Jaws logs
 Two Jaws-related books any fan would find entertaining and compelling are Carl Gottlieb's "The Jaws Log" and Nigel Andrews' "jaws." Gottlieb, primary author of the movie's screenplay as well as the film's newspaper editor, Meadows ("I put it in the back with the grocery ads"), has been able to update his newsy first-hand account of the events leading up to and through shooting Jaws every decade, as the movie's popularity continues to grow and its place in cinematic history is solidified. "The Jaws Log" provides sketches of the journey of Peter Benchley's book from outline to publishing, detailing how little he got paid for the brunt of the work and the fortune he made as the book climbed the bestseller list and was optioned by Universal. Then Gottlieb describes the acquisition process, the selection of a young and promising Steven Spielberg as the film's director, and the grueling five-month shoot on Martha's Vineyard, including the shots Benchley and Spielberg took at each other as the movie began a life of its own apart from the pulp literary smash of 1974. Gottlieb watches as residents of Martha's Vineyard become savvier and savvier, squeezing the harried film crew for everything from rental boats to "zoning crap." He also validates my feeling that the guys who do the scene with the "holiday roast" were bad actors. Film critic Nigel Andrews' "jaws" is a brainy outsider's view, though it does provide insight about each of the main characters, including a deeper understanding of Robert Shaw. Andrews' book also delves into Spielberg's filmic choices, including the Hitchcockian push/pull on Brody's face on the beach, the symbolism of fences and the color yellow in the movie, and what Bruce the shark shares with killer trucks and the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Andrews is also in the camp that Brody is looking at his appendix scar.
Both books are not only indispensable for Jaws fans and the people who love them, but also cheap. They are linked to the right. Labels: books, carl gottlieb, nigel andrews, scholarship
Report: "Waters" still used as annoying plural of "water"
 A shark may have been spotted off South Beach in Edgartown, Martha's Vineyard ("That's where he's been feeding," - Matt Hooper), according to a story in the Boston Globe, reprinted below. What is especially encouraging is the persistence of the use of the word "waters" as a collective term for bodies of water, which is a central theme in "All That Jaws." Unfortunately, the article also reveals that residents of Martha's Vineyard don't remember Robert Ellsworth's costumes from the film.
Shark is reported off Martha's VineyardBy Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff / July 11, 2008 Lifeguards spotted what they believed was a great white shark off Martha's Vineyard yesterday, forcing the closing of beaches and prompting the inevitable references to "Jaws," the movie thriller that was filmed on the island.
The dorsal fin of the shark, sticking some 2 1/2 feet out of the water, was spotted 75 yards offshore at South Beach in Edgartown. Authorities received reports of other sightings along State Beach, on the island's northeast and the site of the opening scene of "Jaws."
"It definitely creates some excitement in town," said Trish Lyman, a resident who works at The Boneyard surf shop. "People are tentative but still excited."
 Lisa Capone, spokeswoman for the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs, said the Coast Guard received several reports of the shark sighting. The state sent a plane to scan the waters, she said, but the pilot could not confirm the sighting. HOOPER
Didn't you notify the Coast Guard about this?
BRODY
No. It was only local jurisdictionThough unconfirmed, the sightings left residents wondering whether they would be able to see the massive creature. Arthur Smadbeck, chairman of the Board of Selectmen, said the police chief joked to him that he ought to head to the shores with a red plaid jacket, an allusion to a character in "Jaws."
 A great white shark sighting is rare, but not unheard of in Massachusetts waters, said Greg Skomal, a shark specialist with the Division of Marine Fisheries. He said the species has a range spreading from the Gulf of Mexico into Canadian waters.
In 2004, a great white was entrapped for two weeks in a salt pond not far from the island, giving Skomal and other researchers a rare opportunity to study the animal. "That was a telling sign for us that the animals are here," Skomal said.
Last year, great white sharks were believed to be feeding on the local seals. Other local sightings have been reported over the years, which Skomal attributed to a greater awareness, perhaps a fascination, with the animal. But he stressed that the greater number of reports does not necessarily translate into an influx of sharks.
