The Bearded Trio

I take a look back at one of my all time favourites, Close Encounters of the Third Kind There are three movies that are always in my mind when someone asks me what my all time favourite movies are.  Jaws is always there along with Raiders of the Lost Ark and of course Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Like Jaws this is a perfect Spielberg film with some of the most iconic scenes in cinema history.  Classic Spielberg directing, an incredible John Williams soundtrack and a cast who nail every scene make this easily one of my all time favourite movies.  As a Spielberg fan it has two of my favourite scenes from the director.  The first time Roy witnesses the UFOs in his van.  In particular there is one simple shot around 19m 55s in where you see a van moving across a road at night with trees silhouetted by the starry night sky.  A slow moving UFO moves across the screen.  I love this shot and for me this is a classic Spielberg shot. The other sce...

Richard Dreyfuss has a special place in the early cinema of Spielberg/Lucas. He first came to attention in Lucas’ ‘American Graffiti’ (1973) as teenager Curt spending the film chasing after the elusive girl who has caught his attention early on in the film. He then famously turned down Spielberg's offer of the Matt Hooper role in Jaws claiming it was ‘a film I would rather see than make’ before his about turn after witnessing his performance in ‘The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz’(1974) which he thought would end his career. Dreyfuss’ position in Spielberg's early career is an interesting ‘what if..’ scenario in the sense that he completely went off the rails in a melt down of drink and drugs which he only recovered from after a car crash and a career rejuvenation in 1986 after his role in the hit comedy ‘Down and Out in Beverly Hills’. The ‘what if…?’ part of that equation is where he would have stood in Spielberg's oeuvre had he not got into the self destructive pa...

Cover art for Michael Klastorin's book    Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Ultimate Visual History   By Michael Klastorin Order Signed and Personalized By The Author Out of Four Reviewed by Paul Gibbs Close Encounters has always held a special place in my heart among Spielberg's not films, not just because of its cinematic excellence, but because at the age of 12 I immersed myself in the story of its production by reading Bob Balaban's excellent Close Encounters of the Third Kind Diary , easily one of the most engaging and entertaining books ever written about filmmaking. This was essential in the development of my understanding of the filmmaking process, and as such I probably know more about the making of Close Encounters than any other feature film (with the exception of the cult classic schlock film Troll 2 , in which I appeared as one of the evil vegetarian goblins.). ...