Latest news with #Sharkfest
San Francisco Chronicle
07-07-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
‘Jaws @ 50' shows why Spielberg's blockbuster changed movies forever
Without 'Jaws,' we might never have gotten the summer movie blockbuster season, Steven Spielberg's career or 'Shark Week.' To commemorate, National Geographic has 'Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story,' premiering Thursday, July 10. It's the centerpiece for the cable network's annual Sharkfest programming event. Co-produced with Spielberg's Amblin Documentaries, this golden anniversary tribute to the movie that changed Hollywood covers much of the ground (and water) that previous documentaries have, including director Laurent Bouzereau's 1995 'The Making of 'Jaws.'' New material includes excerpts from a recent interview with Spielberg, not to mention a who's who of other filmmakers — James Cameron, George Lucas, Guillermo del Toro, Steven Soderbergh, Robert Zemeckis, Jordan Peele, Quentin Tarantino, J.J. Abrams — who testify how the shark movie changed their lives. Other fresh perspectives come from talks with Martha's Vineyard residents who participated in the notoriously troubled production. Special effects maven Greg Nicotero describes how he rescued the mechanical shark Bruce from a junkyard and restored the 26-foot monster that now hangs at the Academy Museum in Los Angeles. There's previously unseen archive footage and scenes from Bouzereau's recent ' Music by John Williams ' film too. Shark and oceanographic experts abound. But 'Jaws @ 50' is mainly noteworthy as a comprehensive, if sometimes surface-skimming, compendium of everything there is to know about Peter Benchley's bestselling source novel, the 1975 movie, its phenomenal box office and cultural impact and why it remains relevant — as well as a near-perfect fright film — today. Some of the most compelling moments are the emotional ones, like when Spielberg reveals how his aesthetically confident 27-year-old self was nonetheless riddled with anxiety as the open-water shoot dragged on and busted his budget, while Bruce, which was built for fresh water use, kept malfunctioning in the salty Atlantic. The director claims he had post-traumatic stress disorder for years afterward. Archive clips of stars Richard Dreyfuss and the late Roy Scheider and Robert Shaw show how the human elements — most of which Spielberg chose to cut from Benchley's book — found their way into this template for modern mechanized movie mayhem. We've heard about it a million times, but it remains fascinating to see how Shaw's USS Indianapolis monologue and Scheider's 'You're gonna need a bigger boat' line were crafted to leave such indelible impressions. But we shouldn't get carried away like a naked moonlight swimmer with humanistic stuff. The most interesting aspects of 'Jaws' have always been technical, logistical and scary. 'Without these people, you wouldn't give a hang about the shark,' Spielberg says, dubiously, about the (admittedly sometimes memorable) hundreds of local extras and bit players who portray the film's townsfolk and beach-going chum. But c'mon, Steve, it was always the shark. Zemeckis — a Spielberg acolyte who achieved massive success himself with techno breakthroughs 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit,' 'Forrest Gump' and the 'Back to the Future' trilogy — accurately notes that 'Jaws' 'supercharged the language of cinema.' Still, at no point in this triumphal, authorized documentary is it suggested that the film's unprecedented, nine-figure commercial success may have done some cultural damage. Sure, 'Jaws' made movies fun again, as they hadn't been for some time before. But along with 'Star Wars' two years later, it set Hollywood on a path away from a decade of challenging artistic work and toward less demanding, digestible entertainment. Bob Strauss is a freelance writer.
