This week, I close out my series on Steven Spielberg’s 90s filmography by looking back on the legacy of his other WWII epic of the decade. The opening is famously visceral and brutal, but it’s more than just a gimmick: it’s crucial to setting the stakes of the movie’s titular decision, one dramatized by an all-star cast and a director still at the top of his game.
Long from the glow of his triumphant SCHINDLER’S LIST, Steven Spielberg’s return to the historical epic is a well-meaning step down. AMISTAD tells a story that deserves to be told, but does it in the most streamlined, Hollywood-safe way that it feels more like a history lesson than a dramatic film. Djimon Honsou good, tho.
This week, we review Hollywood’s return to the prehistoric island that changed 90s filmmaking with the awkwardly-titled THE LOST WORLD: JURASSIC PARK. A regretful Steven Spielberg is kind of sleep-walking through this, and assembling a new cast around the returning Jeff Goldblum doesn’t recapture the magic of the first go-around. But, are there still enough individual thrills to justify this sequel? Kind of?
This week, we cover the movie that forever altered Steven Spielberg’s legacy. SCHINDLER’S LIST proved that the director synonymous with family entertainment could find another gear, taking an intensely personal story and depicting it with an unflinching, brutal eye. It’s an astounding piece of work that has generated discussion for the thirty years since, even if it has its legitimate detractors among the Jewish community.
This week, we revisit perhaps the most popular movie Steven Spielberg ever made. Let’s take a trip to JURASSIC PARK! Even though this is technically a part of yet another Spielberg Summer series, it’d be malpractice not to turn our eye to the work that the recently-deceased Sam Neill puts in here. The movie is almost unimaginable without him; let’s drill into why.
It’s summer time again, which means it’s time for another round of Steven Spielberg movies here on the blog! This year, we’re going through his 90s filmography, and there’s no other place to start than HOOK, Spielberg’s take on the Peter Pan story. There’s a fascinating amount of the director’s personal story on display here, but can that overcome how strange and treacly a lot of this is?
This week, my look back at movies from 1967 I had never seen concludes with BONNIE AND CLYDE, a Depression-era crime piece that reflects back at us our own uncertain economic times (both in 1967 and today), as well as our ability to overlook criminality in the name of excitement, charm and thrill.
This week, let’s explore the legend of 1967’s COOL HAND LUKE, both the movie (which contains one of the most quoted lines of all time) and the character himself, who stands as an avatar for every outsider to society, and proves the best way to endure is simply to keep standing on your feet for as long as possible.
We’ve arrived at the end of Elaine May Month, with one of the most infamous debacles in Hollywood history, ISHTAR. Does the movie deserve its ragged reputation?
