Yesterday, Meryl Streep attended the 77th Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills as a nominee for “Big Little Lies”. Unfortunately, she didn’t win – the award went to Partricia Arquette for “The Act”. To make matters worse, Meryl also skipped the red carpet, so there are only very few pictures, but at least some lovely ones with Helen Mirren, which is better than nothing. Right? :-) Neither “Big Little Lies” nor “Little Women” scored any wins at the Golden Globes this year. Pictures from the show have been added to the photo gallery. Update: Screencaptures from the ceremony have been added as well, and you can find the video segment in the video archive.

According to The New York Times on December 29, Sony’s “Little Women,” an adaptation by Greta Gerwig of Alcott’s 19th-century, coming-of-age novel, sold an estimated $16.5 million in tickets at domestic theaters Friday through Sunday. That places it in a dead heat for third place with Disney’s “Frozen 2,” now in its sixth weekend in theaters. Final counts on Monday will determine which film placed third. Regardless, it was a good weekend for “Little Women,” which opened on Christmas Day and finished the weekend with $29 million in estimated cumulative sales. An all-star cast doubtlessly helped sell moviegoers on “Little Women” — Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, Laura Dern, Timothée Chalamet and Meryl Streep are in it — and the movie got terrific reviews (it currently holds a 95 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes). Audiences were clearly eager to see Gerwig’s follow-up to “Lady Bird,” her 2017 movie about an angsty teenage girl that was among the most critically lauded films of the decade. And so far, while not being treated a “major awards player” in the Best Picture or Best Director category, the “Little Women” have received 14 nominations so far from various awards groups in the Best Ensemble category.

★   Boston Society of Film Critics Awards – Best Ensemble
★   Boston Online Film Critics Association – Best Ensemble
★   AARP Movies for Grownups Awards – Best Ensemble
★   Alliance of Women Film Journalists – Best Ensemble Cast
★   Critics Choice Award – Best Ensemble
★   Austin Film Critics Association – Best Ensemble
★   Central Ohio Film Critics Association – Best Ensemble
★   Georgia Film Critics Association – Best Ensemble
★   Florida Film Critics Circle Awards – Best Ensemble
★   Indiana Film Journalists Association – Best Ensemble Acting
★   Chicago Indie Critics Awards – Best Ensemble
★   Online Association of Female Film Critics – Best Acting Ensemble
★   Seattle Film Critics Awards – Best Ensemble Cast
★   Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Awards – Best Acting Ensemble

As we prepate to close 2019 and saddle our horses for a new decade, I thought about the Streep performance that has left the biggest impression on me this past decade? The rather surprising answer: There’s none. There have great performances in not-so-great films and some oddballs that have been long forgotten (Ricki and the Flash anybody?). The film industry has changed much more rapidly than it did in the 2000s, and although Meryl Streep made 14 films plus one tv series this decade, the availability of great content and memorable roles in cinema declines. So, which roles have stood out these last 10 years? Have a look at my (very opinionated) rundown of Streep’s top 5 performances:

Meryl Streep as Margaret Thatcher in “The Iron Lady” (2011)

No shortage of love went into the latest “Little Women”. In a new behind-the-scenes featurette, which EW can exclusively debut, cast members Saoirse Ronan, Emma Watson, and more gush about working with director Greta Gerwig and the bonds they formed on set. The film has received rave reviews in advance of its Christmas Day release, and is expected to be a strong awards contender. Among other things, the Little Women stars focus on Gerwig’s directorial prowess. “We’ve got to be really on it,” Ronan, who plays Jo March, says. “She knows when something’s right by how it sounds.” Ronan adds, “Greta is so emotionally intelligent, which is key for something like this.” Devoted fans of Louisa May Alcott’s classic story will also catch several second-long glimpses of its most classic scenes, from young Amy (Florence Pugh) falling through the ice to the March sisters bickering on Christmas Day. Check out the featurette above. The complete article can be read over at Entertainment Weekly. Screencaptures can be found in the photo gallery.

The bad news first – Meryl Streep did not score an individual Screen Actors Guild Award for “Big Little Lies” this morning. A possible “snub” was plausibe since the SAG Awards do not split categories between leading and supporting actresses in television, so you either make it into the lead category, or you don’t. However, Streep and the rest of the “Big Little Lies” cast received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series, which is the SAG’s equivalent for the main drama prize. So it’s good news really, “Big Little Lies” was an ensemble piece from the start and this way, each character actor from a show gets a due recognition for their fine work on season two. “Big Little Lies” shares the category with “The Crown”, “Game of Thrones”, “The Handmaid’s Tale” and “Stranger Things”. The 26th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards will be handed out during a live ceremony on Sunday, January 19, 2020.

