Simon's Movie Reviews

If Steven Spielberg were a drug, then E.T the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) is a vintage and pure version of that drug. This is a movie that can be appreciated by people of all ages but the way it is shot really puts you in the shoes of a young boy who befriends a creature from another planet. There are no villains in this movie, not even the shadowy government people who are hunting the alien. The only look scary because Spielberg initially shoots them from a kid’s point of view. In today’s cynical world this movie may seem overly optimistic but maybe childish optimism is what we need. I hadn’t seen E.T in at least over a decade and this week seemed like the perfect time to revisit it since I also just finished the third season of Stranger Things , the Netflix phenomenon that proudly wears its Spielberg influence on its sleeve. After all, one could easily argue that the show’s character Eleven has similar powers as E.T even though she was born on our planet. Of course, Spielber...

When it came out in 2001 after almost going straight-to-video, Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko earned the distinction of becoming one of the 21 st century’s first cult films. This was back in an era when cult status had to be earned through word of mouth, late night viewing on cable, as well as VHS rentals just as the DVD market was killing it. Kelly’s certainly has all of the ingredients required for underground discovery: a bizarre plot involving time travel, striking imagery, a soundtrack filled with hits of the era, a first time director and an eclectic cast. Looking back on the movie’s plot now one might think it’s the result of a fever dream. I know I watched this thing sometime in the mid-2000s, probably when it was playing on TV one night, and that it involved a jet engine falling from the sky and not smushing Jake Gyllenhaal to smithereens because a freaky-looking rabbit got him out of bed at the right time. I also remember that what bothered me the most was not the rabb...