The Future of Cinema and Communal Experiences

The rest is entertainment is presented by Octopus Energy. Now fan mail is one of entertainment's strangest bargains. You send total devotion one way. And the understanding that nothing may come back. Certainly in our day, you would write to a film star or a singer. I wrote to Howard Jones. and maybe three months later a sort of signed photo comes back that's clearly proformer, you know that you know Howard's never really looked at. Steve Martin used to have a performer sort of thing, which we just leave blanks, like insert, like small detail to make a joke about how completely impersonal his personal reply to you was, And it's just like a standard thing. Ipersonal is interest, and that's why'reking this, because at Octopus Energy, you always can reply to their emails. and not only can you reply to them, they will go to the same small group of people who always deal with you. That's like unbelievable. It's almost unprecedented that a company you're giving your money to will actually respond to are contactable Yeah in some way Hello and welcome to this episode of the Rest' Entertainment Questions and Answers Edition. I'm Marina Highe, and I'm Richard Osman now Bad news, We are not answering your questions this week good news mister Steven Spielberg is answering them. This is a big honour. Isn't it just? are We are waiting for him to come in. Quite excited. Apparently he's going to be on time, which is almost unheard of. We got loads of questions. thank you so much for all of those some brilliant ones. Apologies, we can't use all of them, but I think we've got stuff that will go across his career, but also we're talking about Disclosure day, which is his new movie, which I think is absolutely terrific C I also Teddy with a little secret? Yeah. I have an absolutely mental question I want to ask him That's good which I hopefully will drop in about halfway through. Yeah I'm sure it'll just be very cool and we won't even notice. Yeah, you might do. Yeah. you might do Listen, shall we do it? Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Steven Spielbg I sold my car in Carbana last night. Well, that's cool. No, you don't understand. It went perfectly. realal offer, down to the penny. They're picking it up tomorrow. Nothing went wrong. So what's the problem? That is the problem. Nothing in my life goes as smoothly. I'm waiting for the catch. Maybe there's no catch. That's exactly what a catch would want me to think. Wow, you need to relax. I need to knock on wood. Do we have wood is this table wood I think it's laminate. Okay, yeah, that's good. That's close enough. Car selling without a catch. Sell your car today on carana. Pick up these Mfly. Let's talk about a condition many people haven't heard of. And it turns out, it's more common than you'd think Heyony's disisease, or PD for short PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis This can cause a curve or a bump during an erection and for some men, lead to pain during intimacy may impact mental health It may also lead to anger and frustration deression, lower self esteem. and even withdraw from sexual activity and physical intimacy Because of this, some men could feel embarrassed or reluctant to talk about PD The actual cause of PD isn't always known In some cases, it may be linked to a minor injury or repeated injuries during sex or other physical activity The good news is PD is treatable If you notice a curve with a bump A trusted urology specialist can help diagnose it. walk you through your options, including non surgical treatment To learn more about Pyroni's disease, visit talkboutpD d. comot Stehven Spielberg, how lovely to see you. Hey Richard, good to see you again. Thank. Last time I saw Stehven, he was taking off a helicopter. And I was set with Richard. Exactly. the Thurday Murder Club. now but we are here to talk about all sorts of things, but first I want to talk about disclosure dayay because as I've just told you, I thought was magnificent. I was trying to work out which of our listener questions would lead us into it, better.. L lots to talk about. So we're going to go very, very root one from Dan Young And Dan says, Do you believe in aliens? do believe that we are not alone in the cosmos in the universe. As far as do I believe that aliens are here and have been here, fifty years ago to make close encounters I would have said seeing is believing and I haven't seen one. I've not even seen the UFO Today I'm more inclined to say with all the smartphones that are out there and all the things that I've seen and all the people who I believe, I believe the believers, I am absolutely ready to say that I do believe that we are not alone here on this planet W that one of the things that prompted you? I don't know how much you want to give away about the plot to disiscloseure day, but is that one of the things that prompted you to make it? Well, one of thing that prompted me to make it was