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Steven Soderbergh

Film

Hollywood Didn’t Think ‘Behind the Candelabra’ Was “Too Gay” — It Just Didn’t Care About Liberace

By Tyler Coates on

I was dubious when I heard (for the first of many times) that Steven Soderbergh’s Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra couldn’t find studio backing because the subject matter was “too gay.” Sure, there aren’t too many “gay” movies these days (and, if they do have gay characters, they’re typically played by straight actors), but with the critical success of films like Brokeback Mountain and Milk, the idea that Behind the Candelabra was too explicit for movie theaters seemed more like Soderbergh calling out Hollywood homophobia for a movie that simply didn’t interest studio heads. It turns out Hollywood executives are also calling bullshit on Soderbergh’s claims. … Read More

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Television

The Extraordinary Liberace Deserves Better Than Textbook Gay Biopic ‘Behind the Candelabra’

By Tyler Coates on

“Too much of a good thing is wonderful,” announces Michael Douglas as Liberace as the entertainer, recently deceased, is lifted from a Las Vegas stage, surrounded by feathers, rhinestones, and shimmering lights. It’d be a believable line if Steven Soderbergh’s Behind the Candelabra, which premieres on HBO this Sunday, were actually any good. Unfortunately, the director’s self-described final film is a standard run-of-the-mill TV biopic: schlocky, formulaic, and cheap. The tackiness could be seen as fitting for a film about Liberace, but the performer would much rather go for diamonds than plastic and glass. … Read More

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Film

Surprising Early, Alternate Versions of Iconic Movie Posters

By Jason Bailey on

Movie posters, as we’ve discussed before, are a tricky business, and a great movie poster must serve many functions: it must capture the essence of a movie, it must be aesthetically pleasing or interesting in itself, and it must sell the product in question. Unsurprisingly, the quest for that balance can result in reworking, re-imagining, and revisions galore, which is why the new Daybees online exhibit The Iconic Movie Posters That Never Were is so fascinating. In it, the designers behind some of Hollywood’s most memorable posters share their early drafts and alternate versions of classic posters; check them out after the jump, alongside the final drafts that became part of movie history, and visit Daybees to learn more about their creators. … Read More

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Film

The Fascinating Failure of Danny Boyle’s ‘Trance’

By Jason Bailey on

Who knew A-list directors were so into erotic thrillers? First came Steven Soderbergh’s Side Effects, in which the retiring filmmaker brought his cool gaze and offhand naturalism to a story that was, he openly admitted, in the grand tradition of Fatal Attraction and Jagged Edge. And now we have Trance, in which Trainspotting and Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle does the sleek-and-sexy dance, as Rosario Dawson falls in and out of James McAvoy and Vincent Cassell’s impeccably designed, neon-lit beds. It’s trashy fun, to a point, but what’s most intriguing about stacking Boyle and Soderbergh’s films up against each other is how they succeed and fail in very nearly the same fashion: compelling setup, terrific vibe, lousy payoff. … Read More

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Film

10 Famous Films That Were Abandoned by Their Directors

By Jason Bailey on

Lynne Ramsay is a tremendously talented director, as anyone who has seen her films We Need to Talk About Kevin and Ratcatcher can tell you, which makes the latest ripple in her career quite a bummer: when production began Monday on her latest film, the Natalie Portman-fronted Western Jane Got a Gun, Ramsay was nowhere to be found. Deadline broke the story (so beware; that site is notoriously cozy with studio types who might have it in their interest to paint Ramsay as wildly — and litigiously — irresponsible), reporting trouble right up to the start date. Ramsay still hasn’t issued comment on the matter, but the film’s producers have already lined up a replacement in the form of Gavin O’Connor, director of Warrior and Tumbleweeds (and the pilot of The Americans). Deadline branded Ramsay’s departure a “SHOCKER,” but it’s not as rare as you’d think; despite the intense work of developing a picture and preparing it, filmmakers have frequently walked away from pictures before — or even during — production. We’ve got a few examples for you after the jump. … Read More

