WOW!!! Hello everybody. Just found this place. And I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see there ARE other film geeks besides me. Yes, I’ve been a movie fanatic since about age 10 or so, and I can’t even estimate how many I have watched through the years. But as one gets older, the passion seems to fade – mainly because the movies they have been making the last 10 or so years are mostly forgettable – with a reminder here and there that they are STILL making good movies. But it’s mostly Criterion that I thank for keeping my passion alive – cause they always bring out films I never heard of which proves, if anything, there is STILL plenty of film history left to discover, watch, and learn. Once again, hello everybody………
Though I won’t argue with any of the titles I’ve read so far, for me it’s “Days of Wine and Roses” with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. I first saw the film when I was about 13 and I think it made the impression it did on me simply because…..the film did NOT end happy. Nobody died at the end of the film, but it sure as heck doesn’t fall under many people’s definition of a happy ending. And to this day, I STILL can’t watch the ending and not cry…………..
In the vein of “The Red Balloon” and “White Mane” – meaning so-called Children’s movies, I would like Criterion to release a film I saw on The Children’s Film Festival as a young kid titled “Skinny and Fatty” (I don’t know the Japanese title of the film). What I would give to see that movie in it’s entirety, in it’s original language, with subtitles. And anybody in my age bracket (I’m unashamably 48 years old) who saw the film would more than likely feel the same way. It’s a beautiful little film that deserves to be seen. Come on, Criterion people, do SOMETHING to get this obscure movie to the stature it deserves…….
I have no trouble finding an answer to this one. I’ve only walked out on two movies in my entire years of moving going – and both of them happen to be Robert Altman films. They were “Buffalo Bill and the Indians” and “Quintet”. Both for the same reasons. Both films were undeniably DULL. I just couldn’t take it anymore. And this is coming from someone who sat through the uncut “Heaven’s Gate” about 7 times through the years………..
For me, the first one that comes to mind is “The Accidental Tourist”. I have had countless people tell me they fell asleep during it and think it’s one of the most boring films ever made. But hey, I liked it – and found alot in it to admire. The other “Gee, I don’t know, I kind of liked it” was both “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”. Why do people rip on those films so much? Honestly, they aren’t THAT bad………
There is one film that probably nobody on this board ever heard of that is still one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Sooooo bad in fact, that I have YET to watch it all the way through after this many years cause alls I do is get upset. And that film is called “Last Summer” with Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davidson, and Cathryn Burns. In a nutshell, it’s basically a study about how cruel teenagers can get. The movie is honest. It is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of teenagers ever to this day – it was made in 1969. But damn, I can barely get one hour into it and my heart starts racing a tad and I ALWAYS say “No, can’t do it”, and end up turning the movie off. And I might add, I’m 48 now. I originally saw the film as a second feature (they used to have double features at one time) with “Romeo and Juliet”. What makes this even more amazing is that two theaters were showing the same double bill. One had it as an "R"rated program, and the other a “PG” rated program. NATURALLY I went to the PG one so I could get in to see it. Only years later did I learn that the very print shown at the “PG” theater was, in fact – now get ready for this – the “X” rated version!! So I managed to crash an “X” rated movie at age 13. Hehehehe. But at what a cost – “Last Summer” is still one of the most disturbing movies for me, and it took years before I would convince myself that a) IT WAS ONLY A MOVIE and b) Barbara Hershey was ACTING – she is probably a really nice person in real life……………
Greetings fellow film lovers. Fellow “Auteur” member Aaron B. Smith suggested I take my “MySpace” blogs – which I had directed HIM to – and put them here. Gee, why didn’t I think of that other than extreme modesty? What I’ve been doing is telling what it was like to see certain movies in the movie theater. In many cases, the movies went on to become classics – and I was among the first to see them. So what I want to do here is start out with my original announcement of my attentions with my blog on MySpace. Which goes like this:
It is with great pleasure that after months and months of pondering, I have decided what I will be doing with my MySpace blog of the coming weeks and hopefully months. The idea is so simple. It is something I should have thought of sooner. Let’s go back to about 1975.
That is the summer of “Jaws”. During the many months that the movie would be playing in theaters, there was one comparison that always seemed to be made with that film, and that was comparing the audience reaction to that of “Psycho”. At age 15, I was well aware that “Psycho” was some sort of scarey movie that come out years earlier. The way the spoke of it, it was the very definition of the word “scarey”. Yet I had no idea of what the movie was about. So what would a curious person of 15 do in a case like this? I would ask the older generation if they had seen “Psycho” – and what was it like to see in the movie house at the time of the film’s release?
Not to long ago, a younger person (GAWD I hate saying that) overhears me talk about movies. So he asks me “Did you see ‘Jaws’ in the movie theater?” Why yes, I said. He said, “What was THAT like in a movie theater?”
That poor kid. He grew up in the era of VHS/DVD/Internet. He couldn’t grasp the idea that at one time, movies had a real mystique to them. Certain movies weren’t just movies. They were events in and of themselves. They were seen in LARGE single-theater buildings and not multiplexes – during the days when there were no advance ticket sales, when movies opened exclusively in Hollywood and Westwood for MONTHS before they would make it to your local theater, and you really had no idea when the next opportunity to see them the way the were meant to be seen would present itself. Where the anticipation would be at times so unbearable, you just HAD to stand in that 7 hour line to be among the first to grasp this cinematic experience. And in the years when my movie geekdom bug would hit in the biggest way, Hollywood was still pushing the envelope as far as sex, violence, and subject matters that would not even be thought of in today’s superduper “Play it as safe as you can cause they cost so damn much to make” world of movie making.
Some of the movies I will be talking about became classics. Other films became forgotten. Some I thought were great at the time I first saw them, then, well, they dated. Other films I HATED at the time I first saw them then grew to love. Some I hated when I first saw them, and to this day STILL hate. Some I would like, but not understand why they were considered so great, then would go on to understand. And yet others I would like, but not really catch the “true meaning” until I got older and watched them again. And yet there were classic films like “Chinatown” which, despite all it’s praise and popularity at the time, I actually missed in the movie theater and would deeply regret it.
And with that, I will start a series of blogs entitled “What was it like to see (fill in blank) in a movie theater?” For one thing, I don’t have any kind of book contract, so I might as well share the stories I love sharing without thinking about “I’m not getting paid for this.” Hehehe. Just remember that what I write IS the way I remember it. There will be no fictitious episodes, so unlike “Sybil”, “The Amityville Horror”, and “A Million Little Pieces” for that matter, what you read DID happen the way I described it. I think my memory is good, and I think it’s about as accurate as one can get. Many of the people I saw these films with drifted out of my life, while others stayed. But unless they are direct relatives, they will only be described as “friends”. Like “Last Tango In Paris”, we don’t need names here (unless they actually tell me it’s okay). The movies I write about will be in no particular order, just whatever my mood happens to be in at the time.
And here is my first blog on the subject. “The Poseidon Adventure”. Hey, don’t laugh – I have an affection for that movie……
In the 37 years since it’s release, “The Poseidon Adventure” has become on the one hand the classic example of the “disaster film” genre that swept Hollywood during the 1970s, and on the other hand has become an object of so much ridicule for it’s campiness that it is so easy to forget just what a big movie it was at the time of it’s release – it was in fact one of the top 10 money makers for a period of time. And as hard to believe as it is, it was the subject of much controversy. Why? The critics absolutely HATED the film, but that didn’t keep audiences from seeing it. It seemed to be so critic-proof as to define any logic.
But anyone who was my age at the time I saw it, the answer was simple: We never saw anything like it before.
It all started around December of 1972 when there was some special on TV talking about upcoming holiday releases. As I remember it, I didn’t catch the title of this particular movie they were talking about. They jumped right to the movie clips. What I saw was that it was night, this big “Queen Mary” type of ship was sailing minding it’s own business, when this big wave hits the side, causing the ship to turnover. Hmmmm. Then there is this shot of a guy falling downward through this plate of glass. Wow.
Unfortunately for me, the movie opened exclusively in Hollywood and Westwood. It would eventually get as close as Lakewood, but I would have to wait till about March of 1973 before it would make it to Whittier. And let me tell you, I was TORTURED seeing all those previews, and hearing from my similar-aged friends how good it was.
But FINALLY that day arrived. In those days, movies opened on Wednesday (Friday is the norm now), and eventhough it was playing nearby, my mom was adamant that I would not see a movie on a school night, so I would have to wait another 4 excruciating days before that Saturday would get here. And this would be no ordinary trip to the movies. I would go with 3 friends from school, and my niece Suzy (age 10 at the time). One of my 3 friends didn’t even want to see this one as bad as we did – he wanted to see “The World’s Greatest Athlete” instead. But we outranked him – it would be “The Poseidon Adventure”, end of story. So the five of us stuffed ourselves into our car, and off to The Whittier Theater we went. When we arrived, we found much to our astonishment, there were many many other people who wanted to see this movie too – there was an actual line at the box office – quite rare in those days. But hey, we wanted to see this movie, and if the theater was crowded, so be it. In the line we went, our tickets purchased, and our seats grabbed.
But the “wait” Gods were still with us – cause in those days, when a movie opened in wide release, they would be billed with a SECOND feature. No kidding. In those days you could see two movies for the price of one. And in our case, we had to sit through the SECOND feature first (the day’s screenings usually started with the main feature, THEN the second feature). MORE TORTURE. The movie was called “War Devils”. I can’t really remember much about that film other then there was enough action in it to keep us occupied until we got to the movie we wanted to see – and should tell you just how anticipated “The Poseidon Adventure” was – cause my other friends can’t remember that movie either.
But then the movie ended, and we had to wait another 20 minutes for the main feature. Oh, how those minutes passed soooooo slowly. But then finally, the lights didn’t just dim, they went out completely – not to a low dim, but completely out, blacking the theater out. The theater applauded in anticipation, then the first image of the S.S. Poseidon flashed in widescreen in front of us, and the theater went nuts again, then the title “The Poseidon Adventure” flashed across the screen, and it drowned out the sound completely. But almost as quickly as the noise went up, it went down as the people “patiently” waited for the movie to get to “the big scene”.
And at that age, 25 minutes is a long time, especially when you know what’s going to happen. So let’s get to it.
The wave is shown approaching, then breaks. We gasp. The alarms go off. The passengers who are celebrating New Year’s look with much confusion. Then the wave slams, and then we see what wasn’t shown in the previews – and that is people sliding, tossed, thrown, splattered, crushed by falling debris, and the next thing, the ship is upside down. And let me assure you, at that moment, nobody could have paid anybody in that theater to leave. We were absolutely glued to our chairs. A bomb could have gone off outside the theater, and it still wouldn’t have made us budge. The movie had us, and that was that. We would be enthraled over who would actually go up that Christmas tree. We would gasp as the water crashed through that room drowning the poor people who were dumb enough to NOT go . We would sweat with the characters as they went through that kitchen, and we would gasp again when we realized the water was right behind them.
