Ang Lee vs Steven Soderbergh vs Michael Winterbottom

Soderbergh overall, although I like several films of Lee and Winterbottom's.

Yeah Soderbergh. Lee and Winterbottom occassionally work for me as well.

That new Ang Lee movie about Woodstock looks like really hard work.
What are each of their *worst* films, I wonder? "9 Songs" is god-awful. "Full Frontal" is kind of a stinker.
(I think I'm the only person in the world who seems to love "Bubble").

Actually looking at Winterbottom filmography, he's done a lot more I liked than I remembered. The Claim, In This World, Wonderland, Road To Guantanamo, 24 Hour Party People are all quite good. I guess I just don't see the stuff of his that everyone considers dodgy (like A Might Heart or Code 46, ack.)

Full Frontal
The Hulk
9 Songs

All terrible.

Winterbottom. I haven't like a Soderbergh fim since 99, nor an Ang Lee picture since 94.

Yeah I'm beginning to think I should change my vote.

this is a toughie! i like films by all these dudes and really dislike others. but they all seem willing to keep trying new things and i respect that, i guess inconsistency comes with that.

I just realized I haven't really liked anything that Soderberg has done post-Limey (haven't seen the Che(s) though). Okay I'm definitely voting Winterbottom. I respect trying new things but some of them have to work ya know.

ya, well... some of them do!

What of his have you really liked in the past ten years, s1ocki (just out of curiosity)? Even just focusing on parts of films, the Del Toro Traffic bits are pretty much it for me and the rest of that flick is pure mediocrity at best.

well i haven't seen bubble - or che - or the girlfriend experience. but i'm not mad at erin brockovich or the first ocean's.

Agree, I didn't hate either of those (first Oceans is def. fun for that kind of fare.) I guess I just want to be more enthused than I'm not mad at.

Winterbottom, I guess, because I've seen the least by him.

but that's so counter-intuitive and mind-blowing

i don't think any of these guys have ever made a movie that i would very good. (Eat Man Drink Woman and 24 Hour Party People are definetely enjoyable though) Soderbergh is the weakest link. I'm voting Winterbottom because I just recall I also liked his Jude adaptation.

*i would call very good*

these 3 really are the "respected" filmmakers who get up a lot of folks' ire for some reason. i think part of it is their films, but there's something else going on. they're regarded as workmanlike and not really auteurs, i guess?

Wait you wouldn't call any of the five movies I cited by Winterbottom very good?

I'd probably pick Ang Lee, Soderbergh has a higher hit count (Erin B, Out of Sight, S, L&video,) but Ang Lee is kindof a king at making images that are both mundane and striking, Christina Ricci on her bike in the Ice Storm, the rain bit In sense and sensibility, ride with the devil, and much more human and painterly. Soderbergh is great, appealingly kinda trashy, really want to see more of this porno/bubble stuff, girlfriend thing looks v. interesting (thanking u kanye blog)

Don't really *get* Winterbottom.

Ang Lee by far. Have liked some stuff by the others, but only 'Hulk' left me nonplussed with Lee. REALLY want him to genre-hop again and do a full-on science-fiction movie.

these 3 really are the "respected" filmmakers who get up a lot of folks' ire for some reason. i think part of it is their films, but there's something else going on. they're regarded as workmanlike and not really auteurs, i guess?

William Wyler didn't get much respect either.

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

so has anyone seen The Girlfriend Experience? Is it as good as the reviews are suggesting? I feel that even suggesting that I see this to my wife is going to lead to a discussion about whether or not I even know who is in it and I feel like avoiding that subject.

Soderbergh in a walk. He makes great movies and has a ton of fun doing it. Only thing I fault him for is getting a great performance out of J Lo, thus making her credible and indirectly subjecting us all to years of torture.

I love Lee's eye and what he's does with remove but jesus christ the hulk is inexcusable. Winterbottom: eh.

Only thing I fault him for is getting a great performance out of J Lo, thus making her credible and indirectly subjecting us all to years of torture.

So this. I'd never heard of her before 'Out of Sight', and so was really hyped the next time some film with her came along. But 'twas shit, and then the music, aiiieee.

sex scene in out of sight is really great

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

I maybe haven't seen enough by Ang Lee, but in the end, there were two Winterbottom films I loved (Wonderland and 24 Party People) and two Soderberghs (Sex Lies and Videotape and Solaris) but only Brokeback Mountain for Lee. Went with Soderbergh.

Why were these three directors lumped together?

