Top 25 Scenes of all Time

#24: Merrill and Graham on the Sofa (Signs) (2002)




Only on #24 and already controvsery arises. Most people hated Signs. Except me. I fucking loved it. If you don't believe me, read my 'In Defence of Signs' on this very site. I particularly loved Joaquin Phoenix's performance - he gives one of those absolute, almost inaudible, depictions of ordinariness you would almost miss it if it wasn't so startling. From his little nudge towards Lional Wolfington in the army recruitment office (genius) to his frighteningly real telling off of Graham's son Morgan (Rory Culkin) for saying "I wish you were my Dad", Phoenix's performance bristles with imagination, insight, depth and brilliance. This is the film's standout moment, reflective of (but sadly not on a par with) a similar-ish scene from Jaws, at least in terms of the emotional context it sits in and the emotional punch it's attempting (very successfully as it happens) to throw.

Merrill and Graham swap stories whilst trying somehow to bridge a large divide that has fallen between them, despite (as we learn from another part of the film) Merrill's best efforts. It could be one of those awful scenes that shamelessly plugs the film's name ("are you...the sort of person, who sees miracles, who sees signs), but it isn't, somehow remaining magical, ordinary and believable. A conversation you could genuinely imagine two men having - and with a suitable emotional distance between them - upon finding out that aliens might be possibly about to destroy all civilsation. It's just so believable and so watchable, I look forward to it relentlessly whenever I start watching Signs (which, I'm afraid, is far too often). In fact, this has got me in the mood, I might even go and watch it again now.

Oh, and a warning - I'm afraid Signs might well appear again later in my list.

The Orphanage (El Orfanato) (2007)

It's been a good year (well a good decade really!) for Spanish-language horror films (owing in no small measure, of course, to a certain Guillermo Del Toro, who settles for production duties here) was, in many ways, topped off with this, which received critical and box office success and can even be seen lurking in the chart section of our revered high street stores these days. Tags such as "this years Pan's Labyrinth" (weighty and far off the mark I'm afraid) have been flying around like witches above woods in Burkitsville. So, in this epic head-to-head between two Spanish-language horror films - this and the mighty (and slightly more recent) [REC] - who comes out on top?

Well, as avid perusers of the sight will have realise, REC has set a high benchmark for this to measure up to, scoring two A grades from two different MyFilmVault critics, a feat few films have achieved! Does El Orfanato - darling of the critics whereas REC has slipped a little more under the critical radar - measure up in terms of shocks and frights?

Unbelievably, for about 100 minutes of its 105 minute run time, it - almost - does. El Orfanato goes for the same, deeply disturbing, level of psychological terror attached to the supernatural that has served so many horror films so well, Halloween, The Blair Witch and, of course, REC, to name a few. Set in a truly creepy mansion that was once the orphanage of the title there are suitably enough creepy backstories of kids being abused, murdered and bullied to cause a more than a few hairs to stand on end from the forearms of this well ard 29 year old critic. One kid who appears in the scariest mask you've seen since Michael Myers visited the old joke shop in Haddonfield (it's a cross somewhere between the Scarecrow from Batman Begins and Jason in Friday the 13th Part Two - the best 'part', of course) is particularly terrifying, and I do mean terrifying, especially in one scene with heroine Laura, easily the film's standout moment.

Also like REC, the performances here were far better than those normally found in horror films and Belen Rueda puts in a perfectly anguished, tormented and guilt-ridden performance at the film's centre. Fernando Cayo is also okay as her cynical husband. In a way, the quality of the performances is reminiscent of another Spanish-language horror, Delo Toro's own this time, the excellent and superbly performed, Devil's Backbone.

