so be it. i'm not one to begrudge him that. hell, some of them have been some of the best films of the last twenty years. others, missed opportunities. others, abject failures. but that is who he is as a filmmaker.

he's in a position where he can do both.

walk the soderbergh walk. make your mainstream crowd pleaser. but don't go so far that your mainstream films bear no resemblance to the morals and politics you personally espouse. (see: inside man in comparison to the ocean's films). get a backers behind you that will support your personal projects (see: syriana, bubble, schizopolis, solaris, traffic, good night and good luck, so forth and so on). do both separately. and at the same time, together.

have your cake, eat your cake, have more cake.

otherwise make movies no one sees and watch your personal projects go to filmmakers of the most mediocre variety (Taylor Hackford, please stand up)

lee will always want to play medicine man. now it seems he's realized that a spoonful of sugar helps his medicine go down.