The Fabelmans (2022) or, My Wonderful Upbringing

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A life captured on film rolls by over the head of Sam Fabelman walking on the Paramount studio backlot on this neat poster for Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans

Sam Fabelman grows up in post WWII America with 3 sisters and two doting parents, who mostly encourage his passion, which from an early age becomes the art of filmmaking.

 

The Fabelmans is written by Tony Kushner (Lincoln (2012)) and Ohioan master filmmaker, co-writer/co-producer/director Steven Spielberg (The Sugarland Express (1974)), whose 33rd feature it is. It is an autobiographical account of Spielberg's own childhood with the names altered.

Probably the most seen and most known modern filmmaker, - the man behind Jaws (1975), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982), Jurassic Park (1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), The Post (2017) and several more cinematic knock-outs, - here opens the doors for us to come to know him on a more personal level through seeing the story of his childhood and family. Our parents shape us more than probably any other people in the world, and this influence certainly makes sense in Spielberg's case; an over-emotional mother and a nerdy-technical, grounded father, both of whom were caring and supportive of their son: Spielberg's films are precisely characterized by equal measures intense emotion - and technical brilliance and entrepreneurship.

Spielberg affords his largely happy and sweet memories of growing up epic playtime length here, and perhaps it is the lack of utter heartbreak and really serious obstacles that make it feel a bit cushy. Who wouldn't have liked to have this kind of upbringing? Sam Fabelman is also a sweet and uncomplicated teenager. He doesn't act out, fail a lot or get nervous or weird. Gabriel LaBelle (The Predator (2018)) is adorable in the part, perhaps too adorable, and certainly his very noticeable colored contact lenses are an irritating ('reptile eyes') distraction. Michelle Williams (Wonderstruck (2017)) and Paul Dano (Looper (2012)) are on-point as the good parents, while Judd Hirsch (Uncut Gems (2019)) and David Lynch (Lucky (2017)) give memorable supporting performances.

Of course the film is well-made, told with nostalgia and emotion as it is. Spielberg's arrival as a filmmaker is interesting to see for anyone with a heart for the movies. There's wise words behind every corner, as Sam receives golden nuggets from mother, father, uncle, John Ford and others. The lessons and polished nature of the film is a clear lacquer that rests over The Fabelmans. It is astute and comes from a master filmmaker and a great guy (with a great family.) But many of his other films are simply put much more interesting and riveting.

 

Related posts:

Steven Spielberg: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Post (2017) - Spielberg returns to mastery with a thrilling salute to the virtues of real, critical, brave journalism
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
Lincoln (2012) - Spielberg's inspiring presidential portrait stands tall 
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama  
The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)

The 2000s in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 

Munich (2005) - Spielberg wrings a brilliant spy thriller from fraught real-life massacre and its aftermath

2001 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess 
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer) 

Top 10: Best future-set movies 
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves! 
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire

The Goonies (1985) - Sweet child performances drive Donner's beloved, uneven adventure (story) 
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology

Top 10: Best family movies reviewed by Film Excess to date 
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock  
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare 

 

Watch a trailer for the film here

 

Cost: 40 mil. $

Box office: 42.2 mil. $ and counting

= Huge flop (returned 1.05 times its cost)

[The Fabelmans premiered 10 September (Toronto International Film Festival) and runs 151 minutes. As far back as 1999 Spielberg was thinking about making the film. His sister Anne Spielberg's script I'll Be Home was a basis for the project. Only when their parents passed away in 2017 and 2020 did serious development begin. Shooting took place from July - September 2021 in Arizona and California. The film opened #16 to a 161k $ first weekend in 4 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #7 and in 1,962 theaters (different weeks), grossing 17.3 mil. $ (41 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were France with 6 mil. $ (14.2 %) and the UK with 4.2 mil. $ (10 %). The film was nominated for 7 Oscars, winning none. It lost Best Picture to Everything Everywhere All at Once, Actress (Williams) to Michelle Yeoh in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Supporting Actor (Hirsch) to Ke Huy Quan in Everything Everywhere All at Once, Director to Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert, Original Screenplay to Kwan & Scheinert for Everything Everywhere All at Once again, Production Design to All Quiet on the Western Front and Score (John Williams) to Volker Bertelmann for All Quiet on the Western Front. The film was also nominated for a BAFTA, won an AFI award, 2/5 Golden Globe nominations and 3 National Board of Review awards, among many other honors. Spielberg is set to return with an untitled Frank Bullitt project. LaBelle returned in American Gigolo (2022, TV-series) and theatrically in The Snack Shack; Williams in Fever; and Dano in Pantheon (2022, TV-series) and theatrically in Spaceman (2023). The Fabelmans is certified fresh at 92 % with an 8.20/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of The Fabelmans?

