Spielberg's Most Bizarre Movie & TV Misfires: 1941, The Twilight Zone Movie & Hook (and more!)

[00:00:01] We missed. We loaded. We edited.

[00:00:09] Sometimes we get so deep into conversation that we have separate segments worthy of their own place in the sun.

[00:00:18] Here is a reshuffled mini-episode.

[00:00:26] Over the years I had seen Spielberg films when I was a kid, not having even known, you know, what Spielberg was.

[00:00:31] So, you know, earliest memories.

[00:00:33] Who is this guy?

[00:00:34] Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[00:00:35] And for me it's just, you know, the films were just so eponymous with all of my favorite movies growing up, you know what I mean?

[00:00:42] So when it comes to, you know, E.T. and Jurassic Park and then later on Close Encounters and War of the Worlds and just what an unbelievable resume he has.

[00:00:52] Every single thing he did, I mean, and I'm looking back over his filmography right now trying to find something that wasn't,

[00:00:57] but I think basically everything he did was either a critical or commercial success or both.

[00:01:03] And just everything was just so far ahead of its time.

[00:01:06] Just honestly.

[00:01:06] You can tell he makes proper calculations and every once in a while, especially in recent years, I've seen people say,

[00:01:11] Oh, I don't care for some of his historical movies.

[00:01:13] I'm like, well, here's the thing. He's not even doing a typical pedestrian historical epic.

[00:01:18] Right. Right. You can't compare the post or Lincoln to any other, you know, free hour John Ford movie.

[00:01:25] You know, I just it's just hard to even wrap my mind around the fact that, you know, here's a guy who put out, you know, Schindler's List in 1993 and then Jurassic Park in 1994.

[00:01:33] Like, absolutely.

[00:01:35] Absolutely. I take it you guys have seen the HBO documentary from about him from.

[00:01:40] Yes. And I thought that was just it did go deeper. It wasn't just a clip show.

[00:01:46] Liam Neeson did say the same thing he said in the director's years ago, where he's like he's a painter looking, you know, painting his canvas and making sure all the right details are there.

[00:01:55] And I was like, but I did like how they did discuss, you know, how he did all this serious stuff and it was rejected at the time because he's like, nah, you're the blockbuster guy.

[00:02:04] You know, you're not the important message teams and it's like, well, he has themes in even his blockbusters, like how science can prove you wrong in Jurassic Park.

[00:02:13] And then, of course, with Indiana Jones, you got the whole, you know, a strained father and going with your gut instinct on whether, you know, the archaeology dig, you know, goes to something greater.

[00:02:24] Yeah. Well, arguably, you know, all of those talents, you know, his ability to direct, you know, a large cast in a large setting with with large sets and everything is so big.

[00:02:33] I mean, all of that also aided him when he did the dramas, you know, your Schindler's List and your Amistad's and things like that.

[00:02:39] I think all of it really lent itself well to those types of films when you get down to it.

[00:02:44] So it's just interesting to see how those talents just bridge back and forth to straight up blockbusters, the dramas and then back again. Wild.

[00:02:52] So, yeah, that was kind of that was kind of my journey with with Steven Spielberg.

[00:02:56] All the all the major ones are in there. All your, you know, your Indiana Joneses and, you know, War of the Worlds and freaking Uniquities.

[00:03:03] I'm just looking down the list right now. It's just unbelievable what this guy has to his name.

[00:03:07] So brilliant. I got a confession to make you guys.

[00:03:10] I kind of messed up. I watched all of his non-Union Mexican equivalent movies.

[00:03:18] Senora Spielbergo.

[00:03:19] They were good.

[00:03:22] I honestly, I don't remember a time where Steven Spielberg wasn't someone who I knew.

[00:03:28] I am.

[00:03:29] Mavicula days.

[00:03:30] Yeah, I don't know.

[00:03:32] I've always been a movie fan.

[00:03:34] I mean, I think my father took me to see Empire Strike Back when I was two.

[00:03:39] And somehow, I don't know.

[00:03:41] He talked to me about Jaws a lot before Jurassic Park came out.

[00:03:45] I was way too scared to watch.

[00:03:47] I'm sorry, before E.T. came out.

[00:03:50] And somehow I just knew the name Steven Spielberg.

[00:03:53] I knew how movies were made.

[00:03:54] And then in 1984, they had this awesome behind-the-scenes documentary about the Temple of Doom on PBS.

[00:04:04] And my dad recorded it for me.

[00:04:07] And I watched that.

[00:04:08] You know, before Temple of Doom was on VHS, I watched that over and over and over.

[00:04:13] And a couple years ago, I re-watched Temple of Doom.

[00:04:17] And I said, wow, this movie is how I kind of understand the film medium.

[00:04:23] Because I saw how it was all put together.

[00:04:26] Absolutely.

[00:04:26] I miss those days, too, where you had to actually stay after the credits for a special feature.

[00:04:31] This was on PBS.

[00:04:32] And it is on YouTube.

[00:04:34] I watched it again recently.

[00:04:36] Oh, nice.

[00:04:37] Temple of Doom.

[00:04:38] Damn.

[00:04:40] That is good.

[00:04:42] And it does kind of just make you just re-evaluate any kind of movie, whether you like it or not, still at the end of the day.

[00:04:50] It's like, okay, well, you can't say it was, you know, forced or without some serious effort.

[00:04:56] And I think, yeah, he did kind of just show how it can be larger than life while at the same time how it's a passion and you know what you want to do.

[00:05:05] And, you know, 84 is already a big year.

[00:05:07] You know, he's producing so much stuff and directing, again, two blockbusters a year.

[00:05:12] So it's like, man.

[00:05:13] Yeah.

[00:05:14] And all the producing and writing.

[00:05:16] And I'm just I've just always been a fan.

[00:05:18] I'm really happy.

[00:05:19] This podcast.

[00:05:20] I went out and rewatched all his recent stuff, which I hadn't really paid attention to.

[00:05:25] So I'm all caught up.

[00:05:26] I've seen all of Steven Spielberg and Senor Spielberg's films.

[00:05:30] So he just understood the business.

[00:05:32] I guess you could say.

[00:05:33] And he understood what he wanted to do and what people weren't going to see.

[00:05:36] He just the fact that he even convinced Joe Dante is like, hey, you got to change the ending of Gremlins.

