366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 278

The Date: July 4

The Movie: Jaws (1975)

What Is It?: Steven Spielberg employed special effects to thrill audiences and drew record-breaking revenue, but its thrills do not make Jaws any less thoughtful or its characters any less complex. And after the kills have lost their shock value with repeated viewings and sophisticated contemporary special effects have rendered “Bruce” the Shark somewhat less realistic, Jaws continues to work wonderfully as a character piece. And what characters it has! Roy Scheider as the conflicted police chief; Richard Dreyfuss as the smart but inexperienced rich kid with an arsenal of shark-finding technology; Robert Shaw as the salty, glib sea captain who has seen more than his share of horror. His account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the feeding frenzy that followed may be cinema’s most spellbinding monologue.

Why Today?: The 4^th of July is when the shark goes on an all-out frenzy.

366 Days at the Drive-In: Day 158

The Date: March 6

The Movie: Marathon Man (1976)

What Is It?: John Schlesinger’s thriller in which Dustin Hoffman butts heads with the Nazi sadist (Lawrence Olivier) who killed his secret agent brother (Roy Scheider) is most famous for its horrific dental torture scene (“Is it safe?”), but it also deserves props for having cinema’s only car chase worth a damn.

Why Today?: Today is Dentist Appreciation Day.