Lots of bits on “The Giver” today. The New York premiere has been set for August 11 – ant the Weinstein Company gives audience members a chance to attend the premiere, via “The Giver Movie Premiere for Good”. The event, in partnership with CrowdRise and Eventbrite, gives movie fans an unparalleled opportunity to attend a major movie premiere with their favorite stars, by participating in an online fundraising campaign for the arts. Beginning today through August 1 at 2:00 p.m. EDT, fans can sign up at www.crowdrise.com/thegiver4good to participate in The Giver Movie Premiere for Good on Eventbrite and then kick-off their fundraising efforts on CrowdRise to attend the premiere. Leveraging Eventbrite’s online seating map, fundraisers can earn the ability to sit near select cast and crew of The Weinstein Company’s The Giver, including Jeff Bridges, Katie Holmes and Brenton Thwaites.

The full theatrical trailer has been released. It features lots of new scenes from the film, both in black and white, and plenty of Chief Elder, whose role has been expanded for the film. You can watch the trailer in the video archive, with many thanks to Shelby for the heads-up. The official synopsis is here:

The haunting story of “The Giver” centers on Jonas (Brenton Thwaites), a young man who lives in a seemingly ideal, if colorless, world of conformity and contentment. Yet as he begins to spend time with The Giver (Jeff Bridges), who is the sole keeper of all the community’s memories, Jonas quickly begins to discover the dark and deadly truths of his community’s secret past. With this newfound power of knowledge, he realizes that the stakes are higher than imagined a matter of life and death for himself and those he loves most. At extreme odds, Jonas knows that he must escape their world to protect them, all a challenge that no one has ever succeeded at before. “The Giver” is based on Lois Lowry’s beloved young adult novel of the same name, which was the winner the 1994 Newbery Medal and has sold over 10 million copies worldwide.

A making of featurette has been published to promote the French theatrical release of “The Homesman” (it’s still odd that the film releases in France when the US theatrical release is set for October). Alongside scenes from the shooting of the film, the featurette includes interviews with Tommy Lee Jones, Hilary Swank, Grace Gummer and John Lithgow. Meryl, while not being interviewed, is seen with Jones on the set. You can watch the making of in the video archive. Many thanks to Joan for the heads-up.

Just in time for the world-premiere of “The Homesman” at the Cannes Film Festival, a first batch of clips have been released, one of them including a scene with Meryl (which, I guess, is a great deal of her screen time already). In the scene, Altha Carter (Meryl Streep) gives shelter to George Briggs (Tommy Lee Jones) and the three women (Miranda Otto, Sonja Richter, Grace Gummer) he has escorted. Additionally, four more clips have been added to the archives: Meryl’s speech at the Women’s Refugee Commission back on May 01, her very odd opening number with Joe Grifasi for Lewis Black’s Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser and a narration video she did for the N.Y. Summer Tourism campaign. Then, the “Sophie’s Choice” roundtable interview have been updated with more excerpts. More information and pictures on “The Homesman” will follow this weekend. For now, enjoy the clips. Many thanks to Michael and Juha for the heads-up.

Video Archive – Career Videos – The Homesman – The Homesman Film Scene 01
Video Archive – Career Videos – Sophie’s Choice – 30th Anniversary Roundtable
Video Archive – Public Appearances – 2014 – Women’s Refugee Commission
Video Archive – Miscellaneous – 2014 – Lewis Black’s Cystic Fibrosis Fundraiser
Video Archive – Miscellaneous – 2014 – N.Y. Summer Tourism Advertisment

Three new video clips have been added to the video archive. There’s a compilation of news reports on Meryl receiving the Monte Christo Award by the Eugene O’Neil Theatre Center. Then, a report on the Indiana University Honorary Degree. The third clip is an excerpt from the 30th Anniversary roundtable discussion on “Sophie’s Choice”, which will be featured on the film’s Blu-Ray, out on April 29 in the USA.

An international trailer for “The Homesman” has been released today and we get to see a glimpse (it’s really not much more) of Meryl as Altha Carter. The french subtitles might hint a premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, although no official announcements have been made yet. For some strange reasons, IMDb lists a theatrical release for France for May 21, which would be odd – considering that the US release is stated for October 2014. Let’s see if this gets confirmed. Adapted by Jones himself from Glendon Swarthout‘s novel, the story follows him as a down-and-out man who gets recruited to take three women on an odyssey from Nebraska to Iowa. Alongside Tommy Lee Jones, “The Homesman” features a top-notch cast in Hilary Swank, Hailee Steinfeld, Meryl Streep, Tim Blake Nelson, James Spader, William Fichtner, Grace Gummer, Miranda Otto and Jesse Plemons, among others.

Three new clips have been added to the video archive. The first is a short but funny deleted scene from “August: Osage County”, which has just been released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and features Meryl, Margo Martindale and Julianne Nicholson. Then, there’s a public service announcement that Meryl did for the American Red Cross in 1987, raising awareness against false rumors about AIDS. The third clip features Meryl at the 1983 Cesar Awards, presenting the Best Actress trophy to Nathalie Baye. Thanks to everybody for the heads-up. Enjoy the new clips.

TWC has debuted a new featurette for the upcoming adaptation of Lois Lowry’s The Giver, being directed by Phillip Noyce. Back when the trailer released, the main complaint was that it was all footage in color. In this featurette, the author herself, Lois Lowry, and the filmmakers address the issue head on by asking “what if?” in a cinematic context and answering: yes, there will be a few scenes in black & white. Meryl isn’t featured in this featurette, but I’m sure there’s more to come.

Yesterday, Meryl has (finally) been a guest at the UMass Lowell’s Chancellor’s Speaker Series. Her appearance was originally planned for February 05, but got postponed. She answered questions, reflected on her storied career, offered advice for breaking into films, posed for countless photos, pulled an April Fools’ prank before a crowd of 3,600 and raised more than $230,000 for scholarships. Pictures from the event have been added to the image library. Scroll down for more information and a video. Edit: Pictures from the Q&A, which took place before the evening’s conversation, have been added as well.

Streep held court before a capacity crowd at the Tsongas Center in an event billed as “A Conversation with Meryl Streep” that was moderated by Assoc. Prof. Andre Dubus III. Earlier in the day, she held an hourlong question-and-answer session with 100 English and Theater Arts students at the UMass Lowell Inn & Conference Center, touching on subjects from how she prepares for roles to how she got her start as an actress. By turns witty, thoughtful and quick, she held her audience rapt as she discussed her career. Dubus, a New York Times bestselling author, wanted to know how she is able to disappear into her roles. “Acting is a very mysterious craft,” Streep said. “The (actors) I admire, I have no idea how they achieve what they do. When you are working with them there’s a seamless exchange of thought, emotion and physicality. You can’t parse it when you are in the moment.” UMass Lowell has posted a video with highlights from the conversation, which can be watched in the video archive.

Today, the Weinstein Company has released a first theatrical trailer for “The Giver”. Lois Lowry’s classic story — one of the first modern dystopic tales written explicitly for a younger audience — takes place in a future where all of the unpleasant, messy aspects of life (war, pain, difference, feelings in general) have been wiped away. Have a look at the trailer in the video archive and captures in the image library. Are you excited? Share your thoughts in the comments.