First Look At "August: Osage County"

Well, lookie here. It's our first official photos from August: Osage County. Albeit tiny blurry ones.

UPDATE: What the text on that page says

This glossy promotional item with photos of Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Julianne Nicholson, and Ewan McGregor and The House (!) where it all goes down was emailed to me by a reader who is currently attending the American Film Market.

Streep with dark hair always makes me think of Silkwood which is never an unpleasant thought and coincidentally also takes place in Oklahoma. If A:OC is anywhere close to Silkwood's quality everyone wins.

P.S. I'm wild for Juliette with red locks.

P.P.S. Back to this year's Oscar race!

Say What, Princess Nicole?

I asked you to amuse us by adding a caption or dialogue to this photo of Nicole Kidman on the set of Grace of Monaco. 

You obviously like Say What better when I choose a winning caption or dialogue but I'm stuck this time. Help me pick the winner!

poll by twiigs.com

Will "The Butler" Do It?

For Oscar I mean? Oscar winner Forest Whitaker was recently snapped on the set of 2013 Oscar hopeful The Butler, from Precious director Lee Daniels.  Given the The Weinstein Co will distribute the film and the subject is a long time White House butler and his relationship to the first families, one expects so.

Forest Whitaker shot on set by Anne Marie Fox

The Paperboy, which is nearly upon us, doesn't look like anyone's idea of a typical Oscar magnet, but neither did Lee Daniels' first film Shadowboxer (yes, that one. The one with Hitwoman Helen Mirren romancing Cuba Gooding Jr.). Perhaps Lee Daniels will be an every other film type Oscar player?

Have you given much thought to the starry cast of The Butler ... or any 2013 film's Oscar chances? It's always a struggle to stay in the now when it's so fun to fantasize about what's ahead of us.

"August: Osage County" Starts Filming Today

Just thought you'd like to know...

Playwright Tracy Letts, told the Daily News he was "minimally involved" beyond adapting his own play for the screen, was at the first table read last week (they're only rehearsing for a week? Yikes) and said...

Upham. McGregor. Breslin. Roberts. Streep. Lewis. Martindale. Cooper. Cumberbatch

It is the only day in the entire process I'm able to be there. They asked lots of smart questions."

Was one of the smart questions: "Why did they hand something this complex / acclaimed to a filmmaker with only one so-so film (Company Man) under his belt?" because that's what I would have asked. We can only wait and pray and hope John Wells is one of those 0 to 60 filmmakers (they exist) who was just learning on the job the first time 'round and is now ready to really show surgical precision when it comes to dramatic sparks and dark comic beats, and (most especially given the source material's staginess) heretofore completely invisible skill with visual style so this isn't one of those flat movies that everybody thinks should've stayed on the stage where it crackled and slurred and shouted and whispered and lashed out with bony arms reaching for and sometimes grabbing hold handfuls of greatness.

Was one of the other smart questions "Why is anyone (no disrespect to Sam Shepard) playing Beverly? because wouldn't his part have been the easiest to adapt right out if you didn't want a 3 hour movie?"

I'm sorry to start Monday off on such an ornery note but a week without moviegoing is really NOT doing my spirits any good (today I am seeing a movie. I'm on the mend!) On the bright side, even if this is only a hopelessly mediocre film version of a great stage show (think Doubt & Proof) chances are strong that audiences / critics / Oscar voters will like the performances. If it's much better than mediocre I shall apologize retroactively for all my doubts. 'I have such doubts!'

O, Prez

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JA from MNPP here. I saw this picture on the little TV inside my office building's elevator of all places this afternoon, so I suppose it's making the rounds. Oprah posted it to Instagram (doesn't she know you're supposed to make something look like a weathered daguerreotype pulled from under piles of dirt and bones if you use Instragam?) - it is O herself alongside director Lee Daniels, with Jane Fonda and Alan Rickman giving us our first look-see at their Nancy and Ronald Reagan drag for Daniels' next flick called The Butler. The movie's about a man (played by Forest Whitaker) who was a butler at the White House over the course of eight different presidencies. We'll also be seeing James Mardsen as JFK and John Cusack as Nixon, amongst others. 

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What do we think of the Reagans? 

I think Rickman's expression is especially priceless.

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