The Spiel

Ever wonder how Steven Spielberg's unmade Close Encounters sequel, Night Skies, became Gremlins and E.T.? Well, this episode is for you!

Vespe welcomes author Max Evry who literally wrote the book on this topic, titled Stranded On Earth: How Night Skies Became E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial, to go over the evolution of this dark project while examining where exactly Steven Spielberg was in his life and career as all this was going on.

We dive into the sliding doors of it all as young Spielberg chose certain projects over others (like did you know he almost directed an R-rated jocks vs nerds in middle school comedy) and what his ultimate decisions say about him as a creative.

This episode has everything: Alien abduction stories, edgelord Spielberg, Carlo Rambaldi slander, and a frank discussion of the different eras of our greatest living American director.

Stranded On Earth hits shelves October 27th and you can pre-order it directly via the publisher if you want a signed copy at no extra charge.
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Celebrating the release of his new major motion picture Whalefall, in which Austin Abrams gets swallowed by a sperm whale, director Brian Duffield makes his triumphant return to The Spiel to talk about one of his favorite Spielberg flicks: Minority Report.

The conversation has a lot of twists and turns, from Whalefall stories involving not one, not two, but three different sphincters, getting onto the Austin Abrams train at just the right time, and consulting Zach Cregger to a deep deconstruction of what makes Minority Report tick nearly 25 years after its release.

This is a movie made in the immediate wake of 9/11 that correctly predicts the surveillance state that would result from that tragedy, has a lot of moral ambiguity, asks a lot of the audience, and is also the movie where Tom Cruise chases his own eyeballs down a long, windy corridor.

So, buckle up and sit back and listen to two grown ass men nerd out about Steven Spielberg's Minority Report.
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Director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2, Imaginary) has a new killer shark movie out now called The Devil's Mouth starring Kathryn Newton, so naturally he had to come on The Spiel talk a little bit about his Spielberg-y influences.

Yes, Jaws does come up, of course, but the conversation mostly focuses on Spielberg's move into the executive arena when he, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen launched their very own movie studio and called it Dreamworks.

What happens when a filmmaker is put in charge? Does that have an impact on their own films? With multiple Oscar winning films and giant blockbusters that have come out of the studio over the years, there's no question that the venture was a success, but it wasn't without its lows as well.

We talk about all that and more in this new episode of The Spiel!
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Jaws is host Eric Vespe's favorite movie of all time, so it's only fitting that we get the nerdiest possible deep dive into the 1975 blockbuster with special guest Ian Nathan.

Ian's an author and documentarian who has produced books on The Coen Brothers, Tim Burton, and Guillermo del Toro as well as produced truly epic documentaries on John Carpenter's The Thing and James Cameron's Aliens.

His next project up is Jaws Explored, a documentary that goes into the minutiae of the film, its legacy, and why it's just so damned good.

It's hard to get Vespe to shut up about Jaws, so brace yourself for an uber-nerdy conversation that discusses the three leading characters, the reality behind the making of the movie, and a deep dive into the color theory of the film.

More information on Jaws Explored can be found at www.jawsexplored.com.
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There is a brand new Steven Spielberg movie out in theaters this weekend so of course we had to dive into it on The Spiel. Vespe is joined by his longtime friend and ex-Ain't It Cool colleague Drew McWeeny to dissect, as best they can, Spielberg's Disclosure Day, which could very well be his final cinematic statement on the topic of extra-terrestrial beings.

The conversation begins with a spoiler-free discussion before diving into more spoilery specifics. This chat is definitely intended for those who have already seen the movie and want to hear some detailed thoughts on the film.

What did they like? What didn't work for them? And did you notice the Jaws easter egg?

Disclosure Day stars Emily Blunt, Josh O'Connor, Colman Domingo, and Colin Firth and is out in theaters now.
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