What begins as a barbed satire of our pill-popping, self-medicating society morphs into something intriguingly different in Side Effects. Steven Soderbergh's elegantly coiled puzzler spins a tale of clinical depression and psychiatric malpractice into an absorbing, cunningly unpredictable entertainment that, like much of his recent work, closely observes how a particular subset of American society operates in a needy, greedy, paranoid and duplicitous age. Discriminating arthouse audiences not turned off by the antidepressant-heavy subject matter should be held shrink-rapt by what Soderbergh, after years of flirting with retirement, has said will be his last picture "for a long time." more »
Calling all Steven Soderbergh fans and movie-loving hypochondriacs. Time to cue up Pink's "Just Like A Pill" on Spotify and get your haiku mojo working. Movieline will give away a Side Effects poster signed by cast members Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, Vinessa Shaw and Dr. Sasha Bardey to the armchair bard who, in our opinion, writes the most addictive haiku inspired by his or her favorite pharmaceutical or the movie itself. more »
Rooney Mara, Jude Law, Channing Tatum and Catherine Zeta-Jones were all on the red carpet for the premiere of Side Effects in New York City, and I asked them what it was like making a modern Hitchcock film. more »
As Steven Soderbergh said at the Film Society of Lincoln Center's preview screening of Side Effects on Wednesday, "There’s Movie A and there’s Movie B and there’s Movie C." The director was making the apt point that Side Effects could have been a heavy-handed movie about a) Big Pharma or b) insider trading, two of the film's main motifs. But Soderbergh chose c), a much subtler and entertaining third path and, judging from the Manhattan audience's enthusiastic reaction to the picture, his instincts did not fail him. more »
Even as retirement looms, Steven Soderbergh still has a feature in the pipeline destined for the big screen. But as his theatrical career apparently heads toward its sunset, the Oscar-winning filmmaker is taking a swing at the movie-making machine that has left him - at least now - not wanting to make more pictures.
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The Berlin International Film Festival added nine titles to its 2013 competition lineup, including Steven Soderbergh's latest, Side Effects, starring Jude Law and Channing Tatum, which will have its International Premiere at the February event.
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As ads for pharmaceuticals go, this clip for the anti-depression drug Ablixa is textbook perfect. Wooden actors progress from sad to happy with the help of digital dark clouds, sun rays, and, presumably, the being advertised. And there's the de rigueur reading of possible side effects. more »
Folks like Steven Soderbergh know it can be a long, long road to retirement. But there are still (at least) two titles to come, including Side Effects. With this year's box office lauded strip down Magic Mike as well as his other 2013 shoot Behind the Candelabra on the make, his segue out from the director's chair may linger a year or two. There are promo obligations post-post production after all…
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