Some viewers, the brave hearted, and lovers of fish, found Jaws “fun”. I was seriously terrified. I lost my dear Buckles, the adorable Sea Lion I’d owned for 10 years, to a vicious Great White Shark. Unlike the shark in the movie, Buckles killer was never located.
I love his movies.
3
A nice article, interesting take, he's a very self-aware filmmaker and I always look forward to one of his films; have since I was a child.
That said, and this is more a comment on the interviewer and editor and The New York Times in general, why do I care that Spielberg "only holds cigars" and doesn't smoke them anymore? What kind of nonsense editorializing is this, and why has this implied judgemental nonsense become a part of the writing process? It's exhausting and silly and meaningless. I wouldn't think less of him if he smoked a cigar. I find it hard to believe he keeps a full stock of expensive cigars lying around just "to hold them".
Looking forward to the film.
6
I haven't seen all of his movies, or any of the later ones. I consider some of them to be among the greatest films ever made. But plenty of duds, which is akin to a home run king who also leads the league in strikeouts. One thing I noticed is that somewhere along the way, he forgot how to end a film. "Saving Private Ryan" and "Schindler's List," for all their power, went on for several minutes after they should have ended. Spoiler ahead: At the end of "War of the Worlds," what should have been the dramatic reunion of the family distracted viewers with the cameos by Gene Barry and Ann Robinson, the stars of the original film. Other than that, there really isn't any arguing with Spielberg's genius.
1
Jaws is still fun because it was fresh in its day. The newer movies? Those like The Post are a formula and makes it appear the once-creative director is now more interested in making money or political statements (boring). Like eating too much sugar: good at first, then I find myself enervated.
3
The book was meh. It's fun if you like to read about people playing video games. Which, I get, a lot of people do. But it's not worth the hype. The movie will be huge, methinks, because, well, video games and the 80s. Like getting chocolate in your peanut butter.
1
That was my reaction to the book as well, seriously over-hyped at the time.
Personally, I just like a fun movie where I can escape reality for a while. The world is too much with us...
6
I enjoyed the book and I confess that I only bought the book after learning that Speilberg was making the movie. The book is again an Amazon best-seller and the movie hasn't been released yet. There must be more people like me who will follow Speilberg anywhere.
4
Curiously, "The Adventures of Tintin" is my touchstone for the genius of Speilberg as a director, and particularly a director of action sequences. I often find myself either hopelessly lost during an over-busy fight-chase-combat sequence (I'm looking at you, Michael Bay!) or at best semi-clear on what is transpiring. But the motorcycle chase (with the scroll and the dam and the falcon) is an astonishing sequence. The framing, the camera movement, the seamless moving back and forth between characters (and it really is seamless--it's one long take). The sequence is incredibly quick, the images densely packed with action and characters and information, but you always know exactly where everyone is and what they're doing. Really, he has an extraordinary gift.
6
It is a vastly underrated film - an animated Raiders of the Lost Ark. Honestly I love it. Totally agree.
3
I read RP1 over a year ago and absolutely loved it - I cannot WAIT to see this next week! The soundtrack alone will be fabulous.
2
I always got the impression from reading and seeing Spielberg interviews that after he made SCHINDLER'S LIST he grew up permanently as a director in terms of the subjects and stories he was looking to and wanting to make. And that's okay, he's made some great films since then. Every time he has tried to return to making something for pure entertainment (The Lost World, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and fun, it has come across as slightly cold and empty compared to his pre-SCHINDLER work. It's almost as if I can sense his disinterest in the material.
5
The comments on this article are nothing short of shameful. If Spielberg croaked tomorrow, ya'll would be endlessly praising all he's done for movies, and you'd be right to.
I didn't grow up with Spielberg the way many who underrate his more recent output did, but even if I had I'd still find it incredibly precious to watch a movie like "Lincoln" or "The Post"—weighty subjects approached with Spielberg's deftly spirited touch—as well as purportedly broader entertainments (but sadly too smart for now) such as the enormously undervalued "The Adventures of Tintin" and "The BFG" (and hopefully "Ready Player One")—pop spectacles levied by Spielberg's sharply human grace.
