steven spielberg | the m0vie blog

339. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny – Indy-pendence Day 2023 (#—)

Posted on July 8, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Tony Black and Darren Mooney, The 250 is a (mostly) weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released every Saturday at 6pm GMT.

This time, a postscript for our Indiana Summer, celebrating Indy-pendence Day, James Mangold’s Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Veteran archeologist Indiana Jones finds himself adrift in 1969, estranged from his wife and worried that his best days are behind him. However, the daughter of an old friend sweeps into his life in search of a legendary artefact, with Nazis hot on her trail. All of a sudden, the intrepid adventurer finds himself embarking on a globe-trotting chase that has a deeper connection to his past than even he realises.

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the list of the best movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: box office, disney, harrison ford, indiana jones, indiana jones and the dial of destiny, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, indiana summer, James Mangold, karen allen, nostalgia, steven spielberg, tony black | Leave a comment »

321. The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (-#92)

Posted on January 21, 2023 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn and Darren Mooney, and this week with special guest David Monaghan, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

So this week, Brian Levant’s The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

Years before they become the family that audiences know and love, Fred and Wilma are living very different lives. Fred is a quarry working, looking for connection. Wilma is the daughter of a wealthy family, looking to experience something real. Fate (and a meddling alien named Gazoo) conspires to throw the two into one another’s lives. However, Fred soon discovers that he has a potential romantic rival in the spiteful Chip Rockefeller, who invites the couple on a trip that they’ll never forget to Rock Vegas.

At time of recording, it was ranked 92nd on the list of the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: alan cumming, david monaghan, john goodman, mark addy, podcast, steven spielberg, The 250, The Flintstones, the flintstones in viva rock vegas | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “The Fabelmans” as a Horror Story About Filmmaking…

Posted on December 13, 2022 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the release of The Fabelmans on streaming today, it seemed like a good opportunity to explore Steven Spielberg’s loosely autobiographical family drama.

Spielberg’s recent films are preoccupied with his legacy, and the way in which his work has altered the cultural landscape. The Fabelmans is a much more personal movie, one that is more preoccupied with the art of filmmaking. The Fabelmans is a story about the power of the camera, and its ability to see things that are hidden from the human eye. The camera captures dreams, but it also reveals truths. The Fabelmans doesn’t romanticise this, but approaches with a palpable fear and dread.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: Movies | Tagged: Camera, divorce, escapist, family, Filmmaking, in the frame, space, steven spielberg, the escapist | Leave a comment »

296. Jaws: The Revenge (Jaws ’87) – Shark Week 2022 (-#27)

Posted on July 29, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Jason Coyle, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, rounding out the week with Joseph Sergeant’s Jaws: The Revenge.

Following the death of her son Sean in a freak shark attack, Ellen Brody becomes convinced that her family has become a supernatural magnet for sharks. Her surviving son Michael convinces Ellen to travel to the Bahamas, where she meets a mysterious sea plane pilot named Hoagie. As a relationship begins to blossom between Ellen and Hoagie, Ellen discovers that perhaps there are some secrets that can’t be escaped.

At time of recording, it was ranked 27th on the lists of either the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The Bottom 100 | Tagged: bad movies, continuity, emma kiely, hollywood, home media, jason coyle, jaws, jaws '87, jaws: the revenge, joseph sergeant, lorraine gray, Michael Caine, nostalgia, richard jani, sequels, shark week, sid sheinberg, steven spielberg, universal, universal pictures, voodoo sharks | Leave a comment »

294. Jaws 2 – Shark Week 2022 (#—)

Posted on July 26, 2022 by Darren

Hosted by Andrew Quinn, Darren Mooney and Emma Kiely, and this time with special guest Jess Dunne, The 250 is a weekly trip through some of the best (and worst) movies ever made, as voted for by Internet Movie Database Users. New episodes are released Saturdays at 6pm GMT.

This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, Jeannot Szwarc’s Jaws 2.

It has been several years since a series of shark attack scarred Amity Island, but Chief Brody is still scarred by the experience. As the community prepares to usher in a prosperous new era of investment and development, Brody starts to see signs that a shark is once again stalking the waters off these peaceful shores. Can Brody convince the community that they are in mortal danger or will the monster finish off the seaside town?

At time of recording, it was not ranked on the lists of either the best or the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

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Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: Brody, emma keily, jaws, jaws 2, jeannot szwarc, jess dunne, roy scheider, sequels, shark week, sharksploitation, sid sheinberg, steven spielberg, The 250, universal | Leave a comment »

293. Jaws – Shark Week 2022 (#206)

Posted on July 25, 2022 by Darren

This week, we’re doing something a bit unusual. To line up with Shark Week, we are covering the Jaws franchise. So today, we are re-releasing our episode on Steven Spielberg’s Jaws, with a new intro.

