125. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (with Drewbie Doobie’s Movies) (Summer of Spielberg)

What do you get when you combine one precocious wizkid director who’s actually not that young, one cocaine-addled producer, one befuddled Frenchman, one Bob Balaban taking notes, and lots and lots of McDonald’s? You get what is quite possibly the greatest science fiction film ever made, Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977).

Our friend Drewbie Doobie’s Movies (@DrewbieDoobieMovies on TikTok) returns to the show to gush about one of Spielberg’s very best movies… maybe his very best. It’s the second time we’ve covered this movie on the show, but back in 2018, we only talked about it for about 10 minutes, and most of that time was spent with Laci complaining about Melinda Dillon not wearing a bra.

This is a beautiful, special movie, but it doesn’t seem like it’s as widely seen as your Jurassics Park and your Jawses. So please, folks, give it a chance.

Watch this episode in full on YouTube: https://youtu.be/bVPDZKa9dFc

Next week: The Fabelmans (2022) with special guest Paul of Twin Flicks!

Time stamps:

3:41 — Our personal histories with Close Encounters of the Third Kind and our big-picture thoughts on the movie

22:27 — History segment: UFOs; Spielberg in the early ‘70s; Producers Michael and Julia Phillips; Francois Truffaut; the controversy over the screenwriting credit for Close Encounters; the 1980 “special edition” of Close Encounters and its weird McDonald’s tie-in

46:30 — In-depth movie discussion

2:01:03 — Final thoughts and star ratings

Artwork by Laci Roth.

Music by Rural Route Nine. Listen to their album The Joy of Averages on Spotify (https://bit.ly/48WBtUa), Apple Music (https://bit.ly/3Q6kOVC), or YouTube (https://bit.ly/3MbU6tC).

Songs by Rural Route Nine in this episode:

“Summer of Spielberg” - https://youtu.be/yglAqqLEaoI  

“Winston-Salem” - https://youtu.be/-acMutUf8IM   

“Snake Drama” - https://youtu.be/xrzz8_2Mqkg  

“The Bible Towers of Bluebonnet” - https://youtu.be/k7wlxTGGEIQ   

“Summer of Spielberg” theme song credits:

Words and music written by Matt Stokes

Performed by Wade Hymel (drums/guitar), Laci Roth (vocals), and Matt Stokes (vocals/guitar/bass)

Produced by TJ Barends, Wade Hymel, and Matt Stokes

Engineered and mixed by TJ Barends at Bare Sounds Studio in Ponchatoula, Louisiana

Sources:

Steven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride - https://amzn.to/3xzYOx1

You’ll Never Eat Lunch In This Town Again by Julia Phillips - https://amzn.to/3STJWBk 

Close Encounters of the Third Kind: The Making of Steven Spielberg's Classic Film by Ray Morton - https://amzn.to/3M7JJqo