Monthly Archives: September 2020

Lisa’s Week In Review: 9/14/20 — 9/20/20

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I spent most of this week making plans for October!  It’s almost time for the Shattered Lens’s annual Horrorthon and this year, we’re going to try to make it the best one ever!

Films I Watched:

  1. The Car (1977)
  2. Confessions of a Time Traveler: The Man From 3036 (2020)
  3. Deranged Granny (2020)
  4. An Evening with Edgar Allan Poe (1970)
  5. Kung Fu Zombie (1981)
  6. The Mummy’s Ghost (1944)
  7. The Secret Life of a Celebrity Surrogate (2020)
  8. Sinfidelity (2020)
  9. Sleeping With Danger (2020)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Bar Rescue
  2. Big Brother 22
  3. Dancing With The Stars
  4. Doctor Phil
  5. Dragnet
  6. The Drew Barrymore Show
  7. Friends
  8. It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia
  9. King of the Hill
  10. Love Island
  11. Mom
  12. The Office
  13. The Powers of Matthew Star
  14. Ratched
  15. Saved By The Bell
  16. Seinfeld
  17. The Vow

Books I Read:

  1. The Game (2020) by Linsey Miller

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. A.G. Cook
  2. Armin van Buuren
  3. Big Data
  4. Beabadoobee
  5. Bloc Party
  6. Britney Spears
  7. The Chemical Brother
  8. The Crystal Method
  9. Damn The Witch Siren
  10. Dillon Francis
  11. Future Islands
  12. Garbage
  13. Ghost
  14. Jakalope
  15. Jessie Frye
  16. Katy Perry
  17. Kennyhoopla
  18. Kygo
  19. Matt Ryder
  20. Muse
  21. Nine Inch Nails
  22. Phantogram
  23. Public Service Broadcasting
  24. Radiohead
  25. Saint Motel
  26. Suzanne Vega
  27. Tessa Violet

News From Last Week:

  1. ‘South Park’ to air pandemic-themed special episode
  2. Judd Apatow Calls Out ‘Chilling’ Hollywood Censorship: ‘China Has Bought Our Silence’
  3. Van Morrison criticises ‘fascist bullies’ in anti-lockdown Covid songs
  4. Tom Hardy ‘cast as next James Bond after No Time To Die’

Links From The Site:

  1. Jeff shared music videos from Suzanne Vega and Tom Waits and reviewed Gun Street, Gun Belt, Five Guns To Tombstone, Terror At Black Falls, Wild Orchid, At Gunpoint, and I Shot Billy The Kid!
  2. Erin took a look at the covers of Flirt and shared: Death is a Ruby Light, Hard-Core Murder, Operation Doomsday, Sonic Slave, Flicker of Doom, Black Gold, and The Silken Baroness!
  3. Ryan reviewed One & Three, Trance ‘n Dance, Island of Elin, and Forget-Me-Not!
  4. I shared music videos from Matt Ryder, Beabadoobee, Public Service Broadcasting, Tessa Violet, and Jessie Frye!  I paid tribute to Guy Hamilton and Jean Renoir!  I shared trailers for The Trial of Chicago 7, The Mandalorian, and Love and Monsters!  I reviewed Horse Girl, Confessions of a Time Traveler, The Most Dangerous Game, A Murder to Remember, Abducted on Air, A Predator’s Obsession, Deranged Granny, Poolboy Nightmare, Sinfidelity, She’s Out of Control, The Vast of Night, Athlete A, All The Bright Places, The Binge, The Lost Husband, 7500, Standing Up Falling Down, The Way Back, Villain, Have A Good Trip, Extraction, The Night Clerk, John Was Trying To Contact Aliens, and A Fall From Grace!  I also shared the Emmy winners!

More From Us:

  1. Consider subscribing to Ryan’s patreon!
  2. I wrote about Big Brother over at the Big Brother Blog!
  3. On my music site, I shared songs from Big Data, Muse, Damn The Witch Siren, Kennyhoopla, A.G. Cook, Future Island, and Kygo!
  4. On her photography site, Erin shared Hole, Leaves Above, Leaves, Yellow Leaves, Roof, Reunion Tower, and another picture of Reunion Tower!

Check out what I did last week by clicking here!

Here Are The Emmy Winners!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I skipped watching the Emmys this year because …. well, do I need a reason?  When it comes to award shows, my heart has always belonged to the Oscars.  The Emmys have never done much for me.

