Congratulations to Meryl Streep for receiving her 18th Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “August: Osage County”. This is a great surprise since a nomination didn’t seem to be certain this year. Most “experts” saw four spots of the Best Actress category a lock and the fifth place up for grab between Meryl and Amy Adams. In the end, both Streep and Adams have received a nomination, alongside Cate Blanchett (Blue Jasmine), Sandra Bullock (Gravity) and Judi Dench (Philomena). Emma Thompson, who has tipped a favorite, has missed out a nomination. Julia Roberts has also received a Best Supporting Actress nomination for “August: Osage County”. The 86th Academy Awards will be handed out on March 2, 2014. Entertainment Tonight has released Meryl’s reaction to her 18th Oscar nomination:

I am so happy for our film that Julia and I have been nominated. We are both so proud of August: Osage County. This honor from the Academy, for which we are truly grateful, will help bring attention to our film from audiences across the country, which is thrilling.

The good news first: Meryl did attend last night’s Golden Globe Awards. But since she has skipped the red carpet and the Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical award went to Amy Adams (congratulations on finally winning), there has been little of Meryl during the ceremony. Julia Roberts lost to Amy’s fellow “American Hustle” colleague Jennifer Lawrence in the Best Supporting Actress category. But hey, there’s still some things from the ceremony. The video of her segment can be found in the video archive.

Last year, I’ve posted a selection of Golden Globe clips of Meryl winning – in anticipation of the 2013 awards. The result? Meryl was a no-show. So this year is in reverse, with a spotlight on the years that Meryl was nominated but didn’t attend. In case you have ever wondered why there are no pictures or videos of Meryl at the Golden Globes in the early years, it’s because she never attended them. Although winning three times in the 1980s for “Kramer vs. Kramer”, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman” and “Sophie’s Choice”, it took Meryl until 1989 to attend the ceremony, when she was nominated for “A Cry in the Dark”. The category resulted in a three-way tie for Jodie Foster, Sigourney Weaver and Shirley MacLaine, so call it a warm welcome for Meryl. It took her another ten years for a second apperance in 1999. At least, she has been a steady visitor ever since.

Although this compilation of clips doesn’t feature Meryl in person, it’s a fast-paced ride through the 1980s and 1990s film history, lots of great performances – maybe it reminds you of the one film you wanted to rewatch in years. Let’s have our fingers crossed that there will be yet another appearance by Meryl on tomorrow’s Golden Globes.

Yesterday, Meryl has attended the National Boards of Review Awards Gala in New York. Pictures from the ceremony have been added to the image library, with additional information below.

As Variety reports, this year’s National Board of Review dinner will forever be remembered for its nine-minute tour-de-force speech from Meryl Streep. Streep, for once, wasn’t invited to accept an award. Instead, she was there to honor Emma Thompson for her portrait as “Mary Poppins” creator P.L. Travers in Disney’s “Saving Mr. Banks.” There was plenty of effusive Thompson praising in the speech — with phrases like “she’s practically a saint” and “she’s a beautiful artist” — and it ended with a poem that Streep had written for her friend titled “An Ode to Emma, Or What Emma is Owed.” But Streep also made a point of blasting Walt Disney for his sexist and anti-Semitic stances. The edgy riff offered a different perspective on Disney from the sugarcoated hero played by Tom Hanks in “Saving Mr. Banks.” Streep was once rumored to be in the running for the role of P.L. Travers, although her remarks suggest why she might not have pursued the project. “Some of his associates reported that Walt Disney didn’t really like women,” Streep said, quoting esteemed animator Ward Kimball on his old boss: “He didn’t trust women or cats.” Streep talked about how Disney “supported an anti-Semitic industry lobbying group” and called him a “gender bigot.” She read a letter that his company wrote in 1938 to an aspiring female animator. It included the line, “Women do not do any of the creative work in connection with preparing the cartoons for the screen, as that task is performed entirely by young men.”

In case you have missed the last updates – lots of additional pictures from the Palms Springs International Film Festival have been added to the gallery – inlcuding screencaptures – so click on the previews below to launch all last added pictures. Also, a good quality video of Meryl’s full speech has been added to the video archive.

