In a recent interview with The Inquirer, which was conducted at the New York press conference of “The Iron Lady”, Meryl Streep talks about the new film and how much portraying Margaret Thatcher has changed her opinion. She has also confirmed that “Mommy & Me” is indeed going to happen, as Tina Fey is currently writing the script. An excerpt of the interview can be read below, the full piece is here. “Margaret Thatcher was the head of the United Kingdom for 11 and a half years and she did not have a cook. I have a cook. The last movie that I stopped making dinner was “Sophie’s Choice.” That was a long ago. Now I’m back cooking because everybody’s grown up. I imagine that Margaret Thatcher wanted to make dinner for Denis every night. Even when it was take-out from Marks & Spencer, they would sit down and have it together. She forgot to eat a lot. That’s something I have never done. She had prodigious amounts of energy and worked late into the night. She required all the cabinet ministers to be up there in the apartment with her. She’d work and work and Denis would come in and say, “Woman, you got to feed these men.” She’d go in and whip up some horrible rarebit or something and give it to them. All that surprised me”.

Empire has exclusively posted the making of featurette of “The Iron Lady”, which can be seen below. Thanks to Simona for the heads-up! Edit: The featurette has been added to the video archive, alongside a new production still and promotional still in the image library.

On December 05, Meryl has participated in a press concerence for “The Iron Lady” in New York. A couple of pictures have been added to the image library.

When people say Meryl Streep is a great actress, they mean grand actress — one who calculates her moves, her makeup and her accent, and then turns up the thespic volume until her character risks becoming caricature. The tactic works when she plays Dragon Lady roles like the fashion doyenne in The Devil Wears Prada, less so in the more naturalistic settings of Mamma Mia! and Doubt. But given a famous woman to play, Streep eerily locates the voice, face and soul: of Julia Child in Julie & Julia and, with startling acuity, of Margaret Thatcher in this biopic. Smartly written by Abi Morgan (who co-wrote Shame) and directed by Mamma Mia!’s Phyllida Lloyd, the film spans nearly the complete life of Britain’s first female Prime Minister, from her youth as a greengrocer’s daughter through Oxford and her early years in the Conservative Party (when she is played by Alexandra Roach). Streep takes over in Maggie’s middle age and escorts the PM into a restless retirement, both haunted and warmed by the specter of her late husband Dennis (a marvelous Jim Broadbent). Her performance is a miracle of inhabiting, not editorializing; it turns the boss of 10 Downing Street into a woman meriting our sympathy and sadness. This time, grand is great. Full list and more articles on the Time website.

Many of the production stills of “The Iron Lady” have been replaced with better-quality versions and a couple of new stills and on-set pictures have been added as well.

A second theatrical trailer for “The Iron Lady” has been released – technically the first US trailer since the previous one was for the United Kingdom. Lots of new scenes in here, have a look.

Scans from the November 27 issue of the British Live Magazine have been added to the image library. Many many thanks to Alvaro for guiding the magazine to me. Enjoy! Additionally, you can find a transcript of the article in the magazines archive.

Today’s Movie of the Week is a guilty pleasure – Death Becomes Her. In this 1992 dark comedy by Robert Zemeckis, Meryl and Goldie Hawn engage in a fight for life and death, literally. The video archive has been updated with better quality trailers, featurette and film scenes. A couple of on-set pictures have been added to the gallery – as well as high definition screencaptures from the film. Below, you will also find a review I wrote on the film.

I may be biased when it comes to “Death Becomes Her”, since it’s the first film I’ve seen with Meryl, and ultimately the one that made me interested in her acting career. For a body of work full of serious drama, “Death Becomes Her” might be a misleading starting point, however. What’s interesting about the film and Meryl’s performance is how she pokes fun at her own image at that time. In the early nineties, Meryl’s career has been weakened by a string of unsuccessful comedies, “She-Devil” and “Defending your Life”, after a decade of career-defining serious roles. So it’s surprising to see her play a failing actress who does everything in her power – and wallet – to stay young and happening. It’s also the second time in only a few years that Meryl has played an actress. But while she battled drug addiction in “Postcards from the Edge”, here she battles herself, and her enemy of years – childhood friend Helen Sharp. Much of the magic of “Death Becomes Her” comes from the great chemistry between Meryl and Goldie Hawn – they chose this project to work together after declining “Thelma and Louise” – and Bruce Willis, who also makes fun of his own image as an action star with his performance as boozed and whiny Ernest – the man both women are fighting for. Read full story »