EP.50 Steven Spielberg Part 2

Hosts Tyler and Justin of the Newbies to Movies Podcast tackle Steven Spielberg's legendary science-fiction filmography, breaking down both the 1977 classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind and his latest alien thriller, Disclosure Day. They follow up this cinematic discussion by putting together a thrilling snake-style movie draft of their favorite extraterrestrial and alien films.

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:13

Yo yo, it's Tyler. It's newbies to movies. And this is a podcast where we like to talk about new movies. What's up, what's up? It's Justin. I'm back again this week of being able to record about Steven Spielberg. Second take on it. We've done it in the past, but this time with one of his new movies we that just came out. From this time that this is going to be released, it's going to be like two months after it's released, trying to get away from the spoilers so we can actually talk about the film more in depth. So if you haven't seen it within two months, then it's like you really weren't trying to go see it because Steven Spielberg new movie. Like that should be like a first or two second week kind of experience thing. But uh Yeah, Justin, uh let's start off how we usually do with uh what have you been watching lately?

SPEAKER_00 0:56

Yeah, so I mentioned a couple weeks ago on the show, me and Matt, uh, we got the the Regal pass for the summer. We've been absolutely cooking one month, we've seen six movies. That's good for me. I know that's uh rookie numbers for Tyler. But yeah, we went and saw Disclosure Day last night. Um or not disclosure day, I'm sorry, obsession, uh, last night. Uh I was kind of going into it like, okay, everybody's overhyping this movie, but it was actually really gas. I was kind of shocked by the acting and the cinematography. Those stood out, you know, the most out of everything for me. Just being such a low budget film. Obviously, I didn't think that that was gonna be one of the impressive aspects of it. But the actors were good. Obviously, they're kind of blowing up, they're gonna end up getting huge roles, I'm sure, soon. And then we also saw Supergirl this week. Uh a little bit disappointed in it. I think Millie Alcock was amazing as Supergirl, but I think the plot kind of held her back. I'm not gonna get too much into it, um, because I know you haven't seen that one yet. But especially coming off Superman last year, Superman was a really great movie, you know, a really great debut for the DC universe, but it just kind of felt a little underwhelming, and maybe it was just because that one was so good. But what you been watching?

SPEAKER_03 2:07

Yeah, I'll just speak on to the both the movies that you talked about. I haven't seen Supergirl, but I heard a lot of people comparing it to Thor Dark World, which I was like, well, that's a horrible comparison. So it did not make me excited, uh, or does not make me excited to go see it. Or but then Obsession. Last time I was on here, I ranked it like pretty high on my top 10 of the year. I really liked it. For such a low budget horror movie, you can't tell with the way it's filmed. That's because such a creative idea, but a very contained story. And I think that those are the most effective horror stories, in my opinion, are like these really creative ideas but contained stories that don't try to get too big. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_00 2:46

Yeah, dude. So I told Matt, and maybe this is crazy. You know, I'm not a horror fan. I haven't seen that many horror movies, but out of the ones I've seen, it's probably The Shining and then Obsession. And I don't think that's a crazy thing to say. I haven't seen that many horror movies. Like I said, I'm I'm missing out on Jordan Peel's, right? I'm missing out on us and get out. I haven't seen those yet. By the way, episode idea coming up soon. But yeah, it's definitely up there for me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 3:13

No, uh, it's it was it's so interesting because the director came from like making Instagram reels. Like I've watched his reels for the last three years, and then he just and he and it was just really good, and the actors are really good. Like less than million dollars, and it's like making so much money like his next film was already planned because produce like studios were like jumping at him because they're like, Oh wow, this guy knows what he's doing. Yeah. Such a young age. Kind of like with Parsons with backrooms as well. Just really young actors just going for it. Very contained stories with these very creative ideas for them. But what I've been watching lately, so I watched Tuner. It's a movie about a guy that has hearing problems, but it's not like he can't hear. It's the opposite effect where he can overhear. And then from that, he becomes like be able to unlock safes really well and then finds himself in problems. It reminds me a lot of the movie Thief and a lot of like different types of heist films, but very contained story again. Dustin Hoffman makes a cameo really appearance, not like a kind of a supporting role on probably one of his last films, I would say, just because he hasn't really been into acting all that much at this later stage of his career. Really liked it. Justin, I think you would really like this film. It pretty much fits like everything you want while you care about like the main characters, while like again, very contained story that really appreciated, gave it like a really high rating, like four and a half out of five stars for me. Watch Power Ballad. It's a story about Paul Rudd's song getting stolen by a big artist who's played by Nick Jonas. And just the dynamic between them two is really good. That was a solid film that like nothing too special about it, but I would still recommend seeing it if you like the displays of music. But if that song is the most popular song in the world, then something wrong is going on. But some songs that get really popular, it also surprised me. So watch the sheep detectives. I came in thinking it was gonna be the dumbest movie, but then I saw it had really good reviews, and I was like, all right, I'm gonna give it a chance. Even though I saw the trailers, every time I would go to the movie theaters and be like, there's no way I'm gonna go see that. That looks so dumb. And then after seeing it, I was like, dude, the trailers did not do that movie justice. Yes, it has like dumb things because at the end of the day, it's sheep talking about being detectives, but somehow it it tackles grief way better than almost any other movie that comes out nowadays. And I was like, how is this movie about sheep tackling grief in a way better way and more acceptable?

SPEAKER_00 5:29

So Madison tends to watch some like childish movies, and she'll be the first to tell you that. And so I told her, I was like, just watch it without me. Like I'm I'm good. And I kind of have to go back and watch it now because of what you said, and she told me it was amazing too. She said she was bawling crying.

SPEAKER_03 5:47

Yeah. I was crying. I also wasn't like in the mood for it. Like, so I wouldn't say I was like set up to be able to like cry and stuff, but I will say, like, it's definitely emotional there, but you gotta come into it. Like at the end of the day it's like sheep talking, but like it is actually a mystery, and like I didn't see it coming. Like I will say, like I was like kind of bamboozled by this by the twist of it. I was like, oh wow, okay. Like it's not actually predictable. Like a lot of people were saying that they were expecting like a knives out situation, but then it turned out to be like internal sunside of the spot. It's not just definitely I wouldn't say I want to go that far, but it was it was sad. Like there's some like one-liners where I'm like, damn, he had a brother sad in here. And then I saw Wasteman. This is a British film set in a prison about a guy that's about to get out, played by David Johnson, one of my favorite young actors. And then Tom Blythe is like the villain-ish or like other prison mate, kind of putting him in bad situations when he's just trying to go out and see his son. I saw really good reviews about this. It made me really excited to see it. Really good acting, but for me, like the story just seemed underdeveloped, seemed just not all the way there. Came in really high expectations and didn't really meet them. So just like three and a half stars for me. But if you're into like prison type of stories, then I would recommend it. But they're all in like British accents. So if you're also into that, then check it out.

SPEAKER_00 7:12

So, question for you, because I mean, we just talked about six movies. I think two or three of them, you mentioned how like how small and contained the stories were. Do you think like Hollywood might be flipping? I mean, for the past 10 years, we've had to watch Marvel and Star Wars and DC, and you had to watch ten other movies to go with it. But then we're seeing the success of like, like you said, these small-scale movies. I mean, do you think it could be heading back in that direction? Like, oh, people don't want to have to do all this homework.

SPEAKER_03 7:40

Yeah, I I I think that's a good conversation because you you talk about a lot of the older movies that we do on this podcast, they seem a lot more contained, right? Stories about individuals and more like relationships focus. Well, like the last 10 to 20 years, I would say it's been going more epic style, that I think isn't as like successful in the way of like actually being like a good critical movie. But then we're also talking about like Sinners last year, one battle after another. But even and then Project Hail Mary this year, like a massive movie that we're talking about, like on a like a grand scale kind of notion and like plot of it. But yeah, I would say a lot of like the more successful movies this year, in my opinion, have been more contained stories. So I think it is going back to like the 70s and 80s type of style of movies where it's more focused on relationships and actual like digging into those themes, which we always talk about on this podcast.

SPEAKER_00 8:36

That's like maybe that's why Project Hail Mary did so well too, because you're right, it is this grand epic uh scale, but it's also pretty contained what there was maybe three characters, four characters important to the plot. And so it maybe it just kind of grabbed the best of both worlds, and that's why it did so well right off the bat.

