It’s the time of the season. Every year, filmmaker Steven Soderbergh drops his annual “Seen, Read” list, a yearly compendium tracking everything the director watched or read in the year, be it a film, a TV show, a novel, a non-fiction book, etc. Some years, there are clues to his year. For example, last year, his list unveiled a new project, which at the time was called “The Pendulum Project,” and we all discovered it was eventually his new series, “Command Z,” written and co-conceived by author/writer Kurt Anderson. and officially announced and released at the last minute on his website in the summer.
READ MORE: The 100 Most Anticipated Films Of 2024
This year doesn’t seem to have any clues (so far, that we’ve seen), other than the fact that he’s had an early look at “Pussy Island” starring his buddy Channing Tatum and directed by Zoë Kravitz (her debut), who starred in his thriller, “Kimi” (which is on our Most Anticipated Films of 2024 list). And an early look at Scott Frank’s upcoming Clive Owen-starring series, “Monsieur Spade.” (which is also on our Most Anticipated 2024 TV list).
But it does illustrate the breadth and variety of things he consumes: reality TV shows he loves like “Below The Deck,” traditionally TV limited-series like Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Copenhagen Cowboy,” “The Curse” with Emma Stone, his own semi-secret 2023 Sundance film, “Presence” (which was only revealed in December) and much more (it also looks like he started production on “Presence” at the beginning of September and was watching something close to a final cut by end of November).
But he did do a lot of 2023 catch-up, films like his buddy David Fincher’s “The Killer” (which he also saw early in 2022), “Oppenheimer,” “Barbie,” “May December,” “Killers of the Flower Moon,” “Ferrari,” “Origin,” “Fair Play” and many more.
Classics he watched included “Eyes Wide Shut,” “Casablanca,” “The Shining, ““Raiders of the Lost Ark,” and, “Michael Clayton,” a movie he produced for his director and friend Tony Gilroy and watched following the death of its co-star Tom Wilkinson. There’s also quite the spy theme running throughout, which could be a clue. TV series like “A Spy Among Friends,” and the Alec Guinness starring “Smiley’s People” series based on the novel by John le Carré, and film and TV of that nature. Another fun running theme: stories about billionaires, like “Madoff: The Monster Of Wall Street” and similar content.
Check out the complete list below via his official site.
01/01 BELOW DECK, PRINCE ANDREW THE MUSICAL, THE BEST OF COMEDY 2022
01/03 Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin, THE FRENCH LIEUTENANT’S WOMAN
01/04 MADOFF: THE MONSTER OF WALL STREET (3)
01/05 ATHENA, MADOFF: THE MONSTER OF WALL STREET
01/06 BELOW DECK
01/07 DATELINE, BELOW DECK (3), A SPY AMONG FRIENDS
01/08 Think Like a Horse, Grant Golliher, RUSSIA 1985-1999: TRAUMAZONE, COPENHAGEN COWBOY
01/09 BELOW DECK, JIMI PLAYS MONTEREY
01/10 Aesthetica, Allie Rowbottom, THE WHALE
01/11 COPENHAGEN COWBOY (2), NO BEARS
01/12 COPENHAGEN COWBOY (3)
