Anne Marie
Donahue writes, “Don't be too hard on Lucas. Kurosawa often admitted to being very
influenced by the American Westerns, particularly
High Noon (legend
has it, that was his favorite film). Best summer movie memory: seeing a revival of Jaws at the Strand Theatre in Clinton MA. Packed full of middle
agers (self included) people who could be my parents and teens that could be my
kids. Everyone, and I mean everyone, was there to have a blast. Never thought
I'd see the day when a bunch of teens screamed at a foam rubber shark, sans HD
effects! There is a god, and he is Spielberg.”
And Anne
follows up the Jaws post, adding, “I
loved this film! What intrigued me the most (after the soundtrack of course)
was the constant battle (but not battle) for alpha male that Quint, Brody and
Hooper shared. Quint, being the owner of the boat and at one point madman of
the sea, is supplanted by Hooper after Hooper proves his masculinity (battled a
little shark as a child). Hooper's boating skills and nautical knowledge,
paired with his unending good nature makes it clear to Quint that he's not
playing alpha male, which oddly makes him a winner of that game. But the truly
interesting upheaval is Brody, the former uber-macho police officer from NYC (I
think) and now glorified security guard in a vacation spot. This film is one of
the best.”
In
response to a Tweet of mine about historical films, I got a bunch of great
replies:
Heather
Cox Richardson Tweeted, “On Reconstruction: Sweet
Home Alabama=brilliant; Sommersby=hilariously
awful.”
Joseph Adelman Tweeted,
“I’ve had good success in Revolutionary America class with Mary
Silliman’s War,” adding that “there’s a decent essay on it from the AHA’s
Perspectives.”
Kenneth Owen Tweeted
that he tends to use documentaries more than feature films in the classroom,
but that “Movie-wise, I love the film version of 1776.
#verypredictable.”
Next series
start Monday,
Ben
PS. What
blockbuster memories or analyses would you add?
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