Bridge of Spies FILM discussion

[crocodile 8,017]

Well, you know, at least he has something that we might call a recognisable style. Love it or hate it.

Karol

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

KOTCS aside, I love Kaminski's work.

[indy4 155]

Awful trailer, but I think the film itself will be good.

[crocodile 8,017]

I think it looks like another Lincoln. And I switched that off very quickly. It was the first Spielberg film that made me do this. Quite said.

Karol

[KK 3,307]

Oh Lincoln was quite nice visually as well.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

And TLW and SPR etc etc...

[crocodile 8,017]

The latter created a whole mock-doc trend, didn't it?

Karol

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

So?

That style works brilliantly for that film

[Muad'Dib 1,802]

Meh.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

[Romão 2,274]

It's Spielberg, so I'll watch this is the theatre for sure

[crocodile 8,017]

So?

That style works brilliantly for that film

I meant that it was a visually influential film, no matter how you look at it.

Karol

[Matt C 454]

I'd rather see Spielberg tackle a low-budget film ($10M or less), go back to his roots and really exercise his creativity with limited means. It's not like he's hurting for money, the guy's worth $3 billion.

Surely he could afford to go outside the box once in a while.

[Balahkay 627]

Bring on The BFG!

[Koray Savas 2,251]

I'd rather see Spielberg tackle a low-budget film ($10M or less), go back to his roots and really exercise his creativity with limited means. It's not like he's hurting for money, the guy's worth $3 billion.

Surely he could afford to go outside the box once in a while.

If he wouldn't cough up $50 million for Lincoln, why would he for anything else?

[Jay 37,369]

Spielberg is really worth $3 billion?

[nightscape94 965]

Trailer seems passable, although the music was way too obnoxious. I'm sure it will have energy and suspense, but it tried a bit too hard to ramp up the feeling of action.

It's Spielberg and the Coen Bros. Bring it on.

[publicist 4,643]

Though all these overcrowded, continent-spanning shots of courtrooms, investigations and million-men marches feel an awful lot like hustling for blockbuster-hungry audiences instead of a taut little thriller about the Cold War. It's only a trailer though.

[filmmusic 1,836]

Still wondering when the teal era in films will end. Maybe in 2020? Maybe the trends change by decade?

[Brónach 1,302]

I've just seen the trailer and I don't care.

[Once 605]

I really wish Williams had done this.

[Unlucky Bastard 7,782]

Looks good!

[Thor 7,513]

I absolutely adore Kaminski's style, and think he's the very best cinematographer out there at the moment. This is no exception, although I'm unsure about the quality of the film itself.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

*cough*Deakins*cough*Lubezki*cough*

[Brónach 1,302]

The cinematography in here looks boring to me.

[Quintus 5,399]

I'm sure it'll be perfectly serviceable.

[Matt C 454]

I'd rather see Spielberg tackle a low-budget film ($10M or less), go back to his roots and really exercise his creativity with limited means. It's not like he's hurting for money, the guy's worth $3 billion.

Surely he could afford to go outside the box once in a while.

If he wouldn't cough up $50 million for Lincoln, why would he for anything else?

He's too set in his ways, too comfortable. He's not willing to cut his fee, go without craft services/security/catering...

I hear Scorsese is going all 'art-house' on his next movie, Silence. According to his editor Thelma Schoonmaker, everyone involved took a big pay cut to work on it. You don't see Spielberg willing to do that anymore.

[mrbellamy 6,287]

You say "anymore" but honestly, Spielberg was never like Scorsese in that sense. He never wanted to make anything other than "A" pictures. Right from the get-go he was chasing the big Hollywood career, big canvases, emulating his heroes Ford, Lean, Hitchcock. We all know the first movie that captured his attention was The Greatest Show on Earth. It's not like he's some corrupted indie maverick...his low-budget "roots" were stepping stones to his ultimate goal and while there are films where he's stripped down his theatricality to a point, it's clear Hollywood still inspires him. When he's not directing, he's running the studio he created and producing even more mega budget movies.

