Steven Spielberg: An Epilogue

Eli (00:01.918)
Hello and welcome to The Establishing Shot, a podcast where we do deep dives into directors and their filmographies. I am your host Eli Price, and we are here on episode 118 of the podcast. And it is time to wrap up the Spielberg series. Finally, today is our Steven Spielberg epilogue episode. And so,

Yeah, I'm excited. It's kind of sad actually, but excited, happy, excited. It feels good to be wrapping up a long, long series. I did not look at how long I've been in this series, but it's been a long time. And it's, yeah, this has been a long time coming.

Now I did change up the format of the podcast, starting with this series I used to do. I used to do like, for my Wes Anderson and Christopher Nolan series, would do in one episode would be me covering the movie. And then also we would do like a movie news segment and we would do, a movie draft all in the one same episode. And so I did switch the format.

up starting with this series where we do we cover the films of the directors and then every other episode and then the episodes in between are like the movie drafts or the interviews or the top fives or you know whatever else we end up doing bonus reviews and so yeah so with that switch it's made this series last even longer than it would have in the old format but yeah i started this series looking back on

February 16th, 2024. And so we've been in this for, I guess, a few months shy of two years. But yeah, that was the overview episode. And yeah, it's been a long time coming. We've done it. We've wrapped up Spielberg. We've watched all of his movies. We've...

Eli (02:23.029)
Recorded podcasts of all of his on all of his movies some short some very long As I'm sure you know if you've been following along But yeah, this is exciting I I am ready to do this now Since this Since there's so many Spielberg films and this has been a long series. I did some intermission episodes

So I kind of broke it up where instead of just doing an overview and an epilogue, I did some intermissions. And those were episodes where I would recap a couple of decades of films from Spielberg and look forward to the next one and kind of set up the next couple of decades. And so I did a couple of those where I recapped the 70s and 80s.

and then again, one where I recapped the nineties and two thousands. And so, in this epilogue, I'm going to do a little bit of both. I'm going to kind of recap the, the 2010s and the 2020s of Spielberg's career. like I have done with those past intermission episodes. And then, I'm going to, so those will be, that'll, there'll be a little bit more detail to that. And then I'm going to kind of just do an overall recap of Spielberg's career.

and where we are. so, yeah, so let's dive in. The 2010s and the 2020s of Spielberg's career. You know, this is, these are, I guess these past 15 years now, 2010 to now, to 2025. You know, it's kind of the point of Spielberg's career where he's not really worrying about

making money anymore per se. I he is, but he doesn't have to make money with his films. So he kind of is free to kind of make what he wants and pursue what projects he wants at this point. And you see that come to great advantage and some not so much over this time period, this decade and a half. so ironically, I think like his only really big financial hit

Eli (04:44.813)
Was ready player one, which is a movie that I think was like it seems like critically and just like in my opinion was Probably the worst of the last 15 years, but it made the most money Which maybe that's a Maybe that's a bad sign for where we are with the movie industry but Yeah, we won't we won't dwell on that too much

He kind of carried over as well his kind of balance of doing serious films and doing more fun films. So a lot more serious ones over this these last 15 years of his career with some still fun ones thrown in in between some of those kind of classic Spielberg blockbuster really like they end up being very like

some more child-focused ones again, which he hasn't done in a while. And so I would say even one to start the 2010s with Adventures of Tintin, which is an explicitly a children's film, a film directed for children. And then the same kind of with the BFG too. And I think that's something maybe

Um, knew that he did in, these last 15 years. Um, you know, ET, uh, I guess you could say is like that. Um, but not, not completely and totally. Um, uh, and really other than ET there's, there's not really, I mean, Jurassic park is, is still like. Not a kid's film, you know, even though dinosaurs are appealing to kids. Um, and so really at, at,

haven't really thought about that until this moment but yeah Adventures of Tintin and the BFG have been making like explicit explicit children's movies even with stuff like hook that's the Peter Pan story it's still a very like adult movie you know in a lot of ways even though kids still love and enjoy a movie like hook yeah so this I think really like

Eli (07:06.879)
the 2010s might be considered his weakest decade. And I think I reflected in that last intermission episode on why that might be. I think part of it, I think one of the big reasons is maybe like his movies just didn't make a lot of money. There wasn't any like big splashes like there was in the last decades. But I don't know. I think.

