[venediene]

This begins tonight! According to the schedule thing on the HBO site, Parts 1 and 2 will air tonight starting at 9pm EST with Part 3 airing next Sunday, April 3rd, at 9:15pm EST. This was advertised as a 5-part miniseries, but I'm not finding any information past Part 3. I'm assuming parts 4 and 5 will follow on the Sundays after that (10th and 17th) at around the same time.



http://www.hbo.com/mildred-pierce/ab...mildred-pierce

Kate Winslet as Mildred
Evan Rachel Wood as Veda
Guy Pearce as Monty
James LeGros as Wally
Melissa Leo as Lucy
Mare Winningham as Ida
Hope Davis as Mrs. Forrester
Brian F. O'Byrne as Bert

For those of you who may not know, this is based on the 1941 book by James M. Cain and has been adapted for the screen previously in 1945 starring Joan Crawford as Mildred - a role which earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress that year.

[Arexytece]

What a great cast! Can't wait to see this. Too bad I don't get HBO.

[viiagrag]

Did anyone catch this? I thought it was excellent for the most part. I think Kate Winlset was perfectly cast. Can't wait for Part 3 next Sunday!

[Fksxneng]

I watched last night. Having not read the book, it's all new to me. I loved it! It's alright for me to hate Veda already, yes?

[arriplify]

Have you all read the reviews? It is getting mostly negative or indifferent write-ups. I think the NY Times panned it. But I love Kate Winslet. She is my favorite actress. I don't have HBO, but they are pretty good at getting DVD's released quickly enough.

[Nigeopire]

I found it tedious and dull. Kate can do no wrong with me, so I was disappointed.

[maxfreemann]

Have you all read the reviews? It is getting mostly negative or indifferent write-ups. I think the NY Times panned it. But I love Kate Winslet. She is my favorite actress. I don't have HBO, but they are pretty good at getting DVD's released quickly enough.

NPR raved about it, really made me want to see it:

http://www.npr.org/2011/03/25/134770...dern-film-noir

At the start of the fall TV season, HBO gave us the best new series of the year with Boardwalk Empire, which was set in the Prohibition era in Atlantic City, N.J. This Sunday, HBO launches an ambitious, impressive five-hour miniseries — and as with Boardwalk Empire, it's set during the Depression.

But this one, called Mildred Pierce, is more intimate and, in the end, more emotional and more haunting. It's based on the 1941 novel by James M. Cain, about a middle-class woman trying to survive — and feed and nurture her young daughters — during very tough times. In 1945, it was one of three Cain stories made into a hit Hollywood movie in as many years — after Double Indemnity, and before The Postman Always Rings Twice. And the title role of Mildred Pierce won Joan Crawford an Oscar.

This new HBO version hands the title role to Kate Winslet, who does wonders with it. It's directed by Todd Haynes, who wrote the screenplay adaptation with Jon Raymond, and they put almost all the drama's weight on the shoulders of their leading lady. Todd Haynes also directed I'm Not There — that brilliant fable of a movie in which different actors and actresses play Bob Dylan at various times in his life — but for Mildred Pierce, it's all about keeping it real. Astoundingly real, down to the period magazines and wallpaper, the food on the diner plates and the slightly muted photography.

Remaking the story of Mildred Pierce, at this point in this decade, is particularly shrewd. As the drama opens – in Glendale, Calif., in 1931 — Mildred's marriage to her husband Bert breaks up suddenly. It leaves her, in the early years of the Depression, with two young daughters, no prospects for work and no idea how to keep going.

It's easy to relate that sort of anxiety to today's financial meltdown — and even easier because Kate Winslet, early on, vanishes completely into the role of Mildred. She's determined to provide for her daughters, but a visit to an employment agency generates nothing, except a lecture about how she isn't qualified to do anything but cook or clean — and, during hard times, there are plenty of people willing to do that. But when Mildred is asked out for a date by a predatory friend of her soon-to-be-ex-husband's, her neighbor has some more practical advice. And the neighbor is played by Melissa Leo, who follows up her Oscar-winning role in The Fighter with another winning performance here.

At first, this seems like a very old-fashioned, unenlightened narrative – suggesting that the only way for a woman to survive is to throw herself at a man. And even when the employment agent calls back with an out-of-the-blue job offer to be a waitress, Mildred doesn't see it as . . . suitable.