But two moments stood out in that first viewing. So for those people who didn’t see the movie, spoiler alert from here on.
To get to the engine room, the characters would have to swim through a passageway that is now under water. Reverend Scott leads the way, only to get trapped. Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters), who is well, pleasantly plump, dives in to save the trapped Reverand. She saves him, the audience applauds, but then tragedy will strike – Belle Rosen’s heart will give out, taking her to that great Swimming Championship in the sky, and there would be much coughing, sniffling, and watery eyes as we all feel sad that this really nice lady dies.
The other moment would be just as what’s left of the characters we grew to like are sooo close to the propeller shaft area, which will be their key to freedom. But just as they are about to move towards it, the ship explodes, sending our beloved foul-mouthed, hot-tempered, but very nice former hooker Linda to that great Street Walking Boulevard in the sky. Many members of the audience let out a scream – as loud as Linda’s – as she went over and hit the bottom (sorry, top) of the room. Gee, of all people that had to die, why did it have to be HER? But oh well……
Finally, the six people are pulled from the ship onto the waiting helicopter, the copter takes off, the movie fades, the credits start, and the applause nearly take the roof off the very very old theater. Wow. To our young eyes, this was simply the greatest movie ever made. It was the fastest 2 hours we ever had in a movie theater. We were awe-struck by the special effects. We liked the characters. In addition to the excitement, we felt other emotions – we laughed, and we cried.
And it would leave me in a state of confusion as to why these critics hated the movie so much. Just what in heck were they harping about when they said the movie was cliched-ridden, had cardboard characters, and had over-the-top acting? Forget “The Godfather” – THIS was the best movie of the year. I showed those critics by seeing the movie EIGHT times in the movie theater. Yep. It would be the first film in my movie going years that I would see multiple times, memorize the dialogue, and want to know everything about how they filmed it. I would become fans of such actors I had never seen before such as Ernest Borgnine (I had already seen “The French Connection” and knew who this Gene Hackman guy was), and Shelly Winters. Boy, this was THE movie. And that was that.
But then tragedy would strike.
I would watch the movie again in 1986 at age 26 and make a very startling discovery: The film was cliched-ridden, had cardboard characters, and the acting was over-the-top. And if that weren’t bad enough, it wasn’t the greatest movie ever made either. I would find through time that the movie made the biggest impact on people ages 10 through about 15. And for good reason: At the time we started going to movies, epic films were not being made anymore. We had no “Ben Hur”, “Spartacus”, or “Lawrence of Arabia”. We were not accustomed to big budget films. This was something new – and fortunately we were too young to know what a cliche even was. Since most of these actors were unknown to us, we didn’t see it as “the stars will go up the Christmas tree, while the extras drown”. And if that wasn’t enough, despite the campiness of it all, the movie had a positive message for the young impressionable youth: Despite what seemed like insurmountable odds, you CAN get through a trying situation. And for kids going into that jungle known as Junior High School, that is exactly the message we needed at that particular time. Yep, the film taught us to hang in there. I know the more serious film geeks will roll their eyes, but it is true – the movie made a positive impact on that age, and for that reason, you will find many people in that age bracket that hold this movie with a ton of affection and gladly overlook the movie’s, uh, shortcomings.
And it was an awesome experience to see in the theater too.
This was about the end of 1974. It all started with a conversation I had with a fellow music student whom I was friends with at the time. We were both big readers. We paid attention to the paperbacks that went on the racks at our nearby drug stores and supermarkets. So it was with much surprise when this title gets mentioned to me as I thought I was pretty up to date. I’m told this book is the latest craze among the young readers. It’s a book with a bizarre title. It’s called “Jaws”. “Jaws”? What in heck would THAT be about?
To say the least, I got my answer fairly quickly. A fellow History class student was reading the book when he wasn’t supposed to – afterall, this was History class. So I stopped him and asked him what in heck was this book about? Oh, he says, it’s great. It’s about this giant shark that eats people in this community on the East Coast. Oh, I thought. A shark. “Jaws”. Okay, makes sense.
Within a short time I would borrow the book from one of my friends and see what this whole thing was about. My own humble opinion was that it was only okay. I wasn’t blown away by it. Even the sex was so thrown in for no other reason than to titillate – but that’s probably the bigger reason that the book was the big craze with the younger readers!!
And despite it being a big best seller, I was still somewhat surprised to learn that a movie was in fact being made from it. I mean, gee, how in heck were they going to show a shark jumping out of the water and cracking a boat in two let alone eat a bunch of unfortunate victims? Hmmmmm. It was to be made by Universal Studios, and the only really familiar name amongst that cast was Richard Dreyfuss, whom I had seen in “American Graffiti”. And as the summer was drawing nearer, more stories about the film was leaking out. The biggest item it seemed was that mechanical sharks was being used.
Then two of my fellow music students hit me with a big surprise. I go into my lesson on Monday to be told that……they saw the movie last night. What? It was March. How could that be? Well, they tell me, they sneak previewed the movie at Lakewood Center on Sunday night, so the two of them and one of their mothers went. Damn. I was soooo jealous. Was the movie good? Oh yes. Was it pretty much like the book? Not really. They only gave two things away: Hooper lives, and the way Quint dies is different than in the book. What about the, uh, affair? Nope. No affair. No mafia. Okay. I TRIED not to press for more details. But let me tell you, I was so jealous (it’s okay, I got over it – besides, I got even at a later date). They saw it already – and the movie wasn’t supposed to be out for another 2-1/2 months.
Then the posters for the movie started being put up in our local theaters. It was the familiar cover of the paperback book. And the movie was — surprise — rated PG. PG? But wait!! It had a tag line to the rating that made me take notice – “MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN”. Gee, the movie was SCAREY? Oh, come on. The book sure wasn’t to me.
FINALLY the day arrived. It was Friday, June 20th. The movie was opening at – surprise – several theaters this time. I expected the 1 theater in Westwood and the 1 theater in Hollywood. But apparently Hollywood this time just KNEW people were anxiously awaiting this film. It was already arranged that I would see the film with 5 other people, plus my mom. Seven total. My mother. I couldn’t believe it. She actually AGREED to sit and watch the movie instead of dropping me off. You mean she was curious about this movie too? We agreed we would see it at the very theater it was sneak previewed at – Lakewood Center Theaters in Lakewood, California. I could attend that theater with the absolute certainty that it would be playing in Theater 1 – at the time the largest surface theater in California with a seating capacity of 1200 seats, with a huge screen to boot. As I remember it, I would meet my friends there – I don’t recall that we had to pick anybody up. So mom dutifully drives to the theater, and we are greeted with an unbelievable sight: a line – a really really big line. I mean that this line went way past the theater itself and snaked right into the parking lot area. My mom gasped. I told her not to worry – it was a HUGE theater and we would make it in on THIS showing. Fortunately, two of the friends were there already – but they were near the BACK of the line. So my mom and I join them. And I make an observation: The line is nearly all kids and young teenagers – the very people this movie is supposedly too intense to be seen by. But they sure didn’t look like they were afraid of this movie. Then the three other friends join us about 10 minutes later, much to the irritation of the person standing behind me who is angry that we would let 3 people cut in front of them. The line slowly but surely moved until finally we got our tickets. We made it into the auditorium. At this point, we would only have to wait about 20 minutes for the movie to start (1:00 p.m. was the first showing). My mom would sit a few rows behind and not with us – wise decision in the long run, I guess. In my anxiousness, was looking all around the place and noticed that the gold curtains covered the projection booth also. Why? We sure weren’t going to look at the BACK of the theater – at least not for THIS movie. But either ways, let’s get to the movie.
It was maybe a minute or two past 1:00 p.m. and the lights started to dim. And to this day, I don’t ever remember a place going as wild as this audience did. FINALLY we were about to start the very movie that promised something we have never experienced or seen before. Yeah, we saw tons of people being shot and blown to bits, but this time, we were going to see people GET EATEN BY A SHARK!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!! And the audience was absolutely going crazy with applauding and yelling. But what do I do? I turned my back to the projection booth and watched the curtain slowly open up. Then the lights in front of the screen slowly dimmed, which only got the audience going even more crazy. Then the Universal logo flashed across the screen – and once again it brought another stream of applauding and yelling. Then the logo fades and the screen is black. And it is black. And I THINK I hear music on the soundtrack, but I can’t really tell cause the applause have not stopped. The first credit comes up. And once again, applause. With that first credit, we know we are on our way. The three stars names appear. Fine. Then the fade in happens, and the title “Jaws”, and – you guessed it – A TON OF APPLAUSE!!!! And only as the music got louder did I realize there actually WAS music on the soundtrack. But it worked in one sense: FINALLY it quieted the audience.
Oh, and one other thing before I go any further. Two of the people in this group of 6 (my mom sat a few rows behind us and away from us) were the ones who went to the sneak preview. Much to my misfortune, one of them was seated next to me. As I describe the action, you will see why it was somewhat misfortunate. Just before the lights dimmed, one turned to the other and asked if they would “make fun of the film” – which was short for “we’ll make comments during the movie to ruin it”. No, the other one says. Thank you.
Okay, “Directed by Steven Spielberg” flashes across the screen. And guess what? No applause – cause nobody had ever heard of this guy. Alls I knew was that the movie officially began after the Directed By credit. Camera stops on girl. NOW we’re really getting started.
Girl goes into ocean, shark sees girl, and promptly makes her a midnight snack. She is thrown and thrashed and jerked. There is no blood, there are no floating limbs, and something we didn’t notice right away – no shark either. But boy, did it shake everybody up. The scene ended and there was exhale going all over the theater.
Now we skip to attack 2.
Boy goes on raft. There are false alarms. Then the music cues us in – the shark is there, and is hungry. We see the kicking limbs which look appetizing for a shark, but he goes to the boy on the raft. Once again, we don’t see the shark, but what we DO see is a fountain of blood and flesh – and THAT brings out a very loud scream from the audience as it is a lot of blood for a movie that is rated PG.
Now we skip to the night time “Gardner’s boat” scene. It is night and it is foggy, and the boat is found. The music is scarey, the audience is absolutely edgy. And what would be the first of a few of these moments, friend turns to the other friend and says, “Is this the part where……..” without finishing the sentence, Friend 2 nods her head with this “yuck” look on her face. Oh great, so much for any element of surprise – I know it won’t be the shark. Instead the head pops out of the hole – and an absolutely ear-piercing scream comes out of the audience again. And it reverbs well into the next sequence.
