August: Osage County

Bim · May 10, 2013

Didnt see a thread for this, so here goes.

"August Osage County"
Harvey and co. have got their own humdinger of an ensemble put together for a film that's tailor-made for awards season, in the shape of "August: Osage County." Directed by TV veteran John Wells, it's an adaptation of the epic stage play by "Killer Joe" author Tracy Letts, which revolves around an Oklahoma family and their various dysfunctional relationships. Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts topline, with Chris Cooper, Sam Shepard, Benedict Cumberbatch, Juliette Lewis, Ewan McGregor, Abigail Breslin, Dremot Mulroney and Margo Martindale all involved too. With The Weinstein Company's might, and source material already lauded with Pulitzers and Tonys, this should be in the running, although there's a chance that, as with stage adaptations like "Doubt," it picks up acting nods but misses out on the big prize. Wells, whose last film "Company Men" was a bit dry, is the question mark here.
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First trailer is out:

[YT]9Hd_uO72h1s[/YT]
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Hd_uO72h1s

Bim · Jul 31, 2013

This movie will premiere at Toronto International Festival: http://www.playbill.com/news/articl...emiere-at-Toronto-International-Film-Festival

"August: Osage County" Film Will Premiere at Toronto International Film Festival
By Adam Hetrick and Michael Gioia
25 Jul 2013
The film adaptation of Tracy Letts' Tony and Pulitzer Prize-winning drama August: Osage County, starring Meryl Streep and Julia Roberts, will receive its premiere screening at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.

The 130-minute film, directed by John Wells, is set to premiere in theatres nationwide Dec. 25. It will be part of the gala screenings at the festival, which runs Sept. 5-15.

The darkly comic drama is a large ensemble piece (with three sisters at its core) set in a rambling house in Oklahoma. Two-time Tony Award winner Letts (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) also penned the screenplay.

Oscar winner Roberts ("The Normal Heart," "Erin Brockovich") plays Barbara, the oldest Weston daughter, with Streep ("The Devil Wears Prada," "The Iron Lady") as cancer-stricken drug addict Violet Weston.

The cast also features Sam Shepard (Heartless), Oscar nominee Juliette Lewis, Ewan McGregor (West End's Little Malcolm and His Struggle Against the Eunuchs, "Moulin Rouge"), Olivier Award winner Benedict Cumberbatch (Frankenstein, "Sherlock"), Tony nominee Margo Martindale (Cat on a Hot Tin Roof), Oscar winner Chris Cooper ("Adaptation"), Dermot Mulroney ("My Best Friend's Wedding") and Oscar nominee Abigail Breslin (The Miracle Worker, "Little Miss Sunshine").

The Weinstein Company film is a Jean Doumanian/Smokehouse production produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov, Jean Doumanian and Steve Traxler. Claire Rudnick Polstein is the executive producer.
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Octoberist · Jul 31, 2013

Nice!

MrMaooz · Jul 31, 2013

Damn...Cumberbatch is having a nice year. 2 villains in 2 blockbusters and 2 Oscar worthy movies!

Bim · Sep 4, 2013

It's a hell of a cast, i'm really looking forward to it.

http://www.theguardian.com/film/2013/aug/12/oscar-predictions-2014-august-osage-county

Oscar predictions 2014 - August: Osage County
Beginning our new daily series looking ahead to the key movies of the 2014 awards season. First up: August: Osage County

This year's

The Descendants in terms of its character-based comedy and themes of family tension.

Also, confusingly, this year's Argo in that it is co-produced by George Clooney and Grant Heslov (who scooped the crowning best picture Oscar for Ben Affleck's Iranian siege caper last February).

August: Osage County
Production year: 2013
Directors: John Wells
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Chris Cooper, Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, Juliette Lewis, Meryl Steep

What's it all about?

Interior: a roomy Oklahoma house, the closets full of skeletons. At the head of the table sits Violet (Meryl Streep), a dying matriarch, addicted to prescription meds. Orbiting her come Julie Roberts (as Violet's brittle oldest daughter), Juliette Lewis (wayward youngest daughter) and Benedict Cumberbatch (deadbeat illegitimate son). Misty Upham lends support as the Cheyenne housekeeper who bears witness to the domestic squalls.

How did it happen?

Tracy Letts's original stage-play has won rave reviews, the 2008 Pulitizer prize for drama and (happy bonus) a powerhouse champion in producer Harvey Weinstein. The combination of the play's pedigree and Weinstein's backing ensured a smooth transition to the screen, although scheduling niggles meant that Andrea Riseborough (originally cast as the younger daughter) had to drop out in favour of Lewis. The film began shooting in the town of Bartlesville, Oklahoma in September last year, with a relatively modest budget of $25m and John Wells (a veteran of ER and The West Wing) in the director's chair.