[00:05:43] Yeah.

[00:05:46] And Dante obliged because he's already down to work with Spielberg because he understands that, you know, he's like, hey, the guy at least had a sense of humor and hired me because he saw my jaws knock off Piranha because it was the best one.

[00:05:58] And basically the only people Dante doesn't get along with are Warner Brothers executives.

[00:06:04] And much like Dante, Spielberg loves film.

[00:06:07] He's always loved film.

[00:06:07] Anyone who I've heard work with him has always acted like everyone is important.

[00:06:12] He never acted like, yeah, I'm the guy calling all the shots here, kid.

[00:06:15] You know, none of that.

[00:06:16] You know, sweep every sweep the leg and everyone else, you know, is expendable.

[00:06:21] None of that.

[00:06:22] And so I think that is kind of unique.

[00:06:24] It's like, OK, so you've earned it.

[00:06:27] You're not a you're not the guy who's got a cool and then it's just unpleasant to work with at the end of the day.

[00:06:33] None of that.

[00:06:35] Isn't it refreshing, especially in today's world with all the news stories that come out about our favorite directors or our favorite actors that we all love these films.

[00:06:43] And then it comes out that, oh, yeah, but he was actually a real cat on set and he did this and he did that.

[00:06:49] And you never hear that from Spielberg.

[00:06:51] And in fact, anything, it's just the opposite.

[00:06:53] You or, you know, you think, oh, he must have been a real bear.

[00:06:57] No.

[00:06:58] Oh, no.

[00:06:58] I mean, they will people will come to his defense.

[00:07:02] Isn't Steven Spielberg from Ohio?

[00:07:05] Yeah.

[00:07:06] Cincinnati native.

[00:07:07] Thank you.

[00:07:07] That explains it all.

[00:07:12] He gets you, man.

[00:07:16] All right.

[00:07:17] Those formidable first 10 years of his life right here in the in the Queen City.

[00:07:23] All right.

[00:07:25] Danny boy.

[00:07:26] Well, it's basically been said like you could not be the child of the 80s and 90s and not have seen a great deal of his work.

[00:07:32] E.T., Jurassic Park, the Indiana Jones movies.

[00:07:35] But I tend to prefer some more obscure stuff myself, like the aforementioned Duel, which is a favorite of mine.

[00:07:41] And one that seems it seems no one's heard of twice upon a time, even though he didn't direct that he produced it.

[00:07:47] Oh, yeah.

[00:07:48] With like John Norty or somebody.

[00:07:50] Yeah.

[00:07:50] Yeah.

[00:07:51] Yeah.

[00:07:51] Very true.

[00:07:52] He did so many other side projects and I was always drawn to them, let alone anything Industrial Light and Magic was doing effects for.

[00:07:57] And it seems like video stores just started getting just very just lame.

[00:08:02] Like they just after like 96, they just started getting rid of all the obscure stuff.

[00:08:06] And with all the easy stuff that everyone had already, you know, bought multiple times, it's like, God damn it.

[00:08:10] I want to watch all the obscure stuff.

[00:08:12] And of course, the Cindy Lauper video for Goonies.

[00:08:16] Yeah.

[00:08:17] Yeah.

[00:08:18] I don't know how to get her out.

[00:08:20] Oh, wow.

[00:08:21] Deep cuts.

[00:08:22] Cuts.

[00:08:24] And it is kind of funny how you can tell if his name's on it, you know, it's either a franchise that he originated.

[00:08:30] He's basically tied for Van Damme for a person with the most movies that he's originated that everyone's done multiple sequels to.

[00:08:37] With or without their involvement.

[00:08:39] We swear he was not involved with the Poltergeist and Jurassic Park sequels.

[00:08:44] Well, the second Jurassic Park.

[00:08:47] Yeah, second Jurassic Park.

[00:08:48] Right.

[00:08:48] And which he tore a new one saying, yeah, it's not all that great a story.

[00:08:52] And I'm sorry, but I will forever see that one South Park episode about the last Indiana Jones movie.

[00:08:59] Last Crusade was awesome.

[00:09:02] Hey, Indiana Jones.

[00:09:03] What you do now, Pop?

[00:09:06] There's only three Indiana Jones movies.

[00:09:09] Only three.

[00:09:09] I agree.

[00:09:11] There's only three that I've seen.

[00:09:13] Yeah.

[00:09:14] And that's not in count of the TV show, the video games, and the upcoming.

[00:09:17] The Young Indy Corps.

[00:09:19] Related note, I'm seriously convinced the only thing is keeping Harrison from the movie.

[00:09:22] Four to live at this stage are marijuana, flying, and just sheer hatred.

[00:09:27] Probably just.

[00:09:30] Keeping his kids in line.

[00:09:32] He raised no attempt to hide the hatred.

[00:09:35] I mean, I don't know.

[00:09:37] What would you do if you were married to Ally McBell?

[00:09:42] God, moving on.

[00:09:43] Probably end up having a son like Kylo Ren.

[00:09:45] Oh, God.

[00:09:50] Oh, God.

[00:09:51] Oh, God.

[00:09:51] Okay, John.

[00:09:52] Next.

[00:09:53] What's your intro to this school?

[00:09:55] I'm actually one, because of my older brother.

[00:09:57] He's the one that actually introduced me to ones like Jaws, Jurassic Park, and especially the Indiana Jones trilogy.

[00:10:04] That's what really got me to love him as a filmmaker all these years.

[00:10:08] Later on is when I discovered all his obscure stuff, like Amistad in Munich.

[00:10:14] Yeah.

[00:10:14] Which I did not know was one of his films until many years later.

[00:10:19] He's always been one that I've always appreciated.

[00:10:22] Even if it's something I'm not a big fan of, which I'm sure we'll mention sometime soon.

[00:10:28] And to me, it's very rare when he makes a bad one.

[00:10:31] I mean, there are some.

[00:10:32] Trust me.

[00:10:33] To me, he's one of a kind.

[00:10:34] And we just don't have that much of that anymore, especially with certain directors.

[00:10:40] Oh, no.

[00:10:41] But I mean, to even have a video game based off your movie making adventures is like, yeah.

[00:10:48] It's like he basically was embracing every kind of thing.

