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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 20, 2024 1:27:24 GMT
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender are attached to star in Black Bag, a hot spy thriller package from Steven Soderbergh that has hit the Hollywood market. Soderbergh is on board to direct the feature project, which has a script by David Keopp. This is the latest team-up between the director and writer, who have the thriller Presence premiering at the Sundance Film Festival Friday. Like many of Soderbergh’s projects, this one is being kept hush-hush although it is known to be set in the UK. www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/cate-blanchett-michael-fassbender-black-bag-1235793319/ |
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Post by pupdurcs on Jan 20, 2024 15:11:20 GMT
This is a project announcement that would have felt exciting in 2002.
But Koepp hasn't written anything good in years and Soderbergh has been going through the motions for years. He's a technically talented filmmaker with nothing to say. I don't understand his career, because he's made some very good films, but over half his career feels like that of a journeyman, when I once thought he was an auteur.
I guess everyone involved will collect a bag (of money). Pun intended. So I can respect the hustle.
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Jan 20, 2024 15:25:18 GMT
Good news. "Kimi" was so much fun, so I'm very much in for the next Koepp/Soderbergh collaboration.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 20, 2024 15:35:46 GMT
Good news. "Kimi" was so much fun, so I'm very much in for the next Koepp/Soderbergh collaboration. Here's a review for their new one which premieres this week - positive, from Variety ........ Black Bag is a much bigger deal though than KImi & Presence based on the leads, budget etc.
“Presence,” a ghost story directed by Steven Soderbergh, is set entirely inside a lovely, renovated, 100-year-old suburban home, and before the characters even have a chance to move in, the place is already occupied. The camera literally seems to be peering at things, staring out the second-floor windows, then coming down the stairs to witness the arrival of a harried real-estate agent, then the family of four she’s about to sell the house to. Darting from room to room in an unbroken wide-angle-lens shot, the camera gives us an impromptu tour of the house, letting us drink in the crisp mint-green walls, the vintage wood that lines everything (windows, doors, stairway, fireplace), the ancient smoke-glass mirror and polished oak-board floors and elegant sprawling kitchen. Yet this is no mere real-estate porn. For the entire rest of the movie, Soderbergh never abandons that bobbing, weaving voyeuristic camera’s-eye-view.
variety.com/2024/film/reviews/presence-review-steven-soderbergh-lucy-liu-1235879820/
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Post by pupdurcs on Jan 20, 2024 16:08:52 GMT
Yeah....Soderbergh keeps on making these insubstantial films that get decent reviews. It's exactly because he's a technically talented filmmaker that has nothing to say. It all looks good, but so often adds up to nothing. It's frustrating because he feels capable of more than this stuff based on his older work. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 12 times, shame on me. The last thing he did with any serious ambition was Che.
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 20, 2024 17:16:16 GMT
Good news. "Kimi" was so much fun, so I'm very much in for the next Koepp/Soderbergh collaboration. Here's a review for their new one which premieres this week - positive, from Variety ........ Black Bag is a much bigger deal though than KImi & Presence based on the leads, budget etc.
“Presence,” a ghost story directed by Steven Soderbergh, is set entirely inside a lovely, renovated, 100-year-old suburban home, and before the characters even have a chance to move in, the place is already occupied. The camera literally seems to be peering at things, staring out the second-floor windows, then coming down the stairs to witness the arrival of a harried real-estate agent, then the family of four she’s about to sell the house to. Darting from room to room in an unbroken wide-angle-lens shot, the camera gives us an impromptu tour of the house, letting us drink in the crisp mint-green walls, the vintage wood that lines everything (windows, doors, stairway, fireplace), the ancient smoke-glass mirror and polished oak-board floors and elegant sprawling kitchen. Yet this is no mere real-estate porn. For the entire rest of the movie, Soderbergh never abandons that bobbing, weaving voyeuristic camera’s-eye-view.
