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He's one of the most formidable, dangerous, and fearsome heroes in the Marvel universe, armed with nothing but his wits and a weapons cache suitable for a small army. He's faced off against the likes of Spider-Man, Wolverine, and even Ghost Rider, so it's safe to say it's tough being The Punisher. Currently, only four men can attest to the title in live-action film and television. Since 1989, these stars have dared don the iconic superhero costume of cargo pants, a black t-shirt, and a trenchcoat long before Neo made them cool in "The Matrix." The question is, which portrayal emerges battered, bloodied, and superior to the rest?

As the heat begins to rise with the return of Matt Murdock in "Daredevil: Born Again" (watch the trailer here), it's only right to shine a light on the man he's battled, not only in the former Netflix show but also on several...

Every now and then, a film comes along that transcends its genre, reshaping the cinematic landscape and becoming something of a cultural phenomenon. Steven Spielberg’s Jaws is one such movie.

Released in 1975, this thriller didn’t just win audiences over; it reinvented the concept of the summer blockbuster. But its influence didn’t stop there. Jaws secured a rare spot in the hearts of filmmakers worldwide, including one of the most celebrated animators of all time, Hayao Miyazaki.

A scene from Jaws | Credits: Universal Pictures

From the pulse-pounding score that sticks to your bones to the ever-tightening noose of suspense, Jaws was a cultural earthquake, setting the stage for the blockbuster era that would follow. And then there’s that shark. It didn’t just swim into our screens—it sunk its teeth into the very heart of Hollywood, leaving a legacy that continues to send ripples through the industry.

Jaws, the 1975 nail-biter, made a shark a Hollywood star. It had anticipation, action, and the legendary line: “You’re gonna need a bigger boat.” That line wasn’t even scripted! It was an on-the-spot gem from the chaotic mess behind the scenes.

The film was a shipwreck of problems, from broken sharks to water chaos. Yet, the crew spun disaster into cinematic magic. And that line? Not just a joke—it nailed the terror of a massive great white. Outlandish how one off-the-cuff gag became a pure Hollywood legend.

You’ve likely heard the line, even if you’ve never seen Jaws. It’s been quoted, parodied, and referenced everywhere — from TV shows to memes.

But the line’s true intensity lies in its relatability. Who hasn’t had a moment where they felt thoroughly impromptu? Jaws went on to become the first true summer blockbuster, changing Hollywood evermore.

A...

"You're gonna need a bigger boat." Roy Scheider's quiet words when he first sees the shark in Steven Spielberg's Jaws came back to me when I opened my email and saw the film and television slate announced by SXSW for its 2025 edition, to be held in Austin, Texas, USA, from March 7-15. It looks like a terrific lineup, so I'm gonna need bigger eyes to take in everything. The program "includes 96 Features including 82 World Premieres, 3 International Premieres, 3 North American Premieres, 2 U.S. Premieres, 6 Texas Premieres + 57 Short Films and 18 Music Videos. The TV Program includes 16 TV projects, with 5 TV premieres, 4 TV Spotlight and 7 Independent TV Pilots. There are 31 projects in the Xr...

[Read the whole post on screenanarchy.com...]...

Jeannot Szwarc, the French director known for Jaws 2, Supergirl and The Rockford Files, has died. He was 85.

Jane Seymour, who starred alongside the late Christopher Reeve in Szwarc’s 1980 film Somewhere in Time, announced the director’s death Wednesday with a heartfelt statement on social media.

“Today, we say goodbye to a true visionary,” she wrote on Instagram. “Jeannot Szwarc was not just a brilliant director but a kind and generous soul. He gifted us many timeless stories, including Somewhere in Time, a film that changed my life forever. May his memory be a blessing, and may his artistry live on in our hearts.”

Producer Jeffrey Kramer, who worked with Szwarc on several titles over the years, wrote on Instagram, “Rip my dear Jeannot Szwarc One of the finest most talented souls I was privileged to know!”

Born Nov. 21, 1939 in Paris, Szwarc graduated from Harvard University before he began...

Luca Guadagnino released two films in 2024, and coming off the energetic “Challengers” was the more introspective “Queer.” The filmmaker’s latest stars Daniel Craig as William Lee, a fictionalized stand-in for author William S. Burroughs, whose slender novel the movie is based on.

The movie premiered at the Venice International Film Festival and later played the New York Film Festival and BFI London Film Festival. A24 acquired the domestic distribution rights to the movie, with Mubi releasing the movie internationally.

But how can you watch Guadagnino’s latest? Read on to find out.

Is “Queer” streaming?

After being released in theaters last November and December, “Queer” is now finally available to rent on Digital. The film will eventually be streaming on Max due to an output deal between the streamer and A24, but a streaming release date has not yet been revealed. “Queer” will also be released on Blu-ray in April.

