The Masterpiece: Now Disc. Has Meryl Streep Ever Appeared in a Masterpiece?

Every director has a Masterpiece, well maybe not a masterpiece, but every director has a best film. In this thread we will take several directors and discuss which of their films is the best. The first up is quite possibly the best director of all time: Steven Speilberg.

Discuss!

(P.S. I will post my opinon later.)

EDITs: Spielberg is a ***** to spell.



Spielberg
Kubrick
John Ford

 

Damn! I haven't seen everything. I bet a lot of people will say "E.T.", but my favourite is "Catch Me If You Can"

 

Personal favorite is E.T. But his masterpiece is, and most likely will always be, Schindler's List.

 

My personal favorite is Raiders of the Lost Ark. It has the perfect blend of action, adventure, Sci-Fi, comedy, and romance. It has one of the best protagonists and antagonists in movie history. All of this is coupled with one of the best plots for a movie ever.

But I do believe his masterpiece will be Schindler's List. It is probably his most critically acclaimed movies, and his most "well made". It is his best movie, but not my favorite.

 

With Spielberg, you gotta break it down to "One for them/One for me."

Best "one for him": Schindler's List
Best "one for us": Raiders of the Lost Ark

Though Raiders is the better film, Schindler's List is taken more seriously when it's not quite as a strong as a piece of cinema just for it's subject matter (don't get me wrong, they're both ***** films.

 

The Indiana Jones Trilogy is action adventure at its best and most magical.

Schindler's List is pure emotional trauma.

Jurassic Park is a thrill ride of exquisite quality.

Jaws is the consummate horror film.

Catch Me if You Can is the great human drama on a small scale.

ET is a hymn to wonder.

I honestly cannot pick the best out of those.

 

Hmm, Catch Me if you Can certainly is a great film, but i don't know if it's on the level of such classic brilliance as Indy or JP. Still, i guess it's hard to say. In 10 years, if it's still regarded so highly, then it may well be seen as a classic in it's own right.

 

Schindler's List


A very important film for Spielberg professionally and personally since his family is Jewish.

 

I would argue that Steven Spielberg has two masterpiece films. Schindler's List is one and Saving Private Ryan is the other.

 

Eh, i actually think "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" is his greatest film, but.. meh.

"Raiders of the Lost Ark" is probably the one that had the greatest impact on cinema as a whole. "Jaws" is right up there, too.

 

Lots of choice, that's for sure.

 

For me it's either Jaws or Raiders of the Lost Ark. Both films had a comedic side will maintaining very serious plots. Also, there's something to be said for the blocking in Spielberg's earlier films and not so much in his later ones. In order to have more time to focus on the action oriented sequences he would often shoot dialogue scenes in one master. The brilliant thing about it though was the blocking (or staging) of the master. Often times at first look you think that there are cuts in the scene when often there really aren't. This is a technique called camera cutting that Spielberg mastered. It's truly remarkable!

 

He's made so many great films, there's no way I can make up my mind.

I'll divide it up like this:

1. Art/Great Cinema: A tie between Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan
Honorable Mentions: Empire of the Sun, the Color Purple

2. Entertainment/Popcorn: A 3 way tie: Jaws/E.T./Raiders of the Lost Ark
Honorable Mentions: Jurassic Park, Last Crusade

Ok, ok Schindler's is the timeless masterpiece, with Saving Private Ryan nipping at it's heels.


A lot of his films will last and be viewed long into the future,
but the one that is historic, although not the most entertaining,
will be Schindler's List.

I think people will watch that film 500 years from now, as a classic.

 

Next Up:

Ridley Scott

For Ridley Scott, I'd have to say his masterpiece is "Gladiator". My favorite movie of his is "Black Hawk Down", which is also an excellent movie. "Kingdom of Heaven" is very close to those to in being a masterpiece as well.

 

Masterpiece is optimistic here, I think.

 

Ridley Scott's films:

A Good Year (2006)
Kingdom of Heaven (2005)
Matchstick Men (2003)
Black Hawk Down (2001)
Hannibal (2001)
Gladiator (2000)
G.I. Jane (1997)
White Squall (1996)
1492: Conquest of Paradise (1992)
Thelma & Louise (1991)
Black Rain (1989/I)
Someone to Watch Over Me (1987)
Legend (1985)
Blade Runner (1982)
Alien (1979)
The Duellists (1977)

Thelma and Louise easily gets my vote.




