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'Jaws,' With Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, and Sean Fennessey

July 4, 2018 · Jaws (1975) · Adventure · Horror · Thriller · 1:34:19

IMDb ↗Letterboxd ↗

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Casting What-Ifs

Bill Simmons▶ 24:13Mentions that Roy Scheider beat out some major dudes for the part but doesn't specify who the alternatives were

Most Rewatchable Scene

Bill Simmons▶ 28:13Lists five nominees: 4th of July shark attack, son mimicking Scheider at table, Indianapolis monologue, Quint dying, and final nine minutes when shark is killed
Chris Ryan▶ 29:32Scene when Hooper brings wine to Brody's house and they discuss the shark situation
Sean Fennessey▶ 30:51Town hall meeting after July 4th attack when Quint is first introduced

Half-Assed Internet Research

Bill Simmons▶ 32:54Shaw attempted to do the monologue while intoxicated, nothing could be used, he called Spielberg that night asking for another try, and the next day's electrifying performance was done in one take
Chris Ryan▶ 34:09Made observations about Shaw's aged appearance, comparing him to Daniel Craig now, but didn't provide specific research facts
Sean Fennessey▶ 32:26Discussed the controversy around authorship of the Indianapolis speech - William Sackler came up with the idea, but Shaw, Milius, and Gottlieb may have all contributed to writing it. Also noted Shaw was a big alcoholic who died at 51 and looked much older in the film

Dion Waiters Award

Bill Simmons▶ 47:17Murray Hamilton — Murray Hamilton as the mayor - winner of the category
Chris Ryan▶ 47:26Murray Hamilton — Murray Hamilton as Mayor Vaughn - agrees with the pick and provides detailed analysis of his scenes
Sean Fennessey▶ 48:05Murray Hamilton — Murray Hamilton as the mayor - agrees and quotes his memorable lines

Apex Mountain

Bill Simmons▶ 1:08:47Roy Scheider — Roy Scheider - Jaws (career peak), Robert Shaw - Yes for Jaws, Richard Dreyfuss - Close Encounters of the Third Kind
Chris Ryan▶ 1:09:49Roy Scheider — Roy Scheider - All That Jazz (only signature movie he carries entirely by himself)
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:09:32Roy Scheider — Roy Scheider - All That Jazz (he was nominated for it, not for Jaws), Robert Shaw - A Man for All Seasons is his best, Richard Dreyfuss - Close Encounters

Joey Pants Award

Bill Simmons▶ 1:13:25Murray Hamilton

Picking Nits

Sean Fennessey▶ 1:15:51Mayor Vaughn being sociopathically committed to keeping the beaches open seems like a weird risk for a small town mayor

Best Quote

Bill Simmons▶ 1:16:20You're going to need a bigger boat
Chris Ryan▶ 1:16:31Mary Ellen Moffat chest hair line and various other quotes from scar comparison scene
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:17:40I got no spit and Indianapolis speech lines

Probably Unanswerable Questions

Bill Simmons▶ 1:19:29Did Mayor Vaughn get reelected? (Says no)
Chris Ryan▶ 1:19:30Agrees Mayor Vaughn probably didn't get reelected but offers campaign repositioning strategy focusing on healing together and raising shark awareness
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:20:32What happens in Quint's life between 1945 and 1975?

Who Won the Movie

Bill Simmons▶ 1:32:02Steven Spielberg — Spielberg, but makes a strong case for Robert Shaw/Quint as a top 10 non-leading man character
Chris Ryan▶ 1:29:13Steven Spielberg — Spielberg - sets up his career for 30 years, changes movies, made the most rewatchable entertaining movie of the last 40 years
Sean Fennessey▶ 1:29:54Steven Spielberg — Spielberg - indisputably, movie would have been a complete fiasco under someone else's stewardship

Movies Referenced (38)

Jaws 2 (1978)

13 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 17:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Sting (1973)