variety.com/2024/film/reviews/presence-review-steven-soderbergh-lucy-liu-1235879820/
Up on RT now 6 reviews, 100% atm.............Soderbergh always would have been great for horror because he always carefully discerns what he shows you and not (ie the great offscreen beat down in The Limey)........some of Unsane (2018) is brilliant in a horror trope subversion way - early on........later, not so much www.rottentomatoes.com/m/presence_2024 |
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thomasjerome
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Post by thomasjerome on Jan 21, 2024 9:09:10 GMT
Up on RT now 6 reviews, 100% atm.............Soderbergh always would have been great for horror because he always carefully discerns what he shows you and not (ie the great offscreen beat down in The Limey)........some of Unsane (2018) is brilliant in a horror trope subversion way - early on........later, not so much www.rottentomatoes.com/m/presence_2024. |
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Post by futuretrunks on Jan 21, 2024 20:03:44 GMT
Yeah.... Soderbergh keeps on making these insubstantial films that get decent reviews. It's exactly because he's a technically talented filmmaker that has nothing to say. It all looks good, but so often adds up to nothing. It's frustrating because he feels capable of more than this stuff based on his older work. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 12 times, shame on me. The last thing he did with any serious ambition was Che.I'd say The Knick, which was superb, (and to some degree Mosaic, also a TV thing) but yeah. He seems afraid of going for big swings anymore. His filmmaking ability hasn't eroded one bit, but he deploys it for minor screenplays. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 21, 2024 20:15:19 GMT
Only on MAR can an obvious (?) return to big budget, go for it "big" sounding project - with the worlds best actress (atm, arguably) and a great actor be bitched about for the Oscar winning director's previous, relatively minor films - with less commercial appeal, less stars, and smaller budgets. Cynical fnckers tbh......  |
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Post by futuretrunks on Jan 21, 2024 22:36:39 GMT
Only on MAR can an obvious (?) return to big budget, go for it "big" sounding project - with the worlds best actress (atm, arguably) and a great actor be bitched about for the Oscar winning director's previous, relatively minor films - with less commercial appeal, less stars, and smaller budgets. Cynical fnckers tbh...... I mean his last movie with Blanchett made no waves, and nothing Koepp has done has been particularly memorable in 20 or so years. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 21, 2024 23:00:51 GMT
That's a dumb way to look at it tbh - his 2006 film you mean?  She's won a 2nd Oscar since then ffs - she's on a whole different level in 2024 than then anyway....he obviously feels comfortable with Koepp and is going for something big here (on paper I mean) It just seems more reasonable saying "Yeah this could be interesting with 2 great actors and his last 2 with Koepp were pretty well received" rather than being all Debbie Downer and bringing up his experimental side ....... just sayin  |
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Post by futuretrunks on Jan 21, 2024 23:33:19 GMT
That's a dumb way to look at it tbh - his 2006 film you mean? She's won a 2nd Oscar since then ffs - she's on a whole different level in 2024 than then anyway....he obviously feels comfortable with Koepp and is going for something big here (on paper I mean) It just seems more reasonable saying "Yeah this could be interesting with 2 great actors and his last 2 with Koepp were pretty well received" rather than being all Debbie Downer and bringing up his experimental side ....... just sayin you have some hope/expectation that he crafts something as astonishing as Traffic/Erin Brockovich? I don't really get excited for mildly pleasant Soderbergh. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 21, 2024 23:39:58 GMT
That's a dumb way to look at it tbh - his 2006 film you mean? She's won a 2nd Oscar since then ffs - she's on a whole different level in 2024 than then anyway....he obviously feels comfortable with Koepp and is going for something big here (on paper I mean) It just seems more reasonable saying "Yeah this could be interesting with 2 great actors and his last 2 with Koepp were pretty well received" rather than being all Debbie Downer and bringing up his experimental side ....... just sayin you have some hope/expectation that he crafts something as astonishing as Traffic/Erin Brockovich? I don't really get excited for mildly pleasant Soderbergh. Not that high tbh - but I have my hopes that he can create a kind better than mildly pleasant film ....all I'm saying......... |
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Post by pupdurcs on Jan 21, 2024 23:51:05 GMT
