#33: Jaws: Dreyfuss, Quint, and Trivia

That classic Dreyfuss smile

General Snobbery is a big fan of Steven Spielberg's 1975 film Jaws for many reasons. Predominant among these reasons is Richard Dreyfuss. We love Dreyfuss. Maybe it's that smile. Maybe it's that sardonic wit. Whatever it is, we can't get enough of him, and boy oh boy do we enjoy talking about him. 

But fear not, ye Dreyfuss dissenters. In this lengthy snob, we discuss many Jaws-related items outside of Dreyfuss' eternal realm. Quint, Brody, and Bruce the Shark grant much in the way of conversation thanks to their boisterous personalities and, in the case of the latter, insatiable appetite for human flesh. 

We are most pleased this film exists, and we are thrilled that after over forty years, it still entertains to high degrees. We hope you enjoy this conversation, listener, and we hope you enjoy the Jaws trivia we toss at each other in the latter half of this episode. One of our microphones may have malfunctioned during the recording, but we hope the snobbing transcends any issues of sound and greets your heart with the special kind of delight embodied in that award-winning Dreyfuss smile. Climb aboard the Orca, lift your anchors, and come sail these snobbing seas! 

Episode Progression:
0-9:00: Update on our absence
9:00: Conversation re: Jaws begins with Quint
13:00: General Snobbery finally discussed Dreyfuss
42:00: Trivia Begins
1:10: Our revisit of our favorite hermeneutic of Jaws we have ever discovered

Gary Potter advising Happy Gilmore.

Fishy Fishy Fish from Monty Python's Meaning of Life

A whaaaaat?

The Onion's look at Jaws

#32: The Big Lebowski

There is the occasional movie that earns the adage, "ever ancient, ever new."  The great Coen Brothers opus, The Big Lebowski, is one of these movies indeed.  Few movies are as quotable as this one, with its many F words, its right-winged Walter rants, and the wonderful voice serenades of Sam Elliot (and his mustache). 

In short, Lebowski is a True Snob's dream.  It is a complex machine that moves with absolute ease and enjoyment.  Sort of the cinematic equivalent of a Segway, only way cooler.  On the surface, The Big Lebowski is a film about a kidnapping.  Only, that is simply the surface.  Through the medium of brilliantly conceived - and always enjoyable - characters, the Coen Brothers take us into a world of philosophical universals, engaging cultural mentalities and evoking contemplations on time.

Liam (J. Hoosier), ever faithful to The Jesus

This episode marks the beginning of General Snobbery's new interview campaign.  While the main characters are a delight, even the smallest of characters tells a whole story in this film.  Sean and Matt have been fans of Liam for years.  Who is Liam?  He is Jesus' bowling sidekick, his apparent minion who follows and defends Jesus with absolute loyalty.  Liam, that is to say, James Hoosier, we seek your wisdom.  Help us understand this movie!  For while it is great, The Big Lebowski is a film about which words ultimately fall flat.  It can never be exhausted.

And so how can one know this film?  First, press the play button, Listener.  Let Sean and Matt help you a little.  And after you have done that, evoke the spirit of Ancient Israel, a spirit that embraces mystery in time and space.  For "generations come and go, but The Dude abides" (Ecclesiastes 1:4).

#31: La La Land: A Movie That Is Good From Damien Chazelle

Damien Chazelle's La La Land is a good movie. It is so good, in fact, that you'll be hard-pressed to find anything negative said about it on this snob. In fact, we are finding it difficult to say anything about it in this description. Like trying to describe the "True Snob," attempting to describe this film has a way of making words disappear. That is because its images transcend words. It is an exuberant expression of emotion and possibility tinged with a realistic portrayal of human beings and the inevitable struggles of real-life relationships, no matter how fantastical they may be at first. 

Legend

Throughout this early snob of 2017, we discuss stuff as far-reaching as The Last Temptation of Christ, the music video for "Cool" by Gwen Stefani, (500) Days of Summer, George Clooney's stardom and "smuggy" Oscar acceptance speech, (John) Legend, I Am Legend, Joseph Campbell and Christopher Vogler, Neo's dive-bomb into Hugo Weaving's chest, and the necessity of struggles in following one's dreams.

D. Chazelle, Talking

General Snobbery was most inspired by this film to continue living its dream to #LetUsWriteID3, a dream for whose actualization we are willing to travel through the deepest pangs of suffering. This path of life leads such grand and unexpected places. Who would have anticipated that a conversation beneath the Cincinnati stars would eventually yield an interview with DeObia Oparei, a truly wonderful man? Who can predict where this snobbing journey may lead? We cannot, listener, and neither can the great Damien Chazelle. All we know is that we must not submit to any blockades, regardless of how many Twitter followers we lose for inexplicable reasons. 

In words penned by the great Roland Emmerich, delivered by the great @BillyPullman, "We're going to live on!" In the words of the late great Freddy Mercury, "I'm having a good time, having a good time, I'm a shooting star leaping through the sky... There's no stopping me." Let us continue to ride these waves into the vast reaches of the Stratosphere, transcending the Mesosphere into the land where dreams reside, into the shimmering tesseracts of "La La Land", a place of infinite bliss and possibility. Yay.