Then finally 1 hour into it, I KNOW something is going to happen during the next attack – and that is this time we will actually SEE the shark who, so far, has not been visible. Once again, we get the false alarm, then, well, we see that fin cutting the water and heading to the pond where Chief Brody’s son is boating with his friends. We see the fin cut the water near the shore, then there is the boats, and there is – we can safely assume – the next meal. He talks to the boys telling them how to tie the rope, and behind him is the fin getting closer and closer. And the closer the fin gets, the more antsy the audience gets to where they are actually shouting for the man to look out. The boat is turned over, the three potential meals fall into the water, and through the water, our first look at the menacing creature that has made life miserable for the people of Amity, and the audience lets out a big scream as the poor man is caught in the creatures mouth. He is pulled down, we see the severed leg, the audience screams. My friend says, “Gee, they showed that longer in the version I saw.” UGGHHHH.
The three men go out on the boat to hunt the menacing creature. One false alarm. Now it’s time for Brody to chum some fish over the side of the boat. Just before it happens, my friend excitedly says “Here it comes” just before the shark pops his head out of the water. I still jumped anyways, but damn, I wish he’d shut up. But in retrospect, he’s an adolescent, and as we all know, they have a hard time controlling any impulse to tell somebody something. Anyways, with the shark’s head popping out of the water comes one of the loudest screams in film history. The reverberation is deafening. The most famous line of the movie (“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”) is drowned out (I wouldn’t know the line was there until about viewing 5). It’s only when the shark’s theme comes up on the soundtrack does the audience quiet down.
Now we skip to Hooper’s trip in the shark cage as he attempts to stab the shark with poisoning liquid that will end their fun and frolic in the Atlantic Ocean with a shark that likes to eat people. Well, not too much to worry about for ME. Cause I’ve already been told he won’t die. SMASH goes the shark into the cage. The audience let’s out a loud scream. Hooper drops the harpoon. The shark continues it’s quest to get Hooper. What I miss is that Hooper has his knife out and is stabbing the shark. I don’t notice that. What I see is flesh and blood. I turn to my friend, “You told me he WASN’T going to die!!!” as I’m am so certain that Hooper is about to be made into a meal. Hey, I’ve been to sneak previews before, they could have changed their minds and have him die afterall. But no, Hooper makes it out, and swims to the bottom of the ocean where he hides behind some coral, safe from that horrendously big horrible creature.
Now we skip to Quint going to that great fish hunt in the sky. He slides into the shark’s mouth and is promptly eaten. For me – eventhough I know he’s going to kick the bucket – is a scene that is unbearable to watch. He slides towards the great shark, he kicks and kicks in a vein attempt to save himself, but then the shark bites down on his leg. The audience let’s out a deafening scream – cause in that horrible second, we know that Quint is going to get eaten. He will not be saved. He is going to be slowly and without pity made into an afternoon meal. He will scream and fight until that final bite when blood shots out of Quint’s mouth, and Quint’s eyes roll up in a death look, and the shark takes him down – presumably to finish him off. The next shot is the blood in the water which results in a really loud “EEWWWWWHHHHHH”. But even after a meal as filling as Quint, the shark is not done. I have no time to recover from that horrible scene when my friend – for the last time – says “Watch this” just before the shark crashes through the sinking boat. Brody throws the tank into the shark’s mouth. The shark backs out.
Now the audience is sooooo antsy, sooooo scared, sooooo excited, we don’t hear Brody say the line “Show me the tank.” The shark gets closer, the music gets louder, Brody fires crazily at the shark until finally BOOM!!!! The shark explodes. The audience goes absolutely nuts again. They scream and holler and applaud. The shark is dead. The two guys make their way to shore during the ending credits in which – and I might add this is mostly kids – stay in their seats until the curtain shuts, signifying that it is in fact over. Despite my friend’s rather rude (and sometimes mean-spirited) interruptions to tell me something was about to happen, this movie still managed to scare me. There is no doubt about it. THIS was the scariest, most exciting feature I have seen in my 15 years. I’m very happy. It was worth the wait, and I can hardly wait to see it again.
And trust me, I would see it MANY times before it would end it’s theatrical run. Some of the viewings would be to recapture that first viewing, others to hear the music, others to just watch the audience. It was also the summer to go to the beach. Mainly because for the first time in your life, you would have no trouble finding parking – cause nobody would go to the beach. They would not go near the water. For those of you who grew up watching the Discovery channel, keep in mind that in 1975, we did not know much about sharks. This movie EASILY – and I mean EASILY – played on our fears as we found it easy to believe that a shark would stay in an area and eat people – despite any of us not being able to name one case where several people in one area got eaten in a short period of time by one shark.
But that, as a movie, is what makes “Jaws” one of those very special movie going experiences. It took what was basically a dumb story (oh come on, it’s just a poor man’s “Moby Dick”), and turned it into an absolutely thrilling and fun movie going experience. It was a rare case of the MOVIE being better then the BOOK. The dark side to the film’s success is that it made the world bad for sharks – cause there was an increase in people hunting and killing sharks (at the time of the film’s release, the rate was about 40 recorded shark attacks a year, with less then half of them being fatal). The movie hit a nerve, it became part of the culture. It’s box-office take was fun to watch rise as it made itself into the top 10, then the top 5, then 1. Well, most of the other impact is quite well known. It’s discovered all the time by a younger generation who love the film, but who will never know what it was REALLY like to experience that film when it came out. For them I feel sorry. But at the same time, damn, do I love telling them what it was like to see that in a theater. And though I try to have hope for the movies, I don’t think that ever again will there ever be another film that will hit a nerve the way this film did, and I sadly say, I don’t think ever again will I have a cinematic experience that can equal the suspense and horror and thrill of “Jaws”. I only hope that if I ever get to make a feature length film, I can find the story that could provoke this kind of reaction – but I’m not counting on it. Hehehehe.
Wow. Reactions. Cool. Okay, here’s the one I wrote on “The Exorcist”…….
My very first awareness of this history-making film came in and around 1972 when this paperback came out with this name I couldn’t pronounce. It showed what appeared to be a girl with lights in her eyes. “The Exorcist?” What in heck did “Exorcist” mean? How was it pronounced? X-OR-SIEST? Well, whatever it was, the book seemed to be a horror story of some sort. What is truly odd is that during that time I always tried to read the latest paperbacks, but had no interest in reading that particular book. Maybe the title threw me off in that I didn’t think I would understand the story. Whatever the reason, I didn’t read it.
Eventually my brother would mention that he had read it and thought it was great. In fact, he wanted to read it again. So off to the library I went to check the book out for him. But once again, I did not have much interest in reading it despite his rave review.
Then in early December 1973, came this TV ad that I remember like yesterday. A somber voice says “Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a little girl in this house on this street. A man has been sent for as a last resort. The man is The Exorcist. Rated R.” Then the ad states that the movie opens on December 26. To say the least, my brother was happy about that. And yet, I only thought “Oh. Okay.” And it was only then I asked my dad what in heck did the title mean? Oh, he says, he’s a person who drives the devil out. Hmmm. Made some sense.
Now we skip to the few days after Christmas.
It was while talking to my friend on the phone, my friend says “Did you hear about ‘The Exorcist’?” No, I said, what about it? Oh man, this movie was supposed to be so scarey that there were all these people who threw up during the movie, and even a few of them fainted. No kidding? No, really. Throwing up and fainting? A movie THAT scarey? Okay, maybe NOW I’ll read the book. I mean, afterall, the movie only opened in ONE theater in Westwood. And it was only a short time later I would see on the news that apparently many many many people wanted to see this movie that was supposedly making people throw up and faint. I mean the lines were going clear around the block, the around the block across the street. I mean multitudes of people apparently flocked from all over the place to see this movie that was making people scream, faint, and throw up. Being I was only 13, OF COURSE was curious as to what all this ruckus was about.
So back to the library I went to check out the book – and to my dismay, found it was not as easy to get as it was a few months earlier, so I had to make a request for it. And my name was 11th on the list. So I had to wait a few weeks before I would get my turn to read this story. In the meantime, the movie caused a furor unlike anything I had ever seen – and I think to this day, no other movie would have created the kind of controversy this movie caused. It was praised. It was damned. The devil apparently was in the fabric of the film. The paperback would climb right back to the Number 1 spot AGAIN. It was banned in towns. Certain theaters simply would not book it. People were convinced the devil was in their house and demanded exorcisms. Apparently Linda Blair was having psychological treatment as a result of her role in the film (which I would learn from watching Merv Griffin was NOT true). In either case, the movie seemed to be a totally forbidden thing for someone my age to see – which of course is the reason I wanted to see it.
But first I would read the book. I would have it read within 2 or 3 days of checking it out from the library. And I can tell you, from reading the book I would understand why people were getting sick while watching it. At first she’s a sweet little girl. Then her behavior changes. She starts using vulgar language. Then her bed starts shaking. Then she’s being tossed by some unseen force. A friend of her mother mysteriously dies – with his head turned completely around. She violates a cross. She throws up on the priest. She threw up continuously while being exorcised. My goodness, they made a movie of THIS? Cool. But for me, there would be a lot of waiting before I would have the chance to see it.
Then it gets nominated for 10 Academy Awards, but win only two – one for Screenplay Adaption (“The Sting” would sweep that year). But it was only on the Academy Awards that I would see scenes that I hadn’t seen before – during all this controversy, the studio smartly kept footage from view – no pictures of Linda Blair in her possession makeup, no scenes from the exorcism, I mean, practically nothing was shown – and that only got my curiosity all the more going.
And FINALLY it would be around March of 1974 when I would finally see the movie talked about in tons of press and hours of newscasts. And where would I see it? Would I see it at a nice walk-in theater with stereophonic sound? Nope. Try the Rosecrans Drive-in. You read that correctly, Drive-in. The brother that wanted to see it so bad, along with his wife, and lucky me, made the trek to the (now gone) Rosecrans Drive-in theater. We got there very early. Got a fairly good spot, and just waited for the sun to go down – and it seemed an eternity. FINALLY the movie starts.
And here is what made my viewing of such a controversial movie so memorable – and that is my brother, who had a bad history of temperment, simply put the speaker back on the rack, and tore out of the theater before the last scene. Father Karras jumps out the window, he’s given the last rites, but my brother didn’t want to see the last scene – he wanted to get out of the theater NOW instead of driving through all that traffic. Of course I balked, but oh well, I had no choice.