7 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 33:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Town (2010)

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 0:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Marathon Man (1976)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 22:13IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977)

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey▶ 5:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Alien (1979)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan▶ 16:45IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Open Water (2003)

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan▶ 1:23:39IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Exorcist (1973)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons▶ 14:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

The Graduate (1967)

3 mentions · Sean Fennessey▶ 48:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Aliens (1986)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 49:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Deep Blue Sea (1999)

2 mentions · Chris Ryan▶ 1:23:34IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Halloween (1978)

2 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 1:22:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Directors Referenced (10)

Steven Spielberg

50 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Schindler's List, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, Saving Private Ryan▶ 7:43IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Milos Forman

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, Amadeus▶ 20:57IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sofia Coppola

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Virgin Suicides, Lost in Translation▶ 44:03IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Stanley Kubrick

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for 2001: A Space Odyssey, A Clockwork Orange, Barry Lyndon▶ 21:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

David Brown

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Player, Cocoon, Deep Impact▶ 18:17IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Mann

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Insider, Collateral, The Last of the Mohicans▶ 23:11IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Peter Bogdanovich

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Last Picture Show, Paper Moon▶ 8:08IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Altman

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Gosford Park▶ 21:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Sidney Lumet

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for 12 Angry Men▶ 21:21IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Will Cheston

1 mentions · Bill Simmons▶ 10:14IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Actors Referenced (56)

Robert Shaw

40 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Jaws, A Man for All Seasons, The Sting▶ 13:30IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Richard Dreyfuss

27 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Goodbye Girl, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Mr. Holland's Opus▶ 7:36IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Roy Scheider

26 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey, Chris Ryan · Known for Jaws, The French Connection, All That Jazz▶ 22:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Murray Hamilton

6 mentions · Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Jaws, The Graduate, Jaws 2▶ 30:52IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Douglas

5 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Wall Street, Romancing the Stone▶ 25:26IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Charlton Heston

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Ben-Hur, The Ten Commandments, The Omega Man▶ 46:00IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Doris Day

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey, Bill Simmons · Known for Pillow Talk▶ 21:05IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Moby

4 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for The Next Three Days, The Saint▶ 1:07:25IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Robert Duvall

4 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for The Judge, Tender Mercies▶ 43:33IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Danny Trejo

3 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan · Known for Machete, From Dusk Till Dawn, Predators▶ 1:12:50IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Dustin Hoffman

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Bill Simmons · Known for Rain Man, Tootsie, Midnight Cowboy▶ 24:31IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Gene Hackman

3 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for The French Connection, The Royal Tenenbaums, Unforgiven▶ 24:24IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Writers Referenced (7)

Peter Benchley

6 mentions · Bill Simmons, Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Jaws, Jaws: The Revenge▶ 6:53IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Carl Gottlieb

4 mentions · Chris Ryan, Sean Fennessey · Known for Jaws 2▶ 7:01IMDb ↗Lb ↗

William Goldman

2 mentions · Bill Simmons, Sean Fennessey · Known for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, The Princess Bride▶ 23:42IMDb ↗Lb ↗

George Lucas

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, THX 1138, American Graffiti▶ 53:02IMDb ↗Lb ↗

John Milius

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for Conan the Barbarian, Jeremiah Johnson, Apocalypse Now▶ 32:37IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Kid Harpoon

1 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Great Gatsby, We Are Your Friends▶ 1:21:46IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Ryan Coogler

1 mentions · Bill Simmons · Known for Black Panther, Creed▶ 1:32:10IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Cinematographers Referenced (2)

Christopher Duddy

2 mentions · Sean Fennessey · Known for The Abyss, Terminator 2: Judgment Day▶ 1:12:19IMDb ↗Lb ↗

Michael Chapman

2 mentions · Chris Ryan · Known for Raging Bull, The Fugitive, The Last Detail▶ 57:06IMDb ↗Lb ↗