As far as modern action heroes go, one of the most enduring has certainly been Jason Statham, who’s headlined a slew of modestly budgeted action flicks that have made him one of the few genre staples left in the game. His career has been interesting, with him alternating smaller-scaled action flicks with bigger, tentpole event films, such as the Fast & Furious films and The Meg 1 & 2. Yet, the movie that established his persona wasn’t the Transporter films or any of his Guy Ritchie movies. Nope, instead, it was a small-scale but ambitious quasi-remake of the film noir classic D.O.A that put him on the map in a big way. That’s right, folks, it’s time to figure out Wtf Happened to Crank!

Jump back to 1997, when a young English director named Guy Ritchie released a little film called Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, which caused a sensation.

Image Source: Sony Pictures Ah, the glorious ’80s—a time of big hair, neon dreams, and action movies so thrilling they practically leapt off the screen. Sure, everyone raves about Die Hard, Terminator, and Aliens, but there’s another gem soaring just under the radar. Meet Blue Thunder, the 1983 action-packed movie that brought helicopters to the forefront of cinematic coolness! This underrated classic stars none other than the late legendary Roy Scheider (Jaws), the magnetic Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange), and the hilariously lovable Daniel Stern (Home Alone). Directed by John Badham (Saturday Night Fever and WarGames), Blue Thunder is a high-octane combination of razor-sharp storytelling and breathtaking aerial stunts. Picture this: 1980s Los Angeles shimmering under golden sunsets, with a police chopper like no other cutting through the skies. Vietnam vet police officer Frank Murphy (Scheider) gets assigned to test a cutting-edge helicopter equipped with high-tech surveillance tools to aid law enforcement.

For months, there has been rampant speculation over Christopher Nolan's follow-up to "Oppenheimer," the three-hour epic that earned him the Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director. The cast has been gradually coming together: Matt Damon, Zendaya, Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong'o, Anne Hathaway and Charlize Theron. Could it be a vampire flick? For a time, there was a hilarious rumor that Nolan was planning a remake of the John Badham police helicopter action flick "Blue Thunder" — because apparently that's how you spend clout after winning two Oscars and making a $977 million-grossing R-rated masterpiece.

For those who were hoping Matt Damon and Tom Holland would rekindle the crackling chemistry generated by Roy Scheider and Daniel Stern in "Blue Thunder," I have very bad news for you. For everyone else, if you were hoping for Nolan to push the envelope in terms of scope and technology, you're going...

How often have we all heard audiences leave the theater after watching a new cinematic adaptation of a novel, grumbling to themselves that the book was better? Often, readers get very attached to a specific novel, and any attempts to adapt it for the big screen are doomed to failure. After all, books are able to delve into a narrative with so much more depth, and films, limited by their runtime, have to consolidate or rearrange story elements to make them fit properly.

But every once in a while, the reverse happens. A film is actually able to improve on what was put forth on paper. Sometimes this is because a story is particularly well-suited for a more visual medium, and sometimes it just finds itself in the hands of an unusually talented director. But these projects are worth celebrating because when a filmmaker adapts a book for the big screen,...

Gareth Edwards hopes ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ will kick off a new ‘Jurassic’ trilogy.The upcoming blockbuster will mark a new era in the dinosaur franchise, and the 49-year-olf filmmaker has revealed he wants ‘Jurassic World Rebirth’ to spawn its own sub-series.Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Edwards said: “I can't speak for Universal [Pictures], but it did feel like a new trilogy, in a way.“I’m not sure what their plans are, but it felt like the beginning of a brand-new chapter in this franchise.”The ‘Rogue One: A Star Wars Story’ director added his movie was “a giant love letter” to Steven Spielberg, who had helmed the original ‘Jurassic Park’ and its sequel ‘The Lost World: Jurassic Park’ in 1993 and 1997 respectively. Edwards continued: “There are moments in this movie that remind me very much of ‘Jaws’. It’s like little greatest hits of all those aspects of his films that...

Cinema’s most iconic dinosaurs return to the big screen in Jurassic World Rebirth next summer, and director Gareth Edwards is in charge this time around. The plan? To trim back the visual effects-heavy spectacle a bit and get back to the vibes of the original Jurassic Park, which Edward details in a new chat with Entertainment Weekly.

Additionally, the outlet has shared four brand new images from the upcoming Jurassic World Rebirth, introducing us to the trio of main characters who bring a Jaws vibe to the film.

Edwards explains to EW, “To me, it’s a giant love letter to Steven Spielberg and his earlier films. There are moments in this movie that remind me very much of Jaws. It’s like little greatest hits of all those aspects of his films that I loved growing up as a child. It’s essentially a little adventure odyssey across this island,...

One of our favorite times of the month is when the Criterion Collection drops their releases for the months ahead and the batch its announced for March certainly doesn’t disappoint. Ranging from dark rom-coms to monster movies, Criterion is adding some proper deep cuts, as well as 4K restorations of two films that are already part of the collection.