OK fine. I'd have to say Blade Runner is his finest film. Even though I'm still not 100% sure I understand the plot it's an amazing film.

 

My personal favorite would be Blade Runner. But I'd think the consensus would probably say Alien instead. I don't think you'd hear too many objections if that was the only suggestion as Scott's masterpiece.

 

Why's that?

Ridley Scott's masterpiece is, without a doubt, the director's cut of Kingdom of Heaven. Had that been released theatrically around Oscar-season, I think it would have been another Best Picture nominee.

 

I've heard this, but was skeptical because the original was not that great. I suppose never underestimate the power of editing-especially for Ridley Scott's films. I hold Bladerunner to be his masterpiece, but there's so many good films to choose from. I'm waiting for the definitive final cut of Bladerunner STILL. It was supposed to be released at the begginning of this year originally...

*origami unicorn*

 

Kingdom Of Heaven Director's Cut is indeed a masterpiece. Alas, the only films are KoH and Gladiator.

 

I still have yet to see the Director's Cut. I have been wanting to see it for a while. I thought the original cut was excellent, and I've heard the director's cut is even better.

 

Yeah, I actually really liked the theatrical version as well. But when I recommend the film to someone, I tell them they gotta see the DC.

 

To tackle Spielberg first:

Spielberg has long been criticized for making emotionally blunted, overly sentimental, and manipulative films. These are all valid criticisms, but they do miss the point of the innocence of Spielberg's worldview (which I don't think is limited to film...he once had the cheek or the innocence to call Lawrence of Arabia one of the most underrated films of all time...say what?). Nevertheless, he has still made several masterpieces, chief of which is A.I., a film that was for the most part rejected by mainstream audiences.

In many ways, A.I. is a hybrid of the work of two filmmakers, Spielberg and Kubrick. This push-pull of style, both philosophical and visual, is the most fascinating element of the film. Indeed, Spielberg would seem an unlikely choice to take on what was initially a very darkly conceived Kubrick project. Nevertheless, the two elements work together in fascinating ways, coloring our perception of the film, and particularly of the ending. That ending, which has long been criticized for being sacharine (most people I've talked to believe the film should have ended with Osment's character under the ocean). However, I've always found that the film ends on a level of existential disquiet that is profoundly disturbing. To express myself more clearly, the last survivor and witness to the "human race," is not a human at all, but a robot, confined to live forever only with the memories of a life he never had. It is, in essence, a tragedy.

I'd like to also put in a quick runner-up for Raiders of the Lost Ark. This film is not at all stunted in its political motivations, whereas Spielberg's more lauded Schindler's List is. Whereas the latter film contextualizes the Holocaust through the eyes of a non-Jewish capitalist womanizer, the former film is perhaps Spielberg's more reactionary comment. Critic Jonathan Rosenbaum once criticized the film because it is concerned with the Old Testament, yet not one Jew appears in the film. However, he's wrong. One Jew does appear in the film, the deus ex machina, Yahweh Himself, who appears only to destroy the Nazis. It is Spielberg's revenge fantasy writ large.

Ridley Scott:

I'll be honest and say that Scott is not a filmmaker I much like or admire (I actually prefer his unfairly maligned brother Tony). It's my opinion that he hasn't made a truly great film since Blade Runner (way back in 1982), a film whose masterpiece status is in constant limbo due to Scott's consistent meddling with the film (soon we'll be treated to yet another cut of the film). However flawed it may be, Blade Runner is still at the very least an interesting film, which I can't say for much anything else in his oeuvre, with the possible exception of Alien (but I have never taken to that film).

 

Besides Lucas and Spielberg, Ridley Scott happens to be one of my favorite directors.

His masterpiece, by far, is the original Alien plain and simple. I can only think of one horror movie that I've seen in the past decade that even comes close to matching the atmospheric dread that Alien brought to the screen. (See The Descent) The music also helped pull you into this movie, it's minimalistic, just like the sci-fi too.

I liked Bladerunnder but I happened to like the "flawed masterpiece" that was Legend (but the Director's Cut with the original Jerry Goldsmith score) more (there's just something about Tim Curry as a horned devil named the Lord of Darkness). But of all the director's cuts he's made recently, the best goes to Kingdom of Heaven. That made the movie from a 3 to 5 star with all the extras.

 

I liked Kingdom of Heaven.

Except when they pulled the mask off his face ... *barf*