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Unspooled

Close Encounters of the Third Kind

6/18/20261 hr 20 min

Paul and Amy look to the skies with Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Steven Spielberg’s awe-inspiring follow-up to Jaws and one of cinema’s most influential visions of alien contact. They unpack the film’s ambitious production, from Spielberg’s growing creative confidence, Douglas Trumbull’s groundbreaking effects work and the casting. Along the way, they explore the movie’s themes of obsession, faith, communication, and government secrecy, and why its sense of wonder still feels so powerful nearly fifty years later. You can join the Unspooled conversation on Paul’s Discord at https://discord.gg/ZwtygZGTa6 Follow Paul and Amy on Letterboxd for more of their movie hot takes! https://letterboxd.com/paulscheer/ https://letterboxd.com/theamynicholson/ Paul’s book Joyful Recollections of Trauma is out now! Find it at https://www.harpercollins.com/products/joyful-recollections-of-trauma-paul-scheer Check out more of Paul's writing on his Substack https://substack.com/@paulscheer Episodic Art by Kim Troxall: https://www.unspooledart.com/ Learn more about the show at Unspooledpod.com, follow us on Twitter @unspooled and on Instagram @unspooledpod, and don’t forget to rate, review & subscribe to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or where you listen to podcasts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Clips

Spielberg's Clown-and-Gorilla Kid Trick
Spielberg's $2.7 Million Hoax
Production Worse Than Jaws
Travolta’s Freudian Flight Flick
The Wrong Five-Note Chant
‘Wish Upon a Star’ Misfire

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Amy Nicholson· Host0:01

    The year is 1977 If everything's ready here on the dark side of the moon, play the five tones. [beeps] The movie, Close Encounters of the Third Kind. [upbeat music] Hello, everyone, and welcome to Unspooled.

  2. Paul Scheer· Host0:29

    Unspooled. Yes, welcome to Unspooled. This is a podcast about good movies, critical hits, fan favorites, must-sees, and in case you missed 'ems. We have covered the AFI top one- Hey, that's my line.

  3. Amy Nicholson· Host0:42

    I'm back Oh, you're right.

  4. Paul Scheer· Host0:44

    My gosh.

  5. Amy Nicholson· Host0:44

    I'm back.

  6. Paul Scheer· Host0:44

    So sorry. Yeah, I'm back.

  7. Amy Nicholson· Host0:46

    [laughs] I'm back. That is the end of it. I'm just back. Paul, step off my line. Hello, it's Amy. Hi. We have covered the AFI Top 100, and now we are talking about movies from three major lists: the Letterboxd Top 250 Films with the Most Fans, the IMDb Top 250, and the New York Times 1,000 Essential Films.

  8. Paul Scheer· Host1:02

    You know, Amy, if you listen to any of the episodes I did without you, I didn't even say that line when you were not here.

  9. Amy Nicholson· Host1:08

    Really?

  10. Paul Scheer· Host1:08

    Yes.

  11. Amy Nicholson· Host1:09

    Here I thought you were just waiting for me to go away so you could take over the whole intro.

  12. Paul Scheer· Host1:12

    [laughs] Uh, Amy, uh, welcome back. You've been gone for a very long time because you were doing your job as the film critic for the LA Times in, uh, Cannes.

  13. Amy Nicholson· Host1:23

    I was. I was in France watching very long, very boring movies, and I was pretty mad that most of them made it to this year's Cannes. Last

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