Oh, because they're three directors who hop around between different styles and genres so adeptly.

(well, maybe not always adeptly, but freely)

OMG Winterbottom -- the one out of these three I care for the least -- is making a film out of Thompson's Killer Inside me!

On a quick scan of filmographies and crossing it and what you've said with what I've seen I'd go for Ang Lee. I really like what he's comfortable at doing, but I also don't think Hulk is not a disaster. So the Hulk wins it, for me.

Neither one (including Soderbergh himself) has ever topped Erin Brockovich.

^the last third of this made my teeth hurt.

I think the best thing in the three filmographies is Eat Drink Man Woman.

"Neither one (including Soderbergh himself) has ever topped Erin Brockovich."

Oh no all three have definitely made worse movies than that.

Neither one (including Soderbergh himself) has ever topped Erin Brockovich.

Shame on Erin for not putting out.

Erin Brokovich is a great movie that people assume must be shite because its entertaining

Pete Scholtes needs to come in here and paste his great defense of EB.

I think people assume it must be shite because Julia Roberts is in it, surely?

she's great in it, really funny

Most subtly "awww" moment: at a restaurant, in the movie's first third, answering her son's question about why she didn't order food for herself, she says something about her boss having taken her out for a big lunch, when it's clearly signaled that she ordered nothing because she can only afford to buy a burger for her kid.

Ang Lee. I don't get why Winterbottom is in this poll, and Ang Lee beats out Soderbergh. SS has done some gems, but he's also veered into hackdom too often (Ocean's 12 & 13). BBM is a truly great film IMHO. It's easy to disdain the critical reaction to some of Ang Lee's films and hold that against him, but that's not really fair. Is it AL's fault that people who had been oblivious to a whole genre of film suddenly started singing its praises because AL made a movie that was more palatable for them? (Well maybe that is his fault, actually)

Anyways, Ang Lee because his best work is better than SS's best work, although I did love a couple of SS's movies.

^ muddled post. I'm mostly referring to Crouching Tiger in the critical reaction bit of my post.

"people who had been oblivious to a whole genre of film"

what genre of film do you mean?

oh okay

"Is it AL's fault that people who had been oblivious to a whole genre of film suddenly started singing its praises because AL made a movie that was more palatable for them?"

It's his fault the film is kind of dull though.

whether Crouching Tiger is more "palatable" than authentic Hong Kong sword romances is kind of moot; it was a big popular success because all those older movies weren't produced and hyped by a major US studio, so the American masses never saw them.

i finally got around to streaming 9 songs via netflix the other night and lord what i tedious movie. after about 15 minutes i just started fast-forwarding looking for any semblance of a story or characters i might possibly care about. the sex scenes were lousy, the music scenes were dull, the characters were unbearably irritating. what a terrible idea all the way around.

what A tedious movie, i mean.

terrible film, terrible director. one or two of the films he has made are ok (24HPP), but not because of him.

Soderbergh! Doesn't always hit home runs but he's prolific and interesting and often awesome

Really liked The Trip! Winterbottom flawed but far less clueless than Danny Boyle.

Would reverse the results of this thread tbh.

As in not a fan of any of these but actually can't stand Soderbergh-Out Of Sight and maybe The Limey possible exceptions.

Matt Damon sez Soderbergh's retiring from filmmaking w/in 3 years btw

Winterbottom over Lee? What the hell?

I have never seen a decent movie by Ang Lee, dude is straight up awful

Eat Drink Man Woman and the Ice Storm are pretty good films. Definitely better than decent.

Alex correct :o

I've never seen the Ice Storm, been curious but also put off by it being an Ang Lee film

I'll stick up for The Wedding Banquet, which has aged better than Brokeback Mountain.

Lee's made some not-great movies, but he's never made a straight up turkey which is more than I can say for Soderbergh or Winterbottom. Even his worst stuff usually has something worthwhile in it imo.

Courting failure is what makes Soderbergh worthwhile.

"Lee's made some not-great movies, but he's never made a straight up turkey which is more than I can say for Soderbergh or Winterbottom. Even his worst stuff usually has something worthwhile in it imo."

The Hulk is a complete turkey imo.

xp agree. Same with Winterbottom.

The Hulk is awesome! One of the best superhero movies ever.

