Steven Soderbergh

[diamonds]

A charity auction to meet Soderbergh reveals that he'll be shooting this project (titled Full Circle) come September in New York.

Trailer. Premieres July 13th.

[john Marshal]

That's a nice interview (and only confirms that Batman & Robin followed up by Out of Sight were probably the two best things that happened to George Clooney, one giving him material to self deprecate about for decades later and the other an immediate escape from being caught in the black hole of that film's failure!) although I was rather disappointed that nobody mentioned the remake of Solaris at all, especially given that it has just passed its 20th anniversary. The Tarkovsky adaptation is unique (and uniquely weird) but I think the Soderbergh take on the material was extremely well handled as well.

That's a great observation! It's interesting how the movies Batman & Robin and Out of Sight had such different impacts on George Clooney's career. Batman & Robin gave him material to self-deprecate about for years, while Out of Sight helped him escape the aftermath of the former film's failure. It's a shame that the remake of Solaris, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, wasn't mentioned in the interview. The Tarkovsky adaptation of Solaris is indeed unique and has its own peculiar charm. However, I also believe that Steven Soderbergh's take on the material was exceptionally well-handled. It offered a fresh perspective and was a noteworthy adaptation in its own right.

[jazzo]

Two different things, entirely, and both, as you say, with their own charms.

I adore the Soderbergh one, and find it a deeply moving experience and examination of memory and the roles we play in our relationships with other people, whereas Tarkovsky's formalism and imagery elicit more of an appreciation of mood than anything else, at least in me.

[beamish14]

I love how Solaris received one of the lowest Cinemascores ever

[therewillbeblus]

I think it's one of Soderbergh's best films, and perhaps better than the original. I think I gave some kind of in-depth comparison / defense for the remake's economy here

[beamish14]

I think it's one of Soderbergh's best films, and perhaps better than the original. I think I gave some kind of in-depth comparison / defense for the remake's economy here

Oh, certainly. It’s in good company on that Cinemascore list alongside very distinctive and risk-taking films that have been reevaluated like In the Cut and Bug

I don’t remember what the source is, but I thought that Stanislav Lem disliked both film adaptations of his novel

[jazzo]

And even The Box, which, whatever faults it may have, definitely has a voice!

[Swift]

That's a nice interview (and only confirms that Batman & Robin followed up by Out of Sight were probably the two best things that happened to George Clooney, one giving him material to self deprecate about for decades later and the other an immediate escape from being caught in the black hole of that film's failure!) although I was rather disappointed that nobody mentioned the remake of Solaris at all, especially given that it has just passed its 20th anniversary. The Tarkovsky adaptation is unique (and uniquely weird) but I think the Soderbergh take on the material was extremely well handled as well.

That's a great observation! It's interesting how the movies Batman & Robin and Out of Sight had such different impacts on George Clooney's career. Batman & Robin gave him material to self-deprecate about for years, while Out of Sight helped him escape the aftermath of the former film's failure. It's a shame that the remake of Solaris, which recently celebrated its 20th anniversary, wasn't mentioned in the interview. The Tarkovsky adaptation of Solaris is indeed unique and has its own peculiar charm. However, I also believe that Steven Soderbergh's take on the material was exceptionally well-handled. It offered a fresh perspective and was a noteworthy adaptation in its own right.

Is this another bot? The post is essentially just a rewording of Colin's post.

[Roscoe]

Lem's issues had to do with the fact that his novel was about humanity's first contact with an alien intelligence, as opposed to the other concerns in the movies. I'm mostly paraphrasing here: "that's why I called it SOLARIS, and not LOVE IN OUTER SPACE."

I'm good with the Soderbergh, mainly. I like the elegance of the production and the fine performances. It's just that ending that gets on my nerves.

[tenia]

Is this another bot? The post is essentially just a rewording of Colin's post.

What is happening here ? I've never encountered this anywhere before, let alone twice in such a short span of time.

[Mr Sausage]

It's more than twice. These are just the ones that slipped through (and, honestly, my bad for this one. I didn't read what it was quoting, tho' I will from now on). There was a whole run of bots using AI generated text trying to post on here a few weeks back, but none of them made past the approval stage.

[colinr0380]

Well I for one am flattered that a bot may have picked up on and agreed with my observation, and welcome my robot overlords! Although there are not enough parentheses used to truly 'get' my 'style' of writing.

On the two film versions of Solaris, I think that they complement each other well. The Tarkovsky is idiosyncratic and weird and with a lot of personal touches (that all flow into the even more nakedly autobiographical Mirror, which for me just tips over the line into being a bit too insular to yet be able to appreciate it fully beyond just enjoying the imagery of it) and as Roscoe says is much more about nostalgia for the Earth and the memories of the people left behind on it to the point where it may actively frustrate people wanting less introspective navel gazing and more discussion of alien intelligences, whilst the Soderbergh feels very 'professional' and straightforward in its story-centric focus. It has been a while since I last listened to the commentary track on the Soderbergh version but it felt strangely subdued and cautious feeling, to the extent that during the commentary there is suspiciously no mention of the Tarkovsky version at all (only the Stanislaw Lem source novel), despite it seeming inescapable to not at the very least just briefly acknowledge it by namechecking the older film!