Snide his success all you'd like, but there's no one in modern American cinematic history who so widely retrofitted the culture to themselves to the degree Spielberg has. He's every bit as vital to his craft as Truffaut, Bergman, Scorsese, Tarantino, Paul Thomas Anderson, and perhaps his closest predecessor Capra—his box office returns just happen to match his intellect, his dinosaur park as momentous as Schindler's list.
10
My thinking with regards to Spielberg is that if there's a Nazi in the film, it's got a good chance of being a good movie. Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, Indiana Jones. Indiana Jones #2 sucked, probably because he left out the Nazis (fortunately he brought them back in #3).
He's also done some good film without Nazis (Jurassic Park #1, Close Encounters), but I'm still hoping that he threw a Nazi or two into Ready Player One to increase the odds of it being a good movie.
Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer spoof ready player one have adult - : Adam Sandler starting
how can he have any fun, he's too busy going through old films destroying the original scenes, and replacing appropriate guns with stupid walkie talkies. At least when he's not also taking the time to be a hypocrite about the money he made off them...
Spielberg is the elephant in the room.
1
I'm so over Spielberg. Deeply disappointed in The Post.
1
HAIL MARY
Now, if only he’d direct the remake of LOST HORIZON I have written…
2
[An awfully inconcise, under-edited interview, but.....] SS is 71 and positioned to appeal and write for an older, mature audience--which is not the 18 - 49 big-spending movie demographic. It's the upcoming generation of filmmakers that will sell to them-if they can even be sold (new world out there, ya know)! Also, permit me to join Mr Freeman's comment: WHY??!!
I don't know. When I leave the theater after having watched a Spielberg movie to paraphrase Pauline Kael, " you feel like your pocket's been picked."
1
It is going to be a spectacular disaster. I read the book (and liked it); Spielberg was not the right director for this film. The Post is all about him...DULL.
1
Seeing 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' on the night it opened in June of 1981 was the greatest movie-going experience of my life. ...And I count myself as an omnivorous cineaste. I don't care what Mr Speilberg produces as long as he still loves movies and making movies as much as he did when he was a kid with an 8mm camera. I believe he still does.
6
His films get worse in direct proportion to the viewer’s I. Q. going up. Shouldn’t even be in the same discussion with Bergman, Felini, Coen Brothers, Allen, Tarrentino, Inarritu, Hitch and all the other great directors.
1
I love many of his films due to their inherent strengths as cinematic experiences. But he hardly ever surprises or ventures into new territory as concerns narrative: his story-telling is more or less always linear, expressing a straightforward morale and is built around recognisable, occasionally flat characters. I wish Mr Spielberg had a more daring Mr Hide co-habiting with his Mr Jekyll...
I didn´t study a communication carrer or something like cinema but i can recognize a great director, although people say that his movies are blockbuster, he is a great director, screenwriter and productor, in a nutshell a big artist. I think and I belive that the movie "Ready palyer one" be will a great movie.
4
Since Mr. Spielberg's remake of "West Side Story" was announced, I've racked my brain to come up with a rationale for his expending so much trouble and expense on such an unnecessary and quixotic project. Other than making more enlightened casting decisions, what can he possibly hope to accomplish, particularly if his ideas for the material include redoing the iconic choreography, updating the dialogue, and/or lightening the stark message captured in the musical's closing images? I'm sure the estates of the original creative team are being substantially rewarded for their approval, but I can't help but wonder what Messrs. Laurents, Bernstein, and Robbins, uber control freaks, would have felt about the selling of their masterwork for rejiggering.
13
It was right for the moment but the moment has passed. As a movie it's akin to all the remakes of "King Kong". All the gloss and high tech can't replicate the wonder of the original, however dated it may seem. It's also a judgement on the lack of originality in our entertainment, like all the Broadway revivals and Disney translations--and Transformers: Whatever Number They Are Now.
8
Spielberg has always wanted to make a musical.
3
Anyone who still uses "Transformers" as reference to the lack of originality in Hollywood is themselves woefully outdated.
Have you seen a Spielberg movie? He has way more in common with "wonder" than "gloss and high tech."
1
Still trying to figure out if "the euphoria that greeted his new science-fiction epic at the South by Southwest Film Festival bodes well for the release of "Ready Player One" or does it signal "low battery".
I loved reading this interview of Spielberg's success doing what he loves to do, getting reward and respect for his success, and busy at work keeping on.
