Lightning Round and Future Perspectives

This podcast is supported by Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. What if canancer could be treated without surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy? At MSK, it's already happening. In a small groundbreaking clinical trial, one hundred percent of participants saw their cancer completely vanish using immunotherapy alone This MSK giving dayay, your gift will be triple matched to make the seemingly impossible breakthrough possible. Bring hope to people impacted by cancer. Give now at mSK d. org slash the daily You want to check any shots? Do you want to check your shots? If If you Steven Spielberg want to take a look, let's see your shot Oh right. Okaykay. so what do you think? It's a good shot. I mean, it's like a nice framing. Does it convey seriousness, like serious journal? Yes, I like seeing all of this. Oh, you don't have meat like that, do you ever back. back. What was that great line, Jse You know how far back do you have to go to make it look good What about Cleveland From the New York Times, I'm Rachel Abrams and this is the Daily on Sunday. Steven Spielberg. The name is synonymous with big Hollywood blockbusters just to rattle off a few of them, jaws. You got need a bigger coach. ET ET phone home Indiana Jones. That belongs in a museum. Jurassic Park This week, he's got a new movie out, his thirty fifth. It's called Disclosure Day. And it returns to questions that Steven Spielberg has picked at throughout his entire career Do aliens exist And if they do, how will we react to them What are you gonna do Full disclosure to the whole world. All at once Stehven Spielberg is here with me today to talk about Disclosure Day, his fascination with aliens, and what he is watching on Instagram It's Sunday june fourteenth It's Steven Spiberg, Wlcome to the Daily. Thank you so much for joining us. Thank you. So congratulations on your new film, Disclosure Day. I won't give too much away, but it is a movie about the government's efforts to hide information about aliens from the public It was inspired, as I understand it, by reporting, at least in part in the New York Times about a secret government program that studied what people might refer to as UFO's. The New York Times is out this morning with new details about an upcoming and long waited report from a shadowy office in the Pentagon that ran from two thousand seven to twenty twelve. acccording to the New York Times It examined so called anomalous aerial vehicles. The Pentagon Everybody in their dentist must be pitching you a movie idea. So what was it about this article in this moment that made you think, I have got to make a movie about this? Well, long before that story, and it was a great story in twenty seventeen, I believe Yes. There have been so many more videos backing up eyewitness testimony and creating more credibility among the witness base onnce the smartphone came into real existence with the iPhone. everythingvery kind of changed. There was just a lot of information. People were starting to come forward And you know, the witnesses have been coming forward ever since Roswell. So it's not that everything started in twenty seventeen I guess when Haelene Cooper and Ralph Blumenthe and Leslie Keane wrote their story. All of a sudden, because it was the New York Times because they gave The story is such prominence Everybody suddenly started to wake up from the National Equirer sensationalized portage about UFOs Suddenly this was in August. paper Perhaps One of the greatest papers giving us this information. We prefer the greatest, but thank you, Yes Yes, the greatest. But I really feel that things started to into the mainstream and then after that There was a lot, a lot of documentaries were being made and I saw all of them every doc made about this And you can't make a dock unless people come forward Now it's not under oath, but a lot of people from Congress from the military started coming forward. Well to that point, there are some very famous whistleblowers that have come forward, as you're saying, There was one actually in Helene Coopers story that you mentioned. And I did wonder, in addition to watching all these documentaries, and it sounds like coming to the belief that aliens were real, perhaps more so than when you made earlier alien films Did you actually talk to any of those whistleblowers in preparation for this? Did you try to reach out to anyone? I actually purposely stayed away from that. Really? why? Because I wrote a story My story is a science fiction story The foundation upon which I built my science fiction story is a very, very credible foundation just based on everything that I've absorbed over many, many decades, but especially over the last decade. and there is a consistency in the reporting, there is circumstantial evidence from Tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people who have claimed not just in America, but all over the world, to have seen something or met people who have had seen things. mean You sound very much like you believe aliens exist. That is what I'm getting from you in this conversation. And I'm