It was a very strong decade. Like it was very, very steady and consistent. and so yeah, I'm kind of, I'm kind of looking through and I'm like, man, I really like, there's a couple of films that I don't care for a whole lot, but most of them are just really solid, a really solid run. so, a few duds maybe in the middle, but

I think all of us, we can kind of talk about that when we overview the whole career, every decade of Spielberg kind of has one of those, one or two of them. yeah. then like, as he, he kind of like, it seems like to the decade, maybe starting with Munich, which was the end of the 2000s. I think that was 2000.

eight that came out. Starting with Munich, so coming into the 2010s, he really like is leaning into as well the the more like I have something to say politically. I have something to say like morally and ethically and politically and here's the movie for it. Now it's Spielberg, so those movies are not like

your face about that they're not distasteful they're not preachy in that way so when I say that like you know I'm not saying like in a bad way but he you can tell like he has and I think it's something to do with where he is in his stage of life he has older kids now that he wants to influence and and kind of like

Eli (09:27.735)
teach of how to view the world, how to engage with the world, how to make a difference in the world, you know. And so I do think that in this decade, he really is like leaning into those political statement movies, maybe for that reason, because of where he is in his life. And you know, he's getting older, you know, he's, he's running out of time to say what he wants to say.

and to make the points that he wants to make with his art. And so, yeah, I appreciate that. I think that because he has the financial stability and he's not relying on, he doesn't have to worry about like, this studio's gonna drop me and then I won't be have anyone to make my movie. No, he's Steven Spielberg. can do, he can make whatever he wants, whenever he wants. And so,

So he can make those projects and get them out there. And even, and then coming off of that in the 2020s with West Side Story and the Fabelmans, I think now he's just kind of like, he's gotten all of his like political statements out of his system. In a way, West Side Story has some of that, but, and it's just passion projects. It's films that like are like something deep for him. West Side Story, the musical he's always wanted to make.

the fablements, which is basically just his personal story. And so, yeah, I really think that the these past 15 years are kind of underrated for Spielberg. And that's that's kind of disappointing because there's some really great stuff in here. So, yeah, I'm going to do now. I'm going to. OK, yeah, yeah, now.

Now I'm going to go through some of my favorites of these past 15 years of his career. So let's talk about favorite performances. I'm just kind of kind of run through these. I'm not going to spend a lot of time on these performances because I talked about them in the episode, but it's fun to kind of list out things and reflect. So that's what we're going to do. In the adventures of Tintin, I didn't really have like

Eli (11:52.074)
I mean so Andy Serkis plays Captain Haddock and I think he's really good but there wasn't anything that was like I loved that performance even though I did think Serkis was good just because he always is so yeah Adventures of Tintin is fine I think it's a fine movie War Horse I was I actually liked more than I thought I was gonna like I didn't think it was phenomenal but I really enjoyed it I thought it was a good movie

my standout performance in that was, Neil's airstrip as the grandfather, really packs an emotional punch in the, the short time he has on screen. and so I really enjoyed that. mean, on the horse, the horse is great, right? And then, Lincoln is kind of obvious. Daniel Day Lewis as Abraham Lincoln is incredible.

one of the greatest living actors working with one of the greatest living filmmakers. And yeah, I mean, it's hard to mess that up. But also Tommy Lee Jones, the Stadius Stevens in that movie is really, really great. He's really like getting his grumpy on and doing his Tommy Lee Jones things with his with his powdered wig. And yeah, really enjoyed him in that movie as well.

mean a lot of these are kind of obvious. Bridgespies, I mean it's Tom Hanks as James B Donovan and it's Mark Rylance as Rudolph Abel. They're both great and they're their own different ways. know Tom Hanks is kind of in his... it's funny he's kind of in his like Fox

Is it John Fox? What is his first name in You've Got Mail? I can't think of it. I know his last name is Fox. Yeah, he's in his You've Got Mail mode, really. Like, he's got that, like, that Tom Hanks-ness in the best way as James B. Donovan. Kind of that... I don't know. Fox isn't necessarily, like, an everyman, but he kind of is. He kind of has that feel still, even though he's the big, big...

