DJariya

Synopsis:



Trailer:

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Really great miniseries. Looking forward to it's conclusion tonight.

Dragon Tattoo

Can't wait.

DJariya

FYI, according to my program guide tonight's finale actually runs 155 minutes.

If your on the West Coast recording this on HBO East at 6pm, you may have record conflicts for any 8pm records.

mwbmis

And I would pad.

The first week I didn't pad, and I had to watch the last couple mintues on On-Demand. Last week I did pad five minutes (the late Sunday showing...too many conflicts) and I still had to watch the last few minutes on On-Demand. It's always fun to fast forward through the entire show to watch the final couple minutes. Because of conflicts this week, I'm not getting this until the overnight showing.

bluesix

A fine conclusion to this terrific mini-series, even if the storyline resolved itself in a somewhat unsatisfying way.

If this ending was faithful to the novel I have to admit I much preferred the film version where we got more of a feeling of closure with Veda and Monty's characters.

In the movie, Monty's character has been killed, having been shot by someone we are led to believe is Mildred but ends up being Veda.

While this was not as satisfying as watching Mildred choke the life out of her evil monster daughter, at least we got more of a sense of where Mildred would end up.

This leaves me thinking that she and old Bert will become alcoholics and will die alone together.

It also pained me me to see Mildred end up losing the restaurant chain too. I thought she gave up a little too easily in the scene with her creditors. Especially since she ended up divorcing Monty and selling the mansion and ditching Veda. Those things along should have allowed her to settle things with her creditors.

But I suppose the author thought he had to torture Mildred to the bitter end.

As far as the mini-series goes, I can't think of anything they could have done better. The last two parts were pitch perfect.

Seeing Evan Rachel Wood's anorexic nude body only made me appreciate Kate's voluptuousness more. Monty, what were you thinking?

bluesix

A fine conclusion to this terrific mini-series, even if the storyline resolved itself in a somewhat unsatisfying way.

If this ending was faithful to the novel I have to admit I much preferred the film version where we got more of a feeling of closure with Veda and Monty's characters.

In the movie, Monty's character has been killed, having been shot by someone we are led to believe is Mildred but ends up being Veda.

While this was not as satisfying as watching Mildred choke the life out of her evil monster daughter, at least we got more of a sense of where Mildred would end up.

This left me thinking she and old Bert will become alcoholics and die alone together.

It also pained me me to see Mildred, who we have come to know as a skillful businessnesswoman, end up losing the restaurant chain. I thought she gave up a little too easily in the scene with her creditors. Especially since she ended up divorcing Monty and selling the mansion and ditching Veda. Those things alone should have allowed her to settle things with her creditors.

But I suppose the author thought he had to torture Mildred to the bitter end.

As far as the mini-series goes, I can't think of anything they could have done better. The last two parts were pitch perfect.

Seeing Evan Rachel Wood's anorexic nude body only made me appreciate Kate's voluptuousness more. Monty, what were you thinking?

Geofferson

A very satisfying conclusion indeed. It stuck very close to the novel even down to the final scene: "Yes, let's get stinko." All in all, a great mini-series

MrX

I thought there was way too much of Veda singing, and the scenes went on too long. Other than that I enjoyed it.

Evan Rachel Wood needs to eat a sandwich.

Throwing Copper

I agree. She's always been thin but not that bad until recently.

Throwing Copper

I just watched this finale for the third time. It just doesn't work as well or me as the first 3 parts did.

Something seems off.

Still waiting on DJariya's take on parts 4 & 5.

Parts 1 & 2 are easily the best for me.

JeffTheAlpaca

LOL LOL


Did Veda get tired of his slacker ways and then shot him?

Agree and I was not happy with the ending. I was enjoying the series until part 5 and the choking scene was the only good part.

Who did Rachel Woods vocals or did she perform the songs?

DJariya

Just finished the last 2 1/2 hours today.

1st of all, Veda is probably IMO one of the most Evil and Despicable characters on TV (both as a child and adult) I do give Evan Rachel Wood credit for a pretty solid performance. But, I hope I never have to see her nude ever again. She needs to eat several $6 Burgers. I don't get why Monty cheated on Mildred with Veda. His little diatribe didn't make any sense to me. And I agree Kate Winslet has an amazing, sexy voluptuous body.

Overall, it was a pretty good end to the series, although part 4 and 5 were the weakest. Kate Winslet was amazing. I hope this miniseries will get recognized at the Emmy's or Golden Globes (if it qualifies next season) Winslet deserves a nomination for best actress. I was also happy to see Bert and Mildred reunite at the end.

For anyone who is curious, I watched the 30 minute Making Of Mildred Pierce featurette and an Asian Opera singer named Sumi Jo does Veda's singing voice.

If you didn't watch the series because you don't have HBO, I highly recommend at least renting the series, especially if your a fan of Winslet. For me, I don't think the series has much replay value a 2nd time around, but I would consider picking up the DVD/BD set if they included audio commentaries from Todd Haynes, Wood and Winslet so I could get some more insight into the series.

BTW, I'm glad I subscribed to HBO in time to watch this miniseries. I love that HBO is willing to spend the money to create quality series/miniseries like this.

Charlie Goose

Winslet is always terrific, she'll almost certainly be nominated for an Emmy. I expect nominations for Wood and Pearce as well, and maybe even one for O'Byrne.
I never read the book or saw the Joan Crawford version. I thought this one started a little slow, picked up in the middle, and then slowed down again at the end. It was almost as if they were trying to fill the ending with so much singing.
And while I appreciate the effort of Wood to do full frontal (with merkin), I'm glad to see that many here enjoy the femininity of Winslet more. I've been in love with her since Titanic.

Josh-da-man

"I want you to put in my ass."

Gunde

1. He is an asshole
2. Many guys dig skinny chicks (while I usually don't, I still think ERW looked pretty good naked)
3. Because he could

Dragon Tattoo

Kate Winslet was amazing in this. She needs to be nominated and (win) the Emmy for this.

I thought they set it up pretty obviously from the beginning of the 5th episode (I thought it was WAY too obvious, actually) as, just after the wedding, Mildred turned into quite the nag regarding Monty and pretty much only gave him orders from that point on. Literally, everything she said to him was an order after the marriage and you could see the resentment written on his face after each scene. Monty was always a petty character and would do anything to get back at her for doing that to him.

Anyway, definitely buying the Blu-ray for this when it comes out. It'll go nicely right next to Tron Legacy.

Sean O'Hara

In the novel it's very much a class thing. Mildred's this nouveau riche woman who still has the stink of the lower-middle class around her. Monty resents that he has to accept financial support from her -- Monty Beregon taking money from a chicken tycoon! -- but she makes it worse by talking about it and turning it into an issue of business. To Monty, the point of being rich is to live a high class lifestyle and never talk about business or finance, while to Mildred money is the thing. Veda, with her pretensions, is much more the kind of woman he wants

JeffTheAlpaca

I downloaded several of the behind the scenes featurettes from HBO on Demand and I will watch them tonight.

I hope this gets a blu-ray release. I Don't Know Jack with Pacino was only released on DVD but the price is blu-ray.