The first barrel chase in Jaws, the swing dance fight in 1941, the Spyders in Minority Report, and the tank chase in TLC have been egregiously snubbed!
Good for WOTW and Tintin for showing up on both lists (the former twice on the AV Club list, the only film to get multiples alongside Raiders and Jurassic Park), though.
Yeah, I’d rate the barrel chase over Chrissie’s death. The latter gets our attention but isn’t as masterful as the former, especially considering how little of the shark we see in a sequence that’s all about conveying its power and speed.
I like WOTW (everything up through the boat sequence is absolutely astounding filmmaking), but ranking it #6 above Close Encounters, Lincoln, Munich, Jurassic Park, AI, etc. sure is a choice.
I love me some War of the Worlds, but I don’t think it’s top 10 Spielberg. Then again, we’re talking about a bottom 10 that would probably be another director’s top.
For me, the film grinds to a halt around the time Tim Robbins shows up, but that first half is so damn great that I’m able to look past Tom Cruise, New Jersey Longshoreman.
If we’re looking at WOTW as Spielberg’s blatant 9-11 metaphor (and really, how can you not?), Robbins is the reactionary “bomb all the brown people” contingent pretty widespread in the aftermath of the attacks. He may have been a good man once, but the tragedy around him has clouded everything, and all he can think of is his single-minded search for payback.
The fuddy duddiness of his opinion about why Netflix and other streaming movie service’s original movies should not be eligible for Oscar nominations is a bit archaic.
The thematic value of these scenes is completely overshadowed for me by the ham-handedness of it all. What the movie clearly intends to be powerful moments - the lullaby, Cruise’s decision to murder to protect his daughter - just come off as embarrassing. I don’t know if it’s Cruise/Fanning’s fault or if there’s some other factor at play, but that whole interlude is a dramatic collapse for me.
This just popped up on my Facebook feed, and though I had already seen it, I thought it was worth sharing. There’s some FANTASTIC behind-the-scenes stuff in here showing Spielberg blocking scenes on the set of TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE.
Saw something on Twitter about the opening of Spielberg’s Columbo episode “Murder by the Book”. It shows his deft camerawork, as the camera moves from (I believe) a killer’s car, then up into the office of the victim. Can’t seem to find it anywhere except in this video about the episode:
I made it a mission to view all of Spielberg’s television work back in college, and it’s well worth the effort for fans of his. So much energy and confidence behind the camera even at that young age.
Nice to see some serious 1941 love. The rewatchability factor is key for me when I’m making a “Top” list; for instance, I think SCHINDLER’S LIST is Spielberg’s most important film (for a number of reasons), but it’s not in my Top 10 for Spielberg because I just don’t return to it very often. It might be his best film, but it’s not one of my favorites.
Just for kicks, and because I know we all love lists, here’s my Spielberg ranking (done totally off the top of my head and subject to change at any moment):
1. Jaws
2. Raiders of the Lost Ark
3. Close Encounters of the Third Kind
4. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial
5. Saving Private Ryan
6. Jurassic Park
7. Munich
8. Catch Me If You Can
9. Lincoln
10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom
11. Empire of the Sun
12. Minority Report
13 Schindler’s List
14. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
15. A.I.: Artificial Intelligence
16. Duel
17. War Horse
18. Ready Player One
19. Bridge of Spies
20. The Color Purple
21. The Adventures of Tintin
22. The Sugarland Express
23. The Lost World: Jurassic Park
24. War of the Worlds
25. 1941
26. Hook
27. Always
28. The Terminal
29. The BFG
30. Amistad
31. The Post
32. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
It’s worth noting that there’s only one movie on that list that I outright don’t like. And I feel like 23 - 31 are essentially interchangeable.