comment #1

JD says ...

But you have to admit, it's a good excuse to grow a beard. If Soderbergh believes in method directing, I believe in it too.

comment #2

Walter Sobchak says ...

Thank you for those pics, Jeff.

Now will you buy me a new Apply keyboard since I just spit coffee all over mine?

Funniest goddam thing I've seen in days.

comment #3

corey3rd says ...

who is going to play Che's hands?

comment #4

TheJeff says ...

"But you have to admit, it's a good excuse to grow a beard. If Soderbergh believes in method directing, I believe in it too."

I believe that's a "strike beard," not a "Che beard."

comment #5

lazarus says ...

Stike beard, Che beard, whatever--a commie's a fucking commie. They should deport both Soderbergh and Del Toro and then burn the footage in a pile surrounding Oliver Stone tied to a stake.

comment #6

gruver1 says ...

Wells to Lazarus: Speaking as a Che-respecting, Soderbergh and Del Toro-admiring leftie, I won't have any of that reactionary right-wing talk around here. If you want to foam at the mouth like a rabid dog, do it somewhere else.

comment #7

JD says ...

lazarus, most free-thinking, intelligent people wised-up to the "commie" conditioning they grew up with 30 years ago, but you still impulsively shout "commie" any time anything with communist relevance comes up. You're programmed and it's hilarious. And what did you call Spielberg when he made Schindler's List? A Nazi? A fascist? Who made the rule that all films need to venerate their subjects? Is There Will Be Blood a celebration of Daniel Plainview?

comment #8

lazarus says ...

I guess my impersonation of some of our resident right-wingnuts was a little too convincing.

comment #9

Josh Massey says ...

"I respected Che Guevara and all I got was this totally bitchin' T-shirt."

comment #10

T. Holly says ...

For a moment, I thought this post was saying something about union members. That's what I get for working at studio during a strike.

I struggle to keep up HEre, things move really fast.

comment #11

lazarus says ...

Congrats, Massey. You have that cliched conservative Che t-shirt comment reaction time down to an unbelievable level.

comment #12

le corbeau says ...

Great, all you Malibu liberals will lionize Che without acknowledging his destructive legacy of underwear-wearing on the outside.

comment #13

Balthazar says ...

Politics aside, what's happened to Soderbergh?

After Out of Sight/The Limey/Erin Brockovich/Traffic, I thought he was poised to become the director of this decade.

Did Ocean's Eleven (the only watchable Ocean's movie, IMO) and his association with Clooney throw him so far off track as to make him the most disappointing director of the decade?

comment #14

le corbeau says ...

And what did you call Spielberg when he made Schindler's List? A Nazi? A fascist? Who made the rule that all films need to venerate their subjects?

Well, JD, there was that quote from Soderbergh about not dealing with the murderous aspect of Che's personality, so concern about a whitewash is hardly reactionary.

comment #15

le corbeau says ...

And what did you call Spielberg when he made Schindler's List? A Nazi? A fascist? Who made the rule that all films need to venerate their subjects?

Well, JD, there was that quote from Soderbergh about not dealing with the murderous aspect of Che's personality, so concern about a whitewash is hardly reactionary.

comment #16

lazarus says ...

Some of us really like Solaris. A lot. Bubble was a experiment that one can at least respect. And while The Good German wasn't an entirely successful outing, it was a pretty unique one, and showed that on the technical side, he's as good of a director as he ever was.

And Ocean's 12 was far from a by-the-numbers sequel. He used the opportunity to try and sneak a new wave film past the moviegoing public. Most didn't like it, but I sure did.

Helping produce Syriana, Good Night and Goodluck, K-Street, and Unscripted (among other projects) shows that he may not have had as off of a decade as you might think.

Having said that, I'm happy to see him taking on something big again, and I'm sure the Che films won't fall by the wayside.

comment #17

Balthazar says ...

True, I have major respect for his producer credentials this decade.

And there's nothing wrong with the idea of Bubble Boy -- nor did it suck up too much of his time.

I can't say anything bad about Solaris, but it really didn't do much for me, because I saw no need to remake that film.

I guess I just got addicted to "Soderbergh the Storyteller" with those late 90s films, and have been hungry for more. But I guess the guy has to follow his own creative impulses and if that doesn't satisfy me, it's my problem, not his.

comment #18

le corbeau says ...

The Good German (skipped), Bubble (skipped), Oceans 12, 13, 14, 15 and 16 (skipped), Solaris (skipped)... yeah, it hasn't been a great decade for him and me. But I liked The Limey!

comment #19

corey3rd says ...

sure it's not his playoff beard?

none of the Ocean's films are as good as the original - especially when it comes to the third act. Don't mess with Frank.

K Street and Unscripted....two shows that made me thing Mind of the Married Man wasn't that bad.

comment #20

nemo says ...

Soderbergh needs to dye that beard red like Woody's. And the red will go with the theme of the movie!

comment #21

nemo says ...

"Great, all you Malibu liberals will lionize Che without acknowledging his destructive legacy of underwear-wearing on the outside."

I think some of us can see a little bit to admire in the idealism of the young Che in The Motorcycle Diaries, who hasn't yet gone on to commit his horrific crimes, while still recognizing that the idealist young man did go on to commit horrific crimes.

I had the extreme pleasure of watching David Lean's Doctor Zhivago the other night on TCM. (Sorry, christian, I'm recovering from pneumonia, and I just don't have the stamina to stay up to 2:00 ayem to finally catch Skidoo. Some other time.)

Just now I made the connection between Che in The Motorcycle Diaries with the comments by Komarovsky (the brilliantly repulsive but smart Rod Steiger) to Lara (the heavenly young Julie Christie) after meeting her fiance Strelnikov (the chilling Tom Courtenay) when he was still a young idealist who rejected the Bolsheviks because "they don't know the difference between right and wrong."

Steiger said something along the lines that he admired Courtenay's young idealism, but he was the kind of idealistic young man who would have no compunction about making other people suffer, especially young women who made the mistake of getting involved with him.

Forget about the romance with young women angle. Steiger's cynical Komarovsky accurately foresaw that Courtenay's idealistic young Pasha would eventually become the charismatic Che-like figure Strelnikov. (Klaus Kinski, of all people, played a Che-Strelnikov worshipper on his way to prison)!

Che-Strelnikov became a murderous loose cannon who happily burned one village after another on the slightest suspicion that someone in that village might have sold a horse once to the counter-revolutionary White Guards.

He was such a loose cannon that he knew he was always on the outs with the Bolsheviks, and they eventually had to murder him in cold blood (off-screen, reported by Steiger).

By the way Strelnikov in Russian is an even more chilling revolutionary name to choose than Stalin (man of steel). The verb strelet' means to shoot either a gun or an arrow. The word strelka means arrow. I don't have a Russian dictionary handy, but Strelnikov either means or has strong associations in the direction of The Archer, The Rifleman, The Gunman, or The Shooter.

Utterly chilling. And yes, Mgmax, you are right. Boris Pasternak, David Lean, and Tom Courteny have already painted a deadly accurate portrait of the adult Che Guevera for you right there in Doctor Zhivago. I recommend everyone watch it again before watching the Soderbergh and Del Toro film.

comment #22

nemo says ...

Tom Courtenary earned a well-deserved Best Supporting Actor nomination that year for Strelnikov. The only actor nomination for Doctor Zhivago, which was a crying shame, especially for Rod Steiger.

comment #23

nemo says ...

Christ, I didn't come close typing Courtenay in some of those posts.

comment #24

The Winchester says ...

Wasn't Soderberg supposed to make 6 movies in the style of Bubble, all low budget, all day and date release platforms? Did Bubble tank that bad he just dropped it, or is he still thinking of completing those films?

comment #25

BurmaShave says ...

Che respecting? Really? A shame. He's an evil bastard any way you slice it, and certainly a misguided perversion of Marxist ideals. As an American liberal I really wish you '60s types would stop tying us in with him and his ilk.

comment #26

nemo says ...

More on Strelnikov. The very pleasant express train between Moscow and St. Petersburg has long been called the Krasnaya Strelka -- The Red Arrow.

The Gunman. The Shooter. The Killer. The Murderer. There's a little more to Che Guevera than that, but not much.

comment #27

Sam Adams says ...

It's settled: the movie is going to be a travesty of a mockery of a sham of a mockery of a travesty of two mockeries of a sham.

comment #28

rocco says ...

Wells, how can you call yourself a leftie in the spirit of young Che when you constantly and proudly throw elitist egg after elitist egg around here, leaving his populist ideals dripping with yolk and bits of shell?

comment #29

taragossip says ...

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comment #30

christian says ...

"As an American liberal I really wish you '60s types would stop tying us in with him and his ilk."

I think liberal might be too strong a word, BS. You don't want to scare off any votes now from all those moderate Repubs lining up to vote for Obama...

comment #31

Breedlove says ...

Soderbergh needs to get back to doing warm, romantic, charming, character-based comedy/dramas like out of sight and erin brockovich, far and away his two best movies.

comment #32

BurmaShave says ...

you got a strong chuckle out of me christian, that you did. You're right I'm a progr... no I'm a... damnit!

comment #33

Craig Kennedy says ...

Lazarus, I like your defense of the latter part of Soderbergh's career and I agree with you totally.

Also, Jeff is a leftie like I'm Tito Puente.

An elitist with a smattering of socially progressive leanings perhaps...as long as he doesn't get his hands dirty or have to eat at Carl's Jr. with the brown people.

I kid, Jeff. I kid because I care.

comment #34

christian says ...

Hitting 11 on the Snark-O-Meter, CJ!

Soderbergh is simply one of the very best people we have in this industry. Outside his eclectic and impressive list of films, he's a supporter of Film Art. He puts his money and power where his mouth is, like Clooney. Can't wait to see this.

Of course, all you Che-haters probably love Tony Soprano.