This new review again comes not from me but from Karl Leggett, a movie fan who writes like a fan boy on crack, any ways he's kindly reviewed Spielberg's 1975 Shark attack classic JAWS, check it out...
Through a Glass Darkly is a 1961 Ingmar Bergman production that according to wikipedia refers to our understanding of god when we are alive; the view will only be clear once we die. It won the 1962 Acadamy Award for Best foreign Film, and it stars longtime Berman collaborator Max Von Sydow, although sadly we never get a scene where Max beats the shit out of a child for raping his daughter like in The Virgin Spring. I still think America missed the boat when they didn't remake The Virgin Spring staring Charles Bronson or Clint.
Sadly I will not be reviewing this Bergman classic today, as I actually spent the whole of yesturday pumping my fists in the air and cheering on the original 'buddy movie' Jaws.
Now I'm really not sure if this gets said enough, but Jaws is a pretty good fucking film, and I hope that this Speilberg character gets to direct more movies because of its geeky fanbase.
Sadly I will not be reviewing this Bergman classic today, as I actually spent the whole of yesturday pumping my fists in the air and cheering on the original 'buddy movie' Jaws.
Now I'm really not sure if this gets said enough, but Jaws is a pretty good fucking film, and I hope that this Speilberg character gets to direct more movies because of its geeky fanbase.
The basic story is all about police chief Rob Schneider being pissed off because skinny dippers keep on getting bitten to death by this arsehole shark. We're supposed to side with Scheider because he's a family man and he really dislikes the mayor (Murray Hamilton) who is more concerned about tourist trade than the survival of his townsfolk. I'm sure that there is a message about the Iraq war here somewhere, but seeing as the film was made in 1975, I'm guessing that my point is pretty much null and void.
So Schneider teams up with a very art studend looking Richard Dreyfus and a very pissed off looking Robert Shaw. Their mission? They're going to tell this fucking shark to smile like the son of a canine. And (SPOILER) one of them will not make it back alive.
It's at this point that I'd better tell you that during these scenes Robert Shaw pretty much steals the show. I mean, I can reference the Indianapolis scene all I want, but the truth is that the guy pretty much puts Schneider and Dreyfuss to shame during every scene he chews. And Scneider was in Friedkin's brilliant Sorceror, so that's no easy feat. The guy is like the uncle that pisses off your dad at your sisters wedding by getting drunk and whipping his dick out , fucking a bridesmaid and telling racist jokes to your italian nephew whist telling your mother how she should've chosen triffle rather than lemon cheesecake, but you still can't help but love the terrible douche nonetheless. He's a dick, but he's our dick.
Anyway, Shaw scene stealing aside, these two badass characters (and Richard Dreyfus) make up our bunch of shark hunters. And it is a well thought out group of guys, and a beer should be raised to scriptwriter Peter Benchley for this - I never read his original book, but he pretty much manages to flesh out these characters to the point that you actually give a shit whether they live or die - an element sadly missing from many of todays films. Put it this way, if I was on a shark hunting mission, I'd rather be stuck with these dudes than those arseholes from American Pie. And I somehow doubt that the film would carry the same weight if Stiflmeister was the man to utter the imortal line "Smile you sonovabitch." Infact, that douche would probably try turning Jaws into a wacky comedy. A CGI shark that can talk, and gives a teenage Brody (played by one of Will Smith's children) advice on how to get laid like Bumblebee did to Scott in Transformers 1... Holy shit! this will probably one day happen. I'm starting a group right now, we hang around outside the Jaws remake casting auditions with shotguns, and whenever Sean William Scott shows up we simply cock the gun and mutter "You keep on walking, boy." Sure we'd all pretty much end up in jail, but it's our Jaws damn it, and I'm willing to fight for it.
Sorry, getting a tad off track. So our three heroes set off to hunt this shark motherfucker down, but pretty soon it becomes obvious (Oh shit) that the shark will not go down without a serious fight. Plus there is a whole "you're on my turf now, fuckers" attitude revolving around the predators now becoming the prey. Plus these dudes don't really like each other, sure you've got Schenider playing the straight man, but man, Shaw seriously wants to slap the shit out of Dreyfus throughout this entire journy. And if the production reports I've read are true; these guys didn't even have to act all that bad. They hated the shit out of each other in real life. It's kind of like a Riggs/Murtough situation during the first hour of Lethal Weapon. Although sadly Shaw gets killed (Spoiler) before the relationship can develop to the point where he's going down to Dreyfus' house for tea and flirting with his daughter like in Lethal Weapon part 3. Also we never get a scene where Shaw has a fist fight on a lawn with Gary Busey playing the shark. That would've been fucking awesome.
