Bridge of Spies FILM discussion

[publicist 4,643]

Dear god Jay....

[Jay 37,369]

yes?

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yes, Thor's firsthand account has bolstered my anticipation.

, indeed.

[Lewya 360]

Behind-The-Scenes Footage -

[Gruesome Son of a Bitch 6,488]

HOWEVER, I was not quite as enthused as my two colleagues. My main problem was the awkward comedy in a few segments (mostly due to the script by the Coen bros., who I'm no big fan of). Also, it drags a bit in a few scenes, so the whole film feels a bit uneven.

That's very typical of modern Spielberg.

[Thor 7,512]

HOWEVER, I was not quite as enthused as my two colleagues. My main problem was the awkward comedy in a few segments (mostly due to the script by the Coen bros., who I'm no big fan of). Also, it drags a bit in a few scenes, so the whole film feels a bit uneven.

That's very typical of modern Spielberg.

I think it's always been a problem of his, not a particularly modern trait. He's never very funny when he TRIES to be funny (1941 being the prime example), but often hilarious when he's inventive in his film language. Hilarious in a positive sense -- the surprise value in some of his shots alone.

[A24 4,339]

I don't know, Thor. We all laughed with E.T. at the time and that was supposed to be funny.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

I think the Indy films have many quite comical moment.

[A24 4,339]

The third one is funnier than most people give it credit for.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[A24 4,339]

Indy's dad is funny too.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

Yes! He has a funny accshent!

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Yeah the third is a riot. Raiders of course has the classic drunk Marion and Belloq/coat hanger scene.

[nightscape94 965]

This scene was priceless!

[Quintus 5,399]

Ask most people what their favourite Indy movie is and they'll answer "the one with his dad".

[Thor 7,512]

Most of these examples have to do with Spielberg's staging (ET, Indy films etc.), and yes -- that can be quite funny. But when he tries to do punchlines and be deliberate in the jokes, he almost always fails, IMO. The "fake family" scene in BRIDGE OF SPIES is the best example of this. Rather cringeworthy and really at odds with the aesthetic in the rest of the film.

[Jay 37,369]

This scene was priceless!

I like how sometimes BB8 appears outside the frame, in the letterbox bars, and sometimes he's contained within them

[Quintus 5,399]

Most of these examples have to do with Spielberg's staging (ET, Indy films etc.), and yes -- that can be quite funny. But when he tries to do punchlines and be deliberate in the jokes, he almost always fails, IMO. The "fake family" scene in BRIDGE OF SPIES is the best example of this. Rather cringeworthy and really at odds with the aesthetic in the rest of the film.

Awkward humour is all over post eighties Spielberg. The Raptor claw gouging description at the beginning of Jurassic Park springs to mind. As does the the cringe inducing joking about with the students at the start of AI. It's the stagey and unnatural group laughter that does it. Observe the group laughter in any of his later movies and you'll see it's all very awkward and phony feeling.

It's strange really, because Spielberg has proven to be very very capable of humour and wit in the past. But some people lose their funny bone a little when they get older, don't they.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

Oh yeah that A.I. example always makes me cringe.

[nightscape94 965]

That scene in Minority Report when they burst into that woman's kitchen and she's swatting at them is super awkward.

[Thor 7,512]

Most of these examples have to do with Spielberg's staging (ET, Indy films etc.), and yes -- that can be quite funny. But when he tries to do punchlines and be deliberate in the jokes, he almost always fails, IMO. The "fake family" scene in BRIDGE OF SPIES is the best example of this. Rather cringeworthy and really at odds with the aesthetic in the rest of the film.

Awkward humour is all over post eighties Spielberg. The Raptor claw gouging description at the beginning of Jurassic Park springs to mind. As does the the cringe inducing joking about with the students at the start of AI. It's the stagey and unnatural group laughter that does it. Observe the group laughter in any of his later movies and you'll see it's all very awkward and phony feeling.

It's strange really, because Spielberg has proven to be very very capable of humour and wit in the past. But some people lose their funny bone a little when they get older, don't they.

Agreed, but I don't see it as a past-present thing. Spielberg's movies have ALWAYS been that way.

[Quintus 5,399]

Nah, golden era Spielberg is brimming with precision wit and incidental comedy.

[Thor 7,512]

We'll have to agree to disagree, I'm afraid.