The first film given the Criterion treatment is Alan Rudolph’s “Choose Me,” starring Keith Carradine and Lesley Ann Warren. Set in Los Angeles during the 1980s, the film follows a number of lovers violently weaving in and out of each other’s live, mostly crossing paths at a dive bar. A protégé of Robert Altman, Rudolph’s films, such as “Mrs. Parker and the Vicious Circle” and “Breakfast of Champions,” often carry a balance of absurdity and bite. Next up is the 1989 addition to the Godzilla cannon, “Godzilla vs. Biollante” from Kazuki Omori.

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Netflix has the biggest content library of any streaming service, and for that reason, many movies from the past are available on it. So, we thought about all the fans of old brilliant movies that are now characterized as classics and decided to compile a list of the best classic movies on Netflix that you should check out right now.

Scarface Credit – Universal Pictures

Scarface is a crime drama film directed by Brian De Palma from a screenplay by Oliver Stone. Based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Armitage Trail and its 1932 film adaptation, the 1983 film follows Tony Montana and his close friend Manny, who build a ruthless and successful drug empire in Miami. However as Tony’s power grows so do his enemies, but the biggest threat to his empire is his own paranoia. Scarface stars Al Pacino,...

It’s Musicals Week at IndieWire. With “Wicked” about to sparkle over theaters, we’re celebrating the best of the movie-musical genre.

Bob Fosse only directed five features — “Sweet Charity,” “Cabaret,” “Lenny,” “All That Jazz,” and “Star 80” — but among filmmakers and cinephiles, his legend looms large in proportion to the abundance of his output. David Fincher, for example, frequently references Fosse as an influence alongside and equal to far more prolific directors like Steven Spielberg, William Friedkin, and John Carpenter. In “A Personal Journey with Martin Scorsese Through American Movies,” Fosse is one of only a few post-classical studio era auteurs (alongside Stanley Kubrick and Clint Eastwood) that Scorsese deems worthy of inclusion alongside old masters like Orson Welles and Sam Fuller.

By only making a handful of movies in between stints revolutionizing American musical theater on Broadway, Fosse maintained a consistency any director would envy — he’s five...

The 1980s were a successful decade for the thriller genre, and produced plenty of hidden gems. Some of the best suspense-ridden movies in the history of cinema debuted during that period. The period opened with a disturbing masterpiece of fear with The Shining, and it proceeded to give the audience more cinematographic gems. While some 80s cult classic movies like The Blade Runner are still remembered and praised, others appear to be largely overlooked by today's public.

Perhaps they were overshadowed by bigger names when they first came out, or they simply faded into obscurity over the years. Like many subsequent underrated 90s thrillers, plenty of great representatives of this genre from the 1980s deserve a second look. Audiences, especially those who are attracted to the dark allure of psychologically disturbing and emotionally intriguing stories, deserve the opportunity to rediscover these hidden treasures.

Still of the Night (1982) Director: Robert Benton...

In light of the Christopher Nolan rumours, we take a look back at 1983’s Blue Thunder – a high-tech thriller that deserved more attention on its release.

It’s hard to pinpoint why the vehicular TV and film boom of the 1980s happened. Was it a coincidence that the likes of Knight Rider (1982), Firefox (also 1982), Blue Thunder (1983), Airwolf (1984) and Street Hawk (1985) all came out within a few years of each other?

Whatever the explanation, there was a brief period where vehicles got top billing, whether they were experimental planes (Firefox) helicopters, an ‘all-terrain attack motorcycle’ (Street Hawk) or Knight Rider.

Blue Thunder – the original 1983 film, not the short-lived TV spin-off which emerged the following year – is arguably the best of the lot. An action thriller directed by John Badham, it was one of the most exciting movies of its type released in the early 1980s – and yet, for some reason, several...

The 1983 helicopter action film Blue Thunder is said to be the inspiration for Christopher Nolan’s next film – at least according to the latest rumour circulating.

Speculation regarding Christopher Nolan’s next project is really starting to ramp up with rumours emerging, being debunked and then replaced, almost as quickly as we can cover them. It’s been a week since it was officially confirmed that the British filmmaker would be following up the incredible critical and commercial success of last year’s Oppenheimer by once again partnering with Universal. We also got a release date for the next Nolan project: 17th July, 2026.

With Nolan projects being what they are, a typical veil of secrecy surrounds the movie but fear not, the ever-dependent rumour mill has ground into action and in the seven days or so that have followed, we’ve had series of reports offer differing threads of speculation...

10-time Oscar nominee Laurence Olivier has the lowest winning percentage of any other actor who has even been nominated for multiple Academy Awards. Olivier was a renowned stage and film actor who starred in many classic movies, such as Alfred Hitchcock's Rebecca (1949) and Richard Attenborough's A Bridge Too Far (1977). Laurence Olivier's greatest films also include Sleuth (1972) which stars Michael Caine, Wuthering Heights (1939) which garnered Olivier's first Oscar nomination, and Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960).

