You expressed so well the feeling that sometimes I think is my feeling, not anyone else's, but in reality, most of us have it. Then I get sad, because not everyone has memories of nostalgia. I do love the way you described your childhood. I may have to watch ET and have a good cry.
Great take on this, and thanks for sharing the glimpse of your childhood, Tim. Not a surprise at the top (or near top) of the list, but sometimes the obvious answer is the obvious answer. It's interesting that it means more to you now - I really liked E.T. when I saw it (I was about to turn 15), but less so than Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, or Poltergeist, or some of the other amazing movies that came out in 1982. And yet....over time, it has just grown and grown - its both a children's movie, and perhaps even more a movie for adults that remember being a child. I have a lot of respect for Ghandi, but E.T. was (in retrospect) clearly the best movie of 1982, and for those who dismissed Spielberg as not being a "serious" storyteller - what movie were they watching? Elliot did not get on the spaceship with E.T. (what a change from Roy Neary!), and E.T. did not somehow reunite his fractured family (which would have been the lazy, sentimental choice). Instead.....he saves Elliot. Elliot learns to take action and responsibility, Elliot leads the other kids, Elliot learns how to deal with grief....Elliot grows up a LOT, even though he's still a kid. And that's why that final shot has power - we have the sense that Elliot will have a great life, an inspired life....and he'll have a loving family - but he'll never have E.T. again. That's how we all exit childhood - endless possibilities tied to a fundamental loss. And then the exit music - that wonderful piano music, which to me is about the beauty that life holds ahead for Elliot. For the Williams score - its one of the ones where I rarely listen to a single track, but want to hear it all, from start to end - it tells such a story. The wonderment of the forest, the scares of being pursued through the woods, the delicacy of meeting E.T.....all the way through to the unbelievable "Adventures on Earth" climax, followed by the restful balm of the exit music. Other Williams scores I can dip and out of (and do!), but this one is an opera that deserves a full hearing. Bravo Tim, great, great choice!
Why'd you have to make me cry on such a nice Tuesday morning?
Sorry about that!
Wonderfully framed. I never noticed the constant use of the bedroom closet as a significant location before.
You need to do an updated/revised version of the Williams biography and include all these write ups as an ‘appendix' of sorts.
That's very kind of you! Perhaps they'll have another home someday.
You expressed so well the feeling that sometimes I think is my feeling, not anyone else's, but in reality, most of us have it. Then I get sad, because not everyone has memories of nostalgia. I do love the way you described your childhood. I may have to watch ET and have a good cry.
Thank you. I think you should!
Great take on this, and thanks for sharing the glimpse of your childhood, Tim. Not a surprise at the top (or near top) of the list, but sometimes the obvious answer is the obvious answer. It's interesting that it means more to you now - I really liked E.T. when I saw it (I was about to turn 15), but less so than Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, or Poltergeist, or some of the other amazing movies that came out in 1982. And yet....over time, it has just grown and grown - its both a children's movie, and perhaps even more a movie for adults that remember being a child. I have a lot of respect for Ghandi, but E.T. was (in retrospect) clearly the best movie of 1982, and for those who dismissed Spielberg as not being a "serious" storyteller - what movie were they watching? Elliot did not get on the spaceship with E.T. (what a change from Roy Neary!), and E.T. did not somehow reunite his fractured family (which would have been the lazy, sentimental choice). Instead.....he saves Elliot. Elliot learns to take action and responsibility, Elliot leads the other kids, Elliot learns how to deal with grief....Elliot grows up a LOT, even though he's still a kid. And that's why that final shot has power - we have the sense that Elliot will have a great life, an inspired life....and he'll have a loving family - but he'll never have E.T. again. That's how we all exit childhood - endless possibilities tied to a fundamental loss. And then the exit music - that wonderful piano music, which to me is about the beauty that life holds ahead for Elliot. For the Williams score - its one of the ones where I rarely listen to a single track, but want to hear it all, from start to end - it tells such a story. The wonderment of the forest, the scares of being pursued through the woods, the delicacy of meeting E.T.....all the way through to the unbelievable "Adventures on Earth" climax, followed by the restful balm of the exit music. Other Williams scores I can dip and out of (and do!), but this one is an opera that deserves a full hearing. Bravo Tim, great, great choice!
Thank you Scott, and thank you for sharing! I honestly do think this is Spielberg/Williams' magnum opus.