Scorsese on the other hand has always very deliberately kept one foot in both worlds. Not in a cynical way, I don't think. Like Spielberg, he's always expressed a love for Hollywood's history, a respect for the process, and a vested interest in its evolution, but his boyhood heroes were the Italian neorealists, the movies he went to see with his father. Even within the system, he pushes boundaries and for every big-budget studio movie he's directed, there's usually a documentary somewhere in between. Actually in Conversations with Scorsese, he outright said the docs are where he often finds the most fulfillment.

I mean, I too think Spielberg would get more interesting results by limiting his resources. We know he has the raw talent to make do without all the toys. Sometimes I wish he would just drop everything, make a short film on his iPhone and post it on YouTube. Still, I'm not apologizing for the guy but his name isn't synonymous with studio filmmaking by accident.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

I hear Scorsese is going all 'art-house' on his next movie, Silence. According to his editor Thelma Schoonmaker, everyone involved took a big pay cut to work on it. You don't see Spielberg willing to do that anymore.

Anymore?

Since when has Spielberg ever worked like that?

[Thor 7,513]

I mean, I too think Spielberg would get more interesting results by limiting his resources. We know he has the raw talent to make do without all the toys. Sometimes I wish he would just drop everything, make a short film on his iPhone and post it on YouTube. Still, I'm not apologizing for the guy but his name isn't synonymous with studio filmmaking by accident.

To be fair, Spielberg has always had an interest in all forms of moviemaking, not only Hollywood. He may not be the walking encyclopedia that Scorsese is, but he's often expressed his admiration for French New Wave or Bergman etc. If he hadn't had this wide appreciation of films, his own films would never have been that interesting visually. These art house influences are clearly visible in his early films like AMBLIN' or DUEL, but continue to exist in the big blockbusters -- but then existing within the classical story. I think that's one of the reasons why I've always preferred Spielberg over Scorsese, the latter of whom has always felt quite sterile and cool to me.

[publicist 4,643]

But those are just little vignettes, a shot here or there. I think this trailer shows a burden that goes far beyond that, namely that the master since a very long time hasn't been able to do a film that isn't bloated in one sense or another, length, scenery etc. BRIDGE OF SPIES might not be SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD but when i see all these huge canvases i ask myself are they really necessary - they certainly are not but ensure that the movie gains an air of importance by sheer size which often stifles them by a landmile.

In this sense, Spielberg very much deviates from the old craftsmen he so loves.

[crocodile 8,017]

I'm more interested in Thomas Newman's score than the film itself.

Karol

[Thor 7,513]

But those are just little vignettes, a shot here or there. I think this trailer shows a burden that goes far beyond that, namely that the master since a very long time hasn't been able to do a film that isn't bloated in one sense or another, length, scenery etc. BRIDGE OF SPIES might not be SPY WHO CAME IN FROM THE COLD but when i see all these huge canvases i ask myself are they really necessary - they certainly are not but ensure that the movie gains an air of importance by sheer size which often stifles them by a landmile.

In this sense, Spielberg very much deviates from the old craftsmen he so loves.

I wouldn't call a film like, say, MUNICH 'bloated'. I also think there's some fantastic stuff going on in WAR HORSE (a clear tribute to Douglas Sirk on occasion). I don't share the cynical view that Spielberg has "lost it". When the project inspires him, no one is better. I'm not sure where BRIDGE OF SPIES fallls into this territory, but there are some promising elements once you look away from the stupid trailer aesthetics.

[publicist 4,643]

I cannot relate to that statement as i find Spielberg not a director whose huge and uneven body of work merits that kind of adulation - but apart from that, i wouldn't say he's lost it but he became a victim of his own hype at some point. The result are too many LINCOLNS, AMISTAD's, WAR HORSES and so on, all subjects 'worthy' of big treatment but hardly subjects Spielberg has much to offer beyond producing polished museum pieces.

