One Hit From Home (2012, dir. by Johnny Meier and David Aaron Stone)


The MLB regular season has come to an end and right now, I’m so thankful for the Orioles.

Why?  Because I’m a Rangers fan and the Orioles 52-110 record is the only thing keeping my Rangers from havin the worst record in the American League.  This season, the Rangers went 60-102.  In all of major league baseball, only the Orioles and the Diamondbacks managed to do worse.  The Rangers will not be going to the World Series this season.  We won’t be anywhere close.  The Astros might make it.  They’re playing White Sox later today.

I’m a true baseball fan, though.  True baseball fans have faith.  It’s been a long since the Rangers had a winning season and many of my favorite players have been traded to other teams.  (I’m still crying about Elvis playing for the Athetlics.  ELVIS!)  We’ve been struggling for a while but next season, we’ll turn things around.  I have faith.

Faith is also the main theme of One Hit From Home, a baseball movie that I watched last night.  One Hit From Home is about Jimmy Easton (David Aaron Stone), a baseball player who was the best curve ball hitter in the league until career was cut short by a knee injury.  When Jimmy gets into a bar fight, he’s given two options.  He can either go to jail or he can coach a college baseball team.  Deciding to coach, Jimmy returns to his hometown, hooks up with his ex-girlfriend, mentors a troubled a player, deals with his part, and does a lot of praying.

One Hit From Home was really predictable and, because it was a Pureflix film, more into religion than baseball.  I don’t mind religious films but it bothered me that One Hit From Home didn’t even seem to care much about the game.  There was no strategy or talk about teamwork or anything else that makes baseball special.  Jimmy never told anyone to bunt or to hit a sacrifice fly to bring another player home.  After a rough start, the team goes on a winning streak but the movie never shows how Jimmy adjusted his coaching style or what he taught the players.  Instead, Jimmy helps his star player get along better with his father and, after one of the movie’s many tragic car accidents, Jimmy goes to church.  I watched One Hit From Home because I wanted to see a baseball movie and I felt cheated.

The worst part of the movie was when Jimmy’s ex-girlfriend stopped by to welcome him back to town and she got offended when she discovered that Jimmy had spent the night with another woman, despite the fact that she was the one who dropped by the house unannounced and it had been years since she and Jimmy had even seen each other.  That made her seem very judgmental and hypocritical but the movie acted like Jimmy was the one who should apologize.

One Hit From Home wasn’t what I was looking for but it won’t make me give up on baseball movies.  I have faith in them, just like I have fath in my Rangers.

Load up with the trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City


It looks like Sony released a trailer for Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, starring Kaya Scodelario (Crawl) as Claire Redfield, Avan Jogia (Starz’ Now Apocalypse) as Leon Kennedy, Hannah John-Kamen (Ant-Man and the Wasp) as Jill Valentine, Robbie Amell (The Babysitter) as Chris Redfield, Tom Hooper (The Umbrella Society) as Albert Wesker and Lily Gao as Ada Wong (Kin).

Director Johannes Roberts (The Strangers) looks like he’s bringing in elements from Capcom’s Resident Evil remake (originating back in 2002 on the Nintendo Gamecube), as well as Resident Evil 2. We have Lisa Trevor from the original and William Birkin (played by Band of Brothers & Ravenous‘ Neal McDonough), though it seems to be more of a mashup.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City premieres in Theatres on November 24th.

Enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Silent Horror Films


4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.

The horror genre has been around ever since people struggled to explain their fears and horror films were a feature of cinema from the time of the earliest movies.  Today, we pay tribute to some of the early entries in the horror genre with….

4 Shots From 4 Horror Films

The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari (1920, dir by Robert Wiene, DP: Willy Hameister)

Nosferatu (1922, dir by F.W. Murnau, DP: Fritz Arno Wagner and Günther Krampf)

Haxan (1922, dir by Benjamin Christesen, DP: Johan Ankerstjerne)

The Phantom of the Oepra (1925, dir by Rupert Julian, DP: Milton Bridenbecker, Virgil Miller, Charles Van Enger)

Cast A Spell With The Witches Of The Pulp Era


Artist Unknown

Witches were a popular subject during the pulp era, starring in stories and appearing on covers.  Sometimes, they were riding broomsticks and other times, they were just casting spells.  Whatever they were doing, they were always ready to work their magic on readers.

Today, it’s time to pay tribute to some of the witches of the pulp era!

Artist Unknown

by Earle Bergey

by Hannes Bok

by Jack Thurston

by Margaret Brundage

by Rudolph Belarski

by Tommy Shoemaker

Unknown Artist

A Blast From The Past: Donald Pleasence Guest Stars On Columbo


A few days ago, we observed the birthday of Donald Pleasence, a great actor who became a horror icon with his performance as Dr. Sam Loomis in Halloween. However, 5 years before a generation of filmgoers first met Dr. Loomis, Donald Pleasence played a wine connoisseur-turned murderer on a classic and much acclaimed episode of the classic detective show, Columbo.

Largely due to the battle of wits between Donald Pleasence and Peter Falk — two of the best character actors of their generation — Any Old Port In A Storm has come to be seen as one of the best episodes ever of this still much-beloved detective show. This episode originally aired on October 7th, 1973, just two days after Pleasence’s birthday. Today, on the 48th anniversary of the episode’s airing, the Shattered Lens is proud to share Donald Pleasence and Peter Falk in Any Old Port In A Storm!