Lust, Caution owns btw

I think Alfred's OTM re: soderbergh - he's done plenty of things I don't like, but he's unpredictable and tried a lot of different stuff, which I will give him copious credit for. he's certainly more adventurous than most other directors with his clout and budgets. (My favorite of his is definitely the Limey). Winterbottom = eh, I dunno I've only seen 24 Hr Party People, which was a lot of fun but the hand-held camera got kinda nauseating. shitty cinematography in that respect. Ang Lee films I have seen and hated: The Hulk (this is a TOTAL failure/turkey, Alex OTM), Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon (a humorless, self-righteously dour ripoff, or "homage" if you will, to various far superior HK movies), and Brokeback Mountain (don't get me started, the whole "tragic homo" thing w/ the out character getting killed, etc.)

Crouching Tiger is hands-down the best Wuxia film I have EVER seen. This is an incontestable fact.

oh please. I'll let Alex field that one...

He's seen like one movie, Shakey, it's not much of a tout.

I'm always surprised that Soderbergh and Winterbottom provoke such visceral reactions on this board.

Good Soderbergh:

sex, lies, and videotape
King of the Hill
Out of Sight
The Limey
Erin Brockovich
The Girlfriend Experience

Pretty impressive.

I don't give Soderbergh a ton of credit for his adventurousness, because he seems like he's half-assing it a lot of the time. Which isn't to say he hasn't done a bunch of awesome movies, because he has!

The Hulk is great. Sick performances by Nick Nolte and Sam Elliott's Moustache, the desert rampage set piece is great, mutant poodle. Time hasn't been kind to CTHD, though I'm not sure what's 'self-righteous' about it and CYF and Michelle Yeoh are awesome in it. I'm not sure why it has to be viewed as a 'ripoff' instead of something that fits in with the wuxia tradition. I didnt see Brokeback until last year but I thought it was really good and affecting (and funny).

I'm very ready to read a defense of The Hulk.

Yeah the worst thing I'd say about most of Soderbergh's worst movies is that they are kinda boring.

"Sam Elliott's Moustache"

I could watch his moustache in anything.

We should have a Sam Elliot's mustache poll.

I would be down for that.

Haha, Alex read my post right.

Like Kris Kristofferson, without facial hair he looks like a gerbil.

no love for Schizopolis Alfred?

(not saying I love it - I found it actively annoying for the most part - but it is one of those things that you watch and wonder how the fuck it got made)

I'm very ready to read a defense of The Hulk.

― Gus Van Sotosyn (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, December 23, 2010 12:33 PM (6 minutes ago) Bookmark

A lot of people on here liked it when it came out!

Hulk C/D? (spoilers)

Not LIKE one wuxia movie, though, exactly ONE wuxia movie

xxxp

Soderbergh should've said to Damon, "Yeah, I wanna quit before I make Clint-Damon-caliber movies." As long as he makes Liberace...

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/12/matt-damon-steven-soderbergh-is-retiring-from-filmmaking-.html

though I'm not sure what's 'self-righteous' about it and CYF and Michelle Yeoh

it's very ham-handed with the gender-reversal stuff, treated as if that's somehow transgressive or unusual

I wasn't even sure you'd watched Crouching Tiger all the way through. That's why I said "like".

omg at Liberace movie

hee hee =D

Matt Damon as Liberace sounds interesting.

Brokeback Mountain also almost certainly the best gay cowboy movie I have EVER seen, though I'm sure there's maybe some really good pornos if anyone wants to recommend

As Alex said upthread, not a huge WInterbottom fan but he has done some things that I've liked. Also can't fault MW or SS for being prolific, which should really be like who cares but I would like to make like a couple of films a year too.

All three are pretty great for being so unpredictable and versatile. Lee had a great run but has seemed sort of rudderless lately, and Soderbergh ... bored, maybe? Certainly rumors of his retirement intimate he's bored of the medium. Winterbottom's had some interesting highs for a guy whose lows are loooooow.

Haven't you seen Red River, admrl?

haha when hasn't he been rudderless? That's his metier.

sorry -- thought you meant Soderbergh. Carry on.

Also Winterbottom responsible for Steve Coogan's only "good" film work? You could maybe give Jim Jarmusch this too for one of the only two good scenes in Coffee and Cigarettes.

xxp no! I don't like westerns all that much, as I was saying on the True Grit thread.

Your really down on Marmaduke, aren't you adm.

Coogan is good in his two scenes in Hot Fuzz.

I don't like westerns or humanoid animal movies.

Steve Coogan just can't win with, can he?

Is Saxondale good btw?

I like Steve Coogan

xp Saxondale is GREAT, for the most part, yes

Tell me what wuxia movies to see - just pick one, actually

btw Matt Damon is playing Liberace's lover, opp Michael Douglas. Yes.

