tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post2037367160839915109..comments2022-03-24T16:11:50.124-04:00Comments on The Man From Porlock: Hard Sells (Up in the Air and The Informant!)Craighttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-76864543802883006802010-04-11T13:30:57.572-04:002010-04-11T13:30:57.572-04:00Yes! That commentary is one of the first DVD comm...Yes! That commentary is one of the first DVD commentaries I ever listened to. I remember being shocked at how abrasive Dobbs was on the track, but you're right...Soderbergh took it like a man. I think Dobbs penned <i>Kafka</i>, too. It'll be interesting to see how the two work together now.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-41295099294133684342010-04-11T11:59:35.723-04:002010-04-11T11:59:35.723-04:00Kev,
Last I heard, Brad Pitt loved the original &...Kev,<br /><br />Last I heard, Brad Pitt loved the original "Moneyball" script but rejected Soderbergh's seriously tinkered version, so they parted ways. It may now still feature Pitt and be directed by Bennett Miller, but who knows.<br /><br />I'll be curious to see "Knockout," since Lem Dobbs was quite outspoken about Soderbergh's changes to his "Limey" script. Have you ever listened to their commentary track on that film? Dobbs criticizes him on numerous occasions, and I have to give Soderbergh credit for taking it like a man.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-10887573974376384692010-04-10T23:29:16.285-04:002010-04-10T23:29:16.285-04:00I like what you say about Hitch there. I think th...I like what you say about Hitch there. I think that Soderbergh's enthusiasm in all aspects of filmmaking (leading to his obsession with shooting all of his films) lead to his staleness. At first it was kind of cute, but then it just became banal. I miss the old Soderbergh.<br /><br />On the <i>Moneyball</i> thing: I hadn't realized that fell through for Soderbergh and crew. I am still extremely interested in seeing that movie get made though. I think for baseball geeks like me it can still be an endlessly fascinating character study about someone who was so cutting edge 10 years ago...I say was because it seems like the game is actually passing Beane by these days as more advanced scouting and philosophies seem to be making "Moneyball" obsolete...take the Mariners and Indians' front office, for example.<br /><br />It looks like his next few films (two of which are pre-production, which means nothing when Soderbergh is attached) are tackling the action genre (the third is a musical about Cleopatra and Antony with Catherine Zeta-Jones and Ray Winstone!)...and <i>Knockout</i> is written by Lem Dobbs, so at least that re-teams him with one of his more successful screenwriters, and it's a different genre for him to try. We'll see how it goes. At least it's something different.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-45944081547885008252010-04-10T23:12:11.517-04:002010-04-10T23:12:11.517-04:00Strange, but my blog's homepage is still showi...Strange, but my blog's homepage is still showing only 2 comments for this post even though now there are more. Hope you can see that your comment's here and that I responded, Kevin.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-16027387467156611672010-04-10T23:09:09.869-04:002010-04-10T23:09:09.869-04:00Kevin:
This energy and excitement was definitely ...Kevin:<br /><br /><i>This energy and excitement was definitely palpable in films like Out of Sight and The Limey;</i><br /><br />Yes. I remember reading that while filming <i>Out of Sight</i> Soderbergh kept saying to himself, "It's gotta be good; it's gotta be good." That certainly came through onscreen in that film. But I don't get the sense he's doing that anymore.<br /><br /><i>His commercial tendencies (again I love your use of the term "game") to just kind of point the camera and go with it, letting the actors do their thing, didn't come off as the brilliant 1970's type satire he was going for</i><br /><br />The comparison that comes to mind is with Hitchcock, who became so proficient at making movies that he had to devise new challenges for himself to stay fresh: using only one camera (<i>Rope</i>), making an entire thriller inside a studio apartment (<i>Rear Window</i>), and so forth. I think Soderbergh has reached a near-equal verisimilitude (he's even become his own cinematographer) and has gotten bored. The difference is Hitch never lost sight of his audience, whereas Soderbergh is closing in on himself, relying on the indulgences of his celebrity pals to keep his projects green-lit. (He really does a disservice to Damon in <i>The Informant!</i>, who showed some things I'd never seen from him before.) Maybe the collapse of <i>Moneyball</i> will be the wake-up call he needs.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-34946236824290141482010-04-10T20:26:11.127-04:002010-04-10T20:26:11.127-04:00The Informant! is amiable, mildly intriguing, and ...