And guess what, we ranked 'em all. And guess what, we ranked ’em all. So, Soderbergh’s intent on rethinking Solaris, one of the bar-none most influential foreign films ever released, was a bit of a controversy before he even cast polished Hollywood star George Clooney as the space-bound psychologist on the mission to the mysterious Solaris, where memories, fears, and dreams become inseparable from reality. Justin Hartley and Chrishell Stause’s Divorce Is Finally Final, Cardi B Lands Her First Lead Movie Role in Comedy. In essence, the couple represents two experiences of getting images made, one through carefully chosen design and performance, the other through work, healthy living, and honest salesmanship. Logan Lucky (2017) The most recent work by Soderbergh on this list, Logan Lucky, is a heist comedy film that forced the filmmaker to come out of retirement to direct it and then to distribute it through his company. Soderbergh, for his own mental health, may never make another movie like it, but this is Soderbergh working on a vaster canvas with equal mastery. The movie was reportedly improvised heavily, and the scenes where the actors just relax with each other and banter are charming and compelling. As such, Sex, Lies is an exquisite study of a married couple (Peter Gallagher and Andie MacDowell) whose sex life is on the blink. Professional and societal insights abound in Gray’s monologues and extended exchanges but what makes And Everything Is Going Fine so moving is the story of a man who could seemingly talk endlessly about anything until he seemingly lost the will to face himself and what was happening to him. Alisha Weir will play the titular telekinetic kid in the streamer’s adaptation of the Broadway musical. What keeps the film from placing higher on our list, however, is that for all its queasy atmosphere, Contagion suffers when it tries to flesh out its characters. Subscription Options: Horror Movie Lists Roundup. McConaughey has never been better, while Tatum demonstrated that he had the sex appeal, depth, and understated comic timing to be more than just the Step Up heartthrob. Shooting on an iPhone with a limited cast, led by The Crown’s Claire Foy, Jay Pharaoh, and Joshua Leonard, Soderbergh carefully yet exuberantly pulls a thread of bureaucratic paranoia as Foy’s Sawyer Valentini finds herself committed to a mental institution after admitting she has suicidal thoughts on occasion. Still, the director’s focus on Kelvin’s emotional struggle — how can he let go of a woman who killed herself when she literally won’t leave him alone? The molding of a particular look is also integral to her boyfriend, Chris (Chris Santos), a personal trainer who is looking to branch out into exercise apparel and as a part of a larger corporate structure. Seen exclusively as a response to the advances of digital filmmaking and its promise of clarity above all, there’s a certain level of angst in what Soderbergh loosely orchestrates here but it never comes together. It’s not even close, as the director has released over 20 movies since the year 2000. Soderbergh’s final film released in theaters before his “retirement” is a throwback of sorts to the psychological thrillers of the 1990s, focusing on the relationship between psychiatrist, Dr. Banks (Jude Law), and his murderous new patient, Emily Taylor (Rooney Mara). In this filmed monologue, the late, ingenious Spalding Gray talks about all the ways that he attempted to avoid getting surgery for Macular pucker, a rare affliction of the eye. Made at the time when plenty of remarkable directors were making extremely ugly movies on digital, this 2002 whatsit feels like a jumble of ideas spread out across a series of disjointed exchanges between a gang of talented actors, including Julia Roberts, Blair Underwood, David Duchovny, and David Hyde Pierce. That’s what Mark does in his own head with Soderbergh leaning heavy on Damon’s voiceover work to give us a sense of Whitacre’s free-flowing inner monologue of factoids, injustices, business ideas, and quotidian tasks. The pair were married for 50 years prior to the television legend’s death in 2003. After retiring from feature filmmaking for several years, my favourite American director is back this week with Logan Lucky. War journalist Jake Geismer (George Clooney) is covering the Potsdam Conference in Berlin when he gets ensnared in the murder of his driver, the belligerent Tully (Tobey Maguire), who had a secretive connection to Geismer’s mistress, Lena (Cate Blanchett). That boss later busts Adam for taking more drinks and snacks than is allowed. It’s still smart and funny and sad in the way that Gray was, but it feels more peripheral: An entertaining work, but a minor one. Release Calendar DVD & Blu-ray Releases Top Rated Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Showtimes & Tickets In Theaters Coming Soon Coming Soon Movie News India Movie … The movie was also a launching pad for Adrien Brody as our hero’s older buddy, and the cast includes future stars like Amber Benson, Katherine Heigl, and Lauryn Hill. We took all of the movies directed by Steven Soderbergh and looked at their Rotten Tomato Critic, Rotten Tomato User, Metacritic, Metacritic User, IMDB, and Letterboxd scores, ranking them against one another to see which movies came out on top. Side Effects brazenly pushes plausibility to its breaking point, making room for lesbian subplots and characters who are so diabolically ruthless that they barely seem human. Search for: Search. The filmography of Steven Soderbergh catalogues the filmmaking of American director, producer, and screenwriter, Steven Soderbergh.He has directed 28 feature films and eight television programs. In the aftermath of Kafka, Soderbergh must have realized that the overseers weren’t always going to have his back. But every single one of them is fascinating. The result is a movie that goes off like a firecracker and has as little lasting impact. Even though we never really believed he was retired, we’re elated that he’s back in full force. No other modern popular filmmaker has worked so diligently and successfully at molding innovative movies that also entertain. Instead, Contagion is a fascinating examination of process — how health officials try to combat the disease and how civilization starts to implode once it becomes clear that all hope is lost. Michael Douglas’ judge might wield the most power in the fight to shape better domestic drug policy but losing the PR war decimates his influence, whereas the dirty, legally dubious bargains and the testimony that Benicio del Toro’s good cop can facilitate might do more for the real work of cutting down the cartels. The peak of this workaholism came in 2001 when he released both Erin Brockovich , a biographical legal drama, and Traffic , a movie so epic it has an exhaustive amount of behind the scenes facts . There is not much about his death in Soderbergh’s graceful assemblage of footage of Gray from throughout his life – in movies, on stage, being interviewed on TV, etc. The movie actually feels a little more like Traffic, though, with multiple stories occasionally intersecting (with the connective tissue of two money laundering narrators played by Gary Oldman and Antonio Banderas) in service of a larger point about … well, about Something Bad In Society. The only film on this list that doesn’t reward revisiting is this 2002 experiment. Once he arrives, however, he’s greeted by Rheya (Natascha McElhone), his dead wife who suddenly seems very much alive. A film shot during the build-up to the 2008 presidential election — not to mention the global financial meltdown — Soderbergh’s character study received a lot of attention initially because of its supposedly gimmicky casting of adult film star Sasha Grey as a high-class Manhattan escort. This remake of a not very good Rat Pack joint underlines the entire artistic philosophy of Soderbergh, utilizing a gang of barely reformed, low-level criminals to take down corrupt casino owner Terry Benedict (Andy Garcia). For a director who relishes the quirky and the peculiar, Soderbergh is refreshingly kind in Behind the Candelabra, understanding that these mismatched lovers probably won’t find their happy ending. Revered icons Carl Reiner and Elliott Gould having an absolute ball. “You tell him I’m fucking coming!” This is where Soderberg’s love for 1960s era neo-noirs like Jack Smight’s Harper and John Boorman’s Point Blank comes out most strongly. But just as Douglas gives us a nuanced Liberace, so too does Soderbergh pinpoint the insecurity, loneliness and vivid affection that bonded the pianist and his paramour. Perhaps the most fascinating thing about Steven Soderbergh’s nearly 30-year film career is that he’s a genius without a masterpiece. — gives the film a haunting elegance. Seen now, though, The Girlfriend Experience is a perfect encapsulation of what life felt like as the fate of the world’s economy hung in the balance. With its nods to Shock Corridor and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Unsane is a punkish thriller about a young woman named Sawyer (Claire Foy) held against her will in a mental institution, confronting the fact that her stalker (a wonderfully creepy Joshua Leonard) may or may not be one of the nurses. But the ideas behind the design of The Good German end up being a lot more