Los Angeles Times - 31.10.2019

»The Envelope asked this sea-

son’s standout directors what

filmmakers influenced them.

Here are Steven Soderbergh’s

(“The Laundromat”) top picks.

LINA WERTMÜLLER

ITALIAN WRITER-DIRECTOR

» “It’s funny because when we

were in Venice [for the 2019

Venice Film Festival] I wore a

T-shirt that said “Written and

directed by Lina Wertmüller.”

Lina had an incredible facility as

both a writer and a director. She

knew how to move the camera,

she knew how to fashion a beau-

tiful screenplay, she knew how to

work with actors, and she made

this incredible stream of darkly

comic films about very serious

subjects. I was — and still am —

fascinated by Lina Wertmüller.”

MIKE NICHOLS

AMERICAN DIRECTOR

»“My first movie [‘sex, lies and

videotape’] was a complete ripoff

of ‘Carnal Knowledge’ — a cham-

ber piece with essentially four

characters where it’s mostly

talking. So Mike Nichols was a

huge influence on me for that

film in particular. He had a genu-

ine interest in and fascination

with people. His way into a

project was the characters.”

RICHARD LESTER

BRITISH DIRECTOR

»“What I liked about Richard

Lester’s work was the range, the

intelligence that was always on

display, the lack of pretension

and the speed with which he

worked. In ‘The Laundromat,’ in

terms of tone and sense of humor,

I thought a lot about a terrific

movie Richard made called ‘How

I Won the War.’ It’s a highly

stylized comedic treatment of a

deeply tragic subject. ‘How I

Won the War’ rewards your en-

gagement, but it’s a very dense

and fast-moving object, so you

really have to pay attention.”

André Carrilho For The Times

INFLUENCES

STEVEN

SODERBERGH

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THE ENVELOPE LOS ANGELES TIMES THURSDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2019

MONDAY:International Documentary Assn. Awards final voting opens. WEDNESDAY:Critics Choice Documen-

tary Awards final voting opens. NOV. 8:Makeup & Hairstyle Guild nomination voting closes; Critics Choice Doc-

umentary Awards final voting closes. NOV. 10:Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards. NOV. 11:Makeup & Hair-

style Guild nominations; Costume Designers Guild nomination voting opens. NOV. 14:SAG nomination voting

opens; Golden Globe TV nomination voting opens.

BIG

DATES

“I died for Brad Pitt

in 'Once Upon a

Time ... in Holly-

wood.' I swooned

and laughed, I

cheered and not just

when he took his

shirt off. It was his

moccasins, how he

moved in them. ...

He was like the best

kind of man.”

THE QUOTE

Amy Pascal

PRODUCER

“LITTLE WOMEN”

Has there

been a

performance

that had an

impact on you

so far this

season?

Andrew CooperSony Pictures

That’s aWrap

(The names and numbers that matter this awards season)

s

>Oscar nominees have acted

in “Star Wars” films,

counting voice and motion-

capture performances.

>Nomination was for an

actual “Star Wars” film:

Alec Guinness, as Obi-Wan

Kenobi, below, in the

1977 original.

>People were nominated

after appearing in a “Star

Wars” film: Driver, Guin-

ness, Harrison Ford, Keira

Knightley and Natalie

Portman. Portman won.

Who’s

Counting?

> Adam Drivercould earn a

second Oscar nod, for

November’s “Marriage

Story.” “Star Wars’” Kylo Ren

is not the only Oscar-lauded

actor from the franchise.

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