Yet, you are left with the horrible feeling throughout that the ending is going to be shoddy, as so many horror films are. That is the difficult thing with horror films and why horror directors elicit more sympathy from me than others might - for a horror film to be truly effective, the fear must live with you, deep in your blood, long after the credits role and it is, genuinely, a very, very, difficult thing to do effectively. However, after a hundred or so minutes I was left eating my words and reaching for an A grade of some sort (probably a lower one as it happens). However, the next five minutes are mind-bendingly awful and a staggering disappointment to the extent that I felt genuinely cheated having invested a hundred minutes of my life in genuine terror only to be soundly let down by this abject failure of knowing how to end a film. It is a grotesque ending, completely unbefitting of the film and, equally, the bold 5 minutes that precede it. Why didn't they just leave at the moment they should have left it (those who have seen it will know what I'm talking about)? Absolutely teeth-gratingly annoying. Like getting a ticket to watch the England football team and finding out you've just paid £50 to watch Beckham and Lampard sleep their way through the latest game when you'd been assured they would be left on the bench. That, I think, is a very apt analogy.

This plummeted from (probably) A- to B- in a shocking (in the wrong sense) 5 minute spell. The moral of the story? If you're going to make a horror film, be brave enough to end it like a horror film, otherwise don't bother with the shocks and do what you want to do. Either way, you'll have a more effective whole and not this ramshackle effort that's trying to be all things to all men, women and ghosts.

B-

I've just watched [Rec]

Matt gave it an A+. I rolled my eyes, scoffed and reassured myself that he was mad. I knew I'd hate it. I hate all these sorts of films. He loved Blair Witch, I gave it an F. He loved Cloverfield, I could only muster a C+. I don't really like many horror films because the acting is usually atrocious and characters behave incomprehensibly. I only watched it out of politeness. My verdict...



...



...



...



I loved it. Go read his review if you haven't already. The film is the best of its kind by a distance.

A

List Time

Today: My 25 Greatest Male Performances
Tomorrow: My 25 Greatest Female Performances
Ongoing: Matt's 25 Greatest Scenes

Here's my top 25 men. There's a fair representation of villains on the list - Dr Szell (Laurence Olivier - Marathon Man), Don Logan (Ben Kinglsey - Sexy Beast), Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins - Silence of the Lambs). I suppose Hitler (Bruno Ganz - Downfall) counts as well! One of the greatest villains of all time was given to us about a month ago and I couldn't leave out Heath Ledger's phenomenal performance as The Joker, which also makes the cut. My numero uno though is though is a good guy - an ordinary Joe if you like. It is one of the few performances that also makes Matt's top 25. It is relentlessly captivating - an astonishingly good performance from an astonishing actor.

Top 25 Scenes of All Time

#25 - Raining Frogs: Magnolia (1999)



I thought I'd do a rundown of my top 25 scenes of all time and try to explain, or at least give context to, my decisions.

There's not too much to say about this to be honest and to be honester I'm too tired for a long post anyway so that's all good.

To begin with - my criteria: My sole criteria is this. These are the top 25 scenes which I would watch, in order, over and over again. They are the scenes I would happily jump to and watch over and over and over again.

I guess the raining frogs scene is a little bit different from the rest (or most of them) because there are no words and nothing major (in the sense of story defining) happens. It's just one of those sublime moments in film of great originality and brilliance that comes from nowhere and stays in the mind. It is also probably the only one that subverts my criteria as, truly, it cannot really be viewed on its own as it works so well as part of Magnolia's vast, magnificient and total cinematic landscape. There is so much to love about this film and I think this moment, an instant of quirky, subversive, genius, bottles the film perfectly. It's just great and I couldn't not include it in my list.

Modern Classics #3

" Sooner or later everyone has to take sides, if they are to remain human."

I don't keep a record of which films I've watched the most, but if I were to do so it would not surprise me one bit of Philip Noyce's The Quiet American came out on top. This is quite brilliant from start to finish - I love every single second of its 96 minute running time and a tenth, eleventh or twelfth viewing only serves to reinforce all that is exceptional with this adaptation of the short Graham Greene novel.

