Jaws 2 isn’t Jaws, I get it, but it deserves more love than it gets - although there seems to be a fair bit of it from The Daily Jaws followers. As sequels go it can’t really be categorised as a case of diminishing returns and whilst not mentioned in the same breath as Aliens and The Godfather Part 2 in fine sequel conversations it’s certainly better than the muddled The Exorcist 2, the teenage-themed Damian: Omen II, Halloween 2 and Plain dull Poltergeist 2. The originals of which were standout in their genres.
Read MoreSeeing Jaws live with an audience is almost like a religious experience of sorts, we all know the film inside out but collectively laugh at all the same places, the same was true with the Southend audience. Not quite as feverish as the fanatical RAH crowd - Jaws live Mecca if you will - there was no cheering and applause when Bruce exploded at the end.
Read MorePrior to Jaws in Concert in Southend-on-Sea, our Chief Writer, Dean Newman, had an exclusive The Daily Jaws interview with him giving a fascinating insight into bringing the music to Jaws and other Spielberg classics to life, chatting about everything from the live film conducting experience to his favourite death in Jaws.
Answer that last question and you could be in with a chance of winning a mini-Jaws in Concert poster signed by Ben.
Read MoreAnd that film looks just as gorgeous today as it did over 40 years ago. Bill Butler - who celebrated his 97th birthday last weekend - plays a huge part in that, even more impressive as half of it was shot on or in the sea.
Read MoreSelf-confessed games nut Spielberg has melded those two worlds in his adaptation of Ready Player One, which features a huge hit of iconic pop and movie culture references in an escapist virtual reality world. Those that have seen the trailers will have glimpsed the likes of a DeLorean, The Iron Giant and so on, but no Bruce.
Read MoreThe Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ museum is going to need a bigger building as it has announced that the fourth and final surviving shark taken from the original mold is set to be the largest item on display...25 feet, just not three tons of him - he's only made out of fibreglass after all.
Read MoreEvery so often Hollywood will make a hit film that will have such a cultural impact that it will radiate a slew of lesser quality cash ins and knock offs. We had years of it post Die Hard with Die Hard on a bus, plane, ship, train etc.
The same thing happened with Jaws as Hollywood discovered that nature just kept on fighting back...mostly badly. Even the posters, covering everything from Tentacles to Blood Beach feature a scantily clad young woman in distress (and little else) about to be enveloped by the corresponding film’s creature.
Read MoreI found myself thinking of new plays on not only “Jaws” but even other “Jaws” knock offs that came out shortly after it and in the years that followed, movies like “Grizzly”, “Piranha”, “Alligator”, “Blades” and so forth. But the main focus was “Jaws”, and I thought of ways to pay homage to all the great moments and characters in that movie, big and small. Some are obvious, well know and quoted often, but others would only be caught by the hardcore “Jaws” fan.
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