Olivier was nominated for the Best Actor Oscar nine times, winning only for his leading role in 1948's Hamlet, which he also directed. He was also nominated for Best Supporting Actor on one occasion for 1976's Marathon Man, which starred Dustin Hoffman and Roy Scheider. Olivier won two Honorary Academy Awards, one in 1947 for his achievement as director, producer, and lead actor in 1947's Henry V, and one in 1979 for his full body and work...

The Story: Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider), a helicopter pilot working for the LAPD, is selected to test pilot an experimental government helicopter called “Blue Thunder.” Highly sophisticated, and heavily armed, Murphy discovers the helicopter is being designed for urban use by a group within the government, headed by his old Vietnam nemesis, F.E Cochrane (Malcolm McDowell). Thought to be insane by his LAPD bosses thanks to his troubled history of war-related Ptsd, Murphy steals ”Blue Thunder” in an attempt to reveal the murderous conspiracy behind its creation, culminating in a series of spectacular dogfights in skies above downtown Los Angeles.

The Players: Director: John Badham. Writers: Dan O’Bannon, Don Jakoby. Starring: Roy Scheider, Malcolm McDowell, Candy Clark, Daniel Stern, & Warren Oates. Score by Arthur B. Rubinstein.

The History: During the early eighties, the comic book-style techno-thriller was in-vogue. Usually, these thrillers revolved around lone-wolf cops or military men given...

We’re fully in the fall now, which means a few things for movie fans — summer blockbuster season is behind us (which means some of the biggest hits are about to hit home video), spooky season is very much here and, with festival season underway, awards contenders are starting to roll out in earnest.

All told, there’s a lot to watch out for on streaming right now, so if you’re stuck on endless scroll and not sure what to watch right now, not to worry, here’s a curated list of the best new movies on Netflix in September 2024.

“Jaws” (Universal Pictures) “Jaws” (1975)

Starting things off with a bonafide classic: summer may be over, but it’s never a bad time to watch Steven Spielberg’s “Jaws.” Credited as the first summer blockbuster in cinematic history, the film didn’t just eat up the box office, it’s...

“The Rainmaker” series adaptation at USA Network has added Wade Briggs in a series regular role, Variety has learned exclusively.

Based on the John Grisham novel of the same name, the show was picked up at the basic cabler back in June. Briggs will appear alongside previously announced cast member Milo Callaghan, John Slattery, Madison Iseman, Lana Parrilla, P.J. Byrne, Robyn Cara, and Dan Fogler.

The official logline for the series states, “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor (Callaghan) goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond (Slattery) as well as his law school girlfriend (Iseman). Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

Briggs will play Brad Noonan, described as “a high-powered attorney at the Tinley Britt Law Firm and enforcer to the firm’s managing partner, Leo Drummond.”

Briggs’ recent TV credits include “Foundation...

You can't have "Jaws" without Quint, a modern Captain Ahab if he'd been hunting a great white shark rather than a white whale. It's difficult to picture anyone but Robert Shaw (in one of his last roles before his premature death in 1978) in the part, but the actor actually wasn't who director Steven Spielberg first had in mind.

In "Spielberg: The First Ten Years" by Laurent Bouzereau, Spielberg claimed his first choice for Quint was Lee Marvin. He wanted a big star and Marvin was famous for playing sinister tough guys. See: "The Big Heat," "Point Blank," "The Dirty Dozen," and "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance" (directed by the man who taught Spielberg how to frame a horizon.) Marvin, though, said no. Spielberg recounted: "What I heard was that [Marvin] wanted to go fishing for real! He took his fishing very seriously and didn't want to do it from a 'movie' boat.

Steven Sodebergh loves Steven Spielberg. Maybe it’s just a Steven thing. Or maybe it’s because the latter indirectly changed the course of the former’s life with his breakthrough film, “Jaws.” As revealed in a conversation at the Toronto International Film Festival and covered by The Hollywood Reporter, the “Ocean’s Eleven” director shared further details on a previously announced book that he’s writing about the making of the 1975 shark thriller starring Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss, and Robert Shaw.

“I’ve been working on this thing [the book] that is ostensibly about directing and uses, as its spine, an analysis of the making of ‘Jaws’; day-to-day,” Soderbergh said.

While this may sound like a thrilling read that could probably be adapted into its own film one day, Soderbergh described it as more of an educational tool than a gripping piece of entertainment.

“This book is not for general consumption. This...

Stephen King knows a thing or two about movies. Most of his books have been adapted into films, and he frequently offers up his opinions on other people's films and TV shows, especially on Twitter. For the most part, King tends to sing the praises of horror movies, and that makes sense: horror is his bread and butter, and he's spent decades scaring people with his tales of terror. With that in mind, you might think King's all-time favorite movie is a horror movie. But you'd be wrong!

