How powerfull is Steven Spielberg?

[nox501]

Hi,

Sorry for my bad english but I think you are used to posts like this.

I know SS is co-founder of Dreamworks etc. but I do not understand his position among Hollywood big bosses. Is Dreamworks a studio like WB or Paramount? If so, why does DW keep working with other big studios?

War of the Worlds is, as far as I know, not a DW movie. So why does SS keep working for the other side? And when he works for Paramount is he under oer equal to Paramount's boss? Did I get something wrong?

[Litmus Configuration]

Wow, for a second there, I thought the Gemini Killer started posting at CHUD...

Did I get something wrong?

Yes. Much of your post, actually. But in response...

1. Who is "SB?" Or do you mean "SS?"

2. Yes, DreamWorks is a proper studio like WB or Paramount.

3. Several studios co-finance films together, to share the risk. Like Fox and Paramount did on TITANIC. It's not uncommon.

4. WAR OF THE WORLDS is a co-production between DreamWorks and Paramount.

5. Steven Spielberg has a 30-year-long track record that's second to none. He's also incredibly adept at Hollywood politics. He's also amazingly rich. And he's very respected and/or feared. Those are but a few reasons why he's so powerful.

Or powerfull, if you're James Venamun.

[Matt Goldberg]

How powerful is Spielberg? Let's put it this way: he gets the first look at pretty much every new project in Hollywood. That means that for about 99% of the films in production, Spielberg had a chance to direct and chose to pass.

[Richard Dickson]

I saw Steven Spielberg once. Sequoia National Forest. He made a sound I would not want to hear twice in my life.

[Matt Goldberg]

Was he naturally blurry?

[The Alexor]

How powerful is Spielberg? Let's put it this way: he gets the first look at pretty much every new project in Hollywood. That means that for about 99% of the films in production, Spielberg had a chance to direct and chose to pass.

And yet he makes a lot of ordinary movies.

[Brad Millette]

Stephen Spielberg could kill you and your entire family, and no one would ever know.

[Matt Goldberg]

And yet he makes a lot of ordinary movies.

Which makes his current career track all the more depressing.

[dudalb]

Speilberg' power is probably based more on his position at Dreamworks then his record as a director...though that record is what got him the backing to start Dreamworks.
Fact is that Speilberg can pretty much get backing for anything he wants to make..even a lot of his perceived Box Office "Failures" like "Minority Report" and "AI" were very profitable when international grosses are taken into account.
If WOTW is as a big as hit as expected, and with Indy 4 apparently in the near future...Speilberg's will continute to be the 800 pound Gorilla in Hollywood.
Lucas was not able to pull off in the 80's with Lucasfilms what Speilberg did with Dreamworks...make a major studio. Granted, Speilberg had the help of Geffen and Katzanberg, but both to them credit Speilberg with making the decisons that put Dreamworks over the top.

[Charlie Brigden]

And yet he makes a lot of ordinary movies.

Not everyone can be at the top of their game at all times.

[Del Griffith]

Not everyone can be at the top of their game at all times.

Good point. I haven't liked a Steven Speilberg movie since Jurassic Park.

[The Alexor]

Not everyone can be at the top of their game at all times.

Quite true. But still, Spielberg gets first look at almost all film projects in Hollywood. Add to that the fact he makes more than one movie a year. It seems to me it's his fault if he doesn't make many good movies.

Anyway, his commercial record speaks for itself. His artistic record I believe is overrated. Jaws, Raiders and Schindler's List are great movies. The rest, I not a big fan of.

[Charlie Brigden]

Again, this is all going to come down to opinions, so I respectfully disagree, both in his classic period (E.T., CE3K, EMPIRE OF THE SUN) and his new period (A.I.). But, this is an age-old discussion that I guess will continue to go on as long as the man's movies exist.

[Fazer]

Stephen Spielberg's beard is actually a protected wildlife reserve.

[Moltisanti]

How powerful is Steven Spielberg? The only film Amy Irving has made in the last 3 years is HIDE AND SEEK.

[Matt Goldberg]

Not everyone can be at the top of their game at all times.

It's not a matter of being at the top of his game. His films work on every level except story. A director like him doesn't have to make films that are as safe as those of Adam Shankman.

[Sin City]

This is a good thread and a good question. Spielberg has been the most powerful person in cinema for the last 30 years mainly because he made some of the biggest films of all time in the 70's and has managed to pull out a gigantic hit every so often and that's all he needs. If Coppola was able to pull off a Godfather every ten years or so, he'd still be as revered as he was back then but he flamed out and was last seen in a remote part of Asia, wandering the forrest. It's the reason that James Cameron can sit on his ass for as long as he has and still have anyone in Hollywood write him a blank check.

There are a few problems with Spielberg's career, one of which is that, at the beginning he made films like JAWS, CE3K and Raiders which were not only FUCKING HUGE HITS but also some of the best films of all time and they represent the perfect melding of art and commerce. After 1982 and E.T. I notice that his career started splitting into two distinct paths.