That said, I do want to say Congrats! to all the winners.  Bad Education won and I am excited about that, though it still bugs me that if only the film had been purchased by Netflix rather than HBO, it would be Oscar eligible as opposed to having to settle for an Emmy.  I’m also happy to see that Zendaya won for Euphoria and …. well, to be honest, there’s not a single winner that I really disagree with.  I don’t watch Succession but I know a lot of people love it.  Schitt’s Creek doesn’t do much for me but it’s nice that Pop! got some recognition.

I mean, at this point, I’m just happy that the Emmys — which were done with an audience and featured all of the winners accepting either from their home or a hotel room — were even held.  If they can do the Emmy, there’s no reason why they can’t do the Oscars, right?

Here are the winners!

Winners

Outstanding Drama Series

Better Call Saul
The Crown
The Handmaid’s Tale
Killing Eve
The Mandalorian
Ozark
Stranger Things
Succession — winner

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Helena Bonham Carter, The Crown
Laura Dern, Big Little Lies
Julia Garner, Ozark — winner
Thandie Newton, Westworld
Fiona Shaw, Killing Eve
Sarah Snook, Succession
Meryl Streep, Big Little Lies
Samira Wiley, The Handmaid’s Tale

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Nicholas Braun, Succession
Billy Crudup, The Morning Show — winner
Kieran Culkin, Succession
Mark Duplass, The Morning Show
Giancarlo Esposito, Better Call Saul
Matthew Macfadyen, Succession
Bradley Whitford, The Handmaid’s Tale
Jeffrey Wright, Westworld

Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series

Andrij Parekh, Succession — winner

Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series

Jesse Armstrong, Succession — winner

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jennifer Aniston, The Morning Show
Olivia Colman, The Crown
Jodie Comer, Killing Eve
Laura Linney, Ozark
Sandra Oh, Killing Eve
Zendaya, Euphoria — winner

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman, Ozark
Sterling K. Brown, This Is Us
Steve Carell, The Morning Show
Brian Cox, Succession
Billy Porter, Pose
Jeremy Strong, Succession — winner

Outstanding Competition Program

The Masked Singer
Nailed It!
RuPaul’s Drag Race — winner
Top Chef
The Voice

Outstanding Limited Series

Little Fires Everywhere
Mrs. America
Unbelievable
Unorthodox
Watchmen — winner

Outstanding Film — Bad Education (winner!)

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Uzo Aduba, Mrs. America — winner
Toni Collette, Unbelievable
Margo Martindale, Mrs. America
Jean Smart, Watchmen
Holland Taylor, Hollywood
Tracey Ullman, Mrs. America

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Watchmen — winner
Jovan Adepo, Watchmen
Tituss Burgess, Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt: Kimmy vs. The Reverend
Louis Gossett Jr., Watchmen
Dylan McDermott, Hollywood
Jim Parsons, Hollywood

Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie

Maria Schrader, Unorthodox — winner

Outstanding Writing for a Limited Series or Movie

Damon Lindelof, Cord Jefferson, Watchmen — winner

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Jeremy Irons, Watchmen
Hugh Jackman, Bad Education
Paul Mescal, Normal People
Jeremy Pope, Hollywood
Mark Ruffalo, I Know This Much Is True — winner

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Cate Blanchett, Mrs. America
Shira Haas, Unorthodox
Regina King, Watchmen — winner
Octavia Spencer, Self Made
Kerry Washington, Little Fires Everywhere

Outstanding Variety Talk Series

The Daily Show with Trevor Noah
Full Frontal with Samantha Bee
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Last Week Tonight with John Oliver — winner
The Late Show with Stephen Colbert

Outstanding Comedy Series

Curb Your Enthusiasm
Dead to Me
The Good Place
Insecure
The Kominsky Method
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Schitt’s Creek — winner
What We Do In the Shadows

Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
D’Arcy Carden, The Good Place
Betty Gilpin, GLOW
Marin Hinkle, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kate McKinnon, Saturday Night Live
Annie Murphy, Schitt’s Creek — winner
Yvonne Orji, Insecure
Cecily Strong, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Mahershala Ali, Ramy
Alan Arkin, The Kominsky Method
Andre Braugher, Brooklyn Nine-Nine
Sterling K. Brown, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
William Jackson Harper, The Good Place
Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek — winner
Tony Shalhoub, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Kenan Thompson, Saturday Night Live

Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series

Daniel Levy and Andrew Cividino, Schitt’s Creek — winner

Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series

Daniel Levy, Schitt’s Creek — winner

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Anderson, Black-ish
Don Cheadle, Black Monday
Ted Danson, The Good Place
Michael Douglas, The Kominsky Method
Eugene Levy, Schitt’s Creek — winner
Ramy Youssef, Ramy

Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Christina Applegate, Dead to Me
Rachel Brosnahan, The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me
Catherine O’Hara, Schitt’s Creek — winner
Issa Rae, Insecure
Tracee Ellis Ross, Black-ish

I Shot Billy The Kid (1950, directed by William Berke)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

Sheriff Pat Garrett (Robert Lowery) tells the story of his friendship and later pursuit of Billy the Kid (Don “Red” Berry). As Garrett explains it, Billy could be a charming and likable outlaw but he just refused to go straight.  After Billy rescued Garrett from an Indian attack, Garrett even tried to arrange for Billy to get a pardon from New Mexico’s governor, Lew Wallace (Claude Stroud), but when the pardon didn’t arrive in time, Billy felt had been betrayed and continued his life as an outlaw.  Eventually, it fell upon Garrett to track down and put his old friend out of commission.

This film really should have been called I Shot Billy The Man because Don Berry was nearly 40 when he played Billy and he looked like he was closer to 50.  Berry makes the mistake of wearing  hair piece, which just makes it seem as if George Constanza somehow got cast as a notorious western outlaw.  As was true in even his worst westerns, Berry is a convincing gunslinger but he’s just not a very convincing kid.  Meanwhile, Robert Lowery is a boringly upright Pat Garrett.  There’s none of the moral ambiguity that’s present in some of the better retellings of the life of Billy the Kid.

Tom Neal, an authentic tough guy who is best remembered for starring in Detour and for sabotaging his own career by nearly beating actor Franchot Tone to death, appears as a member of Billy’s gang.  Neal was almost as old as Berry but it still seems like the film would have worked better if Neal has played Billy, Berry had played Pat, and Lowery would have taken the less important role of Charlie.  Neal would have brought some authentic toughness to the role while Berry’s onscreen charisma would have countered how boring the film’s version of Pat Garrett comes across as being.  As it is, with Berry miscast and Lowery giving a bland peformance and the entire movie limited by its low budget (it was produced by Robert Lippert, who made Roger Corman seem extravagant by comparison), I Shot Billy The Kid is one of the more forgettable films about the life of William Bonney.

At Gunpoint (1955, directed by Alfred L. Werker)

Posted on by Jedadiah Leland

When a gang of outlaws attempt to rob a bank in the small frontier town of Plainview, the local sheriff is one of the first people to get gunned down.  It falls upon two local men, George Henderson (Frank Ferguson) and storeowner Jack Wright (Fred MacMurray), to run the outlaws out of town.  While most of the gang escapes, Jack and Henderson manage to kill the gang’s leader, Alvin Dennis.

At first, Jack and Henderson are declared to be heroes and Henderson is appointed sheriff.  However, when Henderson is found murdered, the town realizes that Alvin’s brother, Bob (Skip Homeier), has returned to get revenge.  The inevitable confrontation is delayed by the arrival of a U.S. marshal who stays in town for two weeks to maintain the peace but everyone knows that, once he leaves, Bob is going to be coming after the mild-manned Jack.  The townspeople go from treating Jack like a hero to shunning him.  They even offer Jack and his wife (Dorothy Malone) money to leave town but Jack refuses to give up his store or to surrender to everyone else’s fear.

At Gunpoint is a diverting variation on High Noon, with Fred MacMurray stepping into Gary Cooper’s role as the upstanding man who the town refuses to stand behind.  What sets At Gunpoint apart from High Noon is that, unlike Cooper’s Will Kane, MacMurray’s Jack Wright isn’t even an experienced gunslinger.  Instead, he’s a mild-mannered store owner, the old west’s equivalent of an intellectual, who just managed to get off a lucky shot.  If he can’t find a way to get the cowardly town to back him up, there’s no way that he’s going to be able to defeat Bob and his gang.

At Gunpoint features an excellent cast of Western character actors, including John Qualen, Irving Bacon and Whit Bissell.  Especially good is Walter Brennan, playing one of the only townspeople to have any integrity.  While this western may not have the strong political subtext or the historical significance of High Noon, it’s still a well-made example of the genre.  It’s a western that even people who don’t normally enjoy westerns might like.

Music Video of the Day: Worth It by Beabadoobee (2020, dir by Bedroom)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

I like this video, largely because — as our longtime readers should know by now — I have a thing for motels.  I find them to be fascinating.  Whenever I see a motel, I wonder what drama is going on in each and every room.  Seriously, the roadside motel is one of the greatest things that America has given the world.

This is a gorgeous, well-directed video, full of atmosphere.  It’s like Wes Anderson’s Psycho.

Enjoy!