The first bunch of reviews for next week’s “Hope Springs” have been added by the leading film publications. Please note that some reveal more details about the plot. First there’s Variety, calling the film “an altogether pleasant surprise: a mainstream dramedy that frankly and intelligently addresses the challenges facing a couple after 31 years of marriage. Sony should have no trouble enticing older audiences, and upbeat word of mouth could confer sleeper-hit status.”

Tackling one of the most deceptively ordinary roles she’s had in a while (and a complete departure from her dazzling star turn in “Prada”), Streep dons owlish specs and speaks at a higher pitch than usual, imbuing Kay with the nervous, birdlike energy of a woman not entirely comfortable in her own skin. And Jones, a scowling mass of hostility and avoidance, owns the picture; Kay may have sympathy on her side, but it’s Arnold who undergoes the more significant transformation, something Jones manages without compromising the character’s splenetic temperament.

According to Screen International, “Hope Springs” is an odd but often very effective mix of mainstream romantic comedy and surprisingly hard-hitting – for a summer studio release – romantic drama. Though it won’t be easy to market, the film could strike a chord with the older demographic that has recently shown a willingness to turn out for relevant material featuring prestigious talent.

While both leads make excellent use of their ample screen time, Jones is particularly impressive as the distant yet regretful Arnold. The performance should help broaden the film’s audience to include men as well as women; and it might even be remembered next awards season.

And the Hollywood Reporter calls the film a “more comedic drama than midlife romantic comedy, rather literally titled Hope Springs holds few surprises but delivers plenty of warmth. As endless fodder for pop-psychology publications and mid-afternoon TV shows, the topic of promoting passion and intimacy in long-term relationships holds a particular place not only in the current cultural zeitgeist, but also in the lives of millions of Americans, perhaps especially those attaining and surpassing middle age.

Streep’s performance is a winning mix of vulnerability and determination as she at first tries to understand her husband’s indifference and then works to convince him to help reignite their romantic spark. Several scenes where she attempts to reassert sexual intimacy with Arnold are both heartbreaking and hilarious, particularly a risqué rendezvous in a darkened, quiet theater where her unpracticed technique goes wrong in too many different ways.

Fans can make their own opinion next week, when “Hope Springs” releases US theaters on August 08.

The promotion for “Hope Springs” is starting – video clips to promote next week’s release of the film have been published – including a b-roll for the film, a new interview with Meryl, as well as a joint interview with her and Tommy Lee Jones. Also, a new television spot has been added.

According to Deadline, actress Margo Martindale has joined the cast of August: Osage County. The Emmy winner will play the jaded sister of Meryl Streep in the feature adaptation of Tracy Letts’ family clan play. Martindale’s character is Mattie Fae Aiken, the wife of Charles Aiken, played by Chris Cooper, and the sister of Violet Weston, played by Streep. The actress will start filming in Oklahoma on September 24. Martindale won a Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in 2011 for her role on FX’s Justified. Julia Roberts also stars in August: Osage County as Violet’s daughter Barbara. Abigail Breslin, playing Barbara’s daughter, recently joined the film, as did Juliette Lewis. John Wells is directing August: Osage County, Letts is writing the adaptation of his Pulitzer and Tony-winning play. This will be the fourth collaboration for Meryl and Margo – they worked together before on “Marvin’s Room” and “First Do No Harm” – and Margo was in “The Hours” as well, though they didn’t share scenes.

This Sunday’s spotlight is “The River Wild”, Curtis Hanson’s 1994 adventure thriller featuring Meryl’s first and so far only action role. New DVD screencaptures have been added to the image library, alongside new promotional pictures and production stills. The video archive has been updated with three trailers, including the teaser and the theatrical trailer. There are also three new clips from the film. Production notes and my review after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “The River Wild” in the comments.

