Are we going to see more "Spielberg revivalism?"

Here's a little something for people who think Spielberg lacks vision or whatever. Potzers.

If you have trouble reading in all caps, copy/paste into Word, highlight, and press SHIFT-F3.
 
BisexualMMA said:
I like A.I. quite a bit. I liked it much more than War of the Worlds, which as lesser Spielberg, is still pretty solid.

I'll gladly agree that Indiana Jones IV was a festering turd. The only good thing in that whole movie is that super long moving shot in the first few minutes in that warehouse where Indy meets Cate Blanchett.

I think where he gets too much of a pass from people is movies like Jurassic Park 2 (pointless uninspired cash grab) and Always (as ordinary as they come).
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Oh yeah, War of the Worlds and JPII are also good examples of disappointing Spielberg movies. I never did see Always.

As for AI, I thought visually it was awesome but the story just wasn't there.
 
BisexualMMA said:
He's still got it, but to me that was mostly a case of master cratsmanship, with a little more formula and practiced hand than visionary artistry. It was executed to near-perfection but it was kind of Tom Hanks with a malady of some sort (a bad cold instead of a shaking hand) going through...I don't want to say going through the motions...but, like Spielberg, executing his craft at a very high level.

When it was done, I knew I had watched the work of masters, but I don't know if I felt they had been supremely inspired.
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Spielberg has cracked it out of the park too many times...I can only hope people want to try to realize something on that level.
 
Spielberg still got it.

My all time favorite director.

Can't wait for Ready Player One!
 
Three Gun Fish said:
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Interesting. I know a lot of people love it.
 
Probably because it's nostalgia porn. I have no doubt the movie'll be a lot better, especially if they can get all the licensing.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
Oh yeah, War of the Worlds and JPII are also good examples of disappointing Spielberg movies. I never did see Always.

As for AI, I thought visually it was awesome but the story just wasn't there.
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I felt like A.I. had an adequate story to explore its themes the same way 2001 did.
 
shadow_priest_x said:
How did you just never watch Super 8? It's kind of a problematic movie in some ways, but everyone should watch it at least once if only to see JJ Abrams (successfully) do his best Spielberg impression.

And you need to check out Stranger Things as well.
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Abrams is absolute master craftsman when it comes to filmmaking. He's a technician of the highest level. I wonder if he is going to have the stones to use his abilities to try to say something important before it is all said and done.
 
Spielberg is Americas most iconic director and IMO the greatest director ever.

He does every genre and he does them all very well.
 
BisexualMMA said:
Abrams is absolute master craftsman when it comes to filmmaking. He's a technician of the highest level. I wonder if he is going to have the stones to use his abilities to try to say something important before it is all said and done.
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Mmm, I dunno. I could be wrong but I get the feeling that he's content just doing big blockbusters.
 
BisexualMMA said:
Abrams is absolute master craftsman when it comes to filmmaking. He's a technician of the highest level. I wonder if he is going to have the stones to use his abilities to try to say something important before it is all said and done.
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I disagree. In terms of rythm and tone he's often off. The problem with many of his films is that every scene feels the same tonally. Every scene is directed with speed and gusto. When everything feels the same -- nothing feels special.

Also, if you listen to Abrams audio commentary tracks, even he will point out where he made mistakes, frammed incorrectly or had the wrong camera-angle and stuff like that.

I don't think he handles character development very good either. In Force Awakens, Fin for example goes from being a brainwashed slave to making a boyfriend joke in the span of one day. It is quite funny -- but there is no organic reason to why a guy with that background would say something like that in that situation.
 
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I noticed some similarities to Spielberg stuff in Stranger Things but don't feel it's a huge influence. Stranger Things combines elements from so many different 80's movies...things like Creepshow, ET of course, Explorers, various 80's horror and niche movies, and many other things. I love it. Doesn't feel like an overwhelming influence to me. The biggest seems to be a combination of horror like Nightmare on elm street/Friday the 13th mixed with Creepshow mixed with Explorers.
 
I think it's more eighties revivalism than Spielberg.

Just look at the fashion and especially the music.
 
JJ abrams is not great

I'm looking at the movies he has directed on IMDB and I cant say I loved any of them

Super 8 would be the closest

Followed by the first star trek movie

People talk about him like he is some amazing filmmaker. I dont see it
 
As a non movie snob, I think anything made like E.T. is fantastic. Loved Super 8. Will now be watching Stranger Things. Thanks for tuning me into this one.
 
Soma said:
I noticed some similarities to Spielberg stuff in Stranger Things but don't feel it's a huge influence. Stranger Things combines elements from so many different 80's movies...things like Creepshow, ET of course, Explorers, various 80's horror and niche movies, and many other things. I love it. Doesn't feel like an overwhelming influence to me. The biggest seems to be a combination of horror like Nightmare on elm street/Friday the 13th mixed with Creepshow mixed with Explorers.
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Organic Damage said:
I think it's more eighties revivalism than Spielberg.

Just look at the fashion and especially the music.
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The creators of the show have freely admitted that Spielberg was a big influence, but to your point they have also said that there were other big influences as well.

Probably people are going to see the influences that mean the most to them. To me, I am really zeroed in on the Spielberg stuff. Someone else might pick up the most on the Stephen King stuff.

But I think that in terms of the LOOK and STYLE of the actual filmmaking, Spielberg is ruling the day here.
 
TheRuthlessOne said:
JJ abrams is not great

I'm looking at the movies he has directed on IMDB and I cant say I loved any of them

Super 8 would be the closest

Followed by the first star trek movie

People talk about him like he is some amazing filmmaker. I dont see it
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I think he's supremely competent. He frames shots well, he doesn't get anything false from his actors, he edits it together well, and some of the shots are actually very impressive. The emotions are real, the stories aren't confusing.

To me, it's profit-oriented moviemaking at close to its highest level.

But he has yet to demonstrate anything more than that to me.
 
TheRuthlessOne said:
JJ abrams is not great

I'm looking at the movies he has directed on IMDB and I cant say I loved any of them

Super 8 would be the closest

Followed by the first star trek movie

People talk about him like he is some amazing filmmaker. I dont see it
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I think he's really good VISUALLY. Regardless of anything else, Star Trek is a good looking movie. And Super 8 nailed the 80s style. And think about the train scene in Super 8. That was great.
 
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