[00:10:51] I knew people who knew his name just because, you know, how can you not when his name is at the beginning of every anime episode?

[00:10:59] That's true.

[00:10:59] Tiny Toons.

[00:11:00] Yeah.

[00:11:01] It's like he was embracing every kind of property, even older Warner Brothers stuff and all this other universal spectacles.

[00:11:07] Related note here, actually, about two years ago, I think it was when they announced there was going to be new Tiny Toons.

[00:11:13] I had to let my brother know because he loved that show as a kid.

[00:11:17] And I sent him a link of one article and he said, you know, I didn't realize Spielberg was involved.

[00:11:22] That explains why it was so damn good.

[00:11:26] And I mean, it just keeps continuing, just producing, you know, Clint Eastwood's World War Two movies.

[00:11:31] And then every other TNT spectacle miniseries is like he's embracing all of that and is still just I wasn't surprised.

[00:11:39] The HBO series?

[00:11:40] Oh, totally.

[00:11:41] Yeah.

[00:11:41] And the Brothers.

[00:11:42] Good stuff.

[00:11:42] And then Men in Black is like, yeah, of course, he was one of many people who said, let me get you involved with some people I know who totally understand your vision.

[00:11:54] And then seeing his cameos for the longest time and just would guffaw is like he's in Austin Powers.

[00:12:00] Yep.

[00:12:00] Blues Brothers.

[00:12:01] My God.

[00:12:02] I mean, so.

[00:12:04] Go figure.

[00:12:06] So I'll just circle around.

[00:12:10] Alex, where are the pros and cons of Spielberg?

[00:12:13] Like you can say it talk about his more underrated movie or and then his a bad movie he's done that doesn't get enough hate.

[00:12:22] I think I think the pros, the pros are pretty outstanding.

[00:12:26] I mean, there's there's so much to draw from.

[00:12:28] I mean, from visual effects, he's pioneered so much in the industry from the scale of his films.

[00:12:32] I think he relies on scale a lot and scalability of what you're watching.

[00:12:37] And that's what really makes it so exciting.

[00:12:39] I think sometimes it's happened, you know, where the world comes to mind, where the vision might just be a little bit too big and just kind of overtake, you know, the drama that's happening in the background or the actors and the performances they're trying to put out there.

[00:12:53] So I think he has been guilty of that in the past.

[00:12:56] And it works really well in some settings.

[00:12:57] You know, if you look at, you know, Jurassic Park and the wild things that happen and, you know, the two films that he was involved with or Indiana Jones was a film that struck a great balance, particularly The Last Crusade, which is like my top three favorite films of all time.

[00:13:11] I just think it's it's unbelievably brilliant.

[00:13:14] So it's just interesting that he has such a wide range.

[00:13:16] No, very well, very well said.

[00:13:18] Oh, I appreciate it.

[00:13:19] I mean, he never gives up.

[00:13:23] He has like free themes going like adventure with some family connection, you know, historical epic, you know, World War Two for the most part.

[00:13:32] And then kind of a Frank Capra kind of drama throwback.

[00:13:36] And then, like you say, just aliens.

[00:13:38] Just ever since Close Encounters and E.T., he does play on that whole alien thing.

[00:13:42] You know, whether it is, you know, Taken miniseries or, you know, Falling Skies and dinosaurs, even I guess you could say are kind of in the same kind of spectrum.

[00:13:52] Yeah, you see the theme of aviation a lot, too.

[00:13:56] That's a very true thing, too.

[00:13:58] Yeah.

[00:13:59] You can tell he just gets with all the kinds of museums and everything.

[00:14:02] And he's kind of done that since Schindler's List where he was reopening all that money he made off it.

[00:14:08] He contributed to just like Jewish research for, you know, Holocaust survivors and other stuff is just so unreal.

[00:14:14] It's like, OK, so you can't say he's a guy who didn't give back in some capacity.

[00:14:19] He's giving you some knowledge before he gives you the escapism and then, you know, tries not to preach too much to you.

[00:14:24] I think it was interesting, Schindler's List and like you said, his work with a lot of Jewish communities and centers and stuff like that was him rediscovering his Jewish roots.

[00:14:37] He was born a Jew but kind of walked away from Judaism because he was effectively ostracized and picked on as a young child.

[00:14:46] And he was sort of embarrassed to be a Jew.

[00:14:49] And so around that time was when he started having a family of his own, decided to raising his family as practicing Jews.

[00:14:58] And that was him rediscovering his his religion and rediscovering his his past.

[00:15:04] And that was his way of sort of I think in a way it was his way of sort of apologizing for turning his back on it all those years.

[00:15:15] I think I have seen kind of narratives like that in various other articles on it.

[00:15:19] And that's so true because it's like he was the guy who, you know, his parents were away working and divorcing.

[00:15:24] And I was just putting a toll on him to where he's like, OK, I just want kids to come over and play around with the 60 millimeter, you know, build a train set.

[00:15:32] And just, you know, I'm the geek, you know, before anyone knew what that word is, you know.

[00:15:38] He said in that doc, he really only felt like a real person when he was behind the camera.

[00:15:42] I think a lot of filmmakers do kind of get that, too.

[00:15:45] So he's like when you see some of the greats kind of misspeak in an interview is like, yeah, they want to go home, drink some wine, hang out with their family and only be annoyed when they're, you know, at work, which is, you know, making something that other people, you know, their only reward other than the money they make opening day.

[00:16:04] You know, other than their salary is just seeing people react to it.

[00:16:09] And when something doesn't take off in the theaters, that's always going to get them because they're just like, hmm, what do I say?

[00:16:17] Do I say the audiences are stupid and risk dividing my fan base or do I just fess up and say, yeah, I'll try again if someone will give me the money for the next project?

[00:16:27] That everybody can be like Milos Forman, where you make movies that resonate with both audiences and critics and yet don't make any bank, you know.

[00:16:38] He definitely can say he had all bases covered because he just somehow he was an entertainer first and he's a businessman second.

[00:16:45] But he always knew is like, OK, this is how we're going to market it.

[00:16:49] This is how it's going to open.

[00:16:50] This is what's going to get people, you know, to see these kinds of movies.

[00:16:55] It's definitely kind of unheard of nowadays.

[00:16:57] You still see some people is like who we all love and yet still being utilized.