Best Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Big Little Lies
The Crown
Game of Thrones
The Handmaid’s Tale
Stranger Things

Congratulations to Meryl Streep for receiving a Golden Globe nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television for “Big Little Lies”. She shares the category with Patricia Arquette (The Act), Helena Bonham Carter (The Crown), Toni Collette (Unbelievable) and Emily Watson (Chernobyl). Big Little Lies has received a total 3 nominations, also for Best Television Series Drama and in the Lead Actress category for Nicole Kidman. Little Women has received 2 nominations – for Best Actress in a Drama (Saoirse Ronan) and for Alexandre Desplat’s score. However, the film was “overlooked” in the Best Picture, Director and Screenplay categories. The three-hour telecast hosted by Ricky Gervais will air live on NBC coast to coast Sunday, January 5, 2020, at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST.

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

Little Women – 2 nominations
Best Actress (Drama) – Saoirse Ronan
Best Score – Alexandre Desplat

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.

The initial batch of all very positive reviews are in for Greta Gerwig’s “Little Women”. The adaptation had a 96 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes as of Monday morning. The Hollywood Reporter‘s David Rooney wrote that the film is “gratifying.” He added that Gerwig brings “freshness, vitality and emotional nuance to source material” that has been adapted multiple times. “Gerwig skillfully navigates the line between respecting the story’s old-fashioned bones while illuminating the modernity of its proto-feminist perspective, only occasionally leaning into speechy advocacy of a woman’s right to self-actualization beyond marriage,” Rooney wrote. He added that the cast “may be slightly bound by their canonical character types, but there’s lovely ensemble work here.” After praising the individual performances, specifically Ronan and Pugh, Rooney added that the film is “pleasingly paced.” He concluded, “Gerwig has taken a treasured perennial of popular American literature and reshaped it for a new generation, which should give the captivating film a long shelf life.”

Kate Erbland of IndieWire also gave Little Women a positive review. The critic noted that while Gerwig “modernized the book’s timeless story in unexpected ways,” it’s clear the director has “affection for the original, and keenly aware of how the concerns of Alcott and the March sisters (loosely based on the author’s own family) have never quite abated, no matter the time.” Erbland wrote that Ronan’s performance was “vibrant,” while Pugh’s interpretation of Amy “has more dimension than we’ve seen in previous cinematic adaptations of Alcott’s book.” She added that Little Women has its flaws, including when Watson speaks with an American accent and that “a handful of characters aren’t given nearly as much dimension as the sisters.” Erbland concluded,”Gerwig’s Little Women offers its own delightful storybook polish, in its own unique terms, and what a comfort that is.”

Alan J. Pakula, who died in 1998 at the age of 70 in an auto accident, was a most unusual filmmaker. Though his peers, including Stanley Kubrick, Martin Scorsese, Steven Spielberg, Roman Polanski, George Lucas and William Friedkin, were as well-known as the stars of their films, Pakula stayed out of the limelight and let his films speak for themselves. And what films – some of the most memorable titles of the last half century. The AFI Fest in Hollywood is paying tribute to Pakula with free screenings of “Sterile Cuckoo,” “Klute” and “Sophie’s Choice” and a free screening Sunday evening of Matthew Miele’s thoughtful new documentary, “Alan Pakula: Going for Truth.” That film features insightful and often emotional interviews with Robert Redford, Harrison Ford, Meryl Streep, Jane Fonda and Dustin Hoffman, co-workers and family and numerous clips. Streep, Hoffman and Ford recently talked to The Los Angeles Times about what made Pakula such a powerful filmmaker and person. The quotes have been edited for clarity and brevity. You can watch the trailer for “Alan Pakula: Going for Truth” on Youtube. Many thanks to Glenn for the heads-up.

I think he really laid a map of integrity for artists, and that, more than anything, is his legacy for me. He was such a moral filmmaker. It’s like an old-fashioned idea, but he was. He was a moral man and he had a backbone. He loved women and respected them. So I mean it was that thing where you feel listened to instead of tolerated. It’s a really a great, great quality. All the best male directors have it. All the best female directors have it naturally.