01/13 A LIFE OF HER OWN, BREAK POINT (5)
01/14 SAINT-OMER
01/17 SUPER LEAGUE: THE WAR FOR FOOTBALL
01/18 BELOW DECK, SUPER LEAGUE: THE WAR FOR FOOTBALL
01/19 SUPER LEAGUE: THE WAR FOR FOOTBALL (2)
01/20 MISTER BUDDWINGS
01/21 DIVINITY
01/22 Gunk Baby, Jamie Marina Lau, The Netanyahus, Joshua Cohen
01/23 BELOW DECK
01/26 American Caliph, Shahan Mufti
01/27 M3GAN
01/28 INHERITANCE, A SPY AMONG FRIENDS
01/30 BELOW DECK, 7 DAYS OUT
01/31 PUSSY ISLAND, MAGAZINE DREAMS, PAMELA: A LOVE STORY
02/01 THE ART OF THE STEAL
02/05 NATE BARGATZE: HELLO WORLD
02/06 BELOW DECK, THE HITCH-HIKER (’ 53)
02/07 TOM SEGURA: BALL HOG
02/08 HUNTERS ON A WHITE FIELD
02/10 A SPY AMONG FRIENDS, ALL I DESIRE, DATELINE
02/11 KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, PLANET OF THE APES (’ 68)
02/12 SUPER BOWL LVII
02/17 FLAMINGO ROAD
02/18 Nobody’s Perfect, Donald E. Westlake, BELOW DECK
02/20 My Nemesis, Charmaine Craig, FULL SWING
02/21 BELOW DECK, FULL SWING (5)
02/23 A SPY AMONG FRIENDS
02/25 The Guest Lecture, Martin Riker, A SPY AMONG FRIENDS
02/26 Big Swiss, Jen Beagin, F1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE (3)
02/27 BELOW DECK
02/28 The Shards, Bret Easton Ellis, NAUGHTY BOOKS
03/01 I Have Some Questions For You, Rebecca Makkai
03/02 The Laughter, Sonora Jha
03/03 F1:DRIVE TO SURVIVE
03/04 F1: DRIVE TO SURVIVE (2), CASABLANCA, CHRIS ROCK: SELECTIVE OUTRAGE
03/05 7 DAYS OUT
03/06 PHANTOM LADY, BELOW DECK
03/07 7 DAYS OUT, WHO KILLED ROBERT WONE? (3)
03/10 MH370: THE PLANE THAT DISAPPEARED (3)
03/11 SIN EATER: THE CRIMES OF ANTHONY PELLICANO (2)
03/12 7 DAYS OUT, Everybody Knows, Jordan Harper, SUNSET BOULEVARD
03/13 BELOW DECK
03/14 7 DAYS OUT
03/15 MONSIEUR SPADE (3), THE HIDDEN FORTRESS
03/17 STRAIT-JACKET, SWARM
03/18 SWARM, EXTRAPOLATIONS, VIOLENCE AT NOON
03/19 SWARM (5), Pineapple Street, Jenny Jackson
03/20 CAUGHT OUT
03/21 EXTRAPOLATIONS
03/22 BELOW DECK, All This Could Be Different, Sarah Thankam Mathews
03/23 KUBRICK BY KUBRICK
03/24 7 DAYS OUT, EXTRAPOLATIONS (2), OUT OF THE PAST
03/25 The Wanderers, Anna Ziegler
03/31 THE KILLER (’ 23)
04/01 REGGIE, SABOTAGE (’ 36), DATELINE
04/02 BIG MACK: GANGSTERS AND GOLD, SUCCESSION (2), HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERIES
04/04 EXTRAPOLATIONS (2)
04/05 THE DAY AFTER TRINITY
04/06 DAVE (2)
04/07 THE PETRIFIED FOREST
04/08 Romantic Comedy, Curtis Sittenfeld, BOOM! BOOM! THE WORLD VS. BORIS BECKER (2)
04/09 SUCCESSION
04/10 PRETTY BABY BROOKE SHIELDS (2)
04/11 LEANNE MORGAN: I’M EVERY WOMAN
04/13 The Making of The Shining, J.W. Rinzler and Lee Unkrich, Me and Hitch, Evan Hunter, DAVE, THE SHINING
04/14 HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERIES
04/15 PLAY MISTY FOR ME
04/16 The Body, Bill Bryson
04/18 SUCCESSION, The Lost Wife, Susanna Moore
04/19 SAVAGE (’ 73), EXTRAPOLATIONS, CLEOPATRA (’ 34), PRESSURE (’ 71)
04/20 DAVE
04/21 DEAD RINGERS (3), DATELINE
04/22 EXTRAPOLATIONS, DEAD RINGERS (3)
04/23 SUCCESSION
04/24 INSIDE THE EDGE: A PROFESSIONAL BLACKJACK ADVENTURE, Novelist as a Vocation, Haruki Murakami
04/25 DADDIO
04/26 “The Fears” Emma Sheanshang
04/27 BABY J