[00:17:01] And yet people are still complaining.

[00:17:02] Yeah, you're not making any money for us.

[00:17:04] I think, you know, as great as he is, you know, he does have an Achilles heel.

[00:17:09] We all do.

[00:17:10] Yeah, we all do.

[00:17:12] And his Achilles himself, it may be just that small.

[00:17:15] But I do think his we all know his pros.

[00:17:18] I think his biggest con is maybe he doesn't think anything's too big for him.

[00:17:25] And with a guy with such a big imagination or a big plan to make movies, when you give him a broad scope movie, you kind of watch it and you're just like, I don't know why I'm watching this.

[00:17:38] For example, like War of the Worlds was like classic one.

[00:17:43] Minority Report, you know, like he has movies where or like The Adventures of Tintin, where it was just like action packed.

[00:17:50] But it was like, what's the story?

[00:17:53] You know, I see all the action and things going on.

[00:17:57] But what's the story?

[00:17:58] So I think that's his biggest things.

[00:18:00] I think his his strength is when you tell him or when he thinks of something of a story and a person, which is maybe why he always cast Tom Hanks, because Tom Hanks is kind of like the most interesting, boring actor I know.

[00:18:15] But I think that's true.

[00:18:18] Yeah, I think that's why he loves Tom Hanks, because, you know, if he casts like Tom Cruise, I am not a fan of Tom Cruise, but it's Tom Cruise movies.

[00:18:26] Tom Cruise is a guy who wants to go big.

[00:18:30] And, you know, you got Steven Spielberg, another guy who wants to go big.

[00:18:33] And every time I watch that duo, that tag team between those two, I'm just always like, maybe we can focus more on the story and less on the action.

[00:18:41] And those are like some of the few people where it's like even in those two movies, like I don't even see Tom Cruise for once.

[00:18:48] Yeah.

[00:18:49] It's him running is like, well, he runs a lot in those movies, but I'm not seeing Tom Cruise running.

[00:18:54] Yeah.

[00:18:54] Yeah.

[00:18:55] But yeah, it is kind of wild.

[00:18:57] I've seen people who complain about movies being kind of just Saturday morning cartoons and nothing else to it.

[00:19:04] And I saw so many of them praising Tintin.

[00:19:06] I'm like, really?

[00:19:06] That has a lot of the cons that you complain about typically.

[00:19:09] But I understand that it kind of it basically hit its fan base, which was, you know, a co a collab between him and Peter Jackson adapting, you know, comic book, comic strip serial.

[00:19:23] And this is like, yeah.

[00:19:24] Yeah.

[00:19:26] But I guess you could say in recent years, Crystal Skull is the only one that's kind of just an internet punching bag.

[00:19:32] True story.

[00:19:34] For Nuke the Fridge to be a new phrase that says something.

[00:19:40] Yeah.

[00:19:41] Yeah.

[00:19:42] Most definitely.

[00:19:43] Can't say he didn't leave his mark.

[00:19:51] Back in the day, I do recall out of all his own TV show productions, I guess the only one that I've seen be mocked back in the day and yet everyone watched still was Sequest.

[00:20:02] Sequest.

[00:20:04] Oh, Lord.

[00:20:06] That was a show with a lot of potential.

[00:20:09] And it's just like it was not realized very quickly.

[00:20:13] Yeah.

[00:20:13] And it didn't help that Roy Schneider is like, hey, I'll get Roy Schneider from Jaws.

[00:20:17] And he's like, Roy was on the record saying I fucking hate that show.

[00:20:21] He ended up, hey, not to go down too far of a rabbit hole or anything, but I discovered that show on some streaming platform, NBC's thing or something like that.

[00:20:32] Yeah.

[00:20:33] Peacock.

[00:20:33] And I thought, you know what?

[00:20:34] I'm going to watch that again.

[00:20:35] I remember kind of liking it.

[00:20:37] And the first half of the first season, there was a lot of potential.

[00:20:42] And then you can see where the studio started screwing with it.

[00:20:45] Wait till you get to the Bill Shatner as a Russian episode.

[00:20:49] Yeah.

[00:20:50] Been there.

[00:20:51] And that's not too far after when I stopped.

[00:20:55] And that's when Roy Schneider started really disliking it.

[00:20:58] He wanted it to be the sort of.

[00:21:01] Star Trek.

[00:21:02] Kind of.

[00:21:03] Well, teach a lesson about the environment and the ocean and all that stuff.

[00:21:07] Yeah.

[00:21:08] The message program.

[00:21:09] And about halfway through the first season, you know, you could tell the studio started getting involved and like, no, let's have aliens.

[00:21:16] And that's when Roy Schneider was like, I'm out.

[00:21:21] Replace him with.

[00:21:22] Michael Ironside.

[00:21:24] Yeah.

[00:21:25] He was.

[00:21:25] Good guy for me.

[00:21:26] You are.

[00:21:26] Forced.

[00:21:27] He was forced into the second season.

[00:21:30] And.

[00:21:31] And then, yeah, as soon as he could, as soon as he could bolt, he did.

[00:21:34] And that's.

[00:21:35] I think.

[00:21:36] I'll stop there.

[00:21:37] That's a whole nother show.

[00:21:39] No, that's fine.

[00:21:39] And I remember me and my sister watching the Minority Report show.

[00:21:43] It's like, you think this would be great?

[00:21:44] And then it's just next thing you know, a great cast, you know, and none of them have any characters.

[00:21:53] They're just all just doing their best CSI imitations, but not even that kind of cheesy level.

[00:21:58] It's just like, OK, so unrealized potential.

[00:22:02] This is two commercial breaks in.

[00:22:04] I already want to stop this.

[00:22:06] And I saw other people realize it because it got launched on Netflix a few years back.

[00:22:09] I was like, do not bother play the video game if you must have more of that world, but do not watch that show because this is like it's just so easy to not have realized potential.

[00:22:21] And I can't blame him for wanting to make it a show because he was attached to all this stuff at one point or another.

[00:22:25] And I remember Under the Dome was kind of the next lost or poor man's walking dead for a while.

[00:22:32] But everything else, I do think, like you say, he does kind of invest some heavy talent into it.

[00:22:40] I recall years ago when Extant, this Holly Berry sci-fi show, was picked out of his people at Amblin and got part of a screenwriting competition.

