Tag: movie-reviews

Jaws at 50!

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By: Scoop Stanton

On June 20th, 1975, Universal Pictures released a motion picture that changed movie history: Jaws. Jaws was the first summer blockbuster. Universal figured the kids are out of school, so they have the time and daddy’s money to go to the theater.

Jaws was based on the book written by Peter Benchley. Benchley not only wrote the book but he also co-wrote the screenplay and appeared in the movie. The movie was directed by Steven Spielberg, and in my opinion his best movie. Jaws was an action movie, horror movie and drama movie all rolled into one. Three men attempt to kill a shark. A shark is attacking people. And a town figures out how to keep the town afloat with a dangerous shark attacking tourists. Casting the movie was perfect. Roy Scheider as Chief Brody. Scheider made a name in The French Connection and The Seven Ups. Robert Shaw was one of the biggest names in Hollywood at the time with From Russia with Love, Battle of the Bulge and The Taking of Pelham 123. Richard Dreyfuss made a name for himself in American Graffiti. The supporting cast was also amazing including Murray Hamilton as Mayor Larry Vaughn who had some of the best lines in the movie! Then John Williams put the icing on the cake with the scariest music in movie history.

Jaws is now my favorite movie because of one man: Anthony Cumia. As a diehard Cumia fan he would talk Jaws nonstop! I already saw the movie a number of times and now I had to watch it again, paying close attention and wow!

Cumia is such a fan of Jaws that he had a suit made to look like the one Hamilton wore in the movie and his eyeglasses have the frames Scheider wore in the movie!

As for me, I went to Universal Studios in Orlando last year and I was bummed out to find out that the Jaws ride was replaced with a Harry Potter ride. Here’s the kicker. Jaws is a Universal Picture. Harry Potter is a Warner Brothers property!

The Man You Don’t Know

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Like I always say: “Things happen for a reason.” Long story short I had the pleasure to talk with movie director Christoper Martini. And like everyone else I meet through the family, Chris couldn’t have been any nicer. He is the director of the movie The Man You Don’t Know. A documentary movie of people who met Donald Trump saying what a wonderful human being he is. Way before he rode down that escalator, his acts of kindness to people were legendary. For every one unverified bullshit story about Trump, there are a thousand verified stories of kindness with “The man from Queens.”

Martini’s movie is in theaters. But; you wouldn’t know it. It seems like movie theaters are either not showing it, showing it when there is low turnout with movie goers or even block seats in theaters so movie goers have crummy reserved seats which will turn away movie goers. If I was the studio, theater, or anyone vested in the movie, I would be pissed. This is money lost. Politics or not, people are losing money! IF The Man You Don’t Know was a bomb like The Apprentice then it would be pulled from the theaters! Half the country love Donald Trump. Why not let the consumer decide!

We are flying down a slippery slope of censorship! Social media is not a platform for free speech. People like us are shadowbanned, have their content removed and sometimes just straight up banned from the platform. On Tiktok, I read an endorsement for Donald Trump. 8 hours and I get only 300+ views!? That’s why we need to support independent media and support one another. We need to defend free speech, no matter how awful the speech is!