just that whistleblowers were now coming from higher levels of authority. They were coming from the United States Air Force. they were coming from Navy pilots. They were coming from our intelligence community in Washington People were blowing the whistle and saying that the government has been hiding for decades. trruth that we are not alone. and I started believing those believers, and not just the people, the rank and file people who have had close encounters of all kinds throughout all of these years that we've all been reading about documentaries have been made about them. The aerial school in Zimbabwe where those sixty kids had that phenomenal encounter. Beings fromom off world, so many things have happened that I am now really in a position to I think, tell a story about it. Our next question is from a boy called Luke Estherhides. He says, I'm eleven years old. My favorite film of all time is Jurassic Park. I was wondering what your favorite film was when you were eleven and why? Oh, that's a great question. When I was eleven years old That was my favorite film, my goodness probablyroably When I was eleven I would have to say my favorite film is something that you've never seen It was called Davy Crocket, King of the Wild Frontier. with Sess Parker and Buddy Epson And it was the first a cultural phenomenon. of a motion picture that appealed to kids There have been a lot of cultural phenomenons that appeal to adults like Gone with the Wind prior to that. But when I was eleven years old, that was the bomb That was the movie that we were reenacting in our backyards. That was a film that they started selling merchandise, coonskin caps and powder hones and plastic models of his rifle old Betsy. That was for me the first Star Wars of films that really reached my eleven year old neighborhood. And is there still a bit of you that puts all of that in your films? If you know me, the film we like most eleven kind of stays with us. Is that something you try and recreate for people watching in your movies? I just try to tell a story as effectively as I know how to do. I've not really settled on one genre in my career, science fiction, perhaps is the most consistent genre of all the films I've directed. It was funny for watching Disclosure Day. I was th thinkinking about Stephen King and I think one thing both of you have in common is you can go anywhere because you're so rooted in reality. When you're doing reality when you're doing a street, I believe I am in a street. and therefore you know, there can be a time portal, there can be aliens, there can bees, whatever you want. And that's the thing is it's starting with the real and then going outwards. Well I'm devoted to Stephen King's work. I know Stephen. Stephen knows me. We've done some things together throughout our careers I'm an eternal admirer of his and and like Michael Crichon as well They both operate under the theory that they must make the incredible incredible in order to get us to believe the characters in their stories. So they don't allow themselves to untether weightlessly and spinning yarns that have no relationship with our reality And because their reality is my reality. their reality is our reality, which is they tell terrestrial stories And they put a spin of fantasy, science fiction, science Jassic Park wouldn't have worked Unless Michael Crrighton can make all of us in his novel believe the dinosaurs come back from amber, from biting insects That bit dinosaurs sixty five million years ago and can be cloned. And it's good science. And that's the important thing about the kind of movies that I make. If I'm going to make a movie that is stranger than fiction, then there has to be some bedrock science to let audiences believe it's credible. Well, I think you nail that with disclosure, they all say this. Here's one of our listeners. This is not a question Declan Costello says Many years ago, I auditioned for the role of Jim in Empire of the Sun It down to the last five boys considered for the part, but it obviously went to Christian Bale said, you wrote me a beautiful letter, which I treasure But then he says, hereere's the kicker definitely made the right decision, by the way, I am a much better doctor than I would have been an actor. Oh, that's wonderful. Well, listen, Declan, you have saved lives. You found a career where you are able to bring peace and health who were ill. What a wonderful thing to devote your entire life toward. He's got still a letter which she sent to us and it's absolutely lovely. I love that. I have to say that you've managed to get so many great performances out of children and young people. and you have a lot of children. Did directing teach you anything about parenthood? or did parenthood teach you anything about directing parenthood. actually keeps me young and relevant. because my kids are on the first line of saying, Dad, you don't know what you're talking about. Oh my goodness, Dad, you don't know what that