Next?
Since 2000, I've been waiting for Steven Soderbergh's Next Film. That year, he dazzled with TRAFFIC, a dizzying tour-de-force, Of course, Soderbergh has made several films since then, but none that have delivered on the promise of previous works such as THE LIMEY, KING OF THE HILL, and OUT OF SIGHT. Instead, his films of this decade have been either gratuitous remakes or stunts. To wit, a perusal of his latter day resume:
2001: OCEAN'S 11. OK, an indulgent remake, fun cast. I'll give him a pass on this one.
2002: FULL FRONTAL. The nadir, a bottom-of-the-barrel embarrassment. A home movie that should've never seen the light of day.
2002: SOLARIS. Not a bad remake of Tarkovsky's seminal 1972 film. Beautiful production design, more than ably directed, but still a bit meh. Ultimately qualifies as a remake and a stunt, imo.
2004: OCEAN'S TWELVE. Um, gratitutous sequel to a gratuitous remake. Marginal.
2005: BUBBLE. Major stunt; a low budget experimental film with non-actors. Interesting, but still just a stunt. Soderbergh seems to enjoy one-offs like this-see also SCHIZOPOLIS and KAFKA.
2006: THE GOOD GERMAN. Bland attempt at a B & W genre pic from yesteryear. Major stunt, executed with mediocrity.
2007: OCEAN'S THIRTEEN. Really? REALLY?
2008: CHE. So, maybe someday we'll actually get to see what seems to be a rather ambitious bio, and quite possibly that Next Film I await. But for now.....
2009 has two Soderberghs-THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (smells like a stunt) and THE INFORMANT!, which looks like a bona-fide original! Maybe what I've sought? Watch the trailer in the meantime and see what you think:
www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2750218777/
2001: OCEAN'S 11. OK, an indulgent remake, fun cast. I'll give him a pass on this one.
2002: FULL FRONTAL. The nadir, a bottom-of-the-barrel embarrassment. A home movie that should've never seen the light of day.
2002: SOLARIS. Not a bad remake of Tarkovsky's seminal 1972 film. Beautiful production design, more than ably directed, but still a bit meh. Ultimately qualifies as a remake and a stunt, imo.
2004: OCEAN'S TWELVE. Um, gratitutous sequel to a gratuitous remake. Marginal.
2005: BUBBLE. Major stunt; a low budget experimental film with non-actors. Interesting, but still just a stunt. Soderbergh seems to enjoy one-offs like this-see also SCHIZOPOLIS and KAFKA.
2006: THE GOOD GERMAN. Bland attempt at a B & W genre pic from yesteryear. Major stunt, executed with mediocrity.
2007: OCEAN'S THIRTEEN. Really? REALLY?
2008: CHE. So, maybe someday we'll actually get to see what seems to be a rather ambitious bio, and quite possibly that Next Film I await. But for now.....
2009 has two Soderberghs-THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE (smells like a stunt) and THE INFORMANT!, which looks like a bona-fide original! Maybe what I've sought? Watch the trailer in the meantime and see what you think:
www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi2750218777/
Comments