In the Heat of the Night

Loved it!

I have to say, this film is my favorite of the ones we have seen so far. Of course, many of us have heard the famous line "they call me Mr. Tibbs" and the less cultured among us at least recognize the Lion King spoof "they call me Mr. Pig! AAAAHHHHHHH!" Although many famous lines from AFI movies seem a let-down or just plain cheesy when you actually view them in context, this one is an exception. I thought Poitier's delivery of the line was nothing but powerful, along with the movie itself.

The story sheds light on the differences between the North and South and the ways in which prejudice is still deep rooted in many small southern towns. When Mr. Tibbs (called "Virgil" by the disrespectful police officers investigating a murder), a black Philadelphia police officer, proves to be yards ahead of his white counterparts in small-town Mississippi, they are forced to face their blatant racism and challenge their preconceived notions of African Americans. Tibbs is smooth, efficient and clever, in contrast to the other police officers' clumsy and clueless approach to solving the murder case.

At parts, the film was extremely moving, especially when Tibbs visits a cotton plantation and is slapped in the face by the white owner, a motion which he quickly returns, much to the recipient's horror. I was blown away by Sidney Poitier's skill and effortless performance. This was my first encounter with him as an actor but he certainly lived up to his great reputation. I am itching to see "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner" after thoroughly enjoying this performance. An excellent story, excellent acting, excellent film. Truly an American classic.

The Heat of the Night

In the Heat of the Night was based off of a book by the same title by John Ball.

The film takes place in the fictional town of Sparta, Mississippi. A prominent man is murdered in a small southern town, and the police must find the killer. To solve the murder, the town police must get the help of a Northern Policeman, who happens to be an African American, who must deal with the racist attitudes of a 60s southern small town.

It came out in 1967 and it won five academy awards: Best Picture, Best Actor (for Rod Steiger), Film Editing, Sound, and Writing Adapted for a screenplay.

The film is ranked number 75 on AFI's 100 Greatest Movies, it is a new addition to the list from the 1998 list. It also has the distinction of being on AFI's 100 Movie Quotes list as well, with, "They call me Mister Tibbs!" as being number 16 on that list.

Jaws

To be honest, I was excited when I found out we were going to be watching Jaws. I have attempted to watch it about four and five times, but I had never been able to complete the movie. It always got to the part where they were going to find the shark- but I always had to turn it off! Usually this was because my Dad had to go on some kind of a business errand or my Grandma had just finished cooking dinner. So, the prospect of finishing the elusive Jaws was an exciting prospect for me!

I found the film to be good, but not exactly to my liking. The first half of the movie begins like a Hitchcock film, that is, it is suspenseful and mysterious. Spielberg never shows the vicious shark and leaves you wondering what will happen next; when the movie gets to a point when the heroes must board the ship to defeat the monster, it is then that the film begins to lose its luster. I had never experienced the latter part of the film, and I don' t know if I would want to again. It is not bad or uninteresting, just that it seems to go on for far to long. The characters shoot the shark to no avail, and battle it with with nature. And, just when it seems that they are about to give up or take the shark down, the movie just goes on another twenty minutes....

All of the characters are great and the special effects are wondrous for their time. I just wish that Spielberg had cut the movie down by fifteen to twenty minutes.

Jaws

I was surprised at how much "Jaws" reminded me of the 50s/60s Hitchcock thriller. I confess, I had not known it was made in the seventies and thought it was an eighties movie when I caught it on TV growing up. In all probability, I had only seen the second half of the movie, which I found very different from the first half. It was as though for the first hour Spielberg drew from "Psycho" or "The Birds", and for the second he focused on a model that would inspire the likes of "Armageddon" - the "mission" film.

"Jaws" is a sort of mish-mesh of the two styles of film, making me think of it as a bridge between one era and another. Being a classic movie fan, I enjoyed the first half more; I liked the way he built up suspense and dread in the viewer with the several shark attacks, first the girl swimming late at night and then on the beach in broad daylight. The shots were very Hitchcock, including one that Max pointed out debuted in "Vertigo." Once we had seen the shark, I lost most of my interest in the film.

I can see how, after seeing "Jaws," audiences at the time would have been afraid to go swimming. It is really terrifying in parts. However, once we see the men on the boat attempt a hundred times to kill the shark, I just start to hurl something at the screen to kill it myself. How many times can a shark be shot before it dies? Just for the fact that this film was a hallmark in its day, though, and probably ushered in a new type of filmmaking/distribution pattern, it does deserve to be on the list.