Here’s a very interesting article by Variety on the reception of “The Iron Lady”: Two decades after Margaret Thatcher was ousted by her own Conservative Party, Blighty’s first woman prime minister remains an instantly recognizable global icon who still sparks sharply polarized passions, particularly in the U.K. That level of brand awareness should be a gift to the makers of “The Iron Lady.” But given the strength of feeling she evokes, the question is whether anyone, fan or foe, can bear to watch a movie about her. Damien Jones, producer of the $20 million film, knows from his own family just what a divisive figure Thatcher was. “One of my grandmothers thought she was the most beautiful woman in the world. The other used to turn off the television whenever she came on,” he recalls. The media frenzy over the first glimpses of “The Iron Lady” confirms that Britain is as fiercely conflicted as ever between those who regard Thatcher as the greatest leader since Churchill, and those who think she did more damage to the country than anyone since Hitler. When Jones returned to England after living in America, he couldn’t understand why no one had made a film about such a towering personality. “Who else would you choose as one of the iconic figures of the 20th century?” he asks. “After Princess Diana and the Queen, there’s Mrs. Thatcher.” He wasn’t motivated by a specific interest in her politics so much as by a belief that she fitted the template of a marketable British star. “When I saw ‘The Queen’ and how everyone was lauding it, I thought maybe it’s time to try and bring this to fruition,” he says. Pathe, which backed “The Queen,” agreed, especially once the dream casting of Meryl Streep fell into place. The complete article can be read here.

According to Backstage, fans will be able to participate in a live online Q&A session with Meryl Streep director Phyllida Lloyd after an upcoming advance screening of the new film “The Iron Lady” on Tuesday, December 6th. After a select screening at the DGA Theater in New York City, the live Q&A will begin at approximately 8:45 p.m./ET, and will be made available online on Backstage’s website. The Q&A will be moderated by The Hollywood Reporter’s Scott Feinberg. The Weinstein Company hosted a similar event last year with the film “The King’s Speech” and had over 20,000 questions submitted in a 30-minute period during the Q&A. Users can submit questions at Ironladymovie.com and facebook.com/theironladymovie. Thanks to Richard for the heads-up!

ABC Australia has published a trio of first scenes from “The Iron Lady”. All three clips can be watched in the video archive with thanks to Sapphire for the heads-up!

Meryl Streep has received another nomination as Best Actress for “The Iron Lady”, this time for the International Press Academy’s Satellite Award. I have to say I’m still not sure (and have never been) what this award really is about or what impact it has since they honor film, television, dvd and video games altogether. In the best Actress category they’ve nominated ten people – Vera Farmiga, Michelle WIlliams, Emily Watson, Charlize Theron, Glenn Close, Viola Davis, Olivia Colman, Michelle Yeoh and Elizabeth Olsen. The winners will be announced on December 18, 2011.

The BBC has sat down with Meryl for a first television interview on the upcoming “The Iron Lady”, including quite a few new segments from the film. The interview can be watched in the video archive.

The film has drawn criticism from Baroness Thatcher’s former colleagues, including former Conservative party chairman Lord Tebbit. He called the performance “half-hysterical, over-emotional”. “I felt that if we did it in the right way, it would be OK,” Streep said. Speaking to the BBC’s Arts Editor Will Gompertz, the actress, who is expected to land her 17th Oscar nomination for the film said: “There is a feeling that the walls are just more permeable between the present and the past and one intrudes on the other. “It’s something that I don’t think there should be a stigma about, it’s life, it’s the truth. “We’ve all had that moment where you can’t remember why you went upstairs and so it was extrapolating that feeling of disorientation, momentary as it is,” Streep added.

