Close Encounters of the Third Kind Is the Alien Movie That Actually Believes in Aliens

Close Encounters of the Third Kind came out in December 1977, made $116 million in the US alone, and lost the box office crown for that year to exactly one movie: Star Wars. Not a bad second place.

Josh, Garrett, and David kick off Spielberg in Space Month with Spielberg's pre-E.T. love letter to alien optimism. They get into why Richard Dreyfus was the right guy for a role Steve McQueen, Al Pacino, and Gene Hackman all passed on, why the mashed potatoes scene is actually the emotional center of the whole thing, and what it means that this is basically the only alien movie where nobody tries to blow anything up. All three hosts land at four and a half stars. Josh finally wins the Letterboxd guessing game. David's son watched the aliens and said they looked like naked five-year-olds.

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