Speaking with BFI, King rattled off a list of some of his favorite films, and the title at the top of the list isn't horror at all — although it does come from William Friedkin, who helmed one of the best horror movies of all time, "The Exorcist." But Friedkin's "The Exorcist" doesn't make King's list. Instead, King named Friedkin's 1977 box office flop...

I remember the moment I first started to realize how much control a director has over a movie — when I learned they consciously choose the colors that go into their movies. This is when it clicked for me that movies are moving images, first and foremost. The images aren't just a canvas on which to tell a story, they are the story and should reinforce themes, mood, etc. as much as any dialogue or narrative beat does.

Mike Mignola, the famed comic writer/artist and creator of Hellboy, has one of my favorite explanations of how visual artists use color as a storytelling tool. "My original artwork, I really like in black-and-white, but when I'm telling a story, color is such an important tool [...] for the most part I'm much more comfortable doing work where I know color is going to be there," he said.

Of course, controlling color when...

Steven Spielberg made sure that Jaws had one of the most iconic opening scenes in film history, so much so that he parodied it four years later. Steven Spielberg is responsible for many film classics from different genres, and in 1975, he conquered the branch of thriller and horror with Jaws. Based on the 1974 novel of the same name by Peter Benchley, Jaws was a massive critical and commercial success, becoming the prototypical summer blockbuster and earning a spot in film history, as well as on countless lists of the best horror movies of all time.

Jaws takes the audience to the New England beach town of Amity Island, where a giant white shark has been killing swimmers. While Mayor Larry Vaughn (Murray Hamilton) worries about these incidents ruining the towns tourism, Chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider) teams up with marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and local fisherman Quint (Robert Shaw...

This September, Netflix is bringing you a lot of entertainment with the highly anticipated Nicole Kidman drama series The Perfect Couple, a Netflix original drama film starring Elizabeth Olsen, and the brilliant new animated series Twilight of the Gods. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Netflix this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 5 best films that are coming to Netflix in September 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Jaws (September 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 97%

Jaws is a classic survival thriller film directed by Steven Spielberg from a screenplay co-written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb. Based on a 1974 novel of the same name by author Peter Benchley, the 1975 film revolves around Sheriff Martin Brody as he teams up with a marine biologist and a local fisherman to hunt down a giant white...

Spielberg's Jaws balances horror and personal drama perfectly, creating an intense and iconic masterpiece of cinema. Nolan's The Dark Knight revolutionizes superhero movies with thrilling action and Heath Ledger's legendary Joker performance. Miyazaki's Spirited Away showcases the potential of animation with a gorgeous, enchanting story that appeals to all ages.

While all movies generate a swirl of conflicting opinions, there are some movies which people generally agree are flawless from beginning to end. Some might argue that perfection is an impossible standard, especially in an art form measured in emotion and personal connection. However, a more generous definition of perfection could suggest that there are plenty of "perfect" movies. If a movie sets out to achieve all that it aims for, no matter what genre it is, it could be described as perfect.

There are many great movies that fall short of perfection. For example, Breakfast at Tiffany's...

Steven Spielberg's classic blockbuster Jaws is heading to Netflix in September, and the sequels will also be coming to the platform. The movie was based on Peter Benchley's book, which was published just one year before Spielberg released his breakout movie. While the director previously worked on Duel (1971) and The Sugarland Express (1974), it was Jaws that made him the famous creator he is today.

With sharks bringing havoc to various fictional tourist destinations, staying at home and watching the adventures of SeaWorld and Amity Island is likely the wisest decision. Three of the four Jaws movies will now stream directly from a popular platform. Jaws, Jaws 2, and Jaws 3-D will be coming to Netflix on September 1st, where they will join Spielberg's Band of Brothers for easy viewing.

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Did You Know: The shark would have appeared more regularly, if...

Zack Snyder's first major comic book adaptation, 300, is coming to Netflix soon. A historical epic based on the comic book by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley, it tells the story of the Battle of Thermopylae, where a small group of Spartans stood against Persia's forces to defend the whole of Greece. While the story is an entirely fantastical version of the actual battle, it became a box office hit, earning $456 million on a budget of just $65 million. 300 also saw largely positive reviews from critics and exceptional audience responses.

With an all-star cast, consisting of Gerard Butler, Lena Headey, Michael Fassbender, and more, the acting has only become more acclaimed over the years. The 1 hour and 57-minute movie has aged gracefully, especially since Zack Snyder went on to direct Man of Steel, Zack Snyder's Justice League, and Watchmen. It will now be coming to Netflix on September 1st,...

At the end of Steven Spielberg's 1975 creature feature "Jaws," Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), Brody (Roy Scheider), and the grizzled Quint (Robert Shaw) have piloted a boat out into the ocean around Amity Island to apprehend a great white shark that has been eating the locals. Their initial plan is for Hooper to get in a shark-proof cage and shove a poison-tipped harpoon into the sea beast. The shark proves to be too powerful, however, and wrecks the cage. The shark also has the wherewithal to leap onto the stern of their boat, crushing it. The shark also eats Quint. Things are looking pretty bad. 