SPEAKER_03 8:56

Yeah, I I think so too. Like I think people are just kind of numb to like the over saturation of characters. We're gonna see with like how Spider-Man does. I mean, Supergirl isn't doing really well, like and we'll see how Vengers maybe does. So yeah, but then we're we're talking about another grand scale like movie today where it has a lot of many other characters, which you we where we have differing opinions about it. So it will it will be interesting to see how it seems like Hollywood is putting more money, especially with A24, which is I think is the biggest production company that really focuses on those small-scale relationship stories more than any other production company by far. Which maybe that is also a telltale sign of them getting bigger, showing the a difference of how Hollywood is viewing that. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 9:42

Cool, cool. So I played this guessing game with uh Paige and with Mason when I had guests on the show, so it's time to give it a shot with you. It's called Spotto Movies. So I'm gonna screen share it here. It's pretty fun because there's a lot of different categories, right? Nope. Okay. Accurate ad here. Get out of that. So basically we'll start with uh just any guess. So you can just guess a movie and then it'll kind of go from there. Let me see. Any guess at all? Yeah, this is just to like Wordle. Yeah, this is just to kind of throw us out there, get us on the board with something. Do an alien movie for the for the for the Alien movie? And let's straight up do Alien. All right, but James Cameron, big director. Okay, so this is actually a pretty great guess. Um so this will tell us here if we have any of the actors or directors um from that in the the movie that we're trying to guess, and then same thing here. Um somehow we got the film rating and the exact score right on the dot, which is pretty nuts. Um box office is less than 105 million, which is not a lot. So maybe maybe it's still kind of older if I had to guess. Um trying to think.

SPEAKER_03 11:00

So s so score 82. Green meaning it it was exactly 82?

SPEAKER_01 11:05

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:05

A movie was. Jesus. What's the chances of that? I feel like that makes it harder.

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Yeah, it almost does, because now you're gonna be like, oh no, that movie was too good or that movie was too bad. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 11:18

But it's above 1979, lower than 105. That doesn't really help either.

SPEAKER_00 11:23

I'm trying to think of movies that didn't do well at the box office then.

SPEAKER_03 11:27

But obviously I And does the horror science fiction, would that light up green if it was one of those?

SPEAKER_00 11:32

Yeah, so originally I was thinking something like The Shining, but I think that would classify as at least horror, so that wouldn't count. Well, it also came out before, yeah. Yeah, that too. So probably like let's go like an action film just to kind of find that genre.

SPEAKER_03 11:50

Um, I said 105 is the biggest thing for like an action film.

SPEAKER_00 11:56

Yeah, yellow means we're like relatively close, by the way. So it's gotta be probably no later than 85. 85. What about Rocky? That didn't do that well. Um Yeah, try that. I don't think it did that well at the box office, if I remember correctly. No, no, not Rocky. Rocky came out way before. It did?

SPEAKER_04 12:17

Okay. What about like Rocky Four? Hmm. I feel like Rocky IV made more.

SPEAKER_03 12:24

I feel like Top Gun did too. Yeah, Top Gun probably did. Dude, less than 105 is like the way I'm stuck on. That is nothing, yeah. Because like movies I know from back then are like more popular, I guess. Yeah. I'm just stuck on like a Tom Cruise movie for some fucking reason. Maybe we uh try Top Gun wasn't really at R.

SPEAKER_00 12:43

It's okay. I mean we can we can guess it because that'll help us with the genre at least. Yeah. Let's just let's go let's try Top Gun. Yeah. Something's telling you. Yeah, see, there you go. That's what we needed. So now we know we're between 79 and 86, and it's an action and a drama. That's good. That also helps. When does Joshang Redemption come out? 84? Dude, remember we talked about how bad that did at the box office too? Because uh the all the good movies like uh Forrest Gump was in the theaters at the time. Uh something else big was in it as well. I think that's a great guess.

SPEAKER_04 13:20

Oh 94.

SPEAKER_00 13:22

I figured the 84. I figured the rating was gonna be pretty close. Yeah, but see how bad that did at the box office? Oh my god. Yeah. That's insane for what was rated. And the year is tripping me up. I don't know movies like that from those like four years. Nah, it's gonna be something easy, I can tell. And it's a crime. Uh don't forget that. Crime action drama from the early 80s. Let's see. Crime action drama.

SPEAKER_03 13:52

Alright.

SPEAKER_04 13:54

I talked about it, I just talked about it on this like earlier. Thief. Try thief. Oh, that's good. Oops. Oh, they don't have such a good movie on here? Am I spelling it wrong?

SPEAKER_02 14:06

Capital T H. Capital T? Alright, I guess if it's not on there, I guess it can't be. That's a big movie.

SPEAKER_00 14:17

It's a Michael Mann movie, man. I know. Um, whatever. What about like shoot? What about like De Niro? What was he pooping out at this time? De Niro?

unknown 14:28

Hmm.

SPEAKER_00 14:29

Or was like Casino out?

SPEAKER_03 14:33

No, Casino was like after Goodfellas and Goodfellas was 90. Um Scarface, maybe?

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Scarface came out in 83. Bang! Bang!

SPEAKER_00 14:42

That was good. Yeah, so 1983. Dang, the box office really didn't do that well. I know it was early on, but I would have guessed that was in '82. Yeah, good job. Good job. See, that one's pretty fun too, because there's a lot of different things. I imagine if you hit on an actor somewhere down here, you're just gonna be stuck because you're just sitting there thinking, like, what are we supposed to do? All right, sick. Good job. Let's go. All right. So now we're gonna kind of dive into Spielberg's movies. Obviously, this is the second time we're doing Spielberg on the podcast, but this time we're kind of focusing on his uh alien movies specifically, I guess you'd say. So he obviously has a long history of obsession about aliens. So he started in 1964 with a film when he was just 17 called Firelight. I haven't seen that one. Uh and then he kind of gets into more deep alien lore with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, which we're doing this week on the show, as well as uh E.T. the extraterrestrial, arguably his biggest one to date. And then he gets into War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull has some alien lore in that, if you want to count that as well. And then his most recent film in 2026, Disclosure Day. Well, Tyler, if you want to start, I don't know what movie you want to start with, but yeah, I was thinking we go in order.

SPEAKER_03 16:00

Okay. Like with uh Close Encounters being his first, and then because I feel like there's a a lot of people are saying that this is like a spiritual sequel, like disclosure day is a spiritual sequel to Cl Close Encounters, and I could kind of see that connection.

SPEAKER_00 16:12

Yeah. All right, cool. So I'll start with Close Encounters. Um obviously this plot, it is kind of just follows a everyday, regular run-of-the-mill guy and his encounter with uh UFO, as well as a desperate mother whose son kind of gets attracted to the UFO as well, and they're kind of drawn to the aliens in in a way, some sort of mental message that the aliens are leaving with them to kind of follow this international science team investigating the paranormal activity, and they end up heading to, I think it was New Mexico or Arizona somewhere out there.

SPEAKER_03 16:46

Yeah, I think in the movie is New Mexico or Arizona, but the actual place, like the with that like mountaintop is Wyoming.

SPEAKER_00 16:53

Okay. So they end up heading out there uh and then you know, kind of ends on a huge alien spectacle at the end. I gave the plot a seven. I think that it was a pretty good plot, and I think it was decent enough. I think there's just some not some holes, but just some plot points that were not that important to me. Obviously, they there was a a plot point kind of talking about all the disappearing people, which is a huge thing in alien lore, right? Uh missing people and out west was kind of always explained as like an alien abduction, just for these people to all show up at the end and you know they're they're brought back home. I thought it was decent. I just thought it was not that well explained. I didn't care that much about um the characters or the or the the lore behind what was going on in this movie, but what'd you think?

SPEAKER_03 17:41

Yeah, I'd give it a six, so a little lower. I w I saw what he was going after and reading up on it that like a lot of like the family drama, and I actually think that the family drama part of the movie is the strongest part of the movie, in my opinion. Man, does it feel like a 70s movie with like the family dynamics and all like that? I was like, I don't think guys could get away with that today, but the way he treats all that, and then the kids just like cussing back and forth. And I was like, this seems like a very open household. But like there's talks about like this is touching on divorce and like family problems throughout like the the first half of the film, and then it kind of switches up to like oh he has a calling from these aliens or these UFOs and like goes on this crazy journey with the mom to go find him and just plays like a crazy man the whole time, but then like he wasn't crazy, or I guess he was crazy, but he was just like speaking to something that was like itching in his brain, yeah. So, like, so to speak, with it. And uh But I think that's why I think the the whole chase factor of it for the second part, I don't think is w that well done and makes it kind of confusing because he doesn't ever like try to talk to why he wants to, you know? He's just like, trust me, trust me. He's like, We're all good, and she's like, What are you doing? We're all good.