Chief Brody moved to the remote island community of Amity to get away from the horrors of urban life. However, his plans for a fresh start are derailed when horrifically mangled bodies begin washing up on the sea shore. Based on the evidence, Brody reaches a conclusion that nobody on the island wants to hear: the town is being terrorised by a Great White Shark.

At time of recording the new intro, it ranked 206th on the list of the best or the worst movies of all time on the Internet Movie Database.

Filed under: The 250 | Tagged: emma kiely, jaws, podcast, re-release, shark week, steven spielberg, The 250 | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “The Lost World” as a Nasty and Subversive Spielbergian Sequel…

Posted on June 17, 2022 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Escapist this evening. With the release of Jurassic World Dominion, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look back at the best sequel to Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park.

The Lost World was somewhat maligned on initial release, with much of the criticism hinging on how dark and how cynical the movie was perceive to be. This was seen as something of a betrayal of the audience, with Spielberg sacrificing wonder and majesty for terror and horror. However, this is the most interesting thing about the movie. It is Spielberg playing with horror in a very deliberate and conscious way. If the original Jurassic Park was a movie about the majesty and spectacle of blockbuster filmmaking, The Lost World can feel like a horror movie about turning such a project into a sequel.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: dinosaurs, escapist, in the frame, jurassic park, steven spielberg, the escapist, the lost world | Leave a comment »

New Escapist Column! On “Jurassic Park” as a Movie About Fatherhood…

Posted on June 7, 2022 by Darren

I published a new piece at The Escapist yesterday evening. With the looming release of Jurassic World: Dominion, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the original Jurassic Park.

Spielberg’s classic is regarded as one of the defining summer blockbusters, and deservedly so. However, Jurassic Park is also a quintessential Spielberg film, dealing with some of the director’s core themes and preoccupations. Like so many Spielberg movies, Jurassic Park is a movie that is essentially about fatherhood, and about what it means to be a father in a radically changing and evolving world. It’s an interesting exploration of an idea that preoccupies Spielberg as a filmmaker, and which spoke to the cultural anxieties of the era that produced it.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.

Filed under: On Second Thought | Tagged: escapist, fatherhood, in the frame, jurassic park, steven spielberg, the escapist | 1 Comment »

Non-Review Review: West Side Story

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Darren

In some ways, Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of West Side Story is a match made in heaven, a union that feels as perfect as the story’s central romance.

After all, West Side Story is one of the quintessential American texts. In its review of the classic Robert Wise and Jerome Robbins adaptation, The Hollywood Reporter described the film musical as “the one dramatic form that is purely American and purely Hollywood”, and West Side Story is a musical that takes that idea to its extreme, with a show-stopping number literally titled In America. More than that, the previous cinematic adaptation stands as one of the virtuoso examples of classic Hollywood studio filmmaking, with its beautiful production design, large cast, and beautiful backlot.

“Do you want to dance or do you want to fight?”

Steven Spielberg is perhaps the most purely American and most purely Hollywood director of his generation. He is just as much a monolyth of American popular culture as West Side Story or even the cinemative musical. Writer Arthur Ryel-Lindsey might have sarcastically declared that “Steven Spielberg is American culture”, but there’s a great deal of truth in it. Depending on who you ask, Spielberg is “the defining American populist of his generation”, “possibly the greatest American director”, or even simply “synonymous with cinema.” So West Side Story feels like a wonderful synthesis of material and director.

Plus, you know, Spielberg knows how to direct sharks.

“Maria, you gotta see her…”

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Filed under: Non-Review Reviews | Tagged: film, gentrificaton, hollywood, Movie, musical, non-review review, review, steven spielberg, studio musical, west side story | 1 Comment »

New Escapist Column! On The Reflective and Introspective Nature of Late Steven Spielberg…

Posted on December 6, 2021 by Darren

I published a new In the Frame piece at The Escapist on Friday. With the looming release of West Side Story, it seemed like a good opportunity to take a look at the late career of Steven Spielberg.

Spielberg is a director who defined and shaped Hollywood, largely by inventing the modern blockbuster with Jaws. What is really interesting about so much of his twenty-first century output, starting with A.I. Artificial Intelligence and continuing into films like Ready Player One, is the sense in which Spielberg seems to be grappling with the long-term and unintended consequences of how he shaped cinema, to the point that many of his modern movies – from War Horse to The Post – seem to be the kinds of movies that he squeezed out of the market.

You can read the piece here, or click the picture below.