Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly one of the greatest voices in filmmaking today. Since the ’70s, he has proven himself to be a very competent director who can dabble in any filmmaking genre with ease. Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of The Lost Ark, Saving Private Ryan, Jurassic Park, The Color Purple, etc. are examples of his complete mastery over varied genres.
Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg tasted success early in his career with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When he decided to put a comedic spin on the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, many, including John Wayne, warned him that it would backfire on him. The underwhelming reception of the film led to a big realization of the mistakes that he made.
John Wayne’s Warning About 1941 Was The First Sign of the Film...
Melinda Dillon and Cary Guffey in Steven Spielberg’s Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Spielberg tasted success early in his career with Jaws and Close Encounters of the Third Kind. When he decided to put a comedic spin on the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, many, including John Wayne, warned him that it would backfire on him. The underwhelming reception of the film led to a big realization of the mistakes that he made.
John Wayne’s Warning About 1941 Was The First Sign of the Film...
- 5/6/2024
- by Rahul Thokchom
- FandomWire
Hollywood's fascination with science fiction has produced some of the greatest thrills in movie history. "Star Wars," "Blade Runner," "The Matrix," "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," and "The Day the Earth Stood Still" are but a handful of films that rank high amongst genre enthusiasts for their audacious ideas, innovative visuals, originality, colorful characters, and timeless appeal. Crafting these timeless masterpieces requires significant effort and unwavering commitment, and should not be underestimated. Many production stories showcase the extent to which producers and directors are willing to go to realize their vision -- even if it comes at the cost of the actors' well-being.
Borrowing a cue from the article "12 Horror Movie Scenes That Scared Actors in Real Life," we decided to dive into the world of sci-fi and explore a handful of movie scenes that similarly induced screams from the cast. Not in a negative way, mind you. Indeed, many directors deploy...
Borrowing a cue from the article "12 Horror Movie Scenes That Scared Actors in Real Life," we decided to dive into the world of sci-fi and explore a handful of movie scenes that similarly induced screams from the cast. Not in a negative way, mind you. Indeed, many directors deploy...
- 9/25/2023
- by Jeff Ames
- Slash Film
Melinda Dillon, who was nominated as Best Supporting Actress for her roles in Steven Spielberg’s “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and Sydney Pollack’s “Absence of Malice,” has died at age 83, her family said in a public obituary.
She died on Jan. 9, but the obituary gave no cause of death.
Dillon memorably played single mother Jillian Guiler, whose son Barry (Cary Guffey), is abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters.” Like Richard Dreyfuss’s lead character, she also becomes obsessed with Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and both their quests lead them there. After running the gauntlet of military obstacles, they are the only two civilians who witness the alien ship landing in the film’s emotional finale.
Also Read:
Lisa Loring, Original Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family,’ Dies at 64
She received her second nomination for playing a Catholic who commits suicide after a reporter (Sally Field) writes about...
She died on Jan. 9, but the obituary gave no cause of death.
Dillon memorably played single mother Jillian Guiler, whose son Barry (Cary Guffey), is abducted by aliens in “Close Encounters.” Like Richard Dreyfuss’s lead character, she also becomes obsessed with Devil’s Tower in Wyoming and both their quests lead them there. After running the gauntlet of military obstacles, they are the only two civilians who witness the alien ship landing in the film’s emotional finale.
Also Read:
Lisa Loring, Original Wednesday on ‘The Addams Family,’ Dies at 64
She received her second nomination for playing a Catholic who commits suicide after a reporter (Sally Field) writes about...
- 2/3/2023
- by Sharon Knolle
- The Wrap
Before "E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial" captured the hearts of American audiences, Steven Spielberg's longtime fascination with aliens in outer space blossomed with his 1977 sci-fi epic, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Following a group of different characters, one of the film's most resonant and personal threads is Roy Neary (Richard Dreyfuss), an Indiana neighborhood electrician on a cross-country quest to learn the truth about UFOs after a close encounter of his own.
As Roy's fascination starts to grow into an unhealthy obsession, his family life at home turns upside down. He spends all of his time creating models of his metaphysical experience, and starts to neglect his responsibilities as a father. His absence at home leads to one of the most identifiable scenes in Spielberg's entire filmography — referenced earlier this year in Jordan Peele's "Nope," the abduction of Roy's son, Barry (Cary Guffey) from the perspective of his mother,...