On the one hand he was working on more "serious" films such as The Color Purple and Empire of the Sun. On the other hand he would put out an Indinana Jones film every so often to keep his grosses up. The problem is that as he has progressed, his more commercial ventures (Hook, Jurrasic Park, The Lost World)have become weaker and weaker in both story and character while he's gotten better at drama's such as Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan and Catch Me If You Can. It's as though he doesn't give a shit about the types of films that are his bread and butter and figures that if he can make a film with a hot concept and a few cool set piece's (Minority Report) then that will keep his name at Number 1# on Hollywood's Power List's (which I read in Entertainment Weekly and Premiere every year). But a funny thing has happened this year. Spielberg isn't at the top anymore. The lackluster grosses (for him) on Minority Report (especially since it starred Tom Cruise) and the bombing of The Terminal (which got trashed by fucking DODGEBALL! at the box office) has put Spielberg at Number 2# behind Mr. Peter Jackson.

There is a reason for this and it's because Jackson made The Lord of the Ring's Trilogy which represented what everyone wants in Hollywood, gigantic finacial success and critical acclaim applenty including a shitload of Oscar's, not to mention that although the film's were squarely in the Fantasy Genre they were made with alot of love, while great attention was made to the material that they were based on and not simply hacked to piece's, even though some of you Tolken nerds would argue otherwise.

I don't think Spielberg has it in him anymore to make a film like JAWS, especially since he pussy's out on R-Rated material unless it is deemed "serious". I doubt that War of the Worlds will be CE3K's evil twin brother or that Indiana Jones 4 will recapture the magic of the first film.

For me, Director's like Peter Jackson, Sam Raimi, Bryan Singer and YES even Robert Rodriguez have replaced Spielberg. I don't think Spielberg does anything out of love anymore. Now it's a matter of "I have A : piece of hot material with interesting concept and I'll mix it with B: huge star in it, usually Tom Cruise or Tom Hanks". What happened to the Spielberg that put Richard Dreyfuss in CE3K because Tom Cruise as about as far from "blue collar" as you can get and that get's in my way of looking forward to War of the Worlds. Christ, even Harrison Ford would have been a better choice for the role, if TheBeard wanted star wattage, since Ford can still do blue collar and just about get away with it or why not cast someone solid like Kurt Russel or a character actor that has consistently put out good performances? And what about A.I.? Do you really think that film would have gotten made if Haley Joel Osmond didn't come along when he did. Oh and A.I. was fucking awful.

Now some of you are probably pissed that I would even DARE to compare Robert Rodriguez to Spielberg but SIN CITY blows away ANYTHING that The Beard has made (as entertainment) since Raiders. SC is the type of thing that Spielberg would NEVER consider doing. Firstly, it would have to be R-Rated and unless there is s chance of him winning another Oscar I doubt that Steven would be interested, and secondly, because the subject matter would only appeal to a small demographic it wouldn't appeal to the broadest audience, thus, it wouldn't become a earth shattering hit so there would be no interest for him in doing a movie like SIN CITY either way and that depresses me for another reason.

Spielberg is THE most successful Director of ALL TIME and a MULTI-BILLIONAIRE and yet he would NEVER consider using his own money to finance a film on his own. Give Robert Rodriguez a billion dollars and he would make movies like SIN CITY and Spy Kids from here till dooms day and would love doing it, he'd probably even finance Quinten. Spielberg has all the money in the world and can get anyone to work with him and yet he still chases the golden calf with films like The Lost World. Catch Me If You Can was Spielbergs best film since Shindler's List because it had a great story and was exceptionally casted. Sure, having Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in the film didn't hurt but the fact that he cast both Christopher Walkin and Martin Sheen made me love that film all the more.

In closing, I will not be sad to see Spielberg stop making movies as I have become disenfranchised with his brand of mindless entertainment (Jurassic Park) nor will I grieve over the loss of his sappy, over sentimatalistic drivel (Hook) or the bland moralising (Saving Private Ryan) that has blighted his career and I sincerely hope that if he's got one last masterpiece in him then War of the Worlds will be it.

[Litmus Configuration]

I guess Steven Spielberg isn't that powerful after all, considering how many know-it-alls around here don't even know how to spell the man's name. (Stephen Speilberg should work with Tom Crooze on something for the MTV Movie Awards.)

I would love to see a list of directors alive today more naturally-talented and consistently successful over three decades than Spielberg. I'm not saying that automatically makes him "the best filmmaker working today," whatever that means. I'm just saying that's the foundation of his power and success. And justifiably so.

[Litmus Configuration]

Aside from the Rodriguez comparison, very nice first post, Sin.

[The Prankster]

Stephen Spielberg produces a magnetic field 1,000,000,000,000 times stronger than Earth's own field. He is so dense that a thimble full of him would weigh about 90,000,000 tons. He produces enough light and heat to power a generating station for 2 billion years.

[Suttytx]

How powerful is Steven Spielberg, you ask?

He wears a live rattlesnake as a condom.

