Toronto: The movie adaptation of “August: Osage County” received a rare 10 minute standing ovation last night at Roy  Thomson Hall. The film of Tracey Letts’ Pulitzer Prize winning play stars Meryl Streep as Violet, matriarch a volatile Oklahoma family. The ovation was like something from the Cannes film festival, not usually seen in restrained Canada, and was very disarming for everyone in the cast who was in attendance including Julia Roberts

I know, every time Streep is in a movie people say “Oscar.” But the three time Oscar winner weaves some kind of magic in this movie. You can see it from the moment she appears in half light, looking haggard with spiky short hair to when she pulls on a full, dark wig to play Violet, the pill popping cancer patient with loads of secrets. And yes, this is a comedy and a drama.

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Streep was not at last night’s premiere because she starts filming “Into the Woods” this week and has a bad enough cold that she couldn’t travel up from New York with setting back that production. But her name was heard everywhere as the credits rolled and the lights went up.

Most of the large, talented cast was there however: Ewan McGregor, Julia Roberts, Chris Cooper, Julianne Nicholson, Juliette Lewis, Dermot Mulroney, and Abigail Breslin among them. And when they got to their party at Soho House–the only party of any interest last night in Toronto– pop star Taylor Swift arrived and joined them. That caused mayhem as you can imagine, when Swift and Roberts posed for pictures together with Harvey Weinstein.

“August: Osage County” was a bit of a surprise for many reasons last night. There had been a lot of talk that the film adaptation hadn’t worked out. That may have come from a teaser trailer that made the film look like a Southern comedy played for yucks. There was also a lot of discussion about how to handle Oscar positioning with Streep and Roberts. Who would be considered lead or supporting?

But once John Wells’s movie unfurled, all became clear. Streep is the star, the quarterback. In one scene taken from the play she sits at the head of a dining room table with this cast all around her. She literally throws “touchdown passes” to each cast member, landing jokes and barbs as they run to the end zone. It’s sort of mesmerizing because she never flags or tires or misses. It’s like watching an acting master class. It’s breathtaking.

So yes, Meryl Streep jumps onto the Best Actress list with Cate Blanchett, Judi Dench and Sandra Bullock. “AOC” becomes an extremely serious contender for Best Picture. It will almost certainly win Best Ensemble at the SAG Awards. Julia Roberts and Chris Cooper will be up for all the supporting awards. Cooper almost steals the show with a scene right out of Letts’s play at the dinner table. Roberts gives her most soulful performance yet, and comes across with a humanity–as one of Violet’s three daughters–that gives the movie anchor while Streep storms on like a hurricane.

PS Kudos also to Margo Martindale, Benedict Cumberbatch and Sam Shepard, who also make this movie an absolute pleasure.

From the Toronto Film Festival, Monday morning: First the good news. Ron Howard’s “Rush” is an adrenaline packed success for the director of “Cocoon,” “Apollo 13,” and “A Beautiful Mind.” Even if you don’t care about Formula 1 racing, you’re going to love Howard’s recounting of the famed 1976 rivalry between rock star blond god James Hunt and the determined Austrian Niki Lauda.

Working with an impeccable Peter Morgan script, and cinematography from the amazing Anthony Dod Mantle, Howard has made one hell of a crowd pleasing movie. I dare say that under proper conditions with a real campaign, the movie and actor Daniel Bruehl, who plays Lauda, would be in awards contention.

Lauda, if you don’t know, was in a terrible accident that year on the track. He suffered jaw dropping burns to the face and head. And still he came back to the race circuit. Hunt died in 1985 from a heart attack. He followed the motto Live Fast, Die Young and leave a pretty corpse. Chris Hemsworth is sure to attract the female audience into “Rush.” He’s the new Robert Redford-Brad Pitt, with long blond locks and the looks of a young Viking god.

“Rush” should be the rare exception to the rule that American films needn’t have a good story to play in foreign territories. It will be a smash, and it’s good.

By the way, at the premiere at Roy Thomson Hall, members of Hunt’s family, and Lauda himself made appearances. On stage, Lauda– a brave, brave guy– said he never realized the impact his own facial scars had on people until he saw the movie and saw the way an actor reacted to his character. It was a rare moment of self-realization shared with the general public– and nearly 40 years after the accident.

Since nothing should be without a J.D. Salinger connection: Jason Reitman’s “Labor Day,” which got its press outing this afternoon in Toronto, has one. It’s based on a novel by Joyce Maynard, who had an affair with Salinger when she 18 and he was 53. It’s an infamous story, and one which is included in the new “Salinger” film opening this weekend.

Reitman made the lovely “Juno” and the very pungent “Up in the Air,” two of my favorite films (and maybe yours, too). His last outing was with Charlize Theron in “Young Adult,” an ambitious movie that didn’t quite work because the main character (Theron) was so unlikeable.

“Labor Day” stars Kate Winslet and Josh Brolin with a cameo by James van der Beek. It is not an Oscar movie but it may be a commercial hit. The material is a little unusual for Reitman in that it is tepid and conventional with no real twist or “ah hah!” moment. Pretty much what you think will happen does, and that’s fine.

Reitman directs the hell out of every scene, and the actors are all top notch, especially Gattlin Griffith, the 12 year old who plays Winslet’s son. Basically, it’s a love story between two unlikely types: Winslet is a lost soul divorcee who allows Brolin, an escaped convict, into her home. He’s been in jail for murder, but guess what? He’s a master chef, carpenter, and lover. He plays ball with her kid, and likes kittens. Frankly, who cares if he killed someone or many people! He’s too good to lose.

Brolin spends Labor Day with mom and son, and they plan to run away. It’s 1982, so there are no cell phones or web alerts. Just occasional TV spots that say beware this dangerous man. Meantime, he’s cleaning the gutters and chopping scallions.

Of course the Brolin character has a sad back story, his incarceration is explained. But it’s the stuff of “The Notebook,” and not very convincing to a cynic like yours truly.

In the end “Labor Day” will play like a very intense chick flick. Everyone comes out of it unscathed. But it’s time for Jason Reitman to get back to edgier material.