Ready Player One | March 29, 2018 | Spielberg directing | No untagged spoilers allowed

[Avatree]

this should have been the world of warcraft movie.

[Jake Gittes]

7 hours ago, MovieMan89 said:

The funny thing is the only Spielberg film to release in a dump spot on the calendar since Jaws was Bridge of Spies. So that's pretty much true, lol. 

October is the prime spot for an adult drama like that. Certainly more fitting for Bridge than July was for The BFG.

 

1 hour ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

When was his last great blockbuster films? Tintin?

Minority Report minus the ending. War of the Worlds had some great individual sequences.

[Goffe]

2 hours ago, Darth Lehnsherr said:

March could see a couple of flops. Hope this isn't one of them as I would like to see Spielberg return to blockbuster glory. When was his last great blockbuster films? Tintin?

War of the Worlds, which is the greatest.

[Avatree]

41 minutes ago, Jake Gittes said:

Minority Report all of his movies minus the ending.

Spielberg summed up.

[The Futurist]

Spielberg is an optimist, deal.

[MrGlass2]

14 minutes ago, Treeing Me Apart said:

Spielberg summed up.

...Now now, Spielberg might be past his peak but let's not go overboard. Some of Spielberg's endings are all-time classics.

[MCKillswitch123]

34 minutes ago, Treeing Me Apart said:

Spielberg summed up.

Jaws has one of the best endings ever made.

[dashrendar44]

Raiders of The Lost Ark's ending always felt creepy to me.

 

That shot of the Ark Of Covenant being unceremoniously boxed after all we've witnessed of its power among many other millenial relics in a gigantic anonymous warehouse, it's like the seeds of Hell are all being secretly kept somewhere unbeknowst to us for eons in wooden crates. Williams chilling theme "Miracle Of The Ark" keeps on resonating after that shot lingered in my head. You're supposed to be relieved "Yeah Indiana and Marion saved the day except...The cradle of Apocalypse is still sitting in a Washington DC's basement among many others collecting dust".

 

In fact, most of Spielberg's "happy ending" are bittersweet underneath the sugarcoating. AI is heartwrenching.

Edited March 7, 2018 by dashrendar44

[MrPink]

It was really starting with Minority Report that his endings started feeling all weird for me. Minority Report, War of the Worlds, Lincoln, the Post were all films that had endings I didn't care for or stretched itself too long.

 

But I'm not gonna act like endings for movies like Schindler's List didn't crush me or Jurassic Park is incredibly cathartic and such.

[dashrendar44]

Regarding Minority Report's ending, I'm still Team "Anderton's still dreaming in cryo-prison", the third act is pure wish fulfillment being set up by Tim Blake Nelson's warden character. The fact Spielberg didn't pull the rug like Brazil made me like it even more because it leaves the ambiguity intact for the viewer to decide, to play and replay on a loop to seize the truth.

Edited March 7, 2018 by dashrendar44

[MrPink]

Oh yeah, regarding A.I., seeing Teddy jump on the bed at the end of the movie makes me know for sure that Christopher Robin is gonna kill me, Disney cash grab or not.

[The Wild Eric]

36 minutes ago, MrPink said:

Oh yeah, regarding A.I., seeing Teddy jump on the bed at the end of the movie makes me know for sure that Christopher Robin is gonna kill me, Disney cash grab or not.

I'm still mad the Internet decided to unanimously hate the ending. It's one of the sweetest and most emotionally devastating conclusions I've ever seen.

[filmscholar]

I'm a Steven fan for life and the movie definitely appeals to Kids that grew up from the 70's and 80's.   I have to honest, his catalog in the 2000's and 2010's as been inconsistent but the man has been making movies for what 50 years?   He's not going to be perfect but he's one of the Blockbuster GODS and him and George shaped the future of Blockbusters.   So I'll give this a shot, never read the book but heard it was good.   The trailers haven't blown me away but I love the concept of virtual reality and technology and living in a computerized world.   "Lawnmower Man" was one of the favs growing up because that was one of the first films I saw that dealt with this idea of being inside of a computer.  I grew up on "Tron" too but I always saw that more of being inside of a video game but you could agrue it deals with the same idea of being inside technology.  Of course "The Matrix Trilogy" would change the game after that.  

Edited March 7, 2018 by filmscholar

[kayumanggi]

[kayumanggi]

[kayumanggi]

[kayumanggi]

[a2k]

I think Tintin was Spielberg's best movie this century. I use to read the books as a teen so had that going in favor of the movie but it's still most non-Raider Raider-fun at movies in some time.

[Cap]

47 minutes ago, filmscholar said:

I'm a Steven fan for life and the movie definitely appeals to Kids that grew up from the 70's and 80's.   I have to honest, his catalog in the 2000's and 2010's as been inconsistent but the man has been making movies for what 50 years? 