Noyce's film opens with Craig Armstrong's deep, aching strings playing over the opening credits. It's a soundtrack that pulls you in immediately, gripping you even before the picture has started. Noyce opens the film visually with shots of an opium pipe being lit, followed by a beautiful Vietnamese woman in a composite shot with a series of explosions. It is a such an elegant and simple way of adding a hint of foreboding that will hand over the entire picture. This sense of impending doom is further amplified by the haunting female vocal that accompanies the opening bars of Armstrong's brilliant score. The agonising, beautiful vocal gives way to Michael Caine's voice over. "I can't say what made me fall in love with Vietnam. That a woman's voice can drug you? That everything is so intense - the colours, the taste, even the rain." Noyce's challenge is filming this intensity, and making us fall in love with a place that has hypnotised the film's lead character.

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Insomnia

No not the film starring Al Pacino and Robin Williams (and a decent film it was too) but actual proper insomnia. Actually I suppose it is not that proper since I haven't been going to be before 4 am since the Olympics started, but it is now 5.01am and I am so wide awake it is unreal.

Phelps' win in the 100 Fly was absolutely incredible. Watching the super slo mo you think they've made some kind of huge mistake since the Serbian seems certain to touch first but, almost impossibly, Phelps does manage to get his arms over and win by 1/100th. Quite insane. This was even more unlikely that the 4x100 relay win, in which Lezak overhauled an unassailable lead with about 10m to go, and that was the most unlikely thing in the history of unlikely things.

Great TV and a shame it comes to an end tomorrow. Normally you wait for the swimming to get out of the way and for the athletics to start but I cannot believe the athletics will get anywhere near the excitement of the swimming. Shame that the BBC's inept anchor Hazel Irvine keeps telling lame jokes that make me want to kill someone - slightly takes the edge off of what is otherwise faultless coverage. Staying up for 3am sport has never been this easy.

The Dark Knight (2008)

I finally made it. Walking into the cinema, I had that awful sinking feeling of a film over hyped and over loved that would end up being a disappointment. It has been impossible to avoid the hype, not least over Heath Ledger's final performance (said by all to be stunning, even by those who did not love the film), and my film thermometer has been rising. So, was this worth the wait?

Find Out

Eagle vs Shark (2007)

If ever a film suffered from trying to be too quirky, it’s this. And, like with Superbad, also reviewed recently, this suffers hugely from having a central character who is just completely unlikable and not in any good way that you’re actually meant to sympathise with. Put it this way, if you are meant to sympathise with him (and I suspect that you are) that says it all. The film is just poorly judged. Throughout. It’s very difficult to stay engaged with and, to be honest, despite good moments, I was just waiting for the end.

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[REC]

How did I miss this one? Released on DVD just this monday I had never heard hide nor hair about this intelligent-looking Spanish horror movie that has suddenly exploded onto the scene. Not one to miss horror films, this has left me feeling truly perplexed that I hadn't even heard of it. My colleague might wish to reply that this might have something to do with the fact that I never make it to the cinema. Anyway, here's a nice up-to-date DVD review for our many readers.

Read the A+ review

Elegy

Character-driven, grown-up and slow-burning are perhaps not the most inspirational adjectives to open a review of a film you've just seen and loved but they do have one thing in common. Hyphens? No, I'm talking about the fact that they tend to be appropriate descriptors of films that is usually right up my street. If done badly these movies are often as dull as the adjectives that describe them, but in the right hands they can be every bit as gripping as a break-neck action film or unpredictable thriller. The thing about character-driven movies is that there's a greater focus on the inhabitants of the film, and by necesseity the quality of acting in such pictures is usually first rate. Indeed the quality of acting can rarely be better than it is here with a brilliant cast excelling as individuals and as an ensemble. Peter Sarsgaard, Patricia Clarkson and Dennis Hopper are all outstanding in supporting turns, but the film belongs to Ben Kingsley and Penelope Cruz, both of whome make a lasting impression as a couple who fall in love despite their 30 year age gap.

