Funny you should mention Munich (which I still
haven't seen). It is actually the SECOND film based on the book Vengeance, by
George Jonas. The first was the almost-forgotten (and never mentioned in all the
hype surrounding Munich) Sword of Gideon, shot in the 80s and released as a TV
movie in the US, but theatrically everywhere else. I guess that would make
Munich a remake!
BTW, I have nothing against Spielberg and enjoy
some of his films (Close Encounters is a fave of mine, despite the dorky aliens
at the end), but saying he'll be remembered and talked about in the same breath
as Hitchcock 200 years from now?! Come on! (Or maybe I missed the irony
there...)
Dave
Posteropolis
Right
on, Koose. I loved MUNICH. Many people did not, but I thought he
did a splendid job on a tough subject.
As far as books THE NAME
OF THE ROSE by Umberto Eco is a much better book than the
film.
Toochis
Joseph Bonelli <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Dear Koose!!
**
With apologies to the late Peter Benchley, Spielberg's "Jaws" is so
superior to the original novel, filled as it was with pages of
convoluted
and distracting subplots.
** "Jaws" the film may
seem antiquated today in the age of CGI and
super-duper special
effects, but 31 years later, it remains one of
Spielberg's top five
films in terms of quality, dropping all of the book's
soap operatic
elements -- opting instead for a pure and thrilling adventure
story,
with an emphasis on adventure rather than horror -- (and one could
argue, greater empathy for well-drawn leads that seems missing in his
productions today).
** Without "Jaws," Spielberg would've never
been given the power to do
"Close Encounters," "E.T.," etc., etc. with
the almighty power of the final
cut without studio interference. He
was only 26 when production began and
only 28 when it was released in
the summer of 1975.
** More than "Star Wars," Spielberg's "Jaws" --
for better or worse -- began
the concept of opening "wide" (gasp, 400
theaters vs. today's 4,000
screens!) -- hastening the demise of
single-screen movie-houses and the
"blockbuster" mentality that nearly
buried Hollywood in the late 1970s.
** Whatever one might think of
Spielberg and his tendency to eviscerate and
sentimentalize his
adaptations of novels, he is and will remain one of the
most titanic
figures in the history of cinema. Like Hitchcock, people will
still be
talking about him two centuries from now. And in my view, since
he's
"only" 59, he has at least 15 more films left in him. Whether any of
'em will be good remains to be seen.
** But a
Spielberg-directed film still remains an "event" out here, greeted
with a mixture of excitement and dread. We've long expected him to
"flame-out" like other promising directors, but he hasn't. For every
"dud"
he spits out, he comes up with at least 2 "watchable" films
thereafter.
** And yet many film school purists and industry
insiders hate him with a
type of passion usually reserved for studio
heads from the golden age of
cinema.
-koose.
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