Music Video of the Day: 4 In The Morning by Gwen Stefani (2007, dir by Sophie Muller)

Posted on January 24, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This may not be one of Gwen’s more popular videos but I like it because, like her in this video, I’m usually up at 4 in the morning.

Of course, in the video, Gwen’s up at four in the morning and looking totally put together because she’s waiting for her lover to return. They’ve had a fight. He’s left her. And now, she can’t sleep. Not even going for a drive through the early morning darkness helps.

Myself, when I’m up at 4 in the morning, it’s mostly because I got wrapped up either reading or watching something and, for whatever reason, I lost track of time. Usually, around two, I always say, “I really should get some sleep …. but let’s see what’s on TCM!” If it turns out to be a classic film noir or an old horror movie, there’s no way I’m going to sleep.

Even worse is when I’m trying to turn off my TV but I accidentally click the button for Netflix instead and, before you know it, I’m watching old episodes of Degrassi: The Next Class. Then suddenly, I’ll realize that it’s not five in the morning and I’ve spent an hour yelling, “No, Maya! Zig’s no good for you!” at the TV. That’s happened more times than I want to admit.

Much like Gwen, I usually react to discovering that I’ve stayed up too late by walking around the house. Usually, I end up accidentally kicking a wall while barefoot or tripping over a stair. Once I wandered out in the backyard and somehow managed to lock myself out of the house. Of course, I was only wearing my beloved Pirates t-shirt and it was like 21 degrees outside so I quickly came to regret not getting to bed at two.

So, my point is, I like this video because I can relate to it. In fact, I’ll probably think about it a few hours from now, when I realize that it’s 4 a.m. and I’m still awake.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: Kill The Lights by Britney Spears (2009, dir by PUNY)

Posted on January 23, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Britney’s a cartoon!

This video for Kill the Lights finds Britney Spears being — what else? — hounded by the paparazzi so she promptly flies off into space and goes to another planet. Unfortunately, it turns out that the entire universe is apparently obsessed with robbing Britney of her privacy.

This concept behind this video was the result of a fan fiction contest, in which people were asked to send their ideas to Britney’s management, via her website. The winner of the contest was a girl from Argentina, who titled her submission “Known Everywhere.” Believe it or not, I came very close to entering this contest myself. You have to remember that this was back in 2009, when I was in a much darker place than I am today. As such, my idea was for the video to be an homage to Lucio Fuci’s Zombi 2, with Britney going to a Caribbean island to investigate the death of Justin Timberlake and then getting bitten by a zombified Joey Fatone. My idea was that the video would end with zombie Britney eating Kevin Federline. Personally, I still think it’s a good idea but I never actually submitted it so I’ve got no one to blame for this video but myself.

Still, just imagine if I had submitted my idea and it had been accepted. (Seriously, I totally would have won if I had entered the contest.) Not only would Britney now being getting credit for the zombie revival but she’d probably also would have gone on to do any number of horror-themed music videos.

So, basically, I made a huge mistake by not submitting my idea and now the world is suffering.

Sorry about that.

Anyway, enjoy!

Here are The Oscar Nominations!

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Green Book and A Star is Born were considered to be front runners but, this morning, neither got a director nomination to go along with their picture nominations. Black Panther made history by being the first comic book film to get a best picture nomination but it seems kind of insulting to nominate the film and then ignore its director, Ryan Coogler.

Vice and Roma both got more nominations than most people were expecting them to receive so, honestly, it seems like those two films are your new front runners. Me, I’ll just hope for a Favourite upset.

Here’s are the nominations!

Performance by an actor in a leading role

Christian Bale in “Vice”
Bradley Cooper in “A Star Is Born”
Willem Dafoe in “At Eternity’s Gate”
Rami Malek in “Bohemian Rhapsody”
Viggo Mortensen in “Green Book”

Performance by an actor in a supporting role

Mahershala Ali in “Green Book”
Adam Driver in “BlacKkKlansman”
Sam Elliott in “A Star Is Born”
Richard E. Grant in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”
Sam Rockwell in “Vice”

Performance by an actress in a leading role

Yalitza Aparicio in “Roma”
Glenn Close in “The Wife”
Olivia Colman in “The Favourite”
Lady Gaga in “A Star Is Born”
Melissa McCarthy in “Can You Ever Forgive Me?”

Performance by an actress in a supporting role

Amy Adams in “Vice”
Marina de Tavira in “Roma”
Regina King in “If Beale Street Could Talk”
Emma Stone in “The Favourite”
Rachel Weisz in “The Favourite”

Best animated feature film of the year

“Incredibles 2” Brad Bird, John Walker and Nicole Paradis Grindle
“Isle of Dogs” Wes Anderson, Scott Rudin, Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson
“Mirai” Mamoru Hosoda and Yuichiro Saito
“Ralph Breaks the Internet” Rich Moore, Phil Johnston and Clark Spencer
“Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse” Bob Persichetti, Peter Ramsey, Rodney Rothman, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller

Achievement in cinematography

“Cold War” Łukasz Żal
“The Favourite” Robbie Ryan
“Never Look Away” Caleb Deschanel
“Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
“A Star Is Born” Matthew Libatique

Achievement in costume design

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Mary Zophres
“Black Panther” Ruth Carter
“The Favourite” Sandy Powell
“Mary Poppins Returns” Sandy Powell
“Mary Queen of Scots” Alexandra Byrne

Achievement in directing

“BlacKkKlansