In our continued effort to bring you the unique insight of our team members views on film, we present to you a list of 20 possible Oscar contending films for the upcoming 82nd Annual Academy Awards held in 2010.  This list is not entirely comprehensive to be sure, as it excludes films already released like The Hurt Locker and Inglourious Basterds, but it gives some hints at intriguing possibilities for awards contenders that will soon be released into theaters.  We primarily focus on the main awards categories of Picture and Director as well as the chief acting slots.  Let us know what contenders from the list you think are strong possibilities.  We would love to debate them with you. Note: The entire Film Nest Crew contributed to this post.  Enjoy.

Amelia

Amelia is a biopic about the aviation legend Amelia Earhart, who tragically disappeared on an attempt to become the first woman to fly around the world. The film was directed by Mira Nair and stars two time Oscar winner Hilary Swank, as Earhart. As far as the films Oscar chances, a Best Actress nod for Swank seems a strong possibility given her track record. Since the list for Best Picture is now 10 films, Amelia also has a good chance to be on the list, as the Academy loves inspirational biopics. The Academy loves it even more when the lead dies at the end (Swank’s used to this as well, both of her previous wins came from playing ill-fated characters).

An Education

Ever since its debut at Sundance earlier this year, Lone Scherfig’s An Education has been primed to make an awards-season run, especially for its young star, actress Carey Mulligan. The film charts the coming-of-age story of a teenage girl (Jenny) growing up in suburban London in the 1960’s, specifically after she meets a rich playboy (Peter Sarsgaard) nearly twice her age. Since January, An Education has been sweeping the festival landscape like a good-natured plague, leaving a bounty of admirers in its wake. Carey Mulligan is already being described as a Best Actress lock, with supporting characters like Alfred Molina and Emma Thompson always giving persuasive testimonials for their admission into awards talk. The Danish helmer, Lone Scherfig has a definitive shot to enhance the female directorial presence at the ceremony in March, hopefully joining Kathryn Bigelow amongst the honored. Without question, this is a major horse in the Oscar race.

Avatar

It’s been 12 years now since James Cameron released a feature-length film, which we won’t soon forget, as 1997′s Titanic won 11 Academy Awards, including Best Picture and Best Director. Avatar has been in some stage of development since then, but will only now see the light of day as Cameron has been biding his time for special effects to catch up with his vision. The story takes place in the 22^nd century on the planet Pandora, pitting humans and Pandora natives, the Na’vi, against one another as the backdrop to a forbidden love. Given Cameron’s prior outing and the every-once-in-a-while dazzling of Academy members by special effects (Titanic, Lord of the Rings: Return of the King), the film has elements that can take it into more Award-worthy categories than just Special Effects.

The Blind Side

The true story of Michael Oher, now in the NFL, is one tailor-made to tug at the heartstrings. Oher was a homeless, uneducated African-American child taken in by a white family who helped him achieve mammoth success. Sandra Bullock plays the matriarch of the white family, removing herself from her rom-com comfort zone and placing her in a role she appeared to start in 2005’s Best Picture, Crash. This could be Bullock’s calling card for the future, but the story is so powerful even the trailer invokes emotion. The Blind Side is a dark horse Best Picture candidate with the field now at ten, while Bullock has a chance to deliver a performance worthy of a Best Actress.

Broken Embraces

Broken Embraces is a Spanish-language film that tells the story of a blind screenwriter, Harry Caine, who gets a visit from someone in his past. This visit in turn brings to the surface several things from his past which he hoped would remain hidden. The film was directed by past directing nominee Pedro Almodovar (Talk To Her), who also directed Volver. The film stars Penelope Cruz, José Luis Gómez García, Blanca Portillo and Lluís Homar. I’m not up on my Spanish language stars so I only really know Cruz’s work, but her last collaboration with Almodovar won her a supporting actress nod (Volver). Embraces certainly has the credentials to get a Best Foreign Language Film nod and Cruz, coming off her win for Vicky Christina Barcelona, can’t be counted out either.

Brothers

With the oft-delayed Brothers, director Jim Sheridan attempts to get back to his small-scale humanist roots (My Left Foot, The Boxer) with a remake of Susanne Biers’ 2004 Danish-language film of the same name. The film centers on Tommy (Jake Gylenhaal) and his relationship with the newly widowed Grace (Natalie Portman) and her child after Sam (Tobey Maguire) — her husband and Tommy’s older brother — goes missing in Afghanistan. When Sam turns up back at home, he finds that Tommy and Grace’s relationship may have evolved past petty condolences. This is very touchy material – treading through a soldiers’ societal re-entry, post-traumatic stress, love triangles, family tragedy, friendship, forgiveness, etc. I mean, Pearl Harbor basically used this same scenario as its narrative backbone. However, with the pedigree of the cast and the crew and the early December release date, Brothers has significant awards potential for Lionsgate. Even if the film is received coldly, look for possible acting nominations for the three leads.

Capitalism: A Love Story

Even in a downtrodden economy, Michael Moore’s name evokes box office gold, especially when compared to his documentarian compatriots. In Capitalism: A Love Story, Moore brings his typical combative, but highly entertaining non-fiction style, to the tale of how the economy found itself in the toilet. Two of the last three theatrically released features Moore has made have been nominated for Best Documentary (Bowling for Columbine, Sicko), with the one in between (Fahrenheit 9/11) probably being too politically divisive to do so, despite its craftsmanship. He took home the Oscar for Bowling for Columbine in 2002 and there’s no reason not to expect the man to duplicate his efforts this time out.

The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Adapting Roald Dahl’s book of the same name, Wes Anderson makes his first venture into animation (stop-motion) and it will feature an all-star Oscar cast of George Clooney, Meryl Steep and Bill Murray (at least nominated) providing the voices. Clooney plays Mr. Fox, a fox who must wage battle against chicken farmers who want to rid him and his family from stealing their stock. Wes Anderson, who was nominated for best screenplay for the Royal Tenenbaums (2001), will bring his unique direction to the animated genre and it certainly looks like he will visually bring the book to life. This has the potential for a Best Animated Feature nomination.

The Informant!

Both Steven Soderbergh (Traffic, Erin Brockovich) and Matt Damon (acting nom only for Good Will Hunting but screenplay winner there) are recipients of Oscars in the past, which leads The Informant! to being a possible nominee/winner in both the directing and acting categories for 2009. While I thought the picture left something to be desired, early reviews elsewhere have been strong, and nothing can take away from Damon’s embodied performance in the role of ADM whistle-blower Mark Whitacre, based on a true story (yet another film type that the Academy finds attractive). Damon packed on the pounds to play Whitacre (the notorious health fanatic reveled in chasing McDonald’s with cookies and the like), which evokes another Oscar nominated performance on a very similar topic when Russell Crowe added the lbs. for his whistle-blower in 1999’s The Insider. The much lighter tone of Informant will be critical to seeing how it is received. Such whimsy can often be downplayed as comedy (while it is a dark comedy) and therefore overlooked by the Academy voters as a non-serious piece of work, not worthy of a golden statue. Still, if I had to put money on it, I think Damon is next to a shoo-in for a nomination, even if I felt the picture missed its mark.

Invictus

Invictus is the story of how South African President Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of the country’s rugby team to help unite the divided nation. Invictus is from director Clint Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela with Matt Damon as the rugby captain. This film is sure to get nods in all the major categories. It’s a fair bet to suggest Freeman will get a Best Actor nomination, as might Damon in the supporting category. Best Picture is a no-brainer as the film’s subject and stars are Oscar favorites. This film could see Eastwood win his third directing statue (he also won for Million Dollar Baby and Unforgiven). Some have suggested that he should have got one last year, along with a Best Actor Oscar for Gran Torino. He was robbed last year IMO. I hope the academy fixes their oversight and he gets what he deserves this year.

It’s Complicated

Meryl Streep, who is almost guaranteed to be nominated for Best Actress for her portrayal of Julia Child in Julie and Julia, will continue her amazing streak with It’s Complicated. Streep plays Jane, a divorced woman who begins to have an affair with her ex-husband, now remarried, Jake (Alec Baldwin), but must also deal with Adam, another man who has fallen in love with her. Streep, who has been nominated an amazing fifteen times (winning two), might have the potential of being up twice in one year. Directed and written by Nancy Myers (nominated in 1980 for Best Screenplay for Private Benjamin), It’s Complicated may get some kind of nomination considering anything that Streep is in turns to gold.

The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones is an adaptation of the novel by Alice Sebold. Bones is the story of Susie, a young girl who is raped and murdered by her neighbor. Susie then watches from “the in-between,” as her family tries to comfort each other after her death. While she watches her family, she also sees that her killer, who was never caught, is preparing to kill again. The Lovely Bones was directed by LOTR helmer, Peter Jackson (a previous feted director) and stars screen veterans Mark Wahlberg, Rachel Weisz, Susan Sarandon, and Stanly Tucci. Susie is played by Saoirse Ronan, who received a best supporting actress Oscar nod for Atonement. Bones, with its very serious subject matter, looks fixed to be nominated for Best Picture.  While Ronan, as the films true lead, could see herself the recipient of a possible Best Actress nod for this too. How does Peter Jackson look in the directing category?  Firmly entrenched, we think.

The Men Who Stare At Goats

Common collaborators George Clooney and Grant Heslov have joined forces to write, direct and produce films like Good Night and Good Luck and Leatherheads, with Clooney at the helm of both. Now Heslov gets his turn directing with the mad, surrealist black comedy/satire, The Men Who Stare at Goats. The film is based on Jon Ronson’s non-fiction account of the U.S. military’s believe-it-or-not development and research of paranormal activities. The film was received rather warmly at the Venice Film Festival before heading to Toronto, so with past success as a barometer, and 10 slots now available for a certain Academy category, its not unheard of to see something like this sneaking in to the Oscar Best Picture race – it’s basically being described as Dr. Strangelove meets the Coen Brothers. However, it looks to be a tough battle in the big picture with another Clooney vehicle, Up in the Air, a more prestigious, sure-headed and almost certainly finer choice – at least in the view of many to this point – coming out in November. If nothing else, look for this to help Clooney gain recognition for his more buzz-worthy performance of 2009.

Nine

Rob Marshall returns to the screen in an attempt to match both the financial and Oscar-season success of Chicago, the 2004 Best Picture winner. Nine is the musical retelling of Federico Fellini’s 8 ½, as originally depicted on Broadway starting in 1982. Of course, Fellini’s original masterwork was about a fictional character named Guido Contini (an alter ego for Fellini himself), a director going through a major mid-life crisis both in his creative and personal life, he must balance the many women who love, torment, and grieve him deeply. Certainly Nine must be taken seriously as an Oscar contender unless proven otherwise given the sheer talent on display. The cast includes – here we go, deep breath – Daniel Day-Lewis, Marion Cotillard, Nicole Kidman, Sophia Loren, Kate Hudson, Penelope Cruz, Judi Dench and Ms. Black-Eyed Pea, Stacy Ferguson. With that firepower, Nine could crash the party big-time. Only a mixed response from audiences and critics will stand in its way.

Precious

Originally titled, Push: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, the film – produced by Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey – won three awards at Sundance earlier this year. Two of the awards were for the film itself, winning the Audience and Grand Jury awards, while Mo’Nique took home an award for acting. Precious is a young African-American girl who has endured abuse from her mother and rape from her father, going unloved as overweight, illiterate, poor and pregnant until she enrolls in an alternative school. Director Lee Daniels’ second film has earned him plenty of acclaim and Mo’Nique’s abusive mother could garner some Oscar attention. If Oprah can supposedly help win a presidential election, she’s sure to be able to influence Oscar voters as well.

The Road

The Road is John Hillcoat’s adaptation of the acclaimed best selling novel of the same name by Cormac McCarthy.  Set in a post-apocalytpic world, about a father and his son’s attempt to survive in the desolate landscape, early reviews have been mixed but the footage we’ve seen here at “the nest” has been nothing short of exemplary.  Acting powerhouses Viggo Mortensen and Charlize Theron lend major credibility to the work, as both have been nominated for Oscars in the past, with Theron victorious on one occasion.  Directing, acting, and picture nods are all realistic possibilities at this stage, and we can’t help but be eager to see what is presented with the challenging, dark material presented on the big screen.  “The Road” may not be one we want to travel in real-life, but if past years are any indication, the subject matter should not be something Oscar finds too difficult to navigate.

A Serious Man

Directed by the Coen brothers, A Serious Man follows a middle-class Jewish man trying to keep his life from falling apart and achieving his aspirations of becoming the perfect family man in 1960s Minnesota.  Despite not having a well-known cast, the Coen brothers name alone will help make this an Oscar contender. The trailer is fantastic and the Coens are still riding high from their Best Picture winner, No Country for Old Men in 2007.  Also look out for Michael Stuhlbarg for possible Oscar buzz since he looks really good in this. The Coens have been on a hot streak since No Country for Old Men and this has the potential of continuing the trend.

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes might seem a dark horse to be on this list. The classic sleuth is getting a serious makeover this time around, with Guy Ritchie, never close to winning anything golden, behind the camera. But alas, Robert Downey Jr. is the titular Holmes, Jude Law is his compadre Watson, and both are twice nominated for Oscars past. Throw in a generally well received Rachel McAdams (State of Play), a fair amount of hype, a Christmas release date, and the expansion of the Best Picture category, and you might have the makings of an outsider like this finding it’s way into the fray. Of course, beloved actors like Law and RDJ are always strong hopefuls for their roles as well, with RDJ still an outsider for his moving performance in this year’s overlooked The Soloist. The action might turn off older Academy blue hairs, but we’re thinking the expansion means the Academy could think just enough outside of it’s traditional box to make room for a new spin on a classic. Maybe the third time could be a charm for either of the lead actors as well. Just a hunch, but it might be elementary – my dear Watson.

Up In The Air

George Clooney, who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor with Syriana in 2005, plays Ryan Bingham, a corporate consultant who travels around the country firing people. Things soon change when he meets the woman of his dreams, which drastically changes the way his life is lived. Directed by Jason Reitman, who earned a nomination for directing Juno in 2007, Up in the Air looks like it will showcase Clooney at his best, judging from the trailer. He was fantastic in Michael Clayton and had it not been for Daniel Day-Lewis’ insane performance in There Will Be Blood, Clooney would have easily taken home his second Oscar.

Where The Wild Things Are

Where The Wild Things Are is the adaptation of the beloved children’s book by Maurice Sendak, where Max, a boy sent to his room for being disobedient, creates a world where he becomes king of the “Wild Things.” A simple enough premise, but the film has possible Oscar aspirations as the field has been expanded to 10 films for Best Picture and there is a strong chance that director Spike Jonze could receive a nomination in that category as well. Early footage has revealed that Spike has created wonderfully imagined environments that are not only Sendak approved, but seem to perfectly capture and expand on Max’s “wild” imagination. Voice work by James Gandolfini and acting by Catherine Keener (twice nominated) certainly won’t hurt its chances at receiving Academy exposure. It has been one of our most anticipated all year and in weeks we will be able to determine if it lives up to the lofty expectations. For the record, it also appears to look strong in the music and effects categories at this point too.

“Sex sells” is the slogan advertising executives win with. That’s why girls in bikinis advertise soda and yoked up guys appear on the cover of tampon products. Actually, the latter one probably isn’t true, but it’d be amusing if it were. Steven Soderbergh used the psychological effects of sex as a selling point for his debut feature and rode it to large acclaim. The film is credited with birthing the emergence of independent cinema, winning the Audience Award at Sundance, multiple Independent Spirit Awards, an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay and the Palme d’Or (Best Film) at the Cannes Film Festival. Quite a debut haul.

Sex, lies and videotape contains copious amounts of all three elements described in its title. Ann (Andie MacDowell) is stuck in a marriage in which sex is no longer a usual activity. She confesses to her psychologist that the act doesn’t interest her anymore, although her husband stopped trying long ago. She laughs and giggles embarrassingly when the topic of self-gratification is mentioned and admits to never trying it alone. Although she is the type of person who frets about the things in life she can’t control, like any good Freud-studied psychologist would do, the subject at hand stays firmly on sex. Only does the topic of conversation shift when Ann claims to being frustrated by her husband inviting an old college buddy to stay at their house, without asking her permission first.

Ann’s husband, John (Peter Gallagher) appears to be the root of all her unresolved psychological problems. He is in the midst of carrying out an affair with Ann’s sister, Cynthia (Laura San Giacomo), unbeknownst to his wife. He’s a lawyer and a liar, which makes rank as number one and number on the list of “lowest forms of life.” He keeps Cynthia at bay, telling her to expect him to pay all of his attention to his friend, Graham (James Spader), once he arrives, but Cynthia has him wrapped around her finger so tight, she only needs to call his office and John will immediately rearrange his schedule, no matter the importance, for her.

It looks to me like he's shaving the wrong part of his head.

Graham’s arrival in town invokes changes within all three characters almost immediately. He has significantly changed since he and John went to college. They are so different, it seems, that Ann quickly takes a shine to him and his mysterious ways, brushing off her previous apprehension about the visit. Graham eventually moves into town and confides in Ann, stating he’s impotent around the opposite sex. His impotency doesn’t stop him from having a fetish, however, and as the triad of Ann, Cynthia and John discover what it is and how it works, it manages to pull them all apart, one-by-one.

There’s somewhat of a genius quote attributed to Cary Grant (it’s on his IMDb page) where he supposed stated: “In order to succeed with the opposite sex, tell her you’re impotent. She can’t want to prove you wrong.” It may not be Graham’s confession of impotency that gets Ann thinking about him in a way she no longer thinks about her husband, but the casual conversation about sex in general certainly piques her interest, as it does the audience. Soderbergh’s script is largely conversational, enabling the viewer to play voyeur in these characters’ lives.

Sex is never explicitly depicted in the film, merely hinted at and spoken about, but it looms over each frame like a dark cloud, threatening rain. Soderbergh doesn’t pepper his film with visual flair, but is more confident letting his characters and their dialogue run the show than the camera he operates. Some familiar Soderberghian elements can be found here however, notably his use of displaced narration, where two characters converse in one scene with the audio accompanying a separate image. This technique is readily familiar in The Limey, and is one of the few things that stand out that make this film uniquely his.

"Say the word 'sex' again and I'll hurl this drink right to the floor!"

Soderbergh hasn’t written too many of the scripts he’s directed, thus making it somewhat difficult to pinpoint elements from his other written work, but selecting 2002’s Solaris from the bunch, it appears the man has an affinity for psychology. The science plays a large part in the latter film, as well as his first, as there is not only a psychologist character, but the potential benefits of psychoanalysis is debated between Ann and Graham. It’s unclear as to what the director himself feels about the subject, but one can deduce it’s never far from the forefront of his mind.

Soderbergh indeed made a splash with his debut film, worthy of all the accolades he received. Sex, lies and videotape is constantly entertaining, despite its reluctance to display anything too unique and inventive visually. It announced a major filmmaking talent and we can all count ourselves lucky the discovery was made. Soderbergh has stated he foresees an end to his career and no matter when that happens, his first feature will be as important a footnote in his career as any other.

Buy this First Feature here.

It was just last Thursday when Steven Soderbergh discussed the next few projects he had lined up before he thought he might call it quits, but never in that discussion did he let slip any news about a film called Knockout. Just five days later, the news has been released for all to see.

Soderbergh has chosen to put off Matt Damon and Michael Douglas for his Liberace biopic and shun Catherine Zeta-Jones for his Cleopatra musical for the time being to connect with female MMA fighter Gina Carano for Knockout.

However obvious it may seem, the film apparently has more of a spirited connection to La Femme Nikita and Kill Bill than Million Dollar Baby, as never does it focus on the squared-circle. Instead, Soderbergh says its a straight-up actioner about a girl from the wrong side of the tracks (aren’t they all?)  who is given a chance to use her skills for constructive purposes. Lem Dobbs, who wrote the script for Soderbergh’s The Limey, handled writing duties for the film.

I’ll preface this with saying I particularly hate La Femme Nikita. I don’t know why. I just felt embarrassed for myself when I saw it years ago. I also have no love for MMA and only heard of Carano for the first time about a month ago during hype for her most recent fight, which she lost. However, I refuse to count out both Soderbergh and Dobbs and am happy this film isn’t an MMA version of Million Dollar Baby and would mark Soderbergh’s first true foray in “action.” That’s exciting. He has a history of working with non-actors (see The Girlfriend Experience) and I don’t doubt he’ll elicit some sort of a performance from Carano. I’m curious to see how this turns out, the question is are you?

Notorious mack Steven Soderbergh, I mean he does have Jules Asner, is better known for his directing exploits to most.  He gave us the little seen indie The Girlfriend Experience earlier this year and is dropping the Matt Damon led The Informant! on the general public later this month.  He of course is best known perhaps for the Ocean’s Eleven films but is never one to shy away from taking risks.  In a recent interview with the Orlando Sentinel, Steven spoke about a number of topics, including his failed baseball movie Moneyball which was supposed to have had Brad Pitt in the lead. In reading the piece, which we have several excerpts of below, I found out that I have something in common with Soderbergh that I never knew previously, a disdain for horses.  He will never do a Western because of that fact.  Here he waxes on Cleo, Moneyball, and his Liberace film.

"I make movies since I can't be distracted by my wife." -Steven

“But Cleo is going to be a total party.” The musical is to star Catherine Zeta Jones with music composed by Guided by Voices.

“I LOVE Guided by Voices. They tend to inspire devotion and I am VERY excited by the idea of more people hearing Robert Pollard’s music. I’m going to do it in 3D, because I think that’s a viable format. You’re going to see more people working in it. I want to see the first person take a shot at doing a straight drama in 3D. Maybe the way to do it would be to make a period drama in 3D where it really contributes to your sense of being in that world.

“Cleopatra’s world would be a natural for this. You combine a 3D journey into her world, with Robert Pollard’s Guided by Voices music and dancing, it should be great fun.”

On his Liberace film

“Well, it’s Michael Douglas and Matt (Damon, as Scott Thorson, Liberace’s lover) and the script’s by Richard LaGravenese. It’s a great project all the way round and we’re right in the middle of acquiring the money to make it. It’s a very difficult environment to raise money for a movie like that, because it’s a movie for grownups and it’s about Liberace. So a lot of people look at it and go, ‘Who’s this for?’

I’m confident we can get it together. We just may have to do it for a REAL price.”

On Moneyball…

“Well, apparently I can’t be trusted with a sports film.”

“There have been a couple of times in my career where I’ve been unceremoniously removed from projects. I don’t waste a lot of energy on it. It doesn’t get you anywhere. As soon as it became clear that there was no iteration of that movie that I was going to get to direct, I immediately started looking around for something else to do. I have a couple of other things in development that I had hoped to move up, but actor’s schedules wouldn’t allow it. But I have something I can get to after the first of the year, and I’m supposed to do my Liberace movie next summer. So my attitude when something like that happens is, ‘What’s next?’ You can’t dwell on it.

Could the brilliant career of Steven Soderbergh that for all intents and purposes began twenty years ago with sex, lies and videotape be coming to a close? That’s what the director says he sees in the near future according to an interview with UK newspaper Guardian.

Burnt out by the 76-day shoot (four less than Ocean’s Eleven) and the relative-to-scope meager $58 million budget that resulted in the two-part four-and-a-half hour epic Che, Soderbergh says he sees the writing on the wall.

Does he wish he hadn’t done ['Che']?

“Yeah.”

Really?

“Yeah. Literally I’d wake up and think, ‘At least I’m not doing that today.’”

Obviously still embittered about Che, Soderbergh has continued to encounter trouble, having recently been kicked off the production for Moneyball. He did release The Girlfriend Experience earlier this year and has The Informant coming out soon, but doesn’t see it continuing for long.

“In terms of my career, I can see the end of it,” he says. “I’ve had that sensation for a few years now. And so I’ve got a list of stuff that I want to do – that I hope I can do – and once that’s all finished I may just disappear.”

Soderbergh says he only has, “three or four years of stuff” left in his tank of interest including a Liberace biopic to star Michael Douglas, a Cleopatra-centered rock musical with Catherine Zeta-Jones and an adaptation of John Barth’s “The Sot-Weed Factor.” We can only hope that if this is indeed the case that he manages to fit it in a sequel to The Limey, if only to extend his career as far as possible.

Although Soderbergh tends to be hit-and-miss, perhaps due to his affinity for experimental projects, I’d be very sad if he decides to call it quits in just a few short years. I couldn’t even begin to imagine how harrowing the Che experience was, but I could definitely envision it not being a walk in the park. It’s a shame what happened to him regarding Moneyball and I can only hope that if he decides to call it quits, he goes out on his own terms having completed projects he’s proud of. We can only hope.

Steven Soderbergh’s wife, E! journalist Jules Asner, was a recent guest on the Adam Carolla podcast. She wasn’t there to talk about her husband, but when he’s far more famous, I guess things eventually have to go that route. It’s like if you’re interviewing Tony Romo, you have to talk about Jessica Simpson, don’t you? (That’s right, screw you, Romo!)

Soderbergh-related topics began with Carolla chastising Ocean’s 13 (when 12 is far more deserving) and Asner doing her best to defend it.  She continues on stating that Soderbergh’s upcoming The Informant (click the title for our review) is one of her favorite Soderbergh films along with The Limey (click on the title for our Films U Missed feature on that film). Subsequently, that’s when she drops the bomb that led to this story.

Soderbergh, along with Terence Stamp and Michael Keaton all want to do a sequel to The Limey.

Stamp of course was the star of the original film and Keaton has worked with Soderbergh in Out of Sight. I’m sure this would be something worthy of looking forward to. It’s not that the first film screamed “franchise,” but I’d love to see more of the Wilson character and have Soderbergh re-create that visual burst of energy he began in 1999. I also love the possible addition of Keaton. He’s been missing from Hollywood cinemas for far too long and of course if you ever needed a reminder as to how great he can be, Out of Sight is a great bet.

Of course this is all talk at this point, but not just reduced to speculation. I think it’d be great if it ever came to fruition, what about you?

While we reported yesterday that Amy Pascal had opted to kill Steven Soderbergh and Brad Pitt’s Moneyball at Sony/Columbia Pictures, Soderbergh was given the option to shop the script around town, in hopes of bringing his version of the book to life.  Well, according to the LA Times, both of the studios where Soderbergh hoped to land the film, Warner Brothers and Paramount, have passed on the project as well.  It seems as if nobody in town wants to play this brand of baseball.

Pascal supposedly didn’t like the script rewrite that Soderbergh submitted to her, killing the production at the 11th hour.  The budget, at a reported $57 million, has apparently stymied its opportunities at the other studios.  Baseball is not a subject/sport that plays well overseas, regardless of Pitt’s drawing power, and adult dramas like State of Play and The Soloist have already crapped out here this year. In this economic climate, it appears that nobody seems to think a baseball movie is capable of earning $100 million, which is what one executive has said it would need to make here, in order to earn its money back once all i s said and done. Apparently, Sony has already sunk $10mm into the film.

While I would like to find out what happens with the film, as it is one that I am interested in, I am certainly inclined to agree with the unnamed exec’s statement.  If Moneyball needs to hit the century mark here, its probably not a gamble worth making.  I also think it speaks to Pitt’s “supposed” box office clout.  While he has for years been considered one of the industries biggest stars, his box office support has never earned him that right in my opinion. I like Pitt as an actor, I find him engaging enough, and he has made some great films, but couple his at times avant-garde choices, with an against the grain, abstract director, who makes The Girlfriend Experience (click for review) and Che in his time away from studio pics, it makes sense that Hollywood would be leery about this film.  In the meantime, I can offer those studios a great little dramedy for $5mm with me in the lead if they really want to play ball.  If you need to put me opposite Megan Fox, I guess I would allow it.  Give a player a call, H-town!