SPEAKER_00 18:57

It's like brother, can you not speak? I'm sorry, I have to bring it up. When he got sunburnt in the beginning, and his face, half of his face was sunburnt, and half of his face was pale white, and one of his kids' friends was over. He's like, He looks like a half and half bar after dying. That was actually like the comedy in this was really funny for its time as well. But yeah, getting into the characters, I gave it a five. Um, I think this is one of the weaker parts of this movie. Um, I don't care about the characters that much. Like you said, he didn't really explain what was going on in his head. It was more just like, trust me, and I think he was more trying to convince himself that he wasn't crazy the whole movie. The most interesting character was the French side scientist, in my opinion. Uh, I think he obviously really cared about what was going on, and he cared about those people as well, which made it interesting from a government perspective, right? The government obviously just wanted in to know what was going on, but you could tell he actually felt something about the people and he wanted to learn more about what was going on rather than just doing the thing, which was interesting. Um but uh Richard Dreyfus and Melinda Dylan, they were fine. Uh I felt like their love connection at the end wasn't really uh worked up, it was just kind of there. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 20:13

They just he just like kissed her for no reason.

SPEAKER_03 20:16

Yeah, like that that part was a little odd to me. Just because I was like, yo, like you you had a wife and like kids, and then you're just out here chasing tail with this other woman, and then just kiss her at the end. But uh I thought the characters, like the main two, which is kind of funny because like the next the disclosure day is also a main two. There's just so many similarities in both these movies. It's kind of a little crazy, but uh I think the themes are a little better in the other one. But I think the main part about the dad was that he had a calling, right? And then she didn't necessarily she also had a calling, they all did. They kept building these things, she kept painting it. It was just this this constant like monument, right? That they that is where they met the aliens at the end of it. But the dad, it's just like stereotypes of these characters. It's like crazy dad, crazy mom, who are just meeting up with each other, and then the scientists behind it all. But I've noticed this about Spielberg and some of his movies where the characters just feel under underdeveloped at times. And I think this movie really highlights that for me, where it's it's clearly focused on like the epic of the chase and the unknown and then forgetting a little bit about the character, you know.

SPEAKER_00 21:27

Yeah, I think I mean it's gonna be this way for both the movies, but I don't know if I've ever ranked movies on here with such dramatic uh score differences in the categories because with cinematography, I gave it a nine. I it won Best Cinematography Oscar this year. I think it did a lot of really cool practical lighting. Obviously, he didn't use much CGI, if any, at all. I the the end scene with the aliens and everything like that, it kind of left me in awe. I was like, obviously, you talked about how this movie came out the same year as Star Wars, so it makes sense, but it was really well done. for its time and I'm sure him and Lucas worked together a lot on kind of kind of the movement of alien spacecrafts and stuff like that, but really neat.

SPEAKER_04 22:08

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

It's interesting they bring up Lucas because came out the same year. They were really close. So much so that they uh they they actually took a bet on each other. So they both would get like 1.5% of each other's profit of their first movie of like each other's movie.

SPEAKER_04 22:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 22:24

That's how close they were. So Spielberg made a way bigger like this is like I think the like with the estimated amount was still made a lot of money for its time. But Star Wars is like probably one of the highest grossing films of all time. So Spielberg definitely won that bet. From just betting on each other's movies kind of thing because they thought like one of them was not going to make enough money when they both ended up being successes for way different types of stories though. Yeah. But getting cinematography, yeah, it's just really interesting shots and it kind of makes you wonder how did he do it? But then if you watch Fable Mans, you're like because he's like one of the most creative directors of all time.

SPEAKER_04 23:01

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:01

And because he thinks of things that we wouldn't think of of how to shoot it. Because there's also notes of like he thought about using the first instance of CGI of like doing VFX and all that but then he ended up not because he was it just didn't look the way he did. So and then some of the scenes he says was from an unreleased film that he created like five years prior but no one has any record of that film to like actually fact check him but like why would he just lie about that? Yeah. So yeah really cool cinematography.

SPEAKER_00 23:34

And then the dialogue I gave it a six um we talked about the comedy I thought was really good but I think the dialogue in general was just kind of lacking feels like a you know stereotypical 70s 80s movie just not a lot of meaningful dialogue. The one line I kind of pulled from it he said this means something this is important. That was like the most important dialogue of the film I think yeah not a whole lot there but yeah I mean it is what it is like you we talked about kind of underdeveloped characters so you're gonna have underdeveloped dialogue with that as well. Yeah but yeah like it's okay honey when she's just like what are you doing?

SPEAKER_03 24:10

It's okay honey and then then he takes like the uh the fencing and he's like I'll return it I'll return it and they're like just say back. They have ducks who are just quacking going out everywhere. Yeah I was like all right. A lot of like the the UFO research throughout the film was like actually from UFO experts I guess like astronomical like scientists and all this so like a lot of the conversation from like that side of the house with the men in suits came from was derived from like those experts. So thought that was cool but I gave it a five out of ten. I I just thought it was nothing special. Yeah and then some of it very cheesy even if it I understand it came out there it's just some of it like didn't hold up well. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 24:54

Getting into the set design I think for weirdly enough for this movie this kind of goes hand in hand with cinematography. I gave it an eight just because of how much he relied on you know physical models uh he used some massive uh abandoned military hangers for this I was reading and then he kind of forced perspective to the viewer which is cool uh obviously using those physical models I'm sure very similar to what we've seen with Star Wars you know making really small models of the the ships and things like that and then you know filming it up close in that in that perspective pretty neat stuff especially for the time.

SPEAKER_03 25:28

Yeah the the set piece of the ship at the end of the movie is actually in the Smithsonian right right next to the Star Wars like Millennium Falcon set piece which is quite interesting because it's just all created in the same year by this same friends. It's like no way they didn't like work off of each other in a way to be like all right let's not let's make sure they don't look alike.

SPEAKER_00 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 25:49

So they don't confuse these movies, you know? So yeah it's just it's quite interesting. Really cool set design. I gave it a nine because just for its time and like reading all about it and how much work was taken into it to make it look real for a space movie. It's just like 2001 a Space Odyssey. It's like those kind of movies like those set designs are so cool because like they just don't have VFX or CTI to work with like they do nowadays.

SPEAKER_00 26:11

I mean I gotta bring it up crazy fact that this came out ten years before that even happened. I mean Space Odyssey came out 10 years before this pretty nuts. Yeah. Acting I mean yeah I don't want to beat a dead horse I gave it a four obviously Richard Dreyfus and then French legend I guess you'd say I he's a pretty big French actor uh Francois Truffat I think I'm pronouncing his last name correct I just think it was not that great of line delivery and character motivations just didn't add up that much for me like we kind of talked about so it kind of affected the acting score for me.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

Yeah. Dreyfus is like a really good actor I think him and Joss is really good. He has an Oscar but this role was offered to like a bunch of big names to McQueen Steve McQueen Dustin Hoffman Al Pacino Jack Nicholson Gene Hackman and James Conn and they all turned it down which is quite interesting. This is also Spielberg at the beginning of his I don't think all these guys deny him if he's like a little more experienced but this is right after draws so they're like yes Jaws was a huge hit but is he just a blockbuster kind of guy is that it doesn't really have any depth and these like the guys in their prime wanting to do like deep films. Would be interesting to see them in the role I think Dryfist was good but everything else like you said I I there was nothing else that was a highlight for me other than Dryfist. I think that's the only reason why I gave it a higher rating.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

Yeah. Getting into directing you might think I'm crazy for this but I couldn't give it higher than a six um strictly just because like we talked about cinematography set design everything was amazing but I I I just couldn't get into the film. I felt like I was just getting bored with the character development and um I think if there was a lot more plot devices and kind of you know character motivation I would be more in tune with this film. But obviously the movie is a spectacle in itself so I did read uh one cool thing uh how Spielberg had to meticulously guide them he talked about um just because there was no spaceship for them to see there was no amazing set pieces for them to see so they're kind of just staring into space um which is interesting and I'm sure made it really hard when directing this yeah I don't think this is one of his stronger films in a way of like story itself I think it focuses on the epic of it all more than a lot of his other even more epic films.

