STEVEN SPIELBERG'S DUEL (1971): STILL ALIVE AND DRIVING AT 55!!

DUEL (1971) d. Steven Spielberg (USA)

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Before Steven Spielberg became STEVEN SPIELBERG, he was a young television director searching for an opportunity to prove what he could do behind the camera. That opportunity arrived in November 1971 with Duel, a lean, nerve-shredding thriller produced for ABC’s Movie of the Week. Made on a modest budget and shot in just under two weeks, Duel remains one of the most astonishing directorial debuts in American cinema—not just because of its spectacle or scale, but also how masterfully it transforms an ordinary situation into sustained terror.

JAWS (1975) TURNS 50: THE GREATEST (FISH) STORY EVERY TOLD!!

JAWS (1975) d. Steven Spielberg (USA)
JAWS 2 (1978) d. Jeannot Szwarc (USA)
JAWS 3D (1983) d. Joe Alves (USA)
JAWS: THE REVENGE (1987) d. Joseph Sargent (USA)

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From its harrowing opening sequence to the breathtaking climax, Steven Spielberg’s hugely successful masterpiece of suspense and thrills, JAWS (1975), scared audiences out of the water and into theaters in record-breaking numbers. On the surface, the plot is simplicity itself: The locals of the northeastern island town of Amity start turning up as fish food when an enormous great white shark materializes, leaving fear and body parts in its wake.

TWILIGHT ZONE: THE MOVIE (1983) TURNS 40!!!

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Tonight we’re going to be entering a dimension of sight, of sound, of mind, as we cross over into The Twilight Zone. From 1959 to 1964, Rod Serling’s groundbreaking anthology television series held sway over the airwaves, dazzling viewers with an array of supernatural morality tales, often served up with a wingding twist ending.

JURASSIC PARK (1993) 30TH ANNIVERSARY EXTRAVAGANZA!!

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When Michael Crichton’s novel JURASSIC PARK debuted in 1990, it read on the page like the greatest Steven Spielberg film that had never been made. Soon afterwards, it was announced that Spielberg would indeed be helming the screen adaptation.

 

When JURASSIC PARK debuted on June 11, 1993, it was an instant smash hit worldwide, the highest grossing film in history up to that point (dethroning Spielberg's own E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial from 1982), basically defining “summertime tentpole event” from that time forward. Tonight, 30 years later, we’ll discuss the original film, and its five, count ‘em FIVE sequels, as well as its enduring place in popular culture.

RAGE (2010) movie review

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Rage (2010) d. Witherspoon, Chris

When philandering novelist Rick Crawford snatches the parking spot of a masked motorcyclist, it sparks an ever-escalating asphalt-based jousting match. Writer/director/editor/cinematographer/co-star Witherspoon whips up a pretty terrific riff on Steven Spielberg’s Duel, but sabotages himself, first by having a minor character literally reference the film out loud (come ON, Chris) and then taking the show off the road for a home invasion/rape sequence that feels needlessly cruel as well as gratuitous. Even so, I’ll be happy to see what future tricks Witherspoon has up his sleeve, as he clearly knows how to navigate the high tension ropes.