[Safe] and Far From Heaven director Todd Haynes is moving to television for his next project, a mini-series adaptation of James M. Cain’s classic noir novel Mildred Pierce. He’s given Kate Winslet the nod to take the title role, a woman struggling to survive the depression and protect her daughter amidst a complex set of betrayals and even murder. It’s the character that gave Joan Crawford her only Best Actress Oscar win, courtesy of Michael Curtiz’ truly splendid 1945 feature film.
Curtiz and his screenwriters Ranald MacDougall, William Faulkner and Catherine Turney took a number of creative liberties with Cain’s novel, most notably changing its entire structure and set-up. Unlike the linear novel, the film recounts the story in flashback after Mildred Pierce has been arrested on suspicion of murder. It works quite wonderfully, and definitely creates even more of a sweaty and desperate tone than the novel has, and I’m very curious to see if Haynes will, or even can, adopt the same strategy. Personally, I’m hoping he returns to the chronological ordering of the novel and lets the pressure build steadily. I can see him doing a bent-out-of-shape soap like that quite superbly.
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The Inglourious Basterds publicity continues apace with Quentin Tarantino now speaking to members of the UK press. With a sweet appreciation of Brit cinema culture, Tarantino decided to tell us which actors of ours he likes, and just what UK-set film project he’d like to tackle.
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Forbes Magazine has released their list of the highest earning actresses, once again proving that Hollywood is sexist. Angelina Jolie tops the list with $27 million, almost two and a half times less than the highest earning male actor (Harrison Ford with $65 million – remember, Crystal Skull was a huge payday). The top 10 actresses earned $183 million, less than half of the $393 million total that makes up the top 10 actors. Check out the top 15 after the jump.
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Did you miss any of the important Oscar speeches from last night’s Academy Awards? Well you have a second chance to catch them now on YouTube. After the jump we’ve embedded the speeches from Danny Boyle (Best Director), Kate Winslet (Best Actress), Penelope Cruz (Best Supporting Actress), AR Rahman (Best Sound, Best Score), Heath Ledger‘s Family (Best Supporting Actor), and Sean Penn (Best Actor).
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The Weintein Co has released the first trailer for Stephen Daldry‘s adaptation of The Reader. The romantic drama is set in a post-World War II Germany, and tells the story of “a man whose life has been shaped by an illicit affair with a passionate, elusive older woman during his youth.” The film stars Kate Winslet and Ralph Fiennes.
Bernhard Schlink’s The Reader has been translated into 39 languages, has garnered numerous awards, and is the first German novel to reach number one on The New York Times Bestseller List. The post production quibbles have been well documented, and Harvey Weinstein hopes to have the film in theaters on December 10th. Watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple.com, or embedded below.
[flv:http://bitcast-a.bitgravity.com/slashfilm/trailers/thereader.flv 470 264]
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/Film reader Rama’s Screen sends over word that the trailer for Sam Mendes‘ Revolutionary Road, the new film which reunites Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. And this time we have it without the annoying Entertainment Tonight voiceover. I’m still weary because of some of the simplistic dialogue, but I have yet to be let down by Mendes yet. Plus, the film will probably be wroth watching for Roger Deakins cinematography alone. And besides, it seems like it has all the criteria for award season contention. As always, tell me what you think in the comments below.
Based on the novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road tells the story of a young couple trying to find fulfillment in an age of conformity. Trapped in a world of encoded convention, they dream without faith, as lies and self-deceptions build to explosive consequences.
[flv:http://bitcast-a.bitgravity.com/slashfilm/trailers/revolutionaryroadreal1.flv 470 206]
Revolutionary Road hits theaters on December 26th 2008.
source: leonardo dicaprio
Entertainment Tonight has a sneak preview of the teaser trailer for Revolutionary Road, Sam Mendes‘ new film which reunites Titanic stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. There is nothing more I hate than Mary Hart talking over the interesting parts of a movie trailer, but alas it is all we have. My first encounter with this footage was in hearing only the audio over the shoulder of a colleague as he watched it. I found the dialogue to be laughably on the nose, Paul Haggis style. But it becomes easy to dismiss when complimented with Roger Deakins’ cinematography. As always, tell me what you think in the comments below.
Based on the novel by Richard Yates, Revolutionary Road tells the story of a young couple trying to find fulfillment in an age of conformity. Trapped in a world of encoded convention, they dream without faith, as lies and self-deceptions build to explosive consequences.
Revolutionary Road hits theaters on December 26th 2008.
If you’ve never had the pleasure of spending five or so minutes looking for an “unstuffy, blue skies” photo of Sam Mendes, try staring at a piece of gray construction paper until your eyes glaze over. At least this new, upcoming project sounds like a nice change of pace (color?) for the director of American Beauty, who hasn’t been on auto-pilot since snagging Best Director in ’99, but sometimes it feels that way. Mendes has signed on to helm an untitled comedy based on the script, “This Must Be the Place,” by Vendela Vida and her husband, McSweeney’s maestro Dave Eggers. And yes, the script fits, like a circle into a circle-shaped hole, into that oh-so ’07 category of “unready for preggo, me laugh one day” movies.
Who’s bringing the funny to the flesh? Well, Maya Rudolph (PTA’s better half, SNL ethnic-role staple) and The Office‘s John Krasinki (so weird in Smiley Face), are attached like Velcro laces to star as a just-married couple searching for a proper place to pop out and raise a cute bebe. Filming is scheduled for March and it’s parked at Focus Features.
Mendes’s next film in theaters will be December’s ’50s set Revolutionary Road, starring Leonard DiCaprio and Mendes’s wife, Kate Winslet, as a couple torn up by cheating and other drama igniting from that crazy, little sparkler called love.
