226 of 1001 Movies: The Color Purple (1985)

Steven Spielberg can put a touch of Spielberg to anything, no matter how harsh the subject matter is. There is a certain level of sentimental nature and humor that he always puts in his movies, and sometimes it works better than others. It works some in The Color Purple, but also takes away from the serious subject a bit. There is also that struggle as I have found in many Spielberg movies to really connect with the characters. I think as always his filming is beautiful, the story is powerful, and the music score is beautiful, but as with many of his movie it somehow goes over the top.

Summary: Celie is a young African American girl who when we meet is pregnant and still a teenager. For the next thirty years though we will continue to follow her tough life. As she marries an abusive husband who already has several children, and is separated from her sister, to the moment she meets women with powerful voices that inspire her. Celie though has yet to find her own voice in what has always been a world designed for men.

217 of 1001 Movies: Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)

Close Encounters of the Third Kind is a landmark movie as far as CGI. You will find movies to be rare that are this good in effects before the 2000s. And even after that they are still some who falter. Of course the movie does have a very 70's quality about it, but Spielberg is about more than telling a story, which is obvious than in this one as the story is a bit weak. He wants to make sure his movie looks just as spectacular to the viewer. He doesn't cheap out to get a story he loves out there without making sure he has the bucks to bring it to life. This might explain advertisement after advertisement in this movie though. Got to find the money somewhere.

Summary:  Roy is a line worker who like many others, has an encounter with an UFO, and then finds strange things happening to him. He begins making and finding triangles everywhere, and feels drawn to a location. What is happening to Roy though is happening all over Earth leading people from all walks of life to the location. Roy though meets another woman who lives in the same town as he does affected by the strange occurrence.

176 of 1001 Movies: Jaws (1975)

Jaws is a movie that has honestly aged well. Steven Spielberg is the master at special effects, and the shark in this movie looks real and frightening despite he's only a mechanical type thing. This was also still in the days when we didn't always have to see the monster to know that something scary was lurking. Glimpses of the fins, and just seeing blood in the water is enough to build the thrills. You also have one person that the director focuses in on, and shows his tight knit family and kids that adds some sort of reason for the lead character to get serious.

Summary:  When a mysterious death occurs on the beach, Brody, the police chief, investigates the incident. A second death occurs, leaving him to call in an expert in sharks. The expert, Hooper, concludes he has a huge Great White on his hands, and it has claimed the beach in their town of Amity as it's own territory.  Before it can claim anymore more live, Brody, Hooper and a fisherman, Quint, set out to catch the shark, but it's going to more difficult than they expected.

152 of 1001 Movies: War Horse (2011)

Steven Speilberg has many recognizable elements, and you'll probably recognize them in War Horse. Yes, there cheesy scenes, the dialogue gets a bit sappy, and to probably afford the very fancy cinematography they sacrificed some in the acting department, even though there are some great performances, it's mostly the people who stay on screen no longer than 20 minutes.

Summary: After Albert's dad puts too much into a horse he struggles to make him of value to the family. His dad sells the horse though under the weight of financial burden. Albert enlists in World War 1 after his horse is sold into the Calvary to find him. The two both mature from juveniles to adults in the war as they fight on the front lines, and find themselves witnessing losing beings that been by their sides since the beginning of the war. Albert never loses sight though of the one thing he joined the war for though, and that is to find his horse. First he will have to survive the war to though.