Is the work of Steven Soderbergh the most overrated thing ever?

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i like erin brokovich, traffic, sex lies and videotape, out of sight, and the limey. the others I don't care about at all. I remember really disliking schizopolis, which seemed like more of a phoney attempt at being taken seriously by cult-loving filmies than his other work.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 31 January 2005 17:13 (twenty-one years ago)

anyway he's better than Alan Rudolph who I used to think of as kind of a similar director. they've definitely gone down seperate paths.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 31 January 2005 17:27 (twenty-one years ago)

I loved The Limey, Oceans 11, and Gray's Anatomy. I liked Erin Brokovich, the Solaris remake, and Out of Sight. I was mostly ambivalent about Traffic, Kafka, and Sex Lies & Videotape. I greatly disliked Schizopolis.

― polyphonic (polyphonic), Monday, 31 January 2005 17:31 (twenty-one years ago)

i forgot about gray's anatomy. that was good also.

― kyle (akmonday), Monday, 31 January 2005 17:34 (twenty-one years ago)

I loved Schizopolis. It was what made me first take note of Mr.Soderbergh.

― Thermo Thinwall (Thermo Thinwall), Monday, 31 January 2005 17:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Sarah and Carey OTM, two years ago.

I haven't seen Out of Sight in a very, very long time, mainly because I have it on VHS and not on DVD, but I plan to rectify this very soon.

― Allyzay Highlights The Fallacy of Radiohead (allyzay), Monday, 31 January 2005 20:17 (twenty-one years ago)

two weeks pass...

I saw Schizopolis last night. It was good! It made both more and less sense than I expected it to.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 15:58 (twenty-one years ago)

What I liked about Schizopolis is that in the process of telling a pretty simple core story (husband and wife grown apart emotionally, etc.) it throws out so many neat little ideas with such terrifying speed that it doesn't really matter that none of them really stick. Its wild and uneven, and fails over and over again, but the film as a whole still feels satisfying, conhesive in its own way.

― Augustine (Augustine Bearse), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 17:35 (twenty-one years ago)

not looking forward to his che movie

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:36 (twenty-one years ago)

I still stand by my original assertion!

― adam.r.l. (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

He's doing a Che movie?!?!? That's so not a good idea.

― Leon the Fatboy (Ex Leon), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:38 (twenty-one years ago)

fuck a biopic!!

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:51 (twenty-one years ago)

This will only work if they use the Che character from Evita.

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:54 (twenty-one years ago)

will it be a remake of "The Motorcycle Diaries" i wonder? he's the remake king.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:57 (twenty-one years ago)

an evil king, i mean.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 18:58 (twenty-one years ago)

what, no one liked his shot-for-shot Psycho remake? He's totally a hack, but even hacks make good movies on occasion (in this case I'd rate the Limey, Traffic. Out of Sight and Ocean's 11 were okay, but totally fluff, throwaway material. And I say this as someone who hates Elmore Leonard with a burning passion)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:00 (twenty-one years ago)

what, no one liked his shot-for-shot Psycho remake?

Yeah, what was that guy thinking ripping off Gus Van Sant like that!

― Ned Raggett (Ned), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:01 (twenty-one years ago)

the thought of soderbergh doing a shot-for-shot remake of van sant's shot-for-shot remake is cracking me up.

― jed_ (jed), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:03 (twenty-one years ago)

what, no one liked his shot-for-shot remake of The Out of Towners?

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:11 (twenty-one years ago)

I wonder - if enough people make shot-for-shot remakes of a shot-for-shot remake of a shot-for-shot remake of etc etc etc, will the Nth person down the line end up with just 90+ minutes' worth of blank film?

― David R. (popshots75`), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:17 (twenty-one years ago)

if they go the van sant route, it will be 90+ minutes of flying cows.

― jones (actual), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

Solaris is the Kid A of films. make of that what you will.

-- Nordicskillz (t1nym1n...), March 11th, 2003.

solaris is one of my favorite films of all time. yes this version. you may now excuse whatever paltry credibility i have earned over the last five months.

kafka is great too.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I've really never understood the love for *either* Solaris (in fact, I think I mailed hstencil my VHS copy several years ago...) As far as I'm concerned both versions are tedious and pointless. The BOOK, however, is typical Lem (ie, fantastic)

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:33 (twenty-one years ago)

Yup.

― n/a (Nick A.), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:34 (twenty-one years ago)

shakey what does the word "hack" mean to you?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:46 (twenty-one years ago)

actually for some reason i kind of wish he would remake the talking heads movie 'true stories'... i must be retarded.

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:52 (twenty-one years ago)

Soderbergh hasn't made a great film yet, but he might.