Tell me what wuxia movies to see - just pick one, actually

― LA's newest diva (admrl), Thursday, December 23, 2010 12:52 PM (36 seconds ago) Bookmark

The Bride with White Hair

See Ashes of Time.

The Blade.

Oh I've seen Ashes Of Time! So I guess I HAVE seen a better wuxia movie, my bad.

I guess I don't actually know my wuxia from my...whatevs

soderbergh prolly idk i havent seen enough by any of these guys. ride w/ the devil and the ice storm are so great.

I haven't seen Schizopolos or Ride with the Devil (Lee's best, according to David Thomson).

So all three of these guys have made a western? I haven't seen The Claim, but it looks like one.

hv never heard this "wuxia" term, sounds like it would do a bangup job with a sponge mop

ride with the devil is cool except jewel is really bad in it and she also taunts us by refusing to show some nipple

That reads like one of the student papers I have to read every week.

i can imagine ride w the devil is his best. its really well made and impressive if uv seen a lot of westerns how it recreates that feel while seeming fresh and contemporary if that makes sense

I wish my students wrote sentences like that.

i dont remember jewel bein bad in it?

westerns are the best

srsly red river man

ride with the devil's period detail is also excruciatingly precise

also, young mark ruffalo

i dont think RWTD is 'great' btw but its very interesting

"I haven't seen The Claim, but it looks like one."

The Claim is good in a this is a Western like McCabe & Mrs Miller but not as good as McCabe & Mrs Miller.

i dont think RWTD is 'great' btw but its very interesting

yah this seems pretty much to be what links these guys, like they're def not after "greatness"

Disagree totally. Maybe true for Winterbottom (whose scale is basically going to prevent greatness) but I think Soderbergh and Lee think they are making great, important movies on at least several occassions.

^^^Traffic

(which is not great but it certainly came off as IMPORTANT)

Traffic is insufferable. I can't believe I fell for the Important Film pr campaign when Erin Brockovich was the superior picture.

"The Claim" is one of those rare but increasingly less so winter western, like "McCabe." Pretty solid, if I recall, with a good performance from Peter Mullen.

Boy do I love Soderbergh's pre-breakthrough run of "King of the Hill," "The Underneath," even "Schizopolis," especially "Out of Sight" and "The Limey." To date, don't think "Underneath" or "King of the Hill" have received quality DVD releases. Nor "Kafka."

Good Soderbergh interview linked from that L.A. Times article above.

i was about to bring up Traffic, it's amazing how badly it's dated... i remember it was supposed to be so SEARING and VISCERAL but in reality it was completely goofy... maybe it'll be reappraised one day with that in mind

Michael Douglas is a wet sock in it.

I remember Topher Grace, Don Cheadle, and a couple of the desert scenes very well though.

the only part of it that holds up is Del Toro, imho

i remember fake-julia-styles getting railed by a black guy

stiles

and i remember the catherine zeta jones subplot being super corny and lame

the Don Cheadle-Luis Guzman-Miguel Ferrer thing is telegraphed so terribly... it's like a fucking Rainier Wolfcastle sequence

Cheadle and Guzman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Del Toro

i remember fake-julia-styles getting railed by a black guy

I think this was supposed to signal how far she'd fallen lol

ugh her career

Hard to be a thirtysomething woman known for gettin' down with black shampoo.

also of course i remember... FILTERS!!!! what a dumb gimmick

Cheadle and Guzman >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Del Toro

oh come on that whole buddy cop routine is so tired. they were both better in Boogie Nights haha

(one which i thought was super cool at the time)

Uh that's not fake Julia Stiles. That's swimf@n.

When you make more than one movie every year, you figure things out by making movies.

oh come on that whole buddy cop routine is so tired. they were both better in Boogie Nights haha

oh def but they were a relief from the ponderousness.

Guzman and Stamp in The Limey were gold.

The Limey is def. the best movie any of these guys have made.

I'm inclined to agree

Excited Guy: [speaking to Valentine] That first Christopher Cross album? Wow, that record really changed my life.

Stamp: To drink -- baby cham? Dubonet with a twist?
Guzman: A Diet Coke.

pretty much all of Fonda's lines in that movie are pure gold

and his King Midas in Reverse intro oh man, such a perfect inversion of Easy Rider

I love the two hitmen in The Limey. Also, the commentary track is one of the best ever - the writer was furious with what Soderbergh did with the script and they spend the whole movie sniping at each other.

lee deserved better in this poll. he seems to have gone off the rails lately, but didn't make a single bad movie up through crouching tiger (which may not be the best wuxia movie ever made, but isn't all that far off, either). love that film, along with the wedding banquet, eat man drink woman, and the ice storm. would take those films in a heartbeat over any michael winterbottom i've seen.

perhaps it's unsurprising that three directors so unified in their eclecticism have become so indistinct and unsteady as hollywood success stories.

