Amph The Style of Spielberg

The thinly veiled hostility of the interviewer--under the smarm--was right on target.

 

I'm amazed JWD: you've brought something to my attention that is both hilarious AND involves Martin Short. You are a prince amongst men.

Anyway, I've seen War Horse and... yeah. Best film of 2011, from what I've seen thus far (yes, thus far, there's a heap of stuff that doesn't come out here for the next few months). Spielberg is intent on making motion pictures that are solely intended for the cinema, and to hell with home video. A full blooded, total epic that pretty much ticks all the boxes.

I love the stock criticism of Spielberg though, which is that he's "manipulative." Yeah, no kidding. EVERY FILM is manipulative, for God's sake. That's the whole idea.

One review in particular that I saw took umbrage at Spielberg's use of images to convey emotion. The temerity of using a sequence of images in a motion picture to convey an idea! Harrumph!

 

Thanks....I agree, this is a rare comic gem. Though I must confess I was fairly unaware of Glick before spotting this interview, I watched a few others and he does seem to provoke reactions in celebrities that you usually don't see. Glick's (Short's) interviews with Bill Maher, David Duvochny and particularly Mel Brooks are almost as funny as this one with Spielberg.


I love the stock criticism of Spielberg though, which is that he's "manipulative." Yeah, no kidding. EVERY FILM is manipulative, for God's sake. That's the whole idea.

Exactly! Every director manipulates an audience for laughs, thrills, tears, whatever. It's the nature of the job.

One review in particular that I saw took umbrage at Spielberg's use of images to convey emotion. The temerity of using a sequence of images in a motion picture to convey an idea! Harrumph!

The key word you use here is "stock." It's as if every reviewer cuts and pastes from earlier reviews. I actually saw a critic once accuse Spielberg of shamelessly playing to the audience in the last act of one of his films. He's a FILM DIRECTOR. He's in the entertainment business. OF COURSE he's going to give the crowd what he thinks it wants to see. That's his job!

 

I'm familiar with Short's schtick as Glick (say that ten times fast!) and am always amused by his prickly persona and clueless, muddle-headed questions. I can't imagine that Spielberg was genuinely insulted or even dismayed by the interview; after all he produced Innerspace (1987) and must have been familiar with Short's humor going in. But his reactions are priceless, especially since he (Spielberg) seems to lack any understanding of verbal irony! He's probably just going along with the gag... which makes it all the more fun to watch.

 

Short's schtick as Glick (say that ten times fast!)

I tried to say it ten times fast, and that is exceedingly difficult to do!

 

My favorite part was the lengthy, serious answer he gives to a totally inane question, even continuing to talk while Short worms his way over to the snack table. That was fantastic.

 

Weird thing is that he got more out of Spielberg than most "serious" interviewers. Not that Spielberg is particularly guarded or anything, but the questions are usually along the lines of "Oh, what's it like to work with Tom?" and "Hey, remember Jaws? I lied Jaws."

 

"I Watched Every Spielberg Movie"

 

This always confused me. Am I being asked to say something quickly ten times, or to repeat it at 10x speed?

 

^ ^ ^ The answer lies in the lack of an "as" between "ten times" and "fast"! I'm inviting you to repeat quickly the indicated phrase ten times in a row.

Short's schtick as Glick

Wretched rugrat buggy bumpers

She sells skirts and shoes and shirts and socks


etc.

PS Now back to our regularly scheduled Spielberg.

 

I keep meaning to do that project. One day I'll get to it. I'd like to include his television work too. But so many of his early films are lost. I'd love to get an archival DVD release of Amblin', The Gun, etc.

 

This guy called "Empire of the Sun" schlock, which means he doesn't know the meaning of the word. Granted, I don't think it is a successful film, but schlock it's not.

 

He's also using the "fact" that Spielberg hasn't directed anyone to an acting Oscar as proof that the performances in his films are no good. So... thanks but no thanks.

 

I was a big fan of Spielberg's style in "Bridge of Spies", there are some excellent, populist (for lack of a better term) "action movie" Spielberg bits (a shooting at a house, a spy plane flight gone awry, a US student weaving his way in and out of a just-being-built Berlin Wall) and with the quieter stuff it's what gave the movie it's power. I've seen some people say "Bridge of Spies" is workmanlike Spielberg but I don't agree with that at all, it's a master filmmaker enveloping us in a story with a style that is so good that you don't even really see it but it clicks on a level that makes the movie better and more engrossing.

 

One word. Lincoln.

 

I wrote that about a year + before Day-Lewis had won, though.