recalling that in preparation for this interview, I listed a bunch of your interviews. and I heard you say once that close encounters When you made that movie, it was about what you hoped was in the universe.. And now you're at the point where it sounds like you very much believe that this exists. What would the younger Spielberg have thought listening to you now as such a believer that this is what actually exists in the universe Well, the younger me wouldn't have been exposed to incredible plethora visual documentation of what's been going on seeing as believing until I see something myself and Why I have not seen a UFO I don't understand why they haven't come to me yet. I mean I feel like their agent. So I have not had any sightings whatsoever However, having said that So much of the believers I now believe the believers You know, it's interesting that you frame it that way because Disclosure Day, one of the big themes, if I may say so, is about faith. This cou of us I don't mean does he love us? I know he does Does he love On us. And it's not just about believers, but it's also about faith in something higher than yourself. It's about faith in humanity and the ability of other people to deal with difficult circumstances Beause Genesis says that we're hisis supreme creation, but Do you think it's possible that on Earth What? Genesis It says, We are God's suupreme creation on Eth You could have just made a movie about aliens. You could have made a fun summer blockbuster. And I wonder why you chose to engage with that theme specifically I just I just feel I felt that this was an opportunity to talk about You know, the loss of community And therefore the loss of human connection. this film is more about humanity and the things that divide us and what could be occurring that possibly could bring us a little closer together. Such as aliens being real. Well, such as realizing the thing that we need to preserve in our society more than anything else which is something which I believe is as fragile as democracy is empathy and that that our two characters Josha' Connor plays Daniel Kellner, and Emily Blunt plays Margaret Fairtraout There is a very large emphasis put on There' superpowers. You know. I mean, you've been driving like a maniac the last few days, you know? How did you know that? I just know things And their superpowers are not being able to fly. No of not. There' superpowers are really being able to look at somebody in a six seconds, you know that person intimately. Wow, you were in jail. It must have been so.ud mean it's crazy.'s crazy. And I I just have seen this draining out of us and I thought that I wanted to do a story about how to bring humanity together again You know, I understand that you're commenting on the divided political time that we live in. It's not even a political time, it's a divided social time. Divided social time. has that affected you personally? Have you lost relationships? Are you making this in any way a reflective of what you personally have struggled with as we have become more divided? It's not that I've lost relationships. I just You know, I just I believe in people And I believe in people who I don't agree with. If we took two Soccer teams. where they take it very seriously. You could have nothing but rivalry and you could be hooligans against each other in loss or in victory There are certain things you agree on the logger in the pub, you drink after a game where you can bury your disagreements and just celebrate the fact that you're alive on the planet. I mean, I mean, I mean that is something that I'm missing today. And arguably, I think I've heard you talk about movies is way movies are something that obviously bring people together. And so I wonder if that's sort of like if you're thinking not just about the themes of faith in your film and the importance of faith in terms of bringing people together, but the actual going to see a movie and losing yourself and forgetting what's going on in the outside world, I feel like I see a bit of a through line here Yeah, why I've been saying like a broken record that movies, build community Soonas theatater concerts you know, community is when we all come together, we don't know each other What we do know is we are having a similar reaction to what is being shown to us what is being unspooled, what is being presented, performed for us. And it absolutely is that is one of the greatest kniters of any culture on the face of the planet We'll be right back Watching outfits, extravagant birthdays M nicknames A few classic moves of a dog obsessed parent Ali is obsessed with how obsessed you are with your pup. So they strive to give your dog the best. From fresh human grade dog food to in app health check ins to track your dog's wellbe You could say Ollie feeds the obsession Visit ollie. com slash daily and use code daily to get seventy percent off your welcome kit. Ollie the obsession. This podcast is supported by Bank of America Private Bank Cut from a different cloth And with Bank of America Private Bank, you have an entire team tailored to your needs. withith wealth and business strategies built for the biggest