[00:22:48] And they instantly said, hey, you know, we make this a show.

[00:22:51] So I think he does have some pretty competent people who look for some serious stuff that can kind of appease all kinds of crowds.

[00:22:59] Like you say, my uncle, when I told him about Peacock streaming sequence, he lit up saying, I want to rewatch that.

[00:23:05] But yeah, there are other people who is like, you know, like you say, it is kind of a disappointment.

[00:23:12] And on the lot was kind of one of those that should have been a big, fun competition show.

[00:23:16] Who wants to be the next filmmaker, you know, with him as a judge.

[00:23:19] And it's like, for whatever reason, it's just like the production crew just screwed it up.

[00:23:25] Doing it on Fox.

[00:23:26] And it was just like, I never saw any of it.

[00:23:29] Saw the Entertainment Weekly gossip about it.

[00:23:30] And it's like, what happened to this show?

[00:23:35] Said those misses, like you say.

[00:23:36] I think that his basic attractions can also be one of his biggest weaknesses.

[00:23:41] And that's the schmaltz.

[00:23:43] You know, it works great in the scene in Jaws when the young Brody is imitating his father.

[00:23:50] But like, I couldn't get through War Horse, man.

[00:23:53] I tried.

[00:23:55] I saw it, but I wouldn't say it's the strongest.

[00:23:59] I just was at least applaud him for approaching World War One.

[00:24:02] But I will say it does get a little Disney-esque with the whole, you know, don't kill the horse bit.

[00:24:09] But I can't blame you.

[00:24:10] It's a like it or hate it movie.

[00:24:12] But no, that is true.

[00:24:13] He does kind of, anything that he has, at least you'll always see once just because there's some good shots and talent involved.

[00:24:21] And I applaud him for always improvising with his kids because even he knows that, hey, you know, no one knows how to write for kids.

[00:24:28] You know, kid actors aren't always the strongest when they start out.

[00:24:31] Just always kind of improvising with them.

[00:24:33] Just orchestrating his own conversations.

[00:24:34] That's like as much as he deviates from the scripts.

[00:24:37] Well, I actually admire Case's examples where he took source material that it was good, but he made it better.

[00:24:45] Jaws and Jurassic Park are probably the best examples.

[00:24:48] You know, Jaws.

[00:24:50] Jaws, honestly, it's a god-awful book.

[00:24:52] It's just terrible.

[00:24:55] I never read it.

[00:24:57] It's funny.

[00:25:06] It's funny.

[00:25:07] You're practically rooting for the shark half the time.

[00:25:09] You know, he had to make alterations to up the drama.

[00:25:13] And, you know, spoiler alert, spoiler alert, spoiler alert, Hooper has an affair with Brody's wife.

[00:25:20] That's right.

[00:25:21] Yeah.

[00:25:21] Psycho-Semantic, who Ken and I know, chronicled it pretty well.

[00:25:26] It's like it's pretty much a political thriller with some creature attacks.

[00:25:29] And it's like, oh, well.

[00:25:33] There were several subplots that just distracted from it.

[00:25:36] And with Jurassic Park, it's a good book, particularly if you're a science nerd.

[00:25:41] But there's too much science jargon.

[00:25:43] It drags it down a lot.

[00:25:44] There's too many characters.

[00:25:46] Too many subplots.

[00:25:46] Craig did his very full of himself when you let him off his leash, and he knew how to just rein him back in.

[00:25:51] And it's just like you say.

[00:25:53] I mean, I knew a lot of people who praised the lost world.

[00:25:56] And I remember reading that book and just after a few pages, just being like, OK, so other people are dying.

[00:26:03] And the story is becoming a little distorted to me.

[00:26:06] It's losing me because it's just nonstop.

[00:26:09] Again, chases without any investment, like you say.

[00:26:12] And the first book was cool from, like you say, a sci-fi thriller.

[00:26:15] And once you got past the Tom Clancy-esque dull descriptions.

[00:26:20] True.

[00:26:20] Well, like you say, there's other crime books that should totally be movies or miniseries, but they just haven't done yet.

[00:26:27] But I do like to say, like hitting on that, I do like how he knew what compromises to make and just have Jaws and Jurassic Park kind of recreate the creature feature.

[00:26:38] It could be more than just a so bad is good or goofy movie.

[00:26:42] It's like now there's something for everybody.

[00:26:44] You got to have some humor.

[00:26:45] You got to have a despicable character get killed at the end.

[00:26:47] And then you got to have some other just cool terror and escapism and adventure.

[00:26:53] Bonus points for having Dr. Grant dress up like Indiana Jones multiple times.

[00:26:58] I'll also acknowledge the drawback of his.

[00:27:00] And I said it before, the man could be an absolute whore at times.

[00:27:04] Like, you know, you know, stuff that's like, seriously, man, why are you putting your name on this?

[00:27:11] You know, he's doing it for the money.

[00:27:15] It's true.

[00:27:16] Yeah, it's like never kind of a quote of Brent Spiner from Star Trek is like I remember him in a funny interview.

[00:27:25] He's just saying there are plenty of times where Jack Warner never showed up on set.

[00:27:31] Like, yeah, there's plenty of stuff where, yeah, executive producer Spielberg is like, yeah.

[00:27:37] And as involved as he was, was a phone call meeting.

[00:27:41] Yeah.

[00:27:42] And telling people why it works and giving them their blessing and telling the other guys, you know, just leave them alone.

[00:27:48] Going to check up on you.

[00:27:50] But like you say, there are times where he's pretty much a Joel Silver type where he's just, hmm, this should be bigger.

[00:27:57] And yet it's just not just given the given the talent too much freedom.

[00:28:02] And then you like, you know, something's wrong when there's not even an interview of you promoting the movies.

[00:28:06] You know, because he he does do that every once in a while.

[00:28:09] It's like you're seeing him promote a movie because virtually no one else is known in the cast and crew.

[00:28:15] It's like he is the he's the courier.

[00:28:18] He is the transfer guy.

[00:28:21] He's the messenger.

[00:28:24] What I'll just say this.

[00:28:25] 1941 is the only movie I just absolutely cannot stand.

[00:28:28] I refuse to go back to.

[00:28:30] I was I was I was actually going to mention that one because.