04/28 Monsters: A Fan’s Dilemma, Claire Dederer, DAVE
04/29 The Eden Test, Adam Sternbergh
04/30 SUCCESSION
05/01 ANDREW:THE PROBLEM PRINCE (2)
05/02 EXTRAPOLATIONS
05/03 HOW TO BLOW UP A PIPELINE, Humanly Possible, Sarah Bakewell
05/04 DAVE
05/05 MONSIEUR SPADE, EVERYTHING GOES WRONG
05/09 SUCCESSION, MONSIEUR SPADE
05/10 “The Mousetrap” Agatha Christie, Last Witnesses, Svetlana Alexievich
05/13 AIR, THE MAN WHO KNEW TOO MUCH (’ 34)
05/14 PUSSY ISLAND, DATELINE, SUCCESSION, THE SHINING
05/15 MISSING: DEAD OR ALIVE (2), WAR AND PEACE PART I
05/16 MONSIEUR SPADE
05/19 DAVE, THE THIEF COLLECTOR
05/20 The Guest, Emma Cline, Bad News, Donald E. Westlake, MACGREGOR FOREVER, ALL THE QUEEN’S HORSES
05/21 SUCCESSION
05/22 RUSSIA 1985-1999: TRAUMAZONE (2)
05/23 MCGREGOR FOREVER (2), WAR AND PEACE PART II
05/24 DATELINE, HISTORY’S GREATEST MYSTERIES (2)
05/25 HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON, HUNT V. LAUDA, DAVE, WAR AND PEACE PART III
05/26 WANDA SYKES: I’M AN ENTERTAINER
05/27 The Kennedy Imprisonment, Garry Wills, DATELINE, BEING MARY TYLER MOORE
05/28 SUCCESSION
05/29 SARAH SILVERMAN: SOMEONE YOU LOVE, The Employees, Olga Ravn, THE CURIOUS CASE OF NATALIA GARCIA
05/31 WAR AND PEACE PART IV, THE CURIOUS CASE OF NATALIA GARCIA (3)
06/01 DAVE, REALITY
06/03 THE GODDESS (’ 58), DATELINE
06/04 How to Live: A Life of Montaigne, Sarah Bakewell, HELL IN THE PACIFIC, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS (’ 92), APPOINTMENT IN TOKYO
06/05 THE AGE OF INFLUENCE (3)
06/07 THE AGE OF INFLUENCE (2)
06/09 TOUR DE FRANCE: UNCHAINED (3)
06/10 FRENCH OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, THE MAYFAIR HOTEL MEGABUILD, DELIVERANCE
06/11 RUSSIA 1985-1999: TRAUMAZONE (2)
06/13 AMY SCHUMER: EMERGENCY CONTACT
06/16 You Can’t Stay Here Forever, Katherine Lin
06/18 Bad Summer People, Emma Rosenblum, ON HER MAJESTY’S SECRET SERVICE
06/19 BLACK MIRROR (4)
06/20 BLACK MIRROR, SEXY BEAST
06/23 Pandora’s Box, Peter Biskind, KING OF CLONES, I’M A VIRGO
06/24 SISU, YOU HURT MY FEELINGS
06/25 I’M A VIRGO (6), TAKE CARE OF MAYA, X Y & ZEE
06/26 RUSSIA 1985-1999: TRAUMAZONE
06/28 The Imposters, Tom Rachman
06/30 MAN OF ARAN, YOJIMBO
07/02 INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY
07/03 UNKNOWN: THE LOST PYRAMID, HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (3)
07/04 The Librarianist, Patrick DeWitt, TOM SEGURA: SLEDGEHAMMER, THE SMALL BACK ROOM
07/05 THE KING WHO NEVER WAS (3), HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL (3)
07/07 RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK (B&W version)
07/10 LORD LUCAN: MY HUSBAND, THE TRUTH
07/11 THE KILLER (’ 23)
07/12 QUARTERBACK (2)
07/13 THE JEWEL THIEF, QUARTERBACK
07/14 DESTRY RIDES AGAIN, BORIS, THE LORD AND THE RUSSIAN SPY, QUARTERBACK (2), SINCERELY YOURS
07/15 MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: DEAD RECKONING PART ONE, QUARTERBACK, BETRAYAL: THE PERFECT HUSBAND (3)
07/17 QUARTERBACK, UNKNOWN: CAVE OF BONES
07/18 CASQUE D’OR
07/21 PEPSI, WHERE’S MY JET? (4), TO END ALL WAR: OPPENHEIMER AND THE ATOMIC BOMB
07/22 The Absolutes, Molly Dektar, UNDERRATED