ambitions like yours. Whatever your passashion, unlock more powerful possibilities at privatebank. bankfammerica. com What would you like the power to do? Bank of America, official Bank of the FIFA World Cup twenty twenty six. Bank of America Private Bank is a division of Bank of America NA member FDSC and wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation. The funny thing about your mortgage, it kind of runs on autopilot. Same payment, same rate month after month, but SfFI can help make it work harder for you. Explore refinancing options like lowering your monthly payment or tapping into your home equity for cash, so your mortgage is a better fit for your lifestyle. Take your mortgage off autopilot today. Visit soOFi dot com slash powerower moveove Mortgages originated by SopFi Bank in a member FDIC NMLS six ninetine six eight nine one. Terms and conditions apply. Equal housing lender You know, I heard you once tell a story about your experience with Vietnam that I think really crystallizes How you believe that movies could take you out of the world for a short period of time I'd love it if you could tell that story Well, it was just that I was in line to watch Dr. Strange Love I was in high school Vietnam was on television every night. on all three networks So it was something you couldn't get away from friendriends of mine had been called up And I was waiting in line in the range, San Jose to watch Dr. Strange Love and I heard a honking. I turned away and my dad was half in the street with his window rolled down chesturing frantically for me to come over. and I ran over to the car And he just looked like the grim Reaper and he just just handed me this letter from selective serervice. And I opened it up and it just basically was a letter from the draft board asking me to report for my first physical And I was shocked. It was a death sentence. I couldn't believe it was happening. My dad opened the door, assuming I was going to leave the line and drive home with him And I said, no, I want to see the movie. And I took the letter though with me and I went back in line And all I could think about was going to Vietnam And then the movie, I got my seat, lights went down, doctor Strange Love began. I shouldn't tell you this, man, Drake, but you're a good officer and you have a right to know Looks like we're in a shooting war There hell All the Rotin evolves. In about five minutes in the St strange L, I forgot my dad had ever pulled up in the car. Gentlemen, you can't fight in here. This is the war room And the movie completely smarmed all of my five senses. I didn't even think about the letter that was in my pocket until I was halfway home on a bus. the way that that movie overwhelmed you made you forget for however long was that what was going on in the outside world I think it's fair to say that that is something that you have tried to recreate as a filmmaker, if I'm not mistaken. And I want to talk about you as a filmmaker more broadly. When we were preparing here at the Daily to talk to you, we got into a very spirited debate about what makes a Spielberg film a Spielberg film. awe and wonder, is it normal people in extraordinary circumstances? I mean, you literally made so many different types of films. And then we realize that you are probably the foremost expert on Steven Spielberg and what makes a Steven Spielberg movie Spilberergian. So could you just articulate that for us and settle this Well, that would require me to suffer a blow to the head, have amnesia and then have to go into a theater and watch the movies that I forgot I made. Oh, come on, really? It could be very difficult. You know, it's not a formula, It's not a chemistry set I haul around with me and it's not alchemy. You know, movies are not alchemy. They're not part of it' science. The craft of it is science based on the technology of filmmaking. It's movies for me anyway, it's eighty percent intuition. And so You know, I feel that when I'm making movies, the first thing Id look for is a very compelling premise. And the second thing Id look for is a character that we can hitch our Hito Wagons. Okay. Not necessarily a star Hitcho Wagons to, but just a really great character. It could be a wonderful brand new actor that we've never seen before but someone that we could identify with. And then you're on a journey with those characters. And if you trust the characters and you bond or imprint on them or bond with them close enough, you trust them. and trust Trusting a character allows you to trust the ride they're taking or the adventure they're on or the problems they have to solve or the survival that it means life or death And then you can be so compelled to attach yourself to a personality in your movie, that that should take you right to the end I would like to tell you because you're making me think of this. My dad used to be a screenwriter. He used to teach film and he has taught your movies in class. And one of the things he was the first ten minutes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. spepecifically for the reasons you're mentioning. J the idea that the world is very clear and the dynamics