phrase means. You've never heard that before Dad, have you listen to this piece of mus?, what do mean you haven' to listen to this piece of mus? I mean my kids have at least kept me current. Do you ever able to say, G, I'm Steven Spielberg. I don't have a reality about that. Yes. I don't even have my name on my directing chair on sets I don't put my name on directing chairs on sets. The thing that my biggest challenge when I'm working with actors who haven't worked with before is to get them to forget every movie I ever made. So many people askking about and just completely divest yourselves of everything you think I am And let's just get down to the business at hand and let's make a great movie together and let's take tell a great story together. because whenever I make a movie I have a family. It's a film family. It's an ensemble, It's a company of actors and crew as well. And we need to be a family for a long time, sometimes months on end, we're working together. And I can't let anything distract them And they look, it's fine if they want to talk about what ET meant to them. When they were eight years old, I'm happy about having that conversation. But just not to forget that we're all the same telling this story. We're on the same page. Yeah. Even when he was doing the Wf of Wall Street, Leonardo DiCaprio said you came on set one day and he was so nervous that whole day you were doing something to do with Sorsesei that day. and just he tells the anecote in interview saying, Oh my God, I' so nervous. I' even saw on Thursday Murder Club, even Helen Mirran . The only guy who kept his call is Pierce Brosman because he always kepts his call. Well, Pierce Brosman was my neighbor on the beach for twenty years. So there you go. So Pierce, when he saw me coming along, it was kind of like, why didd you sell your beach house? You stopped being my neighbor ten years ago Why did'd you put your bins out on the wrong day, Stephven? Betsy Warke has a question. She said you were almost as young as Kane Parsons, the director of Backrooms and Curry Barker, the director of Obsession when you made draws. what advice would you give to up and coming young directors? Don't let success go to your heads. Do not let wild success go to your heads because When you make your next movie, you're starting from scratch. It's always good to have a big hit to shore up your reputation and you're going to get a lot of respect from the executives, from the film world, from the studios, giving them the advice that I have had to learn the hard way that we all start over again And if you may get a chance to make twenty, thirty films in your career. you will discover, maybe on your second or third film that you're beginning your career all over again at the outset of every single project Did you feel that with disclosure? I did, absolutely. Every movie I've made, I feel like I'm going back to the beginning Well you passed? No thank you. Thank you Here's one from Anel Patel who says Gorvidell once said, Every time a friend succeeds, I die a little. Did you experience any pangs of jealousy for George Lucas and Francis Vol Coppola in the pre Jaws nineteen seventies? No, never, Francis was our godfather. Francis, we looked up to Francis He was our leader. throughout the seventies and the Godfather, and I have said this before for me It's the greatest American film ever made. The first Godfather film is the greatest f. I was going to ask you made. And I've always believed that. And George and I were best friends from the day we met And yes, we were we were competitive with each other made us better at what we do. Because I was always trying to top George, and George was always trying to top me, and then we would be together and joke about that and be honest with each other. And so George gave me inspiration and I gave him inspiration. and we have all has been feeding off each other. And do you still think that the Godfather is the greatest film of all time and you've never there's a quote from the nineties where he said, I've never made a movie anywhere near as good as the Godfather. Do you still think that For me, a Goddfather, the first Goddfather, is the greatest American film of all time. I'm not saying it's the greatest film of all time. And you feel that you have made nothing close to it. It's very, very hard for me to be objective about my own work very hard Julian asks, Were you ever approached to make a bond film? Do you have any regrets about not doing that? I have regrets that they didn't approach me to direct a boond film. They never approached you. I approach Cuby broccoli. After Chras was a big hit, I've always I'd always wanted to make a James Bond film from the day I saw Doror No So I called Cubby broccoli after Jaws, and I volunteered. I said, if you need a director, I would love to direct one And he said, no And moved on And then Cubby called me again after close encounters came out and that was a big hit. And Cubby called me a