Last night during Dancing With the Stars, the new trailer for Mamma Mia! premiered. The teaser trailer was pretty good, but the full-length one? My dancing shoes are already on!

The stage musical is ridiculous, but also ridiculously enjoyable, and it looks like the movie will fit that same groove. As if the ABBA soundtrack (22 songs!) weren't enough — and, really, what's better than ABBA? — we get Meryl Streep doing pratfalls in her overalls. That alone is worth the ticket price.

Meryl seems to be having a great time in general, what with all the dancing and drinking and screwball comedy. I can never decide which I like better: dramatic Meryl or comedic Meryl. Mamma Mia! might just give us both. She's funny, she's moving, she's handy around the house!

And I had forgotten that Christine Baranski is in Mamma Mia! She plays one of Meryl's BFFs. … continue reading

It's St. Patrick's Day! I'm never quite sure what to make of this particular holiday, since it immediately brings to mind losers wearing green hats and guzzling green beer — or worse, parades that won't let the gays in. But in an attempt to accentuate the positive, here are seven (that's lucky!) delightful Irish people and things:

1. Carly Smithson

I'm still not entirely sure she can live up to all the hype, but American Idol contestant Smithson was great last week. I hope she'll continue to rock out, though I really don't think the Ann Wilson comparisons are right. There can be only one Ann Wilson. But kudos to Smithson for bringing Heart to the masses.

2. Roisin Connor (Siobhan McCarthy)

If you stopped watching Bad Girls after Helen and Nikki left the show, tune back in to see Roisin and Cassie, another star-crossed couple. Sometimes they wear very nice soooots.

3. Emma Donoghue … continue reading

I'm not ready to commit to an entire movie for the weekend, so I thought I'd check out some trailers instead.

First, the new Speed Racer trailer surfaced this week. If Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon weren't enough reason to see this one, this trailer has convinced me that it's worth the ticket price. Moviefone.com desribes it as "Andy Warhol meets the Jetsons." Nice!

(Watch it in hi-def here.)

Next, I hadn't even heard of Dark Matter, starring Meryl Streep, Aidan Quinn and Liu Ye.

The film tells the story of a Chinese science student who can't quite cope with the pressures of American academia. … continue reading

Jane Lynch and Meryl Streep in a movie? Together? Is it Christmas already? Everyone’s favorite lesbian scene-stealer Jane Lynch has signed to star opposite Meryl Streep in the new film Julie & Julia. Meryl will play the culinary legend Julia Child, and Jane will play her sister.

The film is based on the memoir (or, more accurately, blogoir) Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen by author/blogger Julie Powell. In 2002, Powell was working as a secretary and living in a run-down apartment in Queens. On a whim, she decided to try to make all 524 recipes in Child’s classic cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking in the span of a year. To chronicle her epic undertaking, she started a blog. Long story slightly shorter, the blog became a book and the book is now becoming a movie.

Added into the mix are Amy Adams as title-character Julie, Stanley Tucci as Child’s husband, Paul, and Nora Ephron (When Harry Met Sally, You’ve Got Mail) writing and directing. While the memoir focused mainly on Julie’s trials and tribulations tackling her year-long adventures in cooking, the movie will bring in more backstory about Child’s life, including her years spent in Paris in the '40s and '50s. Child passed away in 2004, just two days before her 92nd birthday. … continue reading

The shine isn’t even off the 2008 Academy Awards yet, but I say on to 2009! What? No point dwelling in the past. While it’s still an entire year until the next set of statuettes gets handed out, it’s never too early to be totally wrong with your Academy Award predictions. Here’s a quick look at 10 upcoming projects that caught my eye and maybe, possibly, with any luck, might catch Oscar’s eye as well.

The Argentine/Guerilla: An ambitious two-film project by Steven Soderbergh about Latin American revolutionary Che Guevara, starring Benicio Del Toro, Franka Potente, Benjamin Bratt and Catalina Sandino Moreno. Viva la revolucion!