Munich (2005) - Spielberg wrings a brilliant spy thriller from fraught real-life massacre and its aftermath

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+ Best Period Movie of the Year + Best Spy Movie of the Year + Best Revenge Movie of the Year

Star Eric Bana seems to meditate the weight of the gun and its possible deeds on this dark poster for Steven Spielberg's Munich

Munich portrays the 1972 Olympics massacre in Munich, Germany, wherein the Palestine Liberation Organization murdered 12 people, 11 of them Israeli athletes, and the aftermath, in which Israel sought justice and revenge for the misdeed.

Munich is written by Tony Kushner (Lincoln (2012)) and Eric Roth (A Star Is Born (2018)), based on the non-fiction book Vengeance (1984) by George Jonas (Final Decree (1981)), and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List (1993)).
To make an objective film of the loaded story of the horrific massacre and the response from Mossad, Israel's intelligence service, is hard if not impossible, but Spielberg succeeds in making a drama thriller, which is masterly in its sympathetic, though-provoking suspense. The intelligent script and staging make the revenge missions highly exciting.
The cast features several very noteworthy actors; worth singling out are Eric Bana (Funny People (2009)), Geoffrey Rush (Frida (2002)) and Lynn Cohen (The Romance of Loneliness (2012)) as Israeli prime minister Golda Meir. John Williams' (The Accidental Tourist (1988)) score is more underplayed than we are accustomed to, subtle and mood-setting.
Munich's ending cements the moral complications it pursues. It is a brilliant film.

Related posts:

Steven Spielberg: 2017 in films - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]
The Post (2017) - Spielberg returns to mastery with a thrilling salute to the virtues of real, critical, brave journalism
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
Lincoln (2012) - Spielberg's inspiring presidential portrait stands tall 
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama  
The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure
Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)

2005 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I] 
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves! 
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock  
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare

Spielberg gives an interview about the film here

Cost: 70 mil. $
Box office: 130.3 mil. $
= Big flop (returned 1.86 times its cost)
[Munich opened 23 December (North America) and runs 163 minutes. Shooting took place in Paris, France, Malta, Hungary, including Budapest and in New York from June - September 2005. The film opened #8 to a 4.1 mil. $ first weekend in 532 theaters in North America, where it peaked at #6 and in 1,498 theaters (different weeks), grossing 47.4 mil. $ (36.4 % of the total gross), ranking among Spielberg's lowest-grossing features. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 8.9 mil. $ (6.8 %) and Japan with 8.4 mil. $ (6.4 %). The historical accuracy was criticized for leaving out important aspects of the story and changing the structure of the Mossad group and its members' moral considerations, and the Zionist Organization of America called for a boycott of the film. It was nominated for 5 Oscars, winning none: It lost Best Picture to Crash, Director to Ang Lee for Brokeback Mountain, Adapted Screenplay to Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana for Brokeback Mountain, Editing to Crash and Score to Gustavo Santolalla for Brokeback Mountain. It was also nominated for 2 Golden Globes, won an AFI award, won 1/2 Grammy nominations, a National Board of Review award and several other honors. Roger Ebert gave it a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch higher than this one. Spielberg returned with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (2008). Bana returned in Lucky You (2007). Munich is certified fresh at 78 % with a 7.45/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Munich?

Lincoln (2012) - Spielberg's inspiring presidential portrait stands tall

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+ Best Historical Movie of the Year + Best Big Hit Movie of the Year + Best Biopic of the Year

Daniel Day-Lewis fully immersed and impressively resemblant of his iconic character on this poster in stately B/W for Steven Spielberg's Lincoln

We follow the hardships of US president Abraham Lincoln in the last months of his second term, as the American Civil War finally comes to its end, and he manages to abolish slavery.

