Monday, October 20, 2008

is he a pig? he sure eats like one.


I watched about half of E.T. the other day. Man, what a movie. It really is exceptional. I’ve seen it a few times before, but most of those times were when I was a little a kid and still freaked out by that little guy. I’m still slightly traumatized by that scene when Michael (the older brother) finds E.T. all sick and dying in the forest. He just looked so freakishly gross. I remember that and the candy scene from when I was younger. We had an E.T. pencil at home, too, and I could never use it. Too scary.

But now that I’m older, I must admit I’m quite charmed by E.T. Each successive time I watched (I have no idea why I subjected myself to it multiple times. I’m pretty sure we owned the VHS), the cuteness to scary ratio would go up (or down?), and now I really like that extraterrestrial. (If he were actually in my house, however, I’m not saying I wouldn’t run screaming.)

Anyway, I first off must admit I am a huge Steven Spielberg fan. His movies are total gold. Just because he makes popcorn flicks for the masses doesn’t mean he’s not talented, you film snobs. I think it’s part of his genius—he makes movies with the audience in mind. His movies are so damn entertaining, you don’t even realize his technical skill.

So watching E.T., I was drawn into all the emotional notes of the story. But at the same time part of me sat there in wonderment of the faultless execution of the film. The tone and atmosphere is really well established by the cinematography such as the faceless men marching when E.T. is taken away. The spacesuit scene is so surreal, and reinforces the childlike perspective. The entire movie is a memory of childhood, perhaps not as a child actually sees the world, but how an adult remembers seeing the world as a child. If that makes any sense. And dude, when the music swells up and the boys start flying on their bikes, it is truly a magical moment. Yea, I know, I’m a total cornball.

I could go on, but I guess I’ll just wrap it up with the script. The script! A total Spielberg script with “ordinary” characters and movie-witty jokes. Visuals are the most important parts of film, but as a writer, I can’t help but pay close attention to dialogue, pacing, and story arc. Lines like Elliot whispering to E.T. “I’ll believe in you all my life,” make me so happy. Not “remember” but “believe”. Perfect. They call movies like Gone with the Wind and Lawrence of Arabia epics, but I think E.T. is pretty epic in its own right.

1 comment:

keviokevio said...

Okay, Ms. Film/Television Minorer...

I agree. Even though I haven't seen E.T. in a while, it's really wanna of the best movies I've ever seen.

The Aura of:

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I tend to get obsessive about things for a while, then get over it, and start to wonder what was wrong with me in the first place. Also, having no section for "Favorite TV Shows" makes absolutely no sense to me. That should tell you a lot right there.