Nominations it wants

Handsome, well-upholstered family sagas like this tend to dominate the acting and screenplay categories, though August: Osage County also looks a shoo-in for the best picture shortlist. If so, don't rule out TV specialist Wells as an outside bet to join the hunt for the directing Oscar too.

What it might win

August: Osage County stars three-time winner Meryl Streep playing a provincial American Lear. She's an overbearing matriarch raging against the dying of the light. She has cancer and is addicted to drugs. All of which makes her the putative favourite for a fourth acting Oscar. Julia Roberts (an Oscar-winner for 2000's Erin Brockovich) and Tracy Letts (who adapted his own stage-play) will also fancy their chances.

Reasons to fall for it

It provides a banquet of rich dramatic meat, a keen sense of familial strife and a series of attention-grabbing roles for its big-name players. Possibly it even has a sense of the wider picture, too. As with Death of a Salesman, Letts installs his dysfunctional American family as a sly metaphor for a dysfunctional America.

Reasons it might fail

Might this domestic firestorm turn out too stagey, too relentlessly talky? Does director John Wells have enough big-screen exuberance to bring it to life? August: Osage County has got the revered source material, the family dramatics, and Meryl Streep in the leading role. Might it even be a little too precision-tooled for its own good? Oscar voters may just baulk at being catered to so slavishly.

When can we see it

The release schedule positively reeks of Oscar ambitions. August: Osage County premieres at the Toronto film festival in September and is released in the US on Christmas Day. The UK roll-out duly follows just 24-hours later.

In four words

March's Story: Oscar Glory
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Gianakin_ · Sep 6, 2013

Ewan is in it? I'm in.

tzarinna · Sep 9, 2013

Cool, I really enjoyed the play... and that's one stellar cast.

Project862006 · Sep 10, 2013

not getting good reviews at all

tzarinna · Sep 10, 2013

That's too bad, I still want to see it.

slumcat · Sep 10, 2013

It looked very bad from the trailer, a lot of melodrama, hysteria, screaming shouting at each other. And all the actors hamming it up to the high heavens.

Gianakin_ · Sep 11, 2013

Dammit, Ewan!

Bim · Sep 11, 2013

Interesting, although it could reveal a bit of a spoiler, so beware if u dont want to know anything about it: TIFF 2013: 'August: Osage County' ending could be changed for release http://www.latimes.com/entertainmen...-osage-county-ending-20130911,0,1678729.story

This is a heck of a cast, i'll be seeing this anyways.

Some reviews: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/09/10/tiff-august-osage/2793581/

TIFF: Reviews mixed for 'August: Osage County'

TORONTO A film featuring Meryl Streep, and being released in the cold days of autumn, can only mean one thing: Oscar contender.

Such was the case Monday night at the TIFF screening of August: Osage County, the film adaptation of Tracy Letts' play about a very troubled family. Streep plays the matriarch, Violet Weston, a pill-popping harridan with cancer.

The film earned a standing ovation, but ultimate reviews were mixed. Which is perfectly fine, because the ongoing breathless analysis of which film at the festival is the one to beat come Oscar time becomes simply exhausting and, quite often, very wrong, since so many films haven't actually been shown to critics yet.

The Guardian: "It's bracing, but it does feel closer to panto than melodrama, more exhausting than illuminating. ... The Weston home is a hulking halfway house, and you can't help but wish you were just watching a filmed version of the original production."

The Hollywood Reporter: "Arriving on the screen with mixed dividends from an all-star cast, the film doesn't shed its inherent theatricality, stringing together speeches and showdowns peppered with nuggets of stagey dialogue that resists being played in naturalistic close-up. But it's nonetheless an entertaining adaptation, delivering flavorful rewards in some sharp supporting turns that flank the central mother-daughter adversaries."

Variety: "There are no surprises just lots of good, old-fashioned scenery chewing in August: Osage County, director John Wells' splendid film version of playwright Tracy Letts' acid-tongued Broadway triumph about three generations in a large and highly dysfunctional Oklahoma family."
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Gianakin_ · Sep 12, 2013

Boy, Julia's gotten old, hasn't she?

Octoberist · Sep 12, 2013

Why would they change the ending? Even with the mixed reviews, how much can they change at this point?

Bim · Oct 8, 2013

Gianakin_ said: ↑

Boy, Julia's gotten old, hasn't she?
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At least she's aging gracefully, unlike many other actresses who cant even smile anymore due to plastic surgery and botox lol.

Octoberist said: ↑

Why would they change the ending? Even with the mixed reviews, how much can they change at this point?
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No clue, i never saw the play hehe, but apparently the last scene in the movie was different from the one in the play, and that's what people were mostly complaining about.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/race/august-osage-county-ensemble-be-644006

'August: Osage County' Ensemble to Be Honored at Hollywood Film Awards (Exclusive)

The film, which will be released on Christmas Day, features a star-studded cast that includes Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper and Margo Martindale.

