[evollove]

That's funny. I didn't really like Che. I actually own both parts on DVD and I've never watched them twice. Maybe I should.

Wow. I just now realized I own more Soderbergh than any other director.

I haven't seen Traffic in years, but I remember being impressed with the distinct color scheme for each story (yellow for mexico, blue for Mike Douglas' part, etc). And in these sort of huge multi-story epics, character is usually the first thing to go, but all the major characters have their own interesting arcs. If Michael Mann had directed Traffic, it would've sucked.

I think I find in Soderberg a nice blend of human-based storytelling and a technical prowess which serves the storytelling without overwhelming it. This happens to suit my particular, personal, wholly-subjective taste.

Yeah, taste. He and I have a very similar taste. For my movie watching, I guess I'd more often prefer to have a series of satisfying experiences rather than one massive iconic thing to film-geek-out on, and he's happy to oblige.

Where is all this coming from by the way? A reaction to some article overpraising Steven?

[!@#$%!]

maybe because of my cultural origins i related to the che story i guess. i though it was a good/fair biopic. now that i think about it i wasn't really watching it for "drama" but rather almost as a documentary.

you're right that sodeberg(h?) is a good human-based storyteller. in that sense he's good but also a bit conventional.

as for the technical prowess part, it's not so much prowess per se. that would be cameron and his shitty titanic, or kubrick and his candelit scenes. but he's got a really good level of craft, which... kevin smith doesn't, lol.

craft is highly underrated these days but i think it makes things very good.

oh the thing came from solaris tarkovski vs soda-city. i've only watched the russian one and i love the way it looks. i love it so bad it hurts.

but im more of a visual glutton than a human story one, if i should say this. i mean i enjoy both, but im really a glutton for the spectacle of cinema, except for when it's too fucking dumb like in a michael bay movie or the hammy-ass fucking spartacus.

speaking of human story, i should insist, hype aside, manchester by the sea was really good fucking writing.

[tesla69]

Skin Trade starring Dolph Lundgren - an intelligent action film about human trafficking in 2017, Dolph is the good guy and takes out evil ruskie sex slaver Ron Perlman and the fights and shootouts are intense cinema and utterly unbelievable, probably straight to DVD...the human trafficking scenes are kind of hard to take, because its not really fiction in 2017, even if the actual depravity is implied or threatened more than shown or demonstrated by the after effects...

[Severian]

Originally Posted by evollove

I know what you mean, but he isn't really that sort of director.

Coppola has Godfather I, II and Apocalypse, but who really cares about the other ones?

Soderbergh doesn't have a Godfather I, II or Apocalypse, but he does have a respectable list of perfectly fine films which I personally find satisfying, even if I agree none really blow my mind and alter the way I view the world of cinema.

I hadn't really thought about Soderbergh in awhile, but this conversation made me review his body of work and I'm more impressed than ever. Ocean's 13 sucked, but that's his only real dud. He's kind of like Woody Allen in that he seems more interested in pumping out a lot of films rather than laboring over some grand statement.

No one thinks TRAFFIC is a modern classic?

I was going to say, at least when it was released, I thought TRAFFIC was pretty fucking phenomenal. I've only seen it once, but I could really argue with Soderbergh fever after seeing that one. I think it might have been my favorite film of the year.

Where's Steven been lately? For a while he was the most sought after director in the Hollywood, before David Fincher and (my boi) Chris Nolan started getting juicy big-budget projects, and before Paul Thomas Anderson became everyone's favorite left-of-center dude. I'm honestly not aware of any films directed by him from the past 10 years, unless I'm just really skipping over something in my head.

[Severian]

Everyone's better than Kevin Smith. He had some nice moments early on (Clerks, certainly a classic... Chasing Amy, not bad... Dogma, hilarious if poorly acted by at least half the cast) but I see him as an idiot in Blink-182 shorts who named his daughter Harley Quinn. Sorry if that sounds arrogant.

[noisereductions]

Mallrats and Chasing Amy are great to me. Everything else is take it or leave it.

[Severian]

Originally Posted by noisereductions

Mallrats and Chasing Amy are great to me. Everything else is take it or leave it.

Don't forget this gem:

 

I guess he also did a documentary about the Tim Burton Superman movie that (thank the good lord) never happened. It came out in 2015 and was called "The Death of 'Superman Lives': What Happened?"

In response to that question my guess is that someone or many people came to their senses.

It was going to feature a hybrid of Braniac and Alex Luthor (presumably a la Alan Moore's '80s Superman run) named... wait for it... Lexiac

*vomits in mouth*

[noisereductions]

I don't know if you're being sarcastic, but Jersey Girl was way better than I expected it to be.

I remember thinking Clerks 2 was a lot of fun. And Zak & Miri had its moments. But I haven't really been interested in much he's done in years.

There were rumors about a Mallrats sequel. I'd totally see that though.

