Today, Meryl Streep has received two Critics Choice Award nominations – as part of the ensemble of “Little Women” and as Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for “Big Little Lies”. She shares the category with six other ladies – Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown), Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones), Laura Dern (Big Little Lies), Audra McDonald (The Good Fight), her Hope Springs co-star Jean Smart (Watchmen) and Susan Kelechi Watson (This Is Us). In the ensemble category, “Little Women” competes against Bombshell, The Irishman, Knives Out, Marriage Story, Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood and Parasite. The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Critics’ Choice Awards gala, which will once again be hosted by film, television, and stage star Taye Diggs, and broadcast live on The CW Television Network on Sunday, January 12 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT).

Little Women – 9 nominations
Best Picture
Best Actress – Saoirse Ronan
Best Supporting Actress – Florence Pugh
Best Acting Ensemble
Best Director – Greta Gerwig
Best Adapted Screenplay – Greta Gerwig
Best Production Design – Jess Gonchor, Claire Kaufman
Best Costume Design – Jacqueline Durran
Best Score – Alexandre Desplat

Big Little Lies – 3 nominations
Best Actress in a Drama Series – Nicole Kidman
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Laura Dern
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series – Meryl Streep

Back in June, when “Big Little Lies” premiered, critics were handing out imaginary trophies to Meryl Streep the moment she appeared on screen. She was the destined frontrunner to pick up all the awards for the second season of HBO’s hit show. But even back in June, “Big Little Lies” was destined to be a long shot for awards since it wasn’t eligble for the 2019 Primetime Emmy Awards due to its release date (certainly an effort by HBO to not interfer with the final season of “Game of Thrones”). That means, when the show is eligble in 2020, its airtime has been almost one and a half years in the past. Meryl has two other supporting roles this year – the grieving widow in “The Laundromat” and the mean aunt in “Little Women” – although neither of these parts are currently in the mix – except maybe for Ensemble nominations with the cast of “Little Women”. The competition for Best Supporting Actress in a Series, Miniseries or Television Film has become stiffer over the last six months, most notably with the addition of Helena Bonham Carter for “The Crown”, Patricia Arquette for “The Act” – for which she nabbed the Primetime Emmy in September, and either one of the incredible cast of “Unbelievable” – Toni Collette, Merritt Wever or Kaitlin Dever. However, a nomination for Meryl should be a sure-thing by the Golden Globes. The Screen Actors Guild Awards will be harder to crack, since they do not have a supporting category for television – the supporting players mingle with the lead players in the “Female Actor in a TV Movie or Limited Series” category. The SAG nominations will be announced December 11. For now, fingers crossed for Monday’s Golden Globe nominations.

Meryl Streep serenaded the room with a Joni Mitchell tribute, sweetly warbling “Oh Can-a-daa,” as she accepted an acting award Monday night at the inaugural TIFF Tribute Gala at the Fairmont Royal York Hotel. Streep, at the Toronto International Film Festival for the North American premiere of director Steven Soderbergh’s The Laundromat, referenced Mitchell’s much-loved classic “A Case of You,” before cracking a joke about the Jumbotron-sized screens flanking the stage. She then turned serious, urging the audience to be mindful, explaining for the past decade she has chosen the roles she takes on by asking herself, “Does this help or does this hurt?” Streep set the tone for the first ever Tribute Gala: a mix of humour and serious reflection from stars and filmmakers about what inspires their work. Before the awards dinner, Streep was joined by Steven Soderbergh, Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas on the red carpet. Pictures have been added to the photo gallery with more media to be added, so check back.

According to Variety, Meryl Streep will receive the Toronto International Film Festival’s Tribute Actor Award during this year’s festivities. “Meryl Streep is undoubtedly one of the most talented and versatile actors of her generation,” TIFF co-head Joana Vicente said in a statement. “Her tremendous contribution to cinema, television, and the stage spans five decades; from her early roles in “The Deer Hunter,” “Kramer vs. Kramer,” and “Sophie’s Choice” to later films including “The Devil Wears Prada,” “The Iron Lady,” and “The Post,” she has portrayed characters that are as compelling as they are timeless. TIFF could not be more thrilled to honor such a skilled and exemplary artist.” Streep will be presented with the award at the Tribute Gala on Sept. 9 at Fairmont Royal Oak. Streep stars in Steven Soderbergh’s “The Laundromat,” which will have its North American premiere at TIFF. The 44th annual TIFF runs Sept. 5-15. As previously announced, Participant Media will receive the TIFF Impact Award at the gala. The recipient of the inaugural Mary Pickford Award, honoring a female emerging talent in the industry, will be announced at a later date. In addition to “The Laundromat,” this year’s lineup also includes “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jennifer Lopez in “Hustlers” as well as “A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood,” a Mr. Rogers biopic starring Tom Hanks as the legendary children’s television host.

