FWIW, I like the raisins in the carrot cake. Second, I read a Substack post from Jean Twenge about the death of book reading in Gen Z and she mentioned a generational statistical bump in reading between 2002-2010. She theorized that it might be solely due to the Harry Potter and Twilight series being released during that time. If nothing else, maybe that signals good news for the movie industry as well and provides a little hope that a well-told story can change the world.
Jaws is a great example of the beauty of classical storytelling, internal and external dilemmas. Today it's been replaced too often by the political lecture, with empty characters spouting slogans. I think Godzilla: Minus One is also a bravura classical movie. Just loved it.
Jaws was my most watched film ever,I was 13 when it was released and enjoyed it for different reasons than I do now. There are many similarities to the Moby Dick Novel,Quint was a Captain Ahab type..Enjoyed your perspective can’t wait for Part Two!!
The Jaws screenplay and movie itself was one of the few examples of a movie being superior to the novel; we can discuss Starship Troopers another time. Like Starship Troopers, I read the novel before I saw the movie, even though I was nine when I first saw Jaws. My grandma had the book at her house and they made the movie deal before publication.
I also read Star Wars before I saw the movie, but that’s another story (the movie is better than the book).
The screenwriter (Gottlieb) and the director (Spielberg) conspired to fix the problems in the novel for movie purposes. You can do things that work in a novel (soap opera sexual relationships) that would completely torpedo a movie, particularly with that third act. A novel is a different thing than a movie. And it turns out that Jaws is a better movie than it is a novel.
In the end, I agree that Ben MFF is absolutely on the mark that Jaws is eminently rewatchable. I put in in every other year and still love it. I tell people it’s one of the best written movies I know. I don’t feel the need to reread the novel. I would love to hear from Ben MFF again.
Even though I don’t aspire to write screenplays, that might be an interesting topic for future guest posts: Adaptations.
FWIW, I like the raisins in the carrot cake. Second, I read a Substack post from Jean Twenge about the death of book reading in Gen Z and she mentioned a generational statistical bump in reading between 2002-2010. She theorized that it might be solely due to the Harry Potter and Twilight series being released during that time. If nothing else, maybe that signals good news for the movie industry as well and provides a little hope that a well-told story can change the world.
Jaws is a great example of the beauty of classical storytelling, internal and external dilemmas. Today it's been replaced too often by the political lecture, with empty characters spouting slogans. I think Godzilla: Minus One is also a bravura classical movie. Just loved it.
Jaws was my most watched film ever,I was 13 when it was released and enjoyed it for different reasons than I do now. There are many similarities to the Moby Dick Novel,Quint was a Captain Ahab type..Enjoyed your perspective can’t wait for Part Two!!
The Jaws screenplay and movie itself was one of the few examples of a movie being superior to the novel; we can discuss Starship Troopers another time. Like Starship Troopers, I read the novel before I saw the movie, even though I was nine when I first saw Jaws. My grandma had the book at her house and they made the movie deal before publication.
I also read Star Wars before I saw the movie, but that’s another story (the movie is better than the book).
The screenwriter (Gottlieb) and the director (Spielberg) conspired to fix the problems in the novel for movie purposes. You can do things that work in a novel (soap opera sexual relationships) that would completely torpedo a movie, particularly with that third act. A novel is a different thing than a movie. And it turns out that Jaws is a better movie than it is a novel.
In the end, I agree that Ben MFF is absolutely on the mark that Jaws is eminently rewatchable. I put in in every other year and still love it. I tell people it’s one of the best written movies I know. I don’t feel the need to reread the novel. I would love to hear from Ben MFF again.
Even though I don’t aspire to write screenplays, that might be an interesting topic for future guest posts: Adaptations.