American Press
05-07-2025
- Entertainment
- American Press
Swimming with Sharks: Behind the (underwater) lens
Dan Beecham is a British underwater cinematographer who specializes in shooting wildlife sequences for documentaries. In this photo Beecham took, he films Bertie Gregory for his latest show, 'Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory.' (Dan Beecham / National Geographic) Patience is a crucial virtue for a cinematographer — in particular for underwater cameraman Dan Beecham. Beecham was part of a team of divers and cinematographers who followed National Geographic explorer Bertie Gregory on a cage-free mission to film the great white sharks off the coast of South Africa. The film, 'Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory' premieres at 9 p.m. today on National Geographic and will stream starting July 6 on Disney+ and Hulu as part of the channel's 15 days of 'Sharkfest' presentations. 'What's nice in this film is it did give quite an honest representation of what wildlife filming can be like,' Beecham said in a Zoom interview with the American Press. 'It can be a lot of sitting around in a boat, in the rain, everyone getting kind of fed up because things aren't happening. But the reality is at any moment the next 10 minutes could be what makes the film.' Beecham said it only takes minutes for the water's visibility to change, for the wildlife sought to appear, and for the magic to happen. 'You've got to stay a bit frosty all the time and even when for weeks on end the thing's not happening — as you see in the film — you just have to pretend it is going to happen at any moment, really,' Beechum said. The team spent five weeks in Plettenberg Bay, South Africa, searching for the elusive white shark. Some days involved diving as long as five hours at a time. 'Every morning when 5 a.m. rolls around and you're getting up to get out to sea for sunrise, and you haven't dived in weeks, you've got to pretend everything is going to happen — the gears are ready, the batteries are charged, everything is perfect on the camera because the universe knows when you let your guard drop, that's when it all happens,' he said. 'We've had to learn that the hard way.' Beecham said the job can have its drawbacks — like being away from home quite often, moving in and out of airports, and experiencing extreme temperatures — but it's something he adores doing. 'It often looks like more fun than it is, but we all love those moments when the really big thing happens that we might not have ever seen before,' he said. 'We might know no one else has seen this on TV before and you're looking down at the monitor seeing something amazing on screen and you know it's going to be on a big screen one day. That's an amazing buzz. That's a drug that's impossible to replicate. As a cameraman, it gives you such an adrenaline hit.' Underwater, there's no script and surprises happen. Though the film's focus is the white shark, playful seals followed the cameraman around, popping up to examine his monitors. He also captured footage of a mother whale sleeping as her calf rode her dorsal fin. 'We never would have guessed that would happen on that shoot,' Beecham said. 'Just by spending the time out there, having the right approach with the animals — myself and Bertie have both worked with whales a lot in different parts of the world — and with a very cautious manner, that's what gets you those encounters.' No two dives are alike. Beecham said he learns something new each time — either about himself or the world around him. 'Especially in South Africa where the weather changes so much, the ocean changes so much. Everywhere you go these days people say the weather is different, the weather is changing more. That makes shoots very difficult to plan and predict because the conditions are so unpredictable. That means you have to be ready for anything at any time. Each thing that happens you have to take as a gift because it might not happen again.' The ultimate message of the film is how humans and sharks can share the ocean together. By entering their domain, Beecham said the team quickly discovered the challenges sharks are facing on this rapidly changing planet. 'It's a bold topic to go towards with the film because the two attacks there that happened where very shocking for the town. It was pretty horrific attacks,' he said. 'We're certainly not making light of those by going and diving with these animals. We do it with the upmost respect. But it's an important topic to shine a light on and talk about and it's good for Bertie to go and speak to all of the stakeholders — the shark spotters and all the different parties that are involved there — and get an understanding from an outsiders' point of view. There's a line Bertie says in the film, 'You can't manage sharks, but you can manage people,' to make it to where sharks and people can co-exist. That's a great way to sum this up. That's what has to happen, basically.'