1

Someone finally said it!  Spielberg is, without question, one of the biggest influences on pop culture in the 20th Century.  He shaped the childhood of millions of Western Centric children and filmmakers.  You can still feel that influence in their work when you watch stuff by like the Duffer Brothers and/or JJ Abrams.  

 

But it's the 21st Century.  What has he done in the past ten years that would excite a younger demo (that this movie will desperately need to succeed) to go to the theater just because it's SPIELBERG?  Maybe Jurassic World?  His excellent work on movies Lincoln were totally for adults.  And it doesn't help that it felt like he phoned in The Post.  That could still be on people's minds.

 

This movie feels OLD, and feels like it will only excite the 25+ Male Demo.  If that's the case, it's wicked doubtful is will exceed 100M DOM.  

 

I also question the movie's marketing decision to focus on the homage/nostalgia aspect of the story, instead of the very timely and interesting theme of escapism in a dystopian setting.  Makes it feel like a giant game of Where's Waldo instead of a real story.

[filmscholar]

16 minutes ago, captainwondyful said:

Someone finally said it!  Spielberg is, without question, one of the biggest influences on pop culture in the 20th Century.  He shaped the childhood of millions of Western Centric children and filmmakers.  You can still feel that influence in their work when you watch stuff by like the Duffer Brothers and/or JJ Abrams.  

 

But it's the 21st Century.  What has he done in the past ten years that would excite a younger demo (that this movie will desperately need to succeed) to go to the theater just because it's SPIELBERG?  Maybe Jurassic World?  His excellent work on movies Lincoln were totally for adults.  And it doesn't help that it felt like he phoned in The Post.  That could still be on people's minds.

 

This movie feels OLD, and feels like it will only excite the 25+ Male Demo.  If that's the case, it's wicked doubtful is will exceed 100M DOM.  

 

I also question the movie's marketing decision to focus on the homage/nostalgia aspect of the story, instead of the very timely and interesting theme of escapism in a dystopian setting.  Makes it feel like a giant game of Where's Waldo instead of a real story.

 

I said "Inconsistent" but that doesn't mean bad.   It basically means "Hit or Miss".  For the most part we all know there will always be artistic value in a Steven film period.   But that doesn't mean he's been flawless because he hasn't.   I just think his 70's, 80's and 90's films are the best of his catalog and the 2000's and 2010's aren't.  His Box Office in the last 18 years hasn't been that bad at all, his biggest under-performer was recently though with "BFG".  Most of the films this century have been Dramas so you have to keep the box office in context.   Plus remember, Steven is one of the Greatest Producers ever so his Production catalog is still very successful even if he isn't Directing.   

 

Steven could still be doing "Jurassic Park" films he just chose to pass it to the next generation like Lucas just did.  Now I agree with you that this film is banking some form of "Nostalgia".  The so called "Nostalgia Bump" has taken Box Office by storm in the last 3 years with several Legacy titles.  "Jumanji" just broke out when many felt it would just do "OK".   So they are hoping that 70's and 80's Nostalgia will help this film even though the actual film and book aren't "Legacy" titles that received the Bump I'm talking about.  But they are using "Legacy/Nostalgia" Images in the film  (Back to the Future etc).   I understand the March release because they don't want it to get lost in the Summer shuffle.  But I don't know exactly how this is going to do.   "Pacific Rim" comes out a week before or so.  Almost the same demos but still Sci-Fi Action directed at Young Adults.

 

12/22/17	The Post	Fox	$80,465,200	2,851	$526,011	9	19
9/1/17	Close Encounters of the Third Kind (40th Anniversary)	Sony	$135,189,114	901	$1,767,758	901	14
7/1/16	The BFG	BV	$55,483,770	3,392	$18,775,350	3,357	25
10/16/15	Bridge of Spies	BV	$72,313,754	2,873	$15,371,203	2,811	24
11/9/12	Lincoln	BV	$182,207,973	2,293	$944,308	11	10
12/25/11	War Horse	BV	$79,884,879	2,856	$7,515,402	2,376	20
12/21/11	The Adventures of Tintin	Par.	$77,591,831	3,087	$9,720,993	3,087	23
5/22/08	Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull	Par.	$317,101,119	4,264	$100,137,835	4,260	3
12/23/05	Munich	Uni.	$47,403,685	1,498	$4,152,260	532	26
6/29/05	War of the Worlds	Par.	$234,280,354	3,910	$64,878,725	3,908	6
6/18/04	The Terminal	DW	$77,872,883	2,914	$19,053,199	2,811	22
12/25/02	Catch Me If You Can	DW	$164,615,351	3,225	$30,053,627	3,156	12
6/21/02	Minority Report	Fox	$132,072,926	3,001	$35,677,125	3,001	15
6/29/01	A.I. Artificial Intelligence	WB	$78,616,689	3,242	$29,352,630	3,242	21

Edited March 7, 2018 by filmscholar