SPEAKER_03 28:32

But those other films I feel like have a stronger story and like you feel relationship with the characters in it where I don't really feel as strong as a relationship with the characters as I do in most of his other films. One of his tricks that he did for the child actor because he was only three years old was he would unwrap presents in front of him. So the kid would like get excited that's so cool. And apparently at the end of the film you can hear the kid say toy toy so I thought that was funny.

SPEAKER_00 28:59

And then getting into soundtrack I gave it an eight obviously John Williams cooked again. He obviously this film has a huge music plot as well that kind of famous five note motif I guess you'd call it used by the humans to kind of communicate with the alien life using like a synthesizer. That was really neat but obviously the rest of the score pretty amazing well this ended up getting uh nominated for an Oscar that year. So yeah he cooked again.

SPEAKER_03 29:28

Yeah I mean he did both of these films he he's done 30 now collaborations with Steven Spielberg so they're really good at working together. They know John Williams is big about where he doesn't want his soundtrack to take over the film but rather feed into it to add to the plot of it and the pace. Yeah I think this does perfectly on it. Yeah he's just really good at what he does why he's one of the goats.

SPEAKER_00 29:52

And then getting into theme I gave it a four I think any theme for this is just kind of reaching so I said language maybe or the art being a bridge for language between you know aliens and humans. Also obsession I guess you could say with Richard Dreyfus' character but I just think that there are themes here but they're just not drawn out out enough by the characters and obviously like we talked about it kind of being more focused on like the epic of it all rather than you know deep plot lines. So I couldn't give it too much but there is some things if you wanted to kind of reach and grab.

SPEAKER_03 30:26

Yeah. I think I don't know if it's necessarily a theme but the main essence of this film is the mystery of the unknown they're just everyone like that the all the characters shown in the movie pretty much are want to know what what they don't know, you know? Is there somebody else out there willing to give up their whole family and everything to go see if they're if they have a higher calling because they feel like they do. And so I think it's I don't even know if that's necessarily a theme of if it's more so like the essence though. I think the biggest theme would be in the first half of the film of like the family aspects of it all where you got like a divorce clear backstory to it or like you can get like the vibes of that. But uh like you said I I do think that it's not as theme driven as a lot of his other movies and even his other space movies.

SPEAKER_00 31:15

Yeah. And then editing I gave it a seven obviously pretty amazing editing when it comes to the set design and everything like that. The only editing I would change as we talked about is kind of the plot devices and character development but regarding the the pacing I think it was fine. I guess originally the release was rushed out in 1977. So Spielberg later released a 1980 special edition and a 1998 director's cut to alter the original pacing. I'm assuming what we watched is the 1998 one but I would be curious to see how different the film is from the original version.

SPEAKER_03 31:51

Yeah me too I I didn't see that at all but I thought yeah the editing was alright to me. I think some parts dragged and then some parts I feel like I did like I thought were perfectly timed with it all. And then there's so it's such an interesting take on it to not show the UFOs until the final 15 minutes of the film. I feel like that's kind of a risky thing because I feel like a lot of movies they show like the villain or something very quick on or like the mysterious object while this is like nah you're not you're gonna be just wondering as much as them until the end.

SPEAKER_00 32:22

Yeah we'll get into that with disclosure day. For this I gave the overall score a 6.4 or a 64 um I enjoyed this film. I just wish there was a little bit more to kind of grab onto I just walked out of the like watching it and I was like yeah this was just a cool sci-fi film. Like nothing too special to take away from it besides really seeing how amazing the the the use of non-CGI set design and cinematography was back in the day but that was really it for me.

SPEAKER_03 32:52

What did you give it?

SPEAKER_00 32:54

64.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Okay I gave it a 6.9 out of 10 or 69 out of 100. Nice not that far off but yeah nice. I see like a clear trilogy and like the essence of these films and the way he made them it seems like it was a thought process of this where Close Encounters is his first one kind of like what are these aliens? What like what it's the mystery of the unknown right while the ET is like you know what you know and it's more like family centric. And when they made ET it was like the thought process was like what if these one of these aliens like didn't get on the ship with them and they actually were stuck and that's how they created ET. And then disclosure day I feel like is a direct essence of like oh these aliens have actually been here this whole time and then there's like a shady government dealing is trying to that are mistreating them of like how humans probably would with aliens but uh something lastly something interesting with close encounters kind of to bridge the gap was that initially the theme ideas with this film for Close Encounters was to involve shady government dealings and kind of like Watergate scandals almost exactly like what is in Disclosure day. Even more proving my point that I think these films all three of them are just way too similar for not to be like clear connections to them. Getting into Disclosure day what his newest movie one of the bigger movies coming out this summer by him unconfirmed if he's coming out with another movie I don't think I have a feeling this won't be his last film but definitely one of one of his last films that he made movies following a chase it's pretty much a chase thriller that involves aliens. That's the way I view this movie. I don't view this movie as a science fiction film as much as close encounters or even ET in a way the plot I gave it eight out of 10 I think some flaws with some of the scenes big animal plot for plot hole for me is how they're like oh we appear as animals to appear more they straight up say like we appear as animals so you guys don't judge us or like you aren't scared of us but then you have the animals stare at them and I'm like so are are the animals aliens? And then they just never reattack that you know and I'm like what what happened with the animal like plot plot point of it? That was like my biggest plot hole in it. But I I I'm a killer for some chase sequences man I can't even lie I like chase films. I like when you're on the run um this rem this Loki just feels like a one bad officer or another type of film where the the guys just on the run the whole film.

SPEAKER_00 35:21

Like yeah yeah I I don't like this film. I don't like the plot of this film and I think most likely it's because I came into it with expectations of it being a ET close encounter style alien film. And then I came into it and I got like a Kingsman James Bond type story and maybe that's why I'm so frustrated with the plot of this I just felt like yeah it was trying to mix this action sequence into like a uh I'm sure we'll get into it with theme a story about empathy and I just couldn't grab onto it. I felt like it the plot was kind of all over the place sometimes and that that's just what frustrated me honestly.

SPEAKER_03 36:01

Yeah I think the way that they were displaying this movie like for trailers and all that and where you could talk about how you'd like decide to show trailers is it's like oh it's another science fiction epic by Spielberg. And then within like 30 minutes into the movie they show the aliens right away way different from close encounters to where it kind of shows you right away it's like no you the this movie is isn't really about like being the science fiction part. This movie is really about disclosing the unknown to the public and what consequences that gets or them trying to h hide that from them. And then what what are you willing to go through to be able to disclose that and then a lot of people fighting like oh do they deserve like people can handle this there's a lot of fam or there's a lot of like world situations. Like no people deserve to know but what will they do with it when they get it and that and the film ends by before that even is like shown what will they do with it?

SPEAKER_00 36:53

I got two kind of I got two things I got to bring up. So first off this isn't a question this is just me annoyed you put crop circles such a huge alien device in the trailer like it's gonna be a major plot point right everybody knows aliens are famous for leaving crop circles that's like alien lore 101 and then all it is in the film is Josh O'Connor just doing it with his mind and it means nothing to the plot. Like it was so clearly put in there just to be put in the trailer to get people intrigued. That frustrated the shit out of me the second part I maybe I missed it. I don't know what these wands do these these little gizmos that they're carrying around because for one person it does one thing and then another person it does another and then are they all three different you see what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_03 37:38

Yeah I see what you're saying but I feel like it's the hands of the controller right okay or she actually is like feels essence and she's been like I wouldn't even say touch because I don't think touch is but she's been connected with them through like the beginning of her life but it's not awakened until it is so she actually knows how to use it while the other guy's like forcefully using it. That's why he's like gritting his teeth he has to use a glove because if not they just disappear because remember when they use his one he disappears but then when they use a different one she it also disappears. So I think they all do the same thing but it's like a power source because then it dies um it just felt too open.

SPEAKER_00 38:16

I wish they had like a three minute dialogue explaining what how it works. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_03 38:22

I think that's like the whole point is like they they don't know and she's just the whole film she isn't she doesn't know how to explain what's happening to her because it's all happening to her in like one day. Yeah. But like somehow her body knows what to do and like her mind knows what to do but she's like shocked that she knows what to do. Like she learned like a language like to speak it like that and she's like I I guess I could speak Russian now.

SPEAKER_00 38:45

It just feels like plot armor to me.