Tom's Guide
03-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
How to watch 'Sharkfest' online from anywhere — stream the TV event online from anywhere
No matter how many times you see a great white shark torpedo itself clean out of the water to turn some poor seal into a cup of takeaway soup, you can't help but marvel at the visceral power. Unfolding across 10 days, "Sharkfest" is a deep dive into the world of these mysterious, ferocious ocean predators, comprising multiple marquee productions, including "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story". Here's how to watch "Sharkfest" 2025 online from anywhere with a VPN. ► U.S. date and time: "Sharkfest" begins on Saturday, July 5 at 8 p.m. ET/PT. Full schedule at the bottom of this page.• U.S. — Nat Geo via Sling TV / Fubo | From July 6 on Disney Plus / Hulu• Watch anywhere — try NordVPN "Jaws @ 50" is a two-hour special featuring behind-the-scenes archive footage of the film's production, as well as interviews with Steven Spielberg and a raft of Hollywood heavyweights, including James Cameron, John Williams, Guillermo del Toro, George Lucas, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh and Robert Zemeckis. According to Spielberg, the mechanical shark didn't work 80% of the time, and he was convinced that the film would end his career. "Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory" sees the filmmaker travel to South Africa to dive with great white shark without a cage, while six-part series "Investigation Shark Attack" invites a panel of scientists to debunk or corroborate popular theories about sharks and break down why they strike. "Super Shark Highway" is another six-parter, in which two research teams follow the sharks traveling along the southern shark highway and the tropical north, two of Australia's busiest migration routes, where they witness previously undocumented behaviors. And in "Shark Quest: Hunt For The Apex Predator", survivors of close encounters share their harrowing stories, and footage demonstrates how humans can minimize the risk of a shark attack. Here's everything you need to watch "Sharkfest" online from wherever you are. If you're not at home in the U.S. for "Sharkfest", you can still tune in via a virtual private network, or VPN. A VPN makes it appear that you're surfing the web from your home location — meaning that you can access the streaming services you already pay for. It's all totally legal and easy to do. We've tested many different VPN services and our favorite is NordVPN; it offers superb speeds, excellent customer service and a no-questions-asked 30-day money-back guarantee, so you can try it out first to see if it's right for you. But you've got other VPN options too, so check out our full list of the best VPN services. NordVPN deal: FREE $50 / £50 Amazon gift card Boasting lightning fast speeds, great features, streaming power, and class-leading security, NordVPN is our #1 VPN. ✅ FREE Amazon gift card worth up to $50/£50✅ 4 months extra FREE!✅ 76% off usual price Use Nord to unblock your usual streaming service and watch "Sharkfest" live online with our exclusive deal. Using a VPN is incredibly simple. 1. Install the VPN of your choice. As we've said, NordVPN is our favorite. 2. Choose the location you wish to connect to in the VPN app. For instance, if you're visiting the U.K. and want to view a U.S. service, you'd select U.S. from the list. 3. Sit back and enjoy the show. Head to your service and stream "Sharkfest" 2025 online from wherever you happen to be. "Sharkfest" 2025 is a TV event comprising multiple shows across several days. You can tune in from Saturday, July 5 on Nat Geo, and from Sunday, July 6 on Disney Plus and Hulu. On Disney Plus and Hulu, shows will be made available to watch at varying times from Sunday, July 6 to Friday, July 11. The full schedule will be below. Hulu offers new subscribers a 30-day FREE trial, but the best value deal is The Disney Plus and Hulu bundle which costs just $10.99 per month. Alternatively, you have the Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus bundle costs $16.99 per month, and the Disney Plus, Hulu and Max bundle costs $16.99 per month. Want to tune in via Nat Geo instead? You can use cord-cutting services like Sling TV or Fubo — more on that below. Traveling outside the U.S.? You can always use a VPN — we recommend NordVPN — to watch Hulu from anywhere on the planet. The Sling TV Blue plan, starting at $05.99 a month, will let you watch all things "Sharkfest" on National Geographic. Plus, right now, Sling is offering your first month for half price. If you love TV, you might want to check out Fubo. It's got a 7-day free trial so you don't need to pay upfront and has dozens of top channels, including National Geographic, NBC, USA, ABC, CBS, FOX, FS1 and ESPN via its $84.99 per month Pro Plan. In