Eli (14:16.247)
big bookstore owner but enough on that Tom Hanks is great in this movie Mark Rylance is just he's so he's so good just the way he carries himself that the way they kind of like feed off of each other in the movie and how and bring like totally different energies but don't like give in to each other's energy is is so so good and then of course

the BFG it's Mark Rylance as the BFG even through the mocap performance he he pulls it off the post i like i said these are obvious it's Meryl Streep as K. Graham you know i talked about when we went when we went through that episode of just how how well she envelopes this character and and kind of like in subtle ways

undermines the I guess like the patriarchal system she's trying to break through in and yeah and it kind of kind of of encapsulates like a like feminine strength that's really incredible so love Mael Streep in the post ready player one not a lot going well for me in ready player one unfortunately except

Somehow, even though I don't love what they do with the character, Mark Rylance is still just captivating as Halliday in that movie. So, you know, it's Mark Rylance. He's gotten mentioned for all of his Spielberg roles here. And then, of course, we have his last two, latest two, West Side Story. Ariana DeBose as Anita, Powerhouse, incredible.

Mike Feist as riff is like, I don't know. He's just really, really great. but even with those two powerhouse performances, my surprise, like I've seen this movie before, so I remembered thinking she was good, but like just, I was blown away by Rachel Ziegler in this movie. She is young. It's like her first, it is her. It's her first movie and she just

Eli (16:41.461)
kills it she's carrying the emotional weight of the movie on her shoulders in this movie really incredible so shout out to rachel ziegler and west side story and then the the fabelmans you know it's it's kind of the two main people these are so obvious but it's kind of what else am i going to do it's michelle williams adds mitzi fabelman

great. I talk a lot about like what she does in that movie in that episode. Gabriel Abel as Sammy is really good as well. Those are my favorite performances. Let's move on to favorite shots and moments. So I like to kind of reflect back on some of my favorite shots from these movies. Some of my favorite moments from these movies, whatever it may be. In War Horse, it's the meeting of the two soldiers in No Man's Land to free the horse from the barbed wire.

incredible sequence I talked about how that's it's kind of like a short film in and of itself that encapsulates like the theme and the point of the movie all in one like little sequence it's beautiful it's shot with that like classic Janusz Kaminski, Steven Spielberg, blues, fog, know reflections in water, mud

It's great. It's a great sequence. In Lincoln, there's this moment where Lincoln is sitting at the end of the table in a cabinet meeting and he starts in on one of his stories and everyone is locked in and the camera pushes slowly in down the table past everybody into a close-up of Lincoln as he's monologuing.

and it's kind of the camera is leaning into him just like everyone in that room is leaning into him and you're leaning into him because he's captivating and so that was a kind of standout shot to me of course you've got the now now now this is i just impressed myself i feel like that was a decent impersonation of dale sis lincoln but i love that

Eli (19:07.254)
And then anytime Thaddeus Stevens is like insulting someone on the house floor, those are the best moments. He's saying, I can't remember which guy it was, but he's more lizard than man is my favorite line of that movie. Yeah, lots of great moments in Lincoln. A great looking film. Bridge of Spies, honestly, like.

I think my favorite sequence might be the, that opening sequence where you're, you're kind of, it's kind of like this chase sequence. everything is being communicated visually, as you, as you go through these New York streets and subways and, you got glances between, and I guess FBI, I'm assuming agents and, yeah, really, really great sequence. the bridge,

at the end is a great looking sequence as well. In the post, it's probably the buildup to Kay's big decision. You you've got that swirling camera. I don't know how Spielberg does it, but he makes a phone conversation really like intense and captivating and interesting. That's a really great moment. then, know, Meryl Streep as Kay really like

underplays that moment. You're expecting this big climactic thing and the way she delivers the decision to print the paper is very subtle and unassuming and like, yeah, well, I guess, yeah, let's do it. And it's really great. Ready player one?

Mostly just I guess anything with Mark Rylance. I don't know. I don't really have a lot to say. I said enough in that episode about Ready Player One. West Side Story is I would say the standout favorite moments and shots are everything. There's tons of purely cinematic shots. You know, you've got

Eli (21:26.391)
Tony and Maria catching eyes across the dance floor for the first time with people dancing in between them and meeting behind the bleachers. So good. You've got, you know, Tony reflecting in the water as he's singing Maria. You've got that low. There's this low angle shot to like finish off the song America or the skyscrapers are like,

It's shot straight down a street. Skyscrapers are like framing the performers. So good. You've got the shadows crossing before the big rumble in the warehouse. That's just an incredible shot. And yeah, and then just great musical numbers. think my favorite musical number and song is maybe still tonight, but.