[00:28:33] OK, please tell us more.

[00:28:34] Because.

[00:28:35] Oh, God.

[00:28:36] Because you've told us before, you know, AI is disappointing.

[00:28:39] Twilight Zone.

[00:28:40] The movie has a few installments that aren't as interesting.

[00:28:43] But yeah, that, you know, Hook has some adventure despite some overacting.

[00:28:48] It was like, yeah, 1941.

[00:28:51] That's a gigantic mess.

[00:28:52] That's why I said.

[00:28:53] Yeah.

[00:28:53] Yeah.

[00:28:54] I mean, a big cast.

[00:28:56] And that's why I went to watch it because I went, oh, my God, Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi in a Spielberg movie.

[00:29:01] I want to see that.

[00:29:02] And then you watch it.

[00:29:03] You go, oh, God, no.

[00:29:05] Why?

[00:29:06] I had wanted to see it years ago.

[00:29:08] Oh, and then other people in my family rented it from the video store when I was already kind of being like, yeah, I'm just going to watch Spielberg's newest stuff.

[00:29:16] I've seen all most of his older stuff is like I had I kept walking out multiple times.

[00:29:22] It's like same here.

[00:29:23] Yeah, I got it for this podcast.

[00:29:25] And I felt like I was watching a foreign movie with no subtitles.

[00:29:29] I was like, is this movie in English?

[00:29:31] I literally do not understand what is happening and what anyone is talking about.

[00:29:35] And then we saw Nancy Allen and Garters and that was OK.

[00:29:39] But that was it.

[00:29:41] Yeah, she was.

[00:29:43] Yeah.

[00:29:43] She and the cast really do their best.

[00:29:45] But it's just like despite the stunts and everything is like at the same time, he did need that.

[00:29:52] He did need a slap on the wrist.

[00:29:53] Oh, yeah.

[00:29:54] Oh, yeah.

[00:29:55] I have a friend who swears by it because he grew up with it.

[00:29:58] Oh, yeah.

[00:29:58] My uncle will definitely buy a Blu-ray if he had the money.

[00:30:01] He wasn't like you said the same one who swears by Sequest.

[00:30:05] So it is interesting how a lot of his lesser movies still have some kind of cold audience.

[00:30:09] But like you say, that kind of around that same time is when he got close to Bob Zemeckis and he knew.

[00:30:16] When to kind of rein himself in a bit before he occasionally would slip here and there.

[00:30:21] And I wouldn't be surprised if West Side Story's flops.

[00:30:24] And I wouldn't be surprised if it wins all the awards this year and is a crowd placer.

[00:30:29] Yeah.

[00:30:30] Yeah.

[00:30:30] Maybe he's just a big hit or miss, you know, guy.

[00:30:34] More more hits.

[00:30:35] But if he's going to flop, man, he's going to flop hard.

[00:30:39] Because, yeah, 1941 gave me like airplane vibes.

[00:30:44] Airplane was like really trash.

[00:30:46] You know, that's literally what it gave me.

[00:30:50] And they definitely inspired by the National Lampoon.

[00:30:52] Yeah.

[00:30:53] Yeah.

[00:30:54] Wasn't he working with John Landis on that one?

[00:30:58] I could be wrong.

[00:30:59] Possibly.

[00:30:59] They were my.

[00:31:00] I think so.

[00:31:01] Free Twilight Zone.

[00:31:02] Yeah.

[00:31:03] I was wondering if maybe you have to take it.

[00:31:05] That was Zemeckis.

[00:31:06] My bad.

[00:31:06] Who wrote.

[00:31:07] Thanks, Zemeckis.

[00:31:09] I'm wondering if it was film debut.

[00:31:11] Good God.

[00:31:12] It didn't get better from there, did it?

[00:31:14] No.

[00:31:15] No.

[00:31:18] I do wonder if you have to kind of take it with the time in which it was made.

[00:31:22] He was still a relatively young.

[00:31:26] And despite having a couple of really big hits under his belt with Jaws and Close Encounters

[00:31:31] of the Third Kind, he was still kind of experimenting and trying to find his real place.

[00:31:36] And I'm sure he didn't want to be pigeonholed into the horror or sci-fi.

[00:31:42] And so 1941, I think, was just him maybe dipping a toe in a water in a pool that he wasn't familiar with.

[00:31:51] And yeah, obviously.

[00:31:53] With mixed results and makes you wonder if that's what he did producing out of time, he's like he saw how easily they could bury him if they really wanted to.

[00:32:03] And so instead of risking being out of work, he's like, I'll take some other people who I think can do it better than me.

[00:32:09] I don't have to do everything.

[00:32:11] It's probably really lucky that he had Jaws and Close Encounters under his belt because I think 1941 probably would have killed his career if he had.

[00:32:20] Oh, most definitely.

[00:32:21] Oh, definitely.

[00:32:22] I agree.

[00:32:22] I agree.

[00:32:24] Because someone gave him the chance to do Raiders of the Lost Ark.

[00:32:28] And then I'm pretty sure when that happened, 1941 was OK, we'll we'll let that one slide.

[00:32:33] If that had been his first flop after Jaws, he totally would have been buried.

[00:32:37] But since he had that Close Encounters and Sugarland was a critical darling and he had killed on TV, he had options.

[00:32:44] He had people whose minds he had picked.

[00:32:46] And so, like I said, yeah, it had been number two.

[00:32:49] It would have been just that number two.

[00:32:52] Everybody gets one.

[00:32:53] And don't forget Jaws was nobody expected to hit like that.

[00:32:57] No, just no.

[00:32:59] Other than movies, period.

[00:33:01] Yes.

[00:33:01] Yeah.

[00:33:02] And it took him even years later to start adapting Peter Benchley's work.

[00:33:05] They just started realizing, yeah, we got to just do it for TV.

[00:33:08] Have it be a miniseries event.

[00:33:09] I'm surprised he never revisited Benchley.

[00:33:11] He's like, yeah, it's not going to get any better with him from there.

[00:33:14] So, yeah, just.

[00:33:14] Yeah, because honestly, Benchley sucks.

[00:33:17] The Isle looks great.

[00:33:20] Oh, good.

[00:33:20] But I guess you could say early on, he kind of was thinking like all the other TV producers like Dick Wolf or Steven Bochco.

