Special Edition: Grease, Jaws 2, Animal House, Heaven Can Wait & The Best and Worst of 1978

Chicago film critics Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel go over the best and worse films of 1978, and also the top box office draws of that year. The top three grossing films were:

1. Grease

2. Animal House

3. Jaws 2

Siskel and Ebert had good things to say about the first two, and not very much positive to say about Jaws 2. I revisited it myself after watching this episode, and it really is boring. Just more of the same as in the first, without the wonderment of it all and without a good director. Roger Ebert put it succinctly when he called it - "pure trash".

They also review "Heaven Can Wait" as a light romance by Warren Beatty, which was a change of pace for him.

Next they review some "small films" that they found to be excellent - "An Unmarried Woman", "Days of Heaven", "Straight Time", and "Autumn Sonata". They mentioned that they hoped that big blockbusters would not crowd out these smaller films that they like so much. I would say these four films have indeed stood the test of time.

Their dogs of the year take a poke at Richard Burton as he stars in both of them - "The Medusa Touch" and "The Wild Geese". They conclude that Richard Burton is either the world's greatest or world's worst actor, depending upon the film.