between these characters are very clear. The father, son dynamics specifically. D. It's important. No, Dad, you listen Junior In Greek Was that the goal there was to just lay out here's everything you're going to get from this movie in the firstirst tenent, whichich by the way, you do in other films. I feel like your opening sequence often establishes so much of what will bring us along for that ride. That was very personal. That was maybe the most personal Indiana Jones film for me in terms of plot structure The most personal in N Jon's film for me was Temple of Doome because I met Kate And that is Kate Capshaw, of course, the actress. Yes. I said to George, I would direct the first three. Is that right? Not even knowing I was gonna to meet the love of my life on the second one But I feel that You know, I've spent a lot of my life working out my relationship with my father And when he passed, he was one hundred and three And before he passed, we had twenty three wonderful years together, but there were years before that of kind of, I would call it a mild estrangement. And I was always trying to work out where I was in that relationship with my dad And I insisted when George Lucas presented the McGuffin I want to make an Indiana Jones movie, George said they go after the Cup of Christ. they go after the Holy Grail. I thought that was great. but I suddenly realized, oh my God It's metaphorical Why don't we have Indy's father, the person that's been doing all the research on the grail And he's been estranged from his father And they kind of have a meeting of the hearts. They meet halfway to dead Indiana Dianna grail of that relationship was really the understanding and the community that father and son had by the third act of last Crusade. I wonder whether at this point in your life and career, there are other things that you would like to work out in film and sort of what stage you're at with that now as film is therapy, I guess I should say Yeah, film is therapy. sometometimes I'll go to a movie consciously saying this film, like when I made the Fablemans. I said, Well Somebody's going to have to write a check for forty million dollars to therapy for me if I didn't pay for it. You could afford to be a little encouraged. about what? about him making movies? I wouldn't say that I Maybe he's moved on. O from what? He hasn't picked up his camera once since we got here. He'll be going to college since September. Maybe his feelings about it have changed. He's growing up. I'm enthusiastic about that. Filming is what he loves. Jesus Christ. I'm sorry, guys, can please just stop talking about me? Id think that you more than it was autobiograph. Yeah. Oh yeah, totally autobiographical veryer, very accurate to my own memory of my experiences, my relationships with my sisters, my mom and dad, all that You know, sometimes I don't know I'm working out anything until I'm right in the middle of the process, rightight in the middle of the movie. And I suddenly it'll remind me of something. when I was a kid that, oh, I'm dealing with something that I've buried for sixty years and wow, it's back and maybe I can deal with it here. But I don't set out unless it's consciously to make a film like the Fableman' or even helped design the story of Last Crusade. I don't set out to practice You know, you know, you don't se therapy. I set out to tell a really good story that's going to get people really excited and make them want to go to the movies to see it. But you have said before that you've tried to in some of your films, you have recreated trauma as a way to maybe get power over it. if am I describing that? Well I think what you're referring to is sometimes things that terrified me as a kid. Yes, yes. I can almost I can make a really scary movie like pololtergeist write which I produce and wrote C And I can make a really scary movie like that because of all the things that go bump in the night that terrify me, and then suddenly feel really good that I got some control over my fear. But now I've disseminated my fear on a lot of people I'll never get to meet. and like with draws, you know, I didn't mean to make a movie that scares people out of the water, but it did Nbody he about it Yeah I've always been afraid of the water, and I think I wouldn't have said yes to direct Jaws had I not had such a fear of the water. And did Jaws help you with your fear of the water? No, I'm just afraid now but it sure didn't help a lot of other people that saw the movie. What much. One of the reasons why I think this is so interesting is I happen to be in the middle of Lena Dunham's memoir and she talks about something very similar about how Basically traumatic things happened to her and she felt if she could recreate them on screen., she would get some kind of control over it in a way that would help her work through it, if you will. And I wondered, is this something that I mean, you must have had so many interesting conversations with other filmmakers, artists. Have you heard this before? this idea I have heard this before. when we sit around painting models at Guermold Dl Toro's house on Saturday or Sunday mornings. It's all