Over the weekend, film critic A. O. Scott wrote a long essay in The New York Times Magazine that irked me, and I wanted to use my column to unpack some of my feelings about it. If you have opinions about the state of modern pop culture, you might want to join me.
(I’m now going to paraphrase and reduce his arguments to the bones. By all means, read the entire piece for more nuance.)
Scott seems to think that the modern American adult, by his and her refusal to grow up, has had a deleterious effect on the popular arts. He specifically mentions “bromance” movies, like those produced by Judd Apatow, superhero movies, and adults who read young adult (Ya) books like the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games. In his opinion, the success of these genres means that we, as grown-ups, are rejecting our responsibilities.
As...
(I’m now going to paraphrase and reduce his arguments to the bones. By all means, read the entire piece for more nuance.)
Scott seems to think that the modern American adult, by his and her refusal to grow up, has had a deleterious effect on the popular arts. He specifically mentions “bromance” movies, like those produced by Judd Apatow, superhero movies, and adults who read young adult (Ya) books like the Harry Potter series and The Hunger Games. In his opinion, the success of these genres means that we, as grown-ups, are rejecting our responsibilities.
As...
- 9/19/2014
- by Martha Thomases
- Comicmix.com
The same daredevil spirit that has informed many an apparently insane film or TV version over the past decade has seen adaptations of literary novels
When the Cannes film festival starts next week, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, adapted and directed by James Franco, will be in the lineup. The Spider-Man star is known for mixing bookish projects with acting in blockbusters, but has nevertheless raised eyebrows by selecting a novel with 15 narrators that tells the seemingly uncinegenic story of a southern matriarch's death and burial.
This month will also see Paul Thomas Anderson begin to shoot his version of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, the first of Pynchon's dauntingly complex works to be filmed; and Steven Soderbergh recently announced plans for a 12-hour TV dramatisation of John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor ("If it works, it'll be super-cool. And if it doesn't, you won't be able to...
When the Cannes film festival starts next week, William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying, adapted and directed by James Franco, will be in the lineup. The Spider-Man star is known for mixing bookish projects with acting in blockbusters, but has nevertheless raised eyebrows by selecting a novel with 15 narrators that tells the seemingly uncinegenic story of a southern matriarch's death and burial.
This month will also see Paul Thomas Anderson begin to shoot his version of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, the first of Pynchon's dauntingly complex works to be filmed; and Steven Soderbergh recently announced plans for a 12-hour TV dramatisation of John Barth's The Sot-Weed Factor ("If it works, it'll be super-cool. And if it doesn't, you won't be able to...
- 5/11/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
No State of Cinema address at the Sfiff has been as hotly anticipated as this year's by Steven Soderbergh. (Listen to our podcast recording below.) This is not only because he's a prolific and beloved auteur that has worked in every genre and budget, but because he recently announced his retirement from filmmaking, in order to spend more time painting, making collages, writing books, directing a new play by Scott Burns about Columbine, as well as a stage version of "Cleopatra," and exploring other avenues of creativity (sign up at his new website for upcoming news. Of course, Soderbergh allowed as how he was working on a 12-hour miniseries of John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor," so maybe he has a different idea of just what retiring from filmmaking constitutes than we did. Thankfully. Soderbergh was introduced by Executive Director Ted Hope, who said that the people you meet have...
- 4/29/2013
- by Meredith Brody
- Thompson on Hollywood
HBO has released the full trailer for the Stephen Soderbergh-directed Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra. It stars Michael Douglas as the famous entertainer and Matt Damon as his lover Scott Thorson. It looks like these two guys have a pretty crazy relationship. Here's the synopsis...
Before Elvis, before Elton John, Madonna and Lady Gaga, there was Liberace: virtuoso pianist, outrageous entertainer and flamboyant star of stage and television. A name synonymous with showmanship, extravagance and candelabras, he was a world renowned performer with a flair that endeared him to his audiences and created a loyal fan base spanning his 40-year career. Liberace lived lavishly and embraced a lifestyle of excess both on and off stage. In summer 1977, handsome young stranger Scott Thorson walked into his dressing room and, despite their age difference and seemingly different worlds, the two embarked on a secretive five-year love affair. Behind The Candelabra takes...
Before Elvis, before Elton John, Madonna and Lady Gaga, there was Liberace: virtuoso pianist, outrageous entertainer and flamboyant star of stage and television. A name synonymous with showmanship, extravagance and candelabras, he was a world renowned performer with a flair that endeared him to his audiences and created a loyal fan base spanning his 40-year career. Liberace lived lavishly and embraced a lifestyle of excess both on and off stage. In summer 1977, handsome young stranger Scott Thorson walked into his dressing room and, despite their age difference and seemingly different worlds, the two embarked on a secretive five-year love affair. Behind The Candelabra takes...