I once heard Brian De Palma (who I lke) described as "the oldest living film student" (LOLZ) but this is exactly what I don't like about Soderbergh and Darren Aronofsky, too. Although at least Aronofsky doesn't appear to be interested in anything other than effect.

Ang Lee just seems totally fine to me. I have no feelings about him either way.

But I really just came here to talk about The Trip (enthusiastically!). Guess that didn't work out.

He's certainly not interested in scripts.

I don't really see much similarity between De Palma and Soderbergh.

Black Swan's script was the thing I enjoyed most about it! So many hilaire lines

xp - no, there isn't, just general geeking out over stuff leaking into the film itself, which works for BDP and not for SS.

Although at least Aronofsky doesn't appear to be interested in anything other than effect.

"at least"!?

Like, it was so funny when I kept hearing everyone talk about how SS loaned David Fincher his REDs for The Social Network. I totally imagined them in the garage of a cheap apartment in the valley taking pictures of themselves looking all seriously through the viewfinder and riding the dolly to put up on Facebook.

Alfred loves a good ruck

I don't understand what you are talking about. Doesn't Martin Scorsese geek out over "stuff"? Or Tarantino. Or whomever. Geeking out seems to be a hallmark of contemporary filmmaking.

Yes to both. It's part of contemporary filmmaking, sure, but I really hate that part.

Or maybe rather...I am not interested in thinking about it.

or hearing or reading or talking about it

I sort of do too (except when I don't) but I don't really think that Soderbergh is the most egregious offender.

Why are you in film school again? ;-)

Soderbergh shoots and (often) edits his films has well, which has a lot to do with what works so well in The Limey and The Girlfriend Experience.

No, but this thread is 1/3 about him

xxp-I'm not!

Oh wait are you finished now? Congrats!

The days I worked on Contagion last month, it was neat to see first-hand the guy actually be the one holding the camera.

To me Soderbergh seems far more interested in watching human beings interact in complex ways than Aronofsky. It isn't even a contest.

Yeah, I guess I feel like it is actually good (for him, anyway) that he does all that stuff on what are pretty big movies, but plenty of people do everything on their own movies, and make better ones, and make less of a deal about it.

xp-I am pretty much finished, yes.

Contagion will be the first feature film to be shot using the RED Epic 5k digital cinema camera. (Steven Soderbergh's Che: Part One (2008) was the first film shot on the original RED One camera.)

Even a terrible movie like Kafka has Alec Guinness' blinkered self-importance.

I agree with you, Alfred.

"and make less of a deal about it"

Doesn't he wear t-shirts saying "I HOLD MY OWN CAMERA THANK YOU VERY MUCH"? What a jerk.

There is at least one American feature filmmaker I can name who is in at least a few year-end polls in 2010, owns his own cameras, does his own sound and editing, is maybe even more prolific than Steven Soderbergh and has been making films twenty years longer...and he has barely ever been mentioned on ILX!

(oh and before you say "OK but it's some obscure experimental bore", he has also worked with major famous movie star Willem Dafoe Haha =))

xp-practically!

Werner Herzog shot his film My Son, My Son, What Have Ye Done? with the Red One. He was disappointed with the camera's long reboot times, saying "It drove me insane, because sometimes something is happening and you can't just push the button and record it". He described the camera as "an immature camera created by computer people who do not have a sensibility or understanding for the value of high-precision mechanics".

Just say who it is adam

an immature camera created by computer people who do not have a sensibility or understanding for the value of high-precision mechanics

lol

There is at least one American feature filmmaker I can name who is in at least a few year-end polls in 2010, owns his own cameras, does his own sound and editing, is maybe even more prolific than Steven Soderbergh and has been making films twenty years longer...and he has barely ever been mentioned on ILX!

Dude, it goes without saying we're all huge Tyler Perry fans.

xxp-James Benning, but I'm sure there are other examples like this

I thought you were you talking about Paul Schrader!

*googles james benning*

pfft he makes documentaries that doesnt count

The Medea Experience

I don't know if I'd say "documentaries" but he does sometimes use actors and scripts too. Also, I think Denis Cote is a narrative filmmaker who does nearly everything. Is s10cki around to confirm?