<i>The Informant! is amiable, mildly intriguing, and a cosmic waste of time. Making movies has become nothing more than a game for Soderbergh, and if he's having any fun he's not sharing it with the rest of us.</i><br /><br />I agree! I liked Damon here somewhat, and I kind of liked the jabs at films like <i>Shattered Glass</i> and <i>The Insider</i> but it didn't have the satirical bite it needed to be a truly great comedy. I also think your statement about Soderbergh -- one of my very favorite filmmakers -- is apt. Despite my unabashed love for the man he has this fascination with making movies that are very evident they're fun for him and those involved in the process...but something is getting lost on the cutting room floor. This energy and excitement was definitely palpable in films like <i>Out of Sight</i> and <i>The Limey</i>; hell, even in the second <i>Ocean's</i> movie you had good looking movie stars in beautiful foreign locations, and it worked extremely well. However, lately I just don't feel like Soderbergh is giving me that excitement. <i>Che</i> was an interesting experiment, but not in the intriguing way that something like <i>Kafka</i> or <i>Bubble</i> was. <br /><br />I think <i>The Informant!</i> was him saying that he's going back to sharp character studies with an indie sheen to them...but it just didn't work. His commercial tendencies (again I love your use of the term "game") to just kind of point the camera and go with it, letting the actors do their thing, didn't come off as the brilliant 1970's type satire he was going for (I like Steven's comparison to <i>The King of Comedy</i>).<br /><br />Anyway...great capsule reviews here. I have nothing more to add to the discussion about <i>Up in the Air</i>...a throwaway movie that I neither loathed or loved.Kevin J. Olsonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17275402809912728035noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-6638179843499807952010-04-10T18:14:26.520-04:002010-04-10T18:14:26.520-04:00There are times when I like Reitman. There's a...There are times when I like Reitman. There's a scene in <i>Up in the Air</i> when Ryan, Alex and a group of fellow boat passengers run barefoot on the beach at night into their hotel that's beautifully shot and makes Bingham's lifestyle seem fun and appealing. Like you said, though, the movie ultimately condemns Bingham for his choices -- a condemnation that doesn't even make sense, since, if he's deluded about a future with Alex, then what exactly is wrong with his life in the first place, as long as he's made peace with it? I agree that she seems to be the one who's in denial (and a little nuts). And that doesn't track with the character up to then.<br /><br />Your comparison of <i>The Informant</i> to <i>The King of Comedy</i> "if all it contained were scenes of Rupert Pupkin showing up at Jerry Langford's offices" is hilariously true, and makes me want to see Scorsese's brilliant satire again. There's a movie that, in 1983, was so prescient about where celebrity culture was headed it's scary.<br /><br />Finally, great call about Lynskey, which I overlooked completely. I've never disliked her as an actress, yet it's curious that I never think of anything to say about her.Craighttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01450775188328918558noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3211112229982829419.post-43837095308775690822010-04-10T16:19:17.851-04:002010-04-10T16:19:17.851-04:00I guess this is the Melanie Lynskey post, includin...I guess this is the Melanie Lynskey post, including a reference to "Shattered Glass".<br /><br />I remember liking "The Informant!" when I saw it, but probably could not recall much of it beyond Damon's performance. I'm not really sure what I was supposed to take out of the movie because it doesn't really say anything about Whitacre's delusions, but just keeps repeating the act of lying again and again. Imagine "The King of Comedy" if all it contained were scenes of Rupert Pupkin showing up at Jerry Langford's offices.<br /><br />"Up in the Air" continues to irritate me to no end, particularly from the wedding of Clooney's sister until the end. There's the reveal about Farmiga's character, the phone call where she tells him to grow up (when I thought she was the one who needed to grow up), the seeming condemnation of Clooney's character for living what I thought was a healthy life as a single person to that final montage of the laid off people espousing the director's family values bullshit.<br /><br />I can't help but make this observation. Perhaps, the last person who should be making films about our current economic crisis is someone who owes his ability to make films due to his last name. I'm not quite sure what Reitman understands about struggling, which explains the general smugness of his filmography.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05571206086671634525noreply@blogger.com