Blackhawk

I'm not quite sure what to make of Steven Spielberg nowadays. I admire filmmakers like Martin Scorsese who even in his mid-70s is still challenging himself with new and original material and filmmaking styles (refer to my Doomsday thread) and while Spielberg certainly has his place in the pantheon of great, ground-breaking filmmakers I'm not sure what he's trying to do with The Post. In fact, I'm not sure what he's trying to do nowadays in general. While he still manages to direct good if not great films like Munich and Lincoln we also have movies like Tintin, Bridge of Spies, The BFG and, well, The Post. They're movies that don't really have anything to say other than retread material that we've gone over before. He's been trying his hand at motion-capture films including next month's Ready Player One but those are eclipsed by the success of Avatar. What investigative journalism/news media movies haven't already done what The Post tried to do? Was he trying to make this year's Spotlight? Spielberg has said it's supposed to be a response to the Trump administration but at the same time there's an argument to be made that he's trying to make movies that he suspects will be successful rather than bring new, unique stories to the screen. It's been recently announced that his next movies will probably be West Side Story and Indiana Jones 5. Why? Why do we need another West Side Story? Would it be on his agenda if LaLa Land hadn't been as big of a hit as it was last year? And the last thing we need is another Indiana Jones movie. Could it be another Last Crusade? Possibly. Will it be another Crystal Skull? Probably. It just seems to me that Spielberg for the past decade has been playing catch-up rather than push his talents. His movies immediately seem dated because in a way they are. They still have the Capra-corn style melodrama (the scene where the woman reads the Supreme Court decision is groan-inducing) and many roles are just stock characters. I'm hoping I'm wrong, I'm hoping that sometime in the near future we get an original, enjoyable film that reminds us why we love Steven Spielberg. It's insane to think that he directed three of the biggest films of the 90s, Jurassic Park, Schindler's List and Saving Private Ryan. Maybe he has it in him to give us one more film that can stand with those ones, the kind of movies that change the way we make movies. Considering what's on his docket I'm not holding my breath but Spielberg has had lulls before. When he gets out of them though we're given fantastic, memorable films. This is one of those occasions where I look forward to re-reading this post and eating my words.