Dear Koose!!
I agree wholeheartedly!! Joe B in NOLA
David Kusumoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
David Kusumoto <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
** With apologies to the late Peter Benchley, Spielberg's "Jaws" is so
superior to the original novel, filled as it was with pages of convoluted
and distracting subplots.
** "Jaws" the film may seem antiquated today in the age of CGI and
super-duper special effects, but 31 years later, it remains one of
Spielberg's top five films in terms of quality, dropping all of the book's
soap operatic elements -- opting instead for a pure and thrilling adventure
story, with an emphasis on adventure rather than horror -- (and one could
argue, greater empathy for well-drawn leads that seems missing in his
productions today).
** Without "Jaws," Spielberg would've never been given the power to do
"Close Encounters," "E.T.," etc., etc. with the almighty power of the final
cut without studio interference. He was only 26 when production began and
only 28 when it was released in the summer of 1975.
** More than "Star Wars," Spielberg's "Jaws" -- for better or worse -- began
the concept of opening "wide" (gasp, 400 theaters vs. today's 4,000
screens!) -- hastening the demise of single-screen movie-houses and the
"blockbuster" mentality that nearly buried Hollywood in the late 1970s.
** Whatever one might think of Spielberg and his tendency to eviscerate and
sentimentalize his adaptations of novels, he is and will remain one of the
most titanic figures in the history of cinema. Like Hitchcock, people will
still be talking about him two centuries from now. And in my view, since
he's "only" 59, he has at least 15 more films left in him. Whether any of
'em will be good remains to be seen.
** But a Spielberg-directed film still remains an "event" out here, greeted
with a mixture of excitement and dread. We've long expected him to
"flame-out" like other promising directors, but he hasn't. For every "dud"
he spits out, he comes up with at least 2 "watchable" films thereafter.
** And yet many film school purists and industry insiders hate him with a
type of passion usually reserved for studio heads from the golden age of
cinema.
-koose.
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