But what did I think of it that first viewing? My only reaction was…………That’s it? It isn’t as though the movie was a horrendous disappointment, but sorry people, I just wasn’t all that scared. There were no sudden jolts. All the really controversial scenes were over with so fast that I had no time to react with nothing more than a little surprise. I wasn’t grossed out – hey, the movie really paled compared to the book in the gross-out department. I was not traumatized like the know-all adults said I would be. In fact, I slept just fine the night I saw it. This was no movie I would stand in any 8 hour line to see. But hey, at least I saw something forbidden, and I survived just fine.
And yes, I would watch the movie many many more times through the 34 years since it’s release. The first, maybe, 5 times I saw it, I still had the “Well, come on movie, SCARE me” mentality which, of course, it did not deliver on. But in time I have come to regard it as ONE of the best (not THE best) horror film. For one thing, it took what I thought was an unbelievable situation and made it so believable that people who were so easily scared didn’t take the time to THINK what plot holes were really there. For instance, the exorcism itself. We have a thumping bed, walls that crack, items thrown about, and enough noise to have broken the eardrums of Mick Jagger. But apparently the devil works in very mysterious ways – cause nobody in the neighborhood seemed to HEAR anything, let alone SEE anything unusual going on at that house.
But trust me on this one, there are many a viewer from that period of time who did NOT react with the seeming ease in which I took the experience. You still find people who will insist they lost 2 weeks sleep over this. But my philosophy is now what it was then, and that is simply this: PEOPLE, IT’S JUST A MOVIE!! At age 13 I knew I was not going to be possessed by any demon because I saw this film. I knew Linda Blair was not really possessed – she wore makeup. That was the dubbed voice of Mercedes MacCambridge. And there were special effects guys behind the walls and on the ceiling. Get real.
Got an interesting answer on this one. In 1979, they used to have a film festival in Los Angeles called Filmex, and one of their traditions was to have the Movie Marathon in which they would pick a genre and continually show movies the entire weekend. The first one I went to was the “Suspense/Mystery” marathon which started on Friday night around 10:30, and ended Sunday a little after midnight. The movies I watched BEFORE calling asleep in the theater was “The Maltese Falcon”, “Murder on the Orient Express”, “Strangers on a Train”, “The Collector”, “Wait Until Dark”, and 1/3 of “Marathon Man”. Remember, this was throught the entire night. And no, people at that particular marathon would have much trouble falling asleep. I think it was like 9:00 a.m. the next morning before I finally conked out for a few hours. But that weekend was one of the funnest weekends I ever had…….
I agree with Jake – Robert Altman. I only liked MASH, Nashville, and The Player, but walked out of “Quintet” and “Buffalo Bill and the Indians”, and hated “McCabe and Mrs. Miller”. You wouldn’t believe how hard my arm had to be twisted to watch “The Player” before I relented. Okay, it was good, but if I saw Robert Altman’s name on the credits, you knew I wouldn’t be in THAT line to buy tickets……..
I wrote the following post on “Last Summer” – I’m not telling you the heading or else I will spoil the fun. But the story is indeed true:
There is one film that probably nobody on this board ever heard of that is still one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Sooooo bad in fact, that I have YET to watch it all the way through after this many years cause alls I do is get upset. And that film is called “Last Summer” with Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davidson, and Cathryn Burns. In a nutshell, it’s basically a study about how cruel teenagers can get. The movie is honest. It is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of teenagers ever to this day – it was made in 1969. But damn, I can barely get one hour into it and my heart starts racing a tad and I ALWAYS say “No, can’t do it”, and end up turning the movie off. And I might add, I’m 48 now. I originally saw the film as a second feature (they used to have double features at one time) with “Romeo and Juliet”. What makes this even more amazing is that two theaters were showing the same double bill. One had it as an "R"rated program, and the other a “PG” rated program. NATURALLY I went to the PG one so I could get in to see it. Only years later did I learn that the very print shown at the “PG” theater was, in fact – now get ready for this – the “X” rated version!! So I managed to crash an “X” rated movie at age 13. Hehehehe. But at what a cost – “Last Summer” is still one of the most disturbing movies for me, and it took years before I would convince myself that a) IT WAS ONLY A MOVIE and b) Barbara Hershey was ACTING – she is probably a really nice person in real life……………
I don’t have to pretend to be a nerdy type – I am and proud of it. Hehehehe. I will do what I have been doing nearly all my life on New Year’s Eve – and that is stay home and watch a movie. I’m thinking of watching “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold” as the first-time feature, while I will probably rewatch Citizen Kane and MAYBE 2001……don’t know what my mood will be yet……..
I’m going to go back a tad – not as far back as Clockwork Orange (which I don’t hate, but am not as big an admirer as other film geeks – I prefer “Straw Dogs” myself), but “Animal House”. I feel I was the only one who only thought it was mildly admusing – I just didn’t think it was funny. Don’t know why. But it just DOESN’T hit my funny bone…….but damn, it seemed like everyone thought it was the greatest……
Life of Brian. Just the scene of Brian’s nude appearance at the window alone was worth the price of admission – and that sequence still ranks as one of the loudest long-sustaining laughs I ever heard come out of an audience…………
Though I won’t argue with “Night of the Hunter”, I think Robert Mitchum was WAY more menacing in “Cape Fear” (1961). Max Cady is still, in my humble opinion, one of the most memorable villians in screen history. I mean, gee, he was just plain MEAN. One that semingly never gets mentioned though everybody agrees he was a no good SOB is Alan Arkin as Harry Roat in “Wait Until Dark”……..
The one book I recommend to learn a very important lesson in film making – mainly what NOT to do – is Steven Bach’s “Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the making of ’Heaven’s Gate’”. I find it to be a perfect cautionary tale, and a good reminder for potential film makers to stay humble. Yes, you have to have confidence and a great belief in your project without the worry of commercial prospects (cause let’s face it, in a way that IS commercial), but Cimino had such unshakable faith in what he was doing that the project had no other choice but to fail as he refused to listen to ANYBODY – even those who offered very sensible advice, and his ego DID get a little out of hand (with only 2 movies to his credit at the time of the preproduction of “Heaven’s Gate”, one of his contractual demands was that the movie be referred to as “Michael Cimino’s ’Heaven’s Gate’” with his name as big as the title). Steven Bach makes clear that Cimino and perhaps a few others involved would tell a different story, but I think Bach tells it pretty much the way it was – and in such an entertaining way.
For my money, it’s the 1970 Carl Reiner film “Where’s Poppa?” You will have two opinions of the movie – one is that it’s the funniest movie ever made, or it’s the most distasteful offensive thing ever committed to film. Thirty-nine years after it’s release, it STILL manages to shock people (one outrageous gag deals with a rape – but trust me, it’s not what it appears to be). Being I’ve seen the movie about 20 or so times, I guess you know which opinion I hold………
“Days of Wine and Roses” with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick – The final scene where Lemmon watches helplessly as the woman he loves walks off into the distance without really knowing what her fate will be………a stunning ending especially for a movie made in 1962……..
“Last Tango in Paris”. HATED it when I first saw it. Found it 110% absolutely BORING. Then about 6 years later, read an article that referenced a sequence I didn’t remember (yes, the “butter” sequence). Rented it again to find that one scene and – surprise – realized that the film wasn’t about sex, it was about a tortured man. When I realized that, I watch the film again and found it to be, well, great. You watch Brando (who gave one of his best performances), you listen to the dialogue, and BINGO – the movie is actually quite good. Depressing as hell, but a great film.
Eventhough I mentioned the movie in another post, the score to “Days of Wine and Roses” is still my favorite – I can’t even imagine that movie without that music………
“Robot Monster” is the absolute “Citizen Kane” of bad movies. The usual criteria for most beloved bad films is that they start off ridiculous and get tedious as the movie goes on. Not “Robot Monster”. This actually gets MORE ridiculous as the movie goes on – and that, fellow film geeks, is no easy feat. You don’t have to be zonked to enjoy this absolutely breathtaking endeavor. Go ahead and rent it and see if I’m right………
I’ve been a film fanatic since age 10 or so – and I’ve seen God knows how many movies by now. But to this day, I’ve only walked out of THREE films. Two of them were Robert Altman films – “Quintet” and “Buffalo Bill and the Indians” – both for the same reason, and that is that both movies were paralyizingly dull (a REAL insult when you consider I sat through both versions of “Heaven’s Gate”). The third was “Interiors” by Woody Allen – but that was mainly cause the movie was going to be a very very obvious downer, and I just wasn’t in the mood for a downer (I watched it later – it was quite good).
“Director’s Cut” is a mixed bag. SOMETIMES it can be better then the released product, but most of the time, it only shows they were right the first time – such as “JFK”, in which the Director’s Cut shows that not only are the CIA and FBI in on the president’s killing, but also Liquor Store owners, Record Store owners, Furniture Store owners, and everybody else in the world – except Lee Harvey Oswald. While “Almost Famous” is BETTER in it’s extended version – or better yet, I prefer the longer version of “Almost Famous” to it’s theatrical version. But right off hand, can’t think of any other director’s version I prefer………
New to The Auteurs? You Belong Here over 3 years ago
WOW!!! Hello everybody. Just found this place. And I can’t tell you what a relief it is to see there ARE other film geeks besides me. Yes, I’ve been a movie fanatic since about age 10 or so, and I can’t even estimate how many I have watched through the years. But as one gets older, the passion seems to fade – mainly because the movies they have been making the last 10 or so years are mostly forgettable – with a reminder here and there that they are STILL making good movies. But it’s mostly Criterion that I thank for keeping my passion alive – cause they always bring out films I never heard of which proves, if anything, there is STILL plenty of film history left to discover, watch, and learn. Once again, hello everybody………
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Most Traumatic or Dramatic Film Endings over 3 years ago
Though I won’t argue with any of the titles I’ve read so far, for me it’s “Days of Wine and Roses” with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick. I first saw the film when I was about 13 and I think it made the impression it did on me simply because…..the film did NOT end happy. Nobody died at the end of the film, but it sure as heck doesn’t fall under many people’s definition of a happy ending. And to this day, I STILL can’t watch the ending and not cry…………..
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Movies That Should Be In the Criterion Collection over 3 years ago
In the vein of “The Red Balloon” and “White Mane” – meaning so-called Children’s movies, I would like Criterion to release a film I saw on The Children’s Film Festival as a young kid titled “Skinny and Fatty” (I don’t know the Japanese title of the film). What I would give to see that movie in it’s entirety, in it’s original language, with subtitles. And anybody in my age bracket (I’m unashamably 48 years old) who saw the film would more than likely feel the same way. It’s a beautiful little film that deserves to be seen. Come on, Criterion people, do SOMETHING to get this obscure movie to the stature it deserves…….