It's not until Brody drops a pressurized oxygen tank into the shark's mouth and shoots it with a rifle that the animal is killed. The tank blows up, and the fish is reduced to bloody chunks. Hooper and Body, the two survivors, begin paddling back to shore.

Fictional horror movies scare us until we leave the theater. True crime dramas follow us home because they happened once to someone—or so they say.

Heists, abuses of power, murders, and multiple murders. Hollywood loves crime and all the ill-gotten bootie it brings. From 1907’s The Unwritten Law: A Thrilling Drama Based on the Thaw-White Case to the upcoming Roofman, films inspired by true crime capture a special kind of imagination. They are cautionary tales with real-life consequences, and dramas too sordid for mixed company. In the Golden Age, stories of gangland thugs came with promises of being “ripped from today’s papers.” Every robbery is a drama. Each public scandal is a potential movie trailer. Every human tragedy is a closeup. Here are some of the best films that took their plots from schemes attempted in real life.

Zodiac (2007)

Directed by David Fincher, Zodiac is as exhilarating as it is frustrating.

Milo Callaghan has been cast as the series lead in “The Rainmaker” at USA Network.

The show was originally picked up at the cabler back in June and is based on the iconic John Grisham novel of the same name. He joins previously announced cast members John Slattery and Madison Iseman in the series.

The official logline for the series states, “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor (Callaghan) goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond (Slattery) as well as his law school girlfriend (Iseman). Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

Callaghan’s past credits include “FBI: International,” “Doctor Who,” and “The Spanish Princess,” as well as the feature “The Strangers: Chapter 1.” He was recently cast in the BBC Three series “Video Nasty” and the Disney+ series “Rivals.”

He is repped by Hamilton Hodell...

John Slattery has been cast in a lead role of “The Rainmaker” series at USA Network.

The show was originally picked up at the cabler back in June and is based on the iconic John Grisham novel of the same name. Slattery will portray Leo F. Drummond. The character is described as “a legendary lion of the courtroom and senior partner at Tinley Britt, the powerful firm that Rudy Baylor is up against.”

The official logline for the series states, “Fresh out of law school, Rudy Baylor goes head-to-head with courtroom lion Leo Drummond as well as his law school girlfriend. Rudy, along with his boss and her disheveled paralegal, uncover two connected conspiracies surrounding the mysterious death of their client’s son.”

The role of Rudy Baylor has yet to be cast.

Slattery is best known for his role in the AMC series “Mad Men,” for which he received...

Speed is arguably one of Keanu Reeves’ most booming films ever (pun very much intended), both critically and commercially.

It had everything one would want in a good film, especially a good Reeves film – a storyline brimming with action, the anticipation rising with each scene, and a thrilling culmination of the plot. And let’s not forget how the movie gifted us with the dynamic duo of Reeves and Sandra Bullock.

Keanu Reeves as Jack Traven in Speed (1994) | 20th Century Studios

But for all the good bits, there were some bad ones too. Or at least they were for poor Harry, a character portrayed by Primetime Emmy winner Jeff Daniels in the ’90s classic.

Jeff Daniels Struggled With His Character Being Written Off

In the iconic action feature, Jeff Daniels plays Harry, the steadfast partner of Keanu Reeves‘ Jack Traven who boards a city bus rigged with a bomb that...

Who wouldn’t leap at the chance to bask in the spotlight of a Martin Scorsese masterpiece? Any thespian worth their salt knows that to share the screen in a Scorsese saga is akin to finding the pot of gold at the end of the cinematic rainbow.

Indeed, giants like Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio have often waltzed through this golden gate, yet Matt Damon has courted the Scorsese stage just once—a memorable turn in 2006’s crime thriller, The Departed. So, it must be one of his favorite flicks?

Matt Damon in The Departed | Warner Bros. Pictures

Well, hold your horses, there’s a plot twist! Even after working with the formidable Scorsese, Damon’s heart beats for a different classic. Steven Spielberg’s seascape of suspense, Jaws (1975), chomps its way to the top of Damon’s all-time favorites, shining a spotlight on the director’s genius.

Matt...

Feuds and rivalries are very common in Hollywood, with even legendary names like the renowned filmmaker Steven Spielberg not being a far reach for it. While his iconic long-ongoing silent dispute with Hollywood heartthrob Tom Cruise was one thing, the Jurassic Park saga helmer held an even greater skirmish with one other celebrity.

Steven Spielberg. | Credit: Gage Skidmore/Cc-by-sa 2.0/Wikimedia Commons.