Sony has pulled out of the long approved Moneyball film, which was supposed to start production this week.  Steven Soderbergh rewrote a script that veered far from what Columbia Pictures head Amy Pascal was fired up about and they decided to dump the film at the “last minute.”  (Which in reality happens quite a bit, just not that often when you have an A-list director and Brad Pitt fully committed to star!)  Steven Zallian wrote the original screenplay that had Pascal ready to play ball originally.

“Moneyball” is based on the Major League Baseball Oakland A’s General Manager Billy Beane’s formula for success in the league with a low-cost team still competing at a high level.  The book was written by Michael Lewis, full title “Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game.”  Soderbergh plans on using several former MLB players in roles, including Halle Berry’s ex-husband and one-time actor David Justice.  Ex-stars Daryl Strawberry and Lenny Dykstra are among the ball players interviewed for vignettes that were planned to be interspersed in the movie.  The film still hopes to land elsewhere as the most likely targets are Warner and Paramount.

Admittedly, I have a particular interest in this topic, primarily due to the director and star on board.  As a lifelong sports and baseball fan (go Tigers!) and a native of the Bay Area, Beane’s success was highly publicized and I have long been aware of the moneyball concept.  I would like to see how this film turns out.  Apparently the $50mm budget is a concern, so we’ll see if another studio grabs it in short order with all the players still on board and ready to go.  What do you think; are you hoping this one still makes the big screen?  Would you plan on being a paying customer?  Source: Ballhype

A high-end female escort service is supposed to provide, at least in theory, a fanciful male fantasy for a few hours.  Or so that is the thinking of the common, untried man.  But in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, we follow an escort who “provides” as the title suggests, the serviceable act of being a girlfriend which is much less fantasy and much more grounded in basic human interaction than one might suspect.  Steven’s “GFE” is a slice of life in Manhattan that takes place just prior to President Obama’s election to office and Soderbergh depicts the “girlfriend” as much more of a business woman than a fantastical being.

Real life porn star Sasha Grey stars as the titular escort Christine who goes by Chelsea during her visits.  As Chelsea, she embodies less a man’s fantasy but more so someone to keep these men company.  Most of the guys who use her services are among the wealthy elite, so her clients routinely complain to her about the economy all the while shelling out big bucks just to spend time with her.  An interesting dichotomy from that standpoint but there is no central conflict here.

Naturally, escorts do have lives outside of when they are working and that is what “GFE” focuses on.  Christine is living with Chris, a personal trainer who himself is on his own come-up, seeking placement for his exercise-related clothing line and a salaried position with a local gym.  The couple has but one main rule with their relationship and that is for Christine not to become emotionally involved with any clients.  She values numerology as a source of spiritual enlightenment however, and it drives many of the decisions she makes in business and in life.  These issues prove challenging for them as you might expect.

A not so revealing talk in Soderbergh's "Experience."

Very much an art film, Soderbergh is back to his indie roots as he employs a jumping timeline to keep the talking heads moving and make no mistake about it, the only thing that takes place in the film is conversation.  That is not to diminish the film per se, but the voyeur in you will come away disappointed in this character study.  While one expects the promise of plenty of sex (perhaps even on videotape like in Steven’s seminal Sex, Lies & Videotape), there is none to be had.  In that regard this would be more aptly called the “Wife Experience.”  I wasn’t unhappy with the lack of on-screen sex as intimacy of a variety of sorts takes place, but if sex is what you wish for, you might want to seek out Grey’s usual line of work.

While the ending is somewhat telegraphed, the real difficulty lies in the fact there is little emotional punch in the film.  The inexperience of the actors lead Soderbergh to use trickery to best hide their flaws via dim lighting or obscure camera angles.  The characters do draw you in but this is more of a study in capitalism.  Christine has her regulars and rookies, balancing her attempts to branch out into various forms of business enterprise where opportunities and outside input are equally ample.  Of note, film critic Glenn Kenny steals one scene as a sleazy, well, critic of adult entertainment and there is a nice thumping score supplied by Ross Godfrey.  In the end, there is just not much to excite one here though and after seeing this movie, The Girlfriend Experience is not one in which you’ll likely want to partake in again anytime soon.