Big Lebowski might be the Coens' best movie...― Eric H. (Eric H.), Thursday, July 28, 2005 11:36 AM (twelve years ago) Bookmark
A pod person was posting as me back in 2005.
― Anne of the Thousand Gays (Eric H.), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 12:53 (six years ago) link
I remember watching "The Mission" when it first aired, and my dad was def disappointed at the fantastical turn things took. ("It's called Amazing Stories...")
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 13:20 (six years ago) link
Taken out of the context of the series' conceit, I can definitely understand that. The forty minutes leading up to the resolution are a great tension build. I wish Spielberg would do more suspense pictures. It's one of his strongest suits, imo.
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 13:26 (six years ago) link
is "the Mission" the one with the fighter plane that grows cartoon wheels so it can land
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:13 (six years ago) link
wow I had forgotten how crazy the directors' list for that series was
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:14 (six years ago) link
SPOILER shakes
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:15 (six years ago) link
xposts Yes, that's the one.
Watching this series for the first time in 30+ years is wigging me out a little because bits and pieces of it had strongly imprinted themselves on my pre-adolescent brain without me ever realizing where this random assortment of images had come from.
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:19 (six years ago) link
oops sorry I ruined the plot of an episode of a 30 yo children's tv show my bad
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:21 (six years ago) link
Monster, imo.
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:23 (six years ago) link
a children's tv show, huh
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:29 (six years ago) link
so much ronging
After I blow through this series, I'm interested in revisiting some of the other projects from that era which Spielberg was tangentially involved with (e.g. *batteries not included, which was apparently originally intended to be an Amazing Stories episode). He seems to have been trying to curate a particular Spielbergian feel across everything emblazoned with his producer credit (the Williams-scored whimsy and wonder of suburbia intersecting with the fantastic, with just a sprinkling of coke-heightened overacting).
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:30 (six years ago) link
the Williams-scored whimsy and wonder of suburbia intersecting with the fantastic, with just a sprinkling of coke-heightened overacting
kill me now
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:31 (six years ago) link
One of the reasons the episode I mentioned is so good is that it largely eschewed those tendencies that he clung to so tenaciously through at least, what, Hook?
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:36 (six years ago) link
I don't think Empire of the Sun fits that mold, pilgrim
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:41 (six years ago) link
There's something about that tendency that I find ineffably appealing, despite (or maybe because of) how cloyingly sentimental it sometimes is. There's something almost sinister about it. Some of these Amazing Stories episodes (a lot of which have at least a story credit for Spielberg) have this weird artificial sheen that almost feels like the grotesque depictions of humanity from a contemporaneous David Lee Roth video. I feel like there's a weird continuum from Spielberg's '80s sensibility to Joe Dante to, like EC Comics. The mundane overexposed into horrifying cartoonishness.
xpost Yes, I immediately remembered outliers like Empire and The Color Purple after I posted.
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:44 (six years ago) link
p sure I've said this before - Empire of the Sun is great except for the score, which is godawful
― Οὖτις, Tuesday, 1 August 2017 16:44 (six years ago) link
i'd remind you OL that the 'wonder of suburbia' generally included divorce, isolation, sometimes poltergeists!
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:10 (six years ago) link
Yes! It is horror as viewed through the gauzy haze of nostalgia.
― Chock Full of Love and Sexy Feeling (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 1 August 2017 17:13 (six years ago) link
https://io9.gizmodo.com/steven-spielberg-signs-deal-with-apple-to-bring-back-am-1819324878
― Monster fatberg (Phil D.), Tuesday, 10 October 2017 20:14 (six years ago) link
https://entertainment.theonion.com/steven-spielberg-recalls-coming-to-blows-with-e-t-on-f-1820392944
i lolled
― Doctor Casino, Monday, 13 November 2017 16:25 (six years ago) link
I appreciate this alternate history.
