The Steven Spielberg Thread (1 Viewer)

[WillG]

I was never that smart back then. My strategy was always not to bother prominent people unless I had something relevant for them, that way they usually got back to me and never avoided me. Generally that approach worked well, as far as it went (which wasn't far).

I'll never know but your idea may have been the better option!

Also with all due respect, may I ask why you were carrying a satchel? It wasn't really a European man purse was it?

 

[Carabimero]

Also with all due respect, may I ask why you were carrying a satchel? It wasn't really a European man purse was it?

I have cerebral palsy and it carried (and still does) items I need to walk. Luckily I had just put them on so I could leave, and the satchel was empty.

Maybe 'satchel' wasn't the right word. It's a leather bag I bought the first time I was ever on the Paramount lot, in the general store. It says Paramount Pictures (a Gulf+Western Company!) on it, and I still have it!

 

[TravisR]

I first met Spielberg when he came to the American Film Institute and spoke to second year students in 1988. A week earlier Allen Daviau had spoken to us after a screening of EMPIRE OF THE SUN. We talked a lot about the insert shot of the soap and how it turned the movie. When Spielberg spoke a week later, he also talked about the insert shot of the soap and said, "Keep movement in your insert shots." The insert shot was an afterthought!

Spielberg took questions. I asked him what he thought drama was. He didn't answer. Instead he asked me what I thought drama was. I don't remember what I said (probably a blessing). He waited for me to finish and then replied, "To me, drama is a character with no control who fights to gain control." He regretted not directing BACK TO THE FUTURE but was excited about SCHINDLER'S LIST.

Through that meeting I eventually got a job reading scripts at Amblin. I even got to submit my own script. I received a long letter from one of their creative consultants, who then was kind enough to set up a call with a director's agent for me. Ultimately I got a letter from Spielberg that I have read a thousand times when I thought I couldn't take another rejection. He told me never to give up, to "keep in touch and I will do the same."

I've seen him a few times over the years, usually in connection with working up a script. My favorite memory is attending this gigantic dinner for him in which he was presented with a trophy for some honor that now escapes me. When the dinner was over he asked if he could borrow my leather satchel to put the trophy in. When I asked him why, he said he had to walk through the mall outside and didn't want to be seen carrying the award. I love that he is humble (I also love that a runner brought my satchel back the next day with a personal note of thanks inside).

The last time I saw him, we talked about Close Encounters and he said he couldn't believe he wrote a movie where a father abandons his family. I told him that's not the way I saw it at all and he was being too hard on himself. As always, he asked about my wife, by name, and wondered how she was doing. My wife, a university professor, has had his children in her class.

The day Steven Spielberg dies, I will cry not because I knew him well. I will cry because his kindness and his movies helped me to know myself well.

This is the kind of thing I like to read because it shows the power of art or artists. Maybe that's goofy to say but I do think there's something legitimately great about making something that is a positive thing in people's lives. I can't say that Jaws or Raiders Of The Lost Ark or any movie have somehow changed my life or helped me meet my wife or whatever big life event you can name but Spielberg's movies have provided me with untold hours of great entertainment that has enhanced my life and will continue to for the rest of my days.

 

[WillG]

I have cerebral palsy and it carried (and still does) items I need to walk. Luckily I had just put them on so I could leave, and the satchel was empty.

Maybe 'satchel' wasn't the right word. It's a leather bag I bought the first time I was ever on the Paramount lot, in the general store. It says Paramount Pictures (a Gulf+Western Company!) on it, and I still have it!

Well to quote Col. Nathan Jessup "Don't I feel like the fucking asshole"

 

[Carabimero]

This is the kind of thing I like to read because it shows the power of art or artists. Maybe that's goofy to say but I do think there's something legitimately great about making something that is a positive thing in people's lives. I can't say that Jaws or Raiders Of The Lost Ark or any movie have somehow changed my life or helped me meet my wife or whatever big life event you can name but Spielberg's movies have provided me with untold hours of great entertainment that has enhanced my life and will continue to for the rest of my days.

It's safe to say Lucas and Spielberg (and Roddenberry) changed my life by making me brave enough to pack up my car on February 3, 1988 and drive from Texas to Hollywood, where I didn't know a soul.