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Which Movies Have You Walked Out On? over 3 years ago
I have no trouble finding an answer to this one. I’ve only walked out on two movies in my entire years of moving going – and both of them happen to be Robert Altman films. They were “Buffalo Bill and the Indians” and “Quintet”. Both for the same reasons. Both films were undeniably DULL. I just couldn’t take it anymore. And this is coming from someone who sat through the uncut “Heaven’s Gate” about 7 times through the years………..
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Films you love but most people hate. over 3 years ago
For me, the first one that comes to mind is “The Accidental Tourist”. I have had countless people tell me they fell asleep during it and think it’s one of the most boring films ever made. But hey, I liked it – and found alot in it to admire. The other “Gee, I don’t know, I kind of liked it” was both “Lady in the Water” and “The Happening”. Why do people rip on those films so much? Honestly, they aren’t THAT bad………
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The scariest or most disturbing film you have EVER seen. over 3 years ago
There is one film that probably nobody on this board ever heard of that is still one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Sooooo bad in fact, that I have YET to watch it all the way through after this many years cause alls I do is get upset. And that film is called “Last Summer” with Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davidson, and Cathryn Burns. In a nutshell, it’s basically a study about how cruel teenagers can get. The movie is honest. It is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of teenagers ever to this day – it was made in 1969. But damn, I can barely get one hour into it and my heart starts racing a tad and I ALWAYS say “No, can’t do it”, and end up turning the movie off. And I might add, I’m 48 now. I originally saw the film as a second feature (they used to have double features at one time) with “Romeo and Juliet”. What makes this even more amazing is that two theaters were showing the same double bill. One had it as an "R"rated program, and the other a “PG” rated program. NATURALLY I went to the PG one so I could get in to see it. Only years later did I learn that the very print shown at the “PG” theater was, in fact – now get ready for this – the “X” rated version!! So I managed to crash an “X” rated movie at age 13. Hehehehe. But at what a cost – “Last Summer” is still one of the most disturbing movies for me, and it took years before I would convince myself that a) IT WAS ONLY A MOVIE and b) Barbara Hershey was ACTING – she is probably a really nice person in real life……………
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VILLAINS. over 3 years ago
Actor – Robert Mitchum in “Cape Fear” – still the nastiest, meanest SOB to ever grace the last 20 minutes of a movie.
Actress – Shelly Winters in “A Patch of Blue” – still the nastiest, meanest B——- mother-from-hell to ever grace the screen……
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Heck, I don't know what to call this topic, so I'll say "Announcement"...... over 3 years ago
Greetings fellow film lovers. Fellow “Auteur” member Aaron B. Smith suggested I take my “MySpace” blogs – which I had directed HIM to – and put them here. Gee, why didn’t I think of that other than extreme modesty? What I’ve been doing is telling what it was like to see certain movies in the movie theater. In many cases, the movies went on to become classics – and I was among the first to see them. So what I want to do here is start out with my original announcement of my attentions with my blog on MySpace. Which goes like this:
It is with great pleasure that after months and months of pondering, I have decided what I will be doing with my MySpace blog of the coming weeks and hopefully months. The idea is so simple. It is something I should have thought of sooner. Let’s go back to about 1975.
That is the summer of “Jaws”. During the many months that the movie would be playing in theaters, there was one comparison that always seemed to be made with that film, and that was comparing the audience reaction to that of “Psycho”. At age 15, I was well aware that “Psycho” was some sort of scarey movie that come out years earlier. The way the spoke of it, it was the very definition of the word “scarey”. Yet I had no idea of what the movie was about. So what would a curious person of 15 do in a case like this? I would ask the older generation if they had seen “Psycho” – and what was it like to see in the movie house at the time of the film’s release?
Not to long ago, a younger person (GAWD I hate saying that) overhears me talk about movies. So he asks me “Did you see ‘Jaws’ in the movie theater?” Why yes, I said. He said, “What was THAT like in a movie theater?”
That poor kid. He grew up in the era of VHS/DVD/Internet. He couldn’t grasp the idea that at one time, movies had a real mystique to them. Certain movies weren’t just movies. They were events in and of themselves. They were seen in LARGE single-theater buildings and not multiplexes – during the days when there were no advance ticket sales, when movies opened exclusively in Hollywood and Westwood for MONTHS before they would make it to your local theater, and you really had no idea when the next opportunity to see them the way the were meant to be seen would present itself. Where the anticipation would be at times so unbearable, you just HAD to stand in that 7 hour line to be among the first to grasp this cinematic experience. And in the years when my movie geekdom bug would hit in the biggest way, Hollywood was still pushing the envelope as far as sex, violence, and subject matters that would not even be thought of in today’s superduper “Play it as safe as you can cause they cost so damn much to make” world of movie making.
Some of the movies I will be talking about became classics. Other films became forgotten. Some I thought were great at the time I first saw them, then, well, they dated. Other films I HATED at the time I first saw them then grew to love. Some I hated when I first saw them, and to this day STILL hate. Some I would like, but not understand why they were considered so great, then would go on to understand. And yet others I would like, but not really catch the “true meaning” until I got older and watched them again. And yet there were classic films like “Chinatown” which, despite all it’s praise and popularity at the time, I actually missed in the movie theater and would deeply regret it.
And with that, I will start a series of blogs entitled “What was it like to see (fill in blank) in a movie theater?” For one thing, I don’t have any kind of book contract, so I might as well share the stories I love sharing without thinking about “I’m not getting paid for this.” Hehehe. Just remember that what I write IS the way I remember it. There will be no fictitious episodes, so unlike “Sybil”, “The Amityville Horror”, and “A Million Little Pieces” for that matter, what you read DID happen the way I described it. I think my memory is good, and I think it’s about as accurate as one can get. Many of the people I saw these films with drifted out of my life, while others stayed. But unless they are direct relatives, they will only be described as “friends”. Like “Last Tango In Paris”, we don’t need names here (unless they actually tell me it’s okay). The movies I write about will be in no particular order, just whatever my mood happens to be in at the time.
And with that, stay tuned……………….
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Heck, I don't know what to call this topic, so I'll say "Announcement"...... over 3 years ago
And here is my first blog on the subject. “The Poseidon Adventure”. Hey, don’t laugh – I have an affection for that movie……
In the 37 years since it’s release, “The Poseidon Adventure” has become on the one hand the classic example of the “disaster film” genre that swept Hollywood during the 1970s, and on the other hand has become an object of so much ridicule for it’s campiness that it is so easy to forget just what a big movie it was at the time of it’s release – it was in fact one of the top 10 money makers for a period of time. And as hard to believe as it is, it was the subject of much controversy. Why? The critics absolutely HATED the film, but that didn’t keep audiences from seeing it. It seemed to be so critic-proof as to define any logic.
But anyone who was my age at the time I saw it, the answer was simple: We never saw anything like it before.
It all started around December of 1972 when there was some special on TV talking about upcoming holiday releases. As I remember it, I didn’t catch the title of this particular movie they were talking about. They jumped right to the movie clips. What I saw was that it was night, this big “Queen Mary” type of ship was sailing minding it’s own business, when this big wave hits the side, causing the ship to turnover. Hmmmm. Then there is this shot of a guy falling downward through this plate of glass. Wow.
Unfortunately for me, the movie opened exclusively in Hollywood and Westwood. It would eventually get as close as Lakewood, but I would have to wait till about March of 1973 before it would make it to Whittier. And let me tell you, I was TORTURED seeing all those previews, and hearing from my similar-aged friends how good it was.
But FINALLY that day arrived. In those days, movies opened on Wednesday (Friday is the norm now), and eventhough it was playing nearby, my mom was adamant that I would not see a movie on a school night, so I would have to wait another 4 excruciating days before that Saturday would get here. And this would be no ordinary trip to the movies. I would go with 3 friends from school, and my niece Suzy (age 10 at the time). One of my 3 friends didn’t even want to see this one as bad as we did – he wanted to see “The World’s Greatest Athlete” instead. But we outranked him – it would be “The Poseidon Adventure”, end of story. So the five of us stuffed ourselves into our car, and off to The Whittier Theater we went. When we arrived, we found much to our astonishment, there were many many other people who wanted to see this movie too – there was an actual line at the box office – quite rare in those days. But hey, we wanted to see this movie, and if the theater was crowded, so be it. In the line we went, our tickets purchased, and our seats grabbed.
But the “wait” Gods were still with us – cause in those days, when a movie opened in wide release, they would be billed with a SECOND feature. No kidding. In those days you could see two movies for the price of one. And in our case, we had to sit through the SECOND feature first (the day’s screenings usually started with the main feature, THEN the second feature). MORE TORTURE. The movie was called “War Devils”. I can’t really remember much about that film other then there was enough action in it to keep us occupied until we got to the movie we wanted to see – and should tell you just how anticipated “The Poseidon Adventure” was – cause my other friends can’t remember that movie either.
But then the movie ended, and we had to wait another 20 minutes for the main feature. Oh, how those minutes passed soooooo slowly. But then finally, the lights didn’t just dim, they went out completely – not to a low dim, but completely out, blacking the theater out. The theater applauded in anticipation, then the first image of the S.S. Poseidon flashed in widescreen in front of us, and the theater went nuts again, then the title “The Poseidon Adventure” flashed across the screen, and it drowned out the sound completely. But almost as quickly as the noise went up, it went down as the people “patiently” waited for the movie to get to “the big scene”.
And at that age, 25 minutes is a long time, especially when you know what’s going to happen. So let’s get to it.
The wave is shown approaching, then breaks. We gasp. The alarms go off. The passengers who are celebrating New Year’s look with much confusion. Then the wave slams, and then we see what wasn’t shown in the previews – and that is people sliding, tossed, thrown, splattered, crushed by falling debris, and the next thing, the ship is upside down. And let me assure you, at that moment, nobody could have paid anybody in that theater to leave. We were absolutely glued to our chairs. A bomb could have gone off outside the theater, and it still wouldn’t have made us budge. The movie had us, and that was that. We would be enthraled over who would actually go up that Christmas tree. We would gasp as the water crashed through that room drowning the poor people who were dumb enough to NOT go . We would sweat with the characters as they went through that kitchen, and we would gasp again when we realized the water was right behind them.
But two moments stood out in that first viewing. So for those people who didn’t see the movie, spoiler alert from here on.