few years after close encounters and said, we'd like to use the five notes in Moonraaker dan dan dan dan dan. And I said, I'll make you a deal I'll give you permission to use the five notes if you let me direct a Braunfilm. And he said, no But I gave him the five notes anyway. Yeah So they consistently turned me down. Why? He never explained why he wasn't letting me in the Bond family. But when I told that story to George Lucas in nineteen seventy seven when we were in Hawaii together getting ready for the release of Star Wars new hope We all went to Hawaii together to relax and get on the phone and figure out how much money it made at the ten o'clock shows all over America. And when we found out that every single ten o'clock AM show had been sold out, George was just a bullant. and Marsha, his wife was a bullant. We went back down to the beach and I told my sad C be broccoli story. they wouldn't let me direct Bond. And that's when George said I have something better than Bond. It's called Indiana Smith, which is what it was called at the time. And he told me the premise of the Indiana Jones series and that's how I got that job So if they ever asked me too make a Bond film now. My answer would be You can't afford me. This episode is brought to you by Lloyds. Now I love it when characters are part of a club. You wouldn't know anything about that, or you, Richard? The Thurday Murder Club in some ways reminds me of the A team. I would now would like to map each of those characters onto the A team and feel I probably could. I mean, Elizabeth is Hannibal and it's not even close. That's exactly right, and Ron is howling Mad Murdock. Well, there are definite perks to being in a club. justust ask the members of Club Lloyds because with Clubloyds, you can bank on Lloyds to give you more wherever you are. If you join Club Lloyds, there's sorts of benefits that you can choose between. There's, for example, six free cinema tickets. They've got an annual coffee club and Gourmet Society membership, which would be mine. And also something that The Thursday Murder Club We wouldould enjoy very, very much indeed. To top it all off, you have fee free spending abroad, which means wherever you are, you won't be charged by Lloyds to use your debit card when you're travelling. Now joining this club costs five pounds per month, but that is refunded in any month that you pay two thousand pound into your account. Now that is a club that's worth being part of. Check out Club Lloyds today. you'll need to be a UK resident and aged eighteen or over to apply It's nearly that time everyone. The rest is football will be on Netflix every day for the world's biggest tournament. Join myself, Alan and Micah for daily debates, unfiltered takes, and the most special of guests, all from the heart of New York City Yeah, that's right. We're excited to. See you soon Hi, this is Garalinka from Goldhangers. The restest is foootball. This episode is brought to you by Wise. It's only when you start moving money between currencies that you really think about the exchange rate, the fee and what might be hidden away in the small print Whether you're living abroad, paying someone overseas, or just trying to manage your money across borders, you want a fair exchange rate and easy transfer and no surprises along the way. Wise keeps things simple Wise is a smart way to move the currencies you need around the globe. It works in more than one hundred and sixty countries and with over forty currencies. Most transfers arrive instantly. Wise uses the mid market exchange rate, like the one you see on Google, with no markups or hidden fees. So when money needs to move, you can see the rate Know the fee and get on with it. Join millions saving billions on hidden fees by downloading the wise app today. Be smart, G wise, Ts and Ts applly. Let's talk about Payoni's disease, or PD 's not widely talked about. And some men may feel reluctant to bring it up But it's more common than you'd think PD can happen when scar tissue builds up under the skin of the penis, causing a curve or a bump during an erection that for some men, may lead to pain during intimacy and impact mental health A trusted urology specialist can help diagnose PD and walk you through your options, including non surgical treatment Visit talkaboutpD. com I think we'll have Shan Marray's version of this question. You've shaped modern cinema like nobody else, but whose film do you secretly wish you had your name on? Is there a story that someone beat you to that still haunts you apart from Bond stories? Oh no, this's the only film that it's not even a regret, but I did my friend George Lucas a favor and I actually We needed to move up the start date of Indiana Jones and the last Crusade. I was all about to direct Rainman. Dustin Hoffan and Tom Cruz had already committed when they sent me the script I worked on the script with the writer, Ron Bass for a while And I was getting ready to make the movie in about