Meta tags:

Headings (most frequently used words):

2010, the, 21, 2011, tuesday, 18, december, of, spielberg, contributors, twitter, labels, further, reading, blog, archive, followers, monday, february, january, saturday, morality, noir, femme, fatale, my, movies, streets, new, haven, 11, blogathon,

Text of the page (most frequently used words):
the (552), and (260), that (141), film (88), was (88), spielberg (77), his (69), for (53), with (50), this (49), but (45), her (45), you (42), one (36), not (34), from (32), which (31), she (31), day (30), what (30), has (29), who (28), when (25), time (25), are (24), movie (23), about (23), being (23), have (23), #movies (22), way (22), palma (22), our (21), war (20), munich (20), year (20), though (20), all (20), just (19), they (19), another (19), into (19), did (18), more (18), there (18), been (18), avner (18), worlds (17), first (17), only (17), new (17), people (17), life (17), out (17), laure (17), here (16), most (16), work (15), part (15), jones (15), through (15), where (15), could (15), their (15), takes (14), indiana (14), had (14), will (14), him (14), femme (14), fatale (14), man (13), films (13), september (13), american (13), because (13), world (13), something (13), human (13), would (13), get (13), over (12), cinema (12), can (12), than (12), both (12), like (12), while (12), true (12), very (12), were (12), around (12), nicolas (12), noir (12), home (11), great (11), some (11), other (11), between (11), sequence (11), haven (11), blogathon (10), dark (10), history (10), truly (10), last (10), identity (9), its (9), years (9), kind (9), best (9), see (9), always (9), make (9), made (9), them (9), comes (9), herself (9), mission (9), thing (9), ryan (8), back (8), look (8), short (8), 11th (8), think (8), now (8), after (8), genre (8), well (8), everyone (8), place (8), shot (8), desire (8), morality (8), ultimately (8), away (8), once (8), myself (8), next (7), how (7), ever (7), steven (7), two (7), really (7), essentially (7), much (7), makes (7), then (7), united (7), states (7), making (7), deeply (7), drama (7), any (7), your (7), course (7), off (7), may (7), few (7), car (7), every (7), 2010 (7), bike (7), call (7), phone (7), half (7), experience (7), labels (6), kelly (6), icebox (6), host (6), adam (6), examines (6), family (6), means (6), kingdom (6), crystal (6), skull (6), hollywood (6), review (6), summer (6), love (6), take (6), early (6), itself (6), modern (6), imagery (6), israel (6), still (6), saw (6), many (6), perfect (6), sense (6), invasion (6), character (6), characters (6), performances (6), son (6), past (6), real (6), moral (6), tragedy (6), ephraim (6), plays (6), feel (6), good (6), again (6), say (6), set (6), grit (6), meet (6), tall (6), stranger (6), director (6), comments (5), posted (5), zanzie (5), flickering (5), myth (5), trevor (5), hogg (5), tom (5), invincible (5), defeat (5), taking (5), ilias (5), dimopoulos (5), hell (5), face (5), know (5), greatest (5), gives (5), spiritual (5), jaws (5), sun (5), line (5), later (5), suddenly (5), wrong (5), end (5), never (5), able (5), vital (5), father (5), casting (5), given (5), didn (5), use (5), happened (5), political (5), watching (5), kushner (5), anything (5), mother (5), beautiful (5), else (5), camera (5), working (5), july (5), going (5), days (5), got (5), favorite (5), picture (5), shutter (5), island (5), throughout (4), post (4), read (4), jake (4), cole (4), ratnakar (4), sadasyula (4), themes (4), things (4), don (4), offers (4), lee (4), hate (4), jim (4), goes (4), duel (4), looks (4), ending (4), profile (4), defends (4), lost (4), celebrates (4), violence (4), moments (4), list (4), writes (4), catch (4), reviews (4), begins (4), examination (4), 2005 (4), same (4), standard (4), serious (4), artist (4), certainly (4), nightmare (4), forces (4), barely (4), full (4), revenge (4), glimpse (4), typical (4), child (4), against (4), capable (4), whom (4), saying (4), put (4), display (4), distance (4), such (4), personal (4), hands (4), since (4), fact (4), viewed (4), actually (4), watch (4), before (4), act (4), television (4), less (4), country (4), nothing (4), doesn (4), kill (4), even (4), yes (4), seeing (4), concept (4), screen (4), moment (4), almost (4), simultaneously (4), down (4), turns (4), story (4), finds (4), december (4), friend (4), hour (4), cast (4), costume (4), went (4), walked (4), girl (4), yale (4), campus (4), along (4), gets (4), found (4), 2011 (4), ghost (4), writer (4), vincere (4), eclipse (4), during (4), wartime (4), allen (4), aesthetic (4), woman (4), january (4), sex (4), sexual (4), david (4), plane (4), ambassador (4), february (4), hard (3), little (3), analyzes (3), com (3), live (3), house (3), door (3), written (3), diary (3), lover (3), contribution (3), sean (3), blond (3), image (3), ferdy (3), blog (3), piece (3), closer (3), close (3), third (3), visual (3), mind (3), uses (3), seen (3), schindler (3), maker (3), power (3), pretty (3), seemed (3), blockbuster (3), winter (3), attack (3), science (3), fiction (3), memory (3), palestine (3), fascinating (3), amongst (3), attacks (3), stop (3), dream (3), begin (3), too (3), does (3), emotional (3), directly (3), further (3), powerful (3), express (3), central (3), portrait (3), cruise (3), better (3), remarkable (3), probably (3), star (3), affecting (3), ray (3), ferrier (3), simple (3), becomes (3), onto (3), event (3), black (3), hotel (3), room (3), center (3), events (3), james (3), bond (3), person (3), become (3), shows (3), jews (3), murder (3), should (3), performance (3), bana (3), long (3), element (3), popular (3), feeling (3), opening (3), name (3), process (3), ciaran (3), hinds (3), borderline (3), truthfully (3), believes (3), doing (3), right (3), someone (3), bring (3), anyway (3), anti (3), depth (3), earth (3), radically (3), final (3), acting (3), clear (3), responsibility (3), walks (3), destroyed (3), those (3), hand (3), profoundly (3), manner (3), find (3), own (3), bit (3), 2007 (3), bank (3), knew (3), big (3), told (3), extras (3), asked (3), contain (3), wasn (3), came (3), enough (3), waited (3), tried (3), looking (3), come (3), high (3), hadn (3), stopped (3), coming (3), assistant (3), whole (3), courtyard (3), spent (3), three (3), streets (3), dressed (3), opens (3), shoots (3), fallen (3), consider (3), cinematic (3), quite (3), releases (3), hailee (3), literally (3), steinfeld (3), secret (3), sunshine (3), wild (3), grass (3), network (3), latest (3), yet (3), unusual (3), married (3), everything (3), theater (3), brian (3), rotten (3), accomplices (3), sexuality (3), heist (3), daughter (3), effect (3), bathtub (3), fate (3), lily (3), step (3), stanwyck (3), posts (2), finally (2), sure (2), heaven (2), considerable (2), critical (2), viewfinder (2), tony (2), frames (2), night (2), keith (2), uhlich (2), matt (2), porlock (2), craig (2), four (2), non (2), english (2), chase (2), stangland (2), howard (2), fish (2), scanners (2), emerson (2), styles (2), magazine (2), waxes (2), poetic (2), discusses (2), george (2), tells (2), raiders (2), ark (2), encounters (2), tribute (2), puts (2), loses (2), happening (2), minority (2), report (2), five (2), considers (2), jurassic (2), park (2), details (2), terrific (2), series (2), pays (2), essay (2), empire (2), done (2), 2002 (2), incredible (2), especially (2), formula (2), alike (2), reactions (2), former (2), channeling (2), aesthetics (2), philosophical (2), consideration (2), rich (2), tandem (2), thoughtful (2), released (2), wake (2), fitting (2), treated (2), hostility (2), frightening (2), masterful (2), martian (2), symbolic (2), inspired (2), invasions (2), radical (2), documents (2), looked (2), warzone (2), expanding (2), rather (2), nature (2), living (2), serves (2), wells (2), blatant (2), shift (2), setting (2), recontextualizing (2), career (2), source (2), material (2), paints (2), stunning (2), thought (2), fully (2), received (2), performers (2), brilliantly (2), tensions (2), robbie (2), game (2), cap (2), detail (2), merely (2), children (2), wife (2), challenges (2), himself (2), deals (2), massacre (2), 1972 (2), olympics (2), allows (2), draw (2), introduced (2), members (2), breaking (2), israeli (2), trade (2), 007 (2), national (2), level (2), killing (2), must (2), words (2), obviously (2), highlighting (2), terrorism (2), suggesting (2), race (2), regardless (2), religious (2), ethnic (2), heart (2), news (2), reports (2), conception (2), beautifully (2), these (2), contacted (2), government (2), lose (2), soul (2), artists (2), manage (2), supporting (2), qualms (2), carl (2), rush (2), play (2), script (2), masterfully (2), realization (2), anyone (2), bloodshed (2), becoming (2), without (2), stops (2), humans (2), sees (2), accused (2), sentiments (2), clearly (2), actions (2), late (2), whatever (2), want (2), aren (2), extents (2), sentiment (2), brilliant (2), scene (2), sends (2), necessary (2), future (2), peace (2), responds (2), above (2), humanity (2), invites (2), alone (2), reveal (2), cuts (2), attacked (2), acknowledges (2), said (2), walking (2), large (2), ground (2), absurd (2), turn (2), nuclear (2), era (2), town (2), surrounded (2), whereas (2), felt (2), accurate (2), wouldn (2), funny (2), interested (2), sounds (2), cynical (2), latent (2), profound (2), stories (2), worth (2), contrived (2), forget (2), autobiography (2), 50s (2), attire (2), caught (2), completely (2), expression (2), usually (2), riding (2), prop (2), mine (2), wanna (2), willing (2), maybe (2), died (2), turned (2), shooting (2), jersey (2), open (2), trying (2), excitement (2), however (2), keep (2), bright (2), hit (2), trip (2), somewhere (2), headed (2), filled (2), application (2), gave (2), fort (2), happy (2), worked (2), extra (2), somehow (2), otherwise (2), met (2), share (2), interesting (2), cut (2), date (2), drove (2), member (2), used (2), ridden (2), vintage (2), needed (2), jackass (2), front (2), side (2), near (2), solid (2), dare (2), morning (2), couldn (2), motorcycle (2), staging (2), filmed (2), shoot (2), finished (2), monday (2), far (2), thrill (2), also (2), getting (2), directorial (2), methods (2), young (2), pleasant (2), second (2), existed (2), culture (2), perception (2), genuine (2), penny (2), similarly (2), party (2), beginning (2), hope (2), pictures (2), frankly (2), tuesday (2), lists (2), jeff (2), bridges (2), ben (2), kim (2), giovanna (2), ruth (2), sheen (2), mezzogiorno (2), bone (2), hye (2), greenberg (2), yeon (2), jeon (2), social (2), scott (2), pilgrim (2), broadbent (2), mike (2), leigh (2), ways (2), opposed (2), couple (2), fucked (2), homage (2), misery (2), brothers (2), insights (2), south (2), cruel (2), emotionally (2), tale (2), moves (2), husband (2), hometown (2), death (2), minutes (2), tragic (2), woody (2), isn (2), perhaps (2), imaginable (2), present (2), eccentricities (2), haired (2), todd (2), solondz (2), french (2), inventive (2), horror (2), showcases (2), portrayed (2), age (2), bong (2), sensibility (2), protect (2), hilarious (2), sad (2), rule (2), martin (2), scorsese (2), case (2), often (2), blogathons (2), perspective (2), elements (2), godard (2), movement (2), bad (2), criminals (2), split (2), depicting (2), voyeurism (2), taken (2), depicts (2), reflection (2), each (2), ones (2), charge (2), naturally (2), frank (2), playful (2), fuck (2), establishment (2), spite (2), explores (2), classic (2), thrown (2), railing (2), mistaken (2), dreams (2), suicide (2), wealthy (2), proceeds (2), france (2), charged (2), calls (2), battle (2), tries (2), gun (2), masculine (2), save (2), telling (2), plan (2), bridge (2), thinks (2), river (2), naked (2), awful (2), romijn (2), self (2), styled (2), siren (2), march (2), june (2), august (2), october (2), november (2), 2009 (2), york (2), tcm (2), tomatoes (2), coppola (2), michael (2), ford (2), subscribe, atom, older, check, updates, friends, importantly, featuring, interview, caryle, camacho, radiator, hokakey, applies, skills, seeti, maar, dayoub, jon, greco, directives, hyland, noel, tanti, noeltanti, barack, shone, bilge, ebiri, announces, reprints, odienator, zoller, seitz, respectively, simpson, suck, bryce, wilson, elce, jaime, grijalba, beyond, edward, copeland, damian, arlyn, venetian, machelle, allman, bill, percolator, elliot, gallion, cinenoxi, chris, zafeiriadis, dancing, joel, bocko, roderick, heath, gentry, wonders, allan, greg, ferrara, pussy, grr, andreas, flak, weitner, indiewire, eric, kohn, escapism, art, sacred, cow, task, pal, paved, contributes, knows, amistad, ressurects, asa, ives, color, purple, villainous, context, asks, saving, private, kids, schinlder, canon, tome, temple, doom, hawks, celebration, essence, appreciates, problems, maturation, hook, quadrilogy, fantasies, reversal, 35th, anniversary, observations, amblin, comment, 1989, 1993, 1997, feat, follow, different, latter, aftermath, via, combination, shared, relations, fittingly, spy, tropes, together, form, stand, opinion, failure, effective, sappiness, ruined, forced, reconsider, dismissed, viewing, entertainment, reality, comprehend, logic, irrational, nonsensical, slept, subverts, allegedly, invented, topic, avant, garde, upon, release, box, office, spoke, aim, excite, aims, capture, frame, painful, downright, imperfect, symbiosis, 