PODCAST: Sugarland Express [Let’s Jaws For a Minute]

In this episode, Sarah and MJ are joined by Rob Wallis to talk about Spielberg’s major studio debut, The Sugarland Express.

They discuss its similarities and differences with Duel, the “aw, shucks” style performances, how the film was received by critics such as Ebert, Siskel, and Pauline Kael, and how the film was influenced by Westerns, Italian Neorealism, and the French New Wave.…

PODCAST: Jaws [Movie RobCast]

Episodes 104-105 of The Movie Robcast take a deep dive into the wonders of Jaws, quite simply one of the finest films ever made.

To mark the movie’s 45th anniversary, Robs Daniel & Wallis are joined by Jaws-ophiles, and friends of the show, Sarah Johnson and Adrian Zak.…

PODCAST: Ready Player One & Annihilation [Electric Shadows]

In episode 41 of The Electric Shadows Podcast Robs Daniel & myself journey deep into pop culture and sci-fi when delivering our verdicts on Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and Alex Garland’s Annihilation.

In a typically all-encompassing discussion, Rob D explains why he dug the pop-culture geek-gasm of RP1, while I reveal his reservations about Spielberg’s latest.…

REVIEW: Ready Player One

In recent years, Steven Spielberg has had his gaze focused firmly on the past.

From Abraham Lincoln and the fight for emancipation to The Washington Post battling for freedom of the press, Spielberg is working him way, statesmanlike, through American history, celebrating the better angels of our nature; like Frank Capra with a library card.…

Steve Spielberg’s The BFG is a mid-sized disappointment

 

When perhaps the greatest living filmmaker takes on the favorite story of one of the most belovec children’s authors of the 20th Century, you hope for a truly magic adventure. Instead Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The BFG is charming but slight.

Bridge of Spies is a classic Cold War drama from the master of popular cinema

2015 was the year of onscreen espionage: Spy, Kingsman, Mission: Impossible, and, of course, Specter. Bridge of Spies seems like the first one likely to trouble Uncle Oscar.

The film opens in 1957 at the “height of the Cold War” as a title card helpfully informs us.…

For a film about a haunting, Poltergeist (2015) is very much a non-entity.

How do you one-up Steven Spielberg?

Rumors have circulated for years that he was the creative force behind Poltergeist, as opposed to director-for-hire Tobe Hooper; perhaps not surprising given the ‘Berg’s reputation as arguably the foremost American director of all time.…

Lincoln is showcase cinema at its best

 

One hundred and fifty years since the Emancipation Proclamation was signed into existence, slavery has once again become a hot-button topic in American cinema.

Arguably two of the biggest cinematic releases on show at the moment are Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained and Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln.…