“Mary Poppins Returns” has been doing well at the box office over the Christmas days, grossing over $128 million so far on its $130 budget. The critical reception has been a mixed bag from very positive “instant classic” to “missing the original’s charm”. The film’s profile might be raised significantly if it wins Best Actress or even Best Picture Comedy or Musical at the Golden Globes tonight. Earlier this week, “Mary Poppins Returns” was honored with the award for Best Ensemble at the Palm Springs International Film Festival Film Awards Gala. Meryl Streep was not present at the gala. “In this outstanding sequel, Mary Poppins is back to help the next generation of the Banks family as they race to keep the bank’s executives from foreclosing on their home,” said Festival Chairman Harold Matzner, according to Variety. “Emily Blunt and Lin-Manuel Miranda lead an excellent ensemble cast that also includes Colin Firth, Meryl Streep, Ben Whishaw, Emily Mortimer, Dick Van Dyke, Angela Lansbury and many others.”

Today, “Mary Poppins Returns” has received a whopping 9 nominations for the 24th Annual Critics’ Choice Movie Awards. A few things need to be said about the Critics Choice Awards – which are presented annually by the Broadcast Film Critics Association (BFCA) since 1995. In recent years, especially with its tv broadcast, their nominations have been “accused” of nominating as many stars as possible – splitting acting categories to “regular” acting, acting in comedy and action in action – and trying to predict the Academy Awards nominations by altering their slots every year to include as many possible front-runners as possible (this year, there are 7 nominations each for Best Actor and Actress). Now, this is in no way said to diminish the Critics’ Choice Awards or the number of nominations for “Mary Poppins Returns”, although 2 of the 9 nominations go to Emily Blunt in 2 in different performance categories, for the same performance. You probably get what I mean :-) The winners will be revealed at the star-studded Critics’ Choice Awards gala, broadcast live on The CW Network on Sunday, January 13, 2019 from 7:00 – 10:00 pm ET (delayed PT).

Best Picture
Best Actress – Emily Blunt
Best Production Design – John Myhre, Gordon Sim
Best Costume Design – Sandy Powell
Best Visual Effects
Best Actress in a Comedy – Emily Blunt
Best Song – The Place Where Lost Things Go
Best Song – Trip a Little Light Fantastic
Best Score – Marc Shaiman

The Golden Globe nominations have been announced today, and it’s been a good day for “Mary Poppins Returns”. While the film’s release is still two weeks ahead of us, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has nominated the Rob Marshall musical in three key categories: Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy, Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Emily Blunt, Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy for Lin-Manuel Miranda and Best Original Score – Motion Picture for Mark Shaiman. The Golden Globes will be handed out quite early next year, on January 06, 2019.

Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy
Best Original Score

The Oscars have been handed out and it’s a wrap for the 2018 awards season. As expected, Best Actress went to the marvelous Frances McDormand and “Shape of Water” won Best Picture. There wasn’t much about Meryl at this year’s ceremony, except for a funny bit by Jodie Foster and Jennifer Lawrence, who presented the Best Actress segment. Pictures from the arrivals and the show have been added to the photo gallery with more to come. Edit: Lots of additional pictures have been added with many thanks to Ali, Claudia and Maria, your help has been very appreciated. Also, the Best Actress segment has been added to the video archive.

Meryl Streep, Debbie Harry from Blondie, Steven Van Zandt of the E Street Band and Buddy “Cake Boss” Valastro are among the inductees for the 2017 class of the New Jersey Hall of Fame. Gov. Phil Murphy announced the 21 inductees – seven women and 14 men – at the New Jersey State Museum in Trenton on Tuesday. All inductees, living and dead, will be honored at a ceremony celebrating the 10-year anniversary of the hall of fame at the Paramount Theater in Asbury Park on May 6. “The hall exists to celebrate some of the most famous and most impactful,” Murphy said. “The New Jersey Hall of Fame is where their story is told and retold to inspire.” Along with Streep and Valastro, several of the inductees were not among the 51 nominees announced in November, and the hall said it could select additional inductees based on who is available for the induction ceremony. (Celebrity foodie Anthony Bourdain was originally nominated but said that he could not make the ceremony and was replaced by businessman Joe Buckelew.) The complete article can be read here. Many thanks to Frank for the heads-up.

According to Variety, The Society of Camera Operators is awarding Meryl Streep its President Award for Lifetime Achievement for her body of work, and her commitment to the craft of camera operating. The group noted that Streep has been nominated a record breaking 21 times for an Academy Award and has won three times. She received a Best Actress nomination on Jan. 23 for “The Post.” “Ms. Streep’s successes ranging from ‘Kramer Vs. Kramer,’ ‘Sophie’s Choice,’ ‘The Devil Wears Prada,’ ‘Mamma Mia,’ ‘The Iron Lady,’ ‘Florence Foster Jenkins’ and ‘The Post,’ which can currently be seen in theaters, are examples of her expansive creative genius, and the depth and variety of her performances,” the group said. Streep will be presented with the Lifetime Achievement Award on Feb. 3 at the Loews Hollywood Hotel.