Told in a series of flashbacks, the film sees an elderly Baroness Thatcher struggling with advanced dementia and in regular conversation with her late husband Denis Thatcher, played by Jim Broadbent. The rest of the film deals with her rise and eventual fall from power, and features scenes of her bullying her cabinet into submission. Writing in the Telegraph, Lord Tebbit said: “She could be hard – perhaps at times unfairly so – on colleagues who failed her standards. “She was never, in my experience, the half-hysterical, overemotional, overacting woman portrayed by Meryl Streep.” It is Streep’s performance as the older Baroness Thatcher which has already proved controversial. Former Conservative politician Michael Portillo, a junior minister under the then Mrs Thatcher, praised Streep but told the BBC that he “felt uncomfortable” about the scenes of her infirmity. “I wouldn’t want to see my own mother portrayed in that way,” he said. “I recognise it is a tremendous piece of art, but that will be a controversial feature of the film.” Referring Carol Thatcher’s book detailing her mother’s decline, Streep said: “Carol caught a lot of flak for speaking about this, but other people who have dementia in their family are grateful.”

Here are two clips from ITN and CBS News covering the Washington D.C. premiere of “The Iron Lady”. Thanks to Simona for the heads-up on the first.

Yesterday, Meryl Streep attended a screening for “The Iron Lady” in Washington D.C. Pictures can be found in the image library, a video interview can be seen here. The next event will take place tonight as Meryl is also set to attend the 21st Annual A Magical Evening Gala.

USA Today has posted an article on the screening: As a warm-up to her upcoming appearance in town as a Kennedy Center honoree this weekend, Meryl Streep swept into Washington, D.C., Tuesday night to show off her latest bid to add a third Oscar to her collection. Namely, her miraculous transformation into Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first and only female prime minister, in The Iron Lady. The bespectacled Streep was also accepting congratulations on her latest trophy, a best-actress award announced earlier in the day by the New York Film Critics Circle. She seemed genuinely surprised that she was picked by the respected group – “They’re so snobby!” – even though she has been a recipient three times before. “This is not a biopic,” the actress warned the packed audience before the feature directed by her Mamma Mia! maestro Phyllida Lloyd began. Instead, The Iron Lady presents an older Thatcher as she flashbacks to the highs and lows of her career while staving off dementia. “It’s a subjective look back,” Streep explained. As close to the truth as fiction will allow.” Streep then hoisted her pocketbook, comparing it to Thatcher’s sizable handbags “that used to terrorize her opponents.” She plucked out a couple pieces of paper and, much as Thatcher was wont to do, quoted words of wisdom from two other former prime ministers. First up, Lord Salisbury: “Many who think they are workers in politics are really merely tools” – an observation that earned several hearty chuckles. And then Benjamin Disraeli: “Never apologize for showing feeling. When you do so, you apologize for truth.”

Fantastic news! Meryl has won the New York Film Critics Circle Award as Best Actress for “The Iron Lady”, as tweeted by the NYFCC. Congratulations! This is the first award of the season so I’d call it a good start :-) This is Meryl’s fifth Best Actress prize by the New York Film Critics Circle, she was awarded previously for Julie & Julia, A Cry in the Dark, Sophie’s Choice and Kramer vs. Kramer (and a runner-up for The Devil Wears Prada). According to the New York Post, Streep wired the field on the first and only ballot with 38 points to 24 for Michelle Williams (My Week With Marilyn) and 23 for Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia).

A new batch of fantastic production stills from “The Iron Lady” has been added to the gallery while some others have been replaced by larger versions. Enjoy the new additions!

Man thanks to Alvaro for sending in scans from the January issue of the UK Empire magazine, they’re running a “Tory Story” on “The Iron Lady”. The most interesting part of this article is that the film still isn’t ready yet – the one shown to the press and at screenings for now was an unfinished version. I guess they’re getting the final stitches just in time for its release. Scans can be found in the image library.

“There’s a flicker board of events really in the ’80s,” says screenwriter Abi Morgan. “You have that decade where she did everything. She stood up against the miners, against the IRA, she led us to war, led us out of war, she kicked us in the nuts, then redeemed us… My memories were very much of the handbag and the beautiful blue suit and the sense of the contradiction of the time: that there was so much sexism around, yet the country was being led by a woman. That made her a very intriguing figur.” It helps if you have an icon to play an icon, and here The Iron Lady has a golden girl to play a true blue: Meryl Streep. “You need a superstar to play Thatcher. You need someone of extraordinary magnetismn and charisma,” insists Phyllida Lloyd, who also points to Streep’s presence as an American in a very English story as an asset when shooting. “Meryl was an outsider, just as Thatcher was.”