Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) — The thing that I think makes Steven Spielberg such a successful film-maker (and I’m sure someone else has pointed this out before) is that I can’t think of anyone else who is so adept at creating a sense of wonder in movies. I’m not talking about delivering an effect or spectacle that makes someone watching the movie go “whoa, that’s pretty cool.” I’m talking about something that not only does that, but also provokes the human sense of curiosity. His movies put ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances and then makes the audience see things through their eyes and be awed by the experience. I’m not really doing it justice, as it just sounds like what every movie does. But rust me, it’s different and it’s great. Richard Dreyfus plays a guy who experiences something incredible and wants to get to the bottom of it and through the entire runnign time, we’re right there with him. SIDENOTE: Before writing this, I watched the Director’s Cut of the film (as opposed to the Theatrical Cut or the “Special” Edition). Nothing in the review I’ve written seems particularly specific to any of the cuts, I just figured I’d mention it.
Persistence of Vision 