He got his wife pregnant, and she gave birth to a delicious sixteen ounce steak. The afterbirth was sautéed mushrooms.

He still believes in Santa Claus, and he wants to put him in porno films.


Ahhh, good ole Bill Bras...umm, Steven Spielberg.

[Charlie Brigden]

I guess he's a SIN CITY fan then.

[Brad Millette]

Man, Sin City better than Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T.?

Wow.

Just.. wow.

I mean...

Wow.

[Charlie Brigden]

It can't be as good as TEMPLE OF DOOM. Frank Miller never included any chilled monkey brains in the comic.

[Brad Millette]

Nothing trumps chilled monkey brains.

[masterkilla]

Spielberg is a great story teller but the man lacked in the visual sense. The man should start making movies for his fans instead of making boring movies for himself.

[fabfunk]

How powerful is Steven Spielberg, you ask?

He wears a live rattlesnake as a condom.

He got his wife pregnant, and she gave birth to a delicious sixteen ounce steak. The afterbirth was sautéed mushrooms.

He still believes in Santa Claus, and he wants to put him in porno films.


Ahhh, good ole Bill Bras...umm, Steven Spielberg.


I hear Steven Spielberg has a toenail at the end of his penis!

I'm wearing a diaper!

[LightningLouie]

5. Steven Spielberg has a 30-year-long track record that's second to none. He's also incredibly adept at Hollywood politics. He's also amazingly rich. And he's very respected and/or feared. Those are but a few reasons why he's so powerful.



Also, I have it on good authority that he can shoot lightning bolts from the tips of his fingers.

[Moltisanti]

Spielberg is so powerful that he obtained Vic Morrow's head and uses it as a good luck charm/loose change dish.

How come with all his power he can't get that episode of "Amazing Stories" he directed with Kevin Costner and Kiefer Sutherland as WW2 pilots out on DVD?

[myPandaNY]

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[Charlie Brigden]

It's far and away known Jackson is the #1 reason why LOTR was so good. He took a middling book and turned it into one of the greatest, if not greatest film trilogies ever made. He didn't get a best director oscar for nothing, y'know. Christ, it took Spielberg about eighteen years to win his.

He brought his style and vision to LOTR 100%. Just as Spielberg brought his style to JAWS, which like LOTR, was based on a not particularly well-written book.

[Micah Robinson]

It's far and away known Jackson is the #1 reason why LOTR was so good. He took a middling book and turned it into one of the greatest, if not greatest film trilogies ever made. He didn't get a best director oscar for nothing, y'know. Christ, it took Spielberg about eighteen years to win his.

He brought his style and vision to LOTR 100%. Just as Spielberg brought his style to JAWS, which like LOTR, was based on a not particularly well-written book.

Aside from LOTR actually being great, I agree.

[Brad Millette]

Yeah, Fett. The books were great, too. Veeeeeeeeeery slow paced, but great nonetheless.

Still, that trilogy was in no way a no brainer. It took a director with vision, like Jackson, to make those books into great movies.

[Charlie Brigden]

Don't get me wrong, I have great love for the books, I just think the style is too middling. I think they're more an example of great ideas than writing. And yeah, the pacing is painful sometimes.

[Matt Ocallaghan]

Last year the director and some of the producers for Ghost Rider had a meet-and-chat here in Melbourne to yak about the production. At one point, i cant remeber what the guy actually said, but the director made a funny slight put down about Spielberg. Everyone giggled and then the producer stopped and said:
"Hey, we shouldnt make fun of steven. We wont ever work again"
Everyone laughed again until he said "No...im serious"
....a chilling hush fell over the crowd as if the Eye of Steven had fixed upon us.
I think the man is just fantastic. I think his later films are smarter than people give him credit for and ive got my plastic strap ons ready for War of the Worlds.
Yeah Hook sucked.

[Charlie Brigden]

Last year the director and some of the producers for Ghost Rider had a meet-and-chat here in Melbourne to yak about the production. At one point, i cant remeber what the guy actually said, but the director made a funny slight put down about Spielberg. Everyone giggled and then the producer stopped and said:
"Hey, we shouldnt make fun of steven. We wont ever work again"
Everyone laughed again until he said "No...im serious"
....a chilling hush fell over the crowd as if the Eye of Steven had fixed upon us.


It does happen, I guess. Legend has it JAWS 3, PEOPLE 0 which was going to be directed by Joe Dante and written by John Hughes didn't happen because Spielberg said he'd walk from Universal if it was ever made.

[tcjsavannah]

Spielberg's success can be traced to Deep 13 funding, thanks to Dr. F's unholy obsession with Irving.

[Johnny Daywalker]

Robert Rodriguez hasn't come close to being as good a director as Steven Spielberg. Thats one of the silliest things said on these boards since i've been a member here.

OUATIM is worse than any bad Spielberg film. Saying that I haven't seen Sin City so i'll reserve judgement on that film until I do so.

