119 – Solaris

After following up his 2000 Oscar triumph with audience favorite Ocean’s 11, Steven Soderbergh pivoted into a different mode in 2002, doubling up with the low-fi Full Frontal and the subject of this week’s episode: Solaris. A revisit of Stanislaw Lem’s novel (previously canonized by Andrei Tarkovsky), the film follows George Clooney as a therapist called to a a space mission on the titular planet, only to find a ghost of his dead wife among the planet’s strange happenings. But audiences were expecting an epic romance in space thanks to a misleading marketing campaign, turning the film into a box office bomb with an F CinemaScore. In the years since, the film has gained a reputation as Soderbergh’s misunderstood masterpiece – and we agree! This episode, we look at Soderbergh’s career of making multiple films in one year and Clooney’s rise from television star to movie hunk to prestige director with uneven returns. Topics also include a deep dive into our 2002 personal awards ballots, Viola Davis’s underrated supporting performance, Jeremy Davies as Jeremy Davies, and, of course, Clooney’s butt onscreen. Follow Us on Twitter! @Had_Oscar_Buzz Joe: @joereid Chris: @chrisvfeil