This celebrity was the late actor cum political activist famous for his leading man roles in multiple genres, Charlton Heston. As it turns out, Heston wanted to star in one tremendously acclaimed film from Spielberg, but the latter’s rejection led him to develop a conflict with him that was great enough to eclipse even the director’s vendetta with Cruise.

Steven Spielberg’s Discord with Charlton Heston: How It All Began

Steven Spielberg has forever been one of the best project-tamers in Hollywood, and his masterpieces speak volumes...

Spielberg's Jaws marked the birth of the summer blockbuster genre and showcased memorable characters and iconic quotes. The dynamic between Chief Brody, Hooper, and Quint adds depth to the simple shark attack plot and highlights human relationships. Quint's eerie monologue about sharks and Brody's famous line "You're gonna need a bigger boat" became cinematic legends.

Jaws features some of the most iconic movie images of all time, but its script should not be overlooked as there are many Jaws quotes that fans still remember decades later. Directed by Steven Spielberg, Jaws became known as the first summer blockbuster and changed movies forever. The simple story of a killer shark terrorizing a quiet beach community is elevated thanks largely to Spielberg's innovative direction, but also a strong cast and a script that knew how to find humanity and heart in the story.

It might be the killer shark who steals the show,...

After taking a look back at House II: The Second Story (a favorite of mine since childhood), House of 1000 Corpses (which celebrated its 20th anniversary last year), the awesomeness of Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight, the leg smashing in the Stephen King adaptation Misery, three separate moments from John Carpenter’s Big Trouble in Little China, the “Jason vs. Tina” battle in Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, the “all hell breaks loose” sequence from the start of Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead remake, the opening sequence of Pitch Black, the “Burn” scene from The Crow (which not only turns 30 this year, but is also getting a new adaptation), the farmhouse raid and ending chase sequences in High Tension, and the climactic moments in the 1989 creature feature comedy Little Monsters, JoBlo’s own Lance Vlcek is continuing his The Best Scene video series...

Jaws is a classic must-watch movie with iconic moments that prove its greatness. The film changed the movie business with artistic techniques and character development. From Brody to the shark, many scenes in Jaws are unforgettable and truly shocking.

There are almost too many shocking iconic moments in Jaws to count, and the sheer abundance of them proves why it's earned a rightly-deserved place as being considered a classic must-watch movie by many critics and viewers alike. In 1975, Steven Spielberg unwittingly created the summer blockbuster that changed the movie business forever with the shark-movie Jaws a suspense-filled, seafaring thriller that brought artistic filmmaking techniques and careful character development to a high-concept Hollywood production, Jaws has been praised as one of the greatest films ever made.

From its everyman protagonist, Chief Martin Brody, to its Hitchcockian set pieces that limit the visibility of the shark, Jaws is filled with unforgettable moments.

The summer of 1999 had big things planned for the supernatural horror genre. In the midst of high-budget blockbuster movies emerged a small Indie movie named The Blair Witch Project. Directed by two University of Central Florida students, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, the movie drew inspiration from Steven Spielberg’s 1975 masterpiece Jaws.

Joshua Leonard in The Blair Witch Project (1999) || Artisan Entertainment

Initially many studios dismissed it, considering it a risky venture. However, The Blair Witch project brought in an incredible $248.6 million worldwide, despite having a $60,000 shooting budget. Further, the movie continues to haunt the audience even after 25 years of its release.

How Steven Spielberg’s Jaws inspired The Blair Witch Project

The movie, which tells the tale of three student filmmakers named Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams, and Joshua Leonard, was a major factor in polarizing the found-footage horror genre. To document the Blair Witch legend, the three of them head into the Maryland woods.

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"Jaws" remains the king of savage animal attack horror films, but by today's horror standards it's actually pretty tame. Of course, throughout the history of film, audiences have become increasingly desensitized to these sorts of things, to the point where only brutal splatter-fests like "Terrifier 2" are capable of testing seasoned horror fans. In fact, in the case of Damien Leone's so-called "mega-slasher," there were reports of audiences fainting and vomiting in their seats.

Anyone who knows even a little about "Terrifier 2" will understand why that might have been. The sheer level of brutality on display would make anyone at least slightly queasy. But back in the 1970s it seems audiences were slightly more sensitive.

When "Jaws" released in 1975 it became what many have dubbed the first ever blockbuster, becoming an instant hit and terrifying an entire generation,...

Jaws deleted scene showed a child being eaten, but was removed for being too graphic and shocking. Spielberg's decision not to include the scene may have been for the right reasons, as it kept the shark's full appearance hidden until later in the film. Other films, like Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark and The Fly, also had scenes removed for being too dark or disturbing.

A dramatic turn in Jaws sees the shark eat a little boy named Alex Kintner, but in the original version of the scene, the child was devoured onscreen. 1975's Jaws should need no introduction at this point, as it launched the career of now legendary director Steven Spielberg and is rightly considered a classic. One of the reasons Jaws succeeds is it's both a frightening horror film and a high-seas adventure story, as police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper...

