Welcome to another revision and completion of an unfinished series I started at another site.
In advance of the 2011 release of Contagion, I watched all of Steven Soderbergh's movies that are available and wrote a series called "Soderberghopolis" for Badass Digest.*
For a few reasons, I wanted to re-post and update this series with various changes, alterations, and updates.
In 2013, I'm starting an Arthouse Cowboy Screening Series here in Austin that will feature the work of at least Soderbergh and Tony Scott, and possibly a small quantity of Ozu and some other stuff. I'll be promoting these screenings here, as well as on Twitter and Screen Time (one of my podcasts on 5by5).
I'm focusing almost exclusively on the movies, and only touching on personal life stuff that he made part of the work. I don't care about any of the kinds of things that TMZ covers.
I’m including shorts, features, and TV shows in one big all-inclusive pile.
Soderbergh is one of my favorite directors because I generally really enjoy his movies. As a by-product of this, I tend to enjoy those that most people hate or didn't see at all. For example, I outright love Kafka and like The Good German.
I own all of these titles that are available to own, and re-watched them before writing about them (except where noted).
1: Access All Areas (1985)
documentary short
24 min
on disc (US/R1) || An extra feature on the Yes 9012 LIVE DVD ($18 USD)
streaming || not available
how to watch || see above
Most people think of sex, lies, and videotape as Soderbergh’s first feature, but it is not. He started out with a concert film, and before that came this behind-the-scenes doc, which is a great example of the fly on the wall perspective that is all over his feature career.
I won't pretend to be the world's biggest Yes fan, but I was somewhat familiar with their general history and 90125, their big comeback record from 1983. 9012 Live, the concert film made during their '84-'85 tour for the album, was Steven Soderbergh’s feature directorial debut. Access All Areas, a 24-minute behind the scenes doc, got him the 9012 Live job.
It’s interesting to see the musicians and their staff constantly tell him to “stop recording” and “shut that shit off”. One bit foreshadows the improvisational style found in Soderbergh's more recent work (like The Girlfriend Experience, Unscripted, and so on), particularly a bit with a woman talking about how her friends make fun of her for watching and enjoying the Oscars.
2: Yes: 9012 Live (1985)
documentary/concert feature
67 min
on disc (US/R1) || Yes 9012 LIVE DVD ($18 USD on Amazon, rentable through Netflix)
streaming (US) || original non-Director's Cut on Netflix Instant (free w/subscription), on Amazon Instant ($3 rent, $10 buy), same flawed cut on iTunes ($3 rent, $10 buy)
best way to watch || the DVD: includes doc short and the much better, non-fucked-with Director's Cut
9012 Live opens with 1950s stock footage from who knows what. "Alex," a sharp young fella, is over at the house of "Judy," talking with her and "Judy's Pop" about the music of industrial machinery. Some hilariously stupid banter occurs and then Judy's Pop tells Alex to feel free to avail himself of the record player. Judy tells him to "Pick something groovy, Alex" and starts dancing enthusiastically. Alex then puts on something decidedly not groovy, and we segue into the concert. This piece is in both the original and the Director’s Cut (more on that in a bit).
The style of a concert film doesn't have much in common with the language of narrative films, which compose the rest of Soderbergh's filmography. The only element of 9012 Live re-used in sex, lies, and videotape is Jon Anderson's haircut, which was passed down to James Spader. I expect five people to get that joke.
The original release version of 9012 Live has a bunch of 1950s stock footage mixed with neon-infused computer effects to pointless, boring effect. The urge to please by imitating the MTV-pop aesthetic screwed up lots of good things back in the mid-1980s, and this was one of them. On the DVD release, they've included Soderbergh's director's cut, which thankfully eliminates all that crap.
When you take all the extra effects-modified stock footage out, it's a much better watch. It holds up well due to brilliant editing choices, which keep you engaged in what's going on. The only things that really fuck with soaking it all in are those stupid “enhanced” stock footage bits. If you’re a Soderbergh fan who hates prog rock (or Yes in general), you probably won’t dig this and should stick with Access All Areas.
If you don't like prog rock, it's ok. Admittedly, there are better things to like.
alternate versions || The Director's Cut is only available on the DVD. If you VOD-rent it anywhere, you're seeing it with the bullshit interstitial 1950's stock footage garbage.
trivia || Yes guitarist Trevor Rabin went on to score tons of movies (which were mostly terrible), most famously Remember the Titans and the track “Titan’s Spirit”, the theme played at every Olympics since then. It was also played at Obama’s victory speech on Election Night in 2008.
In the Next Installment of Soderberghopolis
Winston, the short film that informed and evolved into Soderbergh's breakthrough Sundance hit as well as sex, lies, and videotape itself.
*For those who might ask...at the time, I worked for the Alamo Drafthouse (Badass Digest's parent company). I wasn't paid for my writing at "BAD", and I had no agreement in place that gave them ownership over any of that writing. That means I'm free to reproduce and re-edit anything I want. Advice I live by, "whenever possible: own your negative".
Soderberghopolis is an open-ended, chronological career retrospective series looking at the work of Steven Soderbergh in moving pictures: cinema, TV, installation art, whatever fits.
Essential sources include (but are not limited to): various interviews (linked where applicable) and the various commentaries, booklets, and featurettes produced by The Criterion Collection.
If sharing or discussing this article or series on Twitter, please use hashtag #Soderberghopolis
New to Soderberghopolis? Start at the beginning.