To get to the engine room, the characters would have to swim through a passageway that is now under water. Reverend Scott leads the way, only to get trapped. Belle Rosen (Shelley Winters), who is well, pleasantly plump, dives in to save the trapped Reverand. She saves him, the audience applauds, but then tragedy will strike – Belle Rosen’s heart will give out, taking her to that great Swimming Championship in the sky, and there would be much coughing, sniffling, and watery eyes as we all feel sad that this really nice lady dies.
The other moment would be just as what’s left of the characters we grew to like are sooo close to the propeller shaft area, which will be their key to freedom. But just as they are about to move towards it, the ship explodes, sending our beloved foul-mouthed, hot-tempered, but very nice former hooker Linda to that great Street Walking Boulevard in the sky. Many members of the audience let out a scream – as loud as Linda’s – as she went over and hit the bottom (sorry, top) of the room. Gee, of all people that had to die, why did it have to be HER? But oh well……
Finally, the six people are pulled from the ship onto the waiting helicopter, the copter takes off, the movie fades, the credits start, and the applause nearly take the roof off the very very old theater. Wow. To our young eyes, this was simply the greatest movie ever made. It was the fastest 2 hours we ever had in a movie theater. We were awe-struck by the special effects. We liked the characters. In addition to the excitement, we felt other emotions – we laughed, and we cried.
And it would leave me in a state of confusion as to why these critics hated the movie so much. Just what in heck were they harping about when they said the movie was cliched-ridden, had cardboard characters, and had over-the-top acting? Forget “The Godfather” – THIS was the best movie of the year. I showed those critics by seeing the movie EIGHT times in the movie theater. Yep. It would be the first film in my movie going years that I would see multiple times, memorize the dialogue, and want to know everything about how they filmed it. I would become fans of such actors I had never seen before such as Ernest Borgnine (I had already seen “The French Connection” and knew who this Gene Hackman guy was), and Shelly Winters. Boy, this was THE movie. And that was that.
But then tragedy would strike.
I would watch the movie again in 1986 at age 26 and make a very startling discovery: The film was cliched-ridden, had cardboard characters, and the acting was over-the-top. And if that weren’t bad enough, it wasn’t the greatest movie ever made either. I would find through time that the movie made the biggest impact on people ages 10 through about 15. And for good reason: At the time we started going to movies, epic films were not being made anymore. We had no “Ben Hur”, “Spartacus”, or “Lawrence of Arabia”. We were not accustomed to big budget films. This was something new – and fortunately we were too young to know what a cliche even was. Since most of these actors were unknown to us, we didn’t see it as “the stars will go up the Christmas tree, while the extras drown”. And if that wasn’t enough, despite the campiness of it all, the movie had a positive message for the young impressionable youth: Despite what seemed like insurmountable odds, you CAN get through a trying situation. And for kids going into that jungle known as Junior High School, that is exactly the message we needed at that particular time. Yep, the film taught us to hang in there. I know the more serious film geeks will roll their eyes, but it is true – the movie made a positive impact on that age, and for that reason, you will find many people in that age bracket that hold this movie with a ton of affection and gladly overlook the movie’s, uh, shortcomings.
And it was an awesome experience to see in the theater too.
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Heck, I don't know what to call this topic, so I'll say "Announcement"...... over 3 years ago
This is about “Jaws”…………
This was about the end of 1974. It all started with a conversation I had with a fellow music student whom I was friends with at the time. We were both big readers. We paid attention to the paperbacks that went on the racks at our nearby drug stores and supermarkets. So it was with much surprise when this title gets mentioned to me as I thought I was pretty up to date. I’m told this book is the latest craze among the young readers. It’s a book with a bizarre title. It’s called “Jaws”. “Jaws”? What in heck would THAT be about?
To say the least, I got my answer fairly quickly. A fellow History class student was reading the book when he wasn’t supposed to – afterall, this was History class. So I stopped him and asked him what in heck was this book about? Oh, he says, it’s great. It’s about this giant shark that eats people in this community on the East Coast. Oh, I thought. A shark. “Jaws”. Okay, makes sense.
Within a short time I would borrow the book from one of my friends and see what this whole thing was about. My own humble opinion was that it was only okay. I wasn’t blown away by it. Even the sex was so thrown in for no other reason than to titillate – but that’s probably the bigger reason that the book was the big craze with the younger readers!!
And despite it being a big best seller, I was still somewhat surprised to learn that a movie was in fact being made from it. I mean, gee, how in heck were they going to show a shark jumping out of the water and cracking a boat in two let alone eat a bunch of unfortunate victims? Hmmmmm. It was to be made by Universal Studios, and the only really familiar name amongst that cast was Richard Dreyfuss, whom I had seen in “American Graffiti”. And as the summer was drawing nearer, more stories about the film was leaking out. The biggest item it seemed was that mechanical sharks was being used.
Then two of my fellow music students hit me with a big surprise. I go into my lesson on Monday to be told that……they saw the movie last night. What? It was March. How could that be? Well, they tell me, they sneak previewed the movie at Lakewood Center on Sunday night, so the two of them and one of their mothers went. Damn. I was soooo jealous. Was the movie good? Oh yes. Was it pretty much like the book? Not really. They only gave two things away: Hooper lives, and the way Quint dies is different than in the book. What about the, uh, affair? Nope. No affair. No mafia. Okay. I TRIED not to press for more details. But let me tell you, I was so jealous (it’s okay, I got over it – besides, I got even at a later date). They saw it already – and the movie wasn’t supposed to be out for another 2-1/2 months.
Then the posters for the movie started being put up in our local theaters. It was the familiar cover of the paperback book. And the movie was — surprise — rated PG. PG? But wait!! It had a tag line to the rating that made me take notice – “MAY BE TOO INTENSE FOR YOUNGER CHILDREN”. Gee, the movie was SCAREY? Oh, come on. The book sure wasn’t to me.
FINALLY the day arrived. It was Friday, June 20th. The movie was opening at – surprise – several theaters this time. I expected the 1 theater in Westwood and the 1 theater in Hollywood. But apparently Hollywood this time just KNEW people were anxiously awaiting this film. It was already arranged that I would see the film with 5 other people, plus my mom. Seven total. My mother. I couldn’t believe it. She actually AGREED to sit and watch the movie instead of dropping me off. You mean she was curious about this movie too? We agreed we would see it at the very theater it was sneak previewed at – Lakewood Center Theaters in Lakewood, California. I could attend that theater with the absolute certainty that it would be playing in Theater 1 – at the time the largest surface theater in California with a seating capacity of 1200 seats, with a huge screen to boot. As I remember it, I would meet my friends there – I don’t recall that we had to pick anybody up. So mom dutifully drives to the theater, and we are greeted with an unbelievable sight: a line – a really really big line. I mean that this line went way past the theater itself and snaked right into the parking lot area. My mom gasped. I told her not to worry – it was a HUGE theater and we would make it in on THIS showing. Fortunately, two of the friends were there already – but they were near the BACK of the line. So my mom and I join them. And I make an observation: The line is nearly all kids and young teenagers – the very people this movie is supposedly too intense to be seen by. But they sure didn’t look like they were afraid of this movie. Then the three other friends join us about 10 minutes later, much to the irritation of the person standing behind me who is angry that we would let 3 people cut in front of them. The line slowly but surely moved until finally we got our tickets. We made it into the auditorium. At this point, we would only have to wait about 20 minutes for the movie to start (1:00 p.m. was the first showing). My mom would sit a few rows behind and not with us – wise decision in the long run, I guess. In my anxiousness, was looking all around the place and noticed that the gold curtains covered the projection booth also. Why? We sure weren’t going to look at the BACK of the theater – at least not for THIS movie. But either ways, let’s get to the movie.
It was maybe a minute or two past 1:00 p.m. and the lights started to dim. And to this day, I don’t ever remember a place going as wild as this audience did. FINALLY we were about to start the very movie that promised something we have never experienced or seen before. Yeah, we saw tons of people being shot and blown to bits, but this time, we were going to see people GET EATEN BY A SHARK!!! THIS IS SO COOL!!!! And the audience was absolutely going crazy with applauding and yelling. But what do I do? I turned my back to the projection booth and watched the curtain slowly open up. Then the lights in front of the screen slowly dimmed, which only got the audience going even more crazy. Then the Universal logo flashed across the screen – and once again it brought another stream of applauding and yelling. Then the logo fades and the screen is black. And it is black. And I THINK I hear music on the soundtrack, but I can’t really tell cause the applause have not stopped. The first credit comes up. And once again, applause. With that first credit, we know we are on our way. The three stars names appear. Fine. Then the fade in happens, and the title “Jaws”, and – you guessed it – A TON OF APPLAUSE!!!! And only as the music got louder did I realize there actually WAS music on the soundtrack. But it worked in one sense: FINALLY it quieted the audience.
Oh, and one other thing before I go any further. Two of the people in this group of 6 (my mom sat a few rows behind us and away from us) were the ones who went to the sneak preview. Much to my misfortune, one of them was seated next to me. As I describe the action, you will see why it was somewhat misfortunate. Just before the lights dimmed, one turned to the other and asked if they would “make fun of the film” – which was short for “we’ll make comments during the movie to ruin it”. No, the other one says. Thank you.
Okay, “Directed by Steven Spielberg” flashes across the screen. And guess what? No applause – cause nobody had ever heard of this guy. Alls I knew was that the movie officially began after the Directed By credit. Camera stops on girl. NOW we’re really getting started.
Girl goes into ocean, shark sees girl, and promptly makes her a midnight snack. She is thrown and thrashed and jerked. There is no blood, there are no floating limbs, and something we didn’t notice right away – no shark either. But boy, did it shake everybody up. The scene ended and there was exhale going all over the theater.
Now we skip to attack 2.
Boy goes on raft. There are false alarms. Then the music cues us in – the shark is there, and is hungry. We see the kicking limbs which look appetizing for a shark, but he goes to the boy on the raft. Once again, we don’t see the shark, but what we DO see is a fountain of blood and flesh – and THAT brings out a very loud scream from the audience as it is a lot of blood for a movie that is rated PG.
Now we skip to the night time “Gardner’s boat” scene. It is night and it is foggy, and the boat is found. The music is scarey, the audience is absolutely edgy. And what would be the first of a few of these moments, friend turns to the other friend and says, “Is this the part where……..” without finishing the sentence, Friend 2 nods her head with this “yuck” look on her face. Oh great, so much for any element of surprise – I know it won’t be the shark. Instead the head pops out of the hole – and an absolutely ear-piercing scream comes out of the audience again. And it reverbs well into the next sequence.