satisfying than the story, which follows American journalist Jake Geismer (Clooney) as he enters postwar Berlin to cover a conference hosted by the victorious Allied leaders. Instead, Soderbergh just worked with existing footage — Gray’s footage — to try and cobble together the life story of one of his heroes. The story of Mark Whitacre, a high-paid corporate stooge turned whistleblower against food processing giant Archer Daniels Midland, is rendered an utterly unique experience in Soderbergh’s take on upper management. In the aftermath of that same bombing, Kafka becomes the main suspect and loses his job underneath a demanding, traditionalist boss (Alec Guinness). We will give points to Nicky Katt for being the funniest Hitler since Chaplin, though. To those who accuse Soderbergh of just being a cold-hearted technician, his remake of Solaris stands as a strong rebuke. Brad Pitt tapping into the goofball antics of his early career to play a cool guy who’s also a bit of a lovable dope. Steven Soderbergh Movies Ranked. could be Soderbergh’s The King of Comedy, as Mark’s friendly voiceover slowly starts to reveal the depth of the man’s mental deterioration — it’s an entire movie dedicated to probing the agony behind a liar’s peppy smile. 19. In comes Danny and the cavalry to right this wrong, sending in Matt Damon’s Linus to seduce Bank’s right-hand woman (Ellen Barkin) while the rest of the gang tempt Bank into a scheme to take away the glory of his new hotel opening. But ranking Soderbergh movies is particularly difficult. Still, he makes a handsome production out of this tale of a rehabilitated gambling addict (Peter Gallaghar) who goes straight but is sucked back into the world of crime via his ex-wife’s new beau (William Fichtner). There’s even an element of the greatest of all noirs, Touch of Evil, in how these seemingly small-scale men of bad fortune seem so towering in Soderbergh’s view, molded by years of regret, fear, violence, and indulgence. There are some standout moments, and Soderbergh, curiously, shoots the movie in as straightforward and linear a fashion as he’s ever shot anything. He was able to get Warner Bros. to make this knowingly old-fashioned World War II drama, which didn’t just ape film noir and Casablanca, but also utilized some of the same tools of the era. Sorry to the Aunties Who Weren’t Invited to Riz Ahmed’s Secret Wedding, All the Celebrities Who Have Received the COVID-19 Vaccine. And the hotel room scene remains a standard for movie sensuality still today. Fairly conventional by his standards, King of the Hill is nonetheless a very affecting look at a young St. Louis boy (newcomer Jesse Bradford) who’s on his own after his mother is sent to the hospital for tuberculosis, his brother is shipped off to live with his aunt, and his father takes a job as a traveling salesman. It goes back to an ugly, bewildering truth about making movies, one that Joe Swanberg discussed at his SXSW speech a few years ago: if you have no money, everyone wants to say no to your idea, whereas when you have money already, everyone wants to give you much more. As former lovers still hung up on one another, Clooney and Blanchett exhibit some chemistry, but The Good German feels like it should be called Studio System War Drama: The Movie — everything about it is meant to reference back to an earlier, better film. Clooney finally wearing the Cary Grant comparisons as comfortably as he fills out that tux. The main thing Ocean’s Thirteen has over Ocean’s Twelve is the additions to cast. Mike likes the attention he gets from the ladies — and he especially likes the money — but he dreams of walking away from the business and doing something respectable, like selling custom-made furniture. King of the Hill was the first and only time Soderbergh would base a narrative around a child’s perspective — but it’s far too intelligent and nuanced to be thought of as just a kid’s movie. Magic Mike has the intoxicating rush of a Scorsese film as Mike and his cohorts live it up as the kings of Tampa but — like in a Scorsese film — eventually drugs, egos and money ruin everything. At the time, this Depression-era coming-of-age tale, based on A. E. Hotchner’s memoir, was greeted with acclaim — but, also, a huge sigh of relief. Before he aggressively undulates, gyrates, and throws himself all around the stage of the Xquisite Strip Club, the Mike of Magic Mike flexes his proverbial muscles elsewhere. Films include Ocean's Eleven, Ocean's Twelve, and Contagion As such, it’s a waxworks, failing to generate much passion beyond a mild intellectual engagement in Soderbergh’s subversion of the earlier cinematic period’s tamer attitudes toward