SPEAKER_03 38:47

I don't know. I feel like it's tackling a very core essence but I think the theme is a little bit deeper than Close Encounter with close encounters like mystery of the unknown this tackles like the unknown being a critical plot point of it but rather the theme is more like people deserving the truth and like the government hiding it from them. You know getting right into that characters I gave it eight out of 10 because I think the two lead characters is what carries this film Margaret Fairchild and Dr. Dan Kellner played by Josh O'Connor and then Emily Blunt. I really like the two lead characters itself I think a lot of the side characters are very one-dimensional villain but then even they show like a deeper side to him where like he sees his wife and then at the end of the film he him and Hugo have like this like emotional connection to where like they understand each other but they still are ahead like they're trying to go against each other but they still are like respecting each other.

SPEAKER_00 39:41

It's it's quite an interesting dynamic between who Hugo played by Domingo and then Colin Firth guy uh the main villain of the movie yeah yeah they had an interesting dynamic I was annoyed because I I saw Wyatt Russell in this in the beginning and I was like let's go and he was just some hippie guitar player um I was like that kind of sucks. Uh Joshua Connor I think his character was pretty cool but again um it felt kind of underdeveloped there in the end. Obviously he was kind of the main character for the first half and then he kind of just disappeared he was just there to be the partner to Emily Blunt's character which is fine. I just kind of got excited to see what their you know connection to all this was and then he kind of got overshadowed by her. Coleman Domingo Domingo's character was cool but I didn't quite understand how his character knew to build a house for her.

SPEAKER_03 40:32

What my understanding is that they knew about an interaction with them with like some kids because he had like he knew more about the aliens than anyone else and then they like maybe they also connected with him in a way that like okay this is your role in all this is for you to connect her this unknown source because they had no idea who it was yeah they had no idea it was her until there was an awakening and then that's when he connects it. So I I have a feeling that maybe it was something that was shown not necessarily but like there was a every person had like a different role if that makes sense. Okay. That's the way I viewed it at least could be another either plot hole or plot opening if that makes sense where it's hard with these kind of movies because like you don't want them to force feed you like the whole entire story but then you also don't want to just be guessing the entire plot.

SPEAKER_00 41:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 41:24

Yeah. Cinematography I gave it eight out of ten. I really liked some scenes and then really hated some of them to where some of them looked like any old Joe could like film it and then some of them I was like all right yep that's Spielberg he's cooking. Yeah pretty high rating just because I feel like the really cool scenes were so unique and so cool and the way that they did the filming of this is really unique. Where they filmed it in New York and New Jersey but they did it under a pseudonym of a different movie so people couldn't associate it with Steven Spielberg and probably bombard it. And then they just told a bunch of like the side actors in for the wrestling scene to start the movie that it was a pseudonym movie and they're like oh yeah it's like a small budget film like don't worry about it. Just so they didn't release like anything about Spielberg being anywhere. Yeah. Just because they didn't want like a bombardment over him.

SPEAKER_00 42:14

I gave the cinematography a six like you said I think there was some really great shots and then some of them just felt like kind of bland and like any other Joe could film it. I agree. I left kind of astounded by some of the shots and then some I was just like is what it was Yeah there's like a really mid CGI scene with the animals.

SPEAKER_03 42:34

Yeah that I was like it looks better than it did in the trailer at least at least they fixed it they touched it up a bit because I remember seeing the trailer of it and I was like that looks fucking horrible. But then like the transition scene from like her eyes to like the alien I thought was really cool. That was really unique. I feel like I haven't seen that in many movies before dialogue I gave it a six out of ten. Nothing really unique for me basic chase thriller where like a lot of like the dialogue seems along those lines I think there's essence of like a religious tones to this movie that for me I didn't really pick up through the dialogue and maybe I just need to re-watch it to see what people are talking about.

SPEAKER_00 43:12

Yeah I think I mean specifically there's the one scene where you know she kind of says she doesn't want to be somebody's religion because she is kind of superpowered now. I gave the dialogue a seven I thought there was pretty decent dialogue especially towards the end. My favorite line was don't be afraid of what you don't know. I think that kind of encompasses the idea of this movie right humans not being scared of this unknown uh presence but instead being uh an empath right to to towards these aliens and uh just being caring and show compassion I guess. So I thought that was pretty okay.

SPEAKER_03 43:49

Yeah yeah acting I gave it eight out of ten. I think all these actors are really talented but I think this Loki may be Emily Blunt's best role. Like I thought she was Really good in this movie. Like I I thought some of it I was like, oh wow. She's like pulling a lot of different stuff that I don't know. Many other actresses could do that role specifically the way that she did it. Josh O'Connor, I thought was good. Colin Domingo is always really good at whatever he does. Like he fits like such niche roles in such a unique way.

SPEAKER_00 44:20

Yeah, he's always pretty amazing. I was kind of underwhelmed by Josh O'Connor's thing, his acting in this, because I don't know. Just like I said, his character kind of died out towards the end. Didn't have much uh plot or development towards the end. Obviously, it kind of switches over halfway through to um Margaret's character. I don't think Emily Blunt's that good on an actor, and you can sue me. I think she's fine. I wasn't that impressed by this, but then again, I left the theater thinking, what have I seen her in that she's good? And I just couldn't come up with anything.

SPEAKER_02 44:51

Quiet Place, you didn't think that she was that good, you didn't think she was that good in OpenCon.

SPEAKER_00 44:54

I think she was better in the second one. I know the second one kind of focuses on her, and then Oppenheimer, she was pretty decent in, but again, she was kind of in a stack cast, and she was still kind of forced to be a side character in that, which kind of sucked. I would have liked to see more of that relationship develop out.

SPEAKER_03 45:10

I thought she was pretty good in this role. I think she's pulling a lot of things that I don't think many other actresses could specifically in this kind of movie. It makes sense why she was casted for me.

SPEAKER_00 45:21

Did you see that thing where I guess Spielberg asked her if she wanted to make like the alien sounds for like the the TV? And she was like, uh yeah, I can probably come up with something, but I just don't know what. And he was like, or I can use AI. And she was like, No, I'll do it. Did you hear about that? Or was it uh No, I didn't hear that. Yeah, I was like, why would he I don't I couldn't tell if somebody was saying that like he meant like in a joking way or if he was for real. But I was kind of worried.

SPEAKER_03 45:48

Yeah. Please don't do that, Spielberg. Sound design or effects and soundtrack. I I thought it was really cool, nine out of ten. Because John Williams, again, it's adding to the film, the the alien sounds of it all. Yeah, I thought it really cool.

SPEAKER_00 46:03

Yeah, if I had a uh a dollar for every time John Williams carried a Spielberg Alien movie, I'd have a lot of dollars. F five.

SPEAKER_03 46:14

Yeah, it's cra it's crazy how they they just do so much together, but like if it ain't broke, don't fix it, I guess. Yeah. Set design, I gave it seven out of ten to where I thought some pieces were really cool. I thought like the farmhouse was interesting, and then they ran a car through it, and I was like, all right, that that's a cool like set way to go, but you got like one go of it with that running a car through a house. But then some of the other set pieces, it it's hard to say because then you got like the whole like other parts of the bit showing like the alien like subtext films of it that are really cool set pieces, and you're like, oh wow, those are really cool. And then you got like just normal, but I don't think that this is supposed to be like a like a side like a close encounters where you're like the the aliens early supposed to be like the the big epic of it, it's the disclosion of it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 47:05

No, I agree. I think it was nothing special for me, but speaking of the farmhouse, you have a black ops mercenary government squad standing outside, and Josh O'Connor's just crawling in the bushes behind a fence, and these guys don't know them. Also, that same team never had a helicopter in the whole movie. All they're doing is riding around in black SU SUVs, and this is supposed to be some super dangerous government organization. Hey, it's Men in Black.

SPEAKER_04 47:32

For real. Men in Black. They never had the helicopters in Men in Black.

SPEAKER_03 47:38

At least wipe their brain, bruh. Yeah, I was waiting for it. I was like, come on, come on. Directing, I was going back and forth on this. I think I just like this movie a lot more than Close and War of the Worlds. So I gave it eight out of ten, as I think it's below ET for me as far as alien movies. Because when you just want to talk about him as a director in general, it's really hard when he this movie is just totally different than some of his other films, you know. Like I can't compare this to like Jaws, I can't compare this to Jurassic Park, can't just compare this to Schindler's list when those are just four way different films, and the fact that a director can that that is the same director doing all four is oppressive enough, but I had to rank it against like the the alien aspects of those films, and that's why I gave it an eight and not any higher for me.