Haha holy shit, my wife thought Steven Spielberg directed Maximum Overdrive. She thought, at the height of his career, Spielberg got so addicted to coke that he made Maximum Overdrive, and then was so ashamed that he sobered up from then on. I wish that was true. So hard.— Robert Brockway (@Brockway_LLC) January 7, 2018
― Ned Raggett, Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:24 (six years ago) link
meanwhile Emilio Estevez goes on to write and direct The Post starring Ally Sheedy as Katherine Graham and Judd Nelson as Bradlee.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:26 (six years ago) link
Replace 'Maximum Overdrive' with 'Hook' and that tweet is basically otm.
― Bobby Buttrock (Old Lunch), Sunday, 7 January 2018 18:50 (six years ago) link
I don't think I've seen Minority Report in 15 years. Held up better than I remembered, if only because it was so much more of a Hitchcock homage than I remembered, not just the wrong man motif, but overt references, like individual shots and set pieces. Was pretty cool, my daughter dug it.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 29 November 2018 03:47 (five years ago) link
Haven't seen since it was released, so its due for a rewatch. I suspect, however, that my main problem with the film--the ugly-as-hell cinematography--will only be amplified now.
― Timothée Charalambides (cryptosicko), Thursday, 29 November 2018 03:51 (five years ago) link
It's super ugly, almost to the point of confrontational. There's a shot that transcends lens flare, essentially just pointing the camera at the sun. But the effects are pretty good and the retina-scanning ads and whatnot of the future pretty close to fruition. Plus, it's often darkly comical, even slapstick at times, which also seems sort of Hitchcocky.
― Josh in Chicago, Thursday, 29 November 2018 03:57 (five years ago) link
Spielberg shoots the incredible musical number that opens TEMPLE OF DOOM. pic.twitter.com/ivijLcuIEV— Nick de Semlyen (@NickdeSemlyen) November 17, 2019
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 17 November 2019 18:22 (four years ago) link
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/steven-spielberg-sons-debut-feature-honeydew-heading-berlin-1279391
Honeydew, the New England-set horror starring Steven Spielberg's son Sawyer Spielberg in his introductory role ...
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 15 February 2020 17:38 (four years ago) link
Exit The Warrior/Steven's Son, Sawyer
― a bevy of supermodels, musicians and Lena Dunham (C. Grisso/McCain), Saturday, 15 February 2020 18:31 (four years ago) link
First off, he's not sick, afaik! But I do assume he is staying at home like everyone else, and as I was reading that Making of Jaws book it occurred to me how cool it would be if someone like Spielberg started making little home movies again, just for the sake of mutual entertainment. (The same holds for any filmmakers, for that matter. Like, I'd expect Soderbergh could whip something fun up for a few minutes of distraction.) But man, Spielberg could make like a 5-minute lark, then send it off to ILM for state of the art FX and John Williams for a quickie score, if he wanted to.
― Josh in Chicago, Friday, 27 March 2020 17:45 (four years ago) link
Every few years I rewatch "Empire of the Sun." What an impeccable piece of filmmaking.
