This, I agree with.

A number of them took all that crap too far, and Cliff is right in the sense that that's what, in part, led to the increase in popularity of the anti-woke YouTube critics.

Still, to claim that "a vast majority" of working critics today are ultra-woke/bleeding-heart-types is fever-dream nonsense.

batchuser said:

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Cinco Ranch Aggie said:

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Hmmm, I don't guess anything has changed with my normal stance of not giving a singular f*** about any critics' opinion, good or bad.

But what I do know is that this is Steven Spielberg returning to a genre in which he has shined so very brightly. That doesn't mean the movie will be an all-timer or anything. The first SS movie I ever saw in a theater was Close Encounters of the Third Kind. That one has withstood the test of time for me. As a parent, I have enjoyed the opportunity to share the movies that I have loved with my kids in a theatrical setting, and was overjoyed when my daughter said she thought Close Encounters was a good movie (this is a child who had the attention span of a gnat, for reference). E.T. did not withstand my time test, and part of that is because I grew up, but also I have never forgotten Spielberg bowing to political correctness by replacing shotguns with walkie talkies. War of the Worlds could have been so much better than it was, but when it was clicking, it was quintessential Spielberg.

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Also the white people ruin everything line from the west side story remake he directed. Stopped watching immediately. Was kind of interested in disclosure day but will probably skip or bootleg

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Spielberg always wanted to direct a musical. It could have been the most conservative, MAGA, red white and blue 'merica! ever made, but since I have never had a desire to watch musicals, I would have skipped seeing it.

I haven't seen anything like "white people ruin everything" in any of the previews. And aren't most of the characters white, as opposed to Spielberg's version of West Side Story?

"White people ruin everything" is maybe the most hilarious and out-of-touch left-winged white-guilt pandering statement I have ever seen. Honestly kind of surprised Spielberg would include something like that in one of his movies, although he's always been pretty solidly left, in more of a blue-dog way.

Still, not going to let some stupid hyper-racist quote from an unrelated musical affect my enjoyment of this movie. Going to the 8:50 near me and pretty pumped.

Would love to hear reactions from whoever's seeing it tonight/tomorrow. I'm not seeing it until Saturday night. But man, reviews are starting to be all over the place. Though, all still from critic/movie-types, no "Average Joes" yet, which is why I'm so curious to hear what the masses think.

Just got seated for the first run at my local theater

Just got out. It's one of those films where each answered question just creates another one. The large religious element was odd. It wasn't positive or negative, but it did feel like it was wedged in there. The ending was solid but the least 15 seconds made you go "huh?". I'd give it a 7/10. It's worth seeing in theater.

Well, I definitely have opinions. Skillfully done, as expected, and I wish I had been hired to re-write the story and the script.

The nun had it right all along.

This movie was everything that I had hoped Project Hail Mary would be. Were there parts that could have landed better, sure. 8.5 out of 10 for me.

I felt like there were two movies running in parallel.

In one, some characters have some experiences and they are trying to figure out what is happening to them and what it means for them. The ET and Close Encounters vibes were definitely there.

In the other one, an interesting debate about what should or should not be disclosed and what it means for the world gets reduced to a actiony chase film. At times it was jarring that it was the same movie.

FightinTexasAg15 said:

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Just got out. Was not blown away like I was hoping to be.

6 or 7 out of 10.

Just felt like the plot and pacing was all over the place and just didn't really feel like it landed the plane very well.

It's not bad, it's still an entertaining movie, but it's not the Spielberg masterpiece some reviews have stated. I don't really feel like Spielberg had a clear vision for the movie

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Unfortunately I agree closely with this post.

Wife and I went to see it last night. As a UAP thread lurker since the inception of that thread, I was pumped to see it - wife, not so much.

I would say the first 3/4 of the movie I kept wondering when the movie would find its groove. It was a little disjointed and never really hooked me. It was good and entertaining at times, but was lacking. The last 20-30 minutes were great though. We all knew where this was heading, and maybe that's why the buildup was not that intriguing... but I really enjoyed the ending and thought it saved the overall film.

I give it a solid 7.5 or 8 out of 10, primarily because of the last 30 minutes. I was hoping for an epic Spielberg movie and this just didn't feel like it was. I'll watch it again though and maybe after a second viewing my opinion will change some.

Question for those that have seen it like I have.

If you saw this movie and didn't know who directed it, and someone asked you who did, would Spielberg even make your top 5 guesses? Wouldn't at all for me. John Williams even did the score and it didn't even feel like him.

It felt very Spielberg to me. And the score was very John Williams. The camera movement and the lighting and the lens flare and the highlighted faces, it was classic Spielberg.

I just watched Close Encounters this week, and the movie was very reminiscent of that one, like I said.

The problem, for me, is the screenplay/story just didn't work totally. I think someone said it was like 2 movies in one, and I definitely felt that. Either movie would have been good on its own, but together was too messy.

Dang, now I'm kind of glad my brother couldn't make it and i cancelled plans to see the late showing last night. Will probably wait for streaming. Bummer

In almost any artistic profession, the artist loses that edge that always made them great when they become "fat and happy". Have seen it with countless rap and rock & roll artists over the years. Many in film as well, although there are exceptions like Scorcese.

Also a hard agree there.

If definitely had that Spielberg aura throughout out the movie.

My issue is, all the buildup, which was really enjoyable, just didn't lead to any sort of satisfying conclusion, IMHO.

Well if this bombs maybe it will free up time for Spielberg to do the Jaws Rewatchables.

And Rush.

Is this going to a summer of lackluster blockblusters by directors who usually don't miss and out-of-nowhere hits by younger directors?

True.

Spielberg this century and my respective mini-reactions...

2022 - The Fablemans = Fantastic.
2021 - West Side Story = Meh.
2018 - Ready Player One = Has really grown on me over the years.
2017 - The Post = Fantastic.
2016 - The BFG = Never saw it.
2015 - Bridge of Spies = Fantastic.
2012 - Lincoln = All-timer.
2011 - War Horse = Meh.
2011 - The Adventures of Tintin = Never saw it.
2008 - Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull = Good first half, terrible second half.
2007 - Munich = Fantastic.
2005 - War of the Worlds = Incredible first half, decent second half.
2002 - Catch Me If You Can = All-timer.
2002 - Minority Report = All-timer.
2001 - A.I. Artificial Intelligence = Part masterpiece, part a-little-too-weird-at-times.

TCTTS said:

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2005 - War of the Worlds = Incredible first half, decent second half.

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Change just a couple scenes and I feel like this movie is basically a masterpiece. Still very solid overall, but 2 or 3 of the scenes in the second half just fell a little flat.