I was, I was really liked some of the, what they did with somewhere in that movie. Um, and then the, kind of just raw energy and emotion of the, a boy like that slash I have a love, um, is just really great. It's kind of what sold this movie for me, what made me believe that Maria loves Tony in a way that like no other Shakespearean story has.

I mean, like Shakespeare and Romeo and Juliet story has ever made me buy. so love that. and the, and the fabled ones, mean, one of the things that doesn't, I think get like brought up a lot that was a standout to me was his first, like moment directing an actor. you know, with the kid, that, that, you know, in the war that he's like directing to like have this big emotional reaction to, you know, all of us.

all of his, you know, these people he's leading into battle being dead and yeah, that was very moving to me that sequence. The shot of his, I talked about this shot of when they move into their new Cali home. There's this shot where his mom looks directly into the camera that is being shot by Spielberg, but it's in the movie. It's being shot by Sammy.

Eli (23:52.928)
on his camera and she looks with this like longing, sad, depressed look into the camera. Killed me that moment. Him seeing himself filming his parents as they're, they're announcing their divorce is probably the big one everyone says. And it's, there's a reason for that. The, ending with the, the John Ford horizon stuff is gold. Love that.

But yeah, those are those are some of my favorite shots and moments and whatnot through throughout the last 15 years of his career so I have in my notes or rankings for the 2000s and 2010s, but I'm actually gonna save that because we're gonna do a ranking of the entire Spielberg filmography But not yet I'll save that for last Okay

Let's kind of recap. Wow, did I say re-crap? That's awful. Let's recap Spielberg's entire career, which has been the exact opposite of crap. So I think the first thing I want to talk about is just some Spielberg distinctives. It's something that I kind of like to talk about in every episode and every film that we covered.

Spielberg, what are some things that you can expect Spielberg to do with the camera? One of them is he loves to push in onto a character. There's different ways he likes to do close-ups. He likes to do the push-in. He likes low-angle close-ups. by that I mean if you're watching online, it would be if I had the camera tilted and I'm in close-up with it looking up at me.

He loves to do that for some reason. And then he loves to do this thing. It was especially like in the first half of his career, but you still see it sometimes later in his career where the way that the camera is framed, can see the character may or may not already be in frame, but they somehow end up in a close up. They like the camera doesn't move. The character moves into the close up.

Eli (26:15.085)
And I've always just like every time I see it. I'm like, yes spill very I don't know why I love that What are some other spillberg distinctives the dude loves reflections Sometimes it's very meaningful. It's a it's a reflection or a shadow you've got the iconic the color purple shadow and the rocking chair and sometimes they're they're like full of thematic meaning and and purpose

And sometimes they're just fun shots, to be honest, which is fine with me because it's Spielberg and he can make some really great shots and it's fun to see it play out and to work. yeah, other other Spielberg distinctives. The dude knows how to build tension, like with the best of them. I don't know how he does it. One of the

One of the moments from early in his career that like kind of set the table for how good he is at building tension, obviously jaws, but I'm thinking of close encounters where you see, what's the, mountain called like devil's peak or devil's whatever it's called. you see it on the TV and you have, you have dry fists in the background building the, the model of it.

in his basement or living room or whatever. and you're just like, look at the TV, look at the TV and he's on the phone. and like, it's just this tension building tension building. And finally he sees it on the TV. yeah, that's all through spillbush career. That's sort of tension building, not just in like legit intense moments. like you get in like Munich for say per se. but

even in like moments like that that are kind of like mundane there's a there's a lot at stake i guess in the context of the movie but the reality and in like reality there's not a whole lot at stake and so yeah i love that about Spielberg the dude loves to imply horror off screen he loves blood trickling down the stream in Jurassic Park he loves

Eli (28:37.719)
to cut to the blood mixing with milk in Munich as someone's gotten shot and dropped their groceries. Yeah, he loves to have violence happen off screen unless it's Saving Private Ryan, where he just flips the script on us and puts everything on screen. So he can do both. He proved that for sure.

But, but I love the implied horror applied, implied violence off screen that he does. The dude, the dude knows how to set up the geography of an action sequence where you know where everyone is, what all is happening, where it's happening, how it might possibly, you know, intersect at some point, the different things going on. Indiana Jones.

with Raiders of the Lost Ark with the truck chase sequence. The sense of geography in that is incredible. The sense of geography and like the plane fight sequence as well. I think about Munich, think is like I remember in that episode talking about, I think that might be the peak of action set piece, like the geography knowing where

There's the phone call, like the phone bomb sequence that's just like incredible movie making, incredible attention building, incredible actions, geography, set piece, sequence with characters in multiple locations. You know where everybody is. It's incredible. Yeah. Those are some Spielberg distinctives, but let's, let's dig a little deeper. What makes a movie?

