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Filmmaker & guest

Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg appears as a guest on The Rewatchables episode about 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Also referred to as Spielberg

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Appearing on these Rewatchables episodes

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Mentioned in discussions

Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Sequel, Prequel, Limited Series, or All-Black Remake

A prestige sequel about returned abductees

In the discussion (3)
Approx. transcript time · 01:54:21Read transcript
  • A prestige series is proposed about returned abductees adjusting to families that aged without them. — Bill Simmons
  • Roy's eventual return is proposed as a first-season ending. — Bill Simmons
  • The panel notes Spielberg considered but rejected sequel opportunities despite making other sequels. — Sean Fennessey
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Picking Nits

Barry's dog-door escape, Jillian's response, sleep-gassing the animals, the returned pilots' calm, and the friendly conspiracy

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:46:15Read transcript
  • Jillian allowing Barry to escape through the dog door during the abduction is criticized as implausible parental behavior. — Bill Simmons
  • Jillian is criticized for not immediately inspecting Barry when he returns from the spacecraft. — Bill Simmons
  • Putting the animals to sleep with gas is called an odd and weird choice. — Bill Simmons
  • The returned pilots are criticized for showing no shock or questions after learning that thirty-two years have passed. — Bill Simmons
  • The military and scientific conspiracy is criticized as implausibly kind and transparent. — Chris Ryan
  • After a separate Spielberg anecdote, the panel returns to government friendliness as the prevailing nitpick. — Chris Ryan
  • Lacombe's unusual authority on American soil is questioned. — Sean Fennessey
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Apex Mountain

Dreyfuss, post-New-Hollywood UFO movies, and UFO-related sunburns: yes

In the discussion (11)
Approx. transcript time · 01:41:15Read transcript
  • Steven Spielberg is considered and immediately rejected as being at his apex here. — Bill Simmons
  • Richard Dreyfuss is placed at his apex because he won an Oscar and starred in major films during this run.
  • The film is selected as the apex of UFO movies in the post-New-Hollywood era. — Sean Fennessey
  • UFO-related sunburns are given an apex here. — Sean Fennessey
  • François Truffaut is rejected as being at his apex here.
  • Melinda Dillon is considered near her apex because Close Encounters and Slap Shot arrived the same year.
  • Mashed potatoes and their use as construction material receive an apex nomination. — Bill Simmons
  • Movie fathers losing control is rejected in favor of The Shining and Goodfellas examples. — Bill Simmons
  • Muncie, Indiana is proposed as reaching its screen apex here.
  • Teri Garr's apex is deferred to her Tootsie and talk-show era.
  • Bad parenting in a major hit is debated against This Boy's Life and other examples.
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Half-Assed Internet Research

Schrader's rejected script, military noncooperation, the alien performers, the $3.3 million effects budget, motion-control advances, and Truffaut's response to the sets

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 01:36:40Read transcript
  • Spielberg is quoted calling Paul Schrader's screenplay one of the most embarrassing scripts submitted to a studio or director. — Bill Simmons
  • Schrader's version reportedly followed an experiencer who threatened to expose the government after fifteen years of attempted contact. — Bill Simmons
  • The Air Force and NASA reportedly refused to cooperate, which Spielberg interpreted as encouraging evidence for the film. — Bill Simmons
  • Julia Phillips criticized Spielberg as a perfectionist before being removed from the production. — Bill Simmons
  • Fifty girls, each six years old and from Mobile, were cast as aliens after puppetry failed. — Bill Simmons
  • Douglas Trumbull supervised visual effects that advanced motion-control photography. — Bill Simmons
  • The visual-effects work is reported to have had a $3.3 million budget. — Bill Simmons
  • Ralph McQuarrie's contribution to the mothership is noted alongside his Star Wars work. — Bill Simmons
  • Truffaut reportedly ignored the giant landing-site set but praised the small hotel-room set as familiar to his filmmaking experience. — Bill Simmons
  • Truffaut's role is defended because communication beyond language is a central theme and his films influenced the filmmakers' generation. — Sean Fennessey
  • The Searchers is cited as a visual influence, including its doorway and horizon compositions. — Sean Fennessey
  • Topps reportedly issued sixty-six trading cards and eleven stickers, excluding Dreyfuss and Truffaut at their request. — Bill Simmons
  • Jaws, Rocky, Rocky II, and E.T. are cited as other films with card sets. — Bill Simmons
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

The Stephen A. Smith Hottest Take Award

The five-note musical exchange works, but the extended mothership improvisation becomes awkward.

Flex pick · Craig Horlbeck

In the discussion (2)
Approx. transcript time · 01:35:36Read transcript
  • Craig says the initial five-note exchange works but the extended musical improvisation becomes awkward. — Craig Horlbeck
  • He argues that Spielberg and John Williams overextended the sequence once the brass and tuba-like sounds begin. — Craig Horlbeck
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Casting What-Ifs

Steve McQueen, James Caan, Pacino, Hoffman, Hackman, Nicholson, Streep, Irving, and others

In the discussion (7)
Approx. transcript time · 01:28:53Read transcript
Close Encounters of the Third Kind The Rewatchables
Close Encounters of the Third Kind

What’s Aged the Best?

The direction, practical effects, Dreyfuss, Dillon, child performance, and suburban wonder

In the discussion (13)
Approx. transcript time · 01:02:25Read transcript
  • The film preserves wonder about UFOs while the panel debates whether extraterrestrial visits have occurred.
  • Recurring maps, crossroads, and shots of Roy moving against crowds are praised as visual expressions of his inner life. — Chris Ryan
  • Melinda Dillon's performance and the mission-control worker who solves the coordinate problem are separate Aged Best choices. — Chris Ryan
  • The film's combination of cynicism, wonder, spectacle, and family story is credited with influencing later event filmmakers. — Sean Fennessey
  • Motion-control photography, Douglas Trumbull's effects, Bob Baker's marionette, and Spielberg's limited writing credits receive craft praise. — Sean Fennessey
  • Gene Siskel's description of the film as a fairy tale for adults is praised as its best concise description.
  • Small-town suburban America is praised as a durable setting inherited by later adventure stories. — Sean Fennessey
  • The film's refusal to explain the alien compulsion literally is said to keep it timeless. — Sean Fennessey
  • Roy's half-face sunburn and Barry's performance are praised as memorable character details. — Sean Fennessey
  • Spielberg is reported to have elicited Barry's reactions by slowly opening presents above the camera. — Sean Fennessey
  • The giant globe, Devil's Tower plot, numbered youth shirts, and the family's domestic setting receive further period appreciation. — Bill Simmons
  • The long Spielberg-Michael Kahn editing partnership is reported to have begun on this film. — Bill Simmons
  • Melinda Dillon's 1977 work and her appearances in two famous mashed-potato scenes are praised.
Displaying discussions 13 - 24 of 80 in total