13 January 2000

SODERBERGH REDUX: Lots of helpful e-mail on where to find Steven Soderbergh's book Getting Away with It. Thank you all. Apparently, the book has not been imported to America in mass quite yet. So all the sites for purchase are in the U.K., starting with Amazon UK, where they have to back order the book. It is amazing to then go to the Chapters site to see a bit of design thievery like you may never see again. You can get the book delivered there in 3 to 5 weeks. And last, but not least, Undercover Book at Bibliofind.com where you can have the book shipped from a proper Brit bookstore using your credit card or even by sending a check. Also, someone sent a link along to a fine Salon.com interview of Soderbergh by Michael Sragow in connection with this book. Mind you, the interview doesn't do the book full justice. But it is definitely worth reading.

MY TOP FIVE BOOKS: I also got some e-mail about what my Top Five movie books are. Perhaps it's time to start David's Book Club. In any case, this Top Five are for books that are pretty much first-person insights into the art and the business of movies. Great business-only tomes, like David McClintick's classic Indecent Exposure are on a different list in my head. Same with great movie peripheral reads like Tony Hendra's Going too Far, which is probably the best time-line of 60's/70s comedy out there, despite some real flaws. So, my Top Five, in alphabetical order, are:

Adventures in the Screen Trade by William Goldman - Also known by me as The Bible. When they get off the boat in Hollywood filled with dreams and false beliefs, this is what I tell them to read. (I also throw in a copy of The Art of War, though not too many of them ever figure that out...the survivors do.)

Getting Away with It starring Steven Soderbergh and also starring Richard Lester - Two generations of directors a little off the beaten track. Smart, funny, joyous and raging.

Hello, He Lied by Lynda Obst - Reads a bit like the female version of The Hot Button. I was never a big Lynda Obst fan until I read this. Now, she forever has my heart. A tough, personal book that never whines to excess. And as with all five of these books, a delight to read.

Hype and Glory by William Goldman - Yes, he's a two-timer. (And if you want a great surprise, check out his novels as well. The movie of Heat sucked, but it is a great pulp novel.) Hype and Glory takes Goldman through the year he was a judge at both Cannes and Miss America. Great stuff. I am, oddly enough, not a huge fan of his Premiere columns, which have been made into a new book called The Big Picture. (Yes, it sounds a lot like The Whole Picture.) Goldman is at his best when it's about him. I find the Premiere pieces curmudgeonly and bitter. Not Hype and Glory.

The Studio by John Dunne - There will probably never be a book like The Studio again. Dunne was given a great deal of personal access to the top of the food chain at Fox at a pivotal moment in the history of movies and especially that studio, as the studio system gasped its final breaths. This is my favorite look back at what was, and it gives you some real insight into what people think "the good old days" were all about. Stuff about the real early days of movies is interesting because it was truly the wild west. But here is a business that's been systematized and is crumbling under its own weight. Fascinating. And it makes a great bookend to ...Screen Trade since they cover similar time periods. Also a great tandem read with The Studio is Stephen Silverman's The Fox That Got Away, which is not quite so personal, but covers the same exact period and offers a different and sometimes a confirming point-of-view.

READER OF THE DAY: Ocean's 11 got a lot of casting mail. First, this from Mmmm K: "I share your excitement about the Ocean's 11 remake, but disagree about your casting ideas. Having Denzel or Leo in it would throw the whole thing out of balance - first, because Clooney needs to be the leader of these men, second, because every star would need a "big" scene in the story. Philip Seymour Hoffman is just the right wattage level to join the gang. Others who would fit: Michael Madsen, Don Cheadle, Andy Garcia, Harry Connick Jr. (an easygoing screen presence who would work great in a flick like this - plus, they oughta have someone who can sing,) Samuel Jackson and, since they need a villain to fill the Cesar Romero role, Christopher Walken!

And this from Rrrrr M: " George Clooney -- Sinatra, Kevin Spacey - Dean Martin role, Don Cheadle (who else??) - Sammy Davis Jr., Christopher Lawford- Peter Lawford (Jude Law
runner-up,) Edward Norton (think about it) - Joey Bishop role, Ellen Barkin - Angie Dickinson role"

And this from Rrrrr S: "As one of Soderbergh's biggest fans I have to say I was thrilled by the Ocean's 11 news. The man basically changed my goal in life to being a filmmaker by making sex, lies, and videotape. I remember I read an interview with Soderbergh a couple of years ago when he said no one went to see Out of Sight because he directed it. Well maybe I was the only one but I was greatly rewarded. Truthfully I can't think of a better choice to add the key element of style that will make or break such a movie. The ideal cast, starpower aside besides Clooney, also a great choice, would be Ashley Judd in the Angie Dickinson role (though if it is the same as the original, any good looking woman could do it), Peter Gallagher in the Lawford role, Don Cheadle or Andre Braugher in the Sammy Davis Jr. role, Kevin Spacey in the Dean Martin role (if no singing is involved), and little seen, lately, character actor Max Perlich for the Joey Bishop role. In addition Luiz Guzman should be one of the remaining 6. The key casting, though, would be Terence Stamp in the Cesar Romero role. He could do it with his eyes closed and be great.

E ME: I still think that the Sammy role doesn't have to be cast black any more than the Dean Martin role has to be white. But we'll know when we know. I have a feeling my Joe Roth hypothesis will have gone down in flames by now, so let's ask the follow-up? Who should buy Disney?