Stephen Soderbergh

Weeks ago when we published our Top Directors of the Decade feature, we left out a few directors, most notably Steven Soderbergh, who directed 13 films over the decade. That’s 13 full-blown, scripted, feature length films. Not bad. Let’s take a look at the man’s decade. 

2000 - Erin Brockovich - Soderbergh’s breakthrough to being a true name director. Decent enough flick, for sure. Maybe a little overrated, otherwise no complaints from us. Nominated for five Oscars, won one.  8/10

2000 - Traffic - Great, great, great, epic film. Amazing that Soderbergh released both this and Brockovich in the same year. Nominated for five Oscars, won four, including Best Director, which it definitely deserved.  9.5/10

2001 - Ocean’s Eleven - Kind of a pop corn flick, I suppose. Very well made film with a major all-star cast that includes George Clooney, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt and many others.   8/10

2002 - Full Frontal - Kind of a tossed-off film. Soderbergh let the actors do their own wardrobes for this film and allowed a healthy amount of on-set improvising. Worth seeing. Once.   6.5/10

2002 - Solaris - Most were disappointed. Me? I loved it. I’m sure the original is better, but this is a stellar accomplishment that should go down as an underrated gem.    8.5/10

2004 - Ocean’s Twelve - Kind of a cash-in, I guess. Still, though, very entertaining. Maybe even better than the first.   7/10

2005 - Bubble - A true indie film, Soderbergh used lo-fi equipment, non-actors and a almost non-existent budget to make this film. That it manages to work despite everything it has going against it is a true tribute to the director’s talent.   7/10

2006 - The Good German - Still haven’t seen it. Nominated for one Oscar and stars George Clooney, Cate Blanchett, Tobey Maguire and others. Shot in black and white noir style to beautiful effect.   7/10

2007 - Ocean’s Thirteen - Haven’t seen it, but I’ve heard that it’s not as good as the first two. What third film is?   N/A

2008 - Che, Pt. 1 - Won Best Actor at Cannes - Haven’t seen it yet but am very excited to do so.   N/A

2008 - Che, Pt. 2 - Won Best Actor at Cannes - Haven’t seen it yet but am very excited to do so. Love Benico Del Toro, love Soderbergh.   N/A

2009 - The Girlfriend Experience - Haven’t seen it yet but hope to soon. Stars a porn star and is supposedly another of Soderbergh’s true lo-fi indie films. A minor production when compared to Che, for sure.    N/A

2009 - The Informant! - Meh. I heard the Podcast that inspired the screenplay and, well, it’s much, much better than the film. Something about this just doesn’t work. Matt Damon, surely, is great here. Nominated for two Golden Globes and will likely get a Best Actor Oscar nod for Matt Damon.   6.5/10

Soderbergh has two films in the works right now. First is Knockout, a big budget, big-name cast film that looks to be an action film posed as a clever thriller. Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Douglas, Dennis Quaid and others star. Also scheduled for 2011 is period piece Cleo, which looks to star Catherine Zeta-Jones in the title roll and Ray Winstone as Julius Caesar. Hmm … can’t see Soderbergh pulling this one off.

Written by G. William Locke