Richard Schickel’s documentary “Spielberg on Spielberg.” Just finished talking about “Duel” (what I maintain to be a top five Spielberg effort to this day) and “Jaws.” Ths is critical viewing to anyone interested in filmmaking. It’s a treat to hear the director talking at length about his own work. This is a guy who has never provided a director’s commentary track for a DVD release, so it’s a rarer treat than you’d expect.
Speaking of “Jaws” (a personal all-time top 20er and a finalist in our influential films poll), I’ve always laughed out loud at Roy Scheider’s reaction to first seeing the shark. You know it well, the “chum” scene. That bolt-upright snap of his, cigarette sticking out, that unmistakable “holy shit” look of shock. I don’t know, cracks me up every time.