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Hellboy II: The Golden Army

Now it may or may not have escaped your notice that I don't really like comic book films. Whilst everyone else can't get enough Spiderman, Iron Man or Batman, I prefer my heroes to not wear capes, turn green or shoot webbing out of their wrists. With everyone falling over themselves to praise The Dark Knight, I could only muster enough enthusiasm for a B-. I don't really care for the original films, let alone the never-ending run of sequels they tend to spawn. Granted, TDK was better than Batman Begins, but usually the sequels obey the laws of diminishing returns. Once you've spent two hours with these characters, there's little value in watching the same people going through the same old angst within a variation of a plot that you've seen plenty of times before. If I could have one film related wish granted I would ban all comic book and superhero films and all sequels for a year and see what Hollywood came up with to fill the multiplexes over the summer months. It is therefore really saying something when I tell you I pretty much loved not only a comic book film, but a sequel at that.

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Man On Wire

Very few people get the opportunity to fulfil a burning ambition, especially one that involves accomplishing the near impossible, but that's exactly what the subject of this very watchable doc managed 34 years ago. James Marsh's film retells an improbable, but successful attempt to wirewalk between the Twin Towers in New York in the summer of 1974. The man that did it, Phillipe Petit, tells us his tale with an excitement that is still evident 3 decades on. Petit comes across as exactly the sort of person you'd have to be to conceive the idea of breaking into the world trade centre, bypassing security to gain access to the roof, and rig up a highwire between the two structures - and that's a slightly loopy, engaging guy with something of a death-wish. He has a passion and desire burning within and this come across in his always entertaining talking heads. Marsh intersperses these with recollections of the other team members, as well as some old video footage and a re-enactment. The whole is every bit as gripping as an intricately plotted bank heist.

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Superbad (2007)

Had heard many good things about this - essentially a familiar sounding teen movie about three hapless guys looking to score with the ladies and the catastrophic chain of events that befall them as they try to make their way to a party in order to achieve the above - but I’m not sure it quite lived up to them. Sure, in parts this is very funny and it plays, again in parts, like a classic Fawlty Towers episode, where things just degenerate from bad to worse for the protagonists but you’re still left clinging to this bizarre sense of sympathy for the characters you’re never quite sure is fully deserved. This aspect it did very well.

However…

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

This is everything a trailer should be. Exciting, captivating, enticing, without giving away most of the story (like all of the Spiderman trailers did).

Empire really got my back up about this recently. They had a picture of Harry on the front page for their 'preview special' and then claimed, when previewing the Half Blood Prince in their rag (sorry, mag), that 'nothing important happens in this book'. As anyone who has actually read Potter 6 will know, this statement is nothing more or less than a steaming pile of absolute horseshit (and, no, Empire were not being facetious). They could at least have bothered to read the book if they were going to comment on it.

I'm no crazed Potter fan (I thought Book 5 was awful and stopped reading after 200 pages of sheer drudgery) but I think Book 6 is probably the most important and most significant book of the series. There is potential here for a great film and the trailer suggests that the filmmakers might finally have delivered something worthy of the books.

I'm excited.

Officially.

No Country For Old Men (2007)

Boy had a heard good things about this. My colleague describes being 'literally on the edge of my seat' and went to see it twice at the cinema. It also won four Oscars. And, let's face it, the Coen's have form. I was gutted to have missed it at the cinema and was anxious to catch in on DVD as soon as possible. So will I be adding it to my collection?

I don't think my colleague is exaggerating when he describes himself in very close proximity to the edge of his seat. The first hour or so of this is almost perfect film-making, it's truly tense, dizzying, gripping stuff and the set plays are wonderfully done. I can certainly feel, too, the reasons for the desire to see it twice and enjoy the roller coaster ride again.

The problem is what happens next, after this first hour or so. Rarely, if ever, have I felt so let down, cheated even, by a film.

