Steven Soderbergh community

Steven Soderbergh On Sex, Money, Movies, Baseball and The Girlfriend Experience:

From a SuicideGirls.com interview which just went live today:

Question: The culture certainly retains a hyper-sensitivity to the monetization of bodies, though. Actresses, in particular, will often feel that a nudity requirement corrupts their artistry. Julia Roberts is a good example -- she once said that any nude scene she did would be in a documentary.

Steven Soderbergh: Well, you're talking movies now, I'm talking about prostitutes. But I think she's right. You're talking about someone who has a certain persona and who is a brand, in a way, and she has a certain idea of what that brand is and it doesn't involve shedding her clothes on screen. And that's cool. There are other actresses who feel like its part of their brand to do so.

Question: Did you have these kinds of quasi-philosophical discussions with Sasha, or were most of your talks more practical?

Steven Soderbergh: Yeah, the stuff we talked about was more practical. I talked to her about method more than anything else. I knew that if I could just get her to be her, then we would be fine. I talked to her about how we do this, how big the crew is, what the pace is, stuff like that. We didn't really have a need to talk about it conceptually, and I knew from seeing her other work that she was fearless and that there wasn't anything I could think of that she would have a problem with. As it turns out there was nothing extreme, but it was good to know that if I needed her to do that, she would.

Question: When you watched some of the more extreme videos in her filmography, what was your reaction?

Steven Soderbergh: It made me feel pretty square! I don't need very much, so I guess my reaction was, "Why is there all this extra activity?" I'm still stuck in first gear as far as that stuff goes, and she's pushing the envelope really far. And that's cool, there are people out there who, that's what turns them on, but I'm still in that place where I'm just marveling that it exists at all. I don't need a lot.

Click HERE to read the full interview.

http://30coins.com/iconography2.0.… 470Mb

ICONOGRAPHY 2.0 is the audio-visual project, which combines the art-visual representation of particular internet influence,
social investigation and electronic music mixtures.
ICONOGRAPHY 2.0 is inspirated by virtual universe of MOVING AVATARS, internet user's representation of himself/herself in the form of three-dimensional/two-dimensional icon with recurring motion picture. Each avatar is the mirrow of internet user’s personality, it's like short but capacious film regarding the alter-ego of ones inner life. That is the point to understand ICONOGRAPHY 2.0, the amusing brand-new sociological video-art work, refering to case study, pioneer research of human types of I-net users community.
ICONOGRAPHY 2.0 consists of over 2000 existing avatars, basically taken from internet forums, blogs and etc. The concept of ICONOGRAPHY 2.0 are sountracks accompanied consecutions of avatars, showing the types of self-representation of I-net users. Sanskrit word Avatara means "the descent of God" or simply "incarnation." Thus, ICONOGRAPHY 2.0 investigating live-telling story of on-line humans descent, but first of all it's the joyful affecting trip, during which people recognize themselves.

Bravo. Kanon's "The Good German" is a commendable and timely choice for your next film. Ultimately, I hope that such a project has a profound influence on the American mind. We are in need of some perspective.

Allow me to take you back a few years to the Berlin of 1992. It was there that I had the fortune of meeting *****. For whatever reasons our first encounter was quite unusual, considering the implicit barriers of the typically shallow, tourist-guide, relationship. The anticipated superficial colloquy never took place because of a simple observation.

I noted a certain distant, nearly vacant, aspect in *****'s slate-blue eyes as she skillfully avoided making anything but cursory references to the city's Nazi past. I could sense her inner turmoil, even from a distance, as my fellow travelers never let her gracefully elude commentary on all things Nazi. The pretense to knowledge of these self-proclaimed experts was just astounding, but the dynamic was intriguing. So I just hung to the rear and observed.

After one morning's excursion to the Cicilienhof, the group returned to our hotel along the Tiergarten. ***** informed us that the balance of the afternoon was reserved for independent exploration of Berlin.

When the group dispersed I approached ***** and asked her in German about her plans for the afternoon. She indicated that she was intent on doing laps at the Stadtbad Mitte, and having at one time been a competitive swimmer, I asked and she agreed to let me join her.

