I would venture to say that Steven Spielberg is one of the most iconic film directors in history.
And on this date in 1946, he was born. I did not realize that he was born Jewish, but I can certainly see it now. I just never thought about it. He began as an unpaid intern at Universal Studios in the 1960's. Television was his first vehicle in 1969 with Night Gallery, and he even landed work on the first series of Columbo.
His first film vehicle was Sugarland Express in 1974, but it did not fare well at the box office. It was Jaws in 1975, that made him an international star. And the rest is history. You can see the tribute to him from 2009, and this does not even take into account Lincoln (that I have not seen but plan to). I have not seen every film featured in the tribute, but I am familiar with most. It is hard to say what my favorite is, but maybe I'll say Amistad for now. This was a movie that is rated "R," and I was a little concerned about seeing it. I checked it out of the library, and I was amazed. There was honestly nothing "R-rated" about it. I would put it at a PG-13 rating due to violence. I spent a a lot of time crying during the film, and it was very hard to watch. Of course, I loved E.T., The Color Purple, Back to the Future, War Horse, and many more. I am not a fan of Jaws (I was horrified after watching this and hope to never see it again) War of the Worlds (I would have loved if they followed the book), nor Indiana Jones (too violent for me). I kind of liked the idea behind Jurassic Park, but again, it was a little over the top for me. There are many more I could list, and I would love to hear your thoughts!
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