(Also after having recently watched that documentary series about the behind-the-scenes drama and murder going on with the Chippendales and combining that with George Clooney's joke during that Q&A session about having felt left out and wanting to be in the 'next' Magic Mike film, perhaps that might be a suitable subject for Soderbergh! Or maybe it might be too obvious a subject for him to do)

[erok910]

Rewatched Che today. The end of Part Two is absolutely terrifying. I saw this in the theater (and sat next to Ethan Hawke in the Ziegfeld, the final Thursday before the roadshow in theaters would be pulled, and we talked about it at the half-way mark with another woman for a good 15 or 30 minutes while we got popcorn and sat down, etc) and I really dug it then. But watching it now, I was only something like 16 when it came out- it's like a completely different film to me now. I've seen it many times, but it never struck me the way it did this previous time. The ending where he looks over at Fidel at the bow of their boat, wondering what he's telling someone to take notes for: 'What the fuck is Fidel up to over there at the front?' I just thought it was incredible and couldn't find the films page when searching so figured would post it in here.

Meanwhile: saw Magic Mike 3 the other week. And it was a sort of weird commercial for the Magic Mike show IMO. Good for him for making it, I guess.

[The Narrator Returns]

In addition to Full Circle, Soderbergh has a sci-fi comedy miniseries with Michael Cera and Liev Schreiber coming out in three days on his website.

Trailer

[Grand Wazoo]

Never thought I'd see Stavros in a Soderbergh project but here we are.

[Swift]

"From the ass of Steven Soderbergh" made me snort.

[pzadvance]

Bummer his first newsletter since announcing the 4k blu ray box set (supposed to release last year) didn’t offer any status updates

Finally an update on this (hoping the use of “DVD” is just him using a generalized term for “disc”)

“So I’m doing this box set of all the movies whose rights have reverted back to me. So it will include both the remastered, original version of Kafka and the new version, Mr. Neff. Full Frontal’s been re-edited, Schizopolis got re-edited a little — they both became shorter — and then Girlfriend Experience, Bubble, and the two Spalding Gray docs have all been remastered. We’re putting together what will be a very limited run of individually numbered box sets. So I’m hoping end of the year. It’s taking longer than I thought; having a booklet written to go with it, you’ve got this process of authoring the DVDs and then getting the package. It takes a while. But if we’re lucky this’ll be a holiday treat for… somebody.”

[Yakushima]

Bummer his first newsletter since announcing the 4k blu ray box set (supposed to release last year) didn’t offer any status updates

Finally an update on this (hoping the use of “DVD” is just him using a generalized term for “disc”)

“So I’m doing this box set of all the movies whose rights have reverted back to me. So it will include both the remastered, original version of Kafka and the new version, Mr. Neff. Full Frontal’s been re-edited, Schizopolis got re-edited a little — they both became shorter — and then Girlfriend Experience, Bubble, and the two Spalding Gray docs have all been remastered. We’re putting together what will be a very limited run of individually numbered box sets. So I’m hoping end of the year. It’s taking longer than I thought; having a booklet written to go with it, you’ve got this process of authoring the DVDs and then getting the package. It takes a while. But if we’re lucky this’ll be a holiday treat for… somebody.”

Thank you for sharing this update! I gave up on waiting and re-watched "Kafka" just the other day, for the first time in may be 20 years. It aged extremely well. Still my favorite Soderbergh. Such an enjoyable film.

[A Tempted Christ]

“Full Frontal’s been re-edited, Schizopolis got re-edited a little — they both became shorter...”

Oh, I absolutely hate this. I hate it when directors make small changes to their movies and then don't bother with releasing the original. Coppola, Coens and now Soderbergh apparently.

[pzadvance]

Not really clear to me whether or not the originals will be included— he specifically mentions that Kafka will feature both cuts, so who knows?

[domino harvey]

Full Frontal already has two different releases— the DVD and Blu-ray present different cuts. So this may be a third cut now, if these are in fact new changes

[therewillbeblus]

I read that as only Kafka would be afforded both cuts, ostensibly because they're so wildly different. I doubt he'd include multiples for the films he's only slightly trimming, which is a shame since I can't really imagine Full Frontal -and certainly not Schizopolis- losing any material and being 'better'

[A Tempted Christ]

On second thoughts, perhaps the reason he specifically mentions Kafka is that the two radically different cuts are sitting on two separate discs, as opposed to the minimally-different cuts of Full Frontal and Schizopolis which can come out on a single disc via seamless branching.

A couple of years ago, an HD copy of Schizopolis was streaming on HBO Max. It opened with Criterion's current logo and even though I didn't check thoroughly, it didn't seem to be edited. It makes me wonder if these films could be coming from Criterion, or is Soderbergh independently releasing them?

[pzadvance]

The way he’s discussed it publicly and the fact that it’s apparently a “very limited” edition makes me think it’ll just be for sale on his website

[therewillbeblus]

For those in the Boston area, IFF Boston is going to be showing the last few Soderbergh movies that missed theatrical screenings (KIMI, Let Them All Talk, No Sudden Move) at the Somerville theatre the weekend of Sept 15-17. Info here