[h8kurdt]

People who like Mallrats only like it cos they watched it when they were teenagers and thought it was hilarious at the time. It really isn't a good film. At all.

How Kevin Smith has such hardcore followers is beyond me.

[noisereductions]

I think you're right and wrong. I did watch it as a teen. So yeah there's that. But I also watched it last week and still enjoyed it. Shrug.

I'm far from a hardcore follower though. Like I said, I love Mallrats and Chasing Amy. That's really about it. There's others I like. And some I hate.

[h8kurdt]

See for me it's Jim Carrey films. I still love his films now, and could probably recite them all word for word. However, I'm pretty sure if I was 31 when he was doing Dumb And Dumber and Liar Liar etc I'd hate them.

I think your tastes change, but generally the films you loved when you're a teenager stay with you, for whatever reason.

[noisereductions]

I mean I'm not totally disagreeing. Honestly, pretty much everything I'm into (music, games, shows, movies, comics) seem to be rather rooted in my teenage years.

[evollove]

Forgot about RED STATE. I liked it a lot. I love John Goodman. I hate bigots. Win/win.

I think "I watched it just because John Goodman's in it" is a pretty good way to select a movie to watch.

Seriously, is there anyone in the world who is like, "Fuck that guy. He sucks."

[demonrail666]

Originally Posted by evollove

Forgot about RED STATE. I liked it a lot. I love John Goodman. I hate bigots. Win/win.

I think "I watched it just because John Goodman's in it" is a pretty good way to select a movie to watch.

Seriously, is there anyone in the world who is like, "Fuck that guy. He sucks."

I came pretty close with Treme, until I realised that almost everyone comes across like a prick in that.

[ilduclo]

he certainly was the worst part of Inside Llewyn Davis

[!@#$%!]

poor kevin smith! he's suddenly getting gratuitously abused

but yeah, it think when he came out with clerks he held the promise to be the "voice of a generation" (lol, that term) in a way. miramax didn't just pick him out of the blue. clerks is pretty good for a no-money film.

problem is though once he got money things didn't improve much. i don't think he transferred his guerrilla style very well to hollywood & big indies. maybe it was his producer? i don't know.

i'd like to elaborate more on this but i gotta run so i'll leave this hanging for a moment. and i'll also leave this reminder to mention "small town, gay bar" in the discussion.

[Rob Instigator]

Kevin Smith makes country sausage. good with some gravy and biscuits.

he is like a suburban dork Benicio Del Toro, but into the whole corny rom-com bullshit that suburban people substitute for actual lives.

I can look past the horrid amateurism of Clerks to see it's great aspects though. Clerks II SUCKED SHIT.

I am the only person I know who found Dogma to be good enough to watch multiple times. As a PK (priest's kid) all the theological stuff really made me laugh. I love Dogma. Plus, Salma Hayek dancing and using her Muse powers to engorge my silver rocket? sheit son.

Mallrats is like a stoner version of John Hughes films. I only watched it for Jay and silent bob. everyone else sucked ass.

I found the whole Chasing saga dull as fuck. I hated those fucking shit films. lovelorn fucking losers exploring their lovelorn loserness? jesus fuck what a waste of LIFE

[!@#$%!]

lol rob hates anything that has anything to do with "relationships"

but besides yeah chasing amy was not a good story. very very predictable. "dumb guy learns lesson"

man i have to write this in small chunks

so basically my appreciation of the guy is that he portrayed a certain moment in the culture. gen-xer life and what not. it wasn't the best of portrayals but it was one of the few people had in an industry that still was (still is?) dominated by baby boomers and their shit.

so in that sense it was, hm, a mirror kinda, but not a good one. lol.

people like looking at themselves

"that's just like my life!" they scream

lololol

your life is boring!

bbl

[Severian]

Originally Posted by Rob Instigator

Kevin Smith makes country sausage. good with some gravy and biscuits.

he is like a suburban dork Benicio Del Toro, but into the whole corny rom-com bullshit that suburban people substitute for actual lives.

I can look past the horrid amateurism of Clerks to see it's great aspects though. Clerks II SUCKED SHIT.

I am the only person I know who found Dogma to be good enough to watch multiple times. As a PK (priest's kid) all the theological stuff really made me laugh. I love Dogma. Plus, Salma Hayek dancing and using her Muse powers to engorge my silver rocket? sheit son.

Mallrats is like a stoner version of John Hughes films. I only watched it for Jay and silent bob. everyone else sucked ass.

I found the whole Chasing saga dull as fuck. I hated those fucking shit films. lovelorn fucking losers exploring their lovelorn loserness? jesus fuck what a waste of LIFE

Hey, I said I like Dogma!

It's really quite charming and funny. DESPITE Jay and Bob. Because of the classic deadpan performances by Matt Damon and (surprisingly) Ben Affleck.

[evollove]

That chick from Clerks who blew a lot of guys has passed away.

http://www.msn.com/en-us/movies/news...id=mailsignout