Miniseries Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When you hear the name Mildred Pierce, and you happen to know your classic cinema, you probably go right to one woman: she of the big eyebrows and shoulder pads...better known as Joan Crawford. Crawford won her one and only Oscar for her role in Michael Curtiz's crime classic, and now another Oscar winning actress has signed for a remake of the noir tale, but this time it's for the small screen. Variety is reporting that Kate Winslet has joined forces with director Todd Haynes to star in a remake of Pierce as a cable miniseries.

Mildred Pierce was the story of a woman determined take on the restaurant world and make a better life for her daughters, only to have her eldest turn on her, and after much slapping and running up and down the stairs, Mildred finally *resorts to murder. The original film was based on James Cain's novel, and Haynes will be writing his script from the original source material rather than the 1945 film. Which I would assume is because not only would a miniseries require a little more material than a feature film, but also because of the changes that were made to Cain's story to keep the film in line with the production code at the time.

After the jump; why a Mildred Pierce remake might not be so bad, and Sonic Youth's tribute to Crawford's 'Mother with a heart of lead'...

If you came of age in the '80s then chances are you remember V. Back in April, news began to spread that a feature film version was in the works, and creator Kenneth Johnson later confirmed that he was eying a big-screen debut for the legendary sci-fi title. Now, Latino Review claims to have gotten an early look at the script -- but I warn you there are plenty of spoilers in the review, so tread lightly.

According to LR, the script is an update of the original miniseries that aired back in 1983. V: The Original Miniseries centered on the arrival of aliens (or as they're better known, Visitors) and when an uneasy truce is struck between humanity and the new arrivals, it begins to become clear that our alien friends are not what they seem -- and, as it turns out, the only place for humans to turn is to another alien race who can bail out the planet earth from the 'lizard' invasion.

The original story was seen as a commentary on the rise of Fascism in the U.S as well an allegory for the rise of Nazis. But it looks like the script will be modernizing the story with allusions to Iraq and the War on Terror. According to the early review, the flick is a hybrid of V for Vendetta and Independence Day. But more importantly (at least from the point of view of Hollywood studios), is that the script has set the story up for two more sequels.

It is always a dangerous proposition to try and update something so beloved by fans, but at least this time the original creator is going to have something to do with it. Sound off below and tell me whether or not you want to see V on the big screen?

Mini-series certainly qualify as some type of "movie," so here goes: Steven Spielberg will produce a small-screen adaptation of The Talisman for the TNT network. As you probably know (if you're a horror fan) The Talisman is a novel co-written by Stephen King and Peter Straub in 1984, although the duo got back together again in 2002 to pen Black House -- which gives TNT a perfect sequel opportunity should they opt to go in that direction.

No word yet on who'll be writing/directing/starring in the 6-hour Talisman mini-series, but the last time Spielberg and TNT got together the result was the 10-hour Into the West, which everyone seemed to dig a whole helluva lot.

The Talisman has been rumored as a movie or mini-series for the better part of two decades, but it took Spielberg's involvement to get the job done. Here's hoping this production turns out better than most of ABC's King-flicks. In related news, everything that Stephen King has ever written has now been made into a movie, TV special, mini-series or student film. That includes supermarket lists, greeting card messages and autographs.