Then finally 1 hour into it, I KNOW something is going to happen during the next attack – and that is this time we will actually SEE the shark who, so far, has not been visible. Once again, we get the false alarm, then, well, we see that fin cutting the water and heading to the pond where Chief Brody’s son is boating with his friends. We see the fin cut the water near the shore, then there is the boats, and there is – we can safely assume – the next meal. He talks to the boys telling them how to tie the rope, and behind him is the fin getting closer and closer. And the closer the fin gets, the more antsy the audience gets to where they are actually shouting for the man to look out. The boat is turned over, the three potential meals fall into the water, and through the water, our first look at the menacing creature that has made life miserable for the people of Amity, and the audience lets out a big scream as the poor man is caught in the creatures mouth. He is pulled down, we see the severed leg, the audience screams. My friend says, “Gee, they showed that longer in the version I saw.” UGGHHHH.
The three men go out on the boat to hunt the menacing creature. One false alarm. Now it’s time for Brody to chum some fish over the side of the boat. Just before it happens, my friend excitedly says “Here it comes” just before the shark pops his head out of the water. I still jumped anyways, but damn, I wish he’d shut up. But in retrospect, he’s an adolescent, and as we all know, they have a hard time controlling any impulse to tell somebody something. Anyways, with the shark’s head popping out of the water comes one of the loudest screams in film history. The reverberation is deafening. The most famous line of the movie (“You’re gonna need a bigger boat”) is drowned out (I wouldn’t know the line was there until about viewing 5). It’s only when the shark’s theme comes up on the soundtrack does the audience quiet down.
Now we skip to Hooper’s trip in the shark cage as he attempts to stab the shark with poisoning liquid that will end their fun and frolic in the Atlantic Ocean with a shark that likes to eat people. Well, not too much to worry about for ME. Cause I’ve already been told he won’t die. SMASH goes the shark into the cage. The audience let’s out a loud scream. Hooper drops the harpoon. The shark continues it’s quest to get Hooper. What I miss is that Hooper has his knife out and is stabbing the shark. I don’t notice that. What I see is flesh and blood. I turn to my friend, “You told me he WASN’T going to die!!!” as I’m am so certain that Hooper is about to be made into a meal. Hey, I’ve been to sneak previews before, they could have changed their minds and have him die afterall. But no, Hooper makes it out, and swims to the bottom of the ocean where he hides behind some coral, safe from that horrendously big horrible creature.
Now we skip to Quint going to that great fish hunt in the sky. He slides into the shark’s mouth and is promptly eaten. For me – eventhough I know he’s going to kick the bucket – is a scene that is unbearable to watch. He slides towards the great shark, he kicks and kicks in a vein attempt to save himself, but then the shark bites down on his leg. The audience let’s out a deafening scream – cause in that horrible second, we know that Quint is going to get eaten. He will not be saved. He is going to be slowly and without pity made into an afternoon meal. He will scream and fight until that final bite when blood shots out of Quint’s mouth, and Quint’s eyes roll up in a death look, and the shark takes him down – presumably to finish him off. The next shot is the blood in the water which results in a really loud “EEWWWWWHHHHHH”. But even after a meal as filling as Quint, the shark is not done. I have no time to recover from that horrible scene when my friend – for the last time – says “Watch this” just before the shark crashes through the sinking boat. Brody throws the tank into the shark’s mouth. The shark backs out.
Now the audience is sooooo antsy, sooooo scared, sooooo excited, we don’t hear Brody say the line “Show me the tank.” The shark gets closer, the music gets louder, Brody fires crazily at the shark until finally BOOM!!!! The shark explodes. The audience goes absolutely nuts again. They scream and holler and applaud. The shark is dead. The two guys make their way to shore during the ending credits in which – and I might add this is mostly kids – stay in their seats until the curtain shuts, signifying that it is in fact over. Despite my friend’s rather rude (and sometimes mean-spirited) interruptions to tell me something was about to happen, this movie still managed to scare me. There is no doubt about it. THIS was the scariest, most exciting feature I have seen in my 15 years. I’m very happy. It was worth the wait, and I can hardly wait to see it again.
And trust me, I would see it MANY times before it would end it’s theatrical run. Some of the viewings would be to recapture that first viewing, others to hear the music, others to just watch the audience. It was also the summer to go to the beach. Mainly because for the first time in your life, you would have no trouble finding parking – cause nobody would go to the beach. They would not go near the water. For those of you who grew up watching the Discovery channel, keep in mind that in 1975, we did not know much about sharks. This movie EASILY – and I mean EASILY – played on our fears as we found it easy to believe that a shark would stay in an area and eat people – despite any of us not being able to name one case where several people in one area got eaten in a short period of time by one shark.
But that, as a movie, is what makes “Jaws” one of those very special movie going experiences. It took what was basically a dumb story (oh come on, it’s just a poor man’s “Moby Dick”), and turned it into an absolutely thrilling and fun movie going experience. It was a rare case of the MOVIE being better then the BOOK. The dark side to the film’s success is that it made the world bad for sharks – cause there was an increase in people hunting and killing sharks (at the time of the film’s release, the rate was about 40 recorded shark attacks a year, with less then half of them being fatal). The movie hit a nerve, it became part of the culture. It’s box-office take was fun to watch rise as it made itself into the top 10, then the top 5, then 1. Well, most of the other impact is quite well known. It’s discovered all the time by a younger generation who love the film, but who will never know what it was REALLY like to experience that film when it came out. For them I feel sorry. But at the same time, damn, do I love telling them what it was like to see that in a theater. And though I try to have hope for the movies, I don’t think that ever again will there ever be another film that will hit a nerve the way this film did, and I sadly say, I don’t think ever again will I have a cinematic experience that can equal the suspense and horror and thrill of “Jaws”. I only hope that if I ever get to make a feature length film, I can find the story that could provoke this kind of reaction – but I’m not counting on it. Hehehehe.
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Heck, I don't know what to call this topic, so I'll say "Announcement"...... over 3 years ago
Wow. Reactions. Cool. Okay, here’s the one I wrote on “The Exorcist”…….
My very first awareness of this history-making film came in and around 1972 when this paperback came out with this name I couldn’t pronounce. It showed what appeared to be a girl with lights in her eyes. “The Exorcist?” What in heck did “Exorcist” mean? How was it pronounced? X-OR-SIEST? Well, whatever it was, the book seemed to be a horror story of some sort. What is truly odd is that during that time I always tried to read the latest paperbacks, but had no interest in reading that particular book. Maybe the title threw me off in that I didn’t think I would understand the story. Whatever the reason, I didn’t read it.
Eventually my brother would mention that he had read it and thought it was great. In fact, he wanted to read it again. So off to the library I went to check the book out for him. But once again, I did not have much interest in reading it despite his rave review.
Then in early December 1973, came this TV ad that I remember like yesterday. A somber voice says “Something almost beyond comprehension is happening to a little girl in this house on this street. A man has been sent for as a last resort. The man is The Exorcist. Rated R.” Then the ad states that the movie opens on December 26. To say the least, my brother was happy about that. And yet, I only thought “Oh. Okay.” And it was only then I asked my dad what in heck did the title mean? Oh, he says, he’s a person who drives the devil out. Hmmm. Made some sense.
Now we skip to the few days after Christmas.
It was while talking to my friend on the phone, my friend says “Did you hear about ‘The Exorcist’?” No, I said, what about it? Oh man, this movie was supposed to be so scarey that there were all these people who threw up during the movie, and even a few of them fainted. No kidding? No, really. Throwing up and fainting? A movie THAT scarey? Okay, maybe NOW I’ll read the book. I mean, afterall, the movie only opened in ONE theater in Westwood. And it was only a short time later I would see on the news that apparently many many many people wanted to see this movie that was supposedly making people throw up and faint. I mean the lines were going clear around the block, the around the block across the street. I mean multitudes of people apparently flocked from all over the place to see this movie that was making people scream, faint, and throw up. Being I was only 13, OF COURSE was curious as to what all this ruckus was about.
So back to the library I went to check out the book – and to my dismay, found it was not as easy to get as it was a few months earlier, so I had to make a request for it. And my name was 11th on the list. So I had to wait a few weeks before I would get my turn to read this story. In the meantime, the movie caused a furor unlike anything I had ever seen – and I think to this day, no other movie would have created the kind of controversy this movie caused. It was praised. It was damned. The devil apparently was in the fabric of the film. The paperback would climb right back to the Number 1 spot AGAIN. It was banned in towns. Certain theaters simply would not book it. People were convinced the devil was in their house and demanded exorcisms. Apparently Linda Blair was having psychological treatment as a result of her role in the film (which I would learn from watching Merv Griffin was NOT true). In either case, the movie seemed to be a totally forbidden thing for someone my age to see – which of course is the reason I wanted to see it.
But first I would read the book. I would have it read within 2 or 3 days of checking it out from the library. And I can tell you, from reading the book I would understand why people were getting sick while watching it. At first she’s a sweet little girl. Then her behavior changes. She starts using vulgar language. Then her bed starts shaking. Then she’s being tossed by some unseen force. A friend of her mother mysteriously dies – with his head turned completely around. She violates a cross. She throws up on the priest. She threw up continuously while being exorcised. My goodness, they made a movie of THIS? Cool. But for me, there would be a lot of waiting before I would have the chance to see it.
Then it gets nominated for 10 Academy Awards, but win only two – one for Screenplay Adaption (“The Sting” would sweep that year). But it was only on the Academy Awards that I would see scenes that I hadn’t seen before – during all this controversy, the studio smartly kept footage from view – no pictures of Linda Blair in her possession makeup, no scenes from the exorcism, I mean, practically nothing was shown – and that only got my curiosity all the more going.
And FINALLY it would be around March of 1974 when I would finally see the movie talked about in tons of press and hours of newscasts. And where would I see it? Would I see it at a nice walk-in theater with stereophonic sound? Nope. Try the Rosecrans Drive-in. You read that correctly, Drive-in. The brother that wanted to see it so bad, along with his wife, and lucky me, made the trek to the (now gone) Rosecrans Drive-in theater. We got there very early. Got a fairly good spot, and just waited for the sun to go down – and it seemed an eternity. FINALLY the movie starts.
And here is what made my viewing of such a controversial movie so memorable – and that is my brother, who had a bad history of temperment, simply put the speaker back on the rack, and tore out of the theater before the last scene. Father Karras jumps out the window, he’s given the last rites, but my brother didn’t want to see the last scene – he wanted to get out of the theater NOW instead of driving through all that traffic. Of course I balked, but oh well, I had no choice.
But what did I think of it that first viewing? My only reaction was…………That’s it? It isn’t as though the movie was a horrendous disappointment, but sorry people, I just wasn’t all that scared. There were no sudden jolts. All the really controversial scenes were over with so fast that I had no time to react with nothing more than a little surprise. I wasn’t grossed out – hey, the movie really paled compared to the book in the gross-out department. I was not traumatized like the know-all adults said I would be. In fact, I slept just fine the night I saw it. This was no movie I would stand in any 8 hour line to see. But hey, at least I saw something forbidden, and I survived just fine.
