Jaws (Full Review)

Classic. Timeless. Suspenseful.

Those are three of the first words to pop into my mind when I reminisce about the 1975 film, Jaws. Yeah it's 38 years old. Yeah it's special effects nowhere near rival that of today. But it's a classic. You can overlook those things as you look back at yester-year. So I put on my hypothetical 1975 movie glasses to help me and looked into a world that was. I found myself more engrossed than expected.

So it begins how most later horror films do (I mean, copy). There are two good-looking young people running off on their own. Except the setting is a beach and not the woods. Movies like Jaws and Halloween (1978) were writing horror movie rules before anyone fathomed the idea. And the big one being broken here, and I'm paraphrasing, is DON'T BE STUPID. The young girl, Chrissie, wants to go skinny-dipping with her boyfriend. Nothing can go wrong right? Well if you're in JAWS, then yes something will go horribly wrong. Before you know it, that now well-known suspenseful and unrelenting musical score bombards your senses as something draws nearer and nearer to Chrissie. Meanwhile the guy is, well I'm not exactly sure what he's doing as there was a lot of heavy breathing and innuendos with "I'm coming! I'm coming!", still on the beach freaking out over going skinny dipping with the hot-and-soon-to-be-ripped-to-shreds girl. And OMG, something comes up out of the dark water and starts twirling Chrissie around like a bloody rag doll. It's gruesome, terrifying and a cold open that ultimately does its job. With that Chrissie is gone and the guy that came with her is still on the beach, oblivious. 

Enter Police Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider). He later finds Chrissie' s remains and it is discovered she was killed by a shark. If anyone watching is surprised by this, refer back to the title and all the movie posters. Anyways, Chief Brody wants to have the beaches closed because of the shark threat. But it's the summer and of course greedy lawmakers and the like only see money and not impending danger and doom. The beaches stay open and Brody keeps a watchful eye over the beach. When a young boy is killed, everyone goes on a frenzy as a bounty is put on the shark. Unfortunately, the townspeople are idiots and again reach the wrong conclusion. How in the world would a little old tiger shark be able to kill three people? I mean really. The town returns to normal and it becomes a case of "the boy who cried wolf." But at least Speilberg and team really executed that tired trope well. And this is where I leave the summary stage: can Brody convince the town that there's a blood-thirsty shark on the loose still? Can they stop it? Maybe, but I can't and won't tell you.

As Steven Speilberg's first huge film as a director, you can tell he's going places. And hey, he did. And went. And went. The suspense he was able to create, the terror he was able to capture was great. You really get a sense of the horror in the opening scene with Chrissie and later when the young boy is killed among the mass of tourists. The editing in these scenes was great. And don't even get me started on that score. John Williams was incredible as always. The dark, menacing and of course unrelenting dread his musical talents created in a rather simple tune help encapsulate this movie into what it has become. Everyone knows the Jaws theme because it was masterfully created and put to terrifying use. You know something bad is coming, you know Jaws is coming once that music begins. You know the scene won't end well. That music is just as horrifying and haunting today as it was then. Granted, everyone hears it and knows it, but it works. End of story. The movie would've been really good without this music, but it would not be anywhere near as great without it. I mentioned Halloween earlier, and I'm going to mention it again. Without films like Jaws and Halloween, I don't think the horror genre would have been anything like it was and is without them. They set the standards and they set the bar very high. And Jaws is up with the greats in film history.

Do I really want to do my scoring thing on this film as well? No. You can't do Jaws justice in a few short sentences and number grades. It is what it is and it is great. No doubt about it, this film is a timeless classic that is still scaring 38 years later. 

The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Full Review)

The Perks of Being a Wallflower

So yeah, I was running around trying to find a good movie to watch, and lo and behold I find this unexpected gem chilling out in the Red Box. I had heard of it before and wanted to see it mostly because of who was in it. Little did I know that I had just stumbled upon what I know consider one of my favorite movies of all time.

So you have Charlie (Logan Lerman). He's just starting high school and he's already counting down the days until graduation. Over a thousand. He doesn't have any friends and spends the beginning of his high school career being bullied around and used for homework copying. It's depressing and you can't help but already root for this kid. And you're only ten minutes into the movie. That's an incredible story-writing feat. But then meets a senior, Patrick, (or "Nothing" as many have begun to call him) in his freshman shop class. Patrick doesn't want to pick on the freshman; he instead pokes fun at the shop teacher. Charlie really appreciates this. At a home football game later on, he chooses to sit with the very enthusiastic Patrick (played by the newcomer Ezra Miller). And in this fateful night, Patrick's step-sister, Sam (played the the ever-stunning Emma Watson), joins them. Charlie is immediately blown away by her presence and her personality. This duo introduces him to the "island of misfit toys" and thus begins Charlie's road to adulthood and maturity. He is now able to navigate the trials of adolescence with a group of loyal and supportive friends. But don't think that the happy ending of this movie happens twenty minutes in. Ever trying to suppress memories of a dark and emotional past, Charlie's mental and emotional well-being are constantly in threat as he takes on the emotional weight of the past and the troubles his friends and sister (played the also-newcomer Nina Dobrev) are going through. It's something that would be too much for anyone to bear. But don't worry, fellow viewers and readers, there are perks to being a wallflower.

Seriously, sitting down and trying to critique this film was no easy task. Where some people and critics have found flaws, I've understood the route that writer/director, Steven Chbosky, took with this adaptation of his novel. There are confusing flashes of memories, but that is all explained later on. The last fifteen minutes almost fly by in a sort of montage, but for reasons that I dare not spoil, it makes sense considering we're in Charlie's point of view the entire film. You'd think a plot point and relationship was just glossed over and passed by, but it's something Charlie probably doesn't want to fully remember anyway. It all makes sense once you think about it. 

There are many areas that Chbosky did right and executed masterfully. The way it was shot and how close were to everything that was going on made it feel really personal. The emotions were palpable in some scenes and at times very relatable. It was easy to fall into the narrative of the film because of how realistically it was written. Chbosky was able to capture the very essence of high school without every getting too cliche. This made the entire film feel real. And that's honestly the best word I can think of to describe it: real. The characters themselves also felt this way. I could picture all of them: Charlie, Sam, Patrick, Mary Elisabeth (played by the talented Mae Whitman)...like they were real people. Chbosky is an excellent writer and that's why his film (and novel) worked. His directing perfectly portrayed what it's like inside Charlie's head and his life. We are able to understand the flashes and the troubles without too much confusion. Chobsky also allowed time for the supporting characters to really grow and develop. I mean the adults were are really flat characters, but it's not their story. It's the teens' story. I can't really fault this movie for neglecting the adult characters. 

And now, if you want my honest and to-the-point opinion: go see this movie like now! The writing, the production, the acting of this film was incredible. Everything worked, everything clicked: from the cast to the story to the plot twists...it's all there. This was one of the best films I've seen in recent years. 

I don't even want to my scoring thing because everything is going to get a 10 out of 10 with this film. A+