Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground doc trailer is loaded with hits, pics, and clips

Are you waiting for your man? Well, if your man is a trailer for the Todd Haynes-directed Velvet Underground documentary and not drugs, your man is here.

Haynes’ look at the influential art-rock band premiered at Cannes early this year, and now us regular old Velvets-heads will get a chance to see the thing. Boasting interviews with the surviving members, including John Cale, Moe Tucker, and Doug Yule, and rare archive footage of the band in their prime, The Velvet Underground aims to be the definitive cinematic account of the band. Plus, you get a bunch of black and white footage of Lou Reed and Cale hanging out with Allen Ginsberg and Andy Warhol (who is prominently featured in the trailer, of course).

Here’s the synopsis:

The Velvet Underground created a new sound that changed the world of music, cementing its place as one of rock ’n’ roll’s most revered bands. Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Todd Haynes, The Velvet Underground shows just how the group became a cultural touchstone representing a range of contradictions: the band is both of their time, yet timeless; literary yet realistic; rooted in high art and street culture.

The film features in-depth interviews with the key players of that time combined with a treasure trove of never-before-seen performances and a rich collection of recordings, Warhol films, and other experimental art that creates an immersive experience into what founding member John Cale describes as the band’s creative ethos: “how to be elegant and how to be brutal.”

The Velvet Underground also marks the first documentary by Todd Haynes, who somehow only has one Oscar nomination (a screenplay nod for Far From Heaven), and is mostly known for gorgeous dramas, like Safe and Carol. His last movie was the Mark Ruffalo-led Teflon horror movie, Dark Waters.

The Velvet Underground hits AppleTV+ on October 15, but thankfully, the film is also getting a theatrical release. So, if you want to hear “Candy Says” and “The Murder Mystery” in a massive surround sound setting, you may do so (as long as you’re vaccinated, wearing a mask, and following safety protocols. There’s no point in getting you or the people around you sick just because you have to see John Cale talk about natural harmonization in a theater).