five or six months and I had to drop out to do L Crusade instead, which I was previously obligated to do. And that was the only fish that I felt got away. And I love what Barry Levinson did with it. I thought it was a great movie. It stands the test of time. It's still one of my favorite films Can I ask you to going back to disisclosure day for a minute? Can I present a thought experiment to you? Okay, which is There is biological life out there somewhere in the universe. and amongst the trillions of stars and the trillions of universes Swhere there will be a life force that is something like us and is more advanced than us so can study us and may at some point come to visit, may have already visited. If they are to do that, They will do their research into Earth Do you think there are aliens out there that have seen Spielberg movies? I would certainly think the by by whatever form, they could, let's say, commune with our art or with our that medium, whatever form they get, I'm sure it's not going to be a blue ray. I'm not sure exactly. I'm not sure the nineteen nineties are going to go into a blockbuster and get a blue ray, although that would be a great fodder for a good comedy that maybe Seth Rogan should make. But I would think that had they seen ET, this is only my concecedited hope, they would have somehow made themselves known to me and they didn't I've been waiting to see UFO my entire life. Do you know what? Disclosure there is another letter to the aliens, right? There's another one they's saying, L, I get it. becausecause I do think if they do come down, who are they going to talk to I think if you look around the world, if I'm an alien, the first person I say, could you get me Spielberg? Well, gee Wouldn't that be neat? Yeah that be lovely. Wouldn't that be lovely, but but I think that a higher intelligence or let's say, more advanced intelligence where the physics are different. Obviously they've learned how to circumvent the cosmos and they've found shortcuts to get here whether they're interdimensional beings whether they're they' they have found ways to wormholes to to find shortcuts here However it is, I think the thinking, their thinking would also be almost unrelatably more advanced. You don't think they would still love stories? Yes. they would probably have their own narrative form of storytelling. And I'd be curious about that. I was always wondering what would a alien life form coming here How would they interpret art? What would their art be? How would they express their art Yeah, what would they be pointing to? go I love that. What if they come down and just say we tell you the movie we love Rainman theJ. As long as it' come down and say, you know the best movies we've ever seen is everything Roger Corman ever produced. That would be really fun. Lucas and Kopler, they came out of Roger Cormman to some extent that he those cheap ways of doing things, I was thinking about him a lot this week because of the backrooms are obsession.' people coming out of YouTube Roger Corman was one of the greatest believers in young storytelling and young storytellers. he gave so many breaks to my colleagues that are still working today. Marty Scorsese and George Lucas and others wouldn't Francis Coppela wouldn't have gotten their early starts without Roger. I keep thinking that Roger Corman and the Sundance Institute have done more. new blood into this industry than any other individual or Robert Redford, any other individual that's created an institute believed in new storytellers I have a question from Darren Saka. He says, Do you think there's single moment from one of your films that sums up your view of the world? No, there isn't because I'm really an eclectic moviegoer, you know, I find value in everything I see. I've never seen a bad movie I've seen movies I don't like, but I've never seen a bad movie. I always find something I like about films that maybe are universally not spoken highly of I always find something good And do you think it's exciting that all these people can come up via YouTube now in a way that it was obviously so expensive for you to make something even like Amblin or one of those really early things that you made, was obviously still very expensive to produce, and that now people can come up through this different medium And that they still, I guess, want to put their stuff in theaters. You can't believe how many young people come up to me and say, how do I get started making movies I just say, do you have a smartphone? And they say, ye, right here. I said, You just found your way of getting started. But are you encouraged now that people seem to be this new generation going back into actual theaters.'s critical for the longevity of motion picture exhibition Without which everything will be a home experience. or basically a smartphone experience And I don't think anybody you know, should watch a first run movie. on a very teeny screen I mean, it's okay to come home