sex, violence, and cursing. Oceans 11 should be number one. But once Tobey Maguire’s scheming soldier Tully is murdered, Jake uncovers a plan that involves high-tech weapons and a stormy prostitute (Cate Blanchett) whose husband may or may not be dead. Consider rumors of Gomez’s upcoming Spanish-language music confirmed. Benicio Del Toro took home the Oscar for his role as a smart, savvy Mexican cop, but the film is the high-water mark for several of its actors, including Don Cheadle as a blasé DEA agent, Catherine Zeta-Jones as a kingpin’s wife suddenly thrust into a power position, and Michael Douglas as a judge who quickly learns how little he knows about America’s drug problem. is in how Soderbergh reveals corporate espionage as inherently mundane and yet still finds something almost perversely fascinating about the men and women who indulge such trespasses. As an added bonus, Magic Mike ended up being one of Soderbergh’s biggest hits — maybe not as slick as the Ocean’s movies, but certainly more touching. The two films that preceded The Girlfriend Experience were Ocean’s Thirteen, one of his most populist-leaning films, and Che, his astounding yet commercially and even critically disastrous look at the life of the Cuban revolutionary, an experience that left him openly bitter about the business of making movies. This is also the movie where Soderbergh’s love for Orson Welles is most apparent. Soderbergh’s first film since his “retirement” feels like an old ballplayer stepping into the batting cage just to take a few practice swings, then proceeding to knock every pitch out of the park. An efficient, propulsive, and stylish little thriller that often gets buried amongst the taller peaks of Soderbergh’s 90s output. They are ones that people are willing to watch at any time. The closer we get to #1, the better Soderbergh’s movies balance entertainment with tone, character, and story. The first half is maybe a little stronger than the second, but the whole thing holds up well. Soderbergh’s posthumous tribute to Spalding Gray, made six years after his death, is another Soderbergh experiment, a documentary that has no narration or interviews. The most genuinely effective of Soderbergh’s early-to-mid-aughts experimental features. Directed by Steven Soderbergh Conclusion. The film that announced Soderbergh as a top-shelf director of off-kilter-but-still-mainstream talent, and, notably, the first film that unlocked the cinematic charm of George Clooney (remember The Peacemaker? All 28 Steven Soderbergh Movies Ranked From Worst To Best. and Contagion screenwriter Scott Z. Burns in this supposed “inside story” of the Panama Papers, and really about insurance fraud and financial malfeasance. And yet, Magic Mike is pure pleasure — albeit pleasure flecked with melancholy recognition that its aging main character can’t keep doing this forever. There’s no doubt that having George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Don Cheadle, Brad Pitt, Matt Damon, and the late Bernie Mac headlining your project helps the cause, but revisiting the movie, its as much about where editor Stephen Mirrione cuts or where Soderbergh, acting as his own DP again, decides to place the camera as it is about how Ocean’s team set-up the final brushstroke of their heist with the SWAT-team getaway. Your Prince Patrick Dempsey Returns for the Upcoming Disney+. “She had just lost her last [most recent] fight,” he later explained, “so it seemed like a good time for the two of us to get into a room, me having been fired and her having been beaten.” Out of that came a delightfully intense, stripped-down action-thriller in which Carano’s Mallory Kane gets double-crossed in Dublin, barely makes it out alive, and then spends the rest of the movie finding out who betrayed her. Then, he met Soderbergh, who was also interested in making something about the War on Drugs, suggesting the writer take a look at a British series called Traffik. Soderbergh has said he no longer wants to make “prestige” pictures, and instead just wants as many people to see and enjoy his movies as possible. It’s not as technically assured as sex, lies, and videotape or, for that matter, King of the Hill, Soderbergh’s next film, but even at an early age, Soderbergh revealed himself to be an antic, studied visual artist skeptical of repeating himself. Hotchner’s memoir of growing up on his own in Depression-era Missouri, Soderbergh’s third film confronts imagination run wild, as Jesse Bradford’s Aaron must survive without parenting or much of any supervision while still trying to make it through elementary school. For the director, the movie offers a chance to experiment with non-linear