A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Book Club (2018) Directed by: Bill Holderman Written by: Bill Holderman and Erin Simms Starring: Diane Keaton, Jane Fonda, Candice Bergen, Mary Steenburgen, Craig T. Nelson, Andy Garcia, Don Johnson,  Richard Dreyfuss, Ed Begley Jr., Wallace Shawn, Alicia Silverstone, Katie Aselton Sharon: If women our age were meant to have sex God wouldn't do what he does to our bodies. Vivian: Speak for yourself. Sharon: Well, that was not God, that was Dr. Nazaria. Q: What do you get when you put a first-time director, four legendary leading ladies, a supporting cast of A-list actors, and a somewhat flimsy plot centered on four friends who end up dissecting a trashy "mommy porn" trilogy of novels together? A: A sometimes unbelievable but nevertheless watchable romantic comedy about friendship, drinking lots of wine, and lots of bawdy dialogue delivered by a quartet of talented actresses. three of whom have earned Academy Awards. The premise of Bill Holderman and E...

(C) 1977 Columbia Pictures “Close Encounters of the Third Kind,” Steven Spielberg’s 1977 UFO classic, is the thematic antitheses to 1996’s “Independence Day.” While Roland Emmerich’s retelling of “War of the Worlds” is a throwback to 1950s “invaders from space” flicks, Spielberg’s vision of a “close encounter” between humanity and extraterrestrials is more mysterious and, in the end, more hopeful and awe-inspiring. Instead of exchanging bullets and “heat rays,” humans and aliens communicate by using musical notes.   Spielberg’s screenplay divides “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” roughly into three acts, basically corresponding to each of the three kinds of “encounters.”   In the first category, sightings of a UFO, we first see a very strange sight in the Mexican desert: an international team of researchers led by French UFO expert Lacombe (the late Francois Truffaut) and guided by several Mexican “federales” finds five World War II vintage Grumman TBM Avenge...

"Jaws" (1975) (c) 1975 Universal Pictures Directed by Steven Spielberg Written by Peter Benchley and Carl Gottlieb Based on the novel by Peter Benchley Starring: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton Brody: You're gonna need a bigger boat. Before  Avatar. Before  Titanic. Before  Star Wars, E.T.,  or  Raiders of the Lost Ark,  there was.... Jaws. Released on June 20, 1975, director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Peter Benchley’s best-selling novel about a New England community terrorized by a predatory great white shark was the first of the modern blockbusters. With a script co-written by Benchley and Carl Gottlieb,  Jaws  features powerful performances by actors Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, and Richard Dreyfuss, as well as an Oscar-winning score by composer John Williams. Tom Cassidy: What's your name again? Christine 'Chrissie' Watkins...