10 Great Filmmakers Best Remembered For The Wrong Films

10. Steven Soderbergh

Best Remembered For: The Ocean's Trilogy (2001-2007), Traffic (2000), Erin Brockovich (2000) Should Be Remembered For: The Limey (1999) The Ocean's films brought him fame and fortune, while Sex, Lies and Videotape, Traffic and Erin Brockovich brought in the accolades for Steven Soderbergh. The (now-retired) director took Hollywood's 'one for you, one for me' rule literally, however, and it was in his 'one for me' projects that Soderbergh often performed his most interesting experiments. One of these, The Limey, came between the critical and commercial success of Out of Sight and Erin Brockovich, and also happens to be the former filmmaker's best film. Soderbergh borrows fragmented 60s editing techniques to toy with The Limey's basic, B-thriller narrative, in which an old con (Terence Stamp) is released from prison then flies to LA to avenge his daughter's death. The editing makes for a disorientating - but ultimately invigorating - experience, one that plays out in kaleidoscopic colour. Also on his best form is Stamp, who plays the titular cockney thug with his typical coldness, softened by a buried melancholy unseen in most of his other performances. The Limey may be minor in scope, as an indie with a mere $10 million budget, but Soderbergh repeats what he did with Sex, Lies and Videotape back in 1989 by showing budding moviemakers how to make something substantial out of very little. The Limey is vibrant and odd, memorable and endlessly rewatchable.