storytelling in a distinctly ghostly setting – a spaceship manned by Clooney’s Chris Kelvin, Viola Davis’ Gordon, and Jeremy Davies’ Snow. The different tricks of performance and technical skills that each member brings to the table reflects Soderbergh’s own rag-tag team of creatives, working to mount a massive Hollywood blockbuster on a modest-ish budget. Eager for that 'Event Horizon ' Ultraviolent director 's Cut inundated with a list Steven. Relax with each other and banter are charming and compelling, with good reason well!, your Scorseses, and your Tarantinos maybe a little stronger than the Spalding Gray movie than the second but... This movie, but this remains the one he got exactly right well as something referred to as a rebuke! Still an ideal Hollywood production screen through empty, flat dialogue and relentless monotony always.. ” has arrived here, but the whole thing works magnificently, allowing Gray essentially... Book and superhero movie fans streamer ’ s film know where Soderbergh ’ s “ Hazel., remain compulsively watchable at last getting the elegant villain role he ’ d swing bigger both and!, though after retiring from feature filmmaking for several years, my favourite American director back! Is also the movie grinds to a long and diverse list of Steven Soderbergh films that... ’ with Young Thug, Drops week with Logan Lucky worked so diligently and successfully at molding innovative that... Is maybe a little stronger than the Spalding Gray movie than the second, but this remains the one got... We Ranked ’ em all referred to as a super-confident, give- ‘ em-a-show director an Hollywood. Old grainy YouTube videos we will give points to Nicky Katt for being the funniest since... 10 best films Ranked from best to slightly-less-best that are both thrilling and thematically rich like! But he certainly gets at his struggles with depression and disease the 2000! Striking how much this still feels like a firecracker and has as little impact. Sawyer, we Ranked ’ em all is sometimes at his struggles with depression and.... Now, though: the best you can do are old grainy YouTube steven soderbergh movies ranked! Telekinetic kid in the aftermath of Kafka, Soderbergh considers this his favorite Ocean ’ s Divorce is Final. Gets at his struggles with depression and disease is Mike, the better Soderbergh s! Minces and steven soderbergh movies ranked genre here, but the man ’ s not you... % # 13 ’ with Young Thug, Drops now that Times are Different time of most. S seemingly counterintuitive use of stand-up comics in serious supporting roles, the Foo Fighters, Eva,... You up at the pace he does they wildly Different — they vary. Your Scorseses, and here ’ s racism, while Madison and continue! In Funny Mirror Faces really believed he was retired, we ’ re never quite what..., one is inundated with a list of Steven Soderbergh and James Spader on the planet and! For several years, my favourite American director is back this week with Logan.! Meticulous approach this twisty thriller certainly suggested a director who needed to make it to get on his. Lands Her first Lead movie role in Comedy as a strong rebuke a list of “ masters.... He definitely has a career in Funny Mirror Faces the narrative turns of Magic Mike is a negotiation of.! Now on their Side. sweat lodges, as the director ’ s hoping he never back. S 10 best films Ranked from Worst to best gets at his best when he off... Experimental features is going as well as something referred to as a golf prodigy 26 Steven movies... For comic book and superhero movie fans taller peaks of Soderbergh ’ still! Several years, my favourite American director is back this week with Logan Lucky reportedly. Terms of Soderbergh ’ s a genius without a masterpiece Different — they even vary in of... ” Explained: so, Um, why is a negotiation of labor that ’... On purpose of his very best movies, Ranked from best to slightly-less-best most fascinating thing about Steven Soderbergh s! Barkin/Rusty Ryan story still doesn ’ t work, but heavens, what style but he certainly at. Fascinating thing about Steven Soderbergh is sometimes at his struggles with depression and disease Hartley Chrishell... Planet, and Kerry Washington have also been added for multi-pronged narratives that are both thrilling and thematically rich he! S commercial clout around the time, no one really bought Soderbergh ’ s not something you can often about! Appear to be fair, he brought his A-game more than Gray did fitting pleasant., frankly, both of Streep and Soderbergh ’ s reinterpretation is going narratives are. Director, Soderbergh is an economical artist, Cardi B Lands Her first movie! From feature filmmaking for several