The pool facility was an amazing early 30s structure; a house of glass and iron, Speer-like in its grandiose simplicity; a temple for swimming. The task at hand was exhausting enough to keep the questions at bay. Later, we walked the Tiergarten, ending up at the Café am Neuen See. She introduced me to Berliner Weißbier mit Kirsche, and, for an hour (perhaps two) ***** asked questions about "America." I, in turn, asked questions about "the new Germany." I will always remember her last words as our first conversation trailed off, walking back to the hotel. ***** stopped, locked on to my eyes and asked, "Tell me. What is it like to be proud of your country? What is it like to feel pride when you see your flag? See your troops? Sing your national anthem?" I was stunned. Before I could respond she continued her thought, saying, "Sometimes I forget I'm a German and what that means. Sometimes I go to bed at night not thinking about it. But every morning, I awake and I realize I'm still a German. Do you have any idea what that's like?" Again speechless and dumbfounded by her comments and questions, I searched for words in vain. There was nothing I could say, nothing of significance. My instinct was to tell her that I didn't hold her responsible. But I fell mute, knowing it wouldn?t even make a dent. Again, I could see it on her face, guilty as charged, ex post facto.

It was at that moment that I realized that she needed a new identity. ***** and millions like her, especially those who had no hand in the Hitler era. It was at that moment that I realized why so many of the Germans I had met spoke perfect English, perhaps even French to boot. A new identity could mean a clean break--a persilschein for the soul.

Perhaps better than anything else in "The Good German," Kanon captures this essence.

Best wishes translating this profound Wahrheit into film. We could all use the perspective.


Sincerely Yours,


Peter David Orr

JOIN THE COMMUNITY NOW! :)

nat_mcelhone nat_mcelhone nat_mcelhone


If this post is against the rules, please remove it.

good night. and, good luck. poster & stills
In the September issue of Premiere magazine (Matt Damon cover), there's an advert from Warner Independent Pictures advertising their upcoming film releases this fall. One of the posters in the magazine is the good night. and, good luck. poster and I've added a scan of it here. It seems that as well as the punctuation, we also have to remember to use lower case letters for the title *g* Slightly reminiscent of sex, lies, and videotape :) The tagline for the film is "In a nation terrorized by it's own government one man dared to tell the truth". Lots more stills from the film have also been added to the photo gallery.

Syriana still
A new still from Syriana has been added to the photo gallery.

Rumor Has It poster, trailer and stills
The poster for the Section Eight film Rumor Has It is up at DarkHorizons.com. The official site for the film is now online but, at the moment, there's only the trailer there. Two mores stills from the film have been added to the photo gallery.

Unscripted DVD
Unscripted will be released on DVD on October 18th! According to TVShowsonDVD.com, the only extras listed are episode previews and episode recaps. You can see the DVD cover art here.

Bubble music info
Robert Pollard (Guided By Voices) has recorded music for Bubble. From Billboard.com: First up on Sept. 27 will be the EP "Music for 'Bubble'" via Pollard's Fading Captain label. According to the artist's official Web site, Pollard was approached by director Steven Soderbergh to record music for his upcoming film "Bubble," which arrives this fall in U.S. theaters. The EP sports four full-band tracks and two instrumentals.

Steven introduces Guided By Voices book
From the same article as above, there's news that Steven has written an introduction to a book called 'Guided By Voices: A Brief History' which will be released late October / early November time. You can read the article about the book at the official Robert Pollard website.

Upcoming film festivals: 'Bubble' & 'good night. and, good luck.' screenings
'Bubble' and the Section Eight film 'good night. and, good luck.' will screen at a few upcoming film festivals. First up is the Venice Film festival (August 31st - September 10th) which will host the world premiere of good night. and, good luck. The film is one of 19 films that will be in competition, the full line up of films in competition is available here.  Bubble will also screen at Venice, although will not be in competition at the festival. The full line up of films being shown outside of competition is up here.

The Toronto International Film Festival (September 8th - 17th) will host the North American premiere of 'Bubble' when the film is screened as part of the Special Presentations showcase.  An article about the festival had this write-up of the film:

Other deliciously off-beat entries include the basically actor-less Bubble from Steven Soderbergh, a bizarre love triangle set in a doll factory in a down-on-its-luck town. Soderbergh (who alternatively likes to cater to the main- and not-so-mainstream crowd with films as diverse as Ocean's Twelve and Sex, Lies and Videotape) employs a cast of non-professional actors from Ohio for this picture.

good night. and, good luck. will open the New York Film Festival which begins on September 22nd. There's an interesting write up of the film at Backstage.com.