[LightningLouie]

It does happen, I guess. Legend has it JAWS 3, PEOPLE 0 which was going to be directed by Joe Dante and written by John Hughes didn't happen because Spielberg said he'd walk from Universal if it was ever made.

But he wasn't fazed by Jaws 3-D? And obviously he didn't hold a grudge against Dante, who was an Amblin regular for most of the second half of the '80s.

Lately, I've been wondering what Billy Wilder's Schindler's List would have been like.

[Charlie Brigden]

That was right after JAWS 2, so maybe he'd already left Universal by the time 3-D was in production, after E.T. was finished, and he went to WB to produce GREMLINS and direct TWILIGHT ZONE, COLOR PURPLE and EMPIRE OF THE SUN. I guess E.T. is what Universal would've lost had he gone.

The history of the third Jaws is littered with stuff like that, apparently.

[myPandaNY]

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[LightningLouie]

I guess E.T. is what Universal would've lost had he gone.

Actually, I remember reading in the McBride bio that E.T. was Columbia's loss; they lost interest in the project when Spielberg opted to do it as a friendly alien story, versus the original Night Skies concept, which would have been more like Signs.

I'd imagine that Spielberg would have stayed with Univeral as long as Sid Sheinberg was around.

[LightningLouie]

Is he a flash in the pan? or is he the next big thing? only time will tell.....


Um, I think Heavenly Creatures confirmed that Jackson was definitely not a flash in the pan, well over ten years ago. If he'd ended up failing in Hollywood, he'd still be making weird and zany low-budget movies in NZ.

The catch is, not only does Speilberg direct the guy makes movies. He brings them to life, if he see's a great project that could come to the screen he goes with it, either by finding the talen to make it or by getting the funding for someone.

Frankly, I think most of the projects released under the "Steven Spielberg Presents" imprimatur were just fucking awful, and probably did more to harm his reputation as a creative force than Hook, or the other mediocre movies he made between E.T. and Schindler's List. (Much love for Empire of the Sun, though.) That period has always made me skeptical about his "greatness" as a director. From about '82 on, he could have gotten just about anything produced, and opted out for slick, infantile cartoons. Gremlins. Goonies. Harry and the Hendersons. *batteries not included. Amazing Stories still makes me want to vomit. Here was an opportunity to revive the great TV anthologies of the '50s and '60s, to do smart SF and fantasy adaptations for a mass audience, but it ended up being Twilight Zone as conceived by a retarded eight-year-old. (The much-maligned '80s revival of TZ looks like Welles and Truffaut's love child by comparison.) ER is a fluke when you consider Seaquest DSV, Earth 2, Taken, ad nauseum.

I don't want to give the impression that I hate Spielberg's movies; I think the first dozen years of his career are amazing, pure filmmaking. (Yes, even parts of 1941, a WWII movie I like better than Saving Private Ryan.) But I think with one or two exceptions, he's been on editorial autopilot for way too long. There are filmmakers of equal or greater skill who I wish had just a fraction of Spielberg's freedom and power.

[LightningLouie]

Yeah, Fett. The books were great, too. Veeeeeeeeeery slow paced, but great nonetheless.

Still, that trilogy was in no way a no brainer. It took a director with vision, like Jackson, to make those books into great movies.

I give a lot of credit for Jackson's success to Fran Walsh, who appears to have an equal amount of input into the filmmaking process. If they ever break up, I guarantee you his movies will flatline creatively, as was the case with Lucas and Bogdanovich after their divorces.

[Richard Dickson]

Gremlins. Goonies. Harry and the Hendersons. *batteries not included. Amazing Stories still makes me want to vomit.
Say what you want about the others, but you insult Gremlins at your peril.

[Brad Millette]

I heard from a guy that Spielberg chooses every AIDS victim in the US using a dartboard and a Bic pen.

[Moltisanti]

ER is a fluke when you consider Seaquest DSV, Earth 2, Taken, ad nauseum.

Let's give the guy a little credit for "Band of Brothers."

I don't want to give the impression that I hate Spielberg's movies; I think the first dozen years of his career are amazing, pure filmmaking. (Yes, even parts of 1941, a WWII movie I like better than Saving Private Ryan.)

Outside of the '89 BATMAN, is there another movie that people have decided to turn on more than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN? It's just something I've noticed the past couple of years that is odd.

I will say that Spielberg as a producer makes some horrid films, but stuff like THE FLINTSTONES, CASPER, and MEN IN BLACK all make a ton of money so since that is one of the main goals as a producer he seems to know his stuff.

[LightningLouie]

Lets look at modern day stars that are coming out, look at saving private ryan? Vin Diesel's big break so to speak along with a couple of other now stars.

Where are they now?

Tom Hanks -- Mid-career menopause. Not pretty.
Vin Diesel -- Probably doing TV in five years, tops.
Tom Sizemore -- Probably doing time, right now.
Ed Burns -- aka "That guy who married Christy Turlington."
Barry Pepper -- DTV limbo.
Giovanni Ribisi -- aka "Beck's brother-in-law." (Not to be confused with Paul Giamatti.)
Jeremy Davies -- Lars von Trier movies unto Kingdom Come (or a von Trier-produced porno of the same name).
Adam Goldberg -- Two words: Hebrew Hammer.
Matt Damon -- A wee little puppet man.

