Principal Cast : Dennis Weaver, Jacqueline Scott, Eddie Firestone, Lou Frizzell, Eugene Dynarski, Lucille Benson, Tim Herbert, Charles Seel, Shirley O’Hara, Alexander Lockwood, Amy Douglass, […]
Principal Cast : Tye Sheridan, Olivia Cooke, Ben Mendelsohn, Lena Waithe, TJ Miller, Simon Pegg, Mark Rylance, Philip Zhao, Win Morisaki, Hannah John-Kamen, Susan Lynch, Ralph […]
Principal Cast : Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep, Sarah Paulson, Bob Odenkirk, Tracy Letts, Bradley Whitford, Bruce Greenwood, Matthew Rhys, Alison Brie, Carrie Coon, Jesse Plemons, David […]
Director : Steven Spielberg Year Of Release : 2016 Principal Cast : Mark Rylance, Ruby Barnhill, Penelope Wilton, Jemaine Clement, Rebecca Hall, Rafe Spall, Bill […]
Director : Steven Spielberg Year Of Release : 1982 Principal Cast : Henry Thomas, De Wallace, Peter Coyote, Drew Barrymore, Robert MacNaughton, KC Martel, Sean […]
Director : Steven Spielberg Year Of Release : 2015 Principal Cast : Tom Hanks, Mark Rylance, Amy Ryan, Scott Shepherd, Sebastian Koch, Alan Alda, Austin […]
Master story-teller Spielberg is in top form here, with Lincoln, one of the most iconic American Presidents to have lived, and the story of the Thirteenth Amendment. Daniel Day-Lewis is spellbinding as Lincoln, while the script is perhaps best approached with at least a passing knowledge of American history for the sheer weight of information and flim-flammery it throws up, but it’s the lack of saccharine Spielbergian schmaltz which keeps this film from buckling under its own weight. Talky, lovingly rendered, Lincoln is Spielberg at his very best – easily his most accomplished dramatic film in a long while. Astonishingly detailed, filled with a who’s who of Hollywood and boasting a truly epic sense of scale, Lincoln is a worthy contender for the Best Picture Oscar, while Day-Lewis is a virtual lock for Best Actor as the titular character. Wonderful stuff.
Grand, sweeping epic from Spielberg never quite hits its stride (pardon the pun) due to the somewhat clunky scripting and hollow melodramatic nature of the plot – the horse sequences are indeed magnificent, and I doubt there’s anyone alive today who captures the horror of war quite like Spielberg, but there’s a disconnect between the audience and the central character and this is one hurdle the film cannot overcome.
Absolutely terrific animated film from Spielberg, with deft flourishes and that old action adventure yarn mentality harkening back to the days before Indiana Jones appeared in The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull. Tintin, a long time favorite character of mine (and most of the worlds!) is born on the big screen thanks to state-of-the-art technology, a ripper script from Edgar Wright and Joe Cornish, and a terrific score from the irrepressible John Williams. Big on action, big on suspense, big on mystery, The Secret Of The Unicorn is just a big big adventure film begging to be enjoyed. Enjoy it.
Dramatic misfire, The Lost World shoves more dinos, most expendable cast, and a layer of understated depression across what could have been an awesome action film. Technically brilliant, the film’s average story (and Goldblums somewhat scatter-shot portrayal of Chaotician Ian Malcolm) mires it in mediocrity.
Critic-proof concept based upon Michael Crichton’s novel, Spielberg ratchets up the terror and tension using state of the art digital animation effects, and wiley film-making techniques, to ensure Jurassic Park became one of the highest grossing films of all time. Astounding effects (for their time) still hold up, even though by today’s standards they are few and far between; it’s the imaginative use of them that really heightens the terror you feel while watching this film.
I initially posted an article pitting twin war films Saving Private Ryan and The Thin Red Line against each other to figure out which was the better, and that article is still available to read here. However, recently I re-wrote that review from the ground up for fernbyfilms.com friend Bryce Zabels moviesmackdown.com, a great website I moonlight reviews for. Below is the article, slightly abridged and amended, that appeared on Bryce’s site. It’s a more mature and intricate exploration of these two films from what I have already written, and I feel that both articles have individual merit, and should both be read to get a clear understanding of exactly what I feel towards two pivotal films from 1998.
In 1989, director Steven Spielberg and producer george Lucas returned to the well of popularity to bring audiences the much clamoured for third Indiana Jones film, The Last Crusade. After the dismal critical drubbing of Temple Of Doom, I think Spielberg must have sense this as his last chance to prove that Raiders wasn’t a one-hit wonder, and poured every available smidgin of creativity into Last Crusade, to create a wonderfully exciting, humerour adventure movie, that returned our favourite archaeologist to the big screen in a story worthy of his status.
Tonally off-kilter entry into the Indiana Jones franchise leaves a decidedly bitter taste in the mouth, with the sense of fun from Raiders going missing in short order. A miscast Kate Capshaw adds to the misery Spielberg inflicts upon us with this uneven effort. Worth watching just for Harrison Fords performance, which elevates this film’s quality much more than it deserves.
Almost everything about this film is perfect. A combination of casting, story and effects, action and music, have made Raiders almost unassailable in critical circles ever since. If you had to list a couple of film’s that you could watch over and again on a deserted island, I’d have to say that Raiders would be in my top ten somewhere. Fun, exciting cinematic pulp material is given a fresh leash on life due to the skill of a master storyteller in Spielberg, and if you don’t find yourself watching this with a smile on your face, then I dare say you need to check your pulse. Cinema for the sake of entertainment, that really does entertain.
Exciting, exhilarating, terrifying cinema experience, perhaps Spielberg’s best since Private Ryan, in terms of it’s emotional grip on the viewer. Dynamite effects and action sequences, coupled with a layered and intense performance by Cruise (who’d have thought?) and this film is a tense, edge-of-your-seat viewing masterpiece.
One of the best Best Picture films ever – Schindler’s List is a potent, searing reminder of man’s inhumanity to man. Essential viewing, unforgettable, and entirely affecting; there simply are not enough superlatives in existence to describe the magnificent work Spielberg did to make the Holocaust so horrific on film.
Not the return to form we were all hoping for, KOTCS is all style over substance, and a lacklustre amount of style at that. Harrison Ford looks like he’s sleepwalking through this, and not even Shia LeBeouf can save this film from the murky waters of mediocrity. Which is a shame.
Until recently, world audiences were unwilling to witness the true horror of war brought close to home, right into your face. Spielberg, in much the same way he revolutionized the extent that digital effects could tell a story in Jurassic Park, decided to take what was , at the time, a relatively unconventional approach and utterly dehumanize the ravages of war on the participants, and give us the full throttle adrenaline ride that it must have been to be shot at, shot up, and blown to bits on the beaches of northern France during the first days of D-Day. Of course, Saving Private Ryan was never meant to be thrilling.
