I wasn’t aware that it was based on a novel, although that’s my own ignorance and something that probably even passively paying attention to the credits would have revealed. 
That is something, though, that makes the film classic Spielberg. Taking a novel with a bit of an edge to it and making it into something that is more family friendly and lacks some of the bite the original source material had. It’s evident in Jaws, Jurassic Park, ad The Lost World: Jurassic Park as well.
No, that is not what I said, or at least was trying to say.
There was a book released based on the screenplay. So first there was the screenplay and movie and than this tie-in book was released written by Terry Brooks, he also wrote at least one Star Wars novel based on the screenplay, I have it somewhere, if I am correct.
Edit: I looked it up, coincidence or not, the two books are standing side by side in my bookcase:
he also wrote the movie tie-in of The Phantom Menace.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind - Directors’s Cut.
A film about family breakdown as much as the mystery of aliens. I like the way madness can easily be perceived by others who aren’t completely transfixed by their experience. Spielberg is a master at creating tension and anxiety and still has that decades later with Disclosure Day. Some genuine horror with homes being terrorised, particularly the abduction of young Barry.
The finale drags a bit too much, but overall I think the film holds up well after all these years. A good mix of emotional realism and silver screen escapism.
Mike´s Murder
Some directors have respectable careers and then they make one film which has disastrous test screenings and gets recut heavily, yet still ends up a box office failure, thereby destroying the director´s reputation. James Bridges (“The China syndrome”) was one of these directors, and his thriller-drama “Mike’s Murder” was that film.
As I watched the movie, starring Debra Winger and Paul Winfield, I could not understand why it got such a harsh response at all. It is brilliantly acted, shot and edited, with a sparse but haunting John Barry score (replacing the Joe Jackson score which nevertheless got released as one of his albums).
Maybe the film was way ahead of its time and the zeitgeist, and it is not a thriller with surface shocks. Instead it shows how the casual sex between two adults and the expectations for a truly romantic relationship suddenly ends with a terrifiying situation the female protagonist (Winger) has to come to terms with. Every scene defies clichés and tropes, surprises with twists deeply rooted in the characters who just have to face the fact that they never really knew someone they actually cared for a lot. As one character sadly states: “In this case, ignorance was bliss.”
A really great movie, shamelessly underrated. Also one that could not be made today anymore in the age of algorithm-led instant gratification.
So, try to find it as a DVD. It is so worth it.
ET - The Extra Terrestrial
A nostalgic time capsule of a now bygone childhood, riding around on your bike and spending time alone in the forest with the magic of holding a secret. The child actors in this are incredible and illicit emotion that some adults couldn’t dream of. John Williams’s score elevates the whole production in a way only he can and I often felt myself welling up due to the power it generates. That’s not a common occurrence for me.
The whole movie is iconic beyond belief with its iconography and ET is lovably depicted. Older films were perfectly paced and labours of love. Just like Close Encounters, this one holds up. With the domestic and suburban setting Spielberg made immersive environments that felt lived in. When people talk about the power of cinema this is what they mean.
That is definitely a virtue (and a craft in itself) which has disappeared in most US cinema. Movies get bloated runtimes by telling stories in the most expansive and often repetitive ways.
Pacing works best when it does not make the story overstay its welcome. Too many endings, overexplaining, putting one climax over the next - it just does not work.
I think a case could be made that it’s the ones that we remember (i.e. the good films) that are perfectly paced. That, I would guess, is a part of why we remember them so fondly. I’m sure that we could go back into the archives and dig up some terrible films from the 80s and prior that we might find were quite poorly paced.
Definitely.
But the percentage of well paced movies back then against those now (there are great movies in this decade, absolutely) has been diminished by the demands of studios and most of all streamers whose algorithms dictate now what has to happen at which minute.
There was lots of direct-to-video stuff too in the 80s - video was the next big thing and threatening to eat into cinema and tv markets after all - but then there was also the stuff that didn’t hit at its theatrical run and only became a success during its home entertainment release, HIGHLANDER for example. And the MTV aesthetic would subsequently influence the entire industry. Weird times the 80s were.
The direct-to-video schlock is now the onslaught of streaming movies and tv shows.
Yes, there are great tv shows on streamers, great movies directly made for streamers, though, are rare.
It is insane how much content (and it really is just that) one can find when one goes down that rabbit hole, stuff I never heard of since it does not get ads nor reviews, but it floods and fills the catalogue.
Strangely, people seem to „watch“ even the worthless „entertainment“.
Watch meaning second or third screen attention, entertainment means background noise.
It is also because movies originally had a close relationship to the theater, and the pacing of theater was imported into the new medium and then modified. We are now witnessing the reverse influence, where plays incorporate cinematic techniques, including filming action and projecting it on screens on stage.
Also, as cameras became smaller and more mobile, the notion of pace changed to a drastic extent.