Betcha anything Playboy will get the actresses who played Ryan's Aryan granddaughters (and WTF was that about, Steve-O?) to appear in a tenth-anniversary centerfold.

[LightningLouie]

Let's give the guy a little credit for "Band of Brothers."

I liked it better when it was about eight hours shorter and had Lee Marvin in it and was called The Big Red One.

[Richard Dickson]

Paul Giamatti -- aka "Beck's brother-in-law."
Yeah, and only coming off two massively-praised lead performances (American Splendor and Sideways) and getting great reviews for his role in Cinderella Man. Yeah, he's fallen off the map....

[Moltisanti]

I liked it better when it was about eight hours shorter and had Lee Marvin in it and was called The Big Red One.

That's fair enough, I haven't seen THE BIG RED ONE and I probably should. But as a mini-series I think "Band of Brothers" took the sense of what WW2 was like in RYAN and expanded it from paratrooper training to the end of the war.

[LightningLouie]

Yeah, and only coming off two massively-praised lead performances (American Splendor and Sideways) and getting great reviews for his role in Cinderella Man. Yeah, he's fallen off the map....

Oops. Meant Giovanni Ribisi, who really has fallen off the map.

[Grofield]

I liked it better when it was about eight hours shorter and had Lee Marvin in it and was called The Big Red One.

Louie, I couldn't agree with you more. Way to go!!!

[Brad Millette]

Matt Damon -- A wee little puppet man.


A Mr. Bourne respectfully disagrees with you.

[Grofield]

Outside of the '89 BATMAN, is there another movie that people have decided to turn on more than SAVING PRIVATE RYAN?

BATMAN did not meet with unanimous praise from the critics, and I can remember even at age 10 feeling like I'd been cheated.

[LightningLouie]

A Mr. Bourne respectfully disagrees with you.

To which I must humbly reply:

Maaaaaaaaaaaaatt Daaaaaaaaaamoooon!

[LightningLouie]

BATMAN did not meet with unanimous praise from the critics, and I can remember even at age 10 feeling like I'd been cheated.

What? You didn't like The Movie of the Decade!(TM)?

Seriously, though-- Burton's Batman was the prototypical summer movie of the '90s, all hype and no substance. It was the first movie with a nuclear marketing campaign, one with a half-life so intense that it lasted all the way through Batman & Robin. When that turkey came out, fans revisited the earlier movies in the series to find out what went wrong, only to discover that the series had never been great to begin with.

[Moltisanti]

BATMAN did not meet with unanimous praise from the critics, and I can remember even at age 10 feeling like I'd been cheated.

I wasn't really speaking of critics, mainly the average common man (as opposed to super human film critics) that felt BATMAN was a good flick. I admit to having an incurable disease of seeing that movie through 12 year old eyes but I think it was the sequels that started giving people cause to rip apart the original.

Tom Sizemore -- Probably doing time, right now.

Ah c'mon, he's got like 5 or 6 movies in various stages of development. I'm sure they'll mostly blow but there is one with Thomas Jane that sounds off beat. Plus, he was Sonny Forelli in "Grand Theft Auto: Vice City" which easily puts him ahead of puppet Damon or Burns.

[LightningLouie]

Ah c'mon, he's got like 5 or 6 movies in various stages of development. I'm sure they'll mostly blow but there is one with Thomas Jane that sounds off beat.

Is one of them an informercial for the Whizzinator(TM)?

[Moltisanti]

He shouldn't do time for hitting Heidi Fliess, he should do time for going out with her in the first place.

[James Woods' Career]

As soon as I saw a cocksucker say Sin City was more entertaining that any of Spielbergs films since Raiders, my eyes began bleeding and I stopped reading this thread. First my brain imploded when I saw the person's name was Sin City, and he had one post. I became convinced it is Rodriguez, and then said bleedage occured.

[Sharpel007]

remeber that great Millus interview on IGN he said that Stevens own personal favoroite is 1941 which says alot

the fact that Empire of The Sun currently has a 7.5 on IMDB is very reassuring

say what you will about Gremlins but watch the Goonies than a Spy Kids movie and you will realize where the greatness lies

WoTW I think wont be the great Steven movie of the year that will be Vengence or whatever the final title is

[JacknifeJohnny]

You know E.T.'s glow-brite finger thing? Spielberg can do that...for real.

[myPandaNY]

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[The Prankster]

I give a lot of credit for Jackson's success to Fran Walsh, who appears to have an equal amount of input into the filmmaking process. If they ever break up, I guarantee you his movies will flatline creatively, as was the case with Lucas and Bogdanovich after their divorces.

I dunno...there seems to be some merit to the idea that the more soppy and melodramatic moments in LOTR, along with some of the dodgier second unit stuff, was her doing. Hers or Boyens'. But it's hard to say, since as far as I can tell she's been with PJ since he started making movies.