Spielberg movie. I think there's... I think there's a bit of an inexplicable quality to a Spielberg movie. A Wes Anderson movie, you can kind of explain what it is that makes a Wes Anderson movie a Wes Anderson movie. A Christopher Nolan movie, I'm saying these because these are the past directors I've covered, right? A Christopher Nolan movie, you can kind of like put your thumb on it.

Eli (31:03.147)
You kind of know like, okay, these are these are what this is what Nolan does. He does time. He does, you know, it's, you know, out of sequence. It's you kind of know how to describe like what makes a Nolan movie a Nolan movie or a Wes Anderson movie, a Wes Anderson movie. A Spielberg movie. It's a little bit harder to nail down because

of the kind of wide range of genres and sensibilities that he's been able to capture from like straight up kids movies to action adventure movies to political dramas and thrillers to to very like intense historical dramas with like Schindler's List

Eli (32:04.965)
Yeah, think the only thing maybe Spielberg doesn't have on his checklist is straight comedy because 1941 was terrible. yeah, I mean, he's really done a wide range of genres and intersecting genres and stuff like that. So there's not one like genre you can put him in and there's not really one kind of feel. It's it's like

The only way I can describe it is that there's some sort of like magic wizardry in the way that he shoots things that just captures you. And when you see it, you can just feel the Spielberg of it. And like other filmmakers can tap into that even sometimes that that Spielberg feel like it makes me think of like Jordan Peele's, Nope.

movie is so Spielberg. The way it's shot and I even told people after I saw it, it's Jaws in the Sky and it is. It's like it feels so Spielberg. The way he builds tension in that movie. The way he just frames things and composes things. Jordan Peele. It's very Spielberg and now not not Jordan Peele's

Other movies don't have that feel necessarily, but I think that when he specifically was tapping into that. but, but yeah, there's just this kind of magic about the way he is able to put things on screen that draw you in and cap capture you. he is, I think Spielberg is one of the best ever at just composing a frame and just knowing that, for so much of his career.

even with, even when he was like heavily storyboarding things for so much of his career, he, he's very improvisational on, as far as like what he does with the camera. He, he fills out a space. and he just, he has an intuition about where to put the camera, where to put the people and the thing in the, in the space to fill the frame. yeah, just.

Eli (34:27.693)
a strong intuition, a genius at composing a frame. And I think too, like he can direct the crap out of some actors. He there's, there's so many like young actors and actresses that kind of you see before they've really breaking out there, you go back and they're like, they were in a Spielberg movie. Like he saw something in them and

was able to tap into that early on in their careers. And I love that about Spielberg. And even just working with even stars like Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, he can really direct actors very well. I think another thing, obviously like,

He pushes technological bounds, maybe not so much as people like James Cameron, but. But like, I think along with that, like one of the things I think that makes a Spielberg a Spielberg movie is that even in the most, even in his most serious movies. So I think Schindler's list, you can tell that he is still having fun. way he shoots the way he. I don't know, just the feel like there's.

There's some lightness even to Schindler's List. That's kind of refreshing, you know? You kind of need that. But it's something that Spielberg brings to even his most serious movies. Have this lightness to them because you know that Spielberg is having so much fun on set and having so much fun like putting his vision to the screen.

And I think part of that is that he actually, is a director. This is another thing, think specific to Spielberg. That's not the case for everybody. He is a director that really genuinely cares about his audience and what his audience thinks. he, he will pivot if something's not working and the audience is not going to respond. Like,

Eli (36:53.825)
And I think he really genuinely has the the audience in mind he has the the crowd that like But it's not but it doesn't sacrifice his artistry. I think that's something that early on in his career He got a bad rap for that. He was All like action and crowd-pleasing but not really a real artist and and I think that's so wrong I think that he was just able to find that fine line between the two and to write it

Where he is crowd like he is making crowd-pleasing movies, but all the while he never sacrifices his artistry and his vision and that's something I like I have a great respect for spillbook for because So many times I feel like you can directors fall either way there there You know and that's fine. You know you can make a crowd-pleasing film. That's not very artistic and still be good

And obviously, like you can make very artistic films that aren't like this is a crowd pleasing film. And obviously there's some masterpieces out there and that way. But but Spielberg. He he has his vision and he's going to execute his vision, his his his piece of art that he is making. But he also really wants the audience to love it and to be enthralled with it and to be in wonder of it.

