http://videosift.com/video/Inside-The-Actors-Studio-The-Cast-Of-Family-Guy
http://videosift.com/video/Inside-The-Actors-Studio-Mickey-Rourke -- especially good.
http://videosift.com/video/Inside-The-Actors-Studio-Steven-Spielberg
http://videosift.com/video/Inside-The-Actors-Studio-Morgan-Freeman

Just sayin....

Shia actually did essentially apologize, or at least accept blame, for his part in making the movie suck.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/movies/2010/05/shia-labeouf-wall-street-2-indiana-jones-steven-spielberg.html

Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson are behind this...

so that should tell you something.

I've actually always thought Michael Bay's visuals were pretty awful. Some parts are getting better (the CGI parts, probably more out of his hands), but his explosions and action sequences always look like one of those live action shows you see at places like Disneyland. The explosions are always too well timed, too firey without any impact, and basically it all just looks really staged. I don't think he has any redeeming features at all as a director, really.

For my money, Spielberg is (or probably more appropriately *was*) the best action director. He's terrible at characters and drama, but his action sequences are fantastic.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

I didn't even really think about it, but if it was a John Williams-esque score that probably contributed to the Spielberg feeling.>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:

@dag
Issy and I saw this last night and dug it. JJA really nailed the style and feel of a Speilberg flick, with some help from the composer, Giacchino, who did an impressive John Williams homage. I don't think the film had the depth of an ET or Close Encounters, but it was still 2 hours of pure inner child fun. And as far as plot holes go, this is intended as a childhood fantasy. If this were Cloverfield, those kids would have been eaten in the opening frames of the film.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

That's a good point about the deputy dad. I have a feeling that his expanded role might be on the edit-room floor. The pacing was very tight, and I bet they chopped a fair bit out to keep the momentum.

>> ^blankfist:

I'm adding some spoilers to the mix. You've been forewarned.
I agree, excellent homage to the kid ensemble films of the 80s. Each scene with the five or so boys never felt as if they were waiting for their line reading. Each of them were given things to dwell on that differed from the overarching through line of each scene. During important scenes the kids took time to be kids, called each other names, have their own conversation objectives, etc. Those scenes were rich. And I really wish nearly every blockbuster movie was made like that.
The story itself didn't live up to what the film delivered in tone and pacing. If you disagree, then let me ask you a question. What exactly did the deputy father do the latter half of the movie? During the first half, he sets himself up as a major player when he starts sleuthing around the train wreckage, goes against the sheriff's wishes to investigate further and ultimately gets arrested by the Air Force.
And then what did he do to advance the story forward? Virtually nothing. He contributes nearly zilch outside of freeing the little girl's father, and at that point they have a little "them" time to heal their rift. He was set up as a major role that advanced the plot in the beginning, then he was given busywork to finish out the movie while the children picked up where he left off.
I'm not sure yet if I like or dislike the scene where the alien picks up the protagonist kid, does some psychic exchange, then when the boy tells him "bad things happen, but you can live," the alien thinks, "yeah, that's sound advice," then gets the hell out of dodge. I don't know, am I just too cynical now? Maybe I am, because...
The movie was rated PG-13 even though it had cigarette smoking, pot smoking and hard liquor drinking in it. I don't think those things are deserving of an R rating, but the MPAA sure as shit does, but only when it's an industry darling's movie. If you're an indie filmmaker and put a cigarette in your movie you're pretty much guaranteed to get an R. Spielberg and Abrams do it, add some hard drinking, a couple shits, a fuck, guts splattering and a hell of a lot of focus on getting high, and the MPAA bends at the knees.
Also did you notice when the stoned guy passes out cold and the kids leave him, it appeared that they had to ADR in a new line for one of the kids: "Drugs are bad!"
But other than that, the film was great.

I'm adding some spoilers to the mix. You've been forewarned.

I agree, excellent homage to the kid ensemble films of the 80s. Each scene with the five or so boys never felt as if they were waiting for their line reading. Each of them were given things to dwell on that differed from the overarching through line of each scene. During important scenes the kids took time to be kids, called each other names, have their own conversation objectives, etc. Those scenes were rich. And I really wish nearly every blockbuster movie was made like that.

The story itself didn't live up to what the film delivered in tone and pacing. If you disagree, then let me ask you a question. What exactly did the deputy father do the latter half of the movie? During the first half, he sets himself up as a major player when he starts sleuthing around the train wreckage, goes against the sheriff's wishes to investigate further and ultimately gets arrested by the Air Force.

And then what did he do to advance the story forward? Virtually nothing. He contributes nearly zilch outside of freeing the little girl's father, and at that point they have a little "them" time to heal their rift. He was set up as a major role that advanced the plot in the beginning, then he was given busywork to finish out the movie while the children picked up where he left off.