[LightningLouie]

What movie (save Hanks and Damon) did they headline before Saving Private Ryan?

Hanks is not in mid-career menopause, what haven't seen anything in the theatres this summer staring him? he was in four movies last year!

Missed every single one of 'em. (So did everybody else.) Haven't liked a single one of his films since The 'Burbs and Joe Versus The Volcano.

Damon, common, the guys on fire. Afflek lost his mojo to Damon.

What is an Afflek? Is that a Doctor Who villain?

Trust me, in twenty years' time Damon will be remembered as a puppet character in Team America.

[Moltisanti]

That is true about Damon and TEAM AMERICA. It's not a big deal now but he better do what he can to make sure that movie doesn't get an infinite rotation on Comedy Central in a few years, Susan Sarandon should look into that as well.

Another sign of Spielberg's power, he's actaully able to close the ads for HIGH TENSION around here.

[LightningLouie]

That is true about Damon and TEAM AMERICA. It's not a big deal now but he better do what he can to make sure that movie doesn't get an infinite rotation on Comedy Central in a few years, Susan Sarandon should look into that as well.

Oh yeah. I foresee at least two generations of seventh graders yelling "Maaaaaattt Daaaaaaamon!" at each other during lunch period. It's gonna be pervasive the way Blazing Saddles and Monty Python were in the '70s and '80s.

Another sign of Spielberg's power, he's actaully able to close the ads for HIGH TENSION around here.

"Close"? Like censor? Clarify, please!

[Moltisanti]

Not censor, just hit the X and have it go away at a higher percentage than it does for me. I mean the guy losing his head was cool the first 3 times but the awe of it diminshes after round 87.

[LightningLouie]

say what you will about Gremlins but watch the Goonies than a Spy Kids movie and you will realize where the greatness lies

Is Carla Gugino in Goonies? No? Then I rest my case.

I miss Lucy Deakins, though.

[myPandaNY]

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[myPandaNY]

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[LightningLouie]

10 years ago.. so you're throwing the hat of most powerful director in hollywood on a guy who filmed a movie 10 years ago that didn't make budget in theatres (US, since thats the one that counts in Hollywood) and happend to have followed it up with The Lord of the Ring Trilogy. wait... he made Frighteners also which... also didn't make budget.

I dunno 'bout "most powerful"... but LotR collectively earned about a billion dollars worldwide, which is more than you can say for anything Spielberg's directed in a good long time. I have no doubt that Spielberg could probably buy Jackson and the whole of New Zealand if he so chose, but that wasn't the point I was trying to make.

Ok, it is of my opinion that you do not have all the facts of what Speilberg has done between ET & Schindlers List

Oh, please. I grew up in the '80s; I have seen or heard of every project you mention. To wit:

Directed!

Indiana Jones & the Temple of Doom -- Utter shit, inferior in every way to the original. The beginning of the weird "daddy complex" that's hijacked just about every movie he's done since.

Amazing Stories -- Total shit. See my post above.

The Color Purple, only won a couple of awards -- Watered down, sentimentalized adaptation of the Alice Walker novel.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade -- More of the "daddy complex." Connery descends into self-parody, and the Jeopardy sketch on SNL is embryonically formed in Will Ferrell's imagination.

Always -- Spirit-free remake of A Guy Named Joe. Stars Brad Johnson, The Amazing Human Log.

Jurassic Park -- Cynical, kid-friendly fare. Should have been the Jaws/Alien of its era.

Produced!

Poltergeist -- A vastly underrated movie, but it falls under the pre-E.T./Drank the Kool-Aid era Spielberg.

Gremlins -- Really not all that great. The sequel's better.

The Goonies -- Even as a thirteen-year-old, failed to see the point.

Back to the Future (all 3) -- Would've liked to have seen Zemeckis and Gale's original, R-rated treatment.

Young Sherlock Holmes -- Shit.

The Money Pit -- Shit pit.

An American Tail -- Candy-ass Maus rip-off. Spielberg owes Art Spiegelman royalties.

Who Framed Roger Rabbit -- A fine film.

The Land Before Time -- Landfill.

Always -- See above.

Joe Versus the Volcano -- Great movie, but little understood.

Arachnophobia -- Well, the Northern Californian scenery is lovely.

Cape Fear (with Nolte & DeNiro) -- Crummy remake of a good thriller, the beginning of Scorsese's decline into post-GoodFellas irrelevance.

Animaniacs (started the boom of anmiation, before that it was mostly japanese imports or rip offs ala transformers, voltron, ThunderCats et al... exception of the Smurfs) -- Actually, Tiny Toons came first. Both are overrated and their fanbase is terrifying. The Simpsons did more for animation than either Toons or Animaniacs, or for that matter, Family Dog. (See? I told you I grew up with this shit!)

I'll even throw in SeaQuestDSV, Since Peter Deluise was on there and got his feet wet in Sci-Fi and sprung board him as a one of the creative minds behind Stargate SG1.