SPEAKER_00 48:24

Yeah, I got really angry when I w wrote my notes section for the directing one. I gave it a whore. Um, I'm gonna read it verbatim. Uh Spielberg sold out. This movie was rushed and forced. And if you want to make a movie about empathy, do so in a non-James Bond, John Wick way. I don't watch action movies for the deep meaning, so don't try to force a deep meaning on me with 30 minutes left in the movie. Also, the crop circles, I already talked about them, but um it's not if it's not gonna be a major plot point, don't put it in just for the trailer. Sell out. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_04 48:57

This movie really annoyed me. I could tell.

SPEAKER_03 49:00

Uh I don't think of the sell out. He's had this idea for the last like four years. They had 42 drafts of this film that like the writer had to go through. Jesus Christ. Yeah. I think it's an idea clearly he's had since the fucking 70s, if he wanted to do a shady government dealings. And it's most of those movies, like you said, don't have those deep themes, especially about empathy. Most of those movies that I think about government dealings don't deal with empathy, they deal with like just bad themes of bad people, you know.

SPEAKER_00 49:31

Question. It's quite it's quite interesting. Do you think if the aliens were to come out live on TV just like they did at the end of Disclosure Day, you think the world would stop, or you think everybody'd be like, I still gotta get up and go to work tomorrow?

SPEAKER_03 49:43

If it's set in the world today, I think the world will stop to watch it.

SPEAKER_00 49:47

Yeah, I think that would happen, but what happens after? Like I I still gotta get up and do it.

SPEAKER_03 49:52

That's like the question of the that's like the question of the movie, right? It's like what's next? Like, I think religions, some religions do change. I think not as many people will be religious because they know that there's a superior beating. Because it also doesn't just disclose what is actually shared with them about. Like, are they actually this more advanced being that like they had something to do with the creation of us? Like, that's another create like a question, right? Like, what if they disclose like we actually help create you guys? And then that that totally throws religion all over the world, you know?

SPEAKER_00 50:25

Yeah, but even then they're gonna be a good thing. There's just a lot of there's a lot. Remember when she asked questions. Yeah, she asked the nun, like, I forgot the exact line from the Bible, but she was like, No, like God made us here on earth, not like God only made us. So I think even then, I think you're right, like religion would change, but I don't think the world's stopping, bro. I still gotta go get my money.

SPEAKER_03 50:46

Religion would change in some ways, especially because it not everyone's just Christian, you know. No, I know. Yeah, I think the world would change dramatically, but I don't think American society may necessarily would change their nine to five. I still think people show up to work the next day, but it would be a hot topic of conversation for like years.

SPEAKER_00 51:05

Problem is now they didn't bring it up at all. But like, I mean, whatever side you're on politically, I don't really care. But so many people have so much distrust, probably more than ever, with the media. So even if that stuff was put out there, people would just be like, I'd say. Yeah. It would just immediately try to get disproven. And so the the movie doesn't touch on that at all, which I get. I'd rather him just focus on that rather than like uh the mistrust with the media. But I think that would be a huge topic for the real world too.

SPEAKER_03 51:35

Oh, yeah, that would be very interesting to touch on after because like people so many people try to prove it's fake and all that, like deep fakes, all this kind of different stuff. It kind of touches it while they're filming and like, yeah, can you prove this is real? And they're like, it's saying it's real, and it's all this stuff. Yeah, it's like whether do you believe or not? And then if you believe, then what? You know? I don't think there's much you can do other than like, yo, can you guys like stop torturing those aliens for no reason? Are you gonna stop that?

SPEAKER_00 52:03

Yeah, that was frustrating to me too about this movie is you showing the aliens so early in the film. I think it kind of made the ending a letdown for me, but I think that's personal preference too. Like I'd prefer something like Close Encounters where you show it all at the end rather than you know, like this build up to like something about yeah, like the theme like that. I'd rather just be surprised by the ending scene. And I felt like he set it up like it should have been a surprise, but like we had seen them.

SPEAKER_03 52:29

Yeah, I it was a surprise that they won that they had one, I think. Yeah, because I think it was trying to disclose that they're all dead or something like that. Like that's like kind of what it was touching at that, like that maybe they're not alive anymore. Like the ones that were on Earth. It felt like very much like a Nolan ending, you know, where Nolan's films end and it makes you just go, huh. Makes you think, you know. Like at in the inception, you just go, fuck. Are they still the dream or not? And then in Oppenheimer, you're like, fuck. Like, are we doomed? You know what I'm saying? Like, it felt very much like a Nolan ending. Yeah. Which is quite unique because I feel like most Spielberg movies don't feel like that.

SPEAKER_00 53:07

Yeah, they're typically like the blockbuster happy ending.

SPEAKER_03 53:10

Yeah, happy ending or like a concrete ending. Yeah. Getting into editing, nothing too crazy. I don't feel like there was anything that didn't belong in the movie. Because I feel like if you take out some, it even adds more questions, you know. If anything, I would add some time because I feel like this is a long movie, but not as long as I expected it to be, you know.

SPEAKER_00 53:32

Yeah. I mean, it felt long, but I don't think it broke two hours, did it? No, it was like almost exactly at two hours. Okay. Editing, I gave it a two. I thought the pacing was very messy. Uh obviously, we talked about the beginning, feels like James Bond style, you know, chase sequence, and then it kind of ends with like this long montage of the news running, which I thought the montage was cool. I just felt like it was a harsh ending. It was like kind of just put in there just to show us stuff. I thought some of the chase sequences it themselves were kind of cartoonish. Uh the one that was kind of cool was the car dragging against the train. Yeah. But even then, like, yeah, him like crawling in through the bushes with the SWAT team like on the other side of the bushes. I was like, dude, is this Looney Tunes or what? Like, I'm just uh thinking like an anvil's about to drop on his head or something. Yeah. And then yeah, I just I it kind of felt like a chaotic mess to me. It felt like he wanted to do the the action movie, but then he also wanted to merge that uh that those alien ideas that he uh clearly loves so much in together. And I wish maybe it could have been two different movies, maybe he could have gone for both of them individually, but yeah.

SPEAKER_03 54:42

I just I think it's more like ebbs and flows with like the the pace, you know, where it slows down a little bit for Josh O'Connor's side of the chase for a second to pick up on where Fairchild is, and maybe it's not actually that much time passing in between, because I don't think it is, but rather the pace of it is matching where each character is in their own mind, is the way I viewed it at least. But I will say the beginning is like getting dropped in the second episode of a TV show. Like it's like you miss like the entire like beginning of it because you're just like wrestling match, and you're like, What what the hell is happening? And then it's just off to a bang. You don't get like the whole beginning part to it, you know? Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:22

Which is quite a choice, but yeah. I have a question. This is something that just popped in my mind too. So Colin First's character is using the the amulet type thing to find his girlfriend, right? Because he knows he can get into her mind. If he can find her, then he can find him. She escapes and Josh O'Connor gets captured. Why can't he just do it again to find her? Because he knows she she has the amulet if he doesn't have it. Wait, say that again, sorry. So Colin First's character captures Josh O'Connor's character.

SPEAKER_04 55:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 55:52

But he's looking for the amulet thing. So if he doesn't have it, he knows she has it. So why doesn't he just hop back in her mind again?

SPEAKER_03 55:59

Because I thought he couldn't touch it anymore, if I remember right. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 56:03

Maybe I missed that part. I did have to pee in this movie somewhere around there.

SPEAKER_03 56:07

It's because he kept having brain aneurysms. He like Loki almost died, if I remember right. Yeah. Pushed himself so hard, and then like one of the other dudes touched it and then like went invisible for a second and like spazzed out. Yeah. That guy was a wasn't a goofy character. He he just had murder on his mind the whole movie.

SPEAKER_00 56:24

He reminded me of uh in the Hulk, the abominations character. Yeah. He was just like, nah, I'm killing.

unknown 56:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 56:33

He's like, nah, people can't know this shit, man. I don't give a fuck. I think it's because he felt it personal because she like looked into everyone's past and talked to them except for him, and he was like, you know what, man, why don't you why don't you say something to me?

SPEAKER_04 56:46

Somebody I love somebody too.