The cast of August: Osage County will receive the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award at the 17th annual Hollywood Film Awards, the first awards show of the 2013 season, on Oct. 21 at the Beverly Hilton, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

John Wells' big-screen adaptation of Tracy Letts' Tony- and Puliter Prize-winning play features a star-studded cast, including Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ewan McGregor, Chris Cooper, Margo Martindale, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shepard and Misty Upham.

The film, which premiered at September's Toronto International Film Festival and will be released nationwide by The Weinstein Co. on Christmas Day, is a dramedy about intra-family chaos. It revolves around three sisters (Roberts, Lewis and Nicholson) and their significant others (McGregor, Mulroney and Cumberbatch), plus other relatives (Martindale, Cooper and Breslin), who reunite at the Oklahoma home of their mother (Streep) following the death of their father (Shepard), whereupon they air their grievances about how others present at the gathering have caused their lives to become terribly screwed up in one way or another. August's producers include George Clooney and Grant Heslov, who also produced last year's best picture Oscar winner, Argo.

The Hollywood Film Awards are determined by founder and executive director Carlos de Abreu and an advisory committee. De Abreu tells THR, "We are very proud to recognize the ensemble cast of August: Osage County, for their dramatic and outstanding performances." (Full disclosure: Dick Clark Productions, which shares the same parent company as THR, has an undisclosed investment in the Hollywood Film Awards.)

Previous recipients of the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award include Crash (2005), Bobby (2006), Hairspray (2007), The Secret Life of Bees (2008), The Social Network (2010), The Help (2011) and Argo (2012). Crash, The Social Network, The Help and Argo all went on to score best picture Oscar nominations; Crash and Argo won.

Last month, the Hollywood Film Awards and Dick Clark Productions, which also produce the Golden Globe Awards, entered into a partnership that could lead to the ceremony being televised in future years. Over the past 10 years, Hollywood Film Awards honorees went on to garner a total of 96 Oscar nominations and 34 Oscars.

Other 2013 honorees who have already been announced include 12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and supporting actress Lupita Nyong'o; 42's supporting actor Harrison Ford; August: Osage County's supporting actress Julia Roberts; Before Midnight lead actress/co-screenwriter Julie Delpy, lead actor/co-screenwriter Ethan Hawke and co-screenwriter/director Richard Linklater; Behind the Candelabra producer Jerry Weintraub; Captain Phillips producer Michael De Luca; Dallas Buyers Club's lead actor Matthew McConaughey and supporting actor Jared Leto; Gravity's lead actress Sandra Bullock; Lee Daniels' The Butler director Lee Daniels; Monsters University's director Dan Scanlon and producer Kori Rae; Pacific Rim visual effects supervisor John Knoll; and Prisoners' supporting actor Jake Gyllenhaal.
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Bim · Oct 16, 2013

New poster and some stills were released: http://www.hypable.com/2013/10/15/august-osage-county-new-poster-images-released/

August: Osage County: New poster, images released

A brand new August: Osage County poster and three new stills were released featuring Meryl Streep, Julia Roberts, and Ewan McGregor.

One of the most anticipated stage-to-screen adaptations of the year will hit theaters this Winter bringing together a dream cast lead by Julia Roberts and Meryl Streep. Three brand new stills and a new poster from August: Osage County were released today showing off that amazing cast.

The film centers around the fascinatingly dysfunctional Weston family as they are brought together, at least in proximity, by a family crisis. The Weston women return to the home where they were raised and brought face to face with the woman who raised them.

Check out the newest images from the film:

In addition to those pictured, the cast of August: Osage County includes Dermot Mulroney, Juliette Lewis, Chris Cooper, Abigail Breslin, Sam Shepard, and Benedict Cumberbatch.

The latest poster features the cast (nearly in its entirety) surrounding a touching family moment.

Check out the new poster:

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Ok, the poster made me laugh. Talk about a dysfunctional family reunion

Octoberist · Oct 16, 2013

That is funny indeed.

For some reason, I'm always reading the title as "August: Orange County'.

Sawyer · Dec 26, 2013

I'm actually really looking forward to this. Dat ensemble.

Bim · Dec 27, 2013

Sawyer said: ↑

I'm actually really looking forward to this. Dat ensemble.
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Yeah, i'm really curious to see how all of this awesome cast worked together.

Bim · Jan 11, 2014

Finally got to watch this one yesterday, and i gotta say, it truly moved me. One moment i was laughing my butt off (the prayer scene on the table ) i was shocked and i even cried. It was an emotional ride for sure. Incredible cast, Meryl is friggin' amazing. If i had my way, there would be a tie between her and Cate at the Oscars. One thing's for sure, this movie makes me feel a whole lot better about my own family craziness I rate it a very solid 9/10

tzarinna · Jan 11, 2014

Nice, glad you finally got to catch it. Now I'll have to check it out... some day.

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