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The Dark Knight

Every once in a while a film comes along that performs so well at the box office it almost defies explanation. 11 years ago Titanic (not as good as the fans say, not as bad as the naysayers protest) became something of a phenomenon and grossed almost $2 billion worldwide. Nothing has since come close, and when all is said and done it is unlikely that Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight will get anywhere near it either, but it has started like bullet, smashing records with the ease of defeating comic book henchmen. Biggest opening day in history. Biggest opening weekend of all time. Fastest film to $200, then $300. Bif, wham, kapow. This is something of a phenomenon in itself - as we speak it currently occupies the number one slot on the IMDb, unseating The Godfather as the highest ranked film. Critics have also been falling over themselves to praise it, with the few contrarians receiving abuse from ardent fans. The question therefore remains, is it any good?

Find Out

Angus, Thongs & Perfect Snogging

Going into this I found myself very nearly explaining to the girl at the box office why I was buying a ticket. I nearly offered an excuse to the usher that took my stub. And then when I got into a theatre half full of young teenage girls I half thought about declaring to them all why I was going to be joining them.

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The Forbidden Kingdom

This largely unwatchable US take on a Chinese martial arts movie is notable only for the first on-screen pairing of Jackie Chan and Jet Li, and only the most ardent fans of those actors need bother watching Rob Minkoff's insipid and largely unspectacular effort.

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The Lookout (2007)

This surprising and engrossing film focuses on Chris (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) who acquires a serious brain injury following a moment of beautiful madness in a sportscar. Haunted by the crash and its tragic results, Chris struggles to find his place until he meets the charismatic Gary Spargo (Matthew Goode) and his gang, including the lovely Luvlee Lemons (Isla Fisher). But things are not all that they seem.

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Donkey Punch

As the credits rolled on Donkey Punch, we are reliably informed that the film was based on "an original story by David Bloom", which is a bit rich since there's not a single original idea in the whole movie. Billed as a Dead Calm for the Ibiza generation, Bloom teamed up with Olly Blackburn, who also directed, to pen a script that would appeal to the 20-something crowd who might enjoy Mediterranean climes, recreational drugs and recreational sex.

Read the rest

Wall*E

Pixar's latest bar raising, critical ga-ga inducing, box-office smashing effort arrived in UK cinemas a little later than the US, so the glowing reviews have been making their way across the pond for the past few weeks. In fact the praise has been such that people are talking about the possibilities of Wall*E getting a nod in the Best Picture category at next year's Oscars, and not just in the Best Animated Feature slot where it is sure to win. This proves 3 things. 1. Pixar are very good at what they do. 2. It is never too early to talk about next year's Oscars. And 3. there's not much point in having a Best Animated Feature category if, when something genuinely decent comes along, a success in said category is seen as secondary to a berth on the Best Picture roster. I could go on and on about the ludicrousness of having a category where you have an approximate 1 in 12 chance of winning just by making the film, but lets focus instead on the brilliance, or lack thereof of this supposed Best Picture contender.

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Mamma Mia!

Someone once said there are two kinds of people in the world: those that like ABBA, and those that like ABBA but won't admit it. Whether or not it is cool to like ABBA, I'll happily admit that I do and - whilst I wasn't crazy enough about them to rush and see the stage show - I had enough interest to see Mamma Mia on opening weekend. Part of the lure was seeing Pierce Brosnan singing, part of the lure was Meryl Streep, but mostly I was there to hear Voluez Vous, Knowing Me Knowing You and Waterloo in Dolby Surround. Why then was I thinking what on earth possessed me just two minutes in?

Read the rest

MyFilmVault's Greats

Judi Dench

MyFilmVault's Greats

Dustin Hoffman

My Blueberry Nights (2007)

As our avid readers will know, I've been gagging for this for ages. Wong Kar Wai is probably my favorite living director, with the possible exception of Terrence Malick, and, despite certain major reservations (Jude Law; Rachel Weisz, see below), I was fascinated by how this, his first American film, would turn out.

Wong's American odyssey tells the story of broken-hearted Elisabeth (Norah Jones) who, after the failure of her relationship with the love of her life, strikes up a relationship with a sweet and charming cafe owner Jeremy (Law) before taking off on a road trip across America and meeting an assembly of motley characters along the way without ever quite leaving Jeremy behind in New York.

