War of the Worlds. saw it twice in theaters, the initial escape sequence made me bawl both times. the best post-9/11 movie. by far the best adaptation of the source material
― flappy bird, Friday, 2 February 2018 19:35 (six years ago) link
Yeah isn't Eric Bana pretty much off the Zionist boat by the end of the movie? He's more or less, "Fuck an Israel, this shit gets us nowhere, I just want my wife and kids safe." And I mean the closing shot is pretty much "Backing the hardcore Zionists is going to get us 9/11."
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:38 (six years ago) link
a mossad agent who signs up to do wet-work but is impossibly conflicted over killing palestinians who are members of the black september organization is just a huge stretch.
the moral of the story really seems to be something along the lines of israel is great but loses moral authority if it resorts to bad violence like the palestinians and so should be nicer.
― khat person (jim in vancouver), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:40 (six years ago) link
he scene were Bana has overwrought movie sex with his wife interspersed with images of the massacre on the airfield is just abominable.
eh you're just jealous Bana isn't having sex with you
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:41 (six years ago) link
Eric Bana is a huge stretch alright
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:43 (six years ago) link
More like Eric Banal am I right
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:44 (six years ago) link
https://cdn3.whatculture.com/images/2015/06/sTFkKdLw.jpg
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:45 (six years ago) link
Either saving private ryan or ai for me
― infinity (∞), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:47 (six years ago) link
that's pretty good! one in a row. xxp
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 February 2018 19:48 (six years ago) link
morbz, i share yr general admiration for spielberg but yr selective snobbery is a little hard for me to fathom, i can't say i can identify any sensible reason to snort at the subject matter of jurassic park and then turn around and praise ET or close encounters. are aliens somehow more "serious" than dinosaurs?
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 20:44 (six years ago) link
Go below the surface. They're just better films. (fwiw i like King Kong (1933), which has dinosaurs)
and stop taking me soooo seriously
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 February 2018 20:47 (six years ago) link
the 33 king kong is better, i'll grant you that
btw the silent lost world, which i watched recently, feels in some ways like more of a spielberg movie than the actual lost world he directed
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 20:50 (six years ago) link
i don't recall seeing that one either
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 February 2018 20:51 (six years ago) link
It occurs to me that in Jaws he treats the shark, which is just an animal ("a miracle of nature, really . . .") as a monster; in JP he treats the dinosaurs, which we would consider "monsters," as just animals. The 'raptors are plenty scary, and smart, but they're just doing what nature intended. The shark appears to genuinely have it in for people.
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 21:36 (six years ago) link
(And of course the Quint story arc, dramatic irony, etc. If Spielberg had kept the more cynical Crichton JP ending with Hammond dying and the island being bombed to smithereens, it might be considered his best film!)
― Millennial Whoop, wanna fight about it? (Phil D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 21:37 (six years ago) link
yeah, JP is def an advance over jaws in that respect. there's not really any attempt in jaws to depict the shark as a real animal or anything but a projection of pure fear. it may be the only great monster movie where you never get close to identifying w/ the monster.
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Friday, 2 February 2018 21:49 (six years ago) link
there's not really any attempt in jaws to depict the shark as a real animal or anything but a projection of pure fear
I prefer this. So did Fidel Castro, apparently.
http://www.critical-theory.com/watch-zizek-jaws-fascism/
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Friday, 2 February 2018 22:15 (six years ago) link
I think Spielberg "Land Before Timing" up the innocent herbivores early on in JP was probably narratively ok for the purposes of lulling the characters into complacency but I think the real-life monster hiding in the depths in Jaws is handled better. It's also a much funnier and scarier film w/better characters. There's probably an argument one could make against the Mayor being the Dwayne T. Robinson of the film, just there to get in the way, but Murray Hamilton is great in that part.