directors. this is what this is a regular ts a regular thing we do. We paint monsters. These are plastic, porcelain sometimes even metal and you haveast Weank paint the models and we talk about movies. It's usually six to eight directors and we find that we have so much in common in our business and our profession within the gestalt of who we are and why we do this. And it all comes out in the wash of painting models. So what is the why? and why do painting the models help you with this It's kind of a Zen thing in a way, you know, it's sort of you know, you're focusing on painting, but you're also really engaged in conversation. It's Like how I imagined the new Wave in Paris might have been. with Trufaux and Butell, just everybody sitting around, you know, and these filmmakers hung out together. and they talked about the stuff that nobody else can relate to.. And it's a great way of sort of cleansing yourself. If you ever want the Daily to be a fly on the wall at one of these salons, we would love to be there. I'm asking you a lot of questions about things that you have learned, lessons you've taken from one thing or another. At some point in your life, you became Steven Spielberg, who many people consider to be the greatest filmmaker on Eth. You became like a living legend to folks. And I bring that up because I think a lot of people, maybe people early in their career, understand that the way that you get better is by having people challenge you, right? You have longtime collaborators, but I wonder How putting modesty aside for a moment, do you think about how your stature affects, how people interact with you, how people challenge you. Just generally, how do you continue to grow when you are at the level that you are at Well, it was a hindrance to me at the beginning of my career because everybody was so felt so open and free to help me because I was young. I was twenty two years old when I directed my first television show And the help was fantastic when I made my first film Sugarland. I had a lot of help from the actors from Goldie Han, from the crew, they were all there to help me. They asked me questions. They gave me suggestions Th then Jaws was made. and Jaws was a phenomenon and All of a sudden, all that input stopped. I started to make close encounters and everybody was quiet as if I knew what to do as if I knew I had all the answers I didn't have all the answers desperate for collaboration for opinions. Everybody assumed. I knew everything. or didn't need any help. I solicited. I went around asking people questions. Were they honest? Yeah, I think so, but they were intimidated Itk it takes a lot of work to build a team that will be honest with you. And that's why I've had the same people in my life For so many decades You have said, I believe that one of the reasons that you wrote Disclosure Day, is because you felt that this was the last shot you would have to get this story, to tell this story in a certain way or the right way I wonder given all of the movies that you have made, all of the things you have tried to tell us about ourselves and the society that we live in Is there something that you feel like you still want to say that you have not said yet Let me answer that question as honestly as I know how Till I find something that It delights me and intrigues me and scares me I won't know what it is yet that I have to say until I discover it by blind off a cliff which I do about every other film I jump into a, you know, and and that's when I figure out that I could use this as a vehicle, as a kind of medium to say something. But I don't ever make a movie where I don't feel I have everyvery movie I made, I feel like I have something to say I really only know what something is once I blindly jump off the edge And I get myself very, very involved in that story. thenen it sometimes comes to me. sometometimes it doesn't. I'm curious about the audience. What do you think about the ways that the audience has changed besides just attention spamans? Like I am curious Do you think that audiences expect something different when they come to see a movie? And how that changes your storytelling I don't think it changes the storytelling. All I can do is tell the stories I know how to tell and hope there's an audience for them. But I don't adjust myself to a new generation If I may push back slightly on this, in preparing for this, I watched close encounters and I obviously went to Disclosure Day. And the thing that I found so striking was that close encounters opens more slowly the storytelling feels more slow at the beginning. Whereas in Disclosure Day, you were dropped right in the middle of the action. And to me to me, I felt like this was a reflection of specifically attention spans. Is there something to be said about how quickly or slowly you are making your films? mean How could you not, basically, given the world that we live in? Well, I consciously wanted to start Disclosure day as if we were starting with a third act And then editing a fourth, fifth is six act Cing right He, here What do you mean by that for especially people that haven't seen it? Because the movie starts in