Original US release date: December 14, 1979 Production budget: $35,000,000 Worldwide gross: $92,455,742 In 1979, Steven Spielberg was already riding high. His two previous efforts in the director's chair, Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind, were massive hits, with Jaws being the highest-grossing film of all-time up to that point and the first... Continue Reading →
I read Ernest Cline's Ready Player One because of Robin Williams. Shortly after Williams's passing, I caught a radio replay of an interview with him that was conducted by Whoopi Goldberg. At one point in the interview, she simply asked him, "What are you reading?" His response: "Ready Player One." If I remember correctly, she, like... Continue Reading →
I've said it numerous times before, but I'll state, once again, that Tom Hanks is my all-time favorite actor. There's absolutely no way I would miss any of his films in the theater, but team him up with Steven Spielberg and Meryl Streep and I don't see how anyone with decent taste could resist. If that... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: June 21, 2002 Production budget: $102,000,000 Worldwide gross: $358,372,926 I actually wasn't excited about the release of Steven Spielberg's Minority Report in the summer of 2002. I liked Spielberg. I liked Cruise. But the trailer didn't appeal to me. And, even worse, it felt like I was forced to watch said trailer... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: May 23, 1984 Production budget: $28,000,000 Worldwide gross: $333,107,271 Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom was Steven Spielberg's follow-up to his massively successful Raiders of the Lost Ark (for which I previously did a #ThrowbackThursday column, which you can find here). It was a follow-up at a time when follow-ups were, though... Continue Reading →
Original US release date: June 12, 1981 Production budget: $18,000,000 Worldwide gross: $389,925,971 So, I have a personal story regarding this week's #ThrowbackThursday, the all-time classic Raiders of the Lost Ark. For those of you who don't know me personally, when I'm not writing about movies and taking trips to Alaska, I'm a teacher. I... Continue Reading →
Steven Spielberg and Disney. It's as if Michael Jordan and Kobe Bryant were on the same basketball team in their primes. If Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley did a duet. If George Carlin and Kevin Hart did a standup routine together. If Emilia Clarke joined me for dinner (hint, hint). I'm sure there are good reasons why it... Continue Reading →
The Movie March! 