 Yesterday, the state took the threat seriously enough to close beaches in South Beach State Park, along the southern coastline, where lifeguards reported spotting the great white. Edgartown Police Chief Paul Condlin said local officials were acting in the best interest of public safety.
The last believed great white attack in the Massachusetts area was in 1936, Skomal said, and there are believed to be only three in history.
Smadbeck said he did not think the sighting will have a negative impact on tourism, now in the island's busiest season.
 "People will be so darn curious we'll probably be inundated with people wanting to see it," he said.
Lyman pointed out that the popular Monster Shark Tournament is planned for next weekend, giving participants a benchmark as they head into the waters.
"You can just surf cast and get a winning shark," she said. As for going down to the beach in a red plaid jacket, I have no clue who they're referring to. Neither Brody, Quint, Hooper, Harbormaster Frank Silva, nor Ben Gardner wore a red plaid jacket. See also: Shark is reported off Martha's VineyardLabels: martha's vineyard, real world, robert ellsworth
Drinking to our appendices
 Perhaps the greatest intellectual debate ( aside from this one) of our age is upon us. One of the nicest moments of Jaws the Movie is when Quint and Hooper (on the evening of July 4, with the only fireworks being shooting stars and the cries of whales) regard each other, as if for the first time, over their shared experience of nautical injuries. Quint's tales are more manly, but at least Hooper more or less matches him bruise by bruise (though, like Tom Cassidy, he submits to Quint by making his last injury a joke about having his heart broken). Brody can't compete, and instead listens to their war stories. But at one point he lifts his shirt and checks his abdomen, as if for a scar. What is he looking for?  THEORY ONEBrody is looking for evidence of his long-ago appendectomy or hernia operation. Finding nothing worthy of the conversation, he shuts up and listens. THEORY TWOBrody looks for a gunshot wound, the reason he uprooted his family from New York (in an earlier drunken conversation, Brody tells Hooper that Amity Island hasn't had a murder in 25 years but in New York you had to walk the kids to school). I am partial to Theory One; a gunshot wound would at least be as cool as a Moray Eel biting through Hooper's wetsuit. Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb still lives in the L.A. area and I keep meaning to ask him which theory is correct, but I'm opening this up for debate. Labels: brody, conundra, gottlieb, hooper, indianapolis, quint
Tom Cassidy concedes manhood to Brody
 Early in the morning of July 2, Brody receives a call from Deputy Hendricks that someone has washed up on the beach. He goes to investigate, and there finds Tom Cassidy, who would've been Chrissie Watkins' swim partner the night before had he not passed out. Brody is allowed to drive from his home only after promising his wife he will return her coffee mug. Brody and Cassidy (played by Jonathan Filley, now a successful Hollywood producer and unit production manager) conduct what seems to be an amicable information-gathering conversation as they walk toward Chrissie's remains. BRODY
And nobody saw her go into the water?
TOM
Somebody could have. I was sort of passed out.
BRODY
You mean she ran out on you?
 TOM
No sir! She must've drowned. (Here, for no apparent reason, Tom snaps a stick he has been carrying in both hands in two.)
Look, I reported it to you, didn't I? It is clear that Tom carried that stick only so he could break it in two, but it wasn't like Brody was interrogating him. If, in everyday conversation, you or I chose to break a stick in two in the face of such questions, the person we were talking to would think we were up to something. In fact, in the book Brody didn't even care if Tom joined him on the beach, having figured out everything he needed to know about Chrissie earlier. But in Brody's long road to assert his manhood in the movie, especially dealing with his fear of water in the shadows of the more masterful Quint and Hooper, here at least is an early sign that at least Tom submitted to Brody's maleness. Labels: brody, conundra, movie, tom
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Two Jaws-related books any fan would find entertaining and compelling are Carl Gottlieb's "The Jaws Log" and Nigel Andrews' "jaws."