Although I have worked on Star Trek, sadly I have never seen Lucas in person or gotten anywhere close to creating an opportunity to work on Star Wars in any way, shape or form. I guess it just wasn't meant to be. But what I said about crying on the day Spielberg dies applies equally well to Lucas.

 

[Carabimero]

Well to quote Col. Nathan Jessup "Don't I feel like the fucking asshole"

I didn't mean to make you feel that way at all. I am not shy about who I am. Over the years I have actually become proud of having cerebral palsy. I rarely talk about it on the Internet, especially in this forum, as I have more than once been hired for Hollywood jobs because of my posts at the HTF. The Internet has been a great equalizer for me, because I don't have to walk into a room for a job interview (that never once turned out well). But after being introduced on the Internet, by the time employers see me, they usually already are interested in hiring me, so it doesn't matter. I was honest with you because you asked a sincere question, and at this point in my career, people who hire me already know I can't walk. It's just not an issue anymore.

So don't feel bad. I appreciate the conversation. I count you as a friend here at HTF, and I hope you feel the same way.

 

[WillG]

I didn't mean to make you feel that way at all. I am not shy about who I am. Over the years I have actually become proud of having cerebral palsy. I rarely talk about it on the Internet, especially in this forum, as I have more than once been hired for Hollywood jobs because of my posts at the HTF. The Internet has been a great equalizer for me, because I don't have to walk into a room for a job interview (that never once turned out well). But after being introduced on the Internet, by the time employers see me, they usually already are interested in hiring me, so it doesn't matter. I was honest with you because you asked a sincere question, and at this point in my career, people who hire me already know I can't walk. It's just not an issue anymore.

So don't feel bad. I appreciate the conversation. I count you as a friend here at HTF, and I hope you feel the same way.

No worries and thanks. And in complete honesty I was kind of breaking your balls about the satchel (in good fun, of course, I was thinking about the Seinfeld European man purse episode)

 

[Jeff Adkins]

I think some of Spielberg's best work has been outside of the "golden era" of 1975-1985.

Schindler's List
A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
Munich
Catch Me If You Can
Minority Report

 

[TravisR]

Munich

I think in, say, 50 years that Munich is going to be among Spielberg's highest regarded movies.

 

[sleroi]

i enjoyed Minority Report up until the scene, towards the climax of the movie, where one of the characters revealed something they shouldn't have known and, I think it was Max Von Sydow, who catches it and says something to the extent of, "but I never mentioned..."

It was such an obvious movie cliche and I saw it coming a mile away and I remember thinking Come on Spielberg, you're a smarter filmmaker than this. It sounds stupid, but it ruined the whole film for me.

Ive never read the book, and the scene might be verbatim, but if so, Spielberg should have recognized the cliche and come up with a better alternative.

But not to sound completely negative, I really liked his other Tom Cruise collaboration, War of the Worlds. The scene with Cruise and daughter evading the alien probe in the flooded basement was masterful. While not quite up there with his classics, I do think its an underappreciated gem.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

No love from anyone else for "Lincoln"? I'm surprised to be the only one praising that, but hey, different strokes, etc.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

I think in, say, 50 years that Munich is going to be among Spielberg's highest regarded movies.

Munich and The Post are both outstanding in that I knew exactly what the outcomes would be yet was completely riveted the entire time.

 

[Tino]

No love from anyone else for "Lincoln"? I'm surprised to be the only one praising that, but hey, different strokes, etc.

I love Lincoln.

 

[sleroi]

I just realized Tom Cruise going to great lengths to save his kids at all cost is probably Spielbergs catharsis for his feelings towards CE3K.

I really enjoyed Bridge of spies, but I tend to enjoy his adventure/fantasy movies more.

Without getting too much into politics, Spielbergs comments about why he rushed the Post into production coupled with Streeps recent comments has not enticed me to go see it. And there were similar criticisms about Munich. And so knowing his views and politics don't match mine Lincoln never called out to me.

Huge caveat, I try not to let actors or directors personal views cloud my judgement, otherwise there would hardly be anything for me to watch. But every now and then something rubs me the wrong way and I just avoid it.

But that in no way lessens my view of Spielberg. He is one of the greats.

