Have You Ever Seen "Jaws" On the Big Screen?

If not, don't miss your big chance Thursday night!

Bruce & Steven. True Love Always

Many readers think I'm anti-Spielberg -- when you're critical of any sacred cow people think you hate him/her -- but I love the early stuff as much as anyone. Close Encounters of the Third Kind is amazingly "open" in a way too few films are, Raiders of the Lost Ark is about as fun as adventure films can be, and the blockbuster that created Summer Movie Season, Jaws, is impeccable.

Cinemark's Classic Series is a Thursday night moviegoing option in dozens of cities, large and small (sadly it doesn't play in Manhattan though I can't really complain about our access to revivals). The fall series, which you can buy individual tickets to or in bulk for $30, features:

• August 23rd, Jaws
• August 30th, High Noon
• September 6th, Doctor Zhivago
• September 13th, Chinatown
• September 20th, The Bridge on the River Kwai
• September 27th, The African Queen

Oscar buffs will need to have seen all six at some point, so if you haven't, why not cross them off your list ASAP? I hate The African Queen (yes, it's true) but the rest of the series looks delicious and the films have been digitally restored for the occasion. Jaws, Chinatown and Doctor Zhivago in particular strike me as perfect options to seek in revival houses or in screening series like this because they're all slow boil movies paced in a way that pays off enormously in the long haul but is absolutely unlike how movies play out these days so it's best to see them on the screen without the interruptions that you'd get at home.

I wish I could see Jaws tomorrow night! 

It may have scarred me as a child (even though I didn't see it until the 80s) but I love it anyway. See it for me tomorrow night! Or for yourself if you've never seen it all blown up real good. 

Curio: Cinema Notes

Alexa here. Since Nathaniel showed off his Ruby Sparks swag and Glenn showed off his Ruby Sparks notes, I felt the need to weigh in on my recent search for the perfect movie journal. My absolute favorites were produced by Smythson of Bond Street.  I find them ideal for my reviewing purposes: leather bound, with a simple title ("Film Notes"), with all the relevant fill-in-the-blanks on the movie's production and your viewing on one page (which I normally completed before the film) and ample space for scribbles during the viewing on the facing page.  I bought as many as I could find once I found out Smythson was no longer making them, grrr.

One of my Smythsons, with some notes made during a viewing of I've Loved You So Long.As I fill up my remaining volumes I've been on a search for a replacement model, with no luck.  The closest I've some are these that Moleskine is offering as a part of its "Passions" series, but alas they have too many bells and whistles for my liking, and not enough scribble space.

I'm still on the lookout. In the meantime I've found some fun examples that give me inspiration to perhaps decorate my own moleskine next. Click for some fun handmade notebooks inspired by John Waters, Grease, Black Swan, and The Princess Bride...

Click to read more ...

Posterized: Tony Scott (1944-2012)

As you've undoubtedly heard, director Tony Scott, youngest brother of Ridley, died Sunday after throwing himself off a bridge at the age of 68 just two years after his latest huge hit (Unstoppable). The internet was awash with morbid rumors about why (an inoperable brain cancer diagnosis chief among them) but when it comes to private struggles of the soul, you never can expect to know so we stick to the facts. Facts: A lot of people saw and liked his movies; His feature career as a director spanned from 1971's Loving Memory (not the type of movie you'd associate with his filmmaking persona) through 2010's Unstoppable (exactly the type of you'd associate with his filmmaking persona).

Tony Scott with his preferred leading man Denzel Washington. They made five films together.

Somewhere along the line I decided I wasn't interested in him as a filmmaker but not every filmmaker is for ever moviegoer (nor should they be). My disinterest was partially spurred on by a me-imposed sibling rivalry with his older brother Ridley Scott -- rather silly since Ridley and Tony worked together often and no love was ever lost. But Ridley already had two indisputable classics under his belt (Alien and Blade Runner) by the time Tony Scott was making his Hollywood debut so the die was cast. If Tony had continued making movies like The Hunger chances are I would never have tuned him out but his bread and butter... in fact his entire diet... was the kinetic multiplex-ready A list male-driven shoot em up. Not enough actresses! But looking back through his filmography brought back more memories than I expected.

How many Tony Scott pictures have you seen?

Loving Memory (1971) | The Hunger (1983) | Top Gun (1986)

The Hunger is the Scott films I've seen the most often, a favorite of my best friend's and thus in regular rotation on VHS for the first decade of its life. Bonus Points: Deneuve & Sarandon making sexploitative vampire love long before True Blood repopularized vampires as sex gods....er, devils. It was also impossible to live through the 1980s without absorbing Top Gun into your very pores (my oldest brother loved it).

more posters and memories after the jump

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because the night belongs to linkers ♩

Serious Film "Masterpiece Down"! Twelve masterpieces that didn't even get a single vote in Sight & Sound's polling of nearly 1,000 critics including (gulp) Network!  
Observations on Film Art takes a long strong look at the praise, criticisms and "innovations" of Christopher Nolan.
Tit for Tat the finalists for Oscar submission from The Philippines. They've yet to be nominated
i09 has a hilarious rundown of this weekend's penultimate True Blood season 5 episode. Yes, I stopped writing about that show immediately after hating the first few episodes... but I haven't quite been able to stop watching it yet. This is why TV is bad for you. 

Movie City News David Poland crunches some numbers on Hollywood's commercially successful directors and what it takes to justify a $200 million budget
Encore's World is doing some sort of bracketed tournament of essential 90s performances. I'm horrified that Elisabeth Shue (Leaving Las Vegas) lost to Leonardo DiCaprio (What's Eating Gilbert Grape) without a fight. This will not stand! (Actually maybe that's a sophie's choice, both of them being brilliant.) But stand it must. Note to all people, not just Andrew, running polls: leave them open longer! 
Take Out All The Words  has an illuminating piece about approaching tragedies (like The Dark Knight Rises shooting) within a normally "funny" milieu like editorial cartooning
MNPP Jake Gyllenhaal's new role involves gambling like crazy. Gambling addict! Gambling is what actors who aren't boring / predictable do every time they sign on for a movie role, so Jake G probably didn't have to do much research.

Randomness
AV Club Sutton Foster interviewed on her transition from stage to small screen on the delightful Bunheads.
Towleroad Rosie O'Donnell had a heart attack! Get well soon, Rosie.
YouTube The Game of Thrones theme performed by a cat 

Live Music Send-Off
Russell Crowe ♥ Patti Smith. In Iceland no less (on a break from filming Noah perhaps? or burning the candle at both ends?)

To Our San Francisco Readers

I lost my ship."

See it Tuesday night (tomorrow) and report back!

♥ the Castro Theatre.