As Roy's fascination starts to grow into an unhealthy obsession, his family life at home turns upside down. He spends all of his time creating models of his metaphysical experience, and starts to neglect his responsibilities as a father. His absence at home leads to one of the most identifiable scenes in Spielberg's entire filmography — referenced earlier this year in Jordan Peele's "Nope," the abduction of Roy's son, Barry (Cary Guffey) from the perspective of his mother,...
- 11/7/2022
- by Tyler Llewyn Taing
- Slash Film
How do you follow up a record-breaking blockbuster about a killer shark? For starters, you get out of the ocean. And then maybe you look up.
A longtime watcher of the skies, young Steven Spielberg had already been kicking around an idea involving alien visitation, spacecraft "sightings" and government cover-ups – some sort of story, in the gentleman's own words, about "UFOs and Watergate" – before he had started turning Peter Benchley's novel Jaws into a movie. One three-men-and-an-apex-predator hit later, he was a hot Hollywood director who had folks ready...
A longtime watcher of the skies, young Steven Spielberg had already been kicking around an idea involving alien visitation, spacecraft "sightings" and government cover-ups – some sort of story, in the gentleman's own words, about "UFOs and Watergate" – before he had started turning Peter Benchley's novel Jaws into a movie. One three-men-and-an-apex-predator hit later, he was a hot Hollywood director who had folks ready...
- 12/14/2017
- Rollingstone.com
How do you follow up a record-breaking blockbuster about a killer shark? For starters, you get out of the ocean. And then maybe you look up.
A longtime watcher of the skies, young Steven Spielberg had already been kicking around an idea involving alien visitation, spacecraft "sightings" and government cover-ups – some sort of story, in the gentleman's own words, about "UFOs and Watergate" – before he had started turning Peter Benchley's novel Jaws into a movie. One three-men-and-an-apex-predator hit later, he was a hot Hollywood director who had folks ready...
A longtime watcher of the skies, young Steven Spielberg had already been kicking around an idea involving alien visitation, spacecraft "sightings" and government cover-ups – some sort of story, in the gentleman's own words, about "UFOs and Watergate" – before he had started turning Peter Benchley's novel Jaws into a movie. One three-men-and-an-apex-predator hit later, he was a hot Hollywood director who had folks ready...
- 12/14/2017
- Rollingstone.com
In the cinema of Steven Spielberg, to say nothing of the cinema of science fiction, of Hollywood, and of practical effects, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) is a landmark, like the silhouette of a small mountain in the night skyline. Spielberg’s Duel (1971), carried over from television to movie theaters, was a wisp of a story elevated by its visual dynamism. His theatrical debut, The Sugarland Express (1974), was another 70s American road movie, notable today for the way it combines the appealing grit of the New Hollywood (and of Duel) with a much warmer, more charitable view of America and its culture. It contains the director’s first broken family unit—a key theme in his career—and was his first film scored by John Williams, even if it has almost none of the Williams trademarks. Jaws (1975) was the breakout smash, a lurid bucket-of-blood movie turned into a light day-at-the-beach movie,...
- 9/10/2017
- MUBI
"What do you want?" "I just want to know that it's, it's really happening." Sony has released a full-length trailer for the upcoming 40th anniversary theatrical re-release of Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind. The classic sci-fi film first hit theaters in December of 1977, two years after Jaws. This re-release was first teased with a "mysterious" air traffic control video that didn't explain what exactly it was teasing, but that was quickly solved. Now we know the film is returning to theaters again September 1st and if you've never seen on it on the big screen before, now is your chance. Don't miss it! Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Teri Garr, Melinda Dillon, Bob Balaban, François Truffaut, Warren Kemmerling, and Cary Guffey. This trailer definitely makes this movie seem like a true classic - feast your eyes on this. Here's the full re-release trailer for Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind,...
- 7/26/2017
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Joseph Baxter Jul 6, 2017
Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind turns 40 this year. And it's heading back to cinemas...
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind arrived on the scene as an existential alien encounter enlightenment for its characters and – especially during the buildup to its November 1977 release – a new marketing showcase for blockbuster movies, with a release built upon cryptic teases. Appropriately, with the film’s 40th anniversary approaching, a teaser trailer for its re-release proves to be as cryptic as the buildup to its original release.
Video of This Means Something
Called “This Means Something,” referencing the famous scene in which Richard Dreyfuss’s Roy Neary turns his mashed potatoes into an impromptu rendition of his portentous alien-inspired vision of Wyoming’s Devils Tower, the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind 40th teaser trailer poses familiar questions about the unexplained mysterious findings of air traffic control, cutting...
Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind turns 40 this year. And it's heading back to cinemas...
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind arrived on the scene as an existential alien encounter enlightenment for its characters and – especially during the buildup to its November 1977 release – a new marketing showcase for blockbuster movies, with a release built upon cryptic teases. Appropriately, with the film’s 40th anniversary approaching, a teaser trailer for its re-release proves to be as cryptic as the buildup to its original release.
Video of This Means Something
Called “This Means Something,” referencing the famous scene in which Richard Dreyfuss’s Roy Neary turns his mashed potatoes into an impromptu rendition of his portentous alien-inspired vision of Wyoming’s Devils Tower, the Close Encounters Of The Third Kind 40th teaser trailer poses familiar questions about the unexplained mysterious findings of air traffic control, cutting...
- 7/5/2017
- Den of Geek
Author: Zehra Phelan
The 4th of July, Independence Day holiday of our international cousins saw the start of a rather clever campaign for the re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind on what will be its 40th anniversary year. To start that campaign Sony released a teaser trailer which you can view below.
However, no actual footage from the film is featured in the teaser, which is aptly named This Means Something. Instead, we witness 56 seconds of air traffic control radar animation locating an unidentified flying object targeting one of its planes with audio of air traffic control in a mild panic.
To accompany the teaser for the re-release of the film which will have a one-week theatrical viewing slot in September, two months before its actual anniversary, Sony have set up a special website – WeAreStillNotAlone.Com – which takes you to a holding page prompting you to enter your...
The 4th of July, Independence Day holiday of our international cousins saw the start of a rather clever campaign for the re-release of Close Encounters of the Third Kind on what will be its 40th anniversary year. To start that campaign Sony released a teaser trailer which you can view below.
However, no actual footage from the film is featured in the teaser, which is aptly named This Means Something. Instead, we witness 56 seconds of air traffic control radar animation locating an unidentified flying object targeting one of its planes with audio of air traffic control in a mild panic.
To accompany the teaser for the re-release of the film which will have a one-week theatrical viewing slot in September, two months before its actual anniversary, Sony have set up a special website – WeAreStillNotAlone.Com – which takes you to a holding page prompting you to enter your...
- 7/5/2017
- by Zehra Phelan
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
As director and producer, few storytellers have utilized the wonderment and fascination (and sometimes horror) of children as points-of-entry into the wonderment and fascination of the adult world more effectively than Steven Spielberg has. Conversely, Spielberg has also masterfully used the normalized responses of children to the abnormal as an approach to disarm world-weary grown-ups. From Cary Guffey in "Close Encounters" to Henry Thomas and Drew Barrymore in "E.T." to Heather O'Rourke in "Poltergeist" to Christian Bale in "Empire of the Sun" to Haley Joel Osment in "A.I." to Dakota Fanning in "Taken" and "War of the Worlds," Spielberg has always know that there's something pure and primal in the reactions of children and that those reactions can be used to steer the reactions viewers of all ages. Steven Spielberg is one of the executive producers of ABC's new "the kids are not alright" drama "The Whispers," but his participation...
- 6/1/2015
- by Daniel Fienberg
- Hitfix
Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Spielberg on the Oscars' Red Carpet Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Steven Spielberg and daughter Destry Spielberg arrive at the 83rd Academy Awards, held on Feb. 27 at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. Spielberg has taken home two Best Director Oscars: Schindler's List (1993) and Saving Private Ryan (1998). Schindler's List also won Best Picture, but Saving Private Ryan lost to John Madden's Miramax-distributed Shakespeare in Love. There was quite a bit of animosity at the time, as some felt that Miramax, owned by brothers Bob and Harvey Weinstein, overdid its Oscar campaigning – while still managing to sway enough Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences members to vote for its film. Somewhat ironically, at the 2011 Academy Awards ceremony Steven Spielberg presented the Best Picture Award to The King's Speech. Toplining Colin Firth, Helena Bonham Carter, Geoffrey Rush, Guy Pearce, and Claire Bloom, this British production was...
