Everything Steven Soderbergh Watched and Read In 2014

He may not be making any more feature films for the time being, but Steven Soderbergh delivered one of the best pieces of entertainment last year with The Knick (a show more cinematic than a great deal of films from 2014, I might add). Along with directing his play The Library and helping out with the shoot of a Magic Mike sequel, he also took in quite a lot of other films, TV series, books, plays, and more. Like he did last year, he’s wrote it all down in his personal log, which he’s now shared on his official website.

It unfortunately doesn’t come with commentary regarding his thoughts, but we can see he got a chance to see Gone Girl (which features his Singani 63) back in March (twice), went on an Armando Iannucci binge after enjoying Veep, took in three screenings of 2001: A Space Odyssey and a pair of ones for Jaws. In terms of year-end screenings, he caught Inherent Vice, Foxcatcher, A Most Violent Year, Selma, and Nightcrawler, as well as smaller films like Coherence, Ida, Honeymoon, and The Babadook. Check it out below, which also reveals a cut of Magic Mike XXL is complete.

All caps, bold: MOVIE

All caps: TV SERIES

All italics: Book

Quotation marks: “Play”

Italics, Quotation marks: “Short Story”



01/01 TRUE DETECTIVE (2), MRS. FISHER’S MURDER MYSTERY

01/04 Want Not, Jonathan Miles,

01/05 “The Library”

01/11 HOUSE OF CARDS (5)

01/08 AMERICAN EXPERIENCE: THE POISONER’S HANDBOOK

01/12 GIRLS

01/13 THE GREAT BEAUTY

01/16 30FOR30: THE PRICE OF GOLD

01/18 HOUSE OF CARDS (5)

01/19 HOUSE OF CARDS (2), GIRLS

01/21 DAYS AND NIGHTS

01/23 HOUSE OF CARDS

01/26 Cat Sense, John Bradshaw

01/27 THE KNICK (3)

01/28 THE KNICK (3)

01/29 THE KNICK (4)

01/30 Roth Unbound, Claudia Pierpoint Roth

01/31 GIRLS

02/01 Mad as Hell, Dave Itzkoff

02/02 The Ask, Sam Lipsyte

02/04 THE MONUMENTS MEN

02/08 THE COUNSELOR

02/10 GIRLS

02/14 ICE CASTLES

02/15 NIGHT MOVES (’75)

02/17 THE AFTER, ARLINGTON ROAD

02/18 TRUE DETECTIVE (3)

02/21 BAD GRANDPA

02/22 ROBBERY (’67), THE SPLIT, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT

02/26 KID AUTO RACES IN VENICE, THE ROUNDERS

03/01 THE AMERICANS

03/02 My Autobiography, Charlie Chaplin, GIRLS

03/03 MADNESS IN THE WHITE CITY

03/05 SILICON VALLEY, THE AMERICANS

03/07 Broken Bells at Webster Hall

03/09 GIRLS

03/12 THE AMERICANS

03/13 TWA 800

03/14 SILICON VALLEY (2), NON-STOP

03/18 JUGGERNAUT

03/19 THE AMERICANS

03/21 DOLL & EM

03/22 TAKE AWAY ONE

03/23 GONE GIRL

03/25 “The Library”

03/26 “The Library”, THE AMERICANS, DOLL & EM

03/27 “The Library”

03/29 “The Library”, GONE GIRL

03/30 NOKAS, “The Library” (2)

03/31 AMERICAN GREED

04/01 “The Library”, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER

04/02 “The Library”, THE AMERICANS

04/03 “The Library”

04/04 HOKE

04/05 “The Library” (2), KLUTE

04/06 “The Library” (2), VEEP, DOLL & EM (2)

04/08 “The Library”, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, DOLL & EM

04/10 THE AMERICANS, DOLL & EM

04/13 MAD MEN

04/14 VEEP

04/15 Opening night of “The Library”

04/16 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, THE UNKNOWN KNOWN, THE AMERICANS, MY MAN GODFREY

04/18 IT’S A MAD, MAD, MAD, MAD WORLD

04/19 PROXY

04/20 UNDER THE SKIN, MAD MEN, VEEP

04/22 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER

04/23 Free for All, Kenneth Turan and Joseph Papp, THE AMERICANS, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