Lincoln is written by Tony Kushner (Munich (2005)), based in part on Doris Kearns Goodwin's (The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys: An American Saga (1987)) biographical book Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln (2005)), and directed by Ohioan master filmmaker Steven Spielberg (Jurassic Park (1993)).
Daniel Day-Lewis (Nanou (1986)) is phenomenal as Lincoln, and so is Sally Field (Eye for an Eye (1996)) as Mrs. Lincoln. Spielberg's sweeping, historical biopic is exciting, because besides portraying one of the most interesting political periods in world history, it is also driven by a family drama with equally high stakes.
Spielberg has gathered an appropriately impressive ensemble of actors, of which the third who deserves highlighting is Tommy Lee Jones (Double Jeopardy (1999)), who stands out in one of his career's finest performances as a rebel Republican, who does what is necessary in order to be able to abolish slavery with his president.
Lincoln is full of wallops; it is a very handsome production with sublime photography (by Janusz Kaminski (Tall Tale (1995))) and a good score, although it isn't among composer John Williams' (Catch Me If You Can (2002)) very best. The chosen portion of a speech which concludes the film puzzles me a bit.
Still Lincoln is a grand and thrilling history lesson of great quality.

Related posts:

Steven Spielberg: The Post (2017) - Spielberg returns to mastery with a thrilling salute to the virtues of real, critical, brave journalism
2012 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED V]
War Horse (2011) - Spielberg visits WWI with problematic horse drama The Adventures of Tintin/The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn (2011) - Affinities for Tintin, earlier Spielberg and film will decide your experience of this 3D mo-cap adventure Super 8 (2011) - Abrams' nostalgic family crowdpleaser (producer)
Band of Brothers - TV mini-series (2001) - WWII-sacrifice and -comradeship portrayed with skill and integrity (producer)
A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) - A robot fairy tale with both heart and mind
Amistad (1997) or, Must... Free... Slaves! 
Empire of the Sun (1987) - Spielberg's grand production of boy-in-China-during-WWII is a misfire
Twilight Zone The Movie (1983) - Fear takes many forms in tragedy-struck anthology
E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial (1982) - Spielberg's greatest accomplishment
1941 (1979) - Spielberg's bizarre 'comedy spectacular' sinks like a rock  
Top 10: Best car chases in movies reviewed by Film Excess to date
Duel (1971) - Spielberg's truck terror is ideal afternoon fare

Watch a trailer for the film here

Cost: 65 mil. $
Box office: 275.2 mil. $
= Big hit (returned 4.23 times the cost)
[Lincoln premiered 8 October (New York) and runs 150 minutes. Spielberg expressed desire to make a Lincoln film using Goodwin's then unwritten book in 1999. Development began in 2001 with Liam Neeson getting attached to star in 2005. He left the project in 2010, and Spielberg offered Day-Lewis, who had first called the idea of him playing the character "preposterous", the part again, which he then accepted. Shooting took place in Virginia from October - December 2011. The film opened #15 to a 944k $ first weekend in 11 theaters in North America, - a colossal 85k $ average, - where it peaked the following week at #3, behind new release, major box office phenomenon The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 and holdover hit Skyfall. It spent another 5 weeks in the top 5 (#3-#4-#4-#3-#5) and grossed 182.2 mil. $ (66.2 % of the total gross) domestically. The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were the UK with 13.2 mil. $ (4.8 %) and France with 10.6 mil. $ (3.9 %). Roger Ebert gave the film a 4/4 star review, translating to a notch better than this one. The historical accuracy of the film is generally assessed to be high. It was nominated for 12 Oscars, winning for Best Actor (Day-Lewis) and Best Production Design. It lost Best Picture to Argo, Supporting Actor (Jones) to Christoph Waltz in Django Unchained, Supporting Actress (Field) to Anne Hathaway in Les Misérables, Director to Ang Lee for Life of Pi, Adapted Screenplay to Chris Terrio for Argo, Cinematography to Claudio Miranda for Life of Pi, Costume Design to Anna Karenina, Sound Mixing to Les Misérables, Editing to Argo, and Score to Mychael Danna for Life of Pi. It also won 1/7 Golden Globe nominations, 1/10 BAFTA noms, an AFI award, a David di Donatello nomination, a Grammy nomination, a National Board of Review award and countless other honors. Disney donated 37,100 copies of the film on DVD along with teaching guides to secondary schools across the US. Spielberg returned with Bridge of Spies (2015). Day-Lewis returned in Phantom Thread (2017). Lincoln is certified fresh at 89 % with an 8/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Lincoln?