Australia: Moulin Rouge maestro Baz Luhrmann returns with an epic love story set during World War II, about an English aristocrat (Nicole Kidman) who teams with a ranch hand (Hugh Jackman) to herd cattle across the outback. Sounds like Far and Away meets City Slickers. I kid, I kid.

Burn After Reading: All you need to know is Brad Pitt, George Clooney, Tilda Swinton, Frances McDormand and John Malkovich in a political comedy-thriller about top-secret CIA information falling into the wrong hands — and it's directed by the Coen brothers. Yes, please.

The Changeling: Angelina Jolie may get her 2008 Oscar snub revenge with this Clint Eastwood–directed Prohibition-era thriller about a woman whose kidnapped son is returned, but he could be the wrong child. Clint has been money when it comes to Oscar nominations these past few years, so Angelina, start thinking up a snappy speech. … continue reading

Depending on which media outlets you're reading, you're either convinced the writers' strike is over, or you're cautiously optimistic that it will be soon but you're not counting your chickens just yet. Seems one former Disney exec has proclaimed the strike to be at an end. Unfortunately, Michael Eisner may not know exactly what he's talking about. (Why does this come as no surprise to me?)

Eisner is quoted as saying, "I have some friends in certain places and I believe there was a handshake last Friday ... it's possible they (the writers) will turn it down but it would be insane if they turned it down." Call me a pessimist, but it sounds like posturing to me. His statements are being widely reported as confirmation that all is said and done, but that's not exactly the truth of the matter. In fact, the WGA released its own statement earlier in the week, warning its membership to be wary of reports that claim a settlement is "imminent." For me, this yes-it's-over-no-it-isn't dance is frustrating. The writers are meeting on Saturday to go over the ins and outs of the current proposal, which is a good sign. But a handshake is not a signature on the dotted line.

All this workplace strife has me thinking of movies I love in which workers fought against the powers that be for what was fair and right. More specifically, I'm remembering movies in which women bucked the system for the betterment of not just themselves, but every other woman in the system. In the spirit of solidarity, I thought I'd share those films with you.

Let's start with the classic Norma Rae, starring Sally Field.

Based on a true story of one woman's efforts to unionize the workers at the textile mill where she worked, this was Field's first Oscar-winning performance. (Her second speech was more memorable though.)

1983 brought us the brilliance of Meryl Streep and one of the best performances of Cher's career, all wrapped up in one depressing little package called Silkwood.

And did I mention it was penned by Alice Arlen and one Nora Ephron? All four women got Oscar nods for their work on the film. … continue reading

I'm once again brain-dead on a Monday, so I thought I'd post some pretty posters.

Get Smart (Anne Hathaway) — She gets smarter in every version of the poster.

The Forbidden Kingdom — A Jackie Chan movie, but I'll be focused on these two.

Jolene — No, it's not based on the Dolly Parton song, sadly. No matter how much the poster may seem to suggest that. … continue reading

Sometime over the last decade or so, glasses became cool. And hot. And the world began to see what lesbians always have known: that women who wear glasses are both cool and hot. And downright sexy.

Personally, I'm glad views have changed. As a little tomboy, I resisted glasses as long as I could, to the point of memorizing the eye chart every year so I could pass the vision exam. When I finally was too blind to resist specs any longer, my family was about to move to Texas from Pittsburgh. One of my friends said, "Wow, glasses don't seem very Texan." At the time, I was devastated. Now I know better. Texans with glasses rock. … continue reading

I don't know about you, but this hasn’t been my favorite year at the movie theater. While a handful of independent charmers made their mark, all in all I wasn’t blown away by many of the big-budget, big-star offerings at the cineplex this year. But, ever the cinematic optimist, I’ve already got three reasons to look forward to 2008. I say out with the old and serious, in with the new and funny. These three upcoming comedies caught my eye. So bring on the new year and save me some popcorn.