 

[Worth]

No love from anyone else for "Lincoln"? I'm surprised to be the only one praising that, but hey, different strokes, etc.

I thought it was very good, but I agree about the end. Endings are his Achilles heel - Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, A.I., Minority Report, War of the Worlds.

 

[TravisR]

No love from anyone else for "Lincoln"? I'm surprised to be the only one praising that, but hey, different strokes, etc.

I'd say Munich and Lincoln are Spielberg's best movies from this century.

 

[Josh Steinberg]

We talked about it in another thread, possibly the one for the Mel Gibson-directed war movie from last year who's name I'm blanking on, about why the ending of Saving Private Ryan nearly just killed the entire picture for me. It's possibly an overreaction but it left a sour taste in my mouth. I think that entire film would have been much more effective without the wraparound story. But I realized then and now that I'm a minority in that opinion.

As for A.I., I actually love that ending -- I thought it was funny when the movie came out that so many reviews said "Aww, Spielberg made a Kubrick movie until the end and then Spielberg'd the ending" when the truth is, the film ends the way Kubrick envisioned. Kubrick wanted Spielberg to direct it in the first place for that sensibility that comes more natural to Spielberg.

 

[TonyD]

A. I. Is #13 on my list of favorite movies.

Lincoln would have been a top five Spielberg movie if he stops when Lincoln says he doesn’t want to go to the show or however it is he says it.


https://boxd.it/2b2W

The top 25 are set in order. Everything else is not specific in order.

 

[Colin Jacobson]

Leaving behind arguments about how much skin can be seen in "1941" and moving to more opinion synopses!

Raiders of the Lost Ark: "More than 35 years after its debut, Raiders of the Lost Ark remains one of the greatest movies ever made. It absolutely defines the action adventure and presents a virtually perfect piece of excitement."

ET the Extra-Terrestrial: "ET remains a movie for the ages, an achievement that may never be topped, and I regard it as the greatest family film ever created. As an outgrowth of sheer directorial will, ET stands as a flawless effort that continues to amaze"

Poltergeist (yeah, I'm going there!): "Poltergeist is an innovative, clever horror flick that continues to engage after more than 35 years."

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom: "It seemed almost inevitable that Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom wouldn’t quite live up to its predecessor; Raiders proved to be a genre-defining classic with no peers. Temple is more erratic and less satisfying, but it generally delivers the goods. The flick provides a consistently dark atmosphere that makes it the least accessible of the 1980s trilogy, but it mostly works and seems like an interesting adventure."

The Color Purple: "The Color Purple enjoys a positive reputation, but I can’t imagine why, as the movie suffers from a vast number of flaws, most of which result from the work of its director. Steven Spielberg desperately tried to escape his reputation as an action-fantasy auteur, but the sweet and sugary vision of black sisterhood seems less plausible than anything seen during E.T. or Close Encounters."

 

[Carabimero]

No love from anyone else for "Lincoln"? I'm surprised to be the only one praising that, but hey, different strokes, etc.

To me there are several false notes in Lincoln, like the opening scene. While it's true Lincoln often met soldiers in informal settings, for me the scene was too pat. The dialogue just felt contrived. Granted, that scene was the worst offender of the entire movie, but it had the misfortune of being the first scene, and immediately I could see the "script working," which is not a good thing. I realize the screenwriter is considered a minor deity, but that doesn't mean I won't call out stilted writing when I see it.

That said, there are some beautiful moments in Lincoln, great performances, a terrific score, and I agree with you Josh S., about where you think it should have ended. I was waiting for the credits to start at that moment and was taken aback by the tagged on scene. I thought that scene would have worked better if it played during the end credits, since it was a flashback, so to speak.

I am a huge Civil War aficionado, Lincoln is my favorite president, I've read tons of books about him and the era, I waited for this one for years, and while I think it's good, I don't find myself rewatching it as much as I thought I would. Unlike Goodwin's fantastic book, the screenwriting doesn't wholly ring true for me.

Lest one might conclude I am too critical of writing, IMO there is not one false note in Munich, Catch Me If You Can, The Post, and most other Spielberg movies. That's why when there are false notes, they stick out like sore thumbs to me.