Haywire (2012)

Director: Steven Soderbergh

As written this film is basically your average Euro spy thriller. A clandestine spy does jobs in major European cities, one of them goes wrong and there's a bit of mystery as to her employers intention and eventually some revenge comes into play. It's all pretty generic stuff. But in comes Steven Soderbergh, whose filmmaking expertise can do wonders with any story. This film basically is a how-to guide when it comes to shooting action movies. His directing stands out in every scene. The action scenes are filmed with authenticity and are not afraid to show off the stunningly choreographed action set pieces. He does not create the fight scenes in the editing bay like so many other Hollywood action movies do nowadays, he utilizes the set and uses wide shots to make sure every blow feels real.

A big reason as to why the fight scenes feel real and authentic is due to Soderbergh's casting of former MMA fighter Gina Carano as the lead character. She knows how to fight, and Soderbergh lets her strut her skills on camera with no manipulation. On top of her great fight choreography, she serves her character well with her quiet and mysterious performance. While the film is filled with great visuals and refreshing fight scenes, and the film is unabashedly more style than substance, the lack of substance is still what keeps the movie from being a truly great film. It's a masterclass on creating a good genre picture but that means it's still a genre picture with not a whole lot of lasting significance. But at the same time Soderbergh did not try to create a masterpiece. Soderbergh's great blocking, cinematography, editing, pacing, music, and sound once again shows that he is a master of filmmaking craft.

Grade: B

Magic Mike (2012)

Director: Steven Soderbergh

When it comes to how prolific he is, Steven Soderbergh is like the new Woody Allen. But where Soderbergh differs from Allen is his versatility. Allen's movies are consistently good, but they frequently feature similar characters and similar themes. With Soderbergh you never know what you're going to get, and there's no better example of that fact than Magic Mike, a movie starring Channing Tatum about male strippers. There was an automatic stigma attached to the movie just on the basis of the cast and its subject matter, but anyone who knows Soderbergh's work knows that this movie isn't going to be some cheap lady-pandering fluffy Channing Tatum vehicle.

The movie is less about male stripping and more about the recession. It's very much a movie from this time. If there was never a recession we probably wouldn't see a movie about two financially struggling good-looking white men. It's also a unique film because of the bait-and-switch Soderbergh pulls by changing up the concept of the male gaze and by almost using a female gaze in certain scenes. The audience settles into the world of male stripping with ease, and that's helped by Soderbergh's style which keeps the editing and the visuals interesting always reminding us of the "different-but-not-quite" world the characters reside in. Soderbergh has so much knowledge on the craft of film that if you're a film buff you'll never be bored during his movies, and when he takes on fascinating subjects like male stripping then it's even better. He's been making so many movies recently that none of them are truly masterpieces, but they're all fascinating and extremely well-made. Whenever I see a Soderbergh I gain a renewed hope for mainstream Hollywood filmmaking.

Grade: B

Filmcap: The week of Sept 4-11

Fish Tank, Grand Illusion, Funny Games, and recently completed season of Louie are highlights from this abnormally great and lengthy week. Minimal amount of schoolwork, a realization that this is my last year of school and thus last chance to really go all out with my movie watching, and also the ending of two television show seasons all culminated in a lot of entries for this week. In this post you'll find discussions on how the differences between a great miserabilist film and a bad one, the benefits of personal filmmaking, and the lack of intellectual provocation in the movies. 

Filmcap: The week of Aug 28-Sept 4

Beginners, The Limey, and the second season of Deadwood are in store for this post. A television show that shows us the beginnings of our society, a movie that shows how the beginnings are always the best, and then a movie in which you can't always tell what is the beginning and what is the ending.

Filmcap: The week of Feb 13-20

A busy week made me post this weeks installment late and also watch fewer movies than average. I only watched three on my own, all of them interesting but flawed, and the fourth was a special movie I watched in theaters in Seattle with my family. 

Filmcap: The week of Jan 9-16

In this week's second ever installment of Fimcap I write about a movie with an amazing poster, the single best sports movie of all time, two early John Wayne-starring acclaimed westerns, and one of the independent movies that started all independent movies.