Todd Haynes 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'...

I was going to headline this post with something about 'being there in spirit,' but I decided that's a lame way to start things off. Obviously, I'm being lame anyway by pointing out that I wasn't going to begin that way, while in effect beginning that way. So, why don't we just get to the news about the Independent Spirit Award nominations, shall we?

Todd Hayne's I'm Not There received four nominations, including one each for Cate Blanchett and Marcus Carl Franklin, who are up for supporting actress and supporting actor, respectively, for their semi-portrayals of Bob Dylan. The film was also recognized in the Best Feature category, in which it's competing against Juno, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Paranoid Park and A Mighty Heart, and Haynes was nominated for Best Director, going up against Jason Reitman (Juno), Julian Schnabel (The Diving Bell and the Butterfly), Gus Van Sant (Paranoid Park) and Tamara Jenkins (The Savages) -- meaning A Mighty Heart's Michael Winterbottom was shut out despite his film's receiving the Best Feature nomination. I'm Not There is already the winner of one Independent Spirit Award, the newly conceived, and appropriately titled Robert Altman Award, which honors the film's director, casting director and ensemble cast. Because of that win, I'm Not There has been labeled the leader of the nominated films, although Juno, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly and The Savages all received the same amount of actual nominations as Haynes' film.

Since I haven't seen any of the major nominees (yet), I will take this opportunity to celebrate a few films, which I have seen, that have been deservedly recognized in other categories. First, I'm excited to see that Adrienne Shelly is up for Best Screenplay for Waitress. I doubt she'll win, unless enough voters want to further highlight her posthumous success, but I'm happy to see her included. I'm delighted to see Jennifer Jason Leigh nominated for Margot at the Wedding, considering Nicole Kidman, who wasn't nominated, has been receiving most of that film's accolades. And finally, I am ecstatic to see that Vanaja, which I loved, has been given two nominations, one for Best First Feature and one for Best Cinematography. Overall, we should all be glad that this year's crop of nominees includes few huge stars, Angelina Jolie being the one major exception, in the acting categories. The 2008 Independent Spirit Awards will be presented on February 23.

Riding a wave of near-unanimous praise, Andrew Wagner's Starting Out in the Evening began its box office sojourn at the top, earning an estimated $11,610 per screen at seven theaters, according to Leonard Klady at Movie City News. Wagner previously made the fascinating dysfunctional family comedy drama The Talent Given Us, which starred his own family, but this time performances by non-family members Frank Langella and Lauren Ambrose have been roundly acclaimed. (Check out reviews by Cinematical's James Rocchi and Ryan Stewart.)

Todd Haynes' I'm Not There has received some ecstatic critical response, which translated into "encouraging but less than superlative response," in the words of Mr. Klady. By the numbers, the film made an estimated $5,310 per screen at 130 engagements, which actually sounds pretty good for an unconventional film that even the critics have had difficulty getting a handle on. (Read more: Cinematical reviews by James Rocchi and Jeffrey M. Anderson.)

The third new specialty release, Izuru Narushima's Midnight Eagle, barely opened, earning an estimated $1,630 per screen at two theaters. The action thriller also opened the Tokyo Film Festival but is probably most notable because it's the first time in memory that a Japanese film has opened day and date in Japan and the United States. Sadly, it was slaughtered by the few US critics who saw it, as recorded at Rotten Tomatoes.

Margot at the Wedding expanded from two to 35 theaters and continued to perform well, raking in $11,200 per screen, while No Country for Old Men jumped out into 860 theaters and made an estimated $9,000 per engagement. Mr. Klady pointed to three holdovers: Sean Penn's Into the Wild ($1,920 per screen), Alejandro Monteverde's Bella ($1,970 per screen) and Sidney Lumet's Before the Devil Knows You're Dead ($3,190).

Todd Haynes is one of the most intelligent filmmakers our country has to offer. The question remains, however, whether his intelligence allows for any emotion to come through in his films. I think it does, but it's not an obvious, worn-on-your-sleeve type of emotion; it's the type that takes a little self-analysis to discover. For example, his great film Safe (1995), which was voted the best film of the decade in the Village Voice poll of 1999, left me feeling queasy and unpleasant, and my initial reaction was to blame the film for it. But those were precisely the types of emotions I was supposed to be feeling after seeing a story about a sick woman. Haynes deliberately designed the film with a kind of emptiness -- and refused to answer the question as to whether or not his heroine was actually sick, and when the lead character joins the "cult" in the film's final stretch, Haynes does not invite us to go with her, so we're left in the lurch, so to speak.