― omar little, Friday, 2 February 2018 22:19 (six years ago) link
jurassic park is not as good a movie as king kong it's true, but that's about it. (the allusion to one in the other is sublime. a snob might want goldblum's line dropped and the gates left to do the work themselves but... "whaddathey got in there?" is a fertile phrase, like someone approaching a tent, or a nickelodeon)
― difficult listening hour, Friday, 2 February 2018 22:19 (six years ago) link
Watched me some Bridge of Spies tonight. Plenty of good value to make up for the inevitable eye-roll-y schmaltz. I've just come to accept Spielbergia as a magic realist world at this point, where folks on the train collectively scowl at you from behind eighteen different newspapers detailing your shameful exploits and subsequently gaze upon you wonderingly once they realize they had you all wrong, friend. I don't look to him for ambiguous nuance and unanswerable questions and I thusly remain rarely disappointed.
― Cork Taint (Old Lunch), Saturday, 3 February 2018 06:29 (six years ago) link
That's just writing a blank cheque
― Alderweireld Horses (darraghmac), Saturday, 3 February 2018 09:22 (six years ago) link
The thing about Munich is that it's supposed to be about the bad things that Mossad did, but it leaves out the worst thing they did, the murder of the completely innocent Ahmed Bouchiki. That's where it kinda becomes drivel. It's depiction of sex is awful as well, both the intercut scene mentioned above, but also the whole thing with the assassin. It's a film about historical trauma that is awful about actually depicting that trauma.
― Frederik B, Saturday, 3 February 2018 10:40 (six years ago) link
Munich or Lincoln. Minority Report is the best action one he's done since the 80s, but let down by a rubbish third act.
― chap, Saturday, 3 February 2018 12:59 (six years ago) link
Catch Me If You Can is always an enjoyable watch. Rest of them I could easily live without seeing again.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Thursday, February 1, 2018 8:30 PM (two days ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
otm
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
lest anybody forget, The Lost World is the movie where a pre-teen gymnast somersaults and kicks over a dinosaur that weighs several tons.
― fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:17 (six years ago) link
It might be the only one of these I have seen twice - and the drop off in my appreciation the second time was massive.
― chap, Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:26 (six years ago) link
Catch Me If You Can is such a great small movie, and perhaps the last time Christopher Walken has or will ever be cast as anything but a weirdo.
I've wondered how recognizable later Spielberg would be if had a different DP. It's amazing that they have worked on almost 20 movies together, but I'd argue Kaminski is still a controversial choice, or at the very least, for such a frequent collaboration they hardly have a reputation as some sort of classic movie team. Vs., say, Deakins and the Coen Brothers, say.
I do say that Spielberg's '90s/'00s productive streak is pretty mind-boggling. About 11 movies between '93 and 2004, with Jurassic Park and Schindler's the same year, Lost World and Amistad the same year, Minority Report and Catch Me If You Can the same year, and War of the Worlds and Munich the same year. That's pretty nuts.
― Josh in Chicago, Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:33 (six years ago) link
and Tintin and War Horse!
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:40 (six years ago) link
Does Munich have the most explicit sex scene in a Spielberg movie? I’ve always felt it was 100% Kushner’s idea and Spielberg just filmed it exactly as written. Just not an idea I can associate with him. (I’m agnostic on the value of the scene.)
― ryan, Saturday, 3 February 2018 14:57 (six years ago) link
The one in ET nearly garnered an X-rating iirc.
― Cork Taint (Old Lunch), Saturday, 3 February 2018 15:15 (six years ago) link
sorry thought the Munich sex scene was entirely fitting and thematically sound
Fred, movies leave things out all the time, that's why they're not TV series, you git
― ice cream social justice (Dr Morbius), Saturday, 3 February 2018 15:44 (six years ago) link
Sooo ... who's voting Ready Player One?! Nick Pinkerton, perhaps.