04/25 DIE HARD WITH VENGEANCE

04/27 VEEP, MAD MEN

04/28 Tenth of December, George Saunders

04/28 ROBBER, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER

04/29 HIGH RISK

05/01 RUNAWAY JURY

05/02 PIONER

05/03 THE BATTLE OF MIDWAY (’42), BROOKLYN BOMBSHELLS VS. MANHATTAN MAYHEM

05/04 WALK OF SHAME, MAD MEN, VEEP

05/05 LOUIE (2)

05/07 Five Came Back, Mark Harris, MR. KNEFF

05/10 SILICON VALLEY (3), INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, THE AMERICANS

05/11 MAD MEN, VEEP

05/12 LOUIE (2), FINDING VIVIAN MAIER

05/14 THE AMERICANS

05/15 KEY & PEELE (3)

05/16 THE DAY OF THE JACKAL

05/18 A Spy Among Friends, Ben Macintyre

05/20 VEEP, INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, MAD MEN

05/21 SORCERER, THE AMERICANS, LOUIE (2)

05/23 THE THICK OF IT (5)

05/24 THE THICK OF IT (7)

05/25 Think Like a Freak, Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, THE THICK OF IT (2), MAD MEN, CATCH-22

05/26 POINT BLANK, THE THICK OF IT (4), LOUIE (2)

05/31 IN THE LOOP

06/01 No Place To Hide, Glenn Greenwald, W1A (4), THE SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD

06/02 VEEP, THE THICK OF IT, ARVINGERNE

06/03 To Rise Again At A Decent Hour, Joshua Ferris, THE THICK OF IT, LOUIE, THE SLAP

06/04 INSIDE AMY SCHUMER, THE SLAP (3)

06/05 THE SLAP (2), STATE AND MAIN, SE7EN

06/06 ORANGE IS THE NEW BLACK (2)

06/07 The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt, THE SLAP (2)

06/08 VEEP (2)

06/09 LOUIE (3)

06/14 Summer House with Swimming Pool, Herman Koch, TO CATCH A THIEF

06/15 Killer of Demons, Christopher Yost and Scott Wegener, BLACK SUNDAY, DR. STRANGELOVE: OR, HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB

06/16 LOUIE (2)

06/20 THE ARMSTRONG LIE

06/21 THE CONVERSATION

06/22 It Won’t Always Be This Great, Peter Mehlman

06/23 JAWS

06/26 ARVINGERNE (2)

06/29 My Struggle: Book One, Karl Ove Gnausgaard, THE LEFTOVERS

06/30 OLIVE KITTERIDGE (4)

07/02 My Struggle: Book Two, Karl Ove Gnausgaard, PORTLANDIA (2), THE PARALLAX VIEW

07/03 I SMILE BACK, WHITEY: THE UNITED STATES VS. JAMES J. BULGER

07/04 ARVINGERNE (3)

07/05 ARVINGERNE, CODE BREAKERS, JAWS

07/06 ARVINGERNE (2)

07/07 ARVINGERNE (2)

07/11 ALIEN

07/12 My Struggle: Book Three, Karl Ove Gnausgaard, FILM SOCIALISME

07/13 KIM PHILBY: HIS MOST INTIMATE BETRAYAL (2)

07/15 COME TO PAPA (Largo)

07/16 RED OAKS

07/17 The Last Magazine, Michael Hastings

07/18 AMERICAN GRAFFITI

07/19 THE OFFENSE

07/20 THE SEDUCTION OF MIMI

07/21 ALTERED STATES

07/22 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

07/24 HIS GIRL FRIDAY

07/25 WORLD ON A WIRE

07/26 BOYHOOD, THE PAPER CHASE

07/27 THE RAIN PEOPLE, THE HAUNTING (’63)

07/28 PANIC ROOM

07/29 The Rule of Nobody, Philip K. Howard

07/30 APOCALYPSE NOW

07/31 RED DESERT

08/01 The Rise and Fall of Great Powers, Tom Rachman

08/02 The Great Degeneration, Niall Ferguson, CUBS VS DODGERS

08/09 THE ANDROMEDA STRAIN

08/10 Yours in Haste and Adoration: The Selected Letters of Terry Southern, Nile Southern and Brooke Allen (galley)

