It’s Friday, so there’s nothing like discussing porn…and early retirement. Yes, Steven Soderbergh still insists he’s getting out of the game and soon. Don’t like it? Tough, he basically says he’s done enough in his lifetime, which is true considering his prodigious output. Soderbergh says he’ll retire in less than four years.
Does that mean, “Knockout,” “Liberace,” “Cleo,” the 2nd Spalding Gray doc, maybe another lo-fi Magnet film, and one more maybe if we’re lucky?
“I just feel that this is a young person’s game, and I don’t want to be doing this when I’m 50. By then I’ll have made 20-something movies, and that’s a lot,” he told the London Times Online. So, does that mean he’ll be retiring in the next four years? “Oh, I think before that,” he says. Surely he can’t be serious. A workaholic and consummate movie-maker at the height of his powers, with Clooney, the cream of Hollywood, at his feet? “It’s funny, but every time I say I’m trying to wind things down, people get really angry. ‘Why are you saying that? Stop saying that!’ But look, if I decide I want to do something else I am allowed to do just that.” He gives a perplexed shrug and says: “It’s my life, after all!”
The ever-candid filmmaker also calls his herculean “Che”epic, “a mistake from day one.” If you say so Steven. We still love it.
He also love his skin flix (he discusses this often in his “Getting Away With It” book) and will leave a hotel if they don’t have pay-per-view porn.
“I was in a hotel in Anaheim about five years ago, and after checking in I literally went down to the front desk and said, ‘I don’t understand, there’s no pay-per-view porn!’ I called my producer and said, ‘I can’t take this, I’m checking out’. And I went to the hotel across the road. I think it should be in the bill of rights — when you’re travelling, access to pornography should be the number three thing on the list after clean towels and 24-hour room service.” He rolls his eyes upwards, to indicate the hotel rooms above, and sighs, “They don’t have it here!”
Maybe he can try and rival Andrew Blake‘s arty work after he finishes his film career? We can only hope he sticks around in at least some capacity.
Filmmaking is a "young person's game"? Gimme a break. I have no problem with Soderbergh doing something else with his life, but to say he doesn't want to be making movies at 50 because he'll be too old is just ridiculous.
His comments are simply designed to generate press as they make absolutely no sense.
If filmmaking is a young person's game, Clint Eastwood apparently never got the memo. Here is a man pushing 80 who regularly manages two significant pictures a year.
I don't think he's trying to generate publicity..I think he's just expressing his opinion and thinks he should quit..
maybe he's tired and burned out…he has what…4 films released this year alone? Che 1 & 2, GFE, The Informant and also that Spaulding Documentary..he worked for 6 months prepping Moneyball and was fired the day before starting to shoot…He's also directing a play for Cate Blanchett next month and then shooting that other movie in January…that's a lot of work..I'd be tired too.
I can't imagine he'll quit for good, but I'm sure he will slow down dramatically. The Clint Eastwood comparison doesn't hold water as Eastwood could fart and get a picture made. Soderbergh, despite being an Oscar winner, doesn't have the same luxury. I'm sure he's tired of playing the "I have an idea, I'd like to make it my way, please give me money" game. He'd probably prefer to do something that was ultimately more satisfying without the frustration he deals with.
Personally, I don't watch movies directed by guys over 50. Whaddya kidding me or something?