I can't help but feel that this could have been so much better than it is. Pretty much everything falls below, if often only just below, those impeccably high standards Wong has set for himself following his spectacular resume. Wong is without oft used cinematographer, the one and only Christopher Doyle, and it shows. The cinematography - particularly the beautiful and exotic contrasts between the sensuous blues and reds that linger like homeless raindrops in the delicate New York night - is good, but it's not great. The acting is good, but it's not great. The dialogue is good, but it's not great. The story and the narrative drive are good but neither are great. The... well, you get the idea. Take the acting - I just can't, in all honestly, swap Tony Leung, the greatest living actor, for Jude Law without accepting that something has been lost. I also cannot believe Wong cast Rachel Weisz in this and my opinion of him has gone down as a result. Weisz is a terrible actress, although she's not as bad here as she often is and I was genuinely shocked to hear she had been cast in this.

Whilst Law is categorically not Leung, he deserves credit here. He gives a subtle and measured performance as Jeremy and must take great credit for the chemistry between his character and Elisabeth which, at times, lights up the film and provides - by far - its best moments. He is, however, eclipsed by debutant Jones. Jones, who has achieved previous fame as a (forgive me Norah) MOR musician, lights up this film. She is as sweet and sensuous throughout - particularly in the excellent scenes with Law - as the bubbling and foaming blueberry pie that interposes itself occasionally on the action. She is the best thing in it and her performance is some achievement for a debut. Wong clearly has an ability to draw great performances out of non-professional actors and actresses. He does here with Jones what he did, in Chungking Express, with a fresh faced and extraordinarily charismatic Faye Wong, though the characters are as different as cheese and blueberry pie.

For me, this is a film of might have beens. The whole thing could have been great but it ends up being merely good. More should have been made of the scenes between Beth and Jeremy and a potentially interesting sideline, involving the always excellent and underrated David Strathairn, is not developed enough. The storyline involving the poker-playing, deceptive, Leslie (Natalie Portman) is unsatisfactory and very unfulfilling, especially in the film's overall context.

This is, by quite some distance, Wong's 'worst' film I've seen and the only one that doesn't earn a recommendation quality grade. That doesn't make it bad but it does, regrettably, make it a disappointment.

B

MyFilmVault's Greats

Cary Grant

MyFilmVault's Greats

Laura Linney

Hancock

It is nice to be the contrarian once in a while. Standing up against the critical masses, sticking to your guns on why a film is a complete piece of shit when everyone is losing their head and heralding it as a masterpiece. Or speaking up for a film that has been dumped on by everyone and, not only is it not worthy of such scorn, it is actually so good it doesn't deserve anything other than wholesome praise. I find myself doing the latter in the case of the near-brilliant Hancock.

I keep reading how everyone hates this film, but then I read two rave reviews from respected critics in amongst all those negative ones so I decided to go see it. I'm thrilled I did. This is not only almost certainly going to be the best movie of the summer, it may very well end up in my top 10 for the year. I'm not going to deny it has its problems, but the quality is otherwise so good that they don't detract from the picture that Berg and co have made.

I've mentioned Peter Berg before on this site. He last directed The Kingdom, a less ambitious but well-made picture, that died a death at the box-office. That didn't stop him getting the nod in a big-budget Will Smith July 4 picture, which suggests Berg is gaining some serious clout in Hollywood. Will Smith's July 4th films could probably be directed by you or I and still make money - he is after all the biggest box office draw in the world who hasn't had a box office dud since 2001's Ali (and even that went on to score him an Oscar nomination so can hardly be called a failure. ) Clearly though the summer movie season is all about the big bucks and for Berg to helm this is a serious vote of confidence.