SPEAKER_03 56:52

The themes like I've talked to before, I think are a little bit not necessarily deeper, but are more apparent than in close encounters. The the mystery of the unknown is like incomplete at this time. It's more so given to people with it, and what will they do with it? Empathy is a big one. You got religious factors into it. You don't want she doesn't want to be a d deity, or yeah, but like a lot of people will after this, probably. No matter what she tries to do, people will look at her as like a possible Jesus Christ kind of character, like like person, you know? Yeah, and it's there's something more out there than just ourselves is like a confirmed thing. There's just more themes actually present and more clearly apparent than there it was in Close Encounters. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 57:38

I did like that they were more apparent. Uh I gave theme before. Obviously, empathy is a unifying force for the human race, right? In an era of such like deep cynicism. But my problem isn't the theme itself, it's the delivery. Uh again, I think I was upset when I wrote this. I said a Kingsman style film trying to have a deep meaning is putting ketchup on a cheap cut of steak and trying to get to try to cover up the stage. It just felt like it was so crazy analogy.

SPEAKER_03 58:06

It's a crazy analogy.

SPEAKER_00 58:08

I it just felt so forced in there at the end. I just didn't like the delivery of it itself. I think it is a good theme, and I like the attempt to put it in there. Uh very arrival-esque, right? Like empathizing with the aliens, and you're gonna have people that don't agree with doing that. But yeah, I just didn't like how it was delivered.

SPEAKER_03 58:27

Yeah, don't get me wrong, this is not a thing on the lines of like arrival delivery. Yeah. I remember Nathan asked me about it because I didn't see it yet, but he was like, Oh, I heard it's like comparing to arrival, and I was like, Whoa, that's a l that's a big bar to set. Like, I was like, I if you come in with that expectation, you're probably gonna be disappointed. I hate to tell you. Arrival like fits those themes, like the very similar themes in this movie almost perfectly, I would say. Yeah. We aren't talking about arrival, but just just to compare it. Yeah. A movie that did do the themes, like 10 out of 10. I gave this a 79 out of 100. I tried to be as like keen about how how much I actually enjoyed this film, like a personal enjoyment way. I really enjoyed this in a blockbuster way, where this showed that a blockbuster movie doesn't need to be just fast food, like most blockbuster movies are nowadays. Most blockbuster movies, these big action movies, literally have nothing, no kind of themes at the center of it, and you walk away from it feeling like an idiot. For me, I came out of it again with that Nolan like ending thinking of like, huh, what what would happen? You know, what what is there to move on from at this point? What happens after this? And it had me thinking for a couple days, and then like I really enjoyed it, but then when rating it, I brought it down a little bit big, a little bit more than I would have probably had a personal liking, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_00 59:49

Yeah, I see what you're saying with the fast food, but this is like me going to McDonald's and them trying to offer me Wagyu. And I'm like, I don't want that. I came here for this. Like it just felt so frustrating because it was that cheesy action chase then tried to like throw in these really deep, like Christopher Nolan feelings. And I was like, I couldn't like settle in to like decide what this movie was, and that was very frustrating, and I think it affected the overall pace and delivery for me. But I actually gave it a lot higher score than I thought I would after I like sat down and ranked everything. I gave it a six point out of ten or a sixty. I think some elements really stood out, but again, it just fell flat for me.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:31

Okay, yeah. So six out of ten means you still above a fifty, so you still yeah. Well, I definitely gave it a 79. Originally I had it four and a half stars, I brought it back down to four, just after thinking about it. I think there's just too many plot holes for me for me to like really concrete concretely think it's a four and a half or for me. Yeah. And I didn't enjoy it too much to overlook those, you know. Sometimes if you just like a movie so much, you can just be like, I don't give a fuck about some of those plot holes.

SPEAKER_04 1:00:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:00:59

But it just wasn't one of those for me. But cool, yeah. So that concludes us talking about Steven Spielberg as a whole, really just an alien-themed episode as well, kind of leading into our draft. But before we get into our draft about aliens specifically, anything else you want to say about Spielberg? Because I don't know when he's gonna do another film. This was like four years in between Fable Men, so it's gonna be a while if he does do another one. Um, he's producing a lot, so he's still like king of Hollywood, whatever you grandpa of Hollywood, whatever you want to say.

SPEAKER_00 1:01:31

Yeah. I was uh I guess generally frustrated by a disclosure day, but um, hopefully he can rebound. I think this movie was really split too. I mean, from what I'm seeing, people either loved it or hated it. And I don't think it's a matter of not understanding what's going on. It's just really weirdly built as a movie. I haven't seen many movies kind of framed this way. And I think that's part of the thing is you either love it or you hate it.

SPEAKER_03 1:01:58

Yeah, it's definitely unique, definitely originality of a film, I feel like, compared to a lot of other films that come out nowadays, even this summer. You think about all the big movies. Like Odyssey, it's really cool, that's gonna be epic, but like the originality is out the window. Like as long as you've read it, you know what's gonna happen in the movie. How is Nolan gonna like present it, you know? Spider-Man, literally one of the biggest comic books of all time. And it kind of approaches a conversation that we talked about at the beginning. Original ideas, but more contained. And this is an original idea that is not very contained, more open, and I think that's why it is so hit or miss where a lot of people like that containedness because there isn't as many plot holes. You can dive into the themes a little bit deeper because there's not as many characters or not many uh things to attack. So yeah, cool. But yeah, cool on that. So yeah, it leaves right into our draft that we're gonna do, which is gonna be alien. For this, we're doing specifically aliens and it's based around Earth, so either humans in a way. Um, so it doesn't need to be on Earth or uh like in the space around Earth, just something to do with humans, pretty much. So that like takes out Star Trek and Star Wars specifically, like the two big franchises, just because I was like, all right, that has nothing to do with humans, while both these films had a big part to do with humans.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:15

Cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:16

Let me grab a wheel here. Hold on. I'll say the categories real quick then.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:20

So Oscar nominated, you one of the normal ones that we do, box office over 100 million, kid friendly, so like a PG-rated one, more made for like kids to see, horror, so literally the complete opposite, and then a franchise pick, because there is like some bigger franchises that involve aliens, and then wow. Cool, cool. And this is a kind of a niche, niche genre, but I think enough open to where there's a lot a lot of films.

SPEAKER_00 1:03:48

Yeah. Give me just a second here. You can hear me okay? Okay, sorry. If I was spinning the wheel and I think it uh was reconnecting or something, but I got it on the wheel, so I'll pick to go second.

SPEAKER_03 1:03:59

Okay. You'll pick to go second? Yeah. All right. All right. Well, I'm surprised you did that because we literally just talked about this movie and I'm going 101 arrival.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:09

Yeah. You're gonna go Oscar?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:11

Yeah, Oscar Nan for Arrival. I just ranked my top 100 personal f movies of all time, and this was number three for me. Arrival meets so many like wants I want a movie, the themes of it, it makes you cry, makes you think about like what other beings would be like, interactions with them. Such a deep film, yet it's also sick at the same time.

SPEAKER_00 1:04:34

Yeah, very great movie. I remember watching it and just kind of being mind blown. I thought it was just like an alien movie. Uh anything but that. Yeah. Let me see here. Let me take Arrival off the list. Okay. I'm gonna go ahead and take my horror one. Actually, no, I'm not. Sorry. I'm gonna go ahead and take my kid-friendly one. I'm gonna take E.T. for Spielberg this week. This movie meant a lot to me growing up. I always watched it as a kid. Yeah. Just a great one, like we kind of talked about. Definitely feels like uh it spiritually fits into the two other movies we watched this week.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:08

Yeah. A spiritual sequel to Close Encounters, yeah, and a prequel to Disclosure Day. Where you got like the government part of it, but then you also got the family aspect. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 1:05:18

Let's see. And then I'm gonna go ahead and take my horror movie. I'm gonna take Nope. This is one of my favorites. Obviously, a very different take on aliens. Um, I think we'll see a lot of that in this draft. There is so many different takes on the idea behind the supernatural threat. But this one was really neat and really well done. Again, you know, talking about those contained stories, this is definitely one of 'em.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:44

Yeah. Yeah, I really like Nope 2. It's definitely one of my favorite. On that top one hundred, I think it's somewhere in that one hundred. All right, where am I gonna go next? I think from here I may have a little bit more choices than you do, just based off of I've probably Seen a little bit more. I've definitely seen like a whole franchise that you haven't seen, I'm pretty sure.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:05

Is it Alien? Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:09

Which I may pick like low-key three movies off of that franchise. But I'm gonna go with Box Office and I'm going to go with Signs, actually. Okay. I haven't seen that it's an M-night Shyamalan movie about like really a family-centric one that has kind of a twist on it. Not as like M-night Sha Shyamalan type of twist, but as it usually does. Joaquin Phoenix is in it, Mel Gibson. Um I think you would like it.