Both are absolute pieces of shit that display a retarded kitten's understanding of science fiction. Your point?

So far as the ones you selected, like I said, they pushed the nut. I think they're great movies and they are some of my favorites but to each their own.

Yes, it's fair to say that many of these movies push my nut. But not in the way you mean.

I think James Cameron would have been a good choice but that was 10 years ago...

Cameron has become a Hughesian control freak. He forfeited Heaven with the misogynistic shitpile that was True Lies.

Don't get me wrong, I was not the biggest fan of Minority Report or AI or but they're still good movies. I just think Speilberg does better with his own vision and not someone elses.

Even A.I. is better than the bland and undistinguished movies he made in the '90s.

[LightningLouie]

I saw the movie, the marionette sex was hilarious but I thought it fell short.... No Orgazmo or BASEketballs those movies were hilarious. Had a friend we nick named little b*tch and had my occupation as Stuntc*ck in most of my profiles for the longest time :)

Ah, BASEketball. Yasmine Bleeth before she destroyed her looks with cocaine. Jenny McCarthy, before she became the answer to a Trivial Pursuit question. Good times.

[Moltisanti]

Team America? that won't make it to Comedy Centeral. Unless its a short in between The Dave Chappell Show and South Park. After editing for cable the show's 10 minutes long or an hour and a half of bleeps and blurred TV :)



2 or 3 years down the line who knows what will fly on basic cable. They've shown BIGGER, LONGER, AND UNCUT many times on Comedy Central late at night but fully, well, uncut. If they can find a way to get PULP FICTION on broadcast cable (God only knows why) then TEAM AMERICA will be a breeze.

[NathanW]

I think there should be like a Top 10 reasons why Steven Spielberg is so powerful.

The man has at least three masterpieces in his filmography which have pretty much cemented his status into movie history and he compounded that status by making smart business decisions which increased his power. You don't get to his position by being dumb.

[Brad Millette]

I read in the encyclopedia that Steven Spielberg's urine can eat through titanium in seconds.

[Moltisanti]

Where are they now?

Tom Hanks -- Mid-career menopause. Not pretty.
Vin Diesel -- Probably doing TV in five years, tops.
Tom Sizemore -- Probably doing time, right now.
Ed Burns -- aka "That guy who married Christy Turlington."
Barry Pepper -- DTV limbo.
Giovanni Ribisi -- aka "Beck's brother-in-law." (Not to be confused with Paul Giamatti.)
Jeremy Davies -- Lars von Trier movies unto Kingdom Come (or a von Trier-produced porno of the same name).
Adam Goldberg -- Two words: Hebrew Hammer.
Matt Damon -- A wee little puppet man.


I got a chuckle out of this because it's fairly true. But this can be done for the casts of almost all the films of 1998. ARMAGEDDON, GODZILLA, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, and even the good movies of that year like THE NEGOTIATOR, RONIN, and ROUNDERS.

I'd do one for THE BIG HIT but I'm too tired to come up with a China Chow gangbang joke.

[Matt Ocallaghan]

Steve Spielberg only lets Crispin Glover live to deomstrate the power of Mercy.
"I pardon you"

[Matt Ocallaghan]

......sorry thats Mr Steve Spielberg.
Sorry...sorry....sorry.....

[LightningLouie]

I got a chuckle out of this because it's fairly true. But this can be done for the casts of almost all the films of 1998. ARMAGEDDON, GODZILLA, SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE, and even the good movies of that year like THE NEGOTIATOR, RONIN, and ROUNDERS.

Does no one weep for the career of Maria Pitillo? (I mean, if she had gone on to have a career. That would be tragic and horrifying.)

Actually, most of the Negotiator cast seem to have made out pretty well, except for J.T. Walsh, for obvious and unfortunate reasons. Jackson, Giamatti, Spencer, and Rifkin have all enjoyed high-profile work since '98. Spacey was about to reach his American Beauty peak, but sadly achieved the Kevin Costner/"A benevolent warm light shines out of my anus unto you all" stage of his career just a couple of years later.

[Matt Ocallaghan]

but sadly achieved the Kevin Costner/"A benevolent warm light shines out of my anus unto you all" stage of his career just a couple of years later.

I actually laughed out loud to myself when i read this. I hardly ever laugh when im by myself. I think its only ever happened four times previously, and two of which were about Kevin Costner also

[Moltisanti]

Actually, most of the Negotiator cast seem to have made out pretty well, except for J.T. Walsh, for obvious and unfortunate reasons. Jackson, Giamatti, Spencer, and Rifkin have all enjoyed high-profile work since '98. Spacey was about to reach his American Beauty peak, but sadly achieved the Kevin Costner/"A benevolent warm light shines out of my anus unto you all" stage of his career just a couple of years later.

THE NEGOTIATOR cast comes off a bit better but both Spacey and sadly Jackson seem pretty lost at this point. I also thought David Morse would be doing more than BAIT and that Vigilante cabbie show. But I think J.T. Walsh is really the one that sticks it in and breaks it off.