An inspiration and a national treasure.
Thank you, Mr. Spielberg, for all the wonderful movies. Even just one would have been a coup. I plan to see your new movie, too! A virtual oasis. Great concept of the future!
Bravo!
18
Kind of disappointed. Art3mis is described in Mr. Cline's book as being curvy, possibly even plus size. There is a scene where she and Wade/Parzival meet in real life, and really like each other. It would have been a great opportunity to present that, but I guess you have to go with commercially thin actresses. I love the book - I just hope the finished product is similar!
8
The black-and-white portrait of Speilberg is hypnotizing. I looked right into his eyes, remembered all of his accomplishments and the unforgettable moments at movies he has given me. He's one of America's finest treasures, and there will never be another director like him.
19
I would love for a man of Spielberg's great talent to give himself permission to focus on the socially meaningful films he seems drawn to. Munich, Bridge of Spies, The Post are all very good films that are masterfully directed.
Leave the Fanboy stuff to the Fanboys and continue to put together a body of work that is singular. The Beatles didn't keep writing She Loves You, they moved on which may be why they're still so relevant today.
24
Spielberg is a master director who makes going to a movie theater a fun experience much more often than not. He's been thrilling audiences since the 1970s both with popcorn blockbusters and thoughtful movies, something for which fills me with tremendous gratitude.
For his next big project, I hope he uses his power to bring many more people of color, including women, into the industry to work both behind and in front of the cameras.
9
His popcorn movies are pure escapism. There’s nothing wrong with that.
In his serious movies, with the exception of Schindler’s List and Munich, he can’t resist sappy touches that mar an otherwise great film. In Lincoln, for example, the scene with Tommy Lee Jones in bed with his slave reading the Emancipation Proclamation is pure corny and contrived.
So let Spielberg be Spielberg. He’s done a great job entertaining us over the years, and like any great artist, most stuff works, some stuff not so much. Who cares?
16
This looks entertaining and very nice use of Mark Rylance.
But I was creeped out by how many of the "actors" are CGI folk. Gamers are used to it.
OK, I'll take a breath: I won't see the end real human actors in my lifetime, but it's still icky.
3
This movie will have little appeal to a mature movie goer who is not tech savvy. There are lots of us out there. This will not be a blockbuster.
2
Don't stereotype groups of people and prejudge how they'll think or behave. You'll be surprised every time.
2
You have to be quite mature indeed if the 80s feels too modern for your tastes.
2
Looking back, has he ever made a film that actually seemed inspired, rather than contrived? He's a lot like a magician who does the tricks with skill and grace, but all the while you know that they're tricks, and the second time you see him, you see the clockwork.
That, and the complete inability to do comedy. He's had actors do funny things, but the last time he tried to make a comedy was "1941", and the comics in that look weighted with lead.
7
It takes more talent to make a truly great budget movie (such as "Hidden Figures" or "Moonrise Kingdom" then it does to make these razzle-dazzle boom movies that are long on special effects and leave you feeling empty when you walk out of the theater. The Marvel franchise has turned the levels of razzle-dazzle-boom up from a mere torrent to a flood of biblical proportions. Lately I've been taking a pass on the commercial razzle dazzle and I think my life is better for it. To be sure, I think I was seeing more than my "normal" share of that commercial junk in my role as father to a teenage son, but now he goes off and does that stuff with his girlfriend, and which is a bit of a relief, though it was kind of fun discussing with him whether Thor was stronger than Hulk or vice versa.
6
I was severely disappointed to learn Steven Spielberg was directing "Ready Player One." He's a fabulous director and I love many of his films but this story is not for him. Not now. Maybe not ever. I was about to begin explaining the novel but I realized there's no point. Just go read the book. Even a slow reader won't find the effort taxing. You'll begin to see what I mean.
More modern failures aside, the reason I know Spielberg is absolutely the wrong person for this job actually comes from Stanley Kubrick. "A.I. Artificial Intelligence" is the film we should recall in this context. Kubrick was the original director of this film. He died before the production was complete. Spielberg took over. Watch the film again. See if you can notice the exact moment when the film shifts from Kubrick being Kubrick to Spielberg trying to be Kubrick. Eventually Spielberg stops even trying.