Jean-Luc Godard, another intelligent filmmaker, once said that the best way to critique films was to make one. Haynes did precisely this with Far from Heaven (2002), which more or less used a Douglas Sirk framework to discuss Sirk's films as well as a more modern look at racism and homophobia. (The critics' group I am a member of, the San Francisco Film Critics Circle, gave our 2002 Best Director award to Haynes.) Now Haynes does it again with his exceptional new I'm Not There, a deconstruction of the biopic as well as a fascinating look at the cult of celebrity, and, on a deeper level, the celebrity as a godlike being with answers to all our questions. Whereas most biopics are made solely for the purpose of providing a rich centerpiece role (and, hopefully, an Oscar) for an ambitious actor, Haynes deliberately subverts this by casting seven different actors -- of all different ages, races and even sexes -- to play Bob Dylan.

A couple hours north of New York City is a small town you may have heard of before: Woodstock. Its place in music history is secure, and it's home to a rather impressive film festival, too, running Oct. 10-14 this year. The opening and closing films were announced a few weeks ago -- Julian Schnabel's The Diving Bell and the Butterfly to kick things off, Todd Haynes' I'm Not There to wrap things up -- and now the full schedule shows that there's a lot of great stuff in between as well.

Considering the fest only runs four days (Oct. 10 is just a kick-off party), they've filled it with a surprising number of films: 23 narrative features, 28 documentaries, and 58 shorts. Some of the notable entries:

Narrative: Mary Stuart Masterson's directorial debut, The Cake Eaters; the rotoscoped Chicago 10, about the 1968 Democratic National Convention, which was Sundance's opening night film this year; Grace Is Gone, already earning Oscar buzz for John Cusack's performance as an Iraq War widower; and Terry George's Reservation Road.

Documentary: Festival-circuit favorite Billy the Kid, about an emotionally troubled teenager; Chasin' Gus' Ghost, about the history of jug band music; "Peanuts" profile Good Ol' Charles Schulz; rock doc Joe Strummer: The Future Is Written; the touching Holocaust love story Steal a Pencil for Me; and Super High Me, in which comedian Doug Benson stays sober for 30 days and then spends another month smoking pot every day.

Looks like a great fest, and it's in a beautiful part of the country. For all the details on the Woodstock Film Festival, visit their website.

Regardless of whether you grew up listening to the music of Bob Dylan, or perhaps overheard your parents talking about the man at the "grown-ups table" during Thanksgiving dinner, director Todd Haynes has taken hold of the Dylan myth and brought his extraordinary vision to the big screen -- starring some of our favorite actors working today, all of whom play Bob Dylan. I know, it's confusing, but I have a feeling you'll totally dig it. Cinematical is happy to present the final one-sheet for Haynes' flick I'm Not There (click on the poster for a larger image), in which folks like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Richard Gere and Cate Blanchett all take on a different and unique version of Dylan in order to present you with a film unlike any arriving in theaters this fall.

I'm Not There recently screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, where our own James Rocchi had this to say: "I'm Not There is so sleek and stylish as to nearly disappear from sight as you're watching it. But at the same time, you recognize the pleasure of the cleverness -- the gall of looking at one of America's pop cultural icons through a fractured lens and, yes, at the end, bringing it all back home. Now and then I'm Not There feels like an extended, inventive inside joke with a soundtrack to die for." Man, the Dylan nut in me is itching to see this one. I'm Not There opens in theaters on November 21, and, additionally, you can listen to James' interview with director Todd Haynes over here.

I walked directly from the delayed press screening of I'm Not There, the new film from director Todd Haynes (Safe, Far From Heaven) to our interview. It didn't feel like enough time -- and also like you couldn't possibly prepare enough to take on the layers and levels and tricks and treats of Haynes's sprawling, fractured take on the life and times of Bob Dylan. Haynes spoke with Cinematical about finding truth through myth, pop and politics and which Bob Dylan songs he can, in fact, still listen to after capturing six different iterations of one man. You can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



You can also download the entire interview right here.

(I'm Not There opens November 21st.)

I'm Not There may be a brilliant myth-making exercise, a fearsome piece of pop art, a truly fascinating film. It may also be a hollow jumble of post-modern pick-up-sticks -- a chaotic stack of signifiers and images and in-jokes with nothing at the heart. Part of me wants to see it again as soon as possible; crack its codes, follow the arcs, catch anything I missed. I also wanted to not see it ever again -- to let it be a dream, a blur, like a few notes of music that find you at an unexpected moment and you hear the rest of your life.

