In an odd reactionary display, Steven Spielberg had recently called for a change in the Academy Awards eligibility criteria in order to rule out any chance for the streaming platform Netflix to be able to throw nominees in the race for an Oscar. He lost.The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), which is responsible for handing down the Oscars, announced last week that it would not change the eligibility criteria

One of soundtrack composer John Williams’s great masterstrokes with the Steven Spielberg-directed “Jaws” (1975) was crafting a musical theme with just two notes, E and F. Recognizable the world over, that half-step interval instantly causes tension knowing that the monster great white shark is nearby. In fact, it’s arguably the first thoroughly-modern score, said Emil de Cou, who will conduct the National Symphony Orchestra

Such is Spielberg’s draw that even film lovers with little interest in dystopia or sci-fi hesitate only a couple of days before dutifully making their way to the nearest movie theater. So, does it deserve the praise? Not really. Special CGI-enhanced effects, spectacular as they are, pall after a while and become repetitive although to the end there are lovely surprising images such as the disco scene with the dancing couples floating in an endless colorful vortex.

The Cold War, which provides the historical context for Steven Spielberg's new film BRIDGE OF SPIES, is one of modern history's more stupid phases (BRIDGE OF SPIES is based on real historical events), a Thanksgiving Day parade of hypocrites high on reefer-madness paranoia about the other guy. That era gave us doctrines, an arms race, the constant threat of mutually-assured destruction and a movie franchise

The eighties, what an awesome decade. M.J. was the king of pop, "Egyptian lover" was rocking the airwaves and Bill Cosby was everyone’s favorite grand-daddy. What a difference thirty years makes. A wave of something is sweeping through the film industry and a glut of sequels inspired by the seventies’, eighties’ and nineties’ most famous franchises is looming large. Is it nostalgia or a lack of inspiration? No matter

Over a week ago the seventieth anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz by Soviet troops was marked. Auschwitz is an emblem, a name that's burned in humanity's collective soul and one that behooves us to pay attention, to understand, and to never forget. In another seventy years, there won't be any survivors left but this anniversary will be observed again, presumably, and every seventy years after this. As participants in this

It's hard not to feel trepidations after our most successful film auteur has become designated to head the world's most beloved film festival. In a rare convergence of schedules, Steven Spielberg has been nominated to preside over the 66th Cannes Festival. “My admiration for the steadfast mission of the Festival to champion the international language of movies is second to none. The most prestigious of its kind, the festival has

Last night I felt as if our sixteenth president leapt […]

Thirty years ago today at the Cannes Festival the closing film got a ten-minute ovation, its director later commenting that “this was the best welcome I’ve ever gotten in my life.” The film was E.T. and the words were by Steven Spielberg. E.T. was a personal film, Elliot’s room is based on Spielberg’s own when he was growing up, and the character of E.T. is a fully-realized version of an imaginary friend a traumatized Spielberg had conjured

When Spielberg announced his plans for a “Tintin” movie, fans of the little Belgian reporter with the red pompadour—and that includes pretty much anyone who ever held a comic book—were thrilled. When they got to see the final product, less so. This big disappointment begs the question: Why ever did we expect otherwise? Why should we have thought that Spielberg, director of big American movies, action-packed and going off in loud