And and yeah that that comes across and I think that's something that is very unique to Spielberg and a reason why he's one of the most successful directors I say one of the most he is the most successful director of all time. I So, yeah Yeah, let's let's go let's kind of like take a journey through his career you have this young savant who's

directing TV shows like nobody like and you know to the degree to where people are like man this kid is good and then you know he somehow ends up with Jaws and becomes the father of the modern blockbuster incredible you know he kind of in a lot of ways with with Jaws and then later Star Wars they really like jump-started the modern

Eli (39:20.173)
blockbuster kind of like industry for better or worse, you know, but yeah. And then just kind of learning at like out of that process of like having huge success with things like Jaws and Close Encounters to like figure out like, I need to have the right people around me. I think as this part of his career, you know, he makes, he comes off of Close Encounters in 1941 really like

It does okay financially, but like it was bad. it was not a good movie. and you know, it has its like defenders, but like, think in general, like people just, everyone knows that 1941 is not a good movie. and then to come off of that with Raiders of the Lost Ark and with the ET partnering with like strong P like filmmakers and strong writers. George Lucas coming alongside of them, Melissa.

Melissa Matheson with ET and really like being able to execute, take Spielberg's vision and like translate it, whether it's like with a great script in ET or whether it's with like bouncing off ideas and kind of like honing down things with George Lucas on what you want to do. And like, he, you know, he has this era of childhood wonder that's kind of

becomes his thing and I think it's a reason why he he was accused of not being artistic enough of a director. I think that was wrong but it was a thing back then and I think out of that he has this period of his career where with things like the color purple and empire of the sun where he really maybe even always he's really like grasping at wanting to be taken seriously.

He wants the recognition of his peers. He wants the Academy to see him as a serious director, a serious contender. And you know, I think the color purple was a miss. think Empire of the Sun was a hit, not with, you know, it wasn't actually a hit. It just, in my opinion, it was a great movie. But yeah.

Eli (41:45.622)
It's yeah, this desire to really be taken seriously and then, you know, kind of doing some flop passion projects with always in a hook. and that transition, into the nineties and yeah, it, it's funny. Like he comes out of that and then he has his pinnacle year. Like it's, it's, it is the year, the Spielberg year 1993.

he, it's, it's the first time I think, I think he had, had trouble separating his fun blockbuster side from his serious drama side with things like the color purple and empire of the sun and always and hook even. And, he really, in this year, I think the thing that made the difference was, okay, I'm going to make my fun blockbuster movie and that's what it's going to be. I'm going to make my serious drama and that's what it's going to be. and.

Yeah, two of his best films in the same year. Jurassic Park, Schindler's List. Incredible. Yeah, I don't know that anyone's ever had a better movie year than having the the highest grossing film of its at that time in Jurassic Park and a best picture winner in Schindler's List and deservedly so phenomenal masterpiece movie. I don't know that. I don't think.

it's ever happened before and ever will again it might not ever happen again for someone to have a year like Spielberg had in 1993. And then he the 90s are kind of an enigma because in my opinion he has three big flops and three masterpieces. I don't know that I would say Saving Private Ryan is a masterpiece. Some people do.

But you know, I understand the argument for it. It's a great great great movie so he has three phenomenal movies and three kind of flops and in my opinion not everyone thinks hook is a flop but Yeah, the Lost World Jurassic Park never again is he gonna make sequels other than Indiana Jones, of course But that's a little different Amistad is

Eli (44:14.868)
Amistad is the movie that he shouldn't have directed. I went on a rant about that in that episode that you can go listen to. then yeah, Saving Private Ryan really kicks things back off and man, the 2000s was a a great decade for him.

AI artificial intelligence minority report catch me if you can or of the world's Munich even in my opinion Indiana Jones in the Kingdom of the Crystal School all great movies. I don't the terminal has its defenders I And it has a decent rating on like letterbox. I don't think the tear the terminal is very good at all, but But if you do think it's good, I mean

That's a whole decade of like hits in my opinion. It's not like war of the worlds isn't great or anything. And kingdom of social school isn't like phenomenal or by Indiana Jones standards, but they're still good movies. think. And, yeah, really, really strong decade there. and I think with Munich, like I was talking about, you know, it's.