Spielberg hasn't necessarily lost the touch. He's simply the wrong touch for "Ready Player One."
3
As directors grow older, so do their audiences. I grew out of popcorn and explosion movies years ago and I've never looked back. Why should Spielberg?
5
“'Ready Player One' may include warnings about V.R. addiction, but the movie simultaneously functions as the biggest ad yet for the technology. If the visually spectacular Oasis doesn’t make everyday folks want to buy a pair of virtual-reality goggles, perhaps nothing will."
The embrace of AI and VR is lost on me. It's a disappointing and confusing kind of irony that this is the same person who so spectacularly and repeatedly captivated our imaginations by challenging his own. What happened to the who brought us ET, Indiana Jones, Schindlers List, Amistad, Jaws, Emperor of the Sun (...and so on)?
Mr. Spielberg, there are so, so many stories to tell that are better than this. Ones that are real to the human experience, or push our comfort zone and sense of human possibility to wonderful new terrain.
7
Odd that there's no mention here of "War Horse" (2011) among Spielberg's recent movies. One could refer to it as both an historical drama AND a multiplex movie though not particularly successful as either. As for a planned remake of "West Side Story": why, Mr. Spielberg? Why?
13
The music and dancing in WSS was memorable; the parts that fell in between? Not so much. Definitely room for improvement there.
Great interview. A reminder that even the most talented can't always be perfect. Very excited to see Ready Player One!
Mr. Spielberg is treasure.
10
This film was already made. It's called "The Congress".
4
I like Spielberg. He doesn't just phone in a film, and he works for my entertainment. But people give him too much credit. His want to please the audience too easily forgives a story that's relying too heavily on cheap humor and action schlock. If he isn't working with a good script, then there's only so good his movies will be.
And like many directors of his ilk - J.J. Abrams, Tim Burton, and George Lucas come to mind - he just doesn't seem to know how to sniff out the good scripts from the bad ones. It's like he's tunnel visioned, only able to focus on the few aspects of the story that he likes, gets hung up on a lot of the visual elements, and then forgets the importance of sharp dialogue and complex characters. I could go into a lot of personal theories as to why scripts have gotten worse over the years - cultural decline playing out over the generations, big budgets crowding out the possibility of risky storytelling, etc. - but that's a whole other conversation. It is what it is.
So screenwriters matter as much as directors. And all that having been said, when Spielberg is in his element, armed with a great script, he is a truly a showman of rare talent.
8
The reason for poor quality *produced* scripts in Hollywood is very simple. Paradoxically it's because Hollywood is so popular. They get so many submissions from all around the world that they assign these mountains to the inexperienced and clueless interns and the interns have absolutely no idea about what will make a successful movie or not. All they know is that if an adverb appears somewhere then the script is bad.
The fact that perplexed and bewildered interns are actually the gatekeepers of screenplay submissions, including at agencies, production companies, studios, competitions, everywhere, you name it -- is the reason there are so many hopeless scripts. You might as well assign badgers and raccoons to pick out winners by scratching at them randomly. No other big money industry in the world would have interns as the gatekeepers. But because of the huge amount of material, there appears no other option.
All you have left are the really successful directors who are inevitably working on their own stories or material through their own writer contacts in the industry and/or previously published material. Meanwhile there are undoubtedly countless gems amongst the mountainous piles of submissions that the interns stare at blankly and if you asked them to describe the theme, or the subtext they would just pass out.
My advice to aspiring filmmakers these days; write and make your own films.
*Sorry this is not strictly about 'Ready Player One'
8
As a professional screenwriter with numerous studio credits, I would disagree somewhat. Yes, interns will read your scripts until you're known, but that will stop once you've started selling. And even many of the interns are quite smart about scripts.
The real issue, imo, is that the Box Office is now 70% international. Well-written, character-driven scripts for grownups are a fringe business to the major studios. They are really in the business of tentpoles which will play all over the world and are easily franchised (i.e. comic book movies). This is decidedly different from the 1970s, when International Box Office was an afterthought.
Lady Bird, The Big Sick, Three Billboards, I Tonya are all wonderful, character-driven movies with well-crafted scripts. But, alas, they are all indies.
33
And you make these authoritative pronouncements from your perch in. . .Melbourne Australia?
1