According to CBS News, a host of music guests will perform live on CBS’ upcoming “Teachers Rock” TV special. Carrie Underwood, Dierks Bentley, Josh Groban and pop group Fun. will perform at the event benefiting teachers and education. The TV special will also feature personal recollections Dave Grohl, Usher and Maroon 5’s Adam Levine and James Valentine. Actors too will appear on the program, including Meryl Streep, Viola Davis, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Jennifer Garner, Jack Black, Morgan Freeman and Matthew Morrison. The benefit concert special will also preview scenes from the upcoming film “Won’t Back Down,” starring Davis and Gyllenhaal as two determined mothers, one a teacher, who plan to transform their children’s failing inner-city school. “Teachers Rock” airs live on Aug. 18 at 8 p.m. ET.

Entertainment Tonight has published a new bunch of press interviews with Steve Carell, Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones from the set of “Hope Springs”. And a first official clip from the film, in which Kay and Arnold are looking for a place to have breakfast in Hope Springs, has been added as well. Edit: A second clip from “Hope Springs” has been added as well.

Three new television spots to promote the theatrical release of “Hope Springs” have been launched. Instead adding them one by one to the video archive, I’ve made a compilation clip (alongside the first launched tv spot), so you can watch them in one place. Also added is a second interview clip with Meryl and Tommy Lee promoting the film, which can be watched here.

A vintage video interview has been currently released, unfortunately only bits, but maybe there’s more to come. Little information is known about this, except that Meryl was interviewed in 1987 by Reba Merrill, for whose book promotion these clips have been launched. Maybe this interview was conducted at the 1987 Deauville Film Festival to promote “Ironweed” as I recall excerpts from the same conversation in a segment about the festival, which can be watched here. Great to see another rare Meryl interview, there’s hoping for more.

Edit: Mystery solved – the interview was conducted during the shooting of “Ironweed”, according to an excerpt from the book, as published by Open Books Press on their website. In 1987, I went on location to upstate New York for the film Ironweed, which would be Oscar-nominated that year against Rain Man. I knew that I would not be allowed to interview or shoot behind the scenes footage of Jack Nicholson. That left me with his costar, Meryl Streep. I shot footage of Jack working, but no one knew because I had my cameraman turn his light off. Jack joked with the TV crew and me as long as the camera was not running. Meryl Streep, on the other hand, let us do our job of shooting behind-the-scenes footage of her. The film’s unit publicist arranged Meryl’s interview and when the scheduled time came we were set up and ready. What a surprise when Meryl arrived with wet hair, glasses and no make up. No one told her that this was a video interview, not print. I said: “This interview will last a long time and I don’t think you want to look that way on video.” I left the film set with all the interviews except the one with the star of the film. When I came back to Los Angeles I told the producers I did not have Meryl’s interview.

Here’s a new interview with Meryl Streep and Tommy Lee Jones courtesy AARP Magazine with scans to follow. At first glance, they would seem the unlikeliest of couples. The classically beautiful Meryl Streep was her New Jersey high school’s homecoming queen and always compassionate and willing. Tommy Lee Jones, in contrast, came from rural Texas, where even in youth, his face seemed to mirror his hardscrabble environment, carved with lines like a peach pit. Equally harsh is his taciturn demeanor. Strange bedfellows unless you ask director David Frankel, who cast Streep and Jones as the leads in his upcoming film, Hope Springs, a portrait of a midlife couple grasping to regain their sexual passion. “Tommy’s an extraordinary actor first, but he’s also sexy,” says Frankel. “It was important to have someone play opposite Meryl whom she found really sexy, so you could imagine a sexual history between them that had died.” In fact, Streep, 63, and Jones, 65, have more in common than it appears. Both possess sharp literary intellects. They claim four Oscars between them but cite their offspring as their proudest accomplishment. Married for 34 years to sculptor Don Gummer, Streep has four children, ages 21 to 32. Jones, wed to third wife Dawn since 2001, has a son, age 29, and daughter, 20, from his second marriage. The complete interview can be read here.

This Sunday’s spotlight is Meryl’s most recently released film and third Oscar performance in “The Iron Lady”. Since most galleries are up to date already, the image library has been updated with new screencaptures from the film’s making of, including lots of bits from behind the scenes. The videos have been re-organized – most of the official featurettes have been combined and new lengthy a video from the making of has been added as well. Production notes and my review are after the cut. As always, please share your thoughts on “The Iron Lady” in the comments.