07/23 EXPRESSO BONGO, LA LOI
07/24 THE HEIRESS AND THE HEIST (3)
07/25 Hope, Andrew Ridker
07/27 MISSING: THE LUCIE BLACKMAN CASE, THE LADY OF SILENCE, HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON: FIND A PUBLIC RESTROOM
07/28 JIM GAFFIGAN: DARK PALE, DATELINE
07/29 KEVIN HART: REALITY CHECK, FIRES ON THE PLAIN, CRAWFORD V. SPENCE
07/30 OPPENHEIMER, SUNDAY BLOODY SUNDAY
07/31 Ripe, Sarah Rose Setter
08/01 STEWART
08/04 How Basketball Can Save the World, David Hollander, MURF THE SURF (4)
08/05 The Theory of Everything Else, Dan Shreiber, BILLIONAIRE MURDERS (2)
08/07 TO DUST
08/09 Tune In: The Beatles All These Years Vol. 1, Mark Lewisohn, HARD KNOCKS, BARBIE, ADALEN 31
08/10 HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN? (3)
08/11 MARK CAVENDISH: NEVER ENOUGH, ESCAPE TO ATHENA
08/12 THE SCANDAL STORY, HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON: WORK OUT, ELVIRA MADIGAN
08/13 An English Affair, Richard Davenport-Hines, Cleopatra and the Undoing of Hollywood, Patrick Humphries
08/14 TELEMARKETERS
08/15 An Evening of Long Goodbyes, Paul Murray, My Life with Cleopatra, Walter Wanger and Joe Hyams, BILLION DOLLAR HEIST, HARD KNOCKS
08/15 UNTOLD: HALL OF SHAME
08/17 The Cleopatra Papers, Jack Brodsky and Nathan Weiss, Fassbinder Thousands of Mirrors, Ian Penman
08/18 CHIMP EMPIRE (2)
08/19 The Bee Sting, Paul Murray, HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON: WATCH A GAME, DATELINE, CHIMP EMPIRE (2), THE THIRD GENERATION
08/21 TELEMARKETERS
08/22 HARD KNOCKS
08/23 JAWS
08/24 Nothing, Henry Green
08/24 BS HIGH
08/26 Concluding, Henry Green
08/28 HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON: WATCH BIRDS, TELEMARKETERS
08/29 HARD KNOCKS
08/30 SACRAMENTO, WANTED: THE ESCAPE OF CARLOS GHOSN
08/31 Down the River Unto the Sea, Walter Moseley
09/02 HOW TO WITH JOHN WILSON: TRACK YOUR PACKAGE, THE BRIDGE (’ 59)
09/03 WANTED: THE ESCAPE OF CARLOS GHOSN (3)
09/04 THE DEVIL DOLL
09/08 Begin principal photography on PRESENCE
09/09 US OPEN WOMEN’S FINAL, OUT OF THE PAST
09/10 US OPEN MEN’S FINAL, The Fraud, Zadie Smith
09/11 My Husband, Maud Ventura
09/16 Nothing Special, Nicole Flattery, MICHELLE WOLF: IT’S GREAT TO BE HERE (3)
09/17 THE OLD DARK HOUSE
09/20 The Last Devil to Die, Richard Osman
09/21 The Bradshaw Variations, Rachel Cusk
09/22 HARLEY AND KATYA
09/23 HOW DID THEY BUILD THAT?, A PRIVATE FUNCTION
09/24 “The Shark is Broken” Joseph Mixon, Ian Shaw
09/25 The Temporary, Rachel Cusk, PRESENCE
09/27 Cocktails with George and Martha, Philip Gefter
09/30 ICE COLD: MURDER, COFFEE, AND JESSICA WONGSO, NO ONE WILL EVER SAVE YOU, THE FORTY-FIRST
10/01 Don’t Look at Me Like That, Diana Athill, Tracy Flick Can’t Win, Tom Perotta, PRESENCE
10/03 I BASILISCHI
10/04 KING BOY*
10/05 PAST LIVES, ENCOUNTERS (2)
10/06 SAVIOR COMPLEX (2), DATELINE
10/07 SAVIOR COMPLEX, FAIR PLAY
10/08 Brooklyn Crime Novel, Jonathan Lethem, Down the Drain, Julia Fox
10/10 Surely You Can’t Be Serious, David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, PAINKILLER: THE TYLENOL MURDERS (5)
10/11 AIRPLANE!