Lego is paying tribute to Steven Spielberg’s game-changing summer 1975 blockbuster Jaws with a new set. To promote the release, Lego has also shared a “brick buster” short film titled Jaws in a Jiffy.

Created by Irish Jaws and Lego fan Johnny Campbell, the 1,497-piece set contains minifigures of the film’s characters Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and Sam Quint (Robert Shaw) as they face off against the shark from the deck of their boat, the Orca. Check out a photo gallery below.

In addition to the boat, minifigures, and the infamous shark (aka “Bruce”), the Jaws set includes accessories like a revolver, compass, fishing rod, harpoon, spear, and yellow barrels.

“I actually freeze-framed Jaws as I watched it so that I could catch a glimpse of the finer details, taking notes as I went along,” Campbell said in a statement. “It is just mind-blowing that...

Today the Lego Group unveiled the Lego® Ideas Jaws set, a brick-built diorama commemorating the infamous 1975 blockbuster movie “Jaws,” from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment.

To celebrate the launch, the Lego Group, in partnership with Universal Products & Experiences, has created the first ever summer “brick-buster” mini-film, “Jaws…in a Jiffy,” a playful recreation of this iconic summer blockbuster movie – told in just 90-secs. The film features all the favourite scenes, plus a surprise minifigure reveal at the end, featuring award-winning director Steven Spielberg behind the clapperboard.

Directed by Academy Award® winner Steven Spielberg, Jaws set the standard for edge-of-your-seat suspense, quickly becoming a cultural phenomenon and forever changing the movie industry. When the seaside community of Amity finds itself under attack by a dangerous great white shark, the town’s chief of police (Roy Scheider), a young marine biologist (Richard Dreyfuss) and a grizzled shark hunter (Robert Shaw) embark on...

Be still, our sweating wallets: Lego has announced a 1,497-piece Jaws Lego set, which includes everything you need to recreate the film’s third act.

To celebrate the open Amityville beaches on this, the 4th July, Lego has announced a 1,497-piece Jaws set. It is, as you’ve probably gathered, based on Steven Spielberg’s 1975 classic, and contains everything you need to recreate its third act. In other words, you’ll be able to build the Orca boat and the three heroes that set off in it – so you’ll get minifigs based on Chief Brody (Roy Scheider), Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss) and Quint (Robert Shaw).

Most importantly, you’ll be able to build a Great White shark (which you can call Bruce if you like), and there are even a few yellow barrels among the accessories included with the set. Released in August (on the 3rd for Lego Insiders members...

A Lego video recreates the plot of Jaws in only 1.5 minutes, making the film more comedic. A full-length Jaws Lego movie in the vein of The Lego Batman Movie is unlikely. Other franchises like Star Wars and Jurassic Park are more obvious candidates to get a full-length Lego adaptation.

Jaws becomes a Lego adventure only 1.5 minutes long in a comedic reimagining. Released in 1975, Jaws is the film that largely put Steven Spielberg on the map as a filmmaker. The movie, which stars Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, follows three men who embark on a quest to hunt down a killer shark, and it has since gone down in history as one of the most important Hollywood blockbusters ever made. Subsequent Jaws movies, however, were never able to recapture the magic of the original.

Lego Ideas on X, formerly Twitter, now imagines what Jaws would look like in Lego...

"You open the beaches on the 4th of July, it's like ringing the dinner bell for Christ's sakes." Instead, we're going to be opening The Lego Shop for a new building brick set inspired by Steven Spielberg's suspenseful classic "Jaws," from the great white shark that wreaks havoc on Amity Island to the boat with an unlikely trio of men trying to stop it. 

That's right, today is the holiday known for sharks snacking on a buffet provided by a money-driven mayor too stubborn to see what's best for his constituents. Eventually, it takes police chief Martin Brody (Roy Scheider), marine biologist Matt Hooper (Richard Dreyfuss), and drunk but effective shark hunter Quint (Robert Shaw) venturing out on the boat known as the Orca to settle the score. Now, this iconic blockbuster battle at sea will be brought to life in building brick form, courtesy of Lego (who...

Cue the famous John Williams score, because it’s time to not go into the water. Instead, it’s time to head to a fine table to build with bricks.

Lego has unveiled a new set based on Jaws, the Steven Spielberg blockbuster that changed summer moviegoing and made countless people afraid to go into the ocean.

The 1,497-piece set comes with three minifigures — Martin Brody, Matt Hooper and Sam Quint, the characters played by Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss and Robert Shaw, respectively. The three shark hunters are aboard the Orca boat, which has a detailed cabin and a removable roof. Among the accessories are a revolver, compass, fishing rod, harpoon, spear and, of course, the yellow barrels (see the images below). Also included is the infamous shark, which is not in one piece but must be built.

The set can be displayed as a cool diorama on a brick-built seawater base,...