Watch out for
todd hAynES, who screened his excellent documentary velvet Underground, about the cultural forces that brought together lou reed, john cale, maureen tucker and all of Andy Warhol’s Factory posse. it’s so insightful — and some of the comments about the counter-culture are brutal. i was never a devotee of the velvet Underground (though i knew some of their music), so a lot of what haynes and his associates uncover is a revelation. Plus, i like folk reflecting on their art from a distance. it’s great to see haynes working with long-time producer christine vachon (the first time i spotted vachon’s credit on a movie was for Superstar, the short film haynes made in 1988 about Karen carpenter). velvet Underground will be streamed on Apple tv+.
PEDRO ALMODOvAR (pictured), who presented Jodie Foster with an honorary Palme d’Or this week. The director flew in from Spain, where he is editing his latest film, Parallel Mothers. ‘It’s about mothers and their babies that are born on the same day,’ the legendary filmmaker told me. He said the film was shot during the pandemic. ‘We all wore masks. A lot of masks.’ But masks won’t feature in the actual movie which stars Almodovar’s muse Penelope Cruz. Milena Smit, Aitana Sanchez-Gijon and Rossy de Palma also have key roles in the picture, which the director said he hopes to finish by December.
VAL — another must-see documentary — made from thousands of video tapes the screen artist Val Kilmer shot at auditions, on sets or at home with his family. Kilmer was too ill (after treatment for throat cancer) to travel to Cannes, so his children from his marriage to Joanne Whalley, Mercedes and Jack (who narrates his father’s words), presented the film at the festival. It will be on Amazon Prime next month. Kilmer and I clashed a couple of times over the years regarding a few of the duds he made (he made some fab movies, too!). But I was very moved by Val. It’s a cautionary tale for up-and-coming actors who believe the baloney about them being a star at the age of 21. Or was it 12?