I like all 3 Solarises, tho in Lem-Tarkovsky-SS order.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:53 (twenty-one years ago)

"Soderbergh hasn't made a great film yet, but he might."

I would agree, but he has made some good films (King of the Hill is probably my early favorite, but I like Schizopolis and The Underneath and most of Hollywood fare too.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:55 (twenty-one years ago)

Oh wait and The Limey is really quite good, but I am a sucker for Point Blank-style revenge flicks.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 19:56 (twenty-one years ago)

Traffic with the exception of Del Toro's great performance is really weak though as is Erin Brockovich and Full Frontal is one of the worst movies I've ever seen.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:00 (twenty-one years ago)

hack = quantity over quality, with a penchant for remaining faithful to genre conventions and canonized sources

― Shakey Mo Collier, Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:14 (twenty-one years ago)

re:Che biopic

SS steped in on this after Terence Malick (?!?) backed out.

― Doobie Keebler (Charles McCain), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:29 (twenty-one years ago)

screw the 'genre conventions' argument, Shakey, but I buy you on the 'quantity over quality' argument w/o any comment. Also -

Soderbergh:Malick::Spielberg:Huston

― Remy (x Jeremy), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 20:31 (twenty-one years ago)

canonized sources?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 22:29 (twenty-one years ago)

dude wtf is james spader thinking these days.

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 15 February 2005 22:41 (twenty-one years ago)

i haven't seen that show he's on... but he was awesome in secretary!

― firstworldman (firstworldman), Tuesday, 15 February 2005 22:43 (twenty-one years ago)

he maintained a certain mystique throughout his career until this putrid Boston Legal (I think that's it).

― Aaron A., Tuesday, 15 February 2005 22:47 (twenty-one years ago)

eleven months pass...

Soderbergh talks 'video mash-ups' and more

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Monday, 30 January 2006 13:18 (twenty years ago)

I recently rescreened Erin Brockovich. Man, is it a better movie than Traffic.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:06 (twenty years ago)

Not in the last couple reels, when it's mostly about Julia Roberts' teeth.

So Bob Pollard has scored most of Bubble. If only it was still the '90s.

― Dr Morbius (Dr Morbius), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:11 (twenty years ago)

is 'bubble' any good? why is mark romanek the commentator on the dvd? i'm intrigued.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Monday, 30 January 2006 14:16 (twenty years ago)

Erin Brockovich was good!

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:30 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, if any movie deserves the Howard Hawks comparisons lobbed in Soderbergh's court it's Erin Brockovich.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:34 (twenty years ago)

Is the work of Steven Soderbergh the most overrated thing ever?

No, the work of Lars von Trier is

― Dadaismus (Dada), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:37 (twenty years ago)

I just saw EB again last night, and the scene where Aaron Eckhart and Julia Roberts break up is so great. Her speech is so realistic, her delivery. Everything with Finney is hilarious (and I only noticed his accent once). There are some scenes that are overplayed--the brittle female lawyer bitch is too much. But the townspeople are portrayed with so much care that I'm totally baffled by the reaction here. Should movies never deal with small-town victims of corporations? These people are shown to be skeptical and smart. The scene with no sound, with the dad throwing rocks at the company at night--scenes like that put this movie WAY out of the realm of TV movie.

This is so OTM. Best post on this thread.

― Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (Alfred Soto), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:52 (twenty years ago)

Yeah, if any movie deserves the Howard Hawks comparisons lobbed in Soderbergh's court it's Erin Brockovich.
-- Alfred, Lord Sotosyn (sotoal...), January 30th, 2006.

mind-boggling.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Monday, 30 January 2006 15:56 (twenty years ago)

I never even remotely thought of EB as TV movie caliber. And I thought the directing was fantastic without even knowing at the time it was by some hotshit director.

― Abbadavid Berman (Hurting), Monday, 30 January 2006 16:06 (twenty years ago)

(Thanks, Alfred!)

I'll admit EB shrinks in comparison to something like North Country, which actually takes an interest in its children, has no stock townies, and makes its trial almost an afterthought to activism. But I guess I will always be on board for The Julia Roberts Show in some form--unless that means sitting through Ocean's 12 again.

Read Jon Lee Anderson's Che biography before you decide it wouldn't make a great movie. Hope it's Reds/Godfather II-long, too.

― Pete Scholtes (Pete Scholtes), Monday, 30 January 2006 22:44 (twenty years ago)

have you guys ever actually seen a hawks film?

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 09:59 (twenty years ago)

if hawks were doing the story it'd be about the embattled ceos trying to get one over on the grasping, lily-livered sheep who have the audacity to call themselves citizens.

― The Man Without Shadow (Enrique), Tuesday, 31 January 2006 09:59 (twenty years ago)

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