and watch a first run movie on like a screen in your home I prefer movie theaters. I prefer the movie going experience. It's interesting raise that way that Jen said they want to go in and they want to be together because I suppose so much of what people experience now is solitary, completely solitary on a phone and actually to want to go into movie theaters and have the experience together is something quite old fashioned. I don't think people liked being isolated during COVID I don't think people liked the fact that they were denied, you know, social entry into back into society because we were all Essentially, we went within, we went underground. We took shelter We all got in our own bomb shelters during COVID And I think people are now starting to realize the importance of big group communal experiences by getting our communities back together again, watching concerts. Wing plays ing movies, watching opera or going to the New York City Ballet compomany. I mean, this is peopleople getting back together again is the greatest way to bridge our differences. And I would say in order to do that, you need great art. And I having watched Disclosure Day in the cinema I said to you when you came in, I felt like a child again. It's a proper you have to watch it in the cinema. I was leaning forward almost the whole way through that film. And it just felt like a comonal experience, but that doesn't exist without the thing that you do. I don't have a question. that's just to say than. Thank you, Richard. so such a treat. Thank you. What were your parents' favourite films? My mom and dad loved musicals. They loved the Hollywood musical and they would take me with them to see Hollywood musicals in nineteen. fifties and sixties, I got to see some of the great musicals and in first run in theaters. When you're a kid, the only way you see a movie is your parents have to drive you Unless you've got a movie theater within safe walking distance from home And that was their favorite films. they just loved that. And Gean Kelly and Fred Astair and Sid Sharise and Donald O'Connor Debbie Reynolds. I mean, I mean, that was I never saw it singing in Rign in a movie theater. I saw it on television when it came on television. but But I saw a funny face that a drive in. You know, there's a lot of things that I saw in first run theaters and that's in a way what drove me to make Westide story eventually. My wife cried from second one to the final second literally the whole way through. everyvery time I looked at her, she was in tears. David adds what was your parents' favorite movie of yours? Did they have one should' list My My myad favorite movie ofine was Ting Private Ryan, becausecause my dad's of the greatest generation. He fought in World War two And that was his generation. and my mom's and my dad's was also a Sindl's les. And that must make you feel very proud. It does, does it does Stehven, thank you so much. We have so many questions we could have asked you. We've picked highideight. So thank you to everyone. And I answered every question. did.'tese were all great tooanks. He was passed past p. He was't he was Everyone was great. Stehven, thank you, this is absolutely wonderful film. I said to someone Ambberian and I said it was like watching a great Spielberg movie And it really really was So thank you. Thankk you for. Thank you so much. so much. Thank you. This was just such a pleasure What it was it extraordinary. What a dude. Yeah I mean, we have had some pretty amazing moments in the last few weeks, but there's something about people who, I think, at that stage in their career, are able to remain childlike and innocent and so kind of who understand what they've done. and it's just, yeah, it was I mean, gosh, what a career. And you know, I always say beforehand that if there's any questions you want to pass zero passes. just went straight in on every single question. And I got to ask my onene about whether he thought aliens had never watched a spelbg on So I was Did you sp? Did you spot that was the mental one? mon properly engaged? He did, didn't he? He felt they didn't watch the first one, but maybe they'll watch the new one. Well, that's what I was thinking. I think surely they must have. and sureurely when they come down, who were they gonna to ask to speak to? Yes. But you know what I mean? Take me to Stehven Spielberg. Take me to Spielberg. Yeah. Take me to Barry Levinson That's what I wantoed. But that was an absolute treat. Once again, thank you so much for sending in your questions. We love doing these interviews. And people love the fact that it's listener questions. think because by the way, journalists alwaysks the same door. I know And we can be really cheeky as well and it's your fault. That's the absolute joy of it We need to go and decompress, I think. We do G this week it just be my new talking. We'll make it special. Yeah, we'll make it special. All right, man. See you next Tuesday. See you next Tuesday