1950s, mythology, communism, hysteria, subsequent, afghanistan, iraq, ourselves, media, atrocities, wars, wage, reminding, scale, using, gateway, cheap, thrills, justifying, knee, jerk, desires, brutality, vividly, dramatizes, feels, turning, landscape, desolate, waged, visualization, occupation, receiving, novel, height, allegory, spread, imperialism, colonialism, king, text, america, remaining, faithful, absent, examine, issues, feature, parent, unable, unwilling, grow, perpetual, adolescent, example, type, actor, credit, portrays, transformation, immature, incompetent, mature, hurt, shares, dakota, fanning, affinity, familial, teenage, elevate, iconographic, tossing, baseball, backyard, intimately, adorning, yankee, entire, miffed, weekend, visit, wearing, boston, red, sox, juvenile, bickering, heartbreaking, metaphor, divorced, shifting, focus, neglectful, sympathize, demonized, relive, fictionalizes, direct, parallel, realities, islam, hopping, chain, link, fence, athlete, ends, illustrating, atrocity, 2001, linked, serving, straight, claimed, result, argue, thoughtfully, evaluates, sacrifice, assassin, reason, transcends, nationalism, properly, title, collage, major, cities, word, portraying, germany, group, beings, affiliations, unforgettable, erica, montage, showing, various, backgrounds, palestinian, families, athletes, unfold, inseparable, captures, glued, sequences, golda, meir, requests, lead, retaliation, architects, sponsored, duty, accepts, realizing, agreeing, cultural, lesser, empty, symbol, whose, screenplay, surely, ranks, flesh, blood, players, daniel, steve, nationalist, repeatedly, known, geoffrey, pencil, pushing, bureaucrat, quality, writing, excellence, admittedly, philosophy, heavy, pathological, dissent, guilt, paranoia, insanity, outset, presses, gradually, accomplish, replaced, worse, murdering, enemy, escalate, harm, understand, reciprocal, morally, reprehensible, solve, damn, except, temporary, fix, notion, gains, enlightenment, collection, countries, religions, others, depending, bias, illustrates, powerfully, nationalistic, humanistic, meant, represent, certain, discontent, pacifists, militant, speech, worthwhile, arguing, deserve, theorizing, acceptable, ensure, extension, religion, launches, predicated, vengeance, bold, features, likely, message, meeting, stance, firmly, undertook, argues, brutal, reminds, overrides, break, bread, refuses, devastating, worldviews, irreconcilable, brooklyn, apartment, pans, simply, waiting, casualty, nonsense, fed, stinking, arabs, freedom, democracy, capitalism, reasons, retribution, yielded, destruction, key, took, groups, zero, channels, mass, exodus, filtering, collective, invokes, give, catharsis, challenging, instead, view, responded, empathetic, head, dissolution, vessel, illustrate, extreme, trauma, uniting, dividing, brings, worst, harrowing, automobiles, left, themselves, hungry, exhausted, desperate, steal, particularly, unsettling, windshield, glass, bare, criticized, unrealistic, exact, opposite, dramatization, exactly, happen, require, disaster, magnitude, alien, unleash, restrained, animal, instincts, precursor, organisms, chips, pressure, creature, survival, animals, survive, elevated, heights, survivor, inexplicably, alive, approximation, book, shown, surviving, odds, let, survived, having, 110, buildings, collapse, quote, ian, malcom, sugarland, saturday, yours, decked, guard, dude, saga, began, noticed, missed, cell, guy, initiating, individual, dreaded, called, figured, robbed, picking, calling, order, possibly, predicted, connecticut, replied, anticipated, talked, decade, gone, endless, stages, development, reunite, legendary, lucas, chance, outside, road, interstate, easy, relaxing, parked, street, marriott, shuffled, lots, chairs, surprisingly, job, talk, directors, friendly, endear, issue, absolutely, arrangements, figuring, least, farthest, resigned, qualified, sitting, rang, agency, informing, indeed, managed, avoid, screaming, deafening, poor, fellow, hung, glorious, heartbreak, blemish, fair, weeks, drive, hair, measured, until, woke, rise, arrived, month, prior, hopeful, employed, school, master, hey, stolen, grade, traumatic, discovered, helping, complimentary, breakfast, loved, feed, bicycle, gathered, decided, ride, pedaled, gate, surroundings, heard, behind, voice, recognized, instantly, paces, stood, seconds, struck, eye, contact, exchanged, continued, busy, rest, smoothly, basically, filming, unit, footage, supervising, occurs, displaying, geography, choreography, hops, window, visually, uninteresting, guess, crucial, marcus, brody, statue, decapitated, minute, compositional, standpoint, friday, presumed, surprised, following, apparently, scrambling, quickly, fast, donned, reward, notice, offered, join, mean, sleep, refuse, glad, longest, exhausting, paid, consolation, inside, law, library, intensive, required, active, presence, energy, infectious, enthusiasm, inspiring, touching, displays, occurred, quick, lines, thanked, touched, opportunity, midst, thanking, obvious, brink, tears, sensed, kid, hug, warm, believe, kindness, pushover, kicked, crew, forgot, ended, perfectly, decorated, store, fronts, lined, pristine, 