- 4/9/2013
- by Joey Paur
- GeekTyrant
Steven Soderbergh has never been one to resist a challenge (ie. a 12-hour adaptation of John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor"), and certainly, his long-developing biopic of Liberace, "Behind the Candelabra," faced its fair share of resistance. The director has been up front about major studios turning down the movie for being "too gay," but it seems it's going to be their loss. HBO has dropped a brand new trailer for the movie and it looks nothing short of great. Michael Douglas and Matt Damon lead the picture as Liberace and his young gay lover/friend/confidante Scott Thorson, respectively, and while you'll come for the costumes and sequins, you'll stay for the drama. Douglas slinks and purrs his way through the lead in a performance that seems simply transformative, while Damon is just as game as the young man thrust into this gaudy, glitzy world. This new trailer offers...
- 4/8/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Photos from Fast and Furious 6, The Raid 2, Motel, Maniac, Scary Movie 5, 2 Guns, Trance, The Purge, Blue Jasmine.
Posters for Cbgb, Iron Man 3, The Purge, The Kings of Summer, This Is The End, The Great Gatsby, Pain and Gain, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Before Midnight, Vehicle 19, The Conjuring, Bridegroom, 2 Guns, Mud, The English Teacher, See Girl Run, Safety Last!, A Green Story, Errors of the Human Body, Wish You Were Here.
A new viral site has launched for Neil Blompkamp's much-anticipated sci-fi saga Elysium.
M83's complete soundtrack for "Oblivion" can be heard online over at Mashable.
New Blu-ray dates include 'K-11' and 'A Haunted House' on April 23rd; 'Side Effects' on May 21st; 'A Good Day to Die Hard,' 'Mental' and 'Warm Bodies' on June 4th; 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' and 'Phantom' on June 11th, 'Upside Down' on June 25th, 'Pieta' on July 23rd,...
Posters for Cbgb, Iron Man 3, The Purge, The Kings of Summer, This Is The End, The Great Gatsby, Pain and Gain, Greetings from Tim Buckley, Before Midnight, Vehicle 19, The Conjuring, Bridegroom, 2 Guns, Mud, The English Teacher, See Girl Run, Safety Last!, A Green Story, Errors of the Human Body, Wish You Were Here.
A new viral site has launched for Neil Blompkamp's much-anticipated sci-fi saga Elysium.
M83's complete soundtrack for "Oblivion" can be heard online over at Mashable.
New Blu-ray dates include 'K-11' and 'A Haunted House' on April 23rd; 'Side Effects' on May 21st; 'A Good Day to Die Hard,' 'Mental' and 'Warm Bodies' on June 4th; 'Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters' and 'Phantom' on June 11th, 'Upside Down' on June 25th, 'Pieta' on July 23rd,...
- 4/4/2013
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
With his Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra set to premiere on May 26, Steven Soderbergh is planning for his movie-making retirement. As time goes on, his time off is just getting more and more busy. Add to his list of projects an adaptation of John Barth’s 1960 novel The Sot-Weed Factor. “I’ve had this on my shelf for a while,” Soderbergh told Entertainment Weekly. “I was going to do it as a movie, but I couldn’t figure it out. So now I’ve had it adapted as 12 one-hour episodes.” The book is a 750-plus-page satire of picaresque novels and tells the story of a English poet in the 1680s who moves to Maryland to run his father's tobacco farm and have adventures. Considering the source's length and ambition, Soderbergh's biggest concern is avoiding making "a fucking $85 million, 12-hour comedy set in the [1600s]." His mysterious response: “I think I’ve...
- 4/1/2013
- by Jesse David Fox
- Vulture
Don’t worry Steven Soderbergh fans, he is still a very busy guy! And no, we’re not here to talk about his Cleopatra musical or his stage version of Magic Mike, because we’ve just learned that Side Effects helmer also has some serious plans for – television! In other words, he plans to develop a 12-hour miniseries based on John Barth’s 1960 novel The Sot-Weed Factor. Sounds interesting, make sure you find more details in the rest of this report… First of all, let us share a few details about the above mentioned novel. It is set in the 1680s in London tells the story of...
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- 3/30/2013
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
While Steven Soderbergh may be done with narrative filmmaking for the moment, his "retirement" will perhaps find him busier than ever, but not on projects that will be screened at a multiplex near you. He's got his hands in stage musicals for "Magic Mike" and "Cleopatra," he's directing a play this fall, he'll be focusing on painting and writing books, and he's got some kind of web thing called Extension 765 he's launching soon too. But it seems he's also circling back to a project that had been kicking around a while, and might be familiar to devoted Soderbergh heads. EW reports that the writer/director is currently adapting John Barth's "The Sot-Weed Factor" into a 12-hour series for television. This is something he's been talking up for a few years now, but it finally seems like he's figured out a way into the ambitious project. The sprawling, celebrated 1960 book...
- 3/29/2013
- by Kevin Jagernauth
- The Playlist
Steven Soderbergh may have retired from feature filmmaking, but that doesn’t mean he’s just going to buy a house out in Kauai and spend his days drinking so much rum that every time he burps it tastes like coconut—even though this sounds amazing. Let’s all go do that right now. But before we do, let's consider the news that Soderbergh, in addition to dreaming up his promised Magic Mike and Cleopatra musicals, is also spending his “retirement” working on a 12-hour miniseries based on John Barth’s The Sot-Weed Factor. The 1960 novel has apparently ...
