Wednesday, August 11, 2010

Would you believe I just saw Jaws for the first time?

*nodding vigorously*

(here be spoilers)

At Mom and Dad's house last Friday night, I'd driven straight to Dallas from work and arrived in time to catch the 11:00 movie with Dad. Mom went off to bed, and Dad and I sat up chatting and watching the movie. I actually sort of liked it, despite the schticky, formulaic bits. (Crusty Old Tar has friction with young Upstart Ivy Leaguer until they bond over booze and a scar-off) The wistful monlogue of the old sailor was a major tipoff that not only was he not getting out of the film with his dignity (wanna see me take my tooth out? Watch this!), he wadn't getting out with his life, neither.

Anyway - I was 9 when Jaws first premiered, and I remember the titillating intrigue of the cautionary lesson from the poster: ladies who swim nekkid get gobbled up by prehistoric monsers!!! oooh! Scary!

The best thing of all about the movie (besides the quotes about needing a bigger butt(don't we all?) and the one about standing in the foreground "to give a thenth of thcale" was knowing the fake shark was called Bruce was the namesake of the shark in the support group in Finding Nemo.

Anyway, spooling back in my mind to the 9 year old I was, this film wasn't nearly as racy and hot-cha-cha! as I expected it to be. It was not that scary. It was kind of fun, but more than that, it was fun to sit in Mom's recliner and take jabs at the very seventiesness of it all with Dad.

We laughed and laughed. Good times.

Anyway, below is Jaws in 60 seconds (after 30 seconds of titles) and this is pretty much the long and short of it.


2 comments:

Roscoe said...

If you're heading back home and want another heapin' helpin' of 70s megacheese to laugh at with your father, try a copy of "Capricorn One".

Two Streisand husbands (ex- and current), Brenda Vaccaro, Karen Black, Telly Savalas, Hal Holbrook, and ... wait for it ... OJ!

The bonus is a Jerry Goldsmith score which is actually much better than the movie deserved.

Blast Hardcheese said...

We lost Robert Shaw too early. "Jaws" may be cheesy, but his 'Indianapolis' speech still makes the hairs on my neck stand up.