[00:33:28] He's like, OK, so I got to get I got to round up all the other talent that I know, put an award for them and help launch their careers because the industry can't just be just me.

[00:33:39] Right.

[00:33:41] I got to take the pressure off a bit.

[00:33:44] Maybe that's a little bit of him doing the giving back to the industry.

[00:33:49] The industry gave him a lot.

[00:33:50] And so he's trying to turn back and give other people the same opportunities that he had.

[00:33:56] He definitely loved Charlie Chaplin kind of movies.

[00:33:59] So he wanted some of those kinds of comedies.

[00:34:01] And then he wanted some other kind of just, you know, treasure to Siria Madre.

[00:34:05] Right. It's very sad that not as many people have seen that, but they've seen all the other Bogart and John Huston classics.

[00:34:10] I'm like, no, you should see that regardless or not.

[00:34:14] You're familiar with Indiana Jones.

[00:34:15] And in which case, if you're not familiar with that, we're not even going to start the conversation.

[00:34:18] But it is like you should see some of the movies he is inspired by and realize why in Kurosawa really do kind of mirror each other in so many ways.

[00:34:27] And it is kind of wild how Francis Ford Coppola and Lucas, George Lucas, start doing tributes to Kurosawa's work.

[00:34:36] But I don't I can't find anything on whether or not he actually ever met Kurosawa despite being a huge fan.

[00:34:42] I have no idea.

[00:34:44] No, I don't think he has.

[00:34:45] He's just kind of admired him from afar.

[00:34:48] Something about Spielberg that we've we've all said in one way or another is his sort of eclectic amount of genres that he's found himself directing, that he's not let himself get, as I said before, pigeonholed in one genre, which is something that a lot of directors do find themselves either through choice of their own or just because that's what the industry will give him.

[00:35:13] And he's never allowed himself to do that.

[00:35:15] But I mean, he's done every that he's his his his experiments have made money for the most part, too.

[00:35:21] Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Very good point.

[00:35:24] We'll return after these messages.

[00:35:29] Hey, it's Brent Pope, the host of breakfast with Brent Pope.

[00:35:32] You've seen me on some of your favorite TV shows saying things like give it up, Jimmy.

[00:35:35] You got to sink this putt to win on breakfast with Brent Pope.

[00:35:38] I sit down with guests for the entertainment world and we do it all over breakfast.

[00:35:42] Or should I say breakfast every week on breakfast?

[00:35:44] You get inside Hollywood info and tips, great breakfast wrecks and booty debates.

[00:35:48] Most of all, you get the most delightful 30 minutes of your week.

[00:35:51] So dig in.

[00:35:52] It's Brent-fest time.

[00:35:53] Listen at Brent-fest dot com, Apple podcasts or wherever fine podcasts are found.

[00:36:02] Welcome to the Better Call Daddy show, the number one podcast where we admit no matter what happens, daddy has the advice we need to fix our problems.

[00:36:09] Introducing my dad, Mr.

[00:36:11] Wayne Friedman.

[00:36:12] That was good.

[00:36:13] It would be nice if you could also sing a song.

[00:36:15] What would the song be?

[00:36:16] You love Paris in the springtime.

[00:36:18] I just made up some words to it.

[00:36:19] I love Rina in the springtime.

[00:36:22] I love Rina in the fall.

[00:36:25] That's right.

[00:36:25] That's good enough.

[00:36:27] What I do is interview people of interest, share it with my dad and get my dad's advice.

[00:36:32] My dad is my hero.

[00:36:34] Nobody's got my daddy.

[00:36:36] Oh boy.

[00:36:36] Let's go to grandpa.

[00:36:37] You like to be a little rebel.

[00:36:39] I tried to rein you in.

[00:36:40] I have a daughter named Rina that acts just like I did.

[00:36:44] She's got a son that is not only just like me, but it's just like her.

[00:36:49] I'm your host, Rina Friedman Watts.

[00:36:51] Invite your friends, subscribe, and I'm excited to take this journey with you.

[00:36:55] Let's dive in.

[00:36:55] She was teasing this guy with the sword and she accidentally cut his dick.

[00:37:01] Oh my God, I'm dying.

[00:37:01] And then he started to enjoy it.

[00:37:03] I started going down the phone sex rabbit hole.

[00:37:05] You've got the wankers and they jerk off in five seconds and then they're done because

[00:37:09] A, they don't want to spend money and B, they're quick.

[00:37:11] My stepfather had mania.

[00:37:13] If I'm yelling at one of my kids, that fear, that rigid fear.

[00:37:16] Mom even said to me, I hope you have a kid just like you.

[00:37:20] There are lots of people that are being bought and sold right now for profit.

[00:37:25] If you think you're going to kill yourself, shut up and kill yourself.

[00:37:27] If you're not going to kill yourself, then shut up, smarten up, and it's all on you.

[00:37:30] The bullshit ass dad.

[00:37:31] Wow.

[00:37:32] When I was 11 years old, I was raped and molested over the course of a year.

[00:37:37] What Jeffrey Epstein had was a sickness inside of him.

[00:37:42] I am Evan Castrilli Carmichael.

[00:37:43] I could do anything that I believe that I can.

[00:37:45] I'm so excited too.

[00:37:47] Let's go.

[00:37:47] Next on Better Call Daddy with my mom and my grandpa.

[00:37:51] Stay tuned.

[00:37:59] The Jacked Up Review Show podcast is honored to be part of the Blind Knowledge

[00:38:03] podcast network.

[00:38:04] Join anytime, talk the talk, and enjoy yourselves.

[00:38:07] There's something enlightening for everyone with this crowd of cool cats.

[00:38:11] Check them out.

[00:38:17] I mean, he's done everything from the drama to the epic period pieces,

[00:38:23] the war dramas, the adventures, the science fiction.

[00:38:28] He's dried his hand at some comedies.

[00:38:31] He reminds me of another director that I really admire for doing the same thing as Robert Wise.

[00:38:38] That's a very good comparison, especially considering, you know, he was definitely in, you know, the black room, you know,

[00:38:47] messing with the film, seeing how to cut it and how it can make an impression based on when you cut away versus when you don't.

[00:38:54] And Robert Wise was another one who just talked about, oh, you're a lucrative filmmaker and yet not as many films that we like.

