It's Independence Day, and you know what that means: Barbeques, picnics, fireworks, swimming and sun, right? Wrong. Why risk the perils of sun and sharks this holiday weekend when you can observe it from the comfort of your living room, basking in the glow of your television while AMC plays The Jaws Complete Collection -- all four Jaws movies back-to-back-to-back. It all starts on Friday July 4 at 10:30 AM | 9:30 C. For the complete weekend schedule, click here.

After you've soaked up all of Amity's amiability, be sure to take our Jaws ultimate fan quiz and see if you've got the wherewithal to survive the big guy's bite. Join in the great Jaws debate with Scott Sigler, then learn about all the other can't-miss shark attack movies from Stacie Ponder. And if you're wondering what else to do in the next 72 hours, here are our suggestions:

Continue reading "Eaten on the Fourth of July - Movies to Watch This Weekend" »

Certain elements of Jaws are permanently engraved on our memory -- that yellow raft, the Orca, the shark's-eye-view shots of all of those pale legs paddling underwater. Take our Ultimate Fan Quiz and see how much of the movie you managed to absorb even with your fingers over your eyes. Can't answer all 10 questions? Brush up when Jaws and its sequels run on AMC tonight. Click here for the full schedule of the movie on AMC.

Bonus Question:  Answer correctly by midnight on July 12 and you'll be entered in a random drawing to win the 30th anniversary edition of Jaws on DVD. How much does Quint guess the great white weighs?

The question people usually ask about Orson Welles is, "What went wrong?" Wellesnet is there to help. "It's easy to argue that he sabotaged his own Hollywood career, and that outside forces ruined it," says the site's creator Jeff Wilson. "But the answer to me is that it's a mix of both." One thing Wilson knows with certainty is that Welles wasn't a one-hit wonder. The biggest misunderstanding, he says, "is that he did nothing after Citizen Kane and wasted his life making wine commercials."

Continue reading "Site of the Week - Wellesnet" »

The phenomenal success of The Producers, Mel Brooks' first foray onto the Great White Way, was followed late last year by (the less rapturously received) Young Frankenstein. With so many of Brooks' films graced by hilarious -- and catchy -- musical numbers, it's tough to choose the one that would best make the transition to Broadway.

Brooks has always been a musical theater fan. A few days before "The Producers" opened, he reminisced in the New York Times about his lifelong devotion to Broadway musicals, and discussed how he was encouraged to write his own songs for that first smash hit. There's no reason why his third outing couldn't have the impact of his first. He told the New York Post that he's "mulling a final bow (or two) on Broadway" and rumors point to Blazing Saddles. But could History of the World: Part 1 work as well?

Continue reading "Should History of the World: Part 1 Be Mel Brooks' Next Broadway Musical?" »

When it comes to movies with both style and substance, there's nothing like a neo-noir. Be it Blade Runner, Body Heat or L.A. Confidential, these are the darkly thrilling stories with steamy undercurrents that keep our eyes locked on the screen.

Click here to take a look at ten of the greatest neo-noir movies. Then comment below if you have others to suggest.

When director Rowdy Herrington introduced audiences to legendary bouncer James Dalton back in 1989, no one could have predicted that Road House would still be a part of our cultural discourse today. It's just another testosterone-fueled action Patrick Swayze actioner, right? Not to the film's legions of fans, who consider Road House to be the Citizen Kane of tough guy bouncer flicks. Everything from its tagline ("The dancing's over. Now it gets dirty") to the copious scenes of a shirtless Swayze continue to put Road House fans in a frenzy. And these same fans have kept the spirit of Road House alive in some truly unique ways.

Continue reading "Inside the Unlikely Cult of Road House" »

Now: Wanted (2008)	Then: The Matrix (1999)
Bullet-bending super-angsty killer in training.	Bullet-dodging superhuman savior in waiting.

In Wanted, which just made a healthy $51 million its first weekend in theaters, a cube-dwelling nobody is suddenly plucked from humdrum world by a super-hot lady and plunged into danger as a wanted fugitive. Our hero is then brought before an older man with a resonant speaking voice who explains how the world really works, unveiling the secrets and lies behind the world our hero thought he knew.

At this point, any action fan should be thinking, "I remember how this one goes." It's no secret to reveal that Wanted resembles The Matrix -- you could argue that any action film released in the past nine years owes a tip of the hat to Larry and Andy Wachowski's 1999 scifi action brain-bender. What's even more interesting is to what end director Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted uses his rip offs of everything from The Matrix plot arcs to wardrobe touches.

Continue reading "Now and Then: Wanted and The Matrix " »

Orson Welles was 20 years younger than the character he was cast to play in The Long, Hot Summer. Perhaps that's why chose to wear heavy make-up and a prosthetic nose to play the part. It's also possible he thought the big nose would make him more menacing (an appropriate attribute for the forceful patriarch, Will Varner), or -- let's face it -- Welles had a thing for fake noses. Whatever the reason, it made for a difficult shoot.

Continue reading "Orson Welles Gets Sweaty in The Long, Hot Summer" »

Name: David Chairez
Hometown: California originally, now Pacific Northwest
Age: 28
Profession: Private Chef

Dave the Samurai may construct the perfect plate for his paycheck, but one of his other passions is monsters. In fact, he builds models of them whenever possible, which isn't surprising considering what he has to say about his favorite films: "I like the '50s B-rated monsters because they were simple," he says. "I am always impressed considering the time it took for the painstaking puppet and model animation. I remember Saturday afternoons when I was kid watching monsters destroy cities... it was just amazing to see." That's one of the reasons Dave now tunes in to AMC, especially when late nights turn to Fear Fridays -- King Kong, Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster, Motel Hell. "I love watching the great classic movies that I grew up with... when they used to put a good creepy old horror on, and you would end up going to sleep with a crucifix and a garlic necklace."

Continue reading "Meet the Reader - Dave the Samurai" »

Sure, you probably know that Tom Hanks' character in Big has been magically transformed overnight from a child into an adult. And that Hanks and Robert Loggia played a giant piano together in Penny Marshall's Oscar-nominated film. But to see if you're a real expert on all things Big, take our quiz. (Or if you want to study up first, click here for a full schedule of the movie on AMC.)