1. Nim's Island (April 2008) … continue reading

The folks at Entertainment Weekly like their lists. And their latest list is a big one; so big that it warrants the cover of the print version. Declaring that “It's not about power anymore,” EW has presented us with “The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood.” And guess what? Men are a lot smarter than women. Or, at least, there are a lot more smart men than women in Hollywood. Now, I'm not confident that I counted correctly because, you know, math is hard, but here are the numbers: There's exactly one woman (10 percent) in the top 10, two (8 percent) in the top 25 and 13 (26 percent) in the entire 50.

Meryl Streep, at No. 6, is the smartest woman in Hollywood — because she's managed to have a vibrant career after age 50.

The other 12 women are: 15. Amy Pascal, 26. Stacey Snider, 30. Jodie Foster, 31. Kathleen Kennedy, 32. Thelma Schoonmaker, 33. Angelina Jolie, 38. Diablo Cody, 39. Mary Zophres, 43. Beth Swofford, 45. Cate Blanchett, 47. Amy Powell and 49. Sarah Polley. (You can find the full list with explanations beginning here.) … continue reading

I saw Lions for Lambs this week, and I was pretty disappointed. My immediate reaction was, "They should have called it Lecture for Sheep. Or Iraq War Issues for Dummies." I like the overall message of the movie, which is that we should try to have the courage of our convictions. But the delivery leaves something to be desired.

[Warning: Mild spoilers.]

The film comprises three pieces, two of which are best termed conversation pieces — because they consist of little more than talking heads. (Admittedly, they're the heads of Meryl Streep, Tom Cruise and Robert Redford, but all they do is speechify.) The third piece, a tale of two soliders, demonstrates that war is hell. … continue reading

The reigning queen of accents is about to tackle another challenge: Julia Child.

Meryl Streep will play Child in Julie and Julia, based on the book Julie & Julia: 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen, by Julie Powell, which was based on the Julie/Julia Project blog. (I'm not sure if this is the first movie based on a blog, but hey, Hollywood, you know where to find me.) Nora Ephron will direct and Amy Adams will play Julie. … continue reading

If a dictionary were made up of images instead of words, one contender for the definition of “actor” would be a picture of Meryl Streep.

As Scribe Grrrl blogged about in August, Streep's new movie, Lions for Lambs, premieres November 7. With its release less than a month away, and Streep speaking about it in interviews, it’s worth another look. I may spring for this one at the theatre out of curiosity: It's one that could stir a little controversy. Set against the backdrop of the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and the War on Terror, Streep plays a journalist, Janine Roth, on the scent of a big story with bigger policy implications. … continue reading

Last night, I mentioned in passing to a couple of friends that I would be blogging about Holocaust-related entertainment. They just stared as though there was something wrong with me. I clarified that I was referring to books and movies about WWII and the Holocaust; I was not suggesting that the Holocaust was entertaining. (And it was during intermission at a play about Sylvia Plath. It's not as though these friends demand light entertainment!)

Why I was thinking about this subject in the first place? Well, I had just learned of a new book about the heroism of some ordinary people during World War II.

The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story, by Diane Ackerman, is the story of Jan Zabinski, the Christian zookeeper of the Warsaw Zoo and his wife Antonina, who helped save the lives of hundreds of Polish Jews during WWII by hiding them — often in plain sight — at the Zoo. … continue reading

If it were your job to choose Glenn Close, Meryl Streep or Barbra Streisand to star in your movie, you might be the luckiest person on earth.

But you would also be faced with an obscenely difficult decision. According to London's Daily Telegraph, Andrew Lloyd Webber is considering each of these award-winning actresses for the role of Norma Desmond in the movie of his musical of the movie Sunset Blvd. (Trying to describe that makes me think of Julie Andrews in the movie Victor/Victoria: "I'm a woman, pretending to be a man, pretending to be a woman.")

The role will be a challenge for any of the three. Norma Desmond is utterly and completely owned by the original star, Gloria Swanson.

The original movie is so iconic and heavily quoted, it can almost seem like a parody of itself. The musical remake — especially as conceived by Andrew Lloyd Webber — may not be great. But whoever is cast gets to deliver the line,"All right, Mr. DeMille, I'm ready for my close-up."

So let's play casting director for a moment and consider each option: … continue reading