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Toronto Film Festival Steven Soderbergh freely admits how much luck has played into his career, beginning with winning the coveted Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1989, the victory that launched his career and his first major work, “sex, lies and videotape.” “First of all the film was not supposed to be part of the competition [...]
INTERVIEW: Steven Soderbergh
Posted by John Foote · 10:14 am · September 18th, 2009
Filed in: Interviews
THE LISTS: Top 10 Steven Soderbergh films
Posted by Guy Lodge · 11:08 am · September 15th, 2009
This Friday sees the release in American theaters of “The Informant!,” the nimble Matt Damon-starring corporate caper which, depending on the format in which you saw last year’s “Che,” is either the 20th or the 21st feature from one Mr. Steven Soderbergh. (I say 21st, given that “Che” clearly comprises two films utterly distinct in [...]
Filed in: The Lists
Could Benicio Del Toro sneak into the Best Actor race?
Posted by John Foote · 10:29 am · January 21st, 2009
The first time I saw “Che” back in September at the Toronto International Film Festival I believed the performance of Benicio Del Toro was extraordinary and the film was one of the most exceptional achievements in modern cinema. For me, “Che” works as a massive work at more than four hours and exists because of [...]
Filed in: Daily
1/7 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:31 am · January 7th, 2009
• Noah Forrest talks with “Che” scribe Peter Buchman. [Movie City News] • David S. Cohen takes a deeper look at the visual effects bake-off. [Thompson on Hollywood] • Tom O’Neil chats with Dave Karger and Michael Musto about the seemingly Oscar-locked Heath Ledger. [Gold Derby] • Reed Johnson talks to the descendents of “Defiance”‘s [...]
Filed in: Daily
1/5 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 8:58 am · January 5th, 2009
• “Che” tops David Poland’s top 10 list, which also includes…”Mamma Mia!” That’s originality for ya. [The Hot Blog] • David Carr does some number crunching on a few Best Picture contenders. [The Carpetbagger] • Michael Cieply spends some time with the producers of this year’s Oscar telecast. [New York Times] • Lewis Beale on [...]
Filed in: Daily
My picks for the 10 BEST films of the year
Posted by John Foote · 11:04 am · December 29th, 2008
It’s no secret that I don’t expect 2008 to be remembered as a banner year for cinema, though with that said, there are plenty of exceptional films to be remembered. Perhaps 2007 spoiled us and got our hopes up and 2008 brought far too many let downs and disappointments from great filmmakers. Usually when I [...]
Filed in: Daily
Best in show: the year in superlatives
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:22 am · December 19th, 2008
The year is slowly coming to a close, and after this week’s year-in-review pieces, I’m happy to see so much healthy and spirited discussion on my humble picks for the year’s best films. Today I’m wrapping all of that up with a list of superlatives, some of them in your usual categories, the staples, some [...]
Filed in: Daily
12/17 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:55 am · December 17th, 2008
• Jeff Wells knows how to fix “Valkyrie” after the fact. [Hollywood Elsewhere] • John Campea suffers through the worst films of the year. [The Movie Blog] • Scientists claim that real-life relationships can’t live up to those in the movies. [Daily Telegraph] • Rob Turbovsky says biopics are hijacking real life for narrative gain. [...]
Filed in: Daily
At least he didn’t have to duck a shoe…
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 6:48 am · December 16th, 2008
Filed in: Daily
12/16 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:15 am · December 16th, 2008
• Jeff Wells shows his annual true colors, wants to know who should be taken down a peg of the agreed-upon Oscar contenders. [Hollywood Elsewhere] • Tom O’Neil reports on a leaked Academy screener. [Gold Derby] • David Carr boils the season down to a couple of “mortal locks.” [The Carpetbagger] • Todd Longwell profiles [...]
Filed in: Daily
12/15 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 5:33 am · December 15th, 2008
• Nathaniel Rogers goes back to the well with some updated Oscar predictions. [The Film Experience] • Charles McGrath writes up the upcoming “Revolutionary Road” release. [New York Times] • Philip French remembers a bleak year in cinema. [The Guardian] • Similarly, John Horn notes the box office success of some challenging films this holiday [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Che’ — no respect in the precursor circuit so far
Posted by John Foote · 7:44 am · December 13th, 2008
“Nothing if not the movie of the year,” wrote Scott Foundas in LA Weekly. “One of the best films of the year,” declared Roger Ebert. “A great movie,” says J. Hoberman of the Village Voice. “Che is a thing to be experienced.” “The film that places Steven Soderbergh in the ranks of the masters,” raved [...]
Filed in: Daily
‘Che’
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 10:59 am · December 3rd, 2008
Filed in: Daily
11/26 Oscarweb Round-up
Posted by Kristopher Tapley · 9:34 am · November 26th, 2008
• Jeff Wells is beside himself because Oscar prognosticators understand “Che” has a snowball’s chance in hell at a best Picture nomination. [Hollywood Elsewhere] • Noah Forrest podcasts “Changeling” screenwriter J. Michael Straczynski. [Movie City News] • Anne Thompson gets the “Australia” goods from Hugh Jackman. [Thompson on Hollywood] • Tom O’Neil, meanwhile, wonders if [...]
Filed in: Daily
TECH SUPPORT: Best Original Score — Volume One
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 12:24 pm · November 20th, 2008
Music is one of few of the “tech” awards cited by the Academy that tends to result in passionate discussions among moviegoers, including non-cinephiles. Awarded in the Best Original Score category, the film music composer has one of the most difficult and lonely jobs in filmmaking. Almost always arriving at the end of the editing [...]
TECH SUPPORT: Best Makeup — Volume One
Posted by Gerard Kennedy · 11:48 am · November 13th, 2008
“Norbit.” “Click.” “The Time Machine.” “Life.” What do all of these dreadful films have in common? They are Oscar nominees because of the category of Best Makeup! I will give this branch kudos for often willing to think outside the box but they still manage to be quite bizarre in their choice of nominees more [...]
Filed in: Featured · Tech Support
Why ‘Che’ is a great film, but not Oscar material
Posted by John Foote · 8:42 am · November 9th, 2008
Most biographical films tend to play like sort of a “greatest hits” of that person’s life, and sadly much of the negative of that life is left out. Sir Richard Attenborough is most guilty of this with “Gandhi,” his hugely overrated epic about the Mahatma, who did everything short of walking on water in the [...]
Filed in: Daily
U.K. ‘Che’ teaser
Posted by Guy Lodge · 5:45 pm · November 6th, 2008
Courtesy of the Telegraph comes this British teaser trailer for “Che,” which makes it look rather more gung-ho and biopic-styled than it really is. I’ve been struggling with the two films slightly in the week since I saw them. I was more persuaded by Soderbergh’s vision than Kris, but I’m not sure if I was [...]
Filed in: Daily