[nox501]

Well, it seems that yu never should start a topic about Spielberg. It is getting a mess.

[Moltisanti]

Yeah, it happens like that sometimes. Start a thread about the influence THE GODFATHER has had on today's cinema and it'll end up being about whether "Mr. Belvedere" was better than "Perfect Strangers" by about post #60.

BTW, "Perfect Strangers" was better.

[Matt Ocallaghan]

Small Wonder was better than both Mr Belvedere and Perfect Strangers.

[Johnny Daywalker]

I'd do one for THE BIG HIT but I'm too tired to come up with a China Chow gangbang joke.

Which is a complete shame because China Chow was the only good or refreshing thing from Kirk Wong's only attempt in Hollywood.

[Neal]

Steven Spielberg was the one who commanded Vin Diesel to punch God in the face, thus causing the universe to come into being. This event is captured on film, but this footage can never be shown to the public, for fear of mass rioting and holy wars on a massive scale.

If you were to write a sentence containing the names of both Spielberg and Diesel, and reversed the I and the E in both their last names, the entire universe would instantly implode, and there would only be God, Steven, and Vin once more. Steve would then tell Vin to punch God again, and thus all events would repeat forever.

[tcjsavannah]

Small Wonder was better than both Mr Belvedere and Perfect Strangers.

I'll call your Small Wonder and up it with Madame's Place.

[Suttytx]

BTW, "Perfect Strangers" was better.

You ignorant son of a bitch.

[Moltisanti]

There is no ignorance in believing "Belvedere" was just "Gimme A Break" with a fat white guy. Ueker was always good for a laugh or two.

[Suttytx]

Two words: Tracy Wells

[Moltisanti]

Wells looked okay but she probably couldn't even get an audition to be one of the sisters on "Just the 10 of Us."

[Shao Kahn]

Which makes his current career track all the more depressing.


I don't think he's totally lost his touch. Though, his last GREAT film was Savin Private Ryan. Catch Me If You Can was decent...WOTW may be good...I'm not counting on an epic though. He still has the magic eye I think, but you can't expect every single one of his movies to be uber-great.

[Sin City]

Man, Sin City better than Jurassic Park, Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan, E.T.?

Wow.

Just.. wow.

I mean...

Wow.

Sin City is better than Jurrasic Park as pure entertainment. Schindler, Ryan and E.T. are in a class all their own and Sin City couldn't possibly compete as a drama in comparison to those films.

[Sin City]

Don't get me wrong, Jackson did a fantastic job with the trilogy. It could have easily gone the way of crap in a less capable directors hands, hell probably even Speilberg's hands. The catch is, what does Jackson DO with it. Is he a flash in the pan? or is he the next big thing? only time will tell....

That depends on whether or not Jackson is obsessed with money and the Hollywood power game or if he just wants to make films to please himself?

[Sin City]

As soon as I saw a cocksucker say Sin City was more entertaining that any of Spielbergs films since Raiders, my eyes began bleeding and I stopped reading this thread. First my brain imploded when I saw the person's name was Sin City, and he had one post. I became convinced it is Rodriguez, and then said bleedage occured.

Maybe the blood was comming from your engoreged cum stained asshole?

[Del Griffith]

How powerful is Steven Spielberg? The only film Amy Irving has made in the last 3 years is HIDE AND SEEK.

She was really good in Alias playing Sloan's wife.

[anyname]

How powerful is Steven Spielberg? The only film Amy Irving has made in the last 3 years is HIDE AND SEEK.



OOOOOHHHHHHHH you nailed something there.

[Eileen]

How powerful is Spielberg you ask?

I'm carrying his baby and have never met the man.

Later on I'll post my mailing address so everyone can send baby presents

[Moltisanti]

Whether it's a boy or a girl I think I have an old E.T. plush doll laying around my folks' house somewhere. It could be a good way to break the ice the day you decide to tell your bundle of joy about papa.

[NathanW]

Well, if the baby pops out sporting a beard or a fedora or a bullwhip then you'll know.

[Nelson]

I'll tell you how powerful he is.

I once ran into a DP who has worked with SS (name withheld to protect the innocent), and we sat down to have lunch at Farmer's Market in LA. One of the few things he told is that when SS was getting the crew ready for ET, he promised everyone (below the line), that if the movie made more than $30 million, he would give them a nice bonus of $100K (remember this was the early 80s). As of 2005, everyone is still waiting for the promised $100k bonus. And most those waiting for the $100k still continue working with him.*

Now that's power!!


*Needless to say some of them got their pseudo-revenge at the DGA screening of AI by booing the fuck out of the movie.

[Fat Dragon]

How Powerful Is Spielberg? One Night, While Drunk On Cristal, Spielberg Mistook Bill Brasky For A Cocktail Weenie And Swallowed The Bastard Whole!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Brad Millette]

Steven Spielberg and an aluminum baseball bat have been responsible for every single manned space launch worldwide.