Close Encounters Of The Third Kind

It's probably still top 5 Spielberg.

It should be frankly studied how Close Encounters does two things, keep the audience's attention in a stranglehold and almost mindbendingly mix wonder and terror of extraterrestrial life. You are hooked by scene one and you are left guessing honestly even as end credits role, as several sightings and experiences of UFO's radically change people's lives and has the government trying to piece together what it all could mean. I dare not divulge too much more because this is a movie that truly must be experienced start to finish, I simply cannot no matter how many words I write or feelings I have sum up Close Encounters. It is a marvel of storytelling and is one of those very rare movies where you're constantly wondering what the fuck is going onnnn and YET you are seated and wanting to know more. And it's not like sci-fi exmaples of earlier movies where the alien or spacecraft is more a mystery for most of the film, they show us the ships roughly 20 minutes in, and even then you can't truly describe them. Oh you see them for sure, but its such a finely crafted effect that you can't discern too much other than outlines because of the bright lights but that adds so much mystique and maybe even charm. It really captures that moment of time when space was still cool as shit and a large collective of people still wanted to know what was out there beyond the sky. We still have that now but nowhere near the level as back from say early 50s to late 70s. It is a movie that takes it's time pushing past 2 hours and the story it crafts, really only focusing on about three different characters that all are converging on one point while still showcasing a much wider berth of the effect such a monumental event would have on the world, is very finely done. Richard Dreyfuss has probably one of the most intricate and involved performances I've ever seen, after experiencing firsthand a UFO it shows how much that would change a person and how it kinda destroys his family when he starts pursuing things even he can't properly explain. He does a great job conveying confusion, determination, and a almost neurotic excitement sometimes all at once! Melinda Dillon has big time stakes when the aliens take an interest in her young son and it really is a horrifying situation to be in, you just get what she's going through. Last but not least we follow François Truffaut as a UFO specialist brought in by the american government who after finding several missing craft throughout decades of history has his own theory to everything. Back to my original point involving the aliens, it's effectively eerie when they show up mainly because you really don't know what the intentions are and it's this odd mix of awe and horror that constantly flip flops, not to the film's detriment but down to the simple fact that we fear the unknown. And the movie almost paves the way for modern sci-fi horror like Fire In The Sky, it's shot like a fucking horror movie at times and any singular point where there was a night scene my eyes were glued to the sky than anything else echoing one of the most chilling outro lines in movie history, "Watch the skies everywhere. Keep looking. Keep watching the skies.". Everybody on that crew was on their A-Game, writing, designs, visual effects, music, acting, cinematography, in a very unflashy almost subdued matter of fact way. It feels real, undeniably real for that time and corner of the world. It is a high high recommendation from me, 4 stars, 8.5/10! And tomorrow we fast forward to the mid-80s for another Spielberg alien movie.

Oh God

I guess I was in a mood after watching all the Cinema Snob's religious movie reviews.

A very unexpected turn of events for this show but it's genuinely a good movie to talk about. So the story boils down to an average grocery store assistant manager named Jerry is called in for an interview by the creator upstairs to simply pass on a message to the world. What I like a good deal about it is, it takes a lot of the then modern cynicism of 1977, and really there probably is even more today about the existence of God, and addresses the fact that our main character isn't even a religious man, he doesn't go to church, has no standing on the whole is God real thing, and that's really interesting to watch cause it shows time hasn't changed all that much. Cause he doesn't buy it for a second, but stuff keeps happening and he does meet a physical manifestation to where even though he doesn't turn religious or anything slightly like that, he wants to make sure that his message gets out. Cause he is a nice guy, and respects the message of showing care and consideration for not just people but the world itself, and I feel that was a wise decision. Man, religious movies were so much better then. Nowadays we get friggin' God's Not Dead and War Room (mother of mercy give me strength), but back then we had this movie, we had The Exorcist man! And you might be saying but Dude come on, The Exorcist isn't a religious movie. Isn't it? The devil and the priest can't exist if the other one goes away, it's just like the battle of the sun and the moon. And it's pretty great to see another generations popular culture iteration of God in George Burns, who I gotta say is pretty dang good and the philosophical questions posed to him are indeed answered and elegantly so, and not just simply handwaved away. And I think the reason why the movie works so well is because of the story, it handles the subject of a crisis in faith in an original and down to earth way, Jerry is hassled by religious nuts and "official", about as official as anyone can actually get when you're talking about any form or shape of a religion, "official" heads of churches and particular sects of Christianity and he isn't here to take the piss out of any of it, he's just being honest about the circumstance he's in. Although this movie firmly shoves a righteous middle finger right up the back side of televangelists and church organizations that take copious amounts of money, and rightfully so in my opinion. I have zero problem with religion no matter what you practice and believe, but get out of my sight to those who participate in such acts of avarice. I appreciate the movie for how it progresses the story, how they portray God as undoubtedly the real deal but is surprisingly laid back and actually doesn't know everything, I really dig how they set him up and explain things from his perspective. It's not even really an interesting movie in terms of direction there's no avant garde cinematography or pretentious writing, the cast is mighty good, but they don't show off flashy miracles just for the sake of it, it's not trying to be a spectacle it's trying to be on the level. It's a religious movie that doesn't shove anything down your throat, insult your intelligence to the extreme, or try some half assed attempt to convert people. It's a neat little idea, they have some fun with it, and that's it. 3 stars, 7.5/10!