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Film

10 Impossible-to-See Movies Starring A-List Actors

By Jason Bailey on

Hey, Game of Thrones/Community/True Blood/Firefly fans: how’d you like to see a major motion picture starring Peter Dinklage, Danny Pudi, Ryan Kwanten, and Summer Glau? So would we! Would you be surprised to learn that such a motion picture not only exists, but has been sitting on a shelf for two years? So would we! Such is the strange tale of The Knights of Badassdom, director Joe Lynch’s horror comedy that’s been the subject of much discussion and confusion this week. Badassdom, which was previewed at the San Diego Comic-Con clear back in 2011, is hardly the first film that sounded like a good bet, only to sputter in post-production and after due to unforeseen difficulties in financing, distribution, or rights. After the jump, we’ll take a look at ten movies that you’d think you would have heard of, and be able to see, based on the personnel involved — but you can’t, for all sorts of strange reasons. … Read More

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Film

How to Classify Movies Now That “Independent Film” Is Dead

By Jason Bailey on

This week, since the big sweep of the Independent Spirit Awards by the sure-doesn’t-feel-like-much-of-an-independent-movie Silver Linings Playbook, several film observers (including us) have raised the perennial question of what “independent film” even is, aside from a useful marketing designation that indicates the film you’re about to see will probably not include robots that transform into cars. This ongoing controversy got us thinking: if “independent film” is just a label to begin with, then why not expand it, and get a little more specific? Every film isn’t either indie or studio — let’s break it down, so we know exactly what we’re getting when we go to the cinema. Our suggestions for new, ultra-descriptive movie classifications, from lowest to highest profile, are after the jump. … Read More

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Film

The Embarrassing Early Films of Oscar-Winning Directors

By Jason Bailey on

Argo, Ben Affleck’s third feature film, is looking more and more like a lock for the Best Picture prize at Sunday’s Oscars, and even if the man himself didn’t get a Best Director nomination, it’s still a remarkable culmination of one of the most fascinating second acts in Hollywood. The actor-turned-director seemed shockingly confident and assured in his first feature, 2007’s marvelous Gone Baby Gone, but as The Playlist reminded us this week, his first film (pre-Good Will Hunting, even) was a 1993 short inventively titled I Killed My Lesbian Wife, Ηung Ηer on a Μeathook & Νow I Have a Three-Picture Deal with Disney. It is, as is often the case with these things, not very good, and (to his credit) Affleck is the first one to admit it: “It’s horrible. It’s atrocious. I knew I wanted to be a director, and I did a couple of short films, and this is the only one that haunts me. I’m not proud of it. It looks like it was made by someone who has no prospects, no promise.” But Affleck can take comfort in the fact that he’s not the only filmmaker with a cinematic skeleton in his closet: we found eight auteurs who rose to the Best Director Oscar from rather humble cinematic beginnings. … Read More

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Film

‘Side Effects’ and the End of the Soderbergh Era

By Jason Bailey on

In the 24 years since his debut feature sex, lies, and videotape won the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival, Steven Soderbergh has directed 26 features, plus a handful of shorts and television episodes — a spree of productivity and creativity that puts most of his peers to shame. (Example: he directed seven films in the period between Quentin Tarantino’s third and fourth.) And now, it would appear, he’s done. After teasing and threatening for months, it seems that his latest theatrical release — the thriller Side Effects, out today — is his last, with only the HBO Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra on deck. So why, then, does Side Effects feel so anti-climactic? … Read More

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Film

Flavorwire’s Most Anticipated Movies of 2013

By Jason Bailey on

2013 promises about what you’d expect: lots of sequels and comic book movies and sequels to comic book movies. But we’re not snobs — some of those look awfully exciting, and some of the smaller, more indie-minded titles have got us mighty interested as well. Join us for a look ahead at the ten pictures we’re looking forward to the most — and, of course, add your own in the… Read More

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