08/11 CITIZENFOUR

08/12 PATHS OF GLORY

08/14 SPARTACUS (’60), DINER

08/16 THE ARRANGEMENT, KATT WILLIAMS: PRICELESS: AFTERLIFE

08/17 I Am Pilgrim, Terry Hayes

08/18 KATT WILLIAMS: KATTPOCALYPSE

08/19 CITIZENFOUR, MYSTERY OF THE NAZCA LINES

08/21 THE GODFATHER

08/23 CRIMES OF PASSION, THE KILLING

08/24 THE GODFATHER PART II

08/25 THE PARALLAX VIEW, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE

08/27 NASHVILLE

08/30 The Power of Noticing, Max. H. Bazerman

09/01 MICHAEL CLAYTON

09/06 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (B&W)

09/07 Proof: The Science of Booze, Adam Rogers, BOARDWALK EMPIRE

09/09 COME TO PAPA (Largo)

09/11 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (B&W)

09/12 BILL MAHER: LIVE FROM WASHINGTON, DC

09/21 BOARDWALK EMPIRE

09/20 The Staying Guests, Sarah Waters

09/29 Begin principal photography on MAGIC MIKE XXL

10/02 BOARDWALK EMPIRE

10/11 BOARDWALK EMPIRE

11/05 BEWARE MR. BAKER

11/06 Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, John Berendt, BOARDWALK EMPIRE, MAGIC MIKE XXL

11/07 BOARDWALK EMPIRE (2)

11/08 THE GALAPAGOS AFFAIR: WHEN SATAN CAME TO EDEN

11/09 The Zone of Interest, Martin Amis, GETTING ON, THE COMEBACK

11/10 AMERICAN GREED, LIFEBOAT

11/14 MAGIC MIKE XXL

11/16 GETTING ON

11/18 CASABLANCA

11/20 WHIPLASH, CARNAL KNOWLEDGE

11/21 THE LAST DETAIL

11/22 THE GRADUATE

11/23 THE COMEBACK, GETTING ON

11/24 COHERENCE

11/25 HONEYMOON, HITLER’S RICHES

11/26 1864, VICIOUS (2), AMERICAN GREED, TRANSPARENT (3)

11/27 TRANSPARENT (6)

11/28 THE BADADOOK, SUNSET BOULEVARD

11/30 MONA LISA IS MISSING, GETTING ON

12/01 MAGIC MIKE XXL

12/03 NIGHTCRAWLER

12/04 IDA, PETER PAN LIVE!

12/06 AMERICAN SNIPER

12/07 BLACK MIRROR (2), GETTING ON

12/08 BLACK MIRROR, FURY

12/09 A MOST VIOLENT YEAR

12/10 FOXCATCHER

12/13 BLACK MIRROR (3), KEY AND PEELE

12/14 GETTING ON

12/15 MAGIC MIKE XXL

12/16 BLACK MIRROR: WHITE CHRISTMAS

12/17 UNBROKEN

12/18 INHERENT VICE

12/20 AMERICAN GREED (4)

12/23 SELMA, 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY

12/24 The Making of Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, Piers Bizony, THE INTERVIEW, THE IPCRESS FILE

12/25 Stuff Matters, Mark Miodownik, VICIOUS, FUNERAL IN BERLIN, UTOPIA (2)

12/26 TOP FIVE, THE LAVENDER HILL MOB

12/27 A Little Lumpen Novelita, Roberto Bolano, The Strange Library, Haruki Murakami

12/28 MAGIC MIKE XXL

12/30 THE RETURN OF W. DE RIJK

12/31 The Assassination of Margaret Thatcher, Hilary Mantel, GASLIGHT (’40)

VINYL

CHEMICAL CHORDS Stereolab

THE SPECIALS LIVE The Specials

THE SMITHS Strangeways Here We Come (2)

TRAFFIC John Barleycorn Must Die

THE KNACK Soundtrack John Barry

THE STRANGLERS Aural Sculpture

QUEENS OF THE STONE AGE Like Clockwork…

S/T St. Vincent

KIND OF BLUE Miles Davis

THE BEST OF AL GREEN Al Green

A CHARLIE BROWN CHRISTMAS Vince Guaraldi Trio

A CHRISTMAS ALBUM Various

A CHRISTMAS OF MIRACLES Smokey Robinson and the Miracles