Scanning back a bit, a lot of bad mouthing the Williams score, but honestly it didn't stick out that much as particularly oppressive. What you *do* hear a lot is apparently a Welsh lullaby called "Suo Gân," which fits pretty thematically:
As for Suo Gân, the lullaby can be dated back to the start of the 19th Century, with the most commonly accepted lyrics being written by Welsh folklorist and poet Robert Bryan (1858-1920). The song, whose title translates simply as 'Lullaby’, describes the relationship between mother and child, as the elder tries to rock the youngster to sleep, assuring him that all is well in the world. A rough translation from the original Welsh can be seen below.Sleep child on my bosomCosy and warm is this;Mother’s arms are tight around you,Mother’s love is under my breast;Nothing may affect your napping,No man will cross you;Sleep quietly, dear child,Sleep sweetly on your mother’s breast.Sleep quietly, tonight, sleep;Sleep sweetly, the pretty of his picture;Why are you now smiling,Smiling softly in your sleep?Are angels above smiling,On you smiling joyfully,You smiling back in sleeping,Sleeping quietly on my breast?Do not fear, nothing but a leafKnocks, knocks on the door;Do not fear, a small lonely waveMurmurs, murmurs on the seashore;Sleep child, there’s nothing hereNothing to give you a fright;Smile quietly in my bosom,On the angels white yonder
Sleep child on my bosomCosy and warm is this;Mother’s arms are tight around you,Mother’s love is under my breast;Nothing may affect your napping,No man will cross you;Sleep quietly, dear child,Sleep sweetly on your mother’s breast.Sleep quietly, tonight, sleep;Sleep sweetly, the pretty of his picture;Why are you now smiling,Smiling softly in your sleep?Are angels above smiling,On you smiling joyfully,You smiling back in sleeping,Sleeping quietly on my breast?Do not fear, nothing but a leafKnocks, knocks on the door;Do not fear, a small lonely waveMurmurs, murmurs on the seashore;Sleep child, there’s nothing hereNothing to give you a fright;Smile quietly in my bosom,On the angels white yonder
― Josh in Chicago, Sunday, 17 May 2020 03:44 (four years ago) link
Only seen this recently and found myself trying to rationalize the often mystifyingly disjointed acting direction as being intended to convey the effect of traumatic situations but I'm not convinced this was all intentional. Kind of odd, although you can't knock the Bale kid's effort.
The score had some arresting moments I thought, maybe I was getting bored with the images
― Basil Ker-ching (Noel Emits), Saturday, 8 August 2020 18:00 (three years ago) link
Bale's performance is unimpeachable.
Spielberg and Hanks make cameos late in Jim Carrey's novel, at first benignly ... but then the worm turns in a matter that will satisfy the haters.
― brooklyn suicide cult (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 8 August 2020 18:12 (three years ago) link
I think the imagery of this movie is impeccable too. Some absolutely gorgeous shots, if anything those are the ones that take me out of the movie.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 8 August 2020 18:42 (three years ago) link
Just seen three seconds of Tintin jesus christ so ugly what the fuck were they thinking?
― big man on scampus (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:33 (three years ago) link
give it a few more seconds, it's good imo
― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:36 (three years ago) link
I can't watch anything that ugly
― big man on scampus (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:39 (three years ago) link
Just a pointless tech-driven decision in terms of the style
― big man on scampus (Noodle Vague)
I thought you enjoyed Boris Johnson press conferences
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:45 (three years ago) link
Lol no I studiously avoid TV news as much as possible
― big man on scampus (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:47 (three years ago) link
I haven't seen Close Encounters, it just sounds so boring, am I missing
― flamboyant goon tie included, Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:48 (three years ago) link
yes
― Patriotic Goiter (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:55 (three years ago) link
He did better, though.
Close Encounters is great and def not boring
― Doctor Casino, Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:55 (three years ago) link
It's a solid balance of generally (but not really) boring and broadly wonderful, imo. Lots of good stuff, def. iconic, though iirc there are three (!) different cuts floating around, a la Blade Runner, just to make things confusing.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 14 November 2020 15:56 (three years ago) link
Close Encounters is the best, it will not disappoint
― terminators of endearment (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 14 November 2020 17:31 (three years ago) link
It's held up very well on a couple of rewatches.
― scampo-phenique (WmC), Saturday, 14 November 2020 17:52 (three years ago) link
The decision to take one of the singular cartoon art styles of the 20th century and turn it into an ugly point-and-click PC adventure interface is heartbreaking, but apart from that it’s pretty enjoyable and funny
― Chuck_Tatum, Saturday, 14 November 2020 18:18 (three years ago) link
It's alright, but it bears very little resemblance to Tintin.
I've never seen CE3K either.
I think the most recent Spielberg I've fully enjoyed in Lincoln.
― chap, Saturday, 14 November 2020 18:21 (three years ago) link