[crocodile 8,017]

I think that Spielberg is as skilled as ever, as far as his ability goes. Perhaps even more efficient than before.

But, as Terry Gilliam once said, he seemed to have lost an ability to create to a "whole film". It's just very well directed sequences stapled together.

Plus, he isn't really interested in probe and explore any subject matter, no matter how serious. That is a real problem here.

Karo

[Brónach 1,302]

I see a lack of risky projects by the guy since a while ago.

[publicist 4,643]

Where is Spielberg's BROWN BUNNY?

[crocodile 8,017]

Oh dear, I can't imagine this ever happening.

Karol

[Thor 7,513]

I cannot relate to that statement as i find Spielberg not a director whose huge and uneven body of work merits that kind of adulation - but apart from that, i wouldn't say he's lost it but he became a victim of his own hype at some point. The result are too many LINCOLNS, AMISTAD's, WAR HORSES and so on, all subjects 'worthy' of big treatment but hardly subjects Spielberg has much to offer beyond producing polished museum pieces.

We have to agree to disagree in that assessment. While he is not flawless, of course (there's always a 1941, ALWAYS, A TIMELESS CALL or INDY 4 etc.), he's been pretty consistently excellent throughout his career. But of course, I'm biased, since I think he is the greatest filmmaker who ever lived (also -- like Ridley Scott -- severely underrated as a film ARTIST).

[nightscape94 965]

Spielberg is a guy that's said he wasn't even sure if he could make Close Encounters today since he's had children. He can no longer imagine Neary leaving his family. I don't think he's the type of director interested in making explicit crazy cinema.

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Close Encounters was hardy extreme cinema. Even in the 70's

[nightscape94 965]

I wasn't implying that it was.

[Brónach 1,302]

Spielberg is a guy that's said he wasn't even sure if he could make Close Encounters today since he's had children. He can no longer imagine Neary leaving his family. I don't think he's the type of director interested in making explicit crazy cinema.

And yet a 70 year old just made Fury Road.

And I don't see this Spielberg-with-children making something like the Song of the Sea I just saw. So what then?

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

Spielberg was always more conventional then Scorsese, Miller, Copolla etc etc.

Thats why he's been far more successful.

He makes movies for middle America, in essence.

[Brónach 1,302]

Maybe it depends on the conventional projects he decides on. There's the conventional cool ones, and the coventional conventional ones...

[Thor 7,513]

For a John Williams forum, this place is surprisingly cold or lukewarm when it comes to Steven Spielberg....

Am I really the only hardcore fan in here?

[Luke Skywalker 1,795]

For a John Williams forum, this place is surprisingly cold or lukewarm when it comes to Steven Spielberg....

And john williams

PS: Spielberg is my favourite director also. Though... i dont like the fact that brigde of spies is not williams. He should have stored that film and let WIlliams score it when he was free to do so!

[Not Mr. Big 4,639]

For a John Williams forum, this place is surprisingly cold or lukewarm when it comes to Steven Spielberg....

Am I really the only hardcore fan in here?

I would consider myself one too, even though I find much of his output middling.

[crocodile 8,017]

I'd just like to think we can be mature enough to honestly discuss his work, without having to resort to calling ourselves "fanboys" or "haters". The truth is we are neither and that's only healthy way, in my opinion.

Karol

[publicist 4,643]

I have my own standards how i experience movies and as it is, i often find myself either glued to the screen or terribly bored - my mind starts to wander to more interesting things - and it can happen either way on all kinds of movies. And i often favor comedy over drama.

Spielberg, i think, does too much vanilla stuff since THE COLOR PURPLE, individual scenes and parts of virtually all of his movies are brilliant (maybe ALWAS excepted which is a really just clueless) but that goes without saying - but the whole movies unfortunately often don't hold up.

Though of course stuff like JAWS or the INDY's (yes, all three of them) are impeachable. And SCHINDLER'S LIST of course is an important piece of history, all things considered.