10/12 JIMMY SAVILLE: A BRITISH HORROR STORY (2), Every Man a King, Walter Moseley
10/15 ZAZIE DANS LE METRO
10/16 Activities of Daily Living, Lisa Hsiao Chen, THE RIPPER (4)
10/18 COLEEN ROONEY: THE REAL WAGATHA CHRISTIE (3)
10/19 THE STARLING GIRL
10/20 The Man in the Corduroy Suit, James Wolff
10/21 “Trent and Trudy Lee: A Touch of Vegas” Genna Ryan and Kyle Barisich
10/23 Beside the Syrian Sea, James Wolff
10/25 SHAMPOO
10/28 How to Betray Your Country, James Wolff
10/31 VJERN TOMIC: THE SPIDER-MAN OF PARIS, Determined: A Science of Life Without Free Will, Robert M. Sapolsky
11/05 Americanah, Chimimanda Ngozi Adichie, ACROSS THE BRIDGE
11/06 THE LONG GOOD FRIDAY, THIS ENGLAND (2)
11/08 COLD WALLET, THE BILLIONAIRE, THE BUTLER, AND THE BOYFRIEND (3)
11/09 Mapping the Darkness, Kenneth Miller
11/10 THE SEARCH FOR THE WORLD’S WORST FRAUD (2)
11/11 I’m a Fan, Sheena Patel, THE PIGEON TUNNEL, THE DISAPPEARANCE OF SHERE HITE
11/12 Steven Spielberg: All the Films, Olivier Bousquet, Arnaud Devillard, Nicolas Schaller, Cult Classic, Sloane Crosley, FABERGE: THE MAKING OF A LEGEND, CRY TERROR!, THE CURSE
11/14 THE CAINE MUTINY COURT MARTIAL (’ 88)
11/15 BRAWN: THE IMPOSSIBLE FORMULA ONE STORY (2)
11/17 23 PACES TO BAKER STREET
11/18 BRAWN: THE IMPOSSIBLE FORMULA ONE STORY (2)
11/19 The Clasp, Sloane Crosley, THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT (2)
11/20 THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT (2)
11/21 SALTBURN
11/22 FALLEN LEAVES, ANATOMY OF A FALL
11/24 FERRARI
11/25 SEBASTIAN (’ 68), THE CURSE
11/26 THE CURSE
11/27 PRESENCE
11/28 “Magic Mike Live” Channing Tatum, Reid Carolin
11/29 The New Leviathans, John Gray, HANGOVER SQUARE, THE MIRROR CRACK’D
12/02 The Thing Around Your Neck, Chimamanda Ngozi Adicie, Notes on Grief, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, STAMPED FROM THE BEGINNING, KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON
12/04 Crook Manifesto, Colson Whitehead
12/05 THE CURSE, THIS ENGLAND
12/06 MURDER IN BOSTON, EILEEN
12/07 ILS
12/09 DREAM SCENARIO
12/10 Eyes Wide Shut: Stanley Kubrick and the Making of His Final Film, Robert P. Kolker and Nathan Abrams, “The Addams Family” Marshall Brickman, Rick Elice, Andrew Lippa, Wellness, Nathan Hill
12/12 NAPOLEON (’ 23)
12/13 MURDER IN BOSTON, THE ERAS TOUR
12/14 THE BOYS IN THE BOAT
12/15 CHRISTMAS AT THE CAMPBELLS, THE ZONE OF INTEREST, DATELINE
12/16 The Rachel Incident, Caroline O’Donoghue, AMERICAN FICTION, The World is Yours, Glenn Kenny
12/17 THE CURSE (2), ZARDOZ
12/18 EYES WIDE SHUT
12/19 THIS ENGLAND (2), SCARFACE (’ 83)
12/20: MURDER IN BOSTON
12/21 The Path to Paradise, Sam Wasson, THE SEVEN PERCENT SOLUTION, THREE DAYS OF THE CONDOR
12/22 MAY DECEMBER, DATELINE
12/24 SMILEY’S PEOPLE (3)
12/25 Half of a Yellow Sun, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
12/26 BRIDGE OF SPIES, SMILEY’S PEOPLE
12/27 SMILEY’S PEOPLE (2), THE WRONG ARM OF THE LAW
12/28 Purple Hibiscus, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, NEITHER CONFIRM NOR DENY
12/29 Candace Pert, Pamela Ryckman, HOUSE HUNTERS INTERNATIONAL, THE TEACHER’S LOUNGE, CATCH-22, GRAN TURISMO
12/30 Genealogy of a Murder, Lisa Belkin
12/31 ORIGIN, DAVE CHAPPELLE: THE DREAMER, MICHAEL CLAYTON