Soderbergh's Viewing List Includes "Magic Mike XXL" Three Times!
Wednesday, January 7, 2015 at 5:00PM 
By now you've probably heard mention that Steven Soderbergh, he who is officially retired but not really because nobody totally believes it and he still works in various capacities, just posted his list of everything he watched and read this past year. I love Soderbergh's List-Mania more than I even love Soderbergh because I relate. This is now my favorite celebrity listing tradition of each year, not that there are very many consistent ones.
The whole list is worth reading but I wanted to share nine highlights in the order in which they delighted me.
NINE HIGHLIGHTS IN ORDER OF HOW THEY DELIGHTED
09 He watched Lisa Kudrow's The Comeback the same day he watched Birdman... a very meta Hollywood day was November 9th.
08. I can't imagine what his Oscar ballot looks like since it appears in the middle of all his TV viewings and plentiful 1970s movies, he only watched nineteen 2014 movies (in order): The Monuments Men, Gone Girl (twice), Under the Skin, Pioneer (the Norwegian film), Finding Vivian Maier, Boyhood, Citizenfour, Birdman, Whiplash, The Babadook, Ida, Nightcrawler, American Sniper, A Most Violent Year, Foxcatcher, Unbroken, Inherent Vice, Selma, The Interview and Top Five. Given that that's all he watched
Let's guess what his Director ballot looks like... Maybe:
- Fincher - Gone Girl
- Inarritu - Birdman
- Linklater - Boyhood
- DuVernay - Selma
- ...????????? Gilroy? Chazelle? Miller? Anderson?
07. While his TV preference are very typical (all the acclaimed stuff) he seems to really appreciate funny women since he watches: Inside Amy Schumer, Getting On, Girls, and Veep regularly.
06. Like me and many of you, he read Mark Harris's "Five Came Back" this summer
05. Since he watched American Graffiti again right before our 1973 Smackdown with Dana Delany we're free to pretend that he did it in preparation for enjoying our event!
04. I can't fathom a double feature of Selma and 2001: A Space Odyssey just before Christmas which is why it's fun.
03. But nothing beats the double feature of Poland's awesome Ida followed by... wait for it... Peter Pan Live!
02. On Valentine's Day he watched Ice Castles (1978). Love it. Okay maybe it was Ice Castles (2010) but it's more fun to imagine the earlier film. Take it away Melissa Manchester
Please, don't let this feeling end
It's everything I am
Everything I want to be
I can see what's mine now
Finding out what's true
Since I found you
Looking through the eyes of love
01 Look at how many times he's already watched Magic Mike XXL (2015). JEALOUS. Looks like he saw the first cut just five weeks after shooting began. And then twice more within another month. (If you missed our interview with an actress who appears briefly in Magic Mike XXL and told us about it, click here.) For the record, though Soderbergh isn't directing the sequel, he's still involved in multiple aspects including (according to IMDb) as cinematographer, editor, and executive producer. So it's still very much a Soderbergh picture... especially since his long time first assistant director/producer Gregory Jacobs is in the director's chair this time.
Reader Comments (12)
My thoughts:
I also watched The Price of Gold, and at about the same time as he did.
He saw Gone Girl way early.
I also watched Ida in early December.
Nat: I'd want to say A Most Violent Year as his fifth, if only because the trailer showed a lot of yellow tinted footage, but I don't know.
So if I'm following the list correctly, on Christmas day he read a book, watched three episodes of two different TV shows, and watched a movie...how did he find time for an actual festive celebration??
Magic Mike XXL featuring Matt Bomer, just announced as HBO's Montgomery Clift in their upcoming biopic. (Keeping things on-topic here.)
The most noteworthy thing about this list to me (like you) is how minimal his current cinema consumption is. I remember reading comments from him about how critics, for him, are worthless. He can tell within minutes whether a director knows what he/she is doing behind a camera. He probably doesn't want to waste time watching shit. Maybe he has friends who recommend things to stay away from.
Also, Nat, it's totally worth noting that Soderbergh watched Proxy and Coherence, two micro-budget indies that were theatrically released in 2014. Don't pay attention to Imdb's dates for those. Interesting that he watched those two, which premiered at TIFF and Fantastic Fest in 2013, ahead of more high profile Sundance films.
I love that song from Ice Castles...
@MDA
do i detect a hint of judgement here? like he is supposed to be a ball of holiday joy and spend xmas with "others". jeez.
I relate... this is the first year in a long time where I haven't seen as many current films in the theater.
In an August interview he said that the 2 movies that completely blew his mind this year were Boyhood and Under the Skin.
Therefore, Under the Skin and J Glazer for that fifth slot - if not higher.
Daniel -- good to know. thanks for ssharing. Every year i hope for a total CITY OF GOD surprise in Best Director. Imagine the hysteria if Jonathan Glazer popped up as an Oscar nominee. haha.
Nathaniel, thanks for the Melissa Manchester shoutout (got her now on Pandora!)
@mcv - that was a joke; I guess sarcasm doesn't translate well over the internet.