Steven Spielberg

Steven Spielberg, prolific and legendary as he is, has had plenty of flops in his time, and he’s not afraid to let everyone know which of his many film children he likes the least. While making the new documentary Spielberg, documentarian Susan Lacy spent more than 30 hours interviewing her subject, and during some of those sessions he told her which of his Indiana Jones films he likes the least. No, it’s not that one.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind will forever be one of sci-fi cinema’s most lasting cultural touchstones. One of Spielberg’s best, it’s a beautiful tale of wonder, obsession, and humanity’s relationship with the rest of the cosmos. It’s the kind of movie that posits that, rather than conquer us, all aliens really want to do is be our friends, and it’s coming back to theaters this September in a gorgeous 4K re-release.

I’m probably not going to rock your world if I tell you that Hollywood enjoys catering to the nostalgia of audiences. Some of the most successful shows and movies from the last few years - including Stranger Things and Ghostbusters - have succeeded specifically because they were able to recreate things that we loved when we were children. What made Ernest Cline’s Ready Player One such a worldwide phenomenon wasn’t just the author’s grasp of eighties and nineties popular culture, but the way he wove that into the book’s original narrative. His character’s obsession with the past was both his greatest strength and his biggest weakness.

In what has now become something of a bi-annual tradition in Hollywood, yet another person has come forward with yet another claim that Steven Spielberg was the real director of Poltergeist. This time around it’s John Leonetti, the filmmaker behind the new horror film Wish Upon, who outs himself as a Poltergeist truther with his not-entirely-shocking assertion about who actually directed Tobe Hooper’s spooky 1982 classic.

Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of the beloved sci-fi novel hits theaters next spring, but your first look is here now.

HBO is turning the camera around on one of the most iconic filmmakers of our time with a new documentary exploring the prolific filmography of beloved director Steven Spielberg. Set to premiere this fall, Spielberg features behind-the-scenes footage from some of the director’s most famous films and boasts an interview roster that is absolutely stacked with talent — including J.J. Abrams, Christian Bale and Oprah Winfrey.

John Williams is one of Steven Spielberg’s most frequent collaborators, and earlier this year he was set to score both of the director’s upcoming movies: Pentagon Papers drama The Papers and pop culture-infused sci-fi Ready Player One. But because both of these movies are being put together at about the same time (Ready Player One’s production began last year, and The Papers was filmed this spring in a matter of weeks for a December release) Williams has had to give up scoring duties on the latter in favor of the former.

The San Diego Comic Con schedules have been rolling out all week, and Warner Bros. has a bunch of heavy hitters this year to possibly keep Marvel and Disney from stealing too much of the spotlight. Warners takes over Hall H on Saturday, July 22 at 11:30 AM, starting with a showcase of all their exciting upcoming releases, hosted by master of ceremonies Chris Hardwick.

While you and I may know July 3rd as “Fasting in Anticipation of Tomorrow’s Onslaught of Grilled Meats Day,” a certain subset of conspiracy-monger recognizes it as World UFO Day. Apparently, one such believer resides at Sony, as the studio released a mysterious new video on the 3rd and included the hashtag #WorldUFODay in the caption on YouTube. In it, a glowing green air traffic controller’s matrix appears on screen with some slightly-garbled dialogue in the background about an enigmatic foreign craft entering their airspace. While some may find its significance confounding, Spielberg fans recognized the clip straightaway.

A celebrity ritual no less time-honored than the public callout, the public apology is a vital part of being and remaining famous. Think of it like an annual physical, but for your public profile: say something wild enough to grab some headlines and ensure that your name’s sticking in the population’s heads, let it sit for a short while, and once the time is right, issue a dignified apology to show humility and self-awareness. It’s a rich Hollywood tradition, and Elizabeth Banks is the latest personality to run this gauntlet. But when you come at the king, and most especially when that king is literal King of Hollywood Steven Spielberg, you best not miss.