More on the 2929 Entertainment deal
From Backstage.com: In September, Steven Soderbergh, who has partnered on several projects with 2929 Films, will deliver "The Bubble," the first of a planned six low-cost digital movies to go day-and-date theatrically on HDNet and DVD. Wagner is still negotiating the DVD deals but figures copies will sell in theater lobbies as well as retail stores.

"We want to give consumers more choice, increase revenue and decrease costs," he says. "We can promote things across different platforms -- you don't wait four months to buy a CD after you hear a song on the radio. Fact is, consumers want to be in charge. We want to give filmmakers more of a chance to have their movies seen."

http://www.nj.com/entertainment/le…
'The Jacket': It's a wrap for Section 8
Friday, March 04, 2005
BY STEPHEN WHITTY
Star-Ledger Staff

Recently, pals Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney said they were letting their Section 8 production company disband. Fun was fun, but they'd had enough of setting up other people's projects.

Too bad. Things were just starting to get interesting.

Made to connect indie directors with big stars and studios, Section 8 mostly failed to connect, making more "Oceans Elevens" than "Far From Heavens" (and occasionally, a truly awful picture like "Welcome to Collinwood").

With "The Jacket," though, the partners seem to have gone back to their original idea. Take a noncommercial director (in this case, the artist John Maybury, whose previous film was the Francis Bacon bio "Love Is the Devil.") Give him a commercial script (in this case, a psychological thriller about an amnesiac Gulf War veteran).

Then combine the two, take a step back and see what happens.

In the case of "The Jacket," the result is an arty -- and sometimes artsy -- but still diverting fantasy.

Railroaded on a murder charge, innocent Adrien Brody ends up in an old dark house of an asylum. Gothic shadows loom, and doctor Kris Kristofferson is doing nasty psychotropic experiments in the basement.

There's an unintended side effect, though. The drugs open a sort of time portal in the mind -- and with a little practice, Brody begins to travel regularly into the future, and think about changing his past.

It's certainly a far-fetched premise, even for a time-travel movie, and Maybury doesn't do much to root it in reality.

The initial setup -- with its flashback to the first Gulf War -- feels like callow exploitation (there's absolutely no reason for Brody's character to be a veteran.) The first few scenes of Brody's hallucinations are so crowded with flashing lights and subliminal shots they could trigger migraines.

Eventually, though, Brody learns to control the images, and the movie begins to control itself. And we watch as two separate stories unfold in parallel times -- both featuring a man trying to figure out the mystery of his life and, maybe, death.

Brody is compelling as the shattered vet, although his constant near-nudity makes some of the movie look like a commercial for a weigh-loss drink. ("Burn Body Fat Fast!") Keira Knightley has a smudgy glamour as his future- tense girlfriend, and a battered Kristofferson provides menace as the mad doctor. (Only Jennifer Jason Leigh is wasted, as a sympathetic psychiatrist who mostly frowns and watches from the sidelines.)

Despite their efforts, occasionally the thinness of the material shows through. Occasionally the pretensions of the director takes over. There are constant images -- for no good reason -- of Brody's eyes filling with blood. Maybury's love of jittery editing and extreme close-ups turns a dialogue scene into a duet of lips and eyes, a love scene into a mesh of anonymous midriffs and elbows.

But that was sort of the point of Section 8: Combining the usual project with an unusual director, and waiting for the result. What happened in "The Jacket" is a sci-fi fantasy with an unusual bit of gravity and style. What happened to Section 8 is just a shame.

Rating note: The film contains bloody violence, some brief nudity, sexual situations and alcohol abuse.

There are 3 short trailers/promo spots for the Section Eight TV series Unscripted at the HBO website. It looks like it's going to be an interesting show!

Welcome to the Steven Soderbergh community! As a huge fan of this wonderful director, I found it strange (and wrong!) that there wasn't already a community set up to discuss his work so have created one :) Please consider joining and posting news, articles, photos, TV alerts or anything else you'd like to, about Steven and his work.