- 5/14/2015
- by D. Zhea
- Alt Film Guide
Aside from his incredible filmography and influence on cinema over the past few decades, director Steven Spielberg is also known as being a master at pulling amazing performances from child actors. Whether it's Drew Barrymore and Henry Thomas in E.T. The Extra Terrestrial, Cary Guffey in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Joseph Mazzello and Ariana Richards in Jurassic Park, Jonathan Ke Quan in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Christian Bale in Empire of the Sun, Haley Joel Osment in A.I. Artificial Intelligence or Dakota Fanning in War of the Worlds, he's done some great work with kids on the big screen. And now he's just found his latest child star for his adaptation of Roald Dahl's The Bfg. Read on! A press release from DreamWorks Studios has named newcomer Ruby Barnhill to make her big screen debut as the young girl Sophie in the story of...
- 12/16/2014
- by Ethan Anderton
- firstshowing.net
Working with an alien on a movie is probably a little bit easier than working with a child actor.
At least with the alien you can literally pull its puppet strings. Kids require a slightly more magical touch.
That’s what Steven Spielberg learned while working on E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and a special documentary on the new Blu-ray release (out Oct. 9) shows just how deep his connection was with 6-year-old Drew Barrymore and 10-year-old Henry Thomas.
The E.T. Journals consist of behind-the-scenes footage from the 1982 movie, presented as-is, without narration or modern interviews. It’s like an extended set-visit to the film,...
At least with the alien you can literally pull its puppet strings. Kids require a slightly more magical touch.
That’s what Steven Spielberg learned while working on E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, and a special documentary on the new Blu-ray release (out Oct. 9) shows just how deep his connection was with 6-year-old Drew Barrymore and 10-year-old Henry Thomas.
The E.T. Journals consist of behind-the-scenes footage from the 1982 movie, presented as-is, without narration or modern interviews. It’s like an extended set-visit to the film,...
- 10/5/2012
- by Anthony Breznican
- EW - Inside Movies
So if you haven't noticed, we're Super behind. This schedule created way back at the beginning of the marathon? Yeah, that's gone to shit. Combined with Netlfix troubles and my general ineptitude, we have a Lot of ground to cover. But don't worry, folks. We do have a Plan C. But in the meantime...let's talk about some aliens.
The Set Up:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind begins in the Sonoran Desert. French scientist Claude Lacombe and American mapmaker Bob Balaban are investigating the reappearance of the long lost Flight 19, a squadron of planes that went missing during World War II. The planes have reappeared, but the pilots themselves are nowhere to be found. In Indianapolis, a flight control center encounters an unidentified flying object that almost collides with an airline. And in the small town of Muncie, Indiana, an electrician sent to fix a power outage sights four UFO's.
The Set Up:
Close Encounters of the Third Kind begins in the Sonoran Desert. French scientist Claude Lacombe and American mapmaker Bob Balaban are investigating the reappearance of the long lost Flight 19, a squadron of planes that went missing during World War II. The planes have reappeared, but the pilots themselves are nowhere to be found. In Indianapolis, a flight control center encounters an unidentified flying object that almost collides with an airline. And in the small town of Muncie, Indiana, an electrician sent to fix a power outage sights four UFO's.
- 8/28/2011
- Cinelinx
As Skyline prepares to invade cinemas, we look back at more than 30 years of the best and worst alien abduction movies...
Do aliens really hover in our skies, waiting to kidnap us for their own unfathomable ends? Ever since the case of Us couple Betty and Barney Hill became widely publicised in the mid-60s, hundreds of people have come forward with similar claims of extraterrestrial abduction, missing time, strange medical examinations and grey-skinned extraterrestrials
And while psychologists and ufologists disagree on the reality of such claims, the theme of alien abduction has been revisited several times by filmmakers since the late 70s. And as this list demonstrates, the results of such films can be decidedly mixed...
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
Following the financial success of Jaws, director Steven Spielberg took the risky step of remaking Firelight, a small low-budget movie he'd directed when he was just 16. The resulting movie,...
Do aliens really hover in our skies, waiting to kidnap us for their own unfathomable ends? Ever since the case of Us couple Betty and Barney Hill became widely publicised in the mid-60s, hundreds of people have come forward with similar claims of extraterrestrial abduction, missing time, strange medical examinations and grey-skinned extraterrestrials
And while psychologists and ufologists disagree on the reality of such claims, the theme of alien abduction has been revisited several times by filmmakers since the late 70s. And as this list demonstrates, the results of such films can be decidedly mixed...
Close Encounters Of The Third Kind (1977)
Following the financial success of Jaws, director Steven Spielberg took the risky step of remaking Firelight, a small low-budget movie he'd directed when he was just 16. The resulting movie,...
- 11/10/2010
- Den of Geek
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