It's no accident that in the earliest scenes, Mildred doesn't talk much. It takes a while for her to find her voice, and even longer to find a direction — especially since the thought of taking that waitress job makes her sick. Literally sick. But she takes it anyway, and uses her skill at baking pies to bring in some extra money from the diner, and to start her on her way.

But this is James M. Cain, not some fairy tale, so not every turn in the story is a triumph, and not every man she meets is a prince. As actors, however, the men in Mildred's life, led by Guy Pierce as a dashing young playboy, are charming. And it's not until the fourth hour that Mildred's eldest daughter grows up enough to be played by Evan Rachel Wood — the vampire queen from True Blood — but she's worth the wait. Her defiant disdain of her mother's work ethic is one of the key elements in this miniseries, and, ultimately, provides its biggest payoff. And it's a different payoff from the one in the 1945 movie because this version is more faithful to the original novel.

I really, really enjoyed this miniseries — especially because it's perfect as a miniseries. The sheer length of the drama, and the journey Mildred has to take, makes her struggles more potent, more painful and more real. Mildred Pierce is a masterpiece of modern film noir — or, if you prefer, TV noir — and it's anchored by a performance by Winslet that is unlikely to be beaten at next year's Emmys.

Oh, and one last thing — HBO's Mildred Pierce will make you hungrier for pie than any television offering since Twin Peaks and Pushing Daisies. Select your TV snacks accordingly.

[Andrius]

I really want to watch this, but no HBO. Sad

[Fksxneng]

I really liked Part 3. Having had a similarly emotionally charged moment with my own kid (no hitting involved though), I thought the tactic used by Mildred was just right. Although I still wonder if this kid has mental problems or what.

[kaiayout]

I watched last night. Having not read the book, it's all new to me. I loved it! It's alright for me to hate Veda already, yes?

It is definitely alright! Ten minutes of that little girl and I wanted to slap her myself. Unfortunately, Mildred raised Veda to expect more, be the best and take nothing else. It's hard to feel sorry for her.

[duncanalisstmp]

I'm enjoying the series too. I would like to smack Vida, but I guess that means they're doing their job right.

[Caluabdum]

I found it tedious and dull. Kate can do no wrong with me, so I was disappointed.

yes! i only watched the first little bit to see how it was and it was definitely TEDIOUS.

[]

[Fksxneng]

It is definitely alright! Ten minutes of that little girl and I wanted to slap her myself. Unfortunately, Mildred raised Veda to expect more, be the best and take nothing else. It's hard to feel sorry for her.

I'm not getting that from the series though. I just see a little brat who thinks she's so far above everyone else and with no respect for her mother. So far the most interesting thing comment made about her in the series was by Dad saying that Veda likes to be hit. I wondering how that's going to play out, if at all, later.

[Fksxneng]

Wee? Well?? Still hatin' Veda. I wonder if that's where the book ended though? Seemed like the story could have gone further.

[kaiayout]

What a crap ending.

[Nigeopire]

I'm on part 4 now, but I am SO BORED. What an exercise in tedium.

[artenotreah]

I really wanted to like it (the friend in the first episode was kind of cool), but boy was it boring. The only think that kept me going was my contempt for the daughter. Otherwise, I don't think I'll bother watching the last episode.

[77Dinaartickire]

Just finished this miniseries. I actually really enjoyed it! I didn't expect Guy Pearce and Kate Winslet to have to much chemistry, but they were so believable as a couple. I feel like they made Mildred too matronly and dowdy in terms of her clothing, but I think Winslet pulled it off anyway.

The ending frustrated me to no end, though. It felt like she had just circled back around to the beginning (back to husband #1 and her old house), which was a letdown after watching 5 hours of her climbing up only to fall spectacularly back down for good. I know that she was finally able to sever ties with Veda, but after watching all that I really wanted her to triumph. So boo to that.

[arriplify]

Anyone know if HBO is going to re-broadcast this since they got all those Emmy's nominations?
I've searched everywhere to find out.

[ceagsoosy]

Thought this was elegant, with meticulous detail. Haynes and Winslet both offer studies in restraint. I thought Melissa Leo was a bit off, but I think she's just being Melissa Leo. haha.