Soderbergh Ep. 21: Gray's Anatomy (1996)/And Everything Is Going Fine (2010) with Robert Rubsam
Open your notebooks and fill up your glasses of water, folks: today we're looking at Steven Soderbergh's two documentaries on Spalding Gray. And Ian's pissed off! We're joined once more by our friend, writer and critic Rob Rubsam, to talk 1996's GRAY'S ANATOMY, a sort of longform music video for Gray's "monolog" of the same name, and Soderbergh's 2010 posthumous "autobiography" of Gray, AND EVERYTHING IS GOING FINE. How does a figure like Gray emerge and rise to fame? Where does we place him in the long tradition of neurotic white guys who make everything about themselves? Is Jake one of those? And why is Ian so mad about this guy? We answer these questions and more - check it out. Further Reading: "The Catastrophe" by Oliver Sacks "Vanishing Act" by Alex Williams "In New Film, Spalding Gray Tells His Own Tale" by Karen Michel A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace Me Talk Pretty One Day, etc. by David Sedaris The World According to Dave Barry by Dave Barry À la recherche du temps perdu by Marcel Proust Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald The Mezzanine by Nicholson Baker Gargoyles by Thomas Bernhard Anything by John Berger Further Viewing: MY DINNER WITH ANDRE (Malle, 1981) SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA (Demme, 1987) VANYA ON 42ND STREET (Malle, 1994) JOHN MULANEY: NEW IN TOWN (Polito & Szymanski, 2012) MIKE BIRBIGLIA: MY GIRLFRIEND'S BOYFRIEND (Barrish, 2013) PARKER GAIL'S LOCATION IS EVERYTHING (Buono & Thomas, 2016) Follow Rob Rubsam: https://x.com/rob_rubsam https://www.robertrubsam.com/ Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://www.podcastyforme.com/ https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/ https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe Artwork by Jeremy Allison: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
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2:22:25
PATREON PREVIEW: The Killers (1946/1964) with Comrade Yui
This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. Our friend and yours Comrade Yui is back to talk two Ernest Hemingway adaptations in our wheelhouse - THE KILLERS (1946) by CRISS CROSS director Robert Siodmak and THE KILLERS (1964) by DIRTY HARRY director Don Siegel (plus the short Tarkovsky made as a student in 1956!). We get a crash course in noir history, spatial cinematography, and midcentury ideas of the self - along with our earliest-ever Pine Cone Crime Zone. Patreon.com/ComradeYui As always, thank you to Jetski for our theme music and Jeremy Allison for our artwork. Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://www.podcastyforme.com/ https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/ https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe Artwork by Jeremy Allison: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
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Soderbergh Ep. 20: The Informant! (2009) with Dan O'Sullivan
"Would I lysine to you?" - Mark Whitacre. Hey that's just a joke but maybe they could have used it on the posters for THE INFORMANT!, Steven Soderbergh's 2009 corporate espionage caper about the lysine price-fixing scandal and one of the weirdest guys there has ever been. And joining us to talk big business, the FBI, and organized crime in all its forms is writer and podcaster Dan O'Sullivan (The Outfit)! Is business run like the mafia or vice versa? Is corruption inherent to capitalism or simply a common side effect? Did Kurt Eichenwald ever go on Twitter? We answer these questions once and for all, so give this one a listen. Further Reading: The Informant: A True Story by Kurt Eichenwald Rats in the Grain: The Dirty Tricks and Trials of Archer Daniels Midland by James B. Lieber Everybody Loves A Good Drought by Palagummi Sainath "Why Capitalism Loves Corruption" by Gareth Fearn Further Viewing: PRIME CUT (Richie, 1972) THE INSIDER (Mann, 1999) ERIN BROCKOVICH (Soderbergh, 2000) MICHAEL CLAYTON (Gilroy, 2007) BURN AFTER READING (Coen, 2008) Follow Dan O'Sullivan: https://x.com/osullyville https://bsky.app/profile/osullyville.bsky.social https://headgum.com/the-outfit Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://www.podcastyforme.com/ https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/ https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe Artwork by Jeremy Allison: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
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PATREON PREVIEW: Once Upon A Time In America (1984)
This is a preview of a premium episode from our Patreon feed, Paid Costly For Me! Head over to Patreon.com/PodCastyForMe to hear more for just $5 a month. Finally, we've reached the end of Sergio Leone's filmography with the long-in-development gangster epic ONCE UPON A TIME IN AMERICA. This film has many admirers, to whom we say: sorry! We didn't care for it, and we'll tell you why - with a little final examination of the man's work. CW: This episode contains discussion of the film's sequences of sexual violence, so consider skipping this one if you're not in a place to listen to that right now. Thanks as always to Jetski for our theme music and to Jeremy Allison for our artwork.
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Soderbergh Ep. 19: The Girlfriend Experience (2009) with Anonymous Mystery Guest
Soderbergh's second film for Mark Cuban's Magnolia Pictures was THE GIRLFRIEND EXPERIENCE, a largely improvised look at life on the cusp of the Great Recession starring adult film megastar Sasha Grey. We're joined by an anonymous writer and sex worker to talk about one of Soderbergh's less-appreciated great films, sex work as work, Grey's legacy, depictions of intimacy, and Power Wash Simulator for the Nintendo Switch. Really great episode, we hope you enjoy! Further Reading: Playing The Whore: The Work of Sex Work by Melissa Gira Grant "The Teenager & The Porn Star" by Dave Gardetta "Exploitation Under Capitalism" by Mary Mother of God "Whorearchy 101" by Jack Parker Soderbergh interview by Ben Walters Steven Soderbergh: Interviews, ed. Anthony Kaufman Further Viewing: RED DESERT (Antonioni, 1964) KLUTE (Pakula, 1971) CRIES AND WHISPERS (Bergman, 1972) FULL FRONTAL (Soderbergh, 2002) BUBBLE (Soderbergh, 2005) FASHIONISTAS SAFADO: THE CHALLENGE (Stagliano, 2006) MAGIC MIKE (Soderbergh, 2012) ANORA (Baker, 2024) Follow Pod Casty For Me: https://www.podcastyforme.com/ https://twitter.com/podcastyforme https://www.instagram.com/podcastyforme/ https://www.youtube.com/@podcastyforme Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/PodCastyForMe Artwork by Jeremy Allison: https://www.instagram.com/jeremyallisonart
Pod Casty For Me: a left politics and culture podcast about the films of Steven Soderbergh (formerly Clint Eastwood and Paul Schrader), one movie per episode. Hosted by Jake Serwin & Ian Rhine. New episodes every other Friday.