Oh yeah the shark. This whole review has actually been fairly shark minimum considering this is a film about a shark. Infact if you for some reason had never seen this film, you may be forgiven for believing that it's just a simple film about a fishing trip with an added shark at the end. Believe me good sir, the shark is a main feature. I've listened to everyone and his uncle about how bad the shark looks, and all the blah about the wires sticking out of the side. But compare this film to Deep Blue Sea (which I must admit I kinda enjoyed) and let me ask you which shark freaks you out the most? It's Jaws (I'm not going to call him Bruce... he was always Jaws to me damn it) isn't it? And there was loads of sharks in Deep Blue Sea. Fucking hundreds actually. I guess that the sea is a big scary place, and mankind has a natural fear of it within reason. It's just a shame that so few directors manage to tap into that primal fear that we all have and truly produce a genuine movie that can create this many emotions.
If you need me, I'll be comparing scars with Peter Osmond
It's at this point that I'd better tell you that during these scenes Robert Shaw pretty much steals the show. I mean, I can reference the Indianapolis scene all I want, but the truth is that the guy pretty much puts Schneider and Dreyfuss to shame during every scene he chews. And Scneider was in Friedkin's brilliant Sorceror, so that's no easy feat. The guy is like the uncle that pisses off your dad at your sisters wedding by getting drunk and whipping his dick out , fucking a bridesmaid and telling racist jokes to your italian nephew whist telling your mother how she should've chosen triffle rather than lemon cheesecake, but you still can't help but love the terrible douche nonetheless. He's a dick, but he's our dick.
Anyway, Shaw scene stealing aside, these two badass characters (and Richard Dreyfus) make up our bunch of shark hunters. And it is a well thought out group of guys, and a beer should be raised to scriptwriter Peter Benchley for this - I never read his original book, but he pretty much manages to flesh out these characters to the point that you actually give a shit whether they live or die - an element sadly missing from many of todays films. Put it this way, if I was on a shark hunting mission, I'd rather be stuck with these dudes than those arseholes from American Pie. And I somehow doubt that the film would carry the same weight if Stiflmeister was the man to utter the imortal line "Smile you sonovabitch." Infact, that douche would probably try turning Jaws into a wacky comedy. A CGI shark that can talk, and gives a teenage Brody (played by one of Will Smith's children) advice on how to get laid like Bumblebee did to Scott in Transformers 1... Holy shit! this will probably one day happen. I'm starting a group right now, we hang around outside the Jaws remake casting auditions with shotguns, and whenever Sean William Scott shows up we simply cock the gun and mutter "You keep on walking, boy." Sure we'd all pretty much end up in jail, but it's our Jaws damn it, and I'm willing to fight for it.
Sorry, getting a tad off track. So our three heroes set off to hunt this shark motherfucker down, but pretty soon it becomes obvious (Oh shit) that the shark will not go down without a serious fight. Plus there is a whole "you're on my turf now, fuckers" attitude revolving around the predators now becoming the prey. Plus these dudes don't really like each other, sure you've got Schenider playing the straight man, but man, Shaw seriously wants to slap the shit out of Dreyfus throughout this entire journy. And if the production reports I've read are true; these guys didn't even have to act all that bad. They hated the shit out of each other in real life. It's kind of like a Riggs/Murtough situation during the first hour of Lethal Weapon. Although sadly Shaw gets killed (Spoiler) before the relationship can develop to the point where he's going down to Dreyfus' house for tea and flirting with his daughter like in Lethal Weapon part 3. Also we never get a scene where Shaw has a fist fight on a lawn with Gary Busey playing the shark. That would've been fucking awesome.
Oh yeah the shark. This whole review has actually been fairly shark minimum considering this is a film about a shark. Infact if you for some reason had never seen this film, you may be forgiven for believing that it's just a simple film about a fishing trip with an added shark at the end. Believe me good sir, the shark is a main feature. I've listened to everyone and his uncle about how bad the shark looks, and all the blah about the wires sticking out of the side. But compare this film to Deep Blue Sea (which I must admit I kinda enjoyed) and let me ask you which shark freaks you out the most? It's Jaws (I'm not going to call him Bruce... he was always Jaws to me damn it) isn't it? And there was loads of sharks in Deep Blue Sea. Fucking hundreds actually. I guess that the sea is a big scary place, and mankind has a natural fear of it within reason. It's just a shame that so few directors manage to tap into that primal fear that we all have and truly produce a genuine movie that can create this many emotions.
If you need me, I'll be comparing scars with Peter Osmond
Written By Karl David Leggett
I liked it apart from the words.
ReplyDeleteDidn't know Deuce Bigalow was in Jaws, might need to re-watch that
ReplyDeleteBrilliantly insightful. I imagine Karl Leggett probably speaks with the same electricity with which he writes. Whoever this extraordinary man is, I hope he works in film journalism. What a remarkable read. It's left me with a semi.
ReplyDelete