mid scene, mid action, the movie starts with essentially an abduction. Yeah. That's not reflective of me trying to appeal to a more impatient generation of moviegoers It was basically the biar rhythm of a movie that I sat down to write. I wrote it that way because I felt like We have been awaiting answers about where's the truth? Where has the truth been about you know, u a communication or the government hiding the fact that there is interaction between species and it's maybe we've been interacting for eighty or longer years. And so and that to me felt like it was already on a fast track. It was already moving for eight decades very, very quickly and now it is coming to a head That was dictating how fast I started disclosure today, not trying to appeal to a generation that ons that has a need for speed My colleague, Wesley Morris recently did quite a masterful I thought profile of you. Amazing. Yeah, yeah. he is incredible. And he wrote about in this profile notot just how the audience has changed in terms of attention span. And I understand your answer that you really you can only make the movie that you know how to make, right. Wesley also wrote about how you two spent a lot of time together. you went to see a play.. And he wrote about your deep appreciation for the audience reactions to this play. It made me wonder how you desbe the different experience of seeing a movie alone, as of course so many of us now do when we watch it on our TV's or dare I say it our iPhones, perhaps. What do you Par thought? I have a case to make for the iPhone by the way, but I' it. It's okay when the movie's been out for a year We're older, right?'re older. But go ahead. But what do so what do you lose when you don't watch a movie surrounded by other people? Well, it's not what I lose because I can watch a movie alone. In a sense when I watched Dor. Strange Love, it was a full house when I was eighteen years old. but I felt like I was alone watching it because it affected me. and it excluded everybody in the theater and I was all by myself. That's how deeply the film had all of my attention But then when I at the end of the movie, I realized that people were having similar reactions all around me, I suddenly had strangers who were allies in my experience of what that film, how that film affected us. And what did that mean to you to be surrounded by people that agreed with you in some way? It felt great. Just yeah. the agreement isn't done verbally. You don't get into conversation But You feel it. It's a psychic thing. It's a thing that you sense All of us have consense an audience. When you see a comedy with five hundred people or they're all laughing It is one of the greatest most fun loving things you could do for yourself. The same thing happens, I guess when you're in a rock concert when you're watching somebody perform, you know, it is just infectious. You don't get that feeling watching a music video by yourself, but you get that in a stadium. you get that in a venue, even with a couple hundred people. It's just it's just completely contagious. And so there's a contagion. that happens when we're in a Tod all togetherher reacting and having an experience and it doesn't preclude watching something by yourself I'm just saying that it's an additive. Itlarges the experience, makes it bigger than life when you watch a movie with people You have been a fierce advocate for people going to the physical movie theater, of course. Listening to you talk, I wonder if you are in some way nostalgic for a time when there weren't as many choices, even though choices, of course, give people many more opportunities to tell stories I'm not really nostalgic for that. I'm really not I love the options. I love the amount of choices out there. The only negative thing about it is you can get stuck down the rabbit hole. But also the options are the reasons why people aren't going to the theater, right? No, not so much that. yes, I mean, everything's a distraction, but don't forget what a distraction television was in nineteen fifty. There has been a pitch battle For the audience between television and movies between the small screen and the ginormous screens. This has never changed. This is nothing new. The difference now is there are so many more options than just watching television. What is something that you love that people might not expect because it is not a movie, something on YouTube, something on one of these new ways that people are consuming content I love watching food on Instagram. Yeah. canan you explain more? What do you mean by that I love watching food stuff. Food stuff. I like I'm a foodie. Okay. So I'd like nine different ways you can make a taco. Okay. You know what I'm saying? Yes. just I just I get a little bit A little bit down, that's the rabbit hole that pulls me down. The headline here is that Steven Spielberg likes ASMR food videos. I do What is it about them? Is it the craft that pulls you in, or do you just want to know how to make tacos? No, it's the imagination it takes to do something I've never seen before And now I've made some of the stuff. You made which stuff that the. Ive watched I've