1950, cars, combined, period, costumes, surreal, realized, vision, childhood, echoed, 2008, teenagers, driving, desert, elvis, presley, hound, dog, soundtrack, test, site, nearly, killed, bomb, convey, cold, finale, conveys, wide, eyed, appreciation, pulp, personally, populist, memories, imagination, illuminates, lot, participate, insignificantly, creation, cherish, dicking, moviez, omg, headshots, standing, tweed, jacket, bow, tie, knickerbockers, loafers, 150, individuals, hot, warp, fortunate, unnamed, fourth, stands, rewarding, experiences, exciting, motion, witness, firsthand, magic, lifetime, grateful, presented, chronologically, male, leonardo, dicaprio, lars, jesse, anthony, hopkins, kingsley, mark, jason, stiller, justin, female, sabine, greta, shirley, henderson, jennifer, lawrence, lesley, birgit, natalie, olivia, williams, promise, top, shit, paltry, amount, output, depressing, swan, portman, minichmayr, manville, hjejle, iben, gerwig, azéma, timberlake, schwartzman, ruffalo, eisenberg, eidinger, dussollier, andré, clooney, label, abyss, extremely, troubling, palpable, optimism, springs, narrative, providing, existing, solely, listeners, advice, reciters, played, stable, rock, suffering, unhappiness, oppressively, glum, downtrodden, joy, virtues, makers, idiosyncratic, humor, elevation, folklore, mythic, stature, reverence, considerations, spirituality, faith, adaptation, remake, scathing, satire, old, west, racism, sadism, sharpest, gags, highlight, casually, treatment, native, americans, moving, mattie, rooster, damon, transform, incredibly, meaningful, testament, truism, revelation, labeouf, cogburn, coens, coen, chang, dong, structured, melodrama, run, drained, shin, widow, korea, quirky, comedy, hybrid, poorly, sharp, sudden, criminal, discuss, dramatically, potent, suffice, changes, transforms, anchors, sensational, haunting, indiewood, milyang, surprises, gentle, softens, punch, odysseys, infidelity, separates, inflict, honest, acknowledging, consequences, lives, delightfully, antiquated, sublime, century, dramatic, conceit, immediate, timeless, queiros, eça, oliveira, manoel, bitchy, perceptive, observer, faults, humanitarians, empathize, society, teaches, considering, extent, cruelty, revolutionary, alain, quixotic, recapitulation, wave, elegy, aging, comic, lust, total, fucking, masterpiece, resnais, easily, unique, connor, mcpherson, intimate, exploration, loneliness, lovely, scary, marco, historical, footnote, plight, benito, born, fight, ascended, marital, committed, insane, asylums, tragically, anguish, exploitative, slightest, mussolini, bellocchio, treat, highly, problematic, previous, effort, balance, silly, offensive, streamline, effectively, disturbing, twisted, document, parenthood

Text of the page (random words):
o get to work that his assistant wouldn t be able to keep up and though he stood near me for a solid few seconds i didn t dare say anything to him though i know i should have not omg i love your moviez but something simple like good morning but i couldn t i was star struck for the first and only time in my life and though we made solid eye contact we exchanged no words his assistant finally caught up to him and one of the great american artists continued on his busy way the rest of the day seemed to go along smoothly they were basically filming 2 nd unit footage though spielberg was supervising it for the motorcycle chase that occurs early in the film the whole sequence is masterful displaying spielberg s near perfect sense of geography and his inspired use of camera choreography my favorite bit of staging being when indiana jones hops off his motorcycle goes through an open car window and comes out the other side and gets back on but what was filmed in the courtyard over the course of the two days i spent there is visually uninteresting in the film my guess is spielberg was there to shoot a crucial shot of the marcus brody statue being decapitated but the short sequence about a minute of the finished film was by and large standard from a compositional standpoint my first day on the set was a friday and i d