Steven Spielberg - classic or dud

Lol no I studiously avoid TV news as much as possible

I haven't seen Close Encounters, it just sounds so boring, am I missing

yes

He did better, though.

Close Encounters is great and def not boring

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.

Close Encounters is the best, it will not disappoint

It's held up very well on a couple of rewatches.

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

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.

Close Encounters is great but there is a lot of shouting

Coincidentally I just watched Spielberg’s Columbo episode for the first time and it is FABULOUS

OK! I'll watch Close Encounters, ty!

Yes, it is great but also if for no other reason you need to see Close Encounters for the visual stylings of Douglas (2001, Blade Runner, Star Trek: TMP, Tree of Life) Trumbull.

Would happily watch Close Encounters again, don't think I'll ever put my eyes thru Tintin

i can't argue with anyone who thinks it's a huge disservice to Hergé. as a kids' adventure movie i found it lively, colorful and engaging, like Hugo without the thematic weight. in terms of tech experiments it's four thousand miles ahead of Zemeckis's experiments in this vein.

It's definitely a trend thing, the BBC showed a butt-ugly CGI Watership Down a couple of years back and I bailed on that after the first episode

The thing I love about Close Encounters is it burrows inside the “i want to believe” vibe in a way that is weirdly endearing? like theres a lot of shouting and driving and running and legit craziness in a practical sense but Spielberg is v good at passing on that inherent wonder at the heart of it all that you get drawn into it somehow anyway

maybe just me? i stan v hard for spielberg anyway

also: it looks SO fucking great

i want mr veg and i to dress up as Dreyfuss and Devil’s Mountain for a future halloween

The ATC scene in Close Encounters is one of my favourite scenes of any movie.

you're not alone Veg! inherent wonder is the real engine of that movie. my first viewing as an adult was a couple years ago when it got a mini theatrical rerelease, and those early nighttime road scenes were what really drew me in. magic.

Also, as someone who is a little hot and cold on John Williams scores for Spielberg movies, Close Encounters is one of the undeniable greats.

What’s the version to see - the original?

My favourite Williams score is Temple of Doom, so lush!

xp

started to comment on boringness or not of Close Encounters, thought to "show all messages":

"probably essential to see on a theater screen for full impact anyway."

saw CE3K on VHS as a kid and found it super boring

saw a 35mm print of the remaster done for Blu-ray at Cinefamily in 2013, and fell asleep halfway through

― glandular lansbury (sic), Friday, February 5, 2016 12:00 PM (four years ago)

it feels so endless

― Οὖτις, Friday, February 5, 2016 12:02 PM (four years ago)

his Columbo is dope fr though

fractions homework truly the quiet winner for best scene

quick brad there are thousands of lives at stake

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5aPvAndPpI

I saw the Spielberg Columbo recently and...it was okay? Not that it was bad but it was m/l just another episode of Columbo. Which (again) is good not bad! But it wasn't particularly Spielbegian (or proto-Spielbergian, to the extent that he was still acquiring a style).

Best TV Spielberg is probably his WWII Amazing Stories episode. It inches right up to his mid-'80s super saccharine tendencies (see: his installment of Twilight Zone: The Movie) but remains on the more favorable side of that line.

NV otm ant the visual hideousness of Tintin - frustratingly, the animated credits are actually quite nice. Also thought it was a mistake to mash together two different Tintin stories and then go for a generic action movie ending. Just feels like Spielberg doesn't trust the material, or understand it - American cultural imperialism at its most embarrassing.

Rewatch the opening shot again, OL - that's as technically / storytellingly impressive as anything in Raiders, and done by a 23yo nobody.

(The murder/cleanup shown as a split-screen in Robert Culp's glasses in the "next" episode is even more astounding.)

I've seen a bit of Tintin across a bar with the sound off, and it's absolutely repulsive, though looks like the virtual "camera"work would be impressive if it were possible to actually keep your eyes on the screen.

opening shot scene, but the first shot is ridonkulous

I liked Tintin

same!

The opening shot is great, but Jack Cassidy is just so memorably suave and repulsive. Spielberg isn't the main draw!

There is *so much* that could've been better with Tintin but it's just fun and the voice acting and script are great

it's been a few years since i saw it, but i remember it matching sic's description - just a nice sprinkling of shots where he went the extra mile and got something very very "cinematic" for 70s TV, even for a "movie of the week" show like Columbo. it's also the first non-pilot episode - so if it's a generic Columbo maybe it helped set the tone?

Tintin is interesting until the awful smash bang explosions ending but yeah I feel he was completely clueless about what made Hergé tick.

And CE3K is all-time. Ignore the haters.

I feel he was completely clueless about what made Hergé tick.

I'd guess Herge would have hated it.

I suppose someone mentioned this at some point, but I can't find anything.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CbUM27qw6a8

Obvious first reaction: why?

Yeah, I love Spielberg, but this might be just the fourth movie of his I have absolutely no interest in seeing.

That burnished neon look Spielberg and Kaminski have been using since - I dunno - "Big Fat Giant" or something is distractingly ugly. Why? I realize it's more Kaminski's aesthetic than anything but it's awful.

I'm guessing that part of the why for this one is the original movie casting of Natalie Wood and Richard Beymer as Puerto Ricans.

The only thing he's done in the last decade I've liked is Lincoln. Haven't seen The Post but not particularly interested to.

It's good! Lotta folks liked "Bridge of Spies," too (I haven't ever gotten around to it, but plan to). Fwiw, my short list of skips have been "Always," "The Terminal," "War Horse" and "BFG," though I could imagine one day sitting down and watching all but "BFG."

War Horse is about as 1948 as it gets, but (or so, maybe) I enjoyed it.

Misread that as "about as *1941* as it gets" and I was confused! I briefly thought, wait, I thought it was supposed to be a somewhat mawkish drama?

“War Horse” ( the most John Ford-iest of Spielbergs) and “Lincoln” are the last two most memorable ones for me.

Lincoln holds up.

i'll defend Tintin, but not in a sustained or committed way.

Going to be terribly on brand here and say the 1961 version is a tad overrated and sign me right up for the Spielberg take.

Yeah I think I agree. I watch West Side Story for the color and movement - the prospect of Spielberg doing a lush kinetic big-budget dance movie, even if it turns out to be pointless I'm sure at the very least it will look and sound very good. Maybe its a low bar but after a year of pandemic nightmare idgaf, I'll pay 12 bucks to see his take on that.

Bridge of Spies and The Post are both perfectly fine middlebrow Hollywood popcorn, fun & worth watching once if you dont hate Spielberg and/or Hanks. Agree that Lincoln holds up, rewatched it recently and I think I like it a lot.

Ranking post-Munich Spielberg:

Lincoln (2012)
Bridge of Spies (2015)
War Horse (2011)
-------
Ready Player One (2018)
The Post (2017)
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Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008)

I did not see Tintin or BFG.