the U.K., "Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory" will be available to stream on Sunday, July 6, and "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" on Friday, July 11, on Disney Plus. Disney Plus subscriptions in the UK start at £4.99 per month. They're not strictly a part of "Sharkfest" 2025, but "Shark Beach With Anthony Mackie: Golf Coast" and "Sharks Gone Viral" are also coming to Disney Plus this month, on Friday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 23 respectively. Don't forget: U.S. nationals visiting the U.K. who want comprehensive "Sharkfest" coverage can use a good VPN to access their usual streaming services from abroad. We recommend NordVPN. "Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory" will be available to stream on Sunday, July 6, and "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" on Friday, July 11 in Australia, exclusively on Disney Plus. A Disney Plus subscription costs from $13.99 per month or $139.99 per year in Australia. They're not techincally on the "Sharkfest" 2025 roster, but "Shark Beach With Anthony Mackie: Golf Coast" and "Sharks Gone Viral" are also coming to Disney Plus this month, on Friday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 23 respectively. However, if you are Down Under for work or on vacation, don't despair. You only need a VPN to access your usual provider back home and catch "Sharkfest" 2025 in its entirety. We recommend NordVPN. In Canada, "Sharks Up Close With Bertie Gregory" will be available to stream on Sunday, July 6, and "Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story" on Friday, July 11, on Disney Plus. Disney Plus subscriptions in Canada start at $8.99 per month. They're not strictly a part of "Sharkfest" 2025, but "Shark Beach With Anthony Mackie: Golf Coast" and "Sharks Gone Viral" are also coming to Disney Plus this month, on Friday, July 18 and Wednesday, July 23 respectively. Don't forget: U.S. nationals visiting Canada wanting extensive "Sharkfest" coverage can use a good VPN to access their usual streaming services from abroad. We recommend NordVPN. Saturday, July 58 p.m. — Sharks Up Close with Bertie Gregory9 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Sunday, July 69 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Monday, July 79 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Tuesday, July 89 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Wednesday, July 99 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Thursday, July 109 p.m. — Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story Friday, July 119 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway Saturday, July 1210 p.m. — Sharks of the North Sunday, July 139 p.m. — Shark Quest: Hunt For The Apex Predator10 p.m. — Shark Quest: Hunt For The Apex Predator Monday, July 149 p.m. — Investigation Shark Attack10 p.m. — Super Shark Highway We test and review VPN services in the context of legal recreational uses. For example: 1. Accessing a service from another country (subject to the terms and conditions of that service). 2. Protecting your online security and strengthening your online privacy when abroad. We do not support or condone the illegal or malicious use of VPN services. Consuming pirated content that is paid-for is neither endorsed nor approved by Future Publishing.
San Francisco Chronicle
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- San Francisco Chronicle
New to stream in July: ‘Washington Black,' ‘Heads of State,' ‘Sharkfest' and more
Summertime is for adventure, thrills and high drama. Action fans have a chance to watch John Cena and Idris Elba play gun-toting politicians. A new drama mini-series explores race and scientific discovery, while in real life, a scientist confronts her greatest fear in the ocean. If that's too intense, how about some stop-motion 'Hello Kitty'? Netflix, Disney+ and Tubi all offer great summer content to stream. 'Heads of State' If there's an award for the most ridiculous but fun action movie, then 'Heads of State' is already a top contender. John Cena ('Suicide Squad') and Idris Elba (also 'Suicide Squad') play the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Great Britain, respectively. Elba's character, a former commando, has little respect for and in common with Cena's action-star-turned-politician, but they have to work together after an aborted joint assassination attempt on Air Force One. With a soundtrack that is apparently 87% Motley Crue and more guns than an East Texas wedding reception, the film is clearly leaning into self-parody territory of the action genre itself. That doesn't detract from the awesomeness in the slightest, though. Releasing on July 2 (marking the date in 1776 that Continental Congress voted for independence from Great Britain) is a nice touch. Watch it: Action. Streaming on Prime Video starting Wednesday, July 2. National Geographic 'Sharkfest' Ever since National Geographic launched 'Sharkfest' in 2021, it's been the superior television celebration of the ocean's apex predator (sorry, 'Shark Week'). This year looks amazing, with a special starring documentarian Bertie Gregory diving with great white sharks without a cage, a retrospective of the film 'Jaws' at 50, and science educator Alanna Canaran's hunt for the sharks of the Northern Atlantic off the coast of Canada. The latter also explores Canaran's fear of the animals and her hope that by understanding them better she can turn phobia into wonder. Watch it: Docuseries. Streaming on Disney+ starting July 5. 