While We Wait for Carol...
Wednesday, December 23, 2015 at 5:00PM The natives are growing restless.
Greetings friends. Chris here, the newest member of Team Experience. Like I'm assuming many of you, I live far away from the lucky 16 theatres currently housing Todd Haynes' return to the big screen. So I'm happy with even the slightest shift that brings Carol's glacial release to my local screens. Non-US readers have an even longer wait. We've all become the human embodiment of that inescapable Rooney Mara image.
It's worth noting amid all our impatience the cautionary tale told this year by the likes of Steve Jobs and The Diary of a Teenage Girl: going too wide too soon can result in a quick crash and burn in this increasingly crowded marketplace. So let's take a breather and feel grateful that Carol has a distributor like The Weinstein Co. focused on reaching a passionate audience, even if it means waiting longer than we want. After all, the film is still the film no matter when we see it.
Meanwhile, I've got 10 fun homework assignments to keep you occupied while you wait...
1. Read Patricia Highsmith's novel (also published as The Price of Salt). The film is not a page-to-page adaptation, so some surprises will still be ahead - including more of our titular love interest!
2. Rewatch the Todd Haynes filmography! I'll do the leg work for you: Velvet Goldmine is availble on Netflix Instant, Poison and I'm Not There on Amazon Prime...
Far From Heaven and Mildred Pierce are on HBO Go. You can even find the bootlegged Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story on YouTube! You're welcome.
3. Play catch up for your end of the year list before the holiday glut! Underappreciated gems like I'll See You in My Dreams and Girlhood await!
4. Indulge in some vices to tide you over.
5. Remember that no one channels mid-century class like Sarah Paulson.
6. Enjoy some eye candy. Some sweet Kyle Chandler eye candy.
7. Find inspiration in the details.
8. Get your fashion sense in gear. Don't you want that charming new friend to compliment your hat at the New Years' Party?
9. Make the little moments count. They might stick with you the most.
10. Pay your respects to Todd Haynes' first Carol. [safe] isn't streaming at the moment, but dammit you deserve that Criterion! Merry Christmas to you!
Santa brings Carol to additional cities this Friday, with more cities to come in January. I know we're all agonizing, but the wait will be worth it.
Reader Comments (11)
Seeing tonight here in the uk.
Neither read the book, nor I am a big fan of Velvet Goldmine; I found it so...messy and indulgent to a fault. But CAROL is something else. And those who found Mara like, inert, don't have a clue as where the soul of this movie is: it's in her eyes. Cate Blanchett is a bagagge of nervous tics, literally. And it is the way it should be. I'm not compelled to read it because I don't want to spoil the movie just as Ilike saw it. I can understand if fans of the book are dissapointed. For that only reason, I would never suggest reading the book first. You should see CAROL with the eyes of Therese. As virgin as possible. Just an opinion.
Carol opens Christmas eve here in KC...so yay for that.
Blessed are the GIRLHOOD references.
Yeah, I don't want to complain too much but it has been a frustrating year since so many critics have been raving about "Carol" and "45 Years" for about 6 months before most of us have been able to actually see them. It's not a new phenomenon, but it has felt heightened.
Glenn - it's one of my favorite lead actress performances of the year, and one that I've read exactly 0 people talking about.
Dave - same. I won't be posting my Best Of-s for 2015 until well into February because of this very thing.
My coping mechanism has been to re-read the book and re-watch Blanchett films.
I learnt this week that my local cinema probably won't be showing Carol. If they do, it will be weeks after opening day. So I am going to travel by train for 8 hours on January 14th to see it on opening day in Sydney.
Lovely post, Chris. Not all non-US readers are unlucky - here in Greece Carol has been out for more than 20 days.
Also, Dottie Got Spanked was on YouTube last time I checked and maybe it's still there.
Blanchett is imo better than Mara.
11. Enjoy some of Blanchett's under-sung performances: The Gift, Charlotte Grey, Heaven, Coffee and Cigarettes, Little Fish, The Good German....
12. Read a Phyllis Nagy play.
Somewhat puzzled by the statement: "Non-US readers have an even longer wait. ..." I saw 'Carol' on November 28, the day after its UK release across the country - and Ireland. With the film now having completed its 'multiplex' screenings, it goes into the small community cinemas on January 1. I enjoyed it so much that I am going to see it again at the weekend at my local 100-seater, virtually across the road.