Popular reviews

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  Review by Lucy ★★★½ 7

  DO ᵈᵒ ᴅᴏ dₒ do

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  Review by Adam Kempenaar ★★★★½ 14

  In the doc that precedes the 40th anniversary release, director Denis Villeneuve suggests the movie is a personal one for Spielberg beyond his obvious fascination with the material. He says the movie is about movie-making too, which struck me as a little trite - and cliche - in the moment. I mean, how many directors and their films has this been / could it be said about?

  And yet, watching this time, I was struck by Roy Neary's journey from blue collar electric lineman to obsessed artist, chasing the perfect representation of his vision regardless of how it alienates him from his family, friends and co-workers - all of society really. I never gave it a second thought before, but…

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 9

  100

  (35mm, Director's Cut)

  If Jaws was the rise of the commercial blockbuster - albeit one with sharp, savage technical bravura and small character dynamics - then Close Encounters was the setting sun of abstract, sprawling, experimental science-fiction. Spielberg's trademarks are all here in abundance (crumbling family units, cross-talking, sustained sequences of suspense) but the focus in this 1977 classic is primarily one of sculpture and confrontation, engagement and rapport. Spielberg communicates through universal methods of information - TVs, radio signals, air traffic controllers etc. - but deliberately keeps Roy in the dark to fend for his own journey, one formed via artistic creation and sculpting of visions and flashes of inspiration. Much of Close Encounters is hinged on the…

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  Review by Dan ★★ 41

  This review may contain spoilers. I can handle the truth.

  Oof, I'm ready for the blow back. Guys, gals, I really did not enjoy "Close Encounters." It was way too long, kind of boring, and the story is nearly nonexistent. What's going on here? Richard Dreyfuss is visited by aliens, goes crazy, and abandons his family to party with outer space little people. This is a timeless family classic?

  There is some stuff I enjoyed, like the scene in Dreyfuss's car when he first is visited by the aliens, the mashed potatoes "This means something" scene, and the visual effects throughout the whole climax. But the rest of it... eh.

  I didn't think there was any internal logic to the movie nor were the characters motivated by anything other than…

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  Review by brat pacino ★★★★½ 12

  had previously only seen the climactic five-tone scene on a sleepover in 4th grade when we were surfing for scary movies. friend said "BORING!" and changed the channel. adult me does not think "BORING!" she thinks "BALABAN!"

  here is what she also thinks: WOW!!!!!!!!!!! some of the most beautiful cinematography and visual effects of the sci-fi genre –– vivid bursts of cosmic color instead of sterile chrome. a simultaneously condemning and sympathetic portrait of obsession. the elastic tone effortlessly mutates from dramatic to comedic to horrific, keeping the story moving right along despite not much actually happening. this is spielberg at his artsiest and most self-possessed, a side of his work that i haven't really been exposed to but would love…

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  Review by Will Menaker ★★★★ 2

  An experiencer dad abandons his shrewish wife and four extremely annoying and ungrateful children to smoke weed and play keyboards in space with alien grays. Very cool.

  There is also some stuff about how grays have been doing electro stim to the prostates of WWII era pilots for forty years and the French government is really interested in this for some reason.

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  Review by karen h. ★★★★½ 2

  Our debt as a society to Steven Spielberg is completely unpayable.

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  Review by laird ★★★★★ 1

  A movie about the importance of leaving your wife and kids in order to pursue your passion (to fly in a UFO).

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  Review by Josh Lewis ★★★★★ 8

  A young boy wonders why a parent might abandon their family and destroy their home in the manic pursuit of a dream, and many years later (after discovering a few obsessive compulsions of his own, including one for visual beauty and spectacle) uses his natural visionary control of light and sound to not just understand the destructive drive to see a passion through but to cathartically realize it and actually help them transcend. One of the most bittersweet, awe-inspiring movies ever; one that despite its chaotic woundedness and tragic melancholy still genuinely believes in magic and the mysterious draw it has on us.

  Full discussion on ep 270 of my podcast SLEAZOIDS.

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  Review by A.A. Dowd ★★★★½

  A beautiful fantasy—that intelligent life is out there and will come in peace, and also that if your father left, it would be for very important reasons.

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  Review by demi adejuyigbe ★★★★½ 6

  Watched this because my friend Liz is hosting a digital film festival of sci-fi favorites (Close Encounters, War of the Worlds, Contact) for a few of us and calling it SPACE WEEK. :)

  Haven’t seen any of them somehow and this was a stunning first view. Everything from the giant sculpture to the ending is phenomenal. The final 20 or so minutes of this movie has some of the most stunning, evocative images I’ve ever seen, as does the sequence at Jillian’s house. The way Spielberg uses those tones is absolutely fascinating, though I’m not gonna pretend it doesn’t leave me with a thousand goddamn questions.

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  Review by SilentDawn ★★★★★ 5

  Preparing (As Much as Humanly Possible) For Interstellar

  Close Encounters of the Third Kind is one of Spielberg's finest, a combination of dizzying wonder and startling terror. Can a film feature both one of the most frightening sequences of all time and one of the most beautiful sequences of all time?

  Yes it can.

  Brilliant performances, wonderful casting, perfect cinematography, creepy and euphoric music, powerful pacing, and incredible direction; It all adds up to one of the finest sci-fi films ever made and one of the great motion pictures of the 1970s.