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MovieMeditation presents...
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
241 .......................... 266
__________________________
August 8th
—— 1982 ——
—— family ——
REWATCH
Somewhere in this world there exists some odd inhumane beings who hate the movie ‘E.T.’
Seriously what kind of planet are they from anyways?
‘E.T.’ is easily the most extra-ordinary adventure in the world of cinema that I ever had the pleasure of witnessing in my childhood. I hadn’t revisited the film in a long time and I was very afraid it wouldn’t hold up for me today, but I don’t think any movie has held up better than this one did. Why it took me so long to revisit this enchanting extra-terrestrial creature I really don’t know, but I think I’m just glad that I finally did. Steven Spielberg is a man who knows his movies and his magic, which when combined creates something completely out of this world… and I’m just glad this magic ended up in our world just for a short period in time… and in space.
Everything about this film is more or less perfection. The way we are introduced to the mysterious monstrosity, which eventually ends up being the most endearing piece of mechanical plastic ever in the movie world, is handled with a calm hand of great cinematic control – a hand, which sends this miscreation out into the dangers of earth, where it bumps into these coldhearted human beings during the beginning and end, who have no intention of protecting or assisting this thing back to where it came from. I especially love how Spielberg chooses to focus on this one family home, more precisely the kids who live there, which makes everything outside of that appear either distancing or detached from our main characters – especially the adults who are almost always filmed from the waist down, like this unknown or threatening object that is either more dominant or downright insignificant to these kids and their understandings. This helps to implement the pure innocence of the story and the wonders within our childhood, putting this space tale down to earth and in kid’s eye view. Spielberg continues to invite us into this familiar world of unfamiliar findings, where the meeting between Elliot and E.T. makes for some amusing sequences, which also enforces children’s tendency to explore the unknown terrains of existence – both their own natural evolution and all the mysteries which are still to be discovered.
In many ways, this movie is all about maintaining the spirit of believing in something and keeping it alive, always making sure that little spark of magic is forever shining and only grows stronger with time – E.T. is that unadulterated image of pure magic and mystery, which puts up an off-screen tale of man versus monster and how man alienates himself from the unexplained magic of our world, rather wanting to perform scientific tests to make everything within a closely calculated reach. Thankfully, the children have a wider and more open understanding of how things should be approached and there are many scenes that can bring out your inner child and emotions. Some say that Steven Spielberg often makes very sentimental pictures, which is something I won’t deny completely, but the question is if sentimentality or building your movie on a strong emotional core is a bad thing in any way? A sentimental or emotionally expressive approach can definitely be a good thing if done right and I think Spielberg is one of the few who can get away with it because he knows how to introduce his story properly, slowly developing it with great control and then have it all pay off in the end.
In my opinion, most of Spielberg’s movies just don’t aim for that low-leveled lashing for explicit emotional pounding, but instead he makes us know exactly how he wants to evoke our emotions and we trust his methods mainly because they aren’t cheap. The sentimental side of things is fully earned by the end of it and further enforced by the beautiful soundtrack in this film. If you don’t find ‘E.T the Extra-Terrestrial’ to pull your heartstrings or invest your mind in the matter of these emotions, you are simply born without a heart… that glows… and calls for home… MM phone home and call mommy and daddy because he suddenly feels nostalgic and homesick. Yes, ‘E.T.’ just does that to you, there is nothing you can do except step on board, hold on tight and fly away on this amazing cinematic journey!
__________________________
HIS FILM DIARY 2015
total movie count ........... current day count
241 .......................... 266
__________________________
August 8th
—— 1982 ——
—— family ——
REWATCH
Somewhere in this world there exists some odd inhumane beings who hate the movie ‘E.T.’
Seriously what kind of planet are they from anyways?
‘E.T.’ is easily the most extra-ordinary adventure in the world of cinema that I ever had the pleasure of witnessing in my childhood. I hadn’t revisited the film in a long time and I was very afraid it wouldn’t hold up for me today, but I don’t think any movie has held up better than this one did. Why it took me so long to revisit this enchanting extra-terrestrial creature I really don’t know, but I think I’m just glad that I finally did. Steven Spielberg is a man who knows his movies and his magic, which when combined creates something completely out of this world… and I’m just glad this magic ended up in our world just for a short period in time… and in space.
Everything about this film is more or less perfection. The way we are introduced to the mysterious monstrosity, which eventually ends up being the most endearing piece of mechanical plastic ever in the movie world, is handled with a calm hand of great cinematic control – a hand, which sends this miscreation out into the dangers of earth, where it bumps into these coldhearted human beings during the beginning and end, who have no intention of protecting or assisting this thing back to where it came from. I especially love how Spielberg chooses to focus on this one family home, more precisely the kids who live there, which makes everything outside of that appear either distancing or detached from our main characters – especially the adults who are almost always filmed from the waist down, like this unknown or threatening object that is either more dominant or downright insignificant to these kids and their understandings. This helps to implement the pure innocence of the story and the wonders within our childhood, putting this space tale down to earth and in kid’s eye view. Spielberg continues to invite us into this familiar world of unfamiliar findings, where the meeting between Elliot and E.T. makes for some amusing sequences, which also enforces children’s tendency to explore the unknown terrains of existence – both their own natural evolution and all the mysteries which are still to be discovered.
In many ways, this movie is all about maintaining the spirit of believing in something and keeping it alive, always making sure that little spark of magic is forever shining and only grows stronger with time – E.T. is that unadulterated image of pure magic and mystery, which puts up an off-screen tale of man versus monster and how man alienates himself from the unexplained magic of our world, rather wanting to perform scientific tests to make everything within a closely calculated reach. Thankfully, the children have a wider and more open understanding of how things should be approached and there are many scenes that can bring out your inner child and emotions. Some say that Steven Spielberg often makes very sentimental pictures, which is something I won’t deny completely, but the question is if sentimentality or building your movie on a strong emotional core is a bad thing in any way? A sentimental or emotionally expressive approach can definitely be a good thing if done right and I think Spielberg is one of the few who can get away with it because he knows how to introduce his story properly, slowly developing it with great control and then have it all pay off in the end.
In my opinion, most of Spielberg’s movies just don’t aim for that low-leveled lashing for explicit emotional pounding, but instead he makes us know exactly how he wants to evoke our emotions and we trust his methods mainly because they aren’t cheap. The sentimental side of things is fully earned by the end of it and further enforced by the beautiful soundtrack in this film. If you don’t find ‘E.T the Extra-Terrestrial’ to pull your heartstrings or invest your mind in the matter of these emotions, you are simply born without a heart… that glows… and calls for home… MM phone home and call mommy and daddy because he suddenly feels nostalgic and homesick. Yes, ‘E.T.’ just does that to you, there is nothing you can do except step on board, hold on tight and fly away on this amazing cinematic journey!
__________________________