When author Peter Benchley’s 1974 book was going to print, he needed to choose a title. He has juggled various titles — “Leviathan Rising,” “Silent Fall” — before, at the last minute, choosing “Jaws.” What did it mean? Benchley, himself, wasn’t sure, he told his editor, but it was short.

Fifty years after its release, Steven Spielberg's formative blockbuster looks more than ever like a New Hollywood fusion of Hitchcock and Altman.

Yet there's no question that the way movies were released before "Jaws" and after it are two different things, and the movie is the clear transfer point between the approaches. Although we're used to things moving pretty fast in the 21st century — especially concerning trends in cinema and entertainment — it's wild to look back 50 years and realize that one film is responsible for a change that,