Me live-blogging Jaw at some point. I will write about Jaw again. “I tell ya, the crime rate in New York’ll kill ya”
I am telling you, “Jaws” is a very good film. I think that people who disagree with me should be taken out and maimed. A recent conversation with a professor reminded me that I haven’t watched it in a couple of months, so tonight after a nice jog and a weird dinner I threw it on. For some reason last year I bought myself the anniversary collector’s edition, and I have never regretted it, even if now I can no longer remember the event it commemorated. I got my first Mr. Show and Wet Hot American Summer when I got my wisdom teeth out, from steve. Or was that my birthday? OH! They were the same week! And then I got Blue Planet from Jona that same week. So mostly I associate my favorite films with being in excruciating pain. [note from the future–I remembered! I got Jaws my first year of grad school when I had a debilitating virus and missed a week of class! So the theory holds–ed]
Anyway, Jaws! It’s playing right now! The wonders of modern technology.
Every little shot in “Jaws,” every little moment…it is just perfect. A beautiful film. That great scene where Brody is in his office typing and answers the phone and goes “yeah” and then the close-up on the typewriter where he slowly types “S-H-A-R-K A-T-T-A-C-K” !! The weird semi-Altman moments of layers of dialogue on top of each other! “Only to the jetties, okay?” “What do they usually do, wash up?” “Okay, you can go now, get a band-aid!” There is only one thing I would change, and that is the music during the “shark-chasing scenes” on the Orca. It sounds like the Goonies when they’re going down the waterslides. It is not nearly noble enough for our friend Jaw. I don’t want to think about Corey Feldman when I’m watching Roy Scheider freak out while Robert Shaw shoots that big harpoon.
It’s funny if you watch the special features, because even 20 years later you can tell how much Richard Dreyfuss HATES Robert Shaw.
“a shark is attracted to the exact kind of splashing that occurs whenever human beings go into the water, you CANNOT AVOID IT.”
Oh man, I loved seeing that Great White at the Monterey Bay aquarium. Everyone taking pictures, the flashbulbs going off, every time she went by with her teeth sticking out all over the place. She ate some of the other sharks, I think, once she got big enough. Then they let her go. UT OH.
“Now, I want those little paint-happy bastards caught and hung up by their Buster Browns!”
This scene where everyone panics and runs out of the water, and then the lady is like “Sh-Shark! Shark in the pond!” And they pull Michael out of the water and Ellen is like, “HE’S DEAD!” Sweet lord, that is great stuff. It’s weird that you make such a legit film and then go on to make so much crap, isn’t it? Same with Lucas. I mean, no offense, but Jesus Christ.
“I’m talkin’ about WORKIN’ for a living! I’m talkin’ about SHARKIN’!”
Jaws is one of my favorite films. I hate people who only have pretentious films as favorite films. I have a healthy mix of both. I believe it’s healthy. maybe it’s not healthy. I’ll tell you what’s not healthy though and that’s SWIMMING IN THE OCEAN