Angels in America (2003, miniseries) or, Dying in the 80s, of AIDS, at L-E-N-G-T-H

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Emma Thompson is the visiting angel on this dramatic poster for Mike Nichols' Angels in America

Tony Kushner (Munich (2005)) wrote a Pulitzer Prize-winning play set in the 1980s on AIDS, politics, religion, sex and homosexuality, which premiered in 1991. Adapting it was attempted first by master filmmaker Robert Altman, who ultimately didn't secure the necessary funding. Kushner tried adapting it into a single film but failed. He then started adapting it to miniseries format, and HBO agreed to finance the effort, directed by German master filmmaker Mike Nichols (Catch-22 (1970)) which was released in two versions: You can either see Angels as two roughly 3 hour movies, or as six episodes of around an hour. This review is based on the latter option.

New York in the 1980s: A young, Jewish gay couple are struck by tragedy, when the one part is diagnosed with AIDS. SPOILER The city's shark-like lawyer and Republican, Roy Cohn, dies equally slow from the disease at the same time. Meanwhile the healthy Jew leaves his sick sweetheart and has sex with Cohn's secretary, who has a wife. Next his Mormon mother enters the story, and later; angels.

Angels in America has a stellar cast that includes Al Pacino (The Godfather (1972)), James Cromwell (Owd Bob (1998)), Jeffrey Wright (Lady in the Water (2006)) and Emma Thompson (Beautiful Creatures (2013)). But the stars that really stand out and distinguish themselves here are Meryl Streep (The Manchurian Candidate (2004)) as the Mormon mother, a conflicted part she plays perfectly; and Patrick Wilson (Fargo (2015, TV-series)), who plays the closeted, married gay secretary coming out with lots of charm and intensity.
After the angels enter the story, the metaphysical elements get out of hand in a rainbow of pomposity and self-importance. The limit for this audience member's engagement in the tale gets crossed somewhere between the ethereal, the political, the racial politics and all the dramatic gays, but many others slurp it all up with a quivering smile.
Pacino is Cohn, the dying big-shot lawyer in denial, and he is almost so sick, feeble and skeletal here that you feel physically ill yourself by just watching him, (which you'll do at length in Angels in America).
The ending is excessively lengthy, so in spite of the series' qualities, it is far from being the gemstone that it is hailed as. Better AIDS-themed works include Philadelphia (1993), How to Survive a Plague (2012, documentary), Dallas Buyers Club (2013), The Normal Heart (2014, TV movie), BPM (Beats Per Minute) (2017) and more.

Related posts:

Mike Nichols: Closer (2004) - Nichols and Marber's intelligent film of love and infidelity 

2003 in films and TV-series - according to Film Excess [UPDATED I]

Biloxi Blues (1988) or, '45 Army Camp Confidential   
Catch-22 (1970) - Nichols wages war on war with ensemble cast in absurdist satire 

Watch a 4-minute clip from the miniseries here

Cost: 60 mil. $
Box office: None (TV miniseries)
= Uncertain
[Angels in America was first broadcast from 7 December - 14 December (HBO) and runs 352 minutes. Shooting took place for 137 days in New York and in Rome, Italy from March 2002 - January 2003. It was reportedly the most-seen TV movie of 2003, - whether this made it profitable also is regrettably unreported. It won 5/7 Golden Globe nominations, 11/21 Emmy nominations, an AFI award, a National Board of Review award, was nominated for a Grammy and several other honors. Nichols returned with Closer (2004). Streep returned in Freedom: A History of Us (2003, documentary TV-series) and theatrically in The Manchurian Candidate (2004)); Thompson in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004); and Pacino in The Merchant of Venice (2004). Angels in America is certified fresh at 92 % with a 9.5/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]

What do you think of Angels in America?