Steven Soderbergh's

Steven Soderbergh (Pocket Essential series)
$6.99
This slim guidebook isn't worth even its meager cover price. The author covers Soderbergh's directorial efforts up through "Ocean's Eleven" (2001) using a series of subheadings such as Cast, Crew, Story, Subtext, and Verdict for each film. The book also includes a section on unrealized projects as well and an introduction and epilogue. Much of the information is available elsewhere, and the author's original comments show no special insight. Most disturbing, in synopsizing each film, the author gets the facts of the plot wrong on a couple of occasions. Soderbergh's work deserves better.

Che (Criterion Collection) [Blu-ray]
$49.95
I was really excited to watch the Che movies. Knowing that Benicio Del Toro was playing the Title character and that it was a two part movie, I felt really excited. Then I watched it... and I had to keep hitting myself to keep myself awake. It is that slow. Granted, Del Toro does a great job at playing Guevara, and this movie misses some of the most important stuff in Guevara's life. The movie is very poorly shot- shot on a Red camera with very little visual thought. 5 minute shots are abundant and drag the movie down greatly. Not even that gorgeous final shot of Part Two could save this movie! I heard that Soderbergh regrets making the movie now, which I am not surprised. THe documentary feel was terrible and wrecked the movie- the movie was ruined by the constant switching to black and white and the interview segments. Even the dialogue sucked too ("Vanilla piss"?????). And worst of all, the movie is so SLOW!!!!! A movie about an extraordinary man like Che Guevara should be exciting and adventurous, not slow and boring. If you want to know a movie about Guevara that's exciting and does a great job of chronicling his achievements, I suggest watching The Motorcycle Diaries, which was about Guevara's motorcycle journey across Latin America before he started the revolution. But steer clear of this dreck at all cost. My Spanish Class was falling asleep while watching this, I was not surprised.

Che (Criterion Collection)
$49.95
before watching CHE-1)forget the words liberal and conservative,left and right,2)try to forget Castro's repressive regime that that proved communism does not work,no matter how many beret-ed martyrs you try to pan off on the world in a effort to soothe the loss of a gangland island paradise.3)Forget that Che was just as political as Castro ever was.4)Forget the fact that Castro's regime,began as a typical communist take over,with executions,torture,and death to any enemy of the state real or framed,guilty or innocent.5)Forget Castro and Che as about as materialistic a pair as you will ever see,those green,guerrilla,jungle fighter,power to the people,24-7 uniforms oozed vanity rather than the political consience of revolution...forget all that stuff,put it out of your mind..watch the movie.
1)Soderbergh's vision of Che as seen through the lense of a camera plays like a documentary,shakey camera etc...the scenes are mostly shot,standing back,which is thoughtful,even frame friendly.Each frame is lush and crammed full with that which Soderbergh envisioned to be the character of the film Che,making the jungle,the sky,the weapons,the asthma attacks,the heat,the sounds..necessary if not passive cast members.That says a lot about Sodersbergh's John Ford'ish abilities when it comes to, presentation relative to the suspense,of the story to be told,relative to landscape,distance,fatigue,combat..,relative to his choice of the image to be packed into a frame of film.
2)Che is long,almost 5 hours,some say it is too slow(not enough explosions,flying saucers,droids etc.)Some say it does not look right(not David Lean'ish enough)....Che has to be long in order for Soderbergh to unfold,lay-out and give us a feel for Che's dirty,sweaty,dangerous,neurotic life.Yes,it is about revolution,and all that shallow political phrasing that could be sold in the 60's,but Che the film also showes us the slow,tedious aspects of camp life,where food and water are precious commodities,and death is the snap of a finger away,making paranoid,anxious revolutionaries encamped in the heat,humidity and misery indicitive of the garden that grows paranoia,the jungle.Che is not too long,it is just long enough.
3)Che is one of the most ambitious films ever made,it's kind of hard to fathom a 5 hr flick produced in today's cut-budget climate,and if that isn't enough,it's artistic,serious,and stresses the craft and infinite possibilities of filmaking.It is Soderbergh's and Del Toro's brave,artistic gamble that probably won't pay-off.It is the type of important film that drives wanna-be filmmakers to work harder,out of jealousy as much as anything else.
4)Benicio Del Toro is great as you've heard
5)Part 2,the Bolivian episode,will wear at you,Castro's stalking presence can be felt as Che fails miserably to organize a Bolivian working- folks revolution.Che's asthma attack is suffocating as the stark Bolivian Countryside.It's weary-some to watch,a not-much-of-a-good-guy,failing,with doom all around,getting what he deserves,at the cost of becoming some post Beatle,post JFK,LSD,60's,you must be cool cause you look good in a berat,misunderstood,fictionalized, martyr,which is of course what he became.
6)Part 1 is about the Cuban revolution,Che,Castro,their buddies,i found part 1 facinating to watch,and has a great ending as Che makes some of his guys return a car they stole as they head for Havana to cash in on Castro's infamous regimes's birth.

The Underneath
$5.98
style over substance wins out at the end of this classic, but the performances are excellent and easily overcomes this problem. a remake of "criss cross", this is twist upon backstabbing twist until finally everbody is turning secretly against each other. mind you, it is slowmoving yet atmospheric.
it seduces you into its neon lit world and brings into one hell of a story. confusing at times since it flashbacks from past to present continously, it always manages to stay intense. alison elliott is amazing as the coldhearted, icy girlfriend. ["The Spitfire Grill" is another film starred in, also a good movie].