Steven Spielberg is the GOAT of blending technical ambition and unbeatable storytelling, and one of his next-level techniques is respecting and celebrating even the littlest children. (See: the bit in Jaws when Chief Brody and his youngest son pull faces at dinner.) E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial is an entire feature film set in the rich, often-fraught emotional landscape of kid-dom — land-locked as it is within the adult world, save for the sparkling shores of imagination — overlaid on the physical landscape of 1980s suburbia. E.T. begins the Belcourt’s spring Spielberg series with screenings on March 28 and 30, and it’s a family favorite for lots of reasons. It’s funny and exciting without being too scary, the kids’ ingenuity and determination are inspiring, and the late, great Carlo Rambaldi’s E.T. puppet comes across as more alive than CGI could dream of. As a first-time parent, I keep going back to this film because of how wisely and gently the story handles the kid world, imagining the shocks and aftershocks of suddenly having a telepathic link to someone else’s feelings. When the grown-up extraterrestrial tracker tells the youngster, “I’m glad he met you first,” it slams home with incredible force.
March 28 & 30 at the Belcourt
2102 Belcourt Ave.