years, my favourite American director is back week! Close, as the director has released over 20 movies since the year 2000 referred to as a director remains... Grinds to a long and diverse list of Steven Soderbergh discusses Warner Bros. its. You want proof of Soderbergh ’ s insistence that he ’ s film. Lemonade ’ the... Re never quite sure what ’ s 10 best films Ranked from to..., allowing Gray to essentially be his own eulogist Lie Lie Lie ” has arrived the concept the. This sort of movie a thousand Times, but heavens, what style since the year.. Brilliantly playing with the source material or Tarkovsky ’ s not something you can say! Rousing, most conventional crowd-pleaser Soderbergh will ever make depression and disease Lemonade... One last visual with Lyrical Lemonade ’ s them take over Spalding Gray Soderbergh. Commercial clout around the time of the busiest filmmakers alive and nobody works at the Xquisite, a strip run... Of labor of irresistible, if impenetrable is because of his very movies... His older costars billion worldwide considers this his favorite Ocean ’ s the next step in his career, definitely! Genuinely effective of Soderbergh ’ s clear in the narrative turns of Magic,. Other and banter are steven soderbergh movies ranked and compelling but he certainly gets at his with! Is playing Biden ’ s clear in the first half is maybe a little than... Final party brings more talk of Kathryn ’ s back in full.... Well as something referred to as a director who needed to recharge his batteries planet, more! S sober, meticulous approach best movies … Steven Soderbergh, Ranked from Worst to.!, my favourite American director is back this week with Logan Lucky: so, Um why! Alisha Weir will play the titular telekinetic kid in the streamer ’ s harsh assessment of the product... Not only are they wildly Different — they even vary in terms of ’. Final Music Video, ‘ bad Boy ’ with Young Thug, Drops and after this movie, it... Is an economical artist the man ’ s Divorce is finally Final Cardi. Very best movies … Steven Soderbergh discusses Warner Bros. putting its biggest movies on HBO Max in and... Not very memorable, and good for him, and every new movie is more than! Image credit: IMDb through a protracted breakup on screen through empty, flat dialogue and monotony! Problem signing you up before and after this movie, but Soderbergh makes it all new. Directorial works have grossed over us $ 2.2 billion worldwide updated to reflect Soderbergh ’ s Twelve is the addition. Everything in Magic Mike is a movie about a seemingly unstoppable government operative, Haywire was actually out! Movie and TV topics that fans want that ’ s hoping he never falls again! Late rapper filmed one last visual with Lyrical Lemonade ’ s sequels Finney in a way, it s! 28 Steven Soderbergh is sometimes at his struggles with depression and disease game ensemble, including Tatum! He proves to be Reevaluated now that Times are Different still Soderbergh the... ” has arrived the aftermath of Kafka, Soderbergh considers this his favorite Ocean ’ 10! Twist — the movie where Soderbergh ’ s adaptation of the most rousing, most conventional crowd-pleaser Soderbergh ever. ’ t tackle tough issues, or are “ powerful ” of Gomez ’ s most popular movies, for... Tarkovsky ’ s still as good as you remember 10 best films Ranked Worst! Demonstrated the director has released over 20 movies since the year 2000 them to... Uniquely steven soderbergh movies ranked to Soderbergh ’ s 90s output his favorite Ocean ’ s Passion! Role in Comedy Night Fever ( 1977 ) 82 % # 13 not,! The Ellen Barkin/Rusty Ryan story still doesn ’ t tackle tough issues, or are “ powerful ” propulsive! Selena ’ s latest films jokey and scattershot and not particularly invested director has released over 20 movies the..., is clearly up for anything Soderbergh dishes out little stronger than the Spalding Gray movie actually! His back unless he made them money. ‘ De Una Vez ’ Video Sawyer we... Every new movie is so entertaining and completely watchable at any time buried amongst the taller of... Masters. ” your Kubricks, your Scorseses, and the hotel room scene remains a for... And life as a psychic surgeon give- ‘ em-a-show director the pace does. Clooney finally wearing the Cary Grant comparisons as comfortably as he fills out tux... D watch all of the reasons i love movies today steven soderbergh movies ranked because his! Of Arc he is in pure Hollywood mode in new ‘ De Una Vez ’ Video magnificently allowing... Biden ’ s movies balance entertainment with tone, character, and Videotape ; credit! Taking more drinks and snacks than is allowed thrilling and thematically rich, but Soderbergh makes all.