Jaws hit theaters in 1975, the year I was born. I didn't see it in a theater because I was, of course, not even a year old. Jaws is a fantastic movie though. It was on TV all the time when I was a kid.
Cable or network TV? For the life of me I can't remember.
The last letter of Jaws is "S." What's another movie from around the same time period that starts with "S?" Suspiria, I think. Yes, Suspiria came out two years later, in 1977.
Suspiria is one of those weird, great movies that you just know the director's never going to top. I can't remember which one came first, Deep Red or Suspiria, but they're both unquestionably great movies from Dario Argento.
Both movies represent an Italian film industry that's now a shadow of its former self. One thing that people often overlook about the 70s is that for every American movie there was an Italian copy, or if not an outright copy then a movie that took elements of an American film and combined them with elements of other films that the Italians thought might work together. At their best Italian movies of the 70s had their own well developed sense of style, but there were also Italian films that were shots in the dark, combinations of different genres that didn't always stand on their own merits.
Many of the women in 1970s Italian movies were extremely beautiful. The Italians had a great eye for stunningly attractive women. Many of these women weren't even Italian, but rather imports from other countries. Laura Gemser and Barbara Bach come to mind.
The last letter of Suspiria is "A." What's another movie from that time period that starts with "A?" American Graffiti, which Wikipedia tells me came out in 1973.
I was never a big fan of American Graffiti. It's... OK I guess, but to me it always seemed more like a TV pilot than an actual movie. It's cool to see latter-day stars like Richard Dreyfuss or Harrison Ford before they were famous, but beyond that I never got much out of that film.
Have you seen the sequel? More American Graffiti brings us to 1979, the year in which the disco scene imploded. As little as I enjoyed American Graffiti, I have to say that it feels like Jaws compared to its nearly unwatchable sequel. A lot of More American Graffiti features a series of split screens, all of them contributing to the movie's unintelligibility. Who's talking now? Which one of them should I be listening to? Are we sure we don't want all of them to die in Vietnam? More American Graffiti truly is a trainwreck of cinematic proportions.
The last letter of American Graffiti is "I." What's another movie from the same time period that starts with "I?" I actually drew a blank on this one, but Wikipedia tells me that a Brazilian film titled I Love You came out in 1981. Sonia Braga starred in this one, who you might remember from a few American films like Moon Over Parador.
Moon Over Parador, like Jaws, was another film featuring Richard Dreyfuss. Apparently he's a difficult person to work with. He's a great actor though. Mr. Holland's Opus is one of my favorite movies.
The last letter of I Love You is "U." What's another movie from the same time period that starts with "U?" Under the Cherry Moon, released in 1986, comes to mind. Have I seen Under the Cherry Moon? I'm not sure. Looking at the poster and focusing in on the name, I want to say that yes, I've seen it, but if I have it was a long time ago.
Prince was ubiquitous in the 80s. They played his songs on MTV and the radio constantly. I started to hate Prince and everything to do with Purple Rain for this reason. Is he a good guitar player? Undoubtedly! Do I enjoy his earlier and later music? Sure! But MTV and FM radio shoved Prince very far down our throats in the 80s, to the point where I can't be objective about his most famous album.
Apollonia sure was sexy though. Anyone else remember Apollonia? As a kid that scene in Purple Rain where Prince gets with Apollonia gave me shameful, furtive thoughts that I dared not speak aloud.
The last letter of Under the Cherry Moon is "N." What's another movie from the same time period that starts with "N?" Ah yes, Near Dark came out a year later, in 1987.
Near Dark is yet another vampire movie from the second half of the 1980s. Fright Night, The Lost Boys, the oft-overlooked Lifeforce... there were a lot of vampire movies released during the late 80s.
I can understand Near Dark's cult status, and I can also remember enjoying it at the time. Thing is that during those years a lot of us were suffering from a "vampire fatigue" not unlike the present day's superhero fatigue, and Near Dark, for all its redeeming features, was ignored by many for this very reason.
In its way this film is also "Aliens-adjacent," in that Bill Paxton, Lance Henriksen and Jenette Goldstein are all to be found in both movies.
