Close Encounters of the Third Kind

I thought I might run out of topics in this blog, but a few things came to mind today.  These include taxes (I did my tax returns today), my neighborhood (since I've done so many local walks in the last few weeks, I've become quite familiar with it), Mario Kart (I think I have genuinely broken my controller playing it this morning) and how soul-destroying social distancing is.  But instead of these - which I may revisit in the week ahead - let me instead mention a film I watched last night - Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  A sci-fi classic nearly as old as me, I had surprisingly (shockingly?) never seen it before.  And it is maybe one of the very few Steven Spielberg films that I haven't seen before.  I didn't know what to expect - maybe something closer to War of the Worlds?  I also surprisingly (shockingly?) haven't seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, so I think I was expecting something more Kubrickian.  So what did I think of Close Encounters?  Well it started slowly, but the last 30 to 45 minutes is absolutely stunning.  Who cares about minimal plot and character development, when you have special effects that are so good that they hold up even 40 years later, accompanied by an amazing John Williams score.  Also good to finally put context to that iconic 5 note sequence.  I don't think it is a stone cold classic - it's not a film that I'm going to go out of my way to watch again - but I'm glad I can finally cross it off my list.  3.5 stars.