Unconflictedly loving Ready Player One is my heel turn.— BANDZ STACKHAGE (@NickPinkerton) April 3, 2018
"But you have to admit the hot-girl-with-a-minor-physical-flaw thing is pretty cliché?" "NO I DON'T IT'S PURE AND BEAUTIFUL SORRY A NARCISSISTIC CULTURE OF FALSE AFFIRMATION HAS MADE IT IMPOSSIBLE FOR YOU TO ACKNOWLEDGE THAT VULNERABILITY AND INSECURITY EVEN EXIST FUCK YOU."— BANDZ STACKHAGE (@NickPinkerton) April 3, 2018
― "Minneapolis" (barf) (Eric H.), Wednesday, 4 April 2018 14:50 (five years ago) link
Tough choice between AI and Lincoln. The kid won.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 4 April 2018 15:01 (five years ago) link
Tough call between AI and Lincoln for me. The kid won.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 4 April 2018 15:02 (five years ago) link
sorry - first post didn't go through hence the repost
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 4 April 2018 15:03 (five years ago) link
Holy shit I already voted/posted/reposted to this thread back in February. Awful deja vu.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Wednesday, 4 April 2018 15:05 (five years ago) link
Pinkerton's twitter is consistently embarrassing.
I intend on giving RPO a shot at some point, Spielberg elevated a weak novel to classic status once, I imagine he can elevate a shitty one to "good."
― omar little, Wednesday, 4 April 2018 15:16 (five years ago) link
of those I've seen, after scott:
Saving Private Ryan - an expert gilding of midcentury ball hairs w/ embossed face of hanksA.I. Artificial Intelligence - okay when the kid is not visible, idea totally stolen off kubrickMinority Report - stupid oopidCatch Me If You Can - good enough to justify leoWar of the Worlds - not good enough to justify tomIndiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - odysseus arrives home after a long absence to find a small turd on his pillowThe Adventures of Tintin - ...to find america's greatest living director modeling trousers fashioned from the skin of argos Lincoln - aside from that, how was the play?
― not quite as cool as seeing damo's wang but (contenderizer), Thursday, 5 April 2018 05:11 (five years ago) link
war of the worlds. saw it twice in theaters & cried both times when they're escaping the city
― flappy bird, Thursday, 5 April 2018 05:14 (five years ago) link
A.I. Artificial Intelligence - okay when the kid is not visible, idea totally stolen off kubrick
huh?
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 5 April 2018 12:43 (five years ago) link
We have to go thru the AI story a lot on ilx huh?
― bad left terf nut (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 5 April 2018 12:46 (five years ago) link
p sure that was a gag post
― explosion from DOOM courtesy of id software (Doctor Casino), Thursday, 5 April 2018 12:46 (five years ago) link
Sorry contendo
― bad left terf nut (Noodle Vague), Thursday, 5 April 2018 12:48 (five years ago) link
― explosion from DOOM courtesy of id software (Doctor Casino)
I thought so at first until I read the rest of the dismissals.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 5 April 2018 12:58 (five years ago) link
Did it pass the Turing test?
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 5 April 2018 13:14 (five years ago) link
Prep work, Alfred. I got internet dickhole finals tomorrow.
― not quite as cool as seeing damo's wang but (contenderizer), Thursday, 5 April 2018 14:42 (five years ago) link
And you're still boning up on Spielberg Bashing 101? Better pull an all-nighter.
― "Minneapolis" (barf) (Eric H.), Thursday, 5 April 2018 14:45 (five years ago) link
For students who get a 70 or below, I got a velociraptor waiting.
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 5 April 2018 14:46 (five years ago) link
A.I. is one of the handful of movies I will defend to the death (precisely because of the ways it seems to get away from its director?) but that I cannot stomach sitting down to watch again.
― ryan, Thursday, 5 April 2018 15:14 (five years ago) link
(I guess it's also the kind of work where "intention" doesn't seem to matter...)
― ryan, Thursday, 5 April 2018 15:15 (five years ago) link