presumed that would be my only day i was surprised when on the following monday they contacted me in the later part of the morning and asked if i could come to new haven like now because apparently they had to do re shoots in the courtyard and were scrambling to get extras i told them of course and as quickly as i could got in my car and drove really really fast back to new haven donned my costume and went back to the yale courtyard for another day of riding my bike around the campus my reward for coming so far on such short notice was being offered to join them the next day which truthfully didn t thrill me at the time because that would mean i get home just in time go right to sleep wake up at 5 am and do it all again but obviously there was no way i was going to refuse and i m glad i didn t because my third and last day was by far the greatest i spent on the set though also the longest and most exhausting though getting paid time and a half was a consolation i spent a 10 12 hour day inside the yale law library and it was here that i really got a sense of spielberg s directorial methods because the staging was more intensive and required a more active presence on his part the man worked with an energy that was infectious his enthusiasm for his work was truly inspiring one of the more touching displays i saw in my three days occurred when a young man who has a few quick lines in the finished script thanked spielberg when he was through shooting it was clear he was very deeply touched by being given this opportunity and as he was in the midst of thanking spielberg it was obvious to me that he was on the brink of tears spielberg sensed this and just gave the kid whom he probably barely knew a big hug spielberg is truly as warm a human being as his films would have you believe and that kindness was on full display in my three days on the set which is not to say spielberg is a pushover by any means on my first day he kicked a member of the crew off the set for dicking around though the set was a very pleasant place to be you never forgot for a second that you were there to work and work hard he filmed the whole sequence that day and i had a feeling it would be my last it couldn t have ended more perfectly as i walked to my car up the streets of new haven which were decorated with vintage store fronts and lined with pristine 1950 s cars which combined with everyone being dressed in period costumes was truly surreal i suddenly realized i was walking through steven spielberg s memory his vision of his childhood both as it existed to him and our culture s perception of it this feeling was very much echoed when i saw the film when it was released in may of 2008 which opens with a shot of teenagers driving their car through the desert while elvis presley s hound dog plays on the soundtrack through its opening which ultimately finds indiana jones on a nuclear test site and nearly killed by a bomb to the sequence s shot in new haven which convey cold war era political tensions and through the finale which conveys a genuine wide eyed appreciation of science fiction pulp indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull is spielberg at his most personally populist a channeling of the popular conception of the 50s through his own personal memories and imagination indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull is by no means a perfect film but it s certainly a film that illuminates a lot about where spielberg is coming from as an artist and to be able to participate however insignificantly in its creation is an experience i ll always cherish yours truly decked out in 50s attire caught completely off guard though that s the expression i usually have on my face by some dude with a camera while riding my prop bike around new haven july of 2007 posted by ryan kelly at 8 30 pm 17 comments labels autobiography indiana jones and the kingdom of the crystal skull spielberg blogathon steven spielberg saturday december 18 2010 spielberg s 9 11 in 2005 spielberg did what he had done in 1989 1993 1997 and 2002 that is make two films in the same year this feat is pretty incredible in and of itself especially in modern hollywood and though it seemed to follow in the standard formula of blockbuster in the summer and serious film in the winter the two films are really more alike than they are different war of the worlds and munich are both essentially reactions to september 11th the former is a channeling of the imagery from the attack through science fiction aesthetics the latter is a