Little Stevie Spielberg Owns the Holidays.

My family has a semi-tradition of going to the movies the day after Christmas. If we decide to do that this year we may very well end up at a Steven Spielberg movie as he will have two films in wide release: War Horse and The Adventures of Tintin. Whatever you think about Mr. Spielberg's films you kinda have to admit over the past forty years (since Duel in 1971 for some and since Jaws in 1975 for most) he has been a major force in popular culture. When we were conducting interviews for These Amazing Shadows we would routinely ask "What movie had a big impact on you?" The film that was most often mentioned was Mr. Spielberg's E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial.

A fascinating look at the Spielberg style is the above video by Fandor, which takes a look at the so-called "Spielberg Face." Once you take a look at this video you will know exactly what that term means. There are certain things in our culture that we are not necessarily conscious of, but once made aware we realize that it is part of what shapes the way we look at the world. Pretty powerful stuff.

Kudos to Fandor's Kevin Lee for producing The Spielberg Face.

If you love Steven Spielberg or the process of how a film is made you should take a look at a video (link below) of a panel discussion on the production of War Horse. It includes many long time key Spielberg collaborators.
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/war-horse-qa

During our These Amazing Shadows interview of Peter Coyote, who starred in E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial, he told us he was surprised and a bit hurt that he has never been asked to work with Steven again. He pointed out that it is Steven's habit not to use the same actors from one film to another (at least one exception is Tom Hanks). That is not the case with behind the camera professionals - as the Hollywood Reporter panel discussion clearly shows. Very curious.

ADDITION AFTER POSTING: FANtastic story about a fan and erstwhile graphic designer who, on his own, designed credits for Tintin - Spielberg noticed and...read the article and watch the video below!

The Adventures of Tintin from James Curran on Vimeo.
 http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Steven-Spielberg-Gives-Job-Fan-Who-Made-His-Own-Tintin-Credits-27488.html

Director's Early-Early Work: Kubrick, Nolan, Scorsese and Spielberg

On Wednesday, December 14th at 8:00 pm (ET) TCM will broadcast one of Stanley Kubrick's earliest directorial attempts - Fear and Desire (see above). Movie critic and historian Leonard Matlin (who is featured in These Amazing Shadows) says of Fear and Desire: "Kubrick's elusive, shoestring-budget feature-film debut is an existential antiwar allegory centering on four GIs (including a very green Mazursky, in his film debut) stranded behind the lines of an unknown enemy and fighting a fictitious war in an unidentified country. Long suppressed by Kubrick himself--who also photographed, edited, and cowrote with poet/playwright Howard Sackler--the movie contains some striking imagery and shows the germs of budding talent, but generally comes off as an arty and pretentious student film."

This got us thinking about other directors early work. We often think of directors appearing as full formed geniuses/auteur/dictators, but often what you find in their early work is a clunky style that only remotely suggests their future potential. Thank goodness they find ways as young directors to experiment and evolve without crashing and burning in the public eye (although strangely that sometimes happens in the middle of their careers: Spielberg 1941, Bogdanovich At Long Last Love, Scorsese New York, New York).

Christopher Nolan: Doodlebug (1997)
A man waits patiently in his apartment to squash a bug, but he could be hurting himself more than he realizes.



Martin Scorsese: It's Not Just You, Murray! (1963)
Now middle-aged, mobster Murray looks back at his humble beginnings as a bootlegger and his rise to becoming wealthy and highly influential.


Steven Spielberg: Firelight (1964)
Menacing UFOs attack citizens of a town. 
NOTE: Be patient with this video - it is very rough. If you stick with it you'll see some familiar images from his future movies.