Todd Haynes.

I used to hate his guts, but I've come around a little. He has a good eye for drama... like in Mildred Pierce. He greatly updates a simplistic original classic by injecting Haynesian-like drama which gave me the first notions of where his true talents lie...... in Television.   No idea why he doesn't write more television drama scripts because he understands the evolution of a drama.  Winslet is a tremendous improvement from Crawford although Wood is not as good as Blyth.

Apart from that, Far From Heaven feels like his apex. It's simple yet effectively soulful. I don't like I'm Not There - just too cold although I guess intellectually I don't know what issues to talk about with it.  While everyone thought Carol was his return to form, I personally think people confused soullessness for intentional coldness. Mara tremendously overrated and robotic. Blanchett gives one of her most unmemorable performances and she seems to lose inspiration anytime she steps foot onto his movies. She's either amazing (Blue Jasmine, The Man Who Cried, The Gift) or overrated. (Haynes movies, Elizabeth)

I guess I would say I'm interested whenever he has a promising movie coming out, but I'm not really a major fan of his. He's good though and deserves the credit for what he does well, yet he's also kind of a hit-and-miss.

I think when he tries so desperately to be Douglas Sirk (Far From Heaven, Carol, Safe to a certain extent), he really comes off as a soulless carbon-copy rather than bringing his own spark and energy to the table. And there certainly is more than enough of that spark to go around; I can't reconcile the guy who made Superstar: The Karen Carpenter Story with the one who made Wonderstruck.

With that said, his Mildred Pierce is very fine but a tad bloated, and I think I'm Not There. is a near-masterpiece, brought down by a rather lifeless Bale (who isn't in it enough to make that much of an impact) and an overly melodramatic Ledger (yeah, Heath, I haven't forgotten how much you sucked in this), but everything else about it was sublime.

EDIT: Oh, and this dude made Dark Waters as well, which automatically should disqualify him from the label "auteur" for 15 years at minimum.

All-time favorite for me.

1. Carol - 9.5/10
2. Safe - 8.5/10
3. I'm Not There. - 8.0/10
4. Poison - 8.0/10
5. Far from Heaven - 8.0/10
6. Velvet Goldmine - 7.5/10
7. Dark Waters - 7.5/10

N/S: Superstar & Wonderstruck

He's a generally solid director who's capable of true greatness. Both Carol and Far From Heaven are personal favourites of mine, with Haynes beautifully meshing period aesthetic with intense, simmering character work. I'm Not There is one of the better film biopics I've seen largely because of the creativity and dynamic interpretation that Haynes brings to the project. I recently saw Dark Waters, which wasn't bad but was exceedingly bland from a director who's shown such passionate flair previously. Want to get to some of his other stuff, particularly Safe, sometime soon.

Up there with the best filmmakers working today. I think he’s unfairly dismissed by many as well.

he's pretty hit-or-miss for me.

poison - miss
safe - hit (might be my fave from him, close with far from heaven)
far from heaven - hit
i'm not there - overall a miss i guess (just really uneven - some elements worked for me, some didn't)
carol - hit, but wasn't bowled over by it
wonderstruck - same deal as carol
dark waters - miss

i still haven't seen Velvet Goldmine.

'Dark Waters' is a hauntingly intimate film.

So many awful takes round here

After a generally embarrassing 2010s, Todd Haynes rolls into the 2020s.

May December - 9/10
Far From Heaven - 9/10
Mildred Pierce - 8.5/10
Carol - 8.5/10
Wonderstruck - 8.5/10
Dark Water - 6/10

N/S
I'm Not There
Velvet Goldmine
Poison
Superstar

Coming back to this thread to say that I've not stopped thinking about May December since I saw it earlier this week. Genuinely disturbing and sad, while also being thoroughly enjoyable. Probably the best I've ever seen Portman, the best Moore's been in ages, and Melton is truly a revelation. Perfect ending, too.

Ranking what I've seen:
Carol - 10
May December - 9
Far From Heaven - 9
Safe - 8.5
I'm Not There - 7.5
Dark Waters - 6

Tonight, I finally watched Carol and thankfully... I liked it.

Now, not every "beautiful" thing Haynes throws at the screen works flawlessly; the dialogue isn't always great (I wasn't a fan of "flung out of space" repetition actually / don't "buy" Mara's little breakdowns throughout either), Some missed oppurtunities to explore (like going beyond Therese's appearent "weakness" in regards to people around her - I don't think she's all that weak btw - or showing more of Kyle Chandler's side especially when he is about to change his mind near the end). It could've been more interesting in regards to secondary characters relatios (like the artist who's hung on Therese starts this empty chat about what their art is really good for...but he's so unremarakable that his presence annoys more than injecting more life to the enviroment. You know a Billy Wilder or a Fellini would never waste such a "type") and the last 10 minutes or so pretty much drags... but man, something about that closure just worked... and the on-screen chemistry between the leads, the cinematography (more WkW than Sirk) and the score (pleasantly similiar to Philip Glass' The Hours) left me satisfied enough to think of this certainly as one of his best .