Mollywood BLVD

The 1st ever blockbuster

dives into IMAX

Looks like I can finally stop going to “Elvis.” I had mentioned in my previous column that I saw it four times in theaters. At the time I am writing this, I have now seen it 13 times in theaters. What on Earth could stop me from my obsession with Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis you ask? Why, one of the biggest summer blockbusters of all-time returning to theaters this September in IMAX, of course. That’s right. Steven Spielberg’s 1975 film,

“Jaws,” returns to IMAX and RealD 3D in partnership with Universal Pictures and Amblin

Entertainment over Labor Day Weekend, and I am so excited to drag my entire family to this iconic and groundbreaking flick. The first time I saw Jaws was in 1988 when

I was just 7 years old. I had surely heard of the movie prior to ’88 because it is such a popculture staple, but it wasn’t until my family was in Iowa for a wedding that I pranced down the hall of our motel to bother my uncle Tommy who was a groomsman in the wedding. He had a beer cracked and was watching Jaws on his room television. As soon as I heard the iconic “shark theme,” a simple alternating pattern of two notes (E and F) I lit up and asked my uncle if it was

Jaws. He smiled and said, “Yep. This movie terrified me as a child.” I sat at the end of his bed and watched it with my eyes wide open. Of course, this led to a lifetime of irrational fears. I was certain that Bruce - the huge animatronic shark who terrorized New England in the film - was lurking at the bottom of every lake in Minnesota and the deep end of every pool. I remember my brother’s chasing after me whenever we would be swimming with their hands folded above their heads as shark fins. Sometimes all it took to make me start screaming was one of my older brothers simply humming the “shark theme.” And that is the true magic of Spielberg. It was not all about flashiness and what you could see, but the suspenseful anticipation of what you could not see. Several times in the film a fin is not even present but the suspenseful “shark theme” lets the viewer know that the Great White is near.

At points in the franchise, which touts four films, Jaws (1975), Jaws 2 (1978), Jaws 3-D (1983) and Jaws: The Revenge (1987), you simply see barrels moving through the water or the thrashing of a buoy rather than images of the shark itself.

The opening scene of the original film shows a female swimmer from under the water, from the shark’s vantage point, and it is so unsettling. Spielberg was innovative in harnessing the terror of the unknown and unseen. We see this in his subsequent film Close Encounters of the Third Kind where he uses the wonder and awed reactions of the actors to what is just off screen to build tension.

It was Jaws that solidified Spielberg’s reputation as a serious filmmaker after only his second film and paved the way for a litany of modern classics. Another notable Spielberg flick is E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982) which was also released for IMAX in August to celebrate the film’s 40th anniversary. I did not go to this because, after 9/11, the studio edited the original film to remove a Taliban costume worn by a trick-or-treater in the Halloween scene and while they were “editing,” they decided to C.G.I. E.T.’s face.

It drove me nuts! They did the same thing with Jabba the Hut in the ‘90s when Lucasfilms revamped the original Star Wars trilogy. Hayden Christensen was added to the final celebration as a young Anakin at the end of Return of the Jedi and I am still mad they changed the Ewok song at the end. The original Ewok song was perfect.

The last time I saw a film in IMAX was the Beatles Rooftop Concert last January. It was big and loud, which is exactly why audiences will delight in this opportunity to watch Jaws in IMAX or RealD 3D. Getting to experience this film on the big screen again is tantalizing on its own, but IMAX is the cream of the crop as far as theatre viewing.

There are so many Steven Spielberg films I would love to see in IMAX; Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurrasic Park and Saving Private Ryan just to name a few. As for Jaws, you can catch it at Marcus Galaxy 14 CINE & IMAX in Rochester beginning Sept. 2, and I am sure you’ll see me there.

If Jaws is not your jam, Spielberg has a new semi-autobiographical film coming out this year called the Fablemans. It premieres at the Toronto International Film Festival Sept. 8-18 and will be available worldwide Nov. 11.

The film stars Paul Dano, Michelle Williams, Seth Rogan and David Lynch. Spielberg had been thinking of directing a film about his Arizona childhood for a very long time and this will mark Spielberg’s first writing venture for a film since 2001’s Artificial Intelligence. From West Side Story in 2021, to the IMAX release of two of his early classics and this upcoming new venture, the famous director is making waves. We are going to need a bigger boat. 