Higher Quality ‘Che’ Action - El Argentino
By Craig Kennedy - August 2nd, 2008; 8:16 am
From a tip by Ryan at AD, here’s a non-crappy, non-blurry, still Spanish trailer for Soderbergh’s still undistributed The Argentine (Che 1.0). I’m still not watching. The funny thing is, Ryan could’ve linked me to just about anything that is legal to post on YouTube. I have no idea what it really is. He wouldn’t do that, would he?
Filed under: Trailers
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He wouldn’t do that
I don’t know…he’s got some trickster in him. He’s part Loki I think.
Three cheers for Ryan!
You pretty much know what to expect from the Soderbergh Che movies without watching them. I’m sure Che won’t be portrayed in strictly glorious “Fearless Leader” poses, but we won’t exactly be getting the bitter reality, either.
All the daydream revolutionaries who wore Che t-shirts and had Che posters in college won’t exactly have their vision of him affirmed. All of the critics and conservatives won’t get to watch the hero deconstructed, either.
Given these presumptions, the potential distributors have to ask who the audience is for this. It’s going to be difficult, if not impossible, to find $65 million worth of people to sit through four hours of being told what they already know deep down inside about their hero/villain.
Not saying that this won’t be a worthy film, but I think we’ll all end up seeing it in the comfort of our home entertainment systems (for me, a 15″ screen with awful sound) on demand or barebones DVD.
The way I’m going to try to look at Soderbergh’s Che, is the same way I see Lawrence of Arabia or Patton, or heck, Bonnie and Clyde. I know these people were more complex and in many ways dingier than the way they’re portrayed onscreen.
I’ll be happy with an epic attempt to tell one side of the story. If we get some fresh valid insight on Guevara’s life and learn anything new in the process of being dazzled, that’s just gravy.
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“Ryan could’ve linked me to just about anything that is legal to post on YouTube. I have no idea what it really is. He wouldn’t do that, would he?”
[Me, making note on 2009 calendar, April 1st.]
That is, if I’m still around then.
LiC people teasing me, I can handle.
Gold Derby people hit and kick.
That’s gonna leave a mark :-(
I like the part at the end where O’Neill “insists” and “demands” my respect. Where I come from, respect is earned. Insisting on it is about the last way to get it from me.
Funny thing, I used to have some real respect for O’Neil. Now though, have lost a little.
Posted a preliminary reply, but of course on a blog as “important” as Gold Derby, everybody passes through the “moderated” metal detector before they’re deemed worthy.
Ryan, Tom’s little meltdown seriously had me in stitches, I sorta just want to hug the guy. So embarrassing…It must suck to be him.
I don’t know, WJ. My gut instinct is that beyond the iconography of the T-shirt, 95% of folks out there have NO FUCKING CLUE about Che. Whether or not they’re willing to be educated about the man one iota is the heart of the question. But I agree that this will have a difficult time making back it’s budget unless Soderbergh gets strong support for critics and word-of-mouth is strong.
We shall see. I’m excited about it regardless.
My goodness, I just read the first two or three paragraphs of O’Neil’s manifesto and I’m already speechless. I’m seriously beginning to think the man has big issues he needs to deal with.
WJ, Joel. I’m pretty sure this one is going to stiff at the box office, whatever form it takes, but you know what? I don’t care. I’m there.
DP. Seriously. 2000 words. I like the part about his Defamer quotes. Nice!
As for Tom, you know you’re in trouble when you’re citing the work you’re doing with Quote Whore Pete Hammond:
“Re the Oscars: A few weeks ago Pete Hammond and I teamed up to issue one of the year’s first thorough lists of contenders — that’s how it was widely hailed.”
I love the fact that he disses Ryan for apparently not taking apart his rant on Melissa Leo piece by piece, but rather than defend his dickish hatchet job, he instead is defending his work on covering the Emmys. Nice.
I’m getting more and more jazzed about Che now. Trying to find out where the distribution deals stand, it looks like they’ve had domestic offers, but are unwilling to give up an inch of artistic integrity by accepting any arrangement that doesn’t showcase the film in exactly the way it was envisioned.
Loved Oceans Eleven as much as anybody, but with every new project over the past decade I keep hoping Soderbergh will serious up and regain the virtuoso brilliance of Traffic. Looks like finally we have a movie that matches his best ambitions. Really excited about this new Red One camera, too. (I want one).
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Nick, your comment at that other site about O’Neil is classic:
“Tom needs a slap, and a hug, and a tranquiliser, and a gag.”
Precise haiku of surgical syllables worthy of Nabokov, kiddo.
Gory crime scene, Dorothy. Hope you didn’t get anything on your shoes.
joel, anybody who’s seen one of my own berserk rebuttals on AD knows I love nothing better than a point-by-point deconstruction. Like any maniac, I get a perverse thrill from leaving body parts strewn across five states. But I held back with the dismantling this time, thinking it might be more to my advantage if I didn’t try to out-lunatic Tom O’Neil.
Tom kicked over his own house of cards without my assistance. Thanks for the backup, you guys.
Seriously. Hitch your wagon to Pete Hammond!
I’m also excited about Che if you hadn’t noticed, but I’ll take Solaris over Traffic any day. I like Soderbergh’s more intimate projects….which Che most certainly won’t be, but that’s ok.