And yes, I would watch the movie many many more times through the 34 years since it’s release. The first, maybe, 5 times I saw it, I still had the “Well, come on movie, SCARE me” mentality which, of course, it did not deliver on. But in time I have come to regard it as ONE of the best (not THE best) horror film. For one thing, it took what I thought was an unbelievable situation and made it so believable that people who were so easily scared didn’t take the time to THINK what plot holes were really there. For instance, the exorcism itself. We have a thumping bed, walls that crack, items thrown about, and enough noise to have broken the eardrums of Mick Jagger. But apparently the devil works in very mysterious ways – cause nobody in the neighborhood seemed to HEAR anything, let alone SEE anything unusual going on at that house.
But trust me on this one, there are many a viewer from that period of time who did NOT react with the seeming ease in which I took the experience. You still find people who will insist they lost 2 weeks sleep over this. But my philosophy is now what it was then, and that is simply this: PEOPLE, IT’S JUST A MOVIE!! At age 13 I knew I was not going to be possessed by any demon because I saw this film. I knew Linda Blair was not really possessed – she wore makeup. That was the dubbed voice of Mercedes MacCambridge. And there were special effects guys behind the walls and on the ceiling. Get real.
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How many movies did you watch in a row? over 3 years ago
Got an interesting answer on this one. In 1979, they used to have a film festival in Los Angeles called Filmex, and one of their traditions was to have the Movie Marathon in which they would pick a genre and continually show movies the entire weekend. The first one I went to was the “Suspense/Mystery” marathon which started on Friday night around 10:30, and ended Sunday a little after midnight. The movies I watched BEFORE calling asleep in the theater was “The Maltese Falcon”, “Murder on the Orient Express”, “Strangers on a Train”, “The Collector”, “Wait Until Dark”, and 1/3 of “Marathon Man”. Remember, this was throught the entire night. And no, people at that particular marathon would have much trouble falling asleep. I think it was like 9:00 a.m. the next morning before I finally conked out for a few hours. But that weekend was one of the funnest weekends I ever had…….
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Who do you think the most overrated director is? over 3 years ago
I agree with Jake – Robert Altman. I only liked MASH, Nashville, and The Player, but walked out of “Quintet” and “Buffalo Bill and the Indians”, and hated “McCabe and Mrs. Miller”. You wouldn’t believe how hard my arm had to be twisted to watch “The Player” before I relented. Okay, it was good, but if I saw Robert Altman’s name on the credits, you knew I wouldn’t be in THAT line to buy tickets……..
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Now, how about CRITERION issued films you just don't like!! over 3 years ago
Hated “Solaris” – BORING!!!
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DOE'S ANYONE REMEMBER "LAST SUMMER" (1969) WITH BARBARA HERSHEY? over 3 years ago
Mr. Ziegfeldman:
I wrote the following post on “Last Summer” – I’m not telling you the heading or else I will spoil the fun. But the story is indeed true:
There is one film that probably nobody on this board ever heard of that is still one of the most disturbing movies I have ever seen. Sooooo bad in fact, that I have YET to watch it all the way through after this many years cause alls I do is get upset. And that film is called “Last Summer” with Barbara Hershey, Richard Thomas, Bruce Davidson, and Cathryn Burns. In a nutshell, it’s basically a study about how cruel teenagers can get. The movie is honest. It is perhaps the most accurate portrayal of teenagers ever to this day – it was made in 1969. But damn, I can barely get one hour into it and my heart starts racing a tad and I ALWAYS say “No, can’t do it”, and end up turning the movie off. And I might add, I’m 48 now. I originally saw the film as a second feature (they used to have double features at one time) with “Romeo and Juliet”. What makes this even more amazing is that two theaters were showing the same double bill. One had it as an "R"rated program, and the other a “PG” rated program. NATURALLY I went to the PG one so I could get in to see it. Only years later did I learn that the very print shown at the “PG” theater was, in fact – now get ready for this – the “X” rated version!! So I managed to crash an “X” rated movie at age 13. Hehehehe. But at what a cost – “Last Summer” is still one of the most disturbing movies for me, and it took years before I would convince myself that a) IT WAS ONLY A MOVIE and b) Barbara Hershey was ACTING – she is probably a really nice person in real life……………
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WHAT MOVIE WILL YOU BE WATCHING THIS NEW YEAR'S EVE? over 3 years ago
I don’t have to pretend to be a nerdy type – I am and proud of it. Hehehehe. I will do what I have been doing nearly all my life on New Year’s Eve – and that is stay home and watch a movie. I’m thinking of watching “The Spy Who Came In From The Cold” as the first-time feature, while I will probably rewatch Citizen Kane and MAYBE 2001……don’t know what my mood will be yet……..
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Movies you hated that everyone else loves over 3 years ago
I’m going to go back a tad – not as far back as Clockwork Orange (which I don’t hate, but am not as big an admirer as other film geeks – I prefer “Straw Dogs” myself), but “Animal House”. I feel I was the only one who only thought it was mildly admusing – I just didn’t think it was funny. Don’t know why. But it just DOESN’T hit my funny bone…….but damn, it seemed like everyone thought it was the greatest……
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The best Monty Python film? over 3 years ago
Life of Brian. Just the scene of Brian’s nude appearance at the window alone was worth the price of admission – and that sequence still ranks as one of the loudest long-sustaining laughs I ever heard come out of an audience…………
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Most Memorable Villain over 3 years ago
Though I won’t argue with “Night of the Hunter”, I think Robert Mitchum was WAY more menacing in “Cape Fear” (1961). Max Cady is still, in my humble opinion, one of the most memorable villians in screen history. I mean, gee, he was just plain MEAN. One that semingly never gets mentioned though everybody agrees he was a no good SOB is Alan Arkin as Harry Roat in “Wait Until Dark”……..
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Any recommendations on good books about filmmaking/film theory/films in general? over 3 years ago
The one book I recommend to learn a very important lesson in film making – mainly what NOT to do – is Steven Bach’s “Final Cut: Dreams and Disaster in the making of ’Heaven’s Gate’”. I find it to be a perfect cautionary tale, and a good reminder for potential film makers to stay humble. Yes, you have to have confidence and a great belief in your project without the worry of commercial prospects (cause let’s face it, in a way that IS commercial), but Cimino had such unshakable faith in what he was doing that the project had no other choice but to fail as he refused to listen to ANYBODY – even those who offered very sensible advice, and his ego DID get a little out of hand (with only 2 movies to his credit at the time of the preproduction of “Heaven’s Gate”, one of his contractual demands was that the movie be referred to as “Michael Cimino’s ’Heaven’s Gate’” with his name as big as the title). Steven Bach makes clear that Cimino and perhaps a few others involved would tell a different story, but I think Bach tells it pretty much the way it was – and in such an entertaining way.
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favorite funniest movie over 3 years ago
For my money, it’s the 1970 Carl Reiner film “Where’s Poppa?” You will have two opinions of the movie – one is that it’s the funniest movie ever made, or it’s the most distasteful offensive thing ever committed to film. Thirty-nine years after it’s release, it STILL manages to shock people (one outrageous gag deals with a rape – but trust me, it’s not what it appears to be). Being I’ve seen the movie about 20 or so times, I guess you know which opinion I hold………
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What film scenes really make you cry? over 3 years ago
“Days of Wine and Roses” with Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick – The final scene where Lemmon watches helplessly as the woman he loves walks off into the distance without really knowing what her fate will be………a stunning ending especially for a movie made in 1962……..
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CHARACTERS IN A FILM WHO FATE MAKES YOU WEEP over 3 years ago
Pu Yi. The Last Emperor. At age 3 has everything, at end of life, has nothing.
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I used to hate this movie, but now I love it over 3 years ago
“Last Tango in Paris”. HATED it when I first saw it. Found it 110% absolutely BORING. Then about 6 years later, read an article that referenced a sequence I didn’t remember (yes, the “butter” sequence). Rented it again to find that one scene and – surprise – realized that the film wasn’t about sex, it was about a tortured man. When I realized that, I watch the film again and found it to be, well, great. You watch Brando (who gave one of his best performances), you listen to the dialogue, and BINGO – the movie is actually quite good. Depressing as hell, but a great film.
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Outstanding Original Score in any Film over 3 years ago
Eventhough I mentioned the movie in another post, the score to “Days of Wine and Roses” is still my favorite – I can’t even imagine that movie without that music………
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Bloggers Unite! over 3 years ago
I’m doing a series of essays on what it was like to see certain movie in the movie theater……
www.myspace.com/flmlvr
Just click the ol’ blog button, and the titles will come up………
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Films you hated at first but then... over 3 years ago
Last Tango in Paris. Thought it was BORING, now one of my favorites……
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WHAT IS YOUR PICK FOR THE WORSE MOVIE EVER MADE? over 3 years ago
“Robot Monster” is the absolute “Citizen Kane” of bad movies. The usual criteria for most beloved bad films is that they start off ridiculous and get tedious as the movie goes on. Not “Robot Monster”. This actually gets MORE ridiculous as the movie goes on – and that, fellow film geeks, is no easy feat. You don’t have to be zonked to enjoy this absolutely breathtaking endeavor. Go ahead and rent it and see if I’m right………
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What films have you walked out on and why ? over 3 years ago
I’ve been a film fanatic since age 10 or so – and I’ve seen God knows how many movies by now. But to this day, I’ve only walked out of THREE films. Two of them were Robert Altman films – “Quintet” and “Buffalo Bill and the Indians” – both for the same reason, and that is that both movies were paralyizingly dull (a REAL insult when you consider I sat through both versions of “Heaven’s Gate”). The third was “Interiors” by Woody Allen – but that was mainly cause the movie was going to be a very very obvious downer, and I just wasn’t in the mood for a downer (I watched it later – it was quite good).
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Directors' Cuts over 3 years ago
“Director’s Cut” is a mixed bag. SOMETIMES it can be better then the released product, but most of the time, it only shows they were right the first time – such as “JFK”, in which the Director’s Cut shows that not only are the CIA and FBI in on the president’s killing, but also Liquor Store owners, Record Store owners, Furniture Store owners, and everybody else in the world – except Lee Harvey Oswald. While “Almost Famous” is BETTER in it’s extended version – or better yet, I prefer the longer version of “Almost Famous” to it’s theatrical version. But right off hand, can’t think of any other director’s version I prefer………
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