philosophical consideration of the aftermath via a combination of an early shared memory of israel palestine relations and fittingly 70 s spy movie tropes together they form a rich fascinating tandem and still stand as amongst the most thoughtful reactions to the september 11th attacks by an american artist when i saw war of the worlds when it was released in the summer of 2005 my opinion was pretty much in line with that of many other people that it was a failure with some effective moments that spielberg s sappiness ruined the ending and so on when i saw munich later that year i was forced to reconsider a film i had dismissed because munich made me stop viewing war of the worlds as a piece of summer entertainment and made me think of it as a serious consideration of 9 11 as munich most certainly is now i think of war of the worlds as the dream and munich as the reality like when you wake up after a nightmare and begin to comprehend the imagery and dream logic that which seemed irrational or nonsensical while you slept suddenly makes perfect sense spielberg subverts standard blockbuster formula with war of the worlds which is all too fitting as he allegedly invented the genre which is another topic for another day war of the worlds is essentially the world s first avant garde blockbuster upon its release in the summer of 2005 though the film did well at the box office everyone i spoke to about war of the worlds treated it with a kind of hostility and i think that s because it does not aim to excite it aims to capture an emotional frame of mind and a painful one at that there are moments in the film that are downright frightening it is a masterful if imperfect symbiosis of 1950s martian mythology itself symbolic of communism hysteria and imagery directly inspired by the september 11th attacks and our subsequent invasions of afghanistan and iraq spielberg forces us to see ourselves on the wrong end of an invasion which is truly radical in a time when the media barely documents the atrocities of the wars we wage by reminding us what our home looked like as a warzone and then expanding that nightmare to a full scale invasion but rather than using the imagery as a gateway to cheap thrills by justifying our knee jerk desires for revenge and further brutality spielberg vividly dramatizes what an invasion looks and feels like turning the american landscape into a desolate warzone 9 11 was a nightmare but it was only a glimpse into the true nature of living in a place where war is being waged and spielberg s film serves as a powerful visualization of invasion and occupation something the united states has never been on the receiving end of as wells novel written at the height of the english empire was a blatant allegory for the spread of imperialism and colonialism it s only fitting that spielberg king of hollywood shift the setting of the film to the modern day united states by recontextualizing wells text to modern america spielberg is able to express themes that have been vital to his work throughout his career while still remaining faithful to the source material by making the film s central character the typical spielberg absent father spielberg is able to examine the issues of family that have been so vital to his work as in his first feature the sugarland express spielberg paints a portrait of a parent who is really still a child who has been unable or unwilling to grow up and the casting of tom cruise as the perpetual adolescent is a stunning example of casting against type i ve always thought cruise was a better actor than he was given credit for and the way he portrays his characters transformation from an immature incompetent man to a capable mature father is truly remarkable it probably didn t hurt that he was given a fully capable co star whom he shares many of the film s most deeply affecting moments with dakota fanning in one of the best performances spielberg has ever received from his child performers which is saying something spielberg s affinity for familial drama is put brilliantly on display early on when the tensions begin between tom cruise s ray ferrier and his teenage son robbie what other film maker could use a simple game of catch between a father and son to express the emotional distance between them only spielberg could elevate such iconographic american imagery as a father and son tossing a baseball in the backyard into something so intimately personal ray who has been seen adorning a yankee cap for the entire film is miffed when his son comes for a weekend