- 3/29/2013
- avclub.com
Let’s just say Steven Soderbergh’s idea of retirement doesn’t include a lot of shuffleboard. The Oscar winning director, who has said that the Liberace biopic Behind the Candelabra (airing May 26 on HBO) will be his last conventional feature film for the time being, tells EW that he is now at work developing a 12-hour miniseries based on John Barth’s 1960 novel The Sot-Weed Factor.
“I’ve had this on my shelf for a while,” says Soderbergh. “I was going to do it as a movie, but I couldn’t figure it out. So now I’ve had it adapted as 12 one-hour episodes.
“I’ve had this on my shelf for a while,” says Soderbergh. “I was going to do it as a movie, but I couldn’t figure it out. So now I’ve had it adapted as 12 one-hour episodes.
- 3/29/2013
- by Adam Markovitz
- EW - Inside Movies
In a world more to his liking, Gore Vidal might have been president, or even king. He had an aristocrat's bearing – tall, handsome and composed – and an authoritative baritone ideal for summoning an aide or courtier.
But Vidal made his living – a very good living – from challenging power, not holding it. He was wealthy and famous and committed to exposing a system often led by men he knew firsthand. During the days of Franklin Roosevelt, one of the few leaders whom Vidal admired, he might have been called a "traitor to his class." The real traitors, Vidal would respond, were the upholders of his class.
The author, playwright, politician and commentator whose vast and sharpened range of published works and public remarks were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom, died Tuesday at age 86 in Los Angeles.
Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills at about 6:45 p.
But Vidal made his living – a very good living – from challenging power, not holding it. He was wealthy and famous and committed to exposing a system often led by men he knew firsthand. During the days of Franklin Roosevelt, one of the few leaders whom Vidal admired, he might have been called a "traitor to his class." The real traitors, Vidal would respond, were the upholders of his class.
The author, playwright, politician and commentator whose vast and sharpened range of published works and public remarks were stamped by his immodest wit and unconventional wisdom, died Tuesday at age 86 in Los Angeles.
Vidal died at his home in the Hollywood Hills at about 6:45 p.
- 8/1/2012
- by AP
- Huffington Post
Jonathan Lethem's essays reveal surprising influences on his fiction
This is a book that turns the reader into Mortimer Snerd, the ventriloquist's puppet who supposedly first uttered the immortal phrase "Who'd have thunk it?" Who'd have thunk that Jonathan Lethem – one of the most emotionally engaging and intellectually nimble of contemporary novelists – might prefer Barbara Pym to Thomas Pynchon? Who'd have thunk the first book he had autographed was by Anthony Burgess, or that he adored Gk Chesterton, the essay on whom has the most appropriately ecstatic opening sentence: "How do you autopsy a somersault?" There are also more familiar aspects. You would have to be a rather obtuse reader not to realise Lethem's love of Dick, Dylan and Ditko.
This is not, thankfully, one of those ragbag anthologies of non-fiction that fiction writers throw together when their cuttings drawer becomes full. Rather, like Zadie Smith's Changing My Mind...
This is a book that turns the reader into Mortimer Snerd, the ventriloquist's puppet who supposedly first uttered the immortal phrase "Who'd have thunk it?" Who'd have thunk that Jonathan Lethem – one of the most emotionally engaging and intellectually nimble of contemporary novelists – might prefer Barbara Pym to Thomas Pynchon? Who'd have thunk the first book he had autographed was by Anthony Burgess, or that he adored Gk Chesterton, the essay on whom has the most appropriately ecstatic opening sentence: "How do you autopsy a somersault?" There are also more familiar aspects. You would have to be a rather obtuse reader not to realise Lethem's love of Dick, Dylan and Ditko.
This is not, thankfully, one of those ragbag anthologies of non-fiction that fiction writers throw together when their cuttings drawer becomes full. Rather, like Zadie Smith's Changing My Mind...
- 2/25/2012
- by Stuart Kelly, James Wood
- The Guardian - Film News
Last week I ran a lengthy first part of my Steven Soderbergh interview, primarily about the movie Contagion. Soon aftewards, the film opened number one at the box office by a wide margin and clearly there is a direct line between the two. Steve, next time you are in town the cherry lime rickeys are on you.
Our conversation went far beyond the usual shilling for new product, so now that the news cycle promoting Contagion has run its course, I’d love to share the rest of our discussion on a multitude of topics.
For a guy whose won every award imaginable and has the acclaim of both mass audiences and “the elite,” I can’t overstate just how down-to-earth and agreeable Mr. Soderbergh is. What doesn’t come across in print is his directness – there’s a surprising lack of b.s. in his tone, and if he...
Our conversation went far beyond the usual shilling for new product, so now that the news cycle promoting Contagion has run its course, I’d love to share the rest of our discussion on a multitude of topics.
For a guy whose won every award imaginable and has the acclaim of both mass audiences and “the elite,” I can’t overstate just how down-to-earth and agreeable Mr. Soderbergh is. What doesn’t come across in print is his directness – there’s a surprising lack of b.s. in his tone, and if he...
- 9/14/2011
- UGO Movies
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