September is Spielberg Month at the Phoenix.
His filmography spans populist blockbusters and serious historical drama, often blending the two. He redefined mainstream cinema with Jaws (1975), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial(1982), and the Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park series – films built on spectacle, suspense, and a childlike sense of wonder. Alongside these, he made weightier, awards-driven dramas grappling with history and morality: Schindler’s List(1993), Saving Private Ryan (1998), Munich (2005), Lincoln (2012), and Bridge of Spies (2015). Later films like The Post (2017) and The Fabelmans (2022, a semi-autobiographical look at his upbringing) show him turning toward journalism, legacy, and personal reflection. His work is marked by strong visual storytelling, emotional accessibility, and a recurring interest in family, loss, and moral courage under pressure.
Queues formed in the US when Jaws was released in 1975. Viewers returned to see it twice as Spielberg plays on our fear of the unknown, making a generation think twice before going into the sea.
It’s the most frightening film set in the ocean ever. (5 September, 4.30 pm)
In the same year that his adult war drama, Schindler’s List, gained immense acclaim, he came up with Jurassic Park, a rip-roaring adventure of dinosaurs and disaster. The late Sam Neill is in there, with Richard Attenborough, and many more. Friendly vegetarian dinosaurs give way to the frightening t-rex, to say little of the toothy velociprators.
Little wonder the film took $900 million worldwide.
It screens on 6 September at 2pm.
Four years later Spielberg made The Lost World: Jurassic Park. A mathematician heads for a second island to save his girlfriend from becoming dinosaur bait. (7 September, 4.30pm)
Goldie Hawn gives a highly praised performance in Spielberg’s Sugarland Express from 1974. She’s an ex-criminal who persuades her husband to break out of prison to help get their two-year-old son back from foster care. (10 September, 4.30pm).
Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies centres on a shot-down American pilot and the following Cold War negotiations. Praised for its calm but tense atmosphere. (11 September 7pm, 12 September 11am).
Among the other Spielberg gems are Lincoln (14 September, 7pm)West Side Story (7pm, 24 September and 27 September ), Saving Private Ryan (25 September, 7pm), The Fabelmans (28 September, 1pm) and War Horse (28 September, 7pm).
Staying with dinosaurs, a new release, The End of Oak Street is regarded as the scariest dinosaur film since the first Jurassic Park. Fight-or-flight suspense. (12 and September, 4.30pm.)
There is also a special screening of a new Australian romantic comedy, Rebound to be followed by a Q and A. Described as a sun-soaked Christmas rom-com with a quietly subversive queer heart, it shows Dee bouncing from one potential Mr Right to another until she finds what she wants right under her nose. (13 September, 2pm)
Critics say “Supergirl” shows that bold, character-driven stories can hold our attention. Sometimes funny, “Supergirl” stars Millie. Alcock whose swagger, it is said, would make krypton proud. (3 September, 4.30pm, 4 September, 2pm, 5 September, 11am, 6 September 4.30pm.
Up for a scathing attack on Australian culture as seen at an Indian call centre? Then “How to Talk Australians” may be just for you. A flight of Delhi linguistics is diverted to Dubbo after a ute blocks a runway and their tour leader is detained. The Australians they encounter in this satire are beer-swilling hill billies who love to build giant fruit-shaped buildings for no particular reason and speak a weird, barely comprehensible mutation of English.(3 and 5 September, 7pm).
The 20th anniversary showing of “ Cars” marks Pixar’s most improbable success. The tried formula of a threatened community getting together to overcome adversity (the Phoenix, anyone?), has a callow rising racing driver stuck in a sleepy town. Flies raiding light fixtures are VW Bugs, tractors stampede like cows. Even clouds have fin-tails, and cars go to a drive-in, of course. (4 September, 4.30pm).
By popular demand The Odyssey returns for one night only (6 September 7pm).