watched and tried to replicate it and replicate it and some of it is not as good as it looks Yes, as all of us have experienced. Yes. I mean, my wife right now is into something about dribbling hot fudge over potato chips and making a open face sandwich out of it I'm not ready for that yet, but she's been threatening to make it for the last week to We'll be right back This podcast is supported by Bank of America Private Bank You're cut from a different cloth. And with Bank of America Private Bank, you have an entire team tailored to your needs. withith wealth and business strategies built for the biggest ambitions like yours Whatever your passion, unlock more powerful possibilities at privatebank. bank offammerica. com. What would you like the power to do? Bank of America, official Bank of the FIFA World Cup twenty twenty six. Bank of America Private Bank is a division of Bank of America NA member FDSC and a wholly owned subsidiary of Bank of America Corporation Lots of places can expose you to identity theft. That's why Lifeelock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity, which is way more than anyone can do on their own If we find anything suspicious like new loans or changes to your financial accounts, we alert you right away. All through text, phone, email, or the Lifelock app. saave up to thirty percent your first year. Visit lifeelock d. com slash daily. Terms apply This podcast is supported by MIDI Health. Are you in midlife feeling dismissed and unheard by the healthcare system? You're not alone For too long, women's midlife health issues have been trivialized and ignored. It's time for a change. it's time for MIDI. MIDI is the only women's telehealth brand covered by major insurance companies, making expert care accessible and affordable MIittDI's clinicians provide one on one consultations where they truly listen to your unique needs, offering data driven solutions tailored for you At MIDI, you'll feel seen heard and prioritized. Visit joinMIDI d. com to book your insurance covered virtual visit That's join Midi. com MittDy, the care womomen deserve Stehven, thank you so much for all of this. We If I may call you, Steven, I should have asked you at the beginning of Wh not? Please call me Stephven. We had envisioned in just the last remaining moments that we would do a little lightning round of questions. Okay. Okay. so if you'll indulge us What are the best and worst Steven Spielberg movies, according to your children I don't think my kids have ever had a worse. I mean My kids like my movies. They do like your. They ha't seen them all. And they'll tell me. This is not what I expected you to say because everybody's children, no matter how accomplished they are, they think, oh, it's just what dad does. It where my kids when my kids were six, eight, ten years old. And I'd bring them to the statch My whole family, Kate would bring the whole family to anyywhere I was shooting, the family would live there And and my kids were so bored by my job. Theyd come on the set and the first thing they'd say is, when do we get the lead? You're kidding? No, I'm not kidding because And what of my kids said to me? They said because We just waited an hour And then when you said action, it only lasted two minutes. And now youve put the camera somewhere else and it's gonna be another hour. You know, it's the waiting part that they hateated The only film I remember them not wanting to leave the set was Jurassic Park. Oh wow. Be we we had the thirty five foot T Rex completely auto animatronic designed brilliantly by the brilliant Stan Winston. They couldn't get enough of that Um What is a movie you might redo differently if you had the chance? Why I'm doing a really good job with this lightning round, but why? now I need to know. Not enough of a second act that was compelling enough for me. Interesting. I thought it had a great beginning, and a great ending and it didn't have a middle. More meat in the middle. Okay. What movie do you regret? I don't know if you pass on movies, but what movie do you regret just not doing that you could have done the most? I didn't pass on it. I helped develop Rain Man with Dustin Hoffan and Tom Cruise I brought the original writer back on the project, Ron Bass, and I worked with him on a couple of drafts. I was all ready to make the movie. And then something came along in my life and I needed to drop out of that film to help my friend. And that's the only movie that I ever had a chance of making. that I was sorry I didn't take But I thought Barry Levinson did a brilliant job making it into his movie. Riskiest cast inccision that paid off riskyest cast incision paid off I thinkddie time I've made a film with children. because they're real people. And I think the riskiest casting decision I probably made was that paid off as Drew Barmore NT favorite movie the last few years In recent years, it's going to have to be one battle after another Why why is it? It was It was just an intoxicant. It was about something about something important Never let me go. It had such a hold on me This question is not original and it is probably only for me, but Was ET slime or dry