Smith plays the title role, who is a washed up superhero; an inarticulate, inconsiderate drunk who knows not who he is or where he came from. Far from being revered like the traditional superhero, Hancock is vilified by the citizens of Los Angeles due to the thoughtless destruction of property that accompanies every rescue or intervention he exercises. The city loses all patience with him after a latest destructive escapade and issue an arrest warrant. Despite the fact that he can fly off at any time, Hancock gives himself up and serves his sentence after taking advice from a PR consultant (Jason Bateman) whom he just happened to have rescued the day before. The PR guy's big idea is for LA to miss their superhero, ask for his help when they really need him, and for Hancock to show up after some elocution lessons, a makeover and an image branding exercise to save the day with a bit more care and politeness, thus winning over the very people that have cursed his name.

It's a great idea for a film and it is especially welcome to see a superhero film which dares not to tread the same well-worn path that pretty much every single comic book film has trampled down over the years. However the reviews have not been kind, so what have people got against it? Reading through a number of comments since I got back from seeing it, it seems people are down on the third act, complaining that the "big twist" came out of nowhere and not only that, but it caused the film to veer from light comedy to something more dramatic, which ultimately ruined the tone of the whole film. I have two issues with this. 1) Without knowing what it was going in, the "big twist" seemed to me to be very clearly signalled throughout. I don't think Peter Berg intended it as a big twist at all. And 2) The dramatic final act was pretty near-perfect in my eyes.

I really liked some of the choices towards the end, especially (spoilers in white) how Hancock and Mary's only weakness was each other. It seemed really fitting and the scene on the hospital bed when Mary recalled their past was completely convincing. You could feel their love - and yet Mary could only save Hancock by sacrificing herself and Hancock could only save her by leaving her. It was almost Shakespeare-esque and it elevated a super-hero flick above and beyond the scope of anything the genre has seen before.

All three stars are perfectly cast. I've loved Bateman ever since he did Arrested Development and whilst his range is limited, he is always very watchable and has perfect comic timing. Theron - who also appeared in AD - is also effective and looked very hot once she put on that black thing with the black eyeliner. Smith has been consistently delivering great performances for years. The all interacted brilliantly and, as mentioned in the spoiler, that scene on the hospital bed was brilliant and actually had me choked. John Powell's excellent score really hit its stride in the final third as well, and I've been listening to it since I got back from the cinema. Top quality stuff.

Sure there are some issues here and there. Some of the CGI is ropey - especially when Smith is flying at speed. There are implausibilities in the plot, but there's nothing so outrageously improbable that it would take you out of the picture, and I am the very first to complain about plot-holes, believe me. Whatever its faults, nothing even begins to explain the bizarre and pathetic 36% rating on rottentomatoes. I'm totally bewildered by it.

I would normally not hesitate to recommend a movie I was about to give an low A/high B to (I'm torn between an A- and B+) but I'm completely outnumbered so I have to be honest and say you may very well not agree with me. However, I found this to be extremely enjoyable from start to finish. The comic touches at the start, the convincing drama at the end - it all worked. I am not a lone voice rallying against the critical tide, but I am a lonely one. I really do think this is a first rate summer film. In fact scratch that, this is simply a first rate film and if Will Smith's box office numbers hold up as well as usual, then it'll be one of those rare occasions when the public, and not the critics got it right.

A-/B+

Cool Jaws Stuff

Jaws has a hold on me like no other film. I'll be watching it and investigating its sensous mythology for years. Check this out (in a minute)...

Question is....Why didn't they leave some of these shots in? Yes, the shark doesn't look great, and, yes, the great fear of Jaws lurks from the unknown and from what lies beneath, but... that aspect is best explored during the first scene and, later, at Ben Gardner's boat. Would adding these have ruined that? It's up for debate, but why the hell, at the very least, isn't some of this awesome stuff on the deleted scenes of the DVD. Or, can we expect yet another 'xyears' anniversary edition to further exploit us Jaws lovers? Yes. But, of course, I, and many others, will certainly buy it. Shame on you Spielberg, Zanuck, Brown et al. But, you are all, equally, true legends. Shit, check me out, I'm more conflicted that Anankin!

Enjoy...



http://www.jawsmoviearchives.com/deleted_scenes_main.html