The Odyssey IMAX 70mm
How do you even review something this massive? To have watched a movie of this scale for its entire duration in this format for the first time is an experience hard to put into words. Superlatives feel cheap, I don’t know, obviously I liked it as a film. I appreciated its themes and the plain language it uses to communicate them. When it gets weird, and it does, it’s intense in all the right ways. I’m honestly winded, guys, I don’t know what to say. I’m sure criticism will follow viewings on a less overwhelming format but damn, what a joy and how fortunate to be able to see this on IMAX 70mm. Part of me is actually sad that the experience is over, but then again, the Dune Part 3 preview at the start knocked my socks off, too, so here’s to hoping I’m just as lucky landing those tickets come December.
Damn. What a picture.
My Fellow Americans. One of my favorite comedies. Jack Lemmon and James Garner are just brilliant. It’s also a combination of several of my favorite genres: spy films, comedies, political thrillers, road trip films, etc. Just great stuff with a lot of really good comedic actors.
The Thing (1982)
This deserves all the praise it gets. A simple story done extremely well, set in a perfect setting for horror. I appreciate how the characters make logical decisions and still get wiped out. The practical effects are still great and the distrust amongst everyone is stronger than The Thing itself. The ending is one of the best too.
After rewatching „Abenteuer in Rio“ I am (re-)discovering the incredibly rich filmography of JEAN-PAUL BELMONDO, and, wow, he was truly a singular sensation, doing his own crazy stunts long before Tom Cruise (and after Buster Keaton, I know). Zig-zagging between genres he was incredibly versatile and always had that special charisma, on screen and in real life.
Looking forward to watching many films of his I had never seen yet.
Which ones did you already see?
I am a huge Belmondo fan, my favorites are:
Peur sur la ville, one of the best Belmondo cop thrillers and including an incredible chase on the rooftops.
Le Professionnel, rough crime thriller with the famous Ennio Morricone Chi Mai theme, which was original made for a long forgotten tv movie from the beginning of the seventies.
L’As des as, W.W.2 adventure comedy from Gerard Oury (the best Louis de Funes director)
Le Marginal, tough police movie with a couple of incredible stunts by Belmondo
Le Magnifique, comedy about a writer’s life and the spy genre
Borsalino, gangster movie with superstar duo Delon-Belmondo
Le Casse, crime thriller with Omar Sharif and one of the best car chases ever.
Le Cerveau, aka The Brain, crime comedy not taken seriously but a lot of fun while watching, including Bourvil, David Niven and Eli Wallach and directed by Gerard Oury, the one who made the best De Funes movies (Le Corniaud, La Grande Vadrouille and Les Aventures de Rabbi Jacob).
A bout de souffle, the famous Jean-Luc Godard movie not every one’s cup of tea, but with a fantastic Belmondo and Jean Seberg.
Pierrot le Fou, again Godard, a kind of road movie but then in typical Godard style with co starring Anna Karina.
La Sirene du Mississipi, co starring Catherine Deneuve directed by Francois Trufaut, about a rich man who discovers that the woman with whom he had a romantic correspondence and who will be his future wife, is a complete different person as the one of the photographs he received. Well when it is someone like Deneuve I wouldn’t complain much!
Just to get into the right mode :
The Terminator
Hmm. The machines appear to create their own problem by sending back a Terminator to kill the virginal mother of a man with the initials JC (…ok), provoking the humans to send back nice Mr Reese who impregnates Sarah Connor which creates the nemesis that the machines send back a Terminator to destroy. Is that right? Fate looping, is that the idea? Seems like a lot of codswallop.
On the basis that the machines are presumably in the future waiting for Mr Connor to be erased from history and he is not, why not send a thousand Terminators back until he does disappear from their present? The machines are twerps.
Also, why does the Terminator skeleton thing have teeth?
I started with „L‘ homme de Rio“, went to „L‘ animal“ (very broad humour which did not age well, still funny and impressive stunts), rewatched „A bout de souffle“, „L’as des as“ (also quite broad humour, dangerously depicting Hitler yet getting away with it, also through the friendship between Belmondo‘s character and his former German nemesis), then saw the documentary by his son „Belmondo par Belmondo“.
Now I will turn to „Les Tribulations d’un Chinois en Chine“, „Peur sur la ville“, „Le Magnifique“ and „Le corps de mon enemi“ - all of which I have never seen before.
Le corps de mon enemi didn’t do it for me, it went nowhere. I saw it twice first on dvd and later on blu ray, because it was in that German boxset, otherwise I probably never watch it again.
L’ animal is the kind of Belmondo movie I like, it is very silly and goofy, and Belmondo really lets loose—especially in the dual role of a wimpy actor and a stuntman. He certainly doesn’t take himself seriously at all. And … then you have the beautiful Raquel Welch! Rrrrr! 