'Get Off My Lawn' When you buy a house, it's not uncommon to find something weird left behind by the previous owner. In this case, a couple (Camila Banus and Tahj Mowry) must deal with a deranged teen named Alec obsessed with making sure they keep the house exactly as his late grandfather (who is buried in the backyard) wanted it. Jonah Hwang plays Alec with a terrifying suburban banality, making him the creepiest clean-cut monster since Terry O'Quinn in 'The Stepfather.' And you thought the HOA was tough to deal with. 'Washington Black' An 11-year-old enslaved boy, born on a Barbados sugar plantation and gifted with a scientific mind, becomes a world-traveling adventurer. Based on the novel by Esi Edugyan, this miniseries a riveting story of perseverance and ingenuity as the young George Washington 'Wash' Black (Ernest Kingsley Jr. and Eddie Katanga as a child) seeks his fortune under the tutelage of an aspiring aeronaut (Tom Ellis). Selwyn Seyfu Hinds, who penned the brilliant 'Replay' episode for Jordan Peele's reboot of 'The Twilight Zone,' serves as showrunner. 'My Melody and Kuromi' In recent years, My Melody and Kuromi have become the faces of the Sanrio Hello Kitty brand. Now, they are together in an adorable stop-motion animated series from director Tomoki Misato (check out his excellent student short 'My Little Goat'). The sweet My Melody and sinister Kuromi run competing bakeries in town, leading to a rivalry until they stumble across an entire confectionary magical universe. It's not overly saccharine, though. The series also features some impressive looking car chases and other action pieces. Watch it: Animated. Streaming on Netflix starting July 24.
Gizmodo
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Gizmodo
A Definitive ‘Jaws' Documentary Is Coming Very Soon—Here's the Trailer
In the history of movies, only a select few have had an impact like Jaws. Impact that doesn't just reverberate through film history, but culture at large. Jaws supercharged the careers of iconic director Steven Spielberg, composer John Williams, and others, giving us so much magic in the decades that followed. It changed the way Hollywood made and marketed movies and inspired an entire new generation to make movies themselves. Plus, who hasn't had the movie on their mind as they tiptoe into the ocean? All of that and so much more promise to be part of a brand new documentary coming this summer, and it's completely official. Directed by Spielberg's longtime collaborator Laurent Bouzereau (Music by John Williams, Timeless Heroes), the 90-minute documentary is called Jaws @ 50: The Definitive Inside Story. It's premiering on July 10 on National Geographic as part of Sharkfest and will debut the next day on Disney+, Hulu, and Nat Geo. Spielberg's Amblin Documentaries produced it in conjunction with Wendy Benchley, a renowned shark and ocean advocate, who also happened to be married to the late, great, author of Jaws, Peter Benchley. In addition to Spielberg and Benchley, the film promises a who's who of people who worked on the film (such as Williams; cast members Jonathan Filley, Lorraine Gray, and Jeffrey Voorhees; Ian Shaw, the son of the late Robert Shaw; screenwriter Carl Gottlieb; and others), as well as a laundry list of superfans. Among those are J.J. Abrams, Emily Blunt, James Cameron, Cameron Crowe, George Lucas, Greg Nicotero, Jordan Peele, Steven Soderbergh, Guillermo del Toro, and Robert Zemeckis, to name a few. Here's the trailer for the documentary, which not only teases that we'll get to see a lot of fantastic footage from the actual production of the film, but also Spielberg diving deeper than ever before into his feelings about it. If you've seen any of Bouzereau's other films with Spielberg connections, such as his documentaries on Harrison Ford and John Williams, you know he has an incredible ability to be honest about the subjects, but also remind you why you care about them in the first place. And if you haven't seen those, watch them ASAP. We can't wait to see how that carries over to Jaws, one of the most important movies in history. Here's the awesome poster for the doc.
