4 movies that Spielberg watches

jpsheets

jpsheets

Well-known member
Hi everyone,

This may have been posted somewhere, but I can't find it. Does anyone know what the the four movies are that Steven Spielberg watches before directing a movie? I don't know this for sure, but I keep hearing it, so I'm guessing there's some truth to it.

thanks!

JP
 
According to IMDB one of his favorite movies is "Viva Las Vegas" (1964) Starrinig Elvis Presley. Not sure if this at least partly answer
 
I think you're looking for this quote ""Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Searchers." "
 
Gohanto said:
I think you're looking for this quote ""Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Searchers." "
Click to expand...

Wow those are all excellent films. I think the American films there are on the AFI's Top 100 greatest films list.

Lawrence of Arabia is such a great film; my middle name was from Lawrence, so I'm partial to that film. Seven Samurai is obviously fantastic as well.
 
Gohanto said:
I think you're looking for this quote ""Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Searchers." "
Click to expand...

That's funny. I wonder what his reasons are for each one, or if it's the same for all of them. It's a Wonderful Life makes sense when I think about Spielberg's style, but I can't really come up with why he'd watch the others, unless it's to get hyped up by seeing some fantastic cinema, or maybe it's for the great photography. Just thinking.
 
I suppose one reason Lawrence of Arabia is in there because it wows you with the huge scope of the scene.
 
Random reading I stumbled onto a quote from Spielberg saying Lawrence of Arabia was his favorite film of all time and the reason he became a filmmaker. Probably a good reason to watch it every one in a while.
 
Gohanto said:
Random reading I stumbled onto a quote from Spielberg saying Lawrence of Arabia was his favorite film of all time and the reason he became a filmmaker. Probably a good reason to watch it every one in a while.
Click to expand...

I do... it is one of those films that I too think of when I think about why I am inclined to 'make films'...

The problem of course, is that most people other than Spielberg, and a few others, can ever have a project where 70mm cinemascope filming is part of the picture...

Just think about it... modern producer... 'why are we shooting 10 minutes of Prince Ali arriving at a well in the middle of the hot desert, running 70mm film at 2 feet per second that's 1200 feet'... and then there's the retakes...
 
Just for fun, any specific movies people here make a point of watching before filming their own films?

Personally I make a point of watching other movies before I start shooting, but it varies a lot depending what kind of story I'm doing. Most recently I shot a fantasy/noir short and I took a lot of inspiration from watching Se7en and Empire Strikes Back.
 
Any Paul Thomas Anderson film.
Any Scorsese film.

There's a couple of other specifics...but not worth mentioning.
I also watch my own films to make sure I don't repeat certain mistakes that I've caught myself doing after the film was finished.
 
Gohanto said:
Just for fun, any specific movies people here make a point of watching before filming their own films?

Personally I make a point of watching other movies before I start shooting, but it varies a lot depending what kind of story I'm doing. Most recently I shot a fantasy/noir short and I took a lot of inspiration from watching Se7en and Empire Strikes Back.
Click to expand...


Over the weekend I watched:

"The Trial"(1962) Orson Wells directed (and of course played a role...) Cine: Edmond Richard.
"A Touch of Evil"(1958) again Wells and Wells... Cine: Russell Metty.
"Others"(2001) Alejandro Amenabar. DoP Javier Aguirresarobe.
 
i watch anything michel gondry, darren arranofsky, david fincher, or coen to get pumped up for a shoot.

sorry if i mispelled any of their names
 
The movies I tend to watch before I direct are:

The Godfather Part II
Casablanca
Raiders of the Lost Ark
Sunset Blvd.

Plus a couple others depending on the project. Like with "Ladies Night" I watched Some Like it Hot many times. But the four listed above are the defaults.
 
Gohanto said:
I think you're looking for this quote ""Before I go off and direct a movie I always look at 4 films. They tend to be: Seven Samurai, Lawrence of Arabia, It's A Wonderful Life, and The Searchers." "
Click to expand...

Seven Samurai. Very interesting film. Very long but nice visuals and characterization. I love the Samurai who no one was really sure of.

-Nate
 
Personally I watch Uwe Boll's Alone in the Dark, Leonetti's Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Rupert Wainwright's remake of The Fog, and last but not least Tommy Wiseau's The Room.

Hasn't failed me yet.
 
Not coincidentally, we used to maintain a discussion (usually too one-sided) of these films here on DVXUser. I'd love to see further discussion and analysis. We all stand to benefit from watching and working toward understanding the "great films".

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=99939
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=111951
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=102760
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=96237
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=89356
http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?t=92593

e
 
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