SO - I liked The Trip. What was with reusing the Michael Nyman music from Wonderland, though?

i like ang lee his movies are almost always enjoyable

Director (42 titles)
2009 Ruhr (documentary)

2007 RR (documentary) (as JB)

2007 Casting a Glance (documentary)

2005 One Way Boogie Woogie/27 Years Later (documentary)

2004 Ten Skies (documentary)

2004 13 Lakes (documentary)

2004 Los (documentary)

2001 Sogobi (documentary)

2000 El Valley Centro (documentary)

1998 Utopia (documentary)

1997 Four Corners (documentary)

1995 Deseret (documentary)

Lynch, too, is a do-it-all guy.

I thought you were you talking about Paul Schrader!

lol this is what I thought too

Black Swan's script was the thing I enjoyed most about it! So many hilaire lines

― Joolia Stylez (admrl)

This is from the guy who didn't think I Love You Phillip Morris was funny. I'll set you straight next summer, young man.

just in the last 10 years, S.S. has made Bubble, Solaris, Che, The Girlfriend Experience and his new Spalding Gray auto-eulogy, all leagues better than anything ILX's fave arrested-development foot fetishist has managed.

you liked Che? part 1 was okay, part 2 was atrocious

man I've never even heard of the Girlfriend Experience prior to this thread. weird

what I saw of Che was pretty good, but didn't get to catch the whole thing.

Solaris, ugh I don't even like Tarkovsky's version

xxxp-Well yeah, because it wasn't funny!

Also Princess Tam Tam, citing IMDB in an argument!! - now you really ARE like one of my students! (I'm just kidding you, honest). I guess you could call those films "documentaries", they certainly do document things, but this would be the first time I've heard Benning referred to as specifically a "documentary filmmaker". Though tbf, he probably is my kind of "documentary filmmaker".

yeah surprised by love for Girlfriend Experience, havent seen it but i just assumed it was like Full Frontal part 2

Also what is happening next summer? Is there an ILX film nerd tagteam wrestling event I didn't hear about?

no, I am visiting LA probably :)

LA Probably would be a good name for a movie

About a film critic from NY who likes baseball and comes to LA and doesn't drive...and all the humorous things that happen to him, and the wacky west coast flakes he meets.

Like Greenberg?

but with an older d00d, from the internet

Just so you know, I can probably set you up a brunch meeting with Will Ferrell if you want one.

I am a generational contemporary of Ben Stiller, you rude man!

haha really, you have a very senior ILX persona.

The GFE (streaming on Netflix) has editing similar to The Limey, great performances by non-actors (especially by a gym owner playing a gym owner), no film lighting (except for two scenes, according to SS, and he wish he hadn't done those), and a story so perfectly centered in pre-election mid-crash October 2008 NYC.

I actually liked both parts of Che just fine (might even have preferred the second one.)

What did you like about it?

soderbergh is good. informant like a motherfucker.

che not so much.

but winterbottom can't direct for shit.

I thought it was a well told presentation of these two (three if you count the UN visit) periods in Che's life. I thought the acting was generally very good (even if Del Toro's performance tended towards a bit towards torpor) and it flowed pretty well (for being what five+ hours?)

I forgot that Soderbergh even directed the Informant!

i loooved the Informant

Just want to mention btw I found Greenberg unwatchable so Morbs please make your LA probably movie better than that piece of shit.

I may be in the same room w/ Vin Scully at some point, will that make it better?
adamrl is the auteur tho, talk to him.

admrl will be holding his own camera himself, but he won't brag about it like SOME people.

I may be in the same room w/ Vin Scully at some point, will that make it better?

autographed package of Farmer John bacon or it didn't happen

Alex should do my PR

I already do! I have a whole collection of admrl themed t-shirts!

Funny, I totally forgot about "Informant!" which is great for the polar bear pondering alone:

When polar bears hunt, they crouch down by a hole in the ice and wait for a seal to pop up. They keep one paw over their nose so that they blend in, because they've got those black noses. They'd blend in perfectly if not for the nose. So the question is, how do they know their noses are black? From looking at other polar bears? Do they see their reflections in the water and think, "I'd be invisible if not for that." That seems like a lot of thinking for a bear.

(Not to keep talking Contagion a year early, but it's got the same screenwriter as The Informant!.)

that Informant bit is funny to read. the film fell flat as a pancake.

lol @ the phrase "can't direct for shit"