Where do you rank Stephen Soderbergh among his contemporaries?

I love his penchant for making independent movies almost directly along side much larger budget films and rank him in the second tier of directors working today.

I have Scorsese, The Coens, Ridley Scott, Fincher, Nolan, Tarantino, Spielberg, De Palma, and Coppola in the top tier.

I have Soderbergh in the next tier below them with guys like Cameron, Villeneuve, and Eastwood.

Just a fun conversation in my opinion.

What say you?

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yearsreeling t1_ixz0ump wrote on November 27, 2022 at 2:32 PM

He’s my favorite director. His run of movies from Out of Sight through the Ocean’s trilogy is amazing. Nominated for best director for two different movies in the same year was a historic achievement.

He is easily top tier imo and I think you’re kind of under rating him and over rating some directors on your list. I think he is easily a better director than De Palma. I still like the movies he makes. De Palma had a pretty big drop in quality over the years. If you like Soderbergh’s caper flicks. I definitely recommend checking out books by Donald Westlake, where he definitely got a lot of his inspiration for the tone of those movies.

NoDisintegrationz t1_ixxkqbp wrote on November 27, 2022 at 4:01 AM

He’s certainly one of the most prolific directors of his era. I’m always interested to check out his movies, but they rarely blow me away. I like his style, but sometimes the scripts aren’t at the same level.

inmyelement87 t1_ixzdnq8 wrote on November 27, 2022 at 4:11 PM

Some of his movies run a little flat. However I’d say Traffic is his Magnum Opus.

doitcloot t1_iy031xl wrote on November 27, 2022 at 7:03 PM

his movies are my comfort food. he's so prolific and i enjoy so much of his work that when a new movie of his comes out i just tuck it away until some rainy day vibes come around so i can dust off a new soderbergh

mdmnl t1_iy154hd wrote on November 27, 2022 at 11:21 PM

Hard question to answer.

I think, based on age/years active, his contemporaries probably only include Cameron, Fincher and the Coens.

Scorsese, Coppola and Spielberg are much older and Nolan and Villeneuve younger.

I don't think Soderbergh can quite match the Coens or Fincher, in terms of their high artistry.

But The Limey, Out of Sight and the Ocean's movies are terrific. I should rewatch Logan Lucky too. I may be the biggest fan of Haywire anywhere - it's not perfect, but is damned entertaining.

HortonHearsTheWho t1_ixxkvtn wrote on November 27, 2022 at 4:03 AM

Cameron and Villenueve I think are top tier. Definitely Cameron at least.

As for Soderberg, he’s an extremely capable craftsman and has some real achievements to his name, but he takes risks which means a lot of misses too. Second Tier seems right.