It’s summer and it’s bloody hot. Keen observation: when people get hot, they also get cranky. They often go in search of water. Consequently, the time is right for a blog about movies about cool, cool water.
One of my favorites, Jaws, is among them. Some might say Jaws is a movie about a shark, but, SNL’s Land Shark aside, you can’t have a shark without water.
There have been many shark movies over the decades that have attempted to capitalize on the primal fear that Jaws awakened in all of us. Many went straight to DVD, which is a bad sign. It is my feeling that you cannot make a shark movie that is better than Jaws so tip your hat to a young Spielberg and make a movie about something else.
Which brings me to Betty White. Who saw that coming? Betty White is in the midst of a career rebirth, which arguably began with a little film called: Lake Placid.
She was funny, it was funny and then they made three bad sequels, because filmmakers are a greedy people. That doesn't stop me from being a big fan of some of their work, such as oldies but goodies, Piranha and Orca.
I have a thing about fish eating people; I don’t expect you to understand.
Last but not least, Open Water, based on true events surrounding a scuba diving day gone horribly awry, has made me think twice about going on excursions in paradise. You might want to do the same. An exceedingly blue ocean and colorful marine life didn't make the protagonists in the low-budget flick any less dead. Sorry for the spoiler.
Perhaps my suggestions will tide you over until Shark Week washes ashore on the Discovery Channel later this summer. Never has a show dedicated to proving sharks aren't dangerous man-eaters done more to prove that THEY ARE dangerous man-eaters. Hey, ratings.