The disgraced Corvallis blogger isn’t the only cultural entity currently obsessed with Steven Spielberg. So is Entertainment Weekly. The publication’s shout-outs to the director rival the TV section’s Sound Bites obsession with the oft-quoted Conan O’Brien. A recent issue of EW, a special double issue, has no less than four passing references to the director. On page 22, Josh Brolin explains how Spielberg taught him how to act while on the set of The Goonies. Page 78 shows a photo (not online) of the Citizen Kane Rosebud sled that is in Spielberg’s possession. On page 94 (but also not online apparently), Spielberg offers a quote on the Eppers, a family of professional stunt people, where he is credited with calling them the “Flying Wallendas of film.”

(In a side note, the article says that the 2004 documentary Double Dare is about Epper matriarch Jeannie, but it’s not. The firmly Christian lady is in it, but as a mentor to the film’s focus, Tarantino-ward Zoe Bell.) Most ludicrously, on page 107 Owen Gleiberman starts off his review of We Own the Night with this bit of pretentious throat clearing: “A few rare dramas about crime, honor, and justice — The Godfather, The Verdict, Munich — have attained a mythological quality.” Huh? Munich? It’s a film of mythic stature among viewers? The political Spielberg movie no one liked? (And while we’re at it, why is The Verdict also in that short, short list? Is it even a family epic? If he’s talking about Boston, doesn’t he mean Mystic River?). Yeah, that Spielberg, boy, he makes people nuts.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 19th, 2007 at 1:33 pm and is filed under Reel Politique - Film columnist DK Holm. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.