Jaws

(1975)
(30th Anniversary Special Edition DVD)

"You'll never go in the water again!"

This is the movie that really reminds me of high school; it came out the summer before I started my senior year, the summer I turned 18.

"Jaws" was the "Psycho" of my generation. I don't apply this term to "Halloween", another equally scary film of the '70's involving pointy things that can kill you, because "Jaws" and "Psycho" have too very important elements in common with each other, and "Halloween" somehow seems to fall into a different horror genre.

Both "Psycho" and "Jaws" are about ordinary people doing something ordinary and enjoyable, two activities one would normally never find dangerous: showering, and splashing about in the shallows of the ocean.

I don't remember, but I can't imagine that this movie made people very happy whose livelihood depended on beach tourism, as it was released in the early summer.

Seeing "Psycho" made many people afraid to take showers (including actress Janet Leigh, who starred in it and claimed she never took another shower afterwards), and "Jaws" made many people afraid to swim in the ocean. It scared the hell out of us teenagers and made for endless pranks at the beach that summer (hey, I was 17 when it came out in the theater, what can I say)? Two of my friends would take turns pretending to be an approaching shark in the water, using his hand as a fin, while humming the classic "Jaws" soundtrack, or pretending to be the first victim in the film (minus the screaming, which upset the lifeguards), thrashing and flailing about in the waves as if being attacked and dragged underwater.

"Jaws" was also Steven Spielberg's first (and I think best) blockbuster. It could only help boost the careers of the 3 lead male actors in the film: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss (this was the role that made Dreyfuss a star). It spawned one of the most classic and oft-quoted lines in film history: "You're gonna need a bigger boat." It was also technically a very innovative film, with a mechanical shark that by all accounts was a great deal of trouble.

I hadn't seen this film in several years, having seen it umpteen times when it first came out, and several times on VHS, as I owned an old VHS copy of it. But I recently got the 30th Anniversary Edition, and saw it again last night, in the dark, in widescreen, through the stereo (gone is the full-screen only old tape).

Suffice to say that when the head pops out of the boat...I still jump just as much as I did the first time I saw it in the theater.

The ultimate, and best, of the "Scary Summer Movie" genre.

This "Special Edition 30th Anniversary Edition" (widescreen, of course) of the film includes some great special features such as deleted scenes and outtakes, a never-before-available interview with Spielberg, archives, and a two-hour documentary of the making of the film. The deleted scenes and outtakes are a riot; I can certainly see why the shot of Robert Shaw's clog-sheathed foot stepping out of a big black car with the words "QUINT" in white and a white outline drawing of a shark on its door were cut! Shaft! We never knew ya!

Mr. and Mrs. Smith

(2005)

My husband and I just got back from seeing "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", which opened in theaters today. Normally I don't review current-run films, much less on the day they premiere, but I had planned beforehand to review this one. I knew I was going to enjoy it. Aside from and in spite of all the media speculation about Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, I had a feeling it was going to be a fun film. I like Angelina Jolie and I especially like to watch her in action roles (yes I love and own the two Tomb Raider films). Seeing her run around with a big gun, kicking butt, is FUN. She's as great in this kind of role as Diana Rigg was as TV's Emma Peel! A perfect fit. And Brad Pitt is an underrated actor, he is really very good, and he is funny in this movie! He has great comedic timing.

The plot is simple. Two professional assassins find out that they've been hired to kill the other. The plot is only barely complicated by the facts that (1) they are married to each other, and (2) they did not know until this point of the story the other's true occupation.

The "eye candy" factor is high: Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, often scantily dressed, heavily breathing lines such as "Who's your Daddy now?"

It's also an action-packed movie, with good dialogue, great chemistry between Pitt and Jolie, and plenty of (not too bloody) violence. It's much more tongue-in-cheek than the trailers indicate. And Pitt and Jolie get some great one-liners.

All in all, a highly entertaining "popcorn" movie; great summer flick. As we walked to the car I said "It's sort of a mix of 'True Lies', 'Tomb Raider', 'The Avengers' (the old TV show, not that lousy movie), with a pinch of 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' thrown in. I really enjoyed it."

And look for a "Fight Club" reference, in the form of a t-shirt.

Office Space

(1999)

"Could you do that? That'd be greaaaaaaat."

Always on my list of "films to take along on the yearly beach trip in case it rains". Anyone who's ever had to work in an office environment (I have, many times) will find something to love, as will anyone who's ever waitressed in a restaurant such as "T.G.I. Friday's" (ditto), that makes the employees wear idiotic uniforms involving wearing decorations such as buttons (called "flair" in this film).

Mike Judge (creator of Beavis and Butthead, and he also has a cameo as the annoying supervisor at the restaurant) hits every right note in the film that really displayed Gary Cole's ("Fatal Vision") comedic ability, and proved Jennifer Aniston, as Joanna, Peter's love interest, to be capable of much more than just being a TV "Friend". Her performance in "Office Space" resulted in her getting another ground-breaking part for her, in "The Good Girl". Ron Livingston (Peter Gibbons) is dead-on as the deadpanned, put-upon office worker who finally breaks free. Diedrich Bader (of The Drew Carey Show) in a small but notable part as Peter's construction-worker friend and neighbor is wonderfully funny, and almost unrecognizable under the long hair and drawl. Stephen Root ("O Brother, Where Art Thou?") is the Swingline-stapler loving underfoot underdog.

All the smaller parts are fleshed out well and are hilarious in their own right, and each aspect of the film, while exaggerating the possible goings-on in the office world, exposes the inherent idiocies. This is one of those films that has spun out classic quotable lines from the first day it premiered.

Did you get the memo?