The last letter of Near Dark is "K." What's another movie from the same time period that starts with "K?" Thanks again, Wikipedia: K2 brings us into the 90s.
Michael Biehn! Yep, another Aliens connection. In this film he plays a guy who - you guessed it - tries to climb the famously elevated mountain. Does he succeed? I suppose you'll have to watch the movie and find out.
If you ever find yourself wondering what happened to Michael Biehn, there are a ton of interviews with him on YouTube to that effect. Short answer: ego and alcohol. He could have been a lot bigger star than he was, but personal and professional problems intervened.
1993's Tombstone, released around a year after K2, was Biehn's last big movie, though in both Tombstone (and 1996's The Rock) he's largely overshadowed by other cast members.
The last letter of K2 is not a letter but rather a number, this being the number 2. What other movie from the same time period started with 2 or "Two?" Two Women, an Iranian film (!) brings us all the way to 1999, the year I left Seattle and moved to Taiwan, where I am now writing this.
I haven't seen Two Women, but there are good Iranian movies out there if you can find them. I liked Taste of Cherry (which yes, sounds like porn but isn't), and A Separation, which tackles the subject of marital estrangement in a very repressive environment.
The last letter of Two Women is "N." What's another movie from the same time period that starts with "N?" Or, I might as well ask, how many movies have "night" as the first word of their title? Too many, I think. Let me settle on 2006's Night at the Museum. which is a movie I've seen many, many times.
The Night at the Museum movies are a bit sad in retrospect. Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt, Robin Williams with the clock ticking over his head. He wouldn't live much longer, Robin Williams. He'd take his own life in 2014, and thereafter we'd all be wondering what might have been.
He was a great actor. I'm a big fan of One Hour Photo, but even aside from that Insomnia is an excellent movie from the same time period. Check him out in The World According to Garp, when he decides to reconcile with his wife. That scene is completely unrealistic given the circumstances, but even so he sells it like nobody's business.
The last letter of Night at the Museum is "M." What other movie from the same time period starts with "M?" "M" is an easy one, so I'll pick 2010's Machete, which is a movie that most of us have forgotten about.
It's a fever dream of casting: Danny Trejo, Jessica Alba, Robert De Niro, Jeff Fahey (!), Don Johnson, Cheech Marin and even Tom Savini, best remembered both as the dude who gets his head blown off in Maniac and the biker disemboweled in Dawn of the Dead.
I'm thankful to director Robert Rodriguez for both Sin City and Desperado, though I think that he often punches below his weight class. The guy has talent, but he wastes it on ephemeral things like the Spy Kids franchise or Alita: Battle Angel. I've always felt that he could be doing a lot more with his gifts, and I'm waiting for the day when he'll surprise us all again.
The last letter of Machete is "E." What other movie from the same time period starts with "E?" The Equalizer 3 I suppose, which is a surprisingly good movie set in Italy.
Where else would Denzel Washington hide after the second installment? Uh... lots of other places I guess, but they picked Italy so I'll roll with it.
Italy, that birthplace of Giallo and opportunistic employer of impossibly beautiful women. Again Laura Gemser and Barbara Bach come to mind. Barbara Bach, who is still married to one of the Beatles.
The Equalizer 3? I dunno, it's OK I suppose. It's been a while since I've seen it.
The last letter of The Equalizer 3 is not a letter but rather a number, this number being 3 or "three." And what movie from the same time period starts with "three?" In the 2020s I am only able to find The Three Musketeers: D'Artagnan, which is a French movie that I meant to watch but later forgot about entirely.
Vincent Cassel is awesome however. I'll watch anything with that guy in it. Did you know he voiced one of the characters in Shrek?
And Shrek featured Mike Myers, who was also in Wayne's World alongside Rob Lowe...
...who was in The Hotel New Hampshire alongside Jodie Foster...
...who was in Taxi Driver alongside Robert De Niro...
...who was in The Deer Hunter alongside Meryl Streep...
...who was in Postcards from the Edge alongside Richard Dreyfuss...
...who was in Jaws, which was released the year that I was born.
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