Yesterday, Meryl received the Icon Award at the 25th Annual Palm Springs International Film Festival. “I feel like I’m an example now in my dotage that you can’t put those old gals out to pasture – we’ve got a lot to say,” the August: Osage County actress quipped. Streep’s co-star from August: Osage County Julia Roberts was also honoured, collecting the Spotlight Award as well as presenting a gong to her friend Tom Hanks, who took home the Chairman’s Award. Over 140 pictures from the arrivals, the ceremony and the press room have been added to the image library. Edit: Additional pictures from the arrivals and ceremony are up, with many thanks to my friend Lindsey.

A video clip of Meryl accepting the award, which was presented by fellow “August: Osage County” co-star Margo Martindale, has been added to the video archive as well. Unfortunately the end of the video is cut off, but you get plenty of funny lines in the acceptance speech nevertheless. As she told the crowd, to much laughter, “I don’t feel like an icon. Most of the days I feel like “I can’t”. That’s with an “a”.

It’s been a good day for “August: Osage County” at this year’s Capri, Hollywood Film Festival. The drama took home four prizes, organizers announced Wednesday, including the festival’s central film of the year honor. Meryl Streep, who did not come to the festival, won the prize for best actress, while the film’s all-star cast – which includes Julia Roberts, Ewan McGregor and Chris Cooper – won the festival’s best acting ensemble honor. Earlier in the festival, Cooper was on hand to receive the festival’s lifetime achievement prize. The next award stands in line as the Palm Springs International Film Festival honors Meryl Streep on Saturday. Thanks to Frank for the heads-up.

The 25th Palm Springs International Film Festival is honoring three-time Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep with its Icon Award. The actress, who won her Academy Awards for 1989’s “Kramer Vs. Kramer,” 1982’s “Sophie’s Choice” and 2011’s “The Iron Lady,” will receive the festival’s honor at its awards gala Jan. 4 at the Palm Springs Convention Center. Streep has already received lead actress nominations for the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the Golden Globes and Critics’ Choice Movie Awards for her performance as matriarch of a dysfunctional family in “August: Osage County,” which opens Dec. 27. “We’re overjoyed to recognize Meryl Streep for yet another Oscar-worthy performance in ‘August: Osage County,” festival chairman Harold Matzner said in a statement. Streep joins previously announced Palm Springs honorees Sandra Bullock, Bruce Dern, Tom Hanks, Matthew McConaughey, Steve McQueen, Thomas Newman, Lupita Nyong’o, Julia Roberts and the cast of “American Hustle.” Additionally, Meryl has been named Best Actress by the Nevada Film Critics Society for “August: Osage County”. Many thanks to Frank and Snafu for the heads-up.

The Giffoni Film Fest will honor award-winning actress Meryl Streep at its 44th festival, according to the Hollywood Reporter. The festival will be held July 18-27, 2014. Based in the village of Giffoni Valle Piana, it is Europe’s oldest and largest event focused on young movie and music lovers. The festival’s lineup is typically unveiled in June, but artistic director Claudio Gubitosi released a few of the anticipated highlights in advance. Streep, who previously attended the festival in 2001, will be honored with the Giffoni Fellowship Award. The 2014 festival, which will use the theme “Be Different” and will celebrate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall and the 125th anniversary of the birth of Charlie Chaplin; it will also feature a marathon of Marvel-related productions, including a special night of superheroes.

And here are a couple more nominations from various critics awards. First and most recent, she has received a Best Actress nomination by the Critics Choice Awards – alongside Cate Blanchett for Blue Jasmine, Sandra Bullock for Gravity, Judi Dench for Philomena, Brie Larson for Short Term 12 and Emma Thompson for Saving Mr. Banks. Then, Meryl has been nominated by the Chicago Film Critics Association, alongside Blanchett, Bullock, Adele Exarchopoulos for Blue is the Warmest Color and Larson. They will announce the winner tonight. The Houston Film Critics have nominated her alongside Bullock, Dench, Larson and Thompson – this has been won already by Bullock. And the San Fransisco Film Critics have nominated Meryl alonside Blanchett, Bullock, Dench, Exarchopoulos and Larson. Their awards will be announced later.