SPEAKER_04 1:06:35

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:35

I watched it and I was surprised by how much I liked it actually. We're gonna go with the next one. Yeah, let's go with kid no. Let's go with Box Office. No, let's go with Kid Friendly, just because I feel like you have seen this. I'm gonna go with Super Eight.

SPEAKER_00 1:06:50

I haven't seen this, but I've always wanted to. I just watched it today, actually. I was it good. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:06:55

Yeah. I well, this is my I've re- This is a rewatch. I watched it way back when it first came out.

SPEAKER_01 1:07:00

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:01

I think straight up Stranger Things stole stuff from this movie. So like JJ Abrams could probably sue the Duffer Brothers, but there's so many essence to this where I was like, yo, the Duffer Brothers were not actually that original. Super A bang, so L L Fanning as like a child actress. Like you can in the whole movie, you're like, she's the best actress in this movie. Yeah. At like fucking 12. It's actually insane.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:22

All right, let's see. I think for Oscar, I'm just gonna take Ali or sorry, uh Avatar. Yeah, I've only the problem is I've only seen the first one. So I'll take that one. But uh I've heard Way of Water's good, Fire of A Fire and Ash is good, but yeah, obviously kind of iconic for that uh human and alien interaction. I mean kind of how that goes hand in hand with each other. But yeah, and then I have one more here. Let's see. Question Yeah Does Astrophage count as an alien? I don't know about that.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:54

What about I feel like Project Hail Mary still counts.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:57

Yeah, okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:58

Because it's so human involved.

SPEAKER_00 1:07:59

Yeah, I'm gonna take uh Project Hail Mary for a wild, or actually I'll just take it for box office. Okay. I don't see this not getting uh an Oscar nomination this year, honestly, at this point. I definitely There's still a lot of time to give, but I would be shocked if it didn't. Yeah. It should be. I don't know what it'll be for. Probably cinematography or something, but I wouldn't be surprised if it gets the best picker and all.

SPEAKER_03 1:08:24

Yeah. This and disclosure day, I could I could see both. I hope to God disclosure day gets blown out of the water. I think it I think it will get nominated for stuff because of how like the different takes on it are. Yeah. I see a lot more critics liking disclosure day too. So I wouldn't be shocked. Alrighty. So for franchise pick, gonna make a choice here. You know what? Okay, we ball. I'm gonna go with Transformers, the very first one by Michael Bay for franchise pick. That has a personal pick. I actually really think the first one and the third one are really good. That's about it. The rest of them are just straight up. But uh, I like Transformers. Part of my childhood. Every man our age was probably obsessed with Megan Fox, has it imprinted on our brain. But yeah. Now horror. I really like the Alien franchise. So it's like I didn't want to pick multiple of them because I feel like that's kind of cheating, you know. I want to pick multiple of the same franchise. But I have three movies from that franchise that I all rate four and a half stars. So it's like, which one do I want to choose? I'm gonna go with the hottest take one just because fuck it, we ball. And it's gonna be Prometheus. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:09:33

I know that one I haven't seen it, but I know it gets into like a God complex type thing, right? Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:09:40

Yeah, I've I think I've talked about it on this before just because it's like the origins of it, and then like them trying to like find out their find their creator, and then it turns awry on them. Um, they they barely even show like the alien into it. So like I guess on some people be like, it's kind of an origin factor of it, but I just like the themes of the movie so much.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:00

Yeah. Really good movie. All right. I would say I think you can veto this if you want, but I think this makes sense perfectly in my head. So for franchise pick, I'm gonna take Superman, the original alien coming to Earth. Very different than like the per se bad aliens we always think of. But I think it's really cool idea, especially with the Superman we saw last year. Um, kind of an alien discovering his place on Earth is such a neat thing for me. Uh, even though he is and does look like a human, it's interesting to try to discover what humanity is and how to be a human.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:35

Yeah. Originally I thought about just vetoing all superhero movies, but I was like, nah, because there's really only like two that I think you could really count. If we if you like said like Infinity War or in-game, I would be like, all right, we're not doing that.

SPEAKER_00 1:10:48

No, I was thinking the only other one I had was Avengers, the first one, because that one's actually like an alien invasion style film. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:10:57

But after that, it's like I I didn't have this as like honorable mentions, but I know Venom would also count.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:02

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:02

Because it counts from it's like an alien. Yeah, exactly. Also, but the 2025 Superman, I'm guessing.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:08

Yeah, yeah. Okay. Then my wildcard may not have seen Alien, but damn, I seen Prey. That movie's gas. That one is really good. Which one are you doing? Wildcard? Yeah, wild card.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:23

Isn't that about the Predator though? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay. That counts, right? No, yeah, it definitely does count, but uh, you said Alien. Those aren't the same franchise.

SPEAKER_00 1:11:32

No, no, no, no. I said I definitely haven't seen Alien, but I know that like they fight and there's like a whole combo franchise and everything like that. Yeah, this one was really good. Just kind of, you know, the the stereotypical alien coming to earth, but make it really old, make it like colonial times with the Native Americans, such a cool idea. Yeah. And such a cool way to go about it.

SPEAKER_03 1:11:55

Yeah, I've I never really checked out the Predator franchise just because I like the alien a little bit more. And I don't even know. Like, I think Hollywood for like five years were like, let's have them fight each other. Kind of like how they literally around the same time, they're like, let's have Freddie and Jason fight each other. Just Hollywood was like, yo, let's just have these motherfuckers fight each other and get some money off of people. And then Hollywood hasn't done it since. They were on some weird shit. Pretty much. Alright, so wildcard to end it. Man, there's a couple movies, but I haven't taken a Spielberg, and I feel like this is just a perfect place to take one. War of the Worlds for Wildcard. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 1:12:35

Can you describe this one for me? I've always heard of it, I just never watched it.

SPEAKER_03 1:12:39

So stars Tom Cruise, so it's a Tom Cruise Spielberg combination where it's a normal day, and then these aliens pretty much invade Earth, and it's these guys trying to and it's him and his daughter and son trying to get through the invasion of Earth. And I haven't re-watched it in a while. I just remember thinking it was really cool and kind of scary for its time. It's based off a book, too, so it's a direct book adaptation.

SPEAKER_04 1:13:04

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 1:13:04

But it's a simple like invasion movie, but like has some like different essences to it and all that. And also interesting to see Tom Cruise in that role. Okay, cool. Cool. I have some honorable mentions. Sweet. So for Oscar Nom, I had a Quiet Place. Apparently it was for sound design, they were for Box Office, had the original Alien. I decided to go with Prometheus instead. Kid Friendly, Independence Day. Surprised you didn't think about that one. Yeah. Horror, the thing. I was thinking about picking that. And then as well as Cloverfield, which could also be a franchise pick. And The Quiet Place could also be a franchise pick. Venom. Indiana Jones, Kingdom of Chris of Skull. Um, and then Wildcard, The World's End, which is a comedy with like Sean Penn. Or not Sean Penn, the other, the other Sean. Simon Pegg. Simon Pegg. Really funny. And then it also turns into like an alien movie. And I was like, I thought this was a movie about drinking. And then Dr. District 9, also very interesting, empathetic movie about aliens.

SPEAKER_00 1:14:03

Yeah, I didn't have too many more. Did you already say a quiet place? Okay. And then uh, like I had mentioned previously, Avengers as kind of like an alien invasion film, and then Door 2 is technically an alien showing up on Earth. I also had for the kid friendly, Lilo and Stitch is one. Uh-huh. And then uh Monsters versus Aliens. I don't know if you ever watched that growing up, but classic. I definitely did. Yeah. That one's hilarious. And then obviously you took the Transformers movie. I wanted to take Transformers 1, the animated one that came out a couple years ago. That's so gassed, but there's just no human involvement in that one whatsoever. It's completely serious.

SPEAKER_03 1:14:42

Yeah. You're just like we we know they do, but like not in this one. Yeah. But yeah. Cool. Cool. Awesome. Well, thanks for listening to this episode. Uh vote to whichever team you thought was best. But uh, yeah, this was fun to talk about Spielberg and be back on the pod for this week. Awesome.

SPEAKER_00 1:15:00

Thanks for coming back, man. So fun to have you back. Yeah. Hopefully I will be in the future as well. Sweet, sweet. See ya.