It's a sci-fi decade, would say, with AI, Minority Report, War of the Worlds, even King of the Crystal School has its sci-fi elements. And so that's fun. But then with Munich, think, like I said earlier, really kicks off his political drama decade. Munich, I would argue War Horse is in here as kind of like the children's version of the political drama with the horse. Bridge of Spies, Lincoln, The Post.

And if I'm thinking correctly you've got that from okay Munich is 2005 to 2017 with the post so a little over a decade but and you've got 1010 and BFG thrown in there and King of the Crystal Skull as well but yeah a lot of political dramas he's making his political points in the 2010s and starting with Munich even. Takes his big swings with MoCap

Eli (46:33.325)
Not his best choice is I don't think you know between 10 10 BFG and ready player one You know a lot of people really enjoy 10 10 a lot of people really enjoy BFG I thought both I think both of those movies are fine I don't think they're bad I think they're fine movies Ready player one I think is a swing and a miss unfortunately, but man to come off of that and in my opinion

to have your old man passion projects and make two masterpieces I think is incredible. I think West Side Story and the Fablemans are both masterpieces. They're incredible. They're great. They will get to might be two of the best of his career. But I love that. I love that. And I just I can't wait to see what he does with this UFO movie. It is currently

The working title I think is The Dish, which is an interesting title. The four actors that I noted were Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, who I love, Colin Firth, and Coleman Domingo. So those great names attached to the movie. It's a UFO movie. It's supposed to come out next year in 2026. I'm excited.

Eli (47:59.107)
I think over the court, just thinking about before we get I do my rankings, just thinking about watching through these some three of these movies that I'm going to label as my biggest surprises were blind spots. I knocked out all of my Spielberg, blond shots with the blind spots with this. So that's fun. One of them that

I already really, really liked a whole lot, just watching it again, I think it's a masterpiece. and as the one of the biggest surprises, no, I'm not going to say it's the biggest surprise because I had seen it before and loved it already, but I just think it's a modern masterpiece is West Side Story. I just think it's incredible. think visually and, like the way he, attack like,

It's like he was born to make a musical Spielberg and love West Side Story. A couple other like movies that are really liked AI artificial intelligence. I wasn't sure what I was going to think going in. I think that's a great, great movie. Same thing with Empire of the Sun. Didn't know what to think going in, but was blown away. Loved it.

And then, I would say my biggest surprise of the, the whole series, just cause like, for one, didn't really have any expectations going in. Haven't ever heard much about this movie, but Munich is such an incredible movie, that captures so much of what Spielberg does, from the, political thriller with a political statement movie to the action set pieces to the tension.

to the character building, to the story, to the visual language that's so distinctly Spielberg. Munich is such a good movie. And it's still, from 2005 to today, it's still very, very relevant politically. So really love those big surprises. But now...

Eli (50:22.253)
It is the moment you've all been waiting for. I am going to go through and give my rankings for Spielberg. I will start at the bottom and work my way up. I'm not going to include like I have some of his like shorts and tv movies and stuff included in here that I'm not going to include. I'm just going to do the feature films. And I'm not going to include I'll tell you this.

Twilight Zone is second to last if you if I'm going by like his sequence in the Twilight Zone movie I did not like his sequence in the Twilight Zone movie but I'm not gonna rank it here but if I did you just already know it's it would be second to last so in last place I have 1941 just not good not funny to me at least

not just I don't know not good. So that is okay let me think let me remove

Eli (51:49.366)
you you

Yeah, of the like shorts and stuff and I think it's I think he's at 34 feature films if you don't include the Twilight Zone, Twilight Zone the movie. So 30 at number 34 is 1941 and number 33 I have the terminal. Yeah, you can go back to that episode.

Number 32 I have always not not great. Really weird movie. Looks great, but really weird. At let's see 34, 33, 32 at 31. I have ready player one. And yeah, talked about it already at number 30. I have hook.

Wasn't a big fan of Hook rewatching it with this. Number 29, The Lost World, Jurassic Park. Kind of a misfire sequel, I think. At number 28, I have Almistad, the movie he should not have directed, but you know, has its moments. At number 27, The BFG, it's fine. At number 26, The Adventures of Tin Tin, it's fine.