[00:39:02] But it's like, no, he has a lot to applaud for.

[00:39:06] And then there's our others where it's like, hmm, not sure about that one.

[00:39:09] But yeah, I think that is a good comparison.

[00:39:12] He, I mean, I can't say it better.

[00:39:16] It's just, you, you're pretty much it.

[00:39:18] Well, yeah, I mean, Robert Wise, he did a lot of, you know, horror films in the 40s and science fictions in the 50s and musicals in the 60s

[00:39:26] and then revisited science fiction again in the 70s.

[00:39:29] He was just an amazing, just different types of films.

[00:39:33] And I think people, you know, 50 years from now will be saying the same thing about Spielberg.

[00:39:40] Yeah, I can't think why they wouldn't, but that is true.

[00:39:46] And more or less, it's just kind of interesting seeing someone evolve that way.

[00:39:53] I mean, yeah, with Wise, you know, he had The Haunting and Sound of Music, Star Trek and Motion Picture and all these other movies.

[00:40:00] And it's like, yeah, I mean, Spielberg definitely never said any genre was beneath him.

[00:40:07] Never took it.

[00:40:08] Yeah, exactly.

[00:40:09] No.

[00:40:11] And he loved all kinds of movies, so I'm sure he loved, he loved being scared.

[00:40:15] He loved being intrigued.

[00:40:17] He loved crying.

[00:40:20] He loved being excited.

[00:40:21] He got that.

[00:40:23] And I think that's why.

[00:40:24] So whenever I see anyone trash talking Spielberg, he's just like, yeah, well, you can't tell me there's not a single movie he's done.

[00:40:32] That wasn't good at some point, you know, it's like.

[00:40:35] Right, right.

[00:40:35] It's like saying you hate the Beatles.

[00:40:41] Oh, God.

[00:40:42] Yeah.

[00:40:42] Telling me the Beatles are irrelevant.

[00:40:44] Yeah.

[00:40:44] That's so not going to fly.

[00:40:46] Overrated.

[00:40:48] Yeah.

[00:40:49] Overrated.

[00:40:51] Bloody hell.

[00:40:53] Yeah, Spielberg's definitely made his missteps and he's done things that are questionable.

[00:40:59] And that might be something what you consider some of his cons where sometimes maybe he doesn't think twice before doing something.

[00:41:07] I'm thinking of like the re-release of E.T. when he decided to go in and digitally remove shotguns and things like that because he thought it was too scary.

[00:41:18] Yeah.

[00:41:18] Hanging out with George too much at that time.

[00:41:22] It's very possible.

[00:41:23] I think that was something he thought was a good idea and he didn't think again.

[00:41:31] And that's maybe a con of his.

[00:41:35] Yeah.

[00:41:35] I'm happy to say that cut is, you know, I just took my kids to see it at the drive-in about a month ago.

[00:41:41] And that it's the original cut.

[00:41:43] Yeah.

[00:41:44] I think that one faded away.

[00:41:45] That went the way of New Coke, I think.

[00:41:50] Low on diet.

[00:41:53] I'd like to see him kind of do a Western because I always got that.

[00:41:55] Oh, yeah.

[00:41:56] Third Indiana Jones.

[00:41:57] And he's on the horse.

[00:41:59] That's as close as he gets to a Western.

[00:42:01] That would be neat.

[00:42:02] I would.

[00:42:02] It would just be fun to kind of see a resurgence in a Western's period and get some of the modern filmmakers and do their take on it.

[00:42:11] Someone besides someone like Tarantino, which would just be a Western with a lot of F-bombs.

[00:42:17] Mm hmm.

[00:42:18] And so for some reason, yeah.

[00:42:21] Why?

[00:42:21] Why does your gunfighter not wear boots?

[00:42:24] I'm sure that's why he probably hired Mangold for the new Indiana Jones is like, yeah, he the guy does Westerns, whether they're neo Westerns or just straight up Westerns.

[00:42:36] The guy's been watching every kind of movie, whether it's Gary Cooper or John Ford or newer stuff.

[00:42:43] I would like to see I'm a scary movie junkie and I just want him to drop one more horror film.

[00:42:49] Oh, yeah.

[00:42:50] Just one.

[00:42:51] I don't even care if it's bad.

[00:42:53] I just want his name on it.

[00:42:55] Right.

[00:42:55] Or at least produce it or something.

[00:42:58] Yeah.

[00:42:58] Come up with the cast.

[00:42:59] I don't know.

[00:43:00] Who's on that film?

[00:43:01] I like to see him do.

[00:43:02] He could definitely do another Knives Out, you know, Timberlandians kind of movie.

[00:43:07] Oh, yeah.

[00:43:08] Oh, yeah.

[00:43:09] I really enjoyed revisiting Close Encounters of the Third Kind for this podcast, because that's a movie I found really dull when I was young.

[00:43:17] But I got the the Blu-ray from the library.

[00:43:21] And I think part of the problem was I was watching on a pan and scan VHS as a kid.

[00:43:26] Yeah.

[00:43:27] Watching that in widescreen was a whole new ballgame.

[00:43:31] That'll color anyone's opinion.

[00:43:33] I have definitely not seen any redone special edition of it.

[00:43:37] I've only seen the Good Times home video edition.

[00:43:40] So and that was also written from a library years ago.

[00:43:43] But, yeah, it was one of those where it's like I think my dad and I, we had seen it.

[00:43:47] And it was like, yeah, I don't need to see it multiple times.

[00:43:49] But it was one of those.

[00:43:51] My sister wanted to see like an anniversary screening about a few years back.

[00:43:54] And I was like, I got better things to spin my green on.

[00:43:58] You know, it's like but it is interesting how that one is kind of.

[00:44:03] That was kind of his, I guess you could say, double feature in a way is like if you're not sure if you like Jaws or, you know, Duel on TV,

[00:44:12] you're definitely going to know whether you're a fan or not, if you get disclosed encounters.

[00:44:16] And follow us on the web on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

[00:44:28] The podcast is available on Podbean, Spotify, iHeartRadio, Anchor, Apple and anywhere else podcasts are available.

[00:44:35] Feel free to review our show and leave comments on any of those sites.

[00:44:39] Thanks a million for listening.