Having not seen the film for many years what struck me most was the postmodernist and self-reflexive attitude of the film, parodying the ‘event’ movie that Spielberg almost single-handedly created in the first place. It’s a self-aware bit of humour that Spielberg isn’t really known for. The character of Hammond, constantly alluding to the fact no expense was spared could be the mantra of Jurassic Park’s producers and Spielberg himself, but couple this with the film’s blatant product placement and the central conceit of a theme park and ride (Jurassic Park clothing, lunch boxes, t-shirts, etc., were readily available to the public when the film was released; the theme park ride would come a little later), and you discover a rather interesting aside to the film.

Dan Rooney discusses how Steven Spielberg has made what was seemingly impossible cinematically possible. He says, “Motion Pictures are revered as the art form that can offer more emotion than any other medium. They are there to teach us and to transport us from our every day lives into a world of majesty and imagination. With that said, is there any doubt as to which director has taken us into these worlds the most?”

Rodney Twelftree steps up to the plate for Top10Films and dares to run down a list of Spielberg’s top 10 characters. Spielberg’s characters are as iconic as his films from the whip-wielding Indiana Jones to the child-sized alien E.T. See who sticks in our mind in our latest top 10 list.

Who (or what) is your favourite character to appear in a Spielberg film?

Rose Jenkins takes a look at Steven Spielberg’s career from his upbringing through to his early career in Hollywood and the invention of the blockbuster. Shoe writes: “Steven Spielberg is one of the most successful and famous directors of all time. Very few people in Hollywood have accomplished what he has.”

It is 35 years since Steven Spielberg released Jaws Jaws became the highest grossing film ever made before Star Wars beat it two years later, breaking the once thought impossible target of $100 miilion. This figure would routinely be beaten by subsequent blockbusters but Jaws paved the way. As such Top10Films is celebrating the work of Steven Spielberg throughout the week, culminating in our Top 10 Steven Spielberg Films list.

Have you ever had a Lloyd Grossman cooking sauce? The makers of said cooking sauce commissioned a survey that yielded the following information: Britons consume only four staple meals – we cannot be bothered to cook anymore. According to the Guardian newspaper that would suggest we eat one of our favourite meals – that being spaghetti Bolognese – nearly three-thousand times in an average lifetime. Perhaps this says we just don’t like to cook, at least, extravagantly, or that our appetite is less adventurous than we might think. Or maybe …