Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[jough]

Let me put it this way--I have now forgiven Spielberg for A.I.

Why would you need to forgive someone for making one of their best films?

I mean, shit, forgive him for Howard the Duck, or Saving Private Ryan or something.  



Of course, there can be no penance to forgive him of 1941.

[Va]

Let me put it this way--I have now forgiven Spielberg for A.I.

Why would you need to forgive someone for making one of their best films?

Did the world really need another retelling of Pinocchio?

[Bozack]

Did the world really need another retelling of Pinocchio?

Certainly not after Roberto Benigni's masterful film.

[Choop]

Jough, I never mean to antagonize you. I know I come off the wrong way sometimes.

That said, I hereby nominate myself for (and hope I win) the 2005 Chris Connelly Award for Notice-of-the-Most-Ironic-Post-on-TOUAMB for calling you on that one.

Spielberg's films, in order of directorial quality, are as follows:

1. E.T.
2. Jaws
3. Empire of the Sun
4. Duel
5. Schindler's List
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark
...
10. 1941
...
16. Jurassic Park
...
29. The Lost World
...
33. Catch Me If You Can
34. The Terminal
35. A.I.

Of course I'm neither counting his pre-Hollywood pieces nor assuming that War of the Worlds is worse than Catch Me If You Can, which was a surprisingly enjoyable film if you count its terrible direction of two of the most versatile commercial actors in the business (Hanks and DiCaprio). Walken saves the filmi, as usual.

A.I. started as Kubrick's interpretations on some of the most influential sci-fi literature written (most of it by Philip K. Dick, an immensely successful, popular, thought-provoking, and enjoyable author) and ended up one of the most laborious, formulaic pieces of dreck I have ever seen in a movie theater. I've read Kubrick's screenplay and notes, and was dismayed at what was released.

I have yet to see WotW, and I won't until I have a friend from whom I can borrow it on DVD (and whom I will promptly disown for owning it), because I know that Tom Cruise has a share of the gross and I have a very difficult time respecting people whose money goes to Tom Cruise for any reason whatsoever. This is most certainly not a recent development.

[jough]

Spielberg's films, in order of directorial quality, are as follows:

1. E.T.
2. Jaws
3. Empire of the Sun
4. Duel
5. Schindler's List
6. Raiders of the Lost Ark

I love how authoritative your list attempts to be.  I'll go ahead and call E.T. "manipulative" but it's certainly in his top 5.  I can't really fault the other choices, although you've placed Empire of the Sun much higher than I would have.

...
10. 1941
...
16. Jurassic Park
...
29. The Lost World
...
33. Catch Me If You Can
34. The Terminal
35. A.I.

This is where I have to "call bullshit" or accuse you of smoking crack or something, because there's no way in hell that 1941 is a better film than say, any of the following you've listed.

Out of those, I'd put A.I. just under Jurassic Park, and I'd move the Lost World down to second to last place in Spielberg "oh my god I can't believe he made this" place.

That said, I thought JP3 was pretty damn good (probably due to Alexander Payne and Jim Taylor's script re-writes).  Catch Me if You Can was an enjoyable if inconsequensial romp - the book was better.

The Terminal was a nice movie, although I found it mostly annoying.

1941 is a situation where I honestly which I could unwatch it, and maybe take a lazy walk in the park for those nearly three hours instead.  It's not funny enough to be throw-away entertainment, it's not serious enough to be a good story - it's just... THUD.  God, it's one of the worst films ever made.  Don't even try to pass it off as being better than Jurassic fuck*ng Park, which even if some of the plot twists were straight out of a Robert McKee seminar, was revolutionary in terms of special effects and CGI and is a seminal film in the history of cinema.

1941 is just... eyech.

A.I. was disappointing in terms of Kubrick - and that "Oh look, let's throw in some aliens" ending was weak, but overall the film was an exemplary Pinnochio story, where an android dreampt of electronic sheep and we were treated to some wonderous sights.

Having now seen WotW, I'd place it somewhere in the mid-range of SS's films - it's a lot more episodic than I would have thought, with a few GREAT scenes loosely tied together with a lot of running and screaming.

There's a scene involving an airplane in this film that is just about as close as you can get to perfect filmmaking.  Then there's the rest of it that we forget about the moment we exit the theatre.  But there are a few really good moments, and that one GREAT one is one more GREAT moment than most films offer.

[AugustWest]

Man.  I fuck*ng H. A. T. E. goddam ET.  The single most manipulative, sodden, weepy, maudlin, predictible movie Evar!

I like Duel because Dennis Weaver's in it.  You gotta like Dennis Weaver.

I also liked Catch Me If You Can pretty well.  However, I may be remembering it overly fondly because I just listened to the original book.  As might be expected, SS overly romanticized Frank Abegnale's life story.  I mean, the guy lead an exciting, romantic life, but looking at him objectively he was clearly an amoral prick whose actions were pretty much sociopathic.

[Choop]

I debated myself several times on the placement of Empire of the Sun - but after each debate, it moved higher. It started at 12. The saga nature, the travails of Jim, the feeling of entrapment pervasive throughout the film- up until the end, when he's freed0 each garnered a raise in position. Malkovich's and Pantoliano''s performances also helped: each perhaps the best of their respective careers. Review them, and let me know where you disagree.