As we frequently say around these parts, enjoy!

Horror on the Lens: Faust (dir by F.W. Murnau)


Today’s Horror on the Lens is a silent German film from 1926. Based on the legend of the alchemist who sold his soul to the Devil, Faust was dismissed by European critics when it was intially released but it has since been recognized as one of the great cineamtic examples of German Expressionism.

It was after directing this film that Murnau traveled to Hollywood and directed his masterpice, Sunrise: A Story of Two Humans. (Murnau was also responsible, many years earlier, for directing Nosferatu.) The role of Fasut was played by Swedish actor Gosta Ekman, who tragicaly developed an addiction to cocaine while making the film and who would die as a result in 1938. Playing the role of Mephisto is German actor Emil Jannings, who would later go to win the very first Academy Award for Best Actor. Unfortunately, with the advent of sound, Jannings — who had no interest in learning English — returned to Germany and, after making some classic films with Marlene Dietrich, spent the rest of his career appearing in Nazi propaganda films. Whether or not Jannings was a committed Nazi or just an opportunist remains a point of cotention but it’s still undoubtedly not the career path that one would hope for one of the very first Oscar winners.

Here, for the first time on the Shattered Lens, is Faust:

Music Video of the Day: Kid by The Pretenders (1979, directed by ????)


On August 1st, 1981, MTV premiered. Over the course of 24 hours, 166 unique music videos were played on MTV. Yes, there was a time when the M actually did stand for music.

According to Chrissie Hynde, Kid is about a mother who has a conversation with her young son after he discovers that she works as a prostitute.  As Hynde put it, “Not all songs are autobiographical.”  The video was shot in an amusement park, contrasting the happiness of kids at play with the sadness of the kid being addressed in the song.

Enjoy!

The First Videos Shown on MTV:

  1. Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles
  2. You Better Run by Pat Benatar
  3. She Won’t Dance With Me by Rod Stewart
  4. You Better You Bet By The Who
  5. Little Suzi’s On The Up by PH.D
  6. We Don’t Talk Anymore by Cliff Richard
  7. Brass in Pocket by Pretenders
  8. Time Heals by Todd Rundgren
  9. Take It On The Run by REO Speedwagon
  10. Rockin’ in Paradise by Styx
  11. When Things Go Wrong by Robin Lane & The Chartbusters
  12. History Never Repeats by Split Enz
  13. Hold On Loosely by .38 Special
  14. Just Between You And Me by April Wine
  15. Sailing by Rod Stewart
  16. Iron Maiden by Iron Maiden
  17. Keep On Loving You by REO Speedwagon
  18. Better Than Blue by Michael Johnson
  19. Message of Love by The Pretenders
  20. Mr. Briefcase by Lee Ritenour
  21. Double Life by The Cars
  22. In The Air Tonight by Phil Collins
  23. Looking for Clues by Robert Palmer
  24. Too Late by Shoes
  25. Stop Draggin’ My Heart Around by Stevie Nicks and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers
  26. Do Ya Think I’m Sexy by Rod Stewart
  27. Surface Tension by Rupert Hine
  28. One Step Ahead by Split Enz
  29. Baker Street by Gerry Rafferty
  30. I’m Gonna Follow You by Pat Benatar
  31. Savannah Nights by Tom Johnston
  32. Lucille by Rockestra
  33. The Best of Times by Styx
  34. Vengeance by Carly Simon
  35. Wrathchild by Iron Maiden
  36. I Wanna Be a Lifeguard by Blotto
  37. Passion by Rod Stewart
  38. Oliver’s Army by Elvis Costello
  39. Don’t Let Me Go by REO Speedwagon
  40. Remote Control and Illegal by The Silencers
  41. Angel of the Morning by Juice Newton
  42. Little Sister by Rockpile with Robert Plant
  43. Hold On To The Night by Bootcamp
  44. Dreamin’ by Cliff Richard
  45. Is It You? by Lee Ritenour 
  46. Tusk by Fleetwood Mac
  47. He Can’t Love You by Michael Stanley Band
  48. Tough Guys by REO Speedwagon
  49. Rapture by Blondie
  50. Don’t Let Go The Coat by The Who
  51. Ain’t Love A Bitch by Rod Stewart
  52. Talk of the Town by The Pretenders
  53. Can’t Happen Here by Rainbow
  54. Thank You For Being A Friend by Andrew Gold
  55. Bring It All Home by Gerry Rafferty
  56. Sign of the Gypsy Queen by April Wine
  57. The Man With The Child In His Eyes by Kate Bush
  58. All Night Long by Raindow
  59. Boys Keep Swinging by David Bowie
  60. Rat Race by The Specials
  61. Once in a Lifetime by Talking Heads
  62. Victim by Bootcamp
  63. Tonight’s the Night (Gonna be Alright) by Rod Stewart
  64. Cruel to be Kind by Nick Lowe
  65. A Little In Love by Cliff Richard
  66. Wild-Eyed Southern Boys by 38 Special
  67. Wuthering Heights by Kate Bush
  68. Celebrate The Bullet by The Selecter
  69. More Than I Can Say by Leo Sayer
  70. A Message To You, Rudy by The Specials
  71. Heart of Glass by Blondie
  72. Oh God, I Wish I Was Home Tonight by Rod Stewart