Six actors, six stories "Inspired by the Life and Music of Bob Dylan." Well, even as a casual Dylan fan (or, more specifically, someone with a copy of Desire on vinyl), I think you've got a lot to work with. And director Todd Haynes -- who co-wrote the script with Oren Moverman -- puts a lot on the screen. A young African American rides the rails playing folk music. An arch, overgrown juvenile delinquent gives cryptic answers to unknown questioners. A folksinger who walked away from it all in the '70s. A '60s vision of style itself stalking London. The actor who played the folksinger, once, in a movie, dealing with fame and family. A hippie-cowboy-monk in some never-was Old West.

And all the Dylans -- none of whom are Dylan -- cross and connect and clash. The youngest is played by African American teen Marcus Carl Franklin. British actor Ben Wishaw is next, cryptic and dry. Christian Bale broods and seethes through a mockumentary. Cate Blanchett staggers and swaggers through Don't Look Back re-imagined as a Fellini fever dream. Heath Ledger's actor drifts through a very '70s California break-up with Charlotte Gainsbourg. Richard Gere wanders in a carnival-western cosmos shot through a haze of dust and sunlight. Like the blind men and the elephant, Haynes and his cast fumble at immensity and come back with distortions, misrepresentations, textures.

I miss many things about living in New York -- the people, the restaurants and bars, Central Park, the smell of baked ass that overtakes the city this time of year (OK, not that last one). But what I miss the most has got to be the film "scene." Getting a coffee and taking the subway to a movie on a Sunday morning always filled me with happiness. NYC also puts on one of the best film festivals in the country -- the cleverly named New York Film Festival. Showcasing 28 films, the fest will be held this year at Frederick P. Rose Hall in the Time Warner Center. Screenings are set for September 28 through October 14th, and this year's lineup is a real doozy. It includes new films from Sidney Lumet (Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, with Ethan Hawke and Philip Seymour Hoffman), Catherine Breillat (The Last Mistress, just grabbed by IFC), Todd Haynes (I'm Not There, his Bob Dylan movie), Abel Ferrara (the promisingly titled Go-Go Tales, starring Willem Dafoe), Noah Baumbach (following up the excellent Squid and the Whale with Margot at the Wedding), the ascotted Peter Bogdanovich (profiling one of my favorite bands with Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers: Runnin' Down a Dream), and Brian DePalma (an Iraq war drama called Redacted).

Wes Anderson's new film (can't wait!) The Darjeeling Limited will open the NYFF. The Coen Brothers' new one No Country for Old Men (really really can't wait!) will be the "centerpiece" of the festival. And Cannes '07 jury prize-winner Persepolis, an "animated coming-of-age" story directed by Marjane Satrapi and Vincent Paronnaud, will close the fest. Also showcased will be Cannes favorites like Gus Van Sant's Paranoid Park, Julian Schnabel's French-language The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, and Palme d'Or winner 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days. In addition, there will be five classic films screened, including John Ford's first major film -- The Iron Horse. Probably the most anticipated of that bunch is Ridley Scott's "definitive cut" of Blade Runner, in honor of that film's 25th anniversary. An evening called "The Technicolor Show" should be a major attraction, as it's introduced by Martin Scorsese. Head over to Yahoo Movies for the full roster.

Leave it to the eclectic director Todd Haynes to come up with the wacky idea of getting Cate Blanchett in the role of Bob Dylan -- and if anyone can pull it off it would be Blanchett, who is easily the best actress working today. Ain't it Cool News has a clip from Haynes' Dylan biopic I'm Not There in a scene that shows Dylan (Blanchett) receiving an impromptu pep-talk from the poet Allan Ginsberg, as played by comedian David Cross. Cross is another unlikely casting choice in the movie, but he does bear a passing resemblance to the late great poet. Last month, Erik had news of the first poster for the film, and there had already been a few glimpses of Blanchett decked out as Dylan, but it's something else to see the actress doing a pretty admirable job of channeling the legendary singer.

Haynes is obviously going for poetic spin on the narrative here and the film will feature Dylan's original music, so at least fans aren't going to have to sit through another thinly veiled caricature à la Factory Girl. This is Haynes' second feature film steeped in music history, having also directed Velvet Goldmine, a loose retelling of the relationship between David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Blanchett's role in I'm Not There has garnered the most attention obviously, because of the gender-bending, but the cast also includes well-known names like Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, and Richard Gere -- they're all playing Dylan in different stages of his career. So if you like what you see in this clip, then you'll be happy to know that I'm Not There is set for release on September 21st.