1941 is not that great a comedy, but is Jurassic Park as good a film as 1941? I argue no: it's no Stripes, but the casting, the Ramis script, and the performances by Aykroyd, Belushi, Matheson, and company rival Vacation, Ghostbusters, and Animal House for prize among Comedy Films of Early SNL Alumni- who, let's face it, were the best American comedy had to offer for a long time. Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, much less Sam Neill (any film's death knell), were acceptably cast, but poorly-performing in their roles. Okay, he had Attenborough, but that master actor was also a master performance phoner. I fell asleep during my initiial attempt at The Lost World. That right there fails a movie for me, but a second try let me know how perfect a Sunday-afternoon cable film it is: simple, bald, and full of patter. Julianne Moore, Goldblum, Postlethwaite, Attenborough, and Vince Vaughn have all done much better work.

Just to let you know, I fall asleep every time I watch The Usual Suspects. I didn't the first time- oh, NO. The first time I was enthralled, each following time I've remembered it so clearly that the watching of it was simply unnecessary.

About A.I.: Spielberg, "Goodwill Ambassador to the World for Aliens," was the worst possible choice in all of the directorial atmosphere to take over Kubrick's final piece. The script should have been given to Charlie Kaufman and handed off to Coppola at best or Chris Nolan at least, and Clarke and Lucas never, in an attempt to honor K's original goals. What began as a Kubrick symphony ended up a Spielberg Chillun's Skool kwire performance.

Let's play director. You're A.D. on A.I. when Kubrick kicks it. You've been there when he's taken half his notes, and read those he's taken without me. You've been to a third of the interviews, and read the notes on those you've either missed or not been invited to. You know film - maybe not the same desolation, isolation, fantasies, fears, or detachment as Kubrick, but you know he trusted you, or he wouldn't have hired you. How do you tell the producers to go for? A hot master of isolation like Kaufmann, and a young director big on detachment like Nolan? How about a big feel-good director like Spielberg? His name's in the notes! He did a whole interview! Yeah, that'll sell tickets... and let's find a way to cast Robin Williams as a voice, and... what actors are popular right now? Jude Law? He'd be GREAT!

As a retelling of Pinocchio, which it was not originally meant to be, A.I. was acceptable. As an interpretation of Brian Aldriss and PK Dick, it ...blew. As a Kubrick vision, it bastardized. Overall, as a film? D-

[jough]

For the record, Jude Law was not at all a big star when A.I. came out - up until that time he was most famous for being beaten to death with an oar.

I think A.I. is one of the most underappreciated masterpieces of the past decade - right up there with Eyes Wide Shut and Magnolia (well, maybe not RIGHT up there with them - but like them it's over-criticised and under-appreciated).

Also, while I'm spouting unpopular filmic opinions, The Limey is Soderberg's best work (with his Solaris being a close second - it's every bit the equal of the original, but in a different way).

And Truffaut's later works, while nowhere near the excellence of his early work, are still a far sight better than anything French cinema has thrown out to the world since 1982.

[mudokon]

HEY.
Steven Spielberg didn't have anything to do with Howard the Duck, that was George Lucas.

[slink]

Also, while I'm spouting unpopular filmic opinions, The Limey is Soderberg's best work (with his Solaris being a close second - it's every bit the equal of the original, but in a different way).

I thought Solaris was good, but the ending ruined it for me. It would have been great were it not for the 'did you not get it?' last five minutes.

As for ET being top of Spielberg's list. Ouch.
I've never been that big a Spielberg fan though, but I couldn't really say why. I am going to have to get round to seeing AI since it seems to be so controversial in respects of how good it is. My parents disagreed about it too.

[jough]

Technically we should blame director Willard Huyck for Howard the Duck, but Lucas always seems to get the blame since he was executive producer.

From what I've heard, Spielberg was going to direct it but then got busy doing other things.  Maybe it wouldn't have been the abortion it is had he directed.

[BatzRadio]

Also, while I'm spouting unpopular filmic opinions, The Limey is Soderberg's best work (with his Solaris being a close second - it's every bit the equal of the original, but in a different way).

Right effing on about The Limey. When I was a video store whore I had that on my recommended shelf for a very long time after it came out. I was all over the writing in that and the way the storyline built though. Really well acted too. It also induced a minor fit of finding more Terence Stamp movies beyond Superman II.

[Bozack]

TELL HIM I'M COMING! TELL HIM I'M fuck*ng COMING!

[Limmo]

Dunno, I like Schizopolis the best.

[robot_roll_call]

I finally got around to seeing the movie. I have to agree with everyone, the ending was pretty bad.

BUT. I was very engaged throughout the whole film. The tripods were amazing, just from sheer scale alone. That foghorn noise they made became pretty scary by the end of the movie. And all the 9/11 imagery really helped the sense of dread along.

I think the coolest part was the unseen battle happening just over the hill. It takes a lot of class as a director to withhold showing what would have been a long series of money shots in any other big budget effects film. But not seeing the battle really ratcheted up the tension of the scene.

It wasn't perfect, but it was one of the better summer movies I've seen by far.