On August 05, Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, Steve Carell and David Frankel will participate in the Apple Store SoHo discussion panel for “Hope Springs” as part of their Meet the Filmmakers series. This is familiar territory for Meryl, after attending panels for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The Iron Lady”. More information on the panel can be found on their official website. Then, on August 8, Meryl and Tommy will be guests on “The View”, August 08, to promote the release of “Hope Springs”. Airdates and more can be found on “The View”‘s offical website.

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.

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.

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.

PBS has announced its latest Ken Burns project. Titled “The Roosevelts: An Intimate History,” the seven-part, 14-hour documentary will weave together the stories of Theodore, Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt, which is the first time their lives have been presented in a single narrative. The documentary will follow the political family’s story for more than 100 years, beginning with Theodore’s birth in 1858 to Eleanor’s death in 1962. Some Hollywood heavy hitters will be lending their voices to the project. Oscar-winner Meryl Streep will voice Eleanor Roosevelt via her personal letters and writings. Joining Streep are Paul Giamatti voicing Theodore Roosevelt and Edward Herrmann voicing Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Herrman is a two-time Emmy nominee for portraying FDR in “Eleanor and Franklin” in 1976 and 1977. Ken Burns says of Streep’s work on the documentary, “Ms. Streep is a magician. Here, she completely transformed herself into Eleanor Roosevelt, simply through her voice. It was remarkable to witness.” The cast is rounded out by Patricia Clarkson, Adam Arkin, Keith Carradine, Ed Harris, John Lithgow, Josh Lucas, Amy Madigan, Pamela Reed, Billy Bob Thornton and Eli Wallach. “The Roosevelts” will premiere in 2014. Many thanks to Frank and Glenn for the heads-up!

Some 30 additional pictures from this week’s “Hope Springs” press conference in Beverly Hills have been added to the image library.

The AARP Magazine’s website has published a slideshow and Meryl with the leading men throughout her career, including a very cool new promotional picture with Tommy Lee Jones from the current (or rather upcoming) “Hope Springs” promotion. “Robert De Niro, Robert Redford, Clint Eastwood, Dustin Hoffman. Meryl Streep has had all the big names – on screen, of course. Tommy Lee Jones is the latest. In Hope Springs, opening in August, he stars as her husband and gives us a reason to recall three decades of Meryl and her men.” You can flip through the slideshow here.