mention Cecil B. DeMille, who made all his biblical epics for the studio. To celebrate its 100th birthday, Paramount Pictures assembled 116 of the greatest talents ever to work at the studio—including Meryl Streep, Kirk Douglas, Ernest Borgnine, Jack Nicholson, Jane Fonda, and many, many more. An interactive version of the picture can be found on the Vanity Fair website and in the image library.

Thirty-two years after Azaria Chamberlain, 9 weeks old, disappeared from a campsite in Australia, the coroner in the fourth inquest into her death announced on Tuesday that the baby died as a result of being taken by a dingo, an Australian wild dog. The ruling signified the end of three decades of struggle for the Chamberlain family. At first, Azaria’s mother, Lindy Chamberlain, was convicted of murdering her daughter and was sent to prison. That verdict was later overturned and Ms. Chamberlain set free, but subsequent inquests were unable to reach a determination on how Azaria died, despite growing evidence that Ms. Chamberlain was truthful in her statement that a dingo was responsible for the death at the campsite in central Australia. The coroner, Elizabeth Morris, with tears in her eyes, addressed the Chamberlain family in a courtroom in Darwin, Australia. “Please accept my sincere sympathies on the death of your special daughter,” Ms. Morris said. “I am so sorry. Time does not remove the pain and sadness of the death of a child.” She said of Azaria, “The cause of her death was the result of being taken by a dingo.” The death of Azaria and the arrest and conviction of her mother became an international saga with the making of the 1988 movie “A Cry in the Dark,” in which Meryl Streep played Ms. Chamberlain. The full article can be read at the New York Times.

This Sunday’s spotlight is “Music of the Heart”, Wes Craven’s drama about the true story of a violin teacher at an East Harlem School. While this is rather a small film, lots of updates have been made to the site – there are new DVD screencaptures from the film and its special features, additional on-set pictures and promotional stills. Then, three new clips have been added to the video archive alongside deleted scenes and the film’s making of. Also, make sure to read more about the real Roberta Guaspari. Production notes and my review can be found after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “Music of the Heart” in the comments.

Additional pictures from the AFI Life Achievement Award Honoring Shirley MacLaine have been added to the image library. Click the previews below to launch all last added pictures.

Yesterday, Meryl has been in California to attend the AFI Life Achievement Award honoring Shirley MacLaine. Streep presented the award to MacLaine, saying the actress cut a path for other women in Hollywood by doing much of her best work in middle age, when good female roles typically dry up. “Some performers are just indelible. We fall early and we fall hard for them, and we follow them for the rest of our lives,” Streep said. “That’s our Shirl. That’s you, babe.” Accepting the award from Streep, also a past winner of the AFI prize, MacLaine paid respect to the Jacks in her life, including Nicholson, Black and “The Apartment” co-star Jack Lemmon. MacLaine thanked the women who shared her dinner table for the evening, among them Streep and “Steel Magnolias” co-star Field, saying they had been her “other half of the sky, my sustaining belief that women who speak the truth will make the world a better place.” Videos from the event will be published when the ceremony has aired on television, June 24. For now, hundreds of pictures from the ceremony have been added to the image library.

On June 12, 2012, Meryl Streep will be honoring Viola Davis with the Crystal Award for Excellence in Film at the Women in Film Crystal & Lucy Awards in Los Angeles. The Crystal Awards “honor outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry.” To learn more about Women in Film, please visit their official website. In 1998, Meryl Streep has been an honoree herself.

Four new production stills from the upcoming “Hope Springs” have been added to the image library. Edit: Another still has been added, with thanks to Joan for the heads-up.

Mr. De Niro and Ms. Streep, who appeared together in the 1984 movie “Falling in Love,” kidded each other in their remarks, primarily about acting honors. “I’m proud I have the same number of these as Meryl,” Mr. De Niro said in accepting his award, adding, with a deft pause, “For now.” “By this time next year, she’ll have seven,” he added. “Last October, she beat me out for Italian-American Man of the Year.” At least, Mr. De Niro said, “I got mine first.” Ms. Streep, who received her award after Mr. De Niro, gave as good as she got. “I can’t believe you gave this to Bob De Niro before me,” she said, then paused to note that “Supporting Actor always precedes” the Academy Award for Best Actress.