[Dixon Hill 4,234]

At the end of the day, everyone is entitled to their own opinion, any way you slice it, that's just the way it is, and you can bet your bottom dollar that it'll be that way until the cows come home.

[Loert 2,515]

^ We speak English here.

Earlier Spielberg films had plenty of funny moments. The one that always springs to mind is the spike trap from Temple of Doom (which was, not to mention, massively aided by the tremendous score!).

But Teddy from A.I. was also funny...

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

Schindler's List had a few funny moments from what I can remember.

[Romão 2,274]

Yes, specially in the transition between scenes. Like in the "If you want me to stay, just say it"

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Nah, golden era Spielberg is brimming with precision wit and incidental comedy.

"Chilled monkey brains!"

[publicist 4,643]

He's a zealous storyteller not a brilliant wit. But in a nutshell i'd say you can't please everybody, so when you try the results tend to be awfully patronizing like a lot of post-1993 Spielberg, obvious humor included.

[Quintus 5,399]

The second half of Jaws amuses me and makes me laugh out loud plenty more than actual 'comedy' movies do. Jaws is a very funny movie, especially for a thriller. As is Raiders and the other 2 Indy movies. The Last Crusade is probably Spielberg's purest and most successful comedy.

[A24 4,339]

"We're gonna need a bigger boat" has become classic comedy bit.

[publicist 4,643]

But a lot of this stuff was coming from authors/actors and it seems a tad facile to attribute it to Spielberg as director - he was certainly going with it, but as you can see in movies like ALWAYS or INDY IV, he never overcomes a bad script with a bemused worldview or something. He goes with that all the same.

[A24 4,339]

A good comedian doesn't have to write his own jokes. He just has to make the jokes work.

[crocodile 8,017]

Jokes are not about writing but delivery.

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Yet it starts with the writing!

[Thor 7,512]

Just for the record, I think there are plenty of funny moments in Spielberg's films. But they mostly come out of audiovisual ideas and stuff, not so much in puns.

In BRIDGE OF SPIES, for example, there's an edit where we're in a court and the magistrate says "All Rise!". Then Michael Kahn immediately cuts away to a class of school girls rising from their desks to do the "Pledge of Allegiance". I had to laugh at that, because it was so brilliant and typical of Spielberg. He's brilliant at that kind of discrete humour that comes out of his 'mise-en-scene', so to speak. One of many reasons why he's my favourite director.

[publicist 4,643]

Nibelung loyalty to the last!

[A24 4,339]

Can't you take an example from a movie we all have seen, Thor?

[Thor 7,512]

Can't you take an example from a movie we all have seen, Thor?

Sure, but we were saying this was a past-present thing, which I don't agree with.

There are about a billion examples in Spielberg's filmography of this kind of "humour", even back to DUEL, like the shot through the washing machine window where we see Mann sort of "encapsulated" by it; a involuntarily prisoner of random road terror. One of my favourites is the dinner scene in A.I. where David is shot through a ceiling lamp -- as if he's in a UFO, an "alien" in the family at this point. Or the lights going over the car instead of around it in CE3K. etc. etc.

The Indy films are chockful of similar examples, often more overt and over-the-top because they're adventure films.

[A24 4,339]

Ah yes, he's good at that. It's visually smart, often adding to the storytelling, but I'm not sure if it can be classified as comedy bits though.

[Thor 7,512]

Ah yes, he's good at that. It's visually smart, often adding to the storytelling, but I'm not sure if it can be classified as comedy bits though.

No, not comedy. More like humour -- especially for those with the "inside knowledge" of his style of filmmaking.

[Jay 37,369]

"We're gonna need a bigger boat" has become classic comedy bit.

That's not the line. Brody says "You're gonna need a bigger boat", not "we're"

[A24 4,339]

That's all you have to add to the conversation?

Sigh ...

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Sigh ...

That's my line, stranger!

[A24 4,339]

Didn't you copy that from me?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Nope.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm afraid I have to concur with Cremers on this one. Jason really does seem to be consumed by very minor incidental occurrences 24/7. He's like our own little correction Nazi.

[A24 4,339]

Jason! We need your search engine mastery again!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I'm afraid I have to concur with Cremers on this one. Jason really does seem to be consumed by very minor incidental occurrences 24/7. He's like our own little correction Nazi.

Its just OCD. You should see The Hobbit threads right now!

[Quintus 5,399]

Really? Is it that bad over there? *shudder*