I'm not sure yet if I like or dislike the scene where the alien picks up the protagonist kid, does some psychic exchange, then when the boy tells him "bad things happen, but you can live," the alien thinks, "yeah, that's sound advice," then gets the hell out of dodge. I don't know, am I just too cynical now? Maybe I am, because...

The movie was rated PG-13 even though it had cigarette smoking, pot smoking and hard liquor drinking in it. I don't think those things are deserving of an R rating, but the MPAA sure as shit does, but only when it's [edit] NOT an industry darling's movie. If you're an indie filmmaker and put a cigarette in your movie you're pretty much guaranteed to get an R. Spielberg and Abrams do it, add some hard drinking, a couple shits, a fuck, guts splattering and a hell of a lot of focus on getting high, and the MPAA bends at the knees.

Also did you notice when the stoned guy passes out cold and the kids leave him, it appeared that they had to ADR in a new line for one of the kids: "Drugs are bad!"

But other than that, the film was great.

Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag. (show it anyway)

A.I. was a solid movie. I wish it had been more Kubrick and less Spielberg - but still good.
>> ^campionidelmondo:

Oh man, I finally remebered which movie it was that I really like, even though most people hate it: A.I.! Thank you!

>> ^jmd:

kceat, alien really was a work of art wasnt it. But they also didnt show many shots of it moving around, nore under bright lights. The majority of shots was of them getting shot up in sprays of acid and goo.


i think you completely misunderstand the art of film. Would you have been more impressed if you saw these shots? perhaps on a "detail oriented" scale. but from a movie going sense, a sense of mood, timing, suspense, and atmosphere? seeing more would be "seeing" less. In the same way that seeing less is "seeing" more.

Take jaws for example. The hitchcockian approach to the monster is what made you fucking scared. (granted that decision was largely due to the fact it wouldnt work half the time but its still a testament to the fast thinking directors mind that Spielberg has)

I'll never forget when i saw Aliens for the first time and during the Queen reveal scene i had a very serious holy-fucking-shit moment, and that bitch was made out of garbage bags and plastic. Conversely, watching Avatar just made me want to rewatch dances with wolves (or pocahontas)

>> ^BoneRemake:

What gives you more pleasure, Final Fantasy or Robot Chicken ? @kceaton1


If I could have both at the same time like this, it would be completely obvious.

Otherwise, it's Robot Chicken. Now if we could create a videogame-Robot Chicken-Spielberg/Lucas/Nolan/James Cameron/Ridley/Peter Jackson/Guillermo del Toro /Joss Whedon (to keep the others on the up & up) and then Hans Zimmer/Williams (I know)/Jerry Goldsmith/Trent Reznor/Cliff Martinez/ & Dennis McCarthy for sound. Lot's of the people involved would innately clean up mistakes (like Lucas at some point; for example).

It would be the best thing ever...

Did you want a short answer?

That's exactly what the pitch was, with the added treacle mining of Spielberg.

>> ^DerHasisttot:

The Goonies meet War of the Worlds

Wouldn't be a very good segue, though. That's like speaking Spanish and segueing into a joke about guacamole.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Wouldn't be a very good segue, though. That's like speaking English and segueing into a joke about the British Empire.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
I set you up for a pithy Nazi joke and......

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Damn parlance.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Vielen dank.

In reply to this comment by blankfist:
Greenlit.

In reply to this comment by dystopianfuturetoday:
Hahahahaha.... If Lucas were Spielberg, this probably would have already been greenlighted.

Hahahahaha.... If Lucas were Spielberg, this probably would have already been greenlit.

Great remixing and animation job by the filmmaker here, no wonder why the little guy always wanted to “phone home” … cool find from Cyriaque Lamar on io9.com:

Robert Blankenheim and Derek Johnson Productions have created a trailer for ET-X: Extinction, an unnecessarily gritty and violent sequel to Steven Spielberg’s family-friendly blockbuster.

In this preview, grown-up footage of Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore is spliced with generic disaster flick scenes (starring an authoritative Morgan Freeman, natch) and new animation of the red-eyed, cobra-necked extraterrestrials:

^ Yeah, I've heard nothing good about Skyline. War of the Worlds (the newer) comes about as close to Empire's description that I've seen, the first 30 minutes anyway. After that, Spielberg switches to autopilot.

Anyone here ever watched Testament? Lynne Littman, 1983? It's not an alien invasion movie but it is the correct way to make an apocalypse movie: no guns, no explosions, no special effects whatsoever save for a fade to white when the bombs hit. I weep like a little girl with a skinned knee every time I watch that movie. And I'm a manly man. No really. I have a beard and everything.

Seriously, Testament shows what a character-driven apocalypse movie can be. And it has a very dark yet satisfying ending.

**It's Shuac Recommended** /announcer voice