visit wearing a boston red sox cap this detail could have been merely juvenile bickering but in spielberg s hands this visual detail becomes truly heartbreaking a metaphor for how ray ferrier has lost his children in the time since he divorced his wife spielberg by shifting the focus from the children onto the neglectful father challenges himself to sympathize with a character he has demonized in the past the examination of the dissolution of the nuclear family in the modern era gives spielberg an emotional vessel to illustrate the manner in which extreme trauma is capable of at once uniting and dividing humans spielberg s martian invasion brings out the best and worst in humanity simultaneously there is a harrowing sequence where the ferrier family who have one of the few working automobiles left suddenly find themselves in a town surrounded by hungry exhausted desperate people who steal their car from them one particularly unsettling image shows a man breaking the windshield glass with his bare hands the person i saw the film with in 2005 criticized this moment as being unrealistic whereas i felt the exact opposite that the sequence is an all too accurate dramatization of exactly what would happen it wouldn t even require a disaster on the magnitude of an alien invasion to unleash our barely restrained animal instincts in spielberg s 2002 film minority report a character has a line that essentially serves as the precursor for this scene in war of the worlds it s funny how all living organisms are alike when the chips are down when the pressure is on every creature on the face of the earth is interested in one thing and one thing only its own survival though this sounds like a cynical sentiment it s really not as we are animals and our latent desire to survive above all else is something that spielberg has elevated to profound heights in films like schindler s list a i and here in war of the worlds all of spielberg s films are essentially survivor s stories which makes the ending of the film where robbie inexplicably turns up alive which is a very accurate approximation of the book s ending for what it s worth not as out of place or absurd as it has been accused of being yes it s a bit contrived but people have been shown to be capable of surviving against all odds let s not forget that there were people on 9 11 who survived having 110 story buildings collapse onto them to quote dr ian malcom from jurassic park life finds a way spielberg has said that they key image he took away from september 11th was people walking in large groups away from ground zero and he channels that imagery of mass exodus beautifully in war of the worlds filtering an almost absurd science fiction concept through our collective memory of our home being attacked spielberg invokes the attack to give way to catharsis challenging us to stop seeing 9 11 as something that happened to the united states and to instead view it as something that happened to the human race i may not have responded to spielberg s profoundly empathetic sentiments the first time i saw war of the worlds but little did i know at the time that spielberg was in the process of making a film that would turn the very concept of national identity on its head war of the worlds forces you to relive september 11th munich on the other hand forces you to think about it though war of the worlds deals with the attack more directly the fact that munich fictionalizes a real life event the massacre at the 1972 olympics allows spielberg to draw a direct parallel between an event that introduced many in the united states to the realities of radical islam and september 11th munich begins with the members of black september hopping a chain link fence and breaking into the israeli athlete s hotel room and ends with a shot of the world trade center and spielberg here is illustrating that the events at the munich olympics in 1972 and the atrocity in september of 2001 are directly linked and munich can be viewed as serving as a straight line between the two events spielberg always claimed that raiders of the lost ark was the result of his desire to make a james bond movie but we could argue that munich is actually his 007 movie but it s a bond movie as only he could do it one that thoughtfully considers identity on both a personal and national level that evaluates the morality of killing another human being that analyzes the sacrifice a person must make to become an assassin it s james bond with a moral center in other words though obviously morality is not t...