Blu-Ray Pick of the Week: "The French Lieutenant's Woman" (1981)

A year before her iconic Sophie's Choice performance, Meryl Streep was nominated for this film, a movie she was just as good in, and in a way I consider to be her quintessential performance. It's because she got to play two parts, the character in a period drama racked by torment with all the theatricality and mannered accents Streep is known for, and the present day actress playing that part, who's also having an affair with her co-star Jeremy Irons. In that role she's subtle, natural and laid-back, the opposite of the character she's playing in the film within the film. For that reason this is Meryl Streep in all the ways you know her, all on the screen at one time. This is more of a movie about acting than the story based on the actual novel, and that makes it kind of a strange film overall, different than what you'd expect. But it's worth checking out for Meryl, as it could have easily been her first Best Actress award, but of course that was coming right after this.

Original 1981 Trailer:

Jennifer Lawrence Covers the Poster for 'Joy'

In what will undoubtedly be the better of her two movies coming out this fall (after Hunger Games, which is finally, mercifully over), Jennifer Lawrence is finally the unabashed lead of a David O. Russell movie, although this poster gives you no more sense of what it's about. He's also reuniting much of his steady crew of actors here, with Bradley Cooper (of course) and Robert DeNiro billed alongside his star. Who knows though, it may be time for him to have a miss, since nobody stays on a hot streak forever.

Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara Shine in the First Teaser for 'Carol'

Todd Haynes's Carol, which premiered at the Cannes film festival to stellar reviews, is expected to be one of the heavy-hitters this fall season, and with the Weinstein Co. behind it, you can at least expect it to get as big a push as possible. Rooney Mara won the Best Actress prize at Cannes for her performance here, in which she and Cate Blanchett share screentime equally as the lead. Based on a Patricia Highsmith novel from the 1950's about a lesbian romance, and from Haynes, who directed Velvet Goldmine, Far From Heaven and I'm Not There (also with Blanchett), I think this is definitely one of the ones to watch out for.

D23 Reveals New 'Star Wars' and 'Jungle Book' Posters

The Star Wars one is pretty bad, to tell you the truth (an obvious riff on the old 70's posters, but everyone's face looks weird), but The Jungle Book one isn't terrible. Although I really am wary of the idea of an entirely CGI animal cast with a human Mowgli, and the animals are singing the old Disney tunes on top of it. That sounds kind of freaky to me, actually.

New 'Star Wars' Pics Show Off Droids and Storm Troopers

On a day of Disney news out of the annual D23 expo, here are some new stills from The Force Awakens, which didn't have a panel today, because J.J. Abrams (smartly) doesn't want to oversaturate the market with too much Star Wars stuff before the movie has a chance to actually open. But here's another appetite-wetter anyway, as we get some looks at the two new leads in action and hey, C3PO and R2-D2 are back! As we always knew they would be. A picture of Luke Skywalker in full old man, Obi-Wan-esque Jedi garb was also leaked today, but immediately pulled down by Disney (if you look semi-hard enough you can still see it- it kinda gave me Gandalf vibes, but what did you think?).

Hailee Steinfeld and Brit Marling Fight Off Civil War Soldiers in 'The Keeping Room'

This looks kind of interesting. A period thriller being billed as a "feminist western," this holdover from last year's TIFF is being released on September 25th and is about three women fighting off the intrusion of Union Army deserters into their home. I'm always here for feminist westerns, which is a practically non-existent genre, since the role of women in so many of them was to bunker down behind the man.

New Trailer for Jason Statham-free 'Transporter' Movie

So, I don't really know why you would make a Transporter movie without Jason Statham, since I'm pretty sure he's the only reason anyone was a fan of those movies in the first place (I mean, are there fans of this property by itself? Didn't it only exist because of Statham?), but for reasons unbeknownst to us, Ed Skrein takes over for The Transporter Refueled, which will arrive in theaters in September and be promptly forgotten about in a day, mark my words.

Bradley Cooper is a Struggling Chef in 'Burnt'

The new Weinstein film this year is from director John Wells, and stars Bradley Cooper as a guy trying to become a great chef and run his own kitchen, etc. I had heard this was supposed to be a comedy, but this trailer sure advertizes it as a drama, doesn't it? It doesn't look too bad, but a movie that's had three title changes (it was originally Chef, then Adam Jones) and settled on Burnt might be something of a bad sign. But you never know. It's coming out October 23rd.