Yeah.... Soderbergh keeps on making these insubstantial films that get decent reviews. It's exactly because he's a technically talented filmmaker that has nothing to say. It all looks good, but so often adds up to nothing. It's frustrating because he feels capable of more than this stuff based on his older work. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me 12 times, shame on me. The last thing he did with any serious ambition was Che.I'd say The Knick, which was superb, (and to some degree Mosaic, also a TV thing) but yeah. He seems afraid of going for big swings anymore. His filmmaking ability hasn't eroded one bit, but he deploys it for minor screenplays. It's just bizzare to me. Why would someone as technically skilled and capable as Soderbergh, who is also clearly an intellectually curious man have so little ambition in terms of narrative filmmaking? Like what makes him excited to wake up and direct two Magic Mike movies? He's like the opposite of Ridley Scott ( yes, I know you hated Napoleon ). Say what you will for Scott being hit and miss, but he always takes big swings in terms of ambitious screenplays and when he does have something that hits, the payoff can be immense. And the man is nearly 90  . This is actually coming from a place of respect/constructive criticism. Soderbergh is such a skilled filmmaker and such a smart man, that I wish he would take big swings again, instead of all these pleasant/minor and sometimes forgettable diversions. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Jan 22, 2024 0:33:07 GMT
New Quote / interview with Soderbergh - so there ya go ..........Howard Hawks 
Soderbergh: I’ve thought about that. I’m always thinking about that. And the solution now is to split in the opposite direction and make something that is equally well-served by forgetting this idea and shooting in a way that would hopefully appear seamless for the audience. It’s a pure pleasure space. Something entertaining like Howard Hawks is the best way to go.
Filmmaker: Do you have sch a project or is this purely theoretical?
Soderbergh: Yes, I do. The script is great. I hope there is a way to do it, because I would get to annihilate what I just did. And the script and the cast went out to prospective buyers on Tuesday. So, at Sundance, I’ll either be happy or worried.filmmakermagazine.com/124668-interview-steven-soderbergh-presence-sundance-2024/ |
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Post by pupdurcs on Jan 22, 2024 0:42:39 GMT
Soderbergh has been talking about Howard Hawks ( and John Ford) in interviews since at least 1993 . Hawks is one of his idols, and he's frequently compared himself to him (at least in the sense of wanting to emulate his career). So I'm not sure what difference that makes. It could still be yet another minor Soderbergh diversion. We'll have to wait and see.
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Post by JangoB on Jan 22, 2024 17:32:28 GMT
I mean, it's cool that Blanchett & Fassbender are reuniting with him and all that but slamming people for not being excited about a current Soderbergh movie is bonkers. Meryl Streep and Gary Oldman starred in one of his recent projects too and the result was that classic The Laundromat. And that's just one example. The man seems to have given up on making movies that feel or try to be special. Which is fine - if that's what he wants to do, that's what he wants to do. But I personally find myself unable to muster any enthusiasm about this announcement. Hell, the most notable film-related thing Soderbergh has done in years is that disastrous switch of the Best Actor and Best Picture categories at the 93rd Oscars.
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Post by JangoB on Jan 26, 2024 1:48:19 GMT
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Post by Mattsby on Jan 27, 2024 18:48:26 GMT
David Koepp has an unmade script on his site called Blackwater - that has a Story by Brian De Palma credit and really reads like a remake of Chabrol's La Rupture - Anyway in that script there's a whole discussed notion of a "Black Bag" and a lot of spy-like shenanigans going on. The protagonist is described as "good looking but gaunt" (Fassbender much?) a mysterious writer who becomes involved with a morning show host (Blanchett much?) and falls into the crosshairs of her psycho ex-husband NBA coach (hmmm Damon? Cheadle? Fraser? who do we like here). Who knows if this is the movie or he just pulled that black bag bit, just some fun for thought. Also....... apparently Sod is shooting a high concept comedy in March ("It might be the movie I was born to make" he said on a recent podcast) before he shoots this thriller. |
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Post by pacinoyes on Mar 8, 2024 21:57:54 GMT
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Post by pupdurcs on Mar 9, 2024 15:13:56 GMT
The more significant ( or well known I guess) cast addition happened a few days ago.Rege Jean Page;
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Post by JangoB on Mar 19, 2024 22:51:04 GMT
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She's won a 2nd Oscar since then ffs - she's on a whole different level in 2024 than then anyway....he obviously feels comfortable with Koepp and is going for something big here (on paper I mean)
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