Eli (53:35.949)
And then 25 I have the color purple another movie I think he would have been better not to direct but I understand why I did Much more so than Amistad Number 24 I have war of the worlds and number 23 have his debut feature film the sugarland express Well unless you count dual which we are gonna count in this because it did

Did have some theater run in Europe. Yeah. Number 23, the Sugarland Express. At number 22, I have Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom. And right above it, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull at number 21. So let's get into the top 20. I have War Horse at number 20. I liked War Horse a lot more than I thought it would. At number 19, I have Duel. Great movie.

And let me go ahead and preface this from this point forward all of these movies I have four stars and up Even you so so like eight out of ten Saving Private Ryan is I have at number 18 and number 17 catch me if you can Number 16 I have the post this is his 2010s political thrillers

part right here. 16, The Post, 15, Lincoln, and 14, Bridge of Spies. Love all those. At number 13, I have Empire of the Sun. At number 12, don't hate me, Raiders of the Lost Ark. At number 12, I know, I know, I know. Objectively, it's top five, but just for me, it's number 12 because I love me some sci-fi. And at number 11, I have Minority Report.

At number I have AI artificial intelligence. At number nine, I have Close Encounters of the Third Kind. My little sci-fi run there. Love all those movies. At number eight is my favorite Indiana Jones movie, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. So I have some good representation up higher for Indiana Jones, but I'm just not like, I love the Indiana Jones franchise, but I'm just not like

Eli (55:56.424)
superfan that has it as a great, greatest of all time sort of thing. So that was number eight. Number seven, I have the Fabelmans. Fabelmans is phenomenal. At number six, I have Munich. So my biggest surprise I have up at number six. Here we are getting into the top five. These

These are just these are my top five spillover movies. So here we go At number five. I have Jurassic Park Childhood, it's I loved Jurassic Park At number four. This is the another huge surprise of how much I loved it. I have West Side Story at number four I think it is phenomenal and Yeah, it's at number four for me number three

I have and honestly I could move West Side Story up to number three or number two. I thought it was that good. Number three I have ET, the extraterrestrial. Loved it. It's so good. And top two, these are both five star masterpieces I think. Schindler's List at number two. I found it incredibly entertaining, incredibly moving.

incredibly important movie. So maybe a bit cliche, but I have it at number two. And that means that my number one film for now and for always for Spielberg is Jaws. Great movie. Masterpiece five stars, 10 out of 10 Jaws. Big Shark is taking the cake.

And could I have really given it to anybody else? mean, because what would that shark do to me if I didn't? So that is my ranking of Spielberg's filmography. It's it's been fun. We're done with Spielberg until he releases The Dish next year, if it's still called that by then. But I'll look forward to that. And yeah, kind of sad to see Spielberg go, but this is it.

Eli (58:16.23)
Yeah, I mean, I've covered, so now I've covered Wes Anderson, Christopher Nolan, and now Steven Spielberg. I would say honestly, I probably like those directors in that order, just like of personal preference. What, you know, the movies that I love from the directors, I would say Wes Anderson favorite, Christopher Nolan next, Steven Spielberg next, but obviously like Spielberg is the goat.

You can't really take that away from him. So really glad I did this series I've greatly enjoyed it met some great people that I brought on as guests through this series That you know, hopefully I'll be able to bring on again in the future but yeah, really Really enjoyed the series. I am hoping to diversify my port my

portfolio of directors I've covered with the next one. Maybe not a white male director with the next one. So we'll see. Maybe not a big name director either. We'll see. I've been trying to, you know, cover some directors that maybe we'll pull in more people that are interested. But hey, maybe it's time for an indie director. I don't know. We'll see.

But speaking of indie directors, next week I had the privilege of interviewing Indie director Daniel Masciari, who has his debut feature coming out. And so yeah, it's called Stationed at Home and

Yeah, it's very good. Daniel and I had a great conversation about it. I was able to interview him about the film, start the episode with a quick review of it. yeah, it was exciting to be able to do that. And I hope to be able to do more interviews with directors in the future about their films. so that is coming out next week. so be looking forward to that. But

Eli (01:00:39.606)
Spielberg it was it was good it is time for for us though like our favorite pal ET to now go home and you know we'll be right there with you always Spielberg so we'll see you when you release your next film I guess and so yeah that's it we're done with Spielberg goodbye so long that's all we have for this week

I have been Eli Price and you've been listening to The Establishing Shot. We'll see you next time.