Amblin'

I've read and heard about Amblin' just about everything I could read and hear. I just missed seeing this famous Spielberg short. That happened today and I'm thrilled. It's really great to watch twenty-five minutes filled with lightheartedness and immense playfulness. Steven Spielberg is simply undeniable. Lots of sensational shots (the director's favorite rear-view mirror was one of the best), ideas (the zipper turns into the center line of the road - just as years later in War Horse the knitting turned into an orange field, and as in The Adventures of Tintin everything turned into everything), great music, likeable "silent" actors... I'm amazed at how well thought out it is and yet it doesn't feel the least bit machine-like. Everything is natural. So five stars. (10/07/2015)

I can think whatever I want about Spielberg and his films, but when I watch one of his early works, after which his production company is named, I realize that the man knows how to work incredibly well with imagery. It's precisely because of the absence of words that you'll appreciate and realize in this film how it's possible to tell an interesting story, one that tells you something about people, in this manner. (11/28/2015)