In the first announcement from The Irish Film and Television Awards, Meryl Streep has won this year’s Pantene Best International Actress Award for her performance in the romantic comedy ‘It’s Complicated’. Streep, who won the same award last year for her role in ‘Mamma Mia!’, faced competition from fellow nominees Penelope Cruz (‘Broken Embraces’), Marion Cotillard (‘Nine’) and Anna Kendrick (‘Up in the Air’). The award is the only People’s Choice category at the IFTAs, and the Irish public voted in their thousands for Streep. The awards ceremony will be held at The Burlington Hotel, Dublin on Saturday, February 20th and will be broadcast live on RTE One that evening.

Spike Jonze has produced a new live-action/animated adaptation of Maurice Sendak’s Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life. The film, a collaboration between the National Film Board of Canada and Warner Home Video, will be included on the Blu-Ray release of Where The Wild Things Are, which hits stores on March 2nd. The 23 and a half minute short film was created by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, the Oscar-nominated team behind the short Madame Tutli-Putli, and features the voices of Meryl Streep, Forest Whitaker and Spike Jonze.

Once Jennie had everything. She had two bowls to eat from, two pillows, and for cold weather, a red wool sweater. She even had a master who loved her. But Jennie didn’t care. In the middle of the night she packed everything she had in a black leather bag with gold buckles and looked out of her favorite window for the last time… Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life follows Jennie’s surreal, suspenseful and unexpectedly moving journey to gain new experiences and realize her dream of becoming the star of the World Mother Goose Theatre.

Higglety Pigglety Pop! or There Must Be More to Life will be featured as an exclusive short on the Where the Wild Things Are Warner Home Video Blu-ray out March 2. On February 28, the film will have its world premiere at the Festival International du Film pour Enfants de Montréal (Montreal Children’s International Film Festival) followed by a special presentation with the directors and the puppeteers. The NFB will distribute a DVD scheduled for summer 2010.

This morning, Meryl has received an Oscar nomination as Best Actress for “Julie & Julia”.

Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
Helen Mirren – The Last Station
Carey Mulligan – An Education
Gabourey Sidibe – Precious
Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

This is the 16th Academy Award nomination in Meryl’s career! The Oscars will be broadcast live around the world on March 7th, 2010.

Meryl Streep has received a BAFTA nomination as Best Actress for “Julie & Julia”. The British Academy Awards will be handed out on February 21, 2010.

CAREY MULLIGAN – An Education
SAOIRSE RONAN – The Lovely Bones
GABOUREY SIDIBE – Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire
MERYL STREEP – Julie & Julia
AUDREY TAUTOU – Coco Before Chanel

Something truly fantastic is coming to DVD and Blu-ray. On March 23rd you’ll be able to own the critically acclaimed film adaptation of the beloved Roald Dahl children’s book, Fantastic Mr. Fox. After a squad-stealing mishap, Mr. Fox (George Clooney) promises his wife, Felicity (Meryl Streep), to find a safe and steady job. Two years later he’s a newspaper columnist living in a hole with Felicity and their son, Ash (Jason Schwartzman). Things are okay, but Fox craves more. He’s thrilled when he finds a great deal on a beautiful home. The only problem is that it’s located right near the factories run by the farmers Walter Boggis, Nathan Bunce, and Franklin Bean. The temptation gets the best of him, and Fox recruits his superintendent and visiting nephew to accompany him on the ultimate raid on all three facilities. More information on its special features, plus its cover art, after the jump.

Congratulations to Meryl Streep for winning her career’s seventh Golden Globe Award tonight in the category of Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for “Julie & Julia”. Clips of her acceptance speech and her press room interview can be streamed in the video archive.

Streep set the record for most nominations last year when her double lead actress nods for “Doubt” and “Mamma Mia!” gave her 23 in total, breaking the tie with Jack Lemmon who racked up 22 lead nods and 4 wins. And with tonight’s win for “Julie & Julia”, she surpassed previous record holders Jack Nicholson and Angela Lansbury. The first pictures from the show as well as high quality screencaps can be found in the Image Library with more to follow.

And last but not least, Meryl’s speech:

Thank you. I wanna change my name to T-Bone (laughter). T-Bone Streep. I think it sounds good. Oh gosh. I, I’m gonna forget what I wanted to say, because I’m like overwrought. Darl, what was my first part? Yeah, I love Nora (laughter). I really am grateful to Nora and to everybody at Sony and Stanley, of course (applause) and everybody in the cast and crew. I just wanna say that I, in my long career, played so many extraordinary women that basically I’m getting mistaken for one. No really, I’m very clear about the fact that I’m the vessel for other people’s stories and other women’s lifes. And this year I got to play, not only one of the most beloved women in America, Julia Child, but I also got to secretly pay homage to my own personal, not so famous, hero. That’s my mother, who shared – who’s of the same generation as Julia – who shared her verve. Lot of the people in this room knew my mother and knew that she had a real joy in living and she just had no patience for gloom and doom. I’m not like that (laughter). I come to Golden Globes weekend. And I am really honestly conflicted how to have my happy movie self in the face of everything in that I’m aware of, in the real world. And I wanna say that that’s when I have my mother’s voice coming to me, saying ‘Partners in Health. Shoot some money to Partners in Health. Put the dress on. Put on a smile and be damn grateful that you have the dollars to help, and the next day, and the next day, and the next day’. I am really grateful. I am really grateful. So thank you!

Congratulations to Meryl for winning the Critics Choice Movie Award as Best Actress for “Julie & Julia”. Just like last year the category resulted in a tie, honoring Streep for “Julia” as well as Sandra Bullock for “The Blind Side”. Judging from the pictures it must have been a fun night. A video of Meryl’s acceptance speech will follow, if you have managed to record it, please let me know. For now, 180 photos from the event can be found in the Image Library.

“It’s Complicated” has opened US theaters on Christmas Day and I’m sure many of you have either seen it or are curious to know how it was. So here you can write down your review on how you liked the film and what you thought of it. Please keep in mind to avoid spoilers for those who haven’t seen it. Your reviews are appreciated!

Today, Meryl has attended Good Morning America to promote “It’s Complicated”, dish on her double Golden Globe nomination and Christmas. The complete interview can be streamed in the video archive, screencaps in high quality can be found in the Image Library.

Today’s British Sunday Times newspaper has a (rather strange) cover of Meryl and Alec Baldwin and a very funny interview with the two inside. Thanks to Alvaro for the scans, be sure to read the article in the magazines archive, an excerpt can be found below the Image Libraries’ previews. Enjoy your Sunday!

Streep: At this age it’s unusual for somebody to do a love scene, to be making love. Yeah, that is unusual. But that is just how benighted we are. Because, you know, we still are alive. It’s you and I, baby. It’s authentic. The whole idea that you have to look a certain way and be a certain age to earn love is ridiculous. We love what we love. It doesn’t matter what shape it is. It’s thrilling to see real people on screen. The thing that broke that little barrier for me was Julie & Julia, where everyone said, “Isn’t it remarkable that a tall overweight woman and a short bald man could be in love?” Well, yeah? You know what I mean? You’re alive.

Baldwin [mock angry]: And the day you brought Stanley Tucci to the set of our film, I hated you for doing that. I thought, what a rude thing of you to do.

Streep: Did you really?

Baldwin: I was soooo hurt that you did that, because you and he had such chemistry. You were lovely together. It was like bringing your ex-husband to the set.

Streep: Oh, my God, I never thought of that.

Baldwin: Obviously you didn’t! I was your man in this movie, and you brought Stanley there? My penis telescoped up into my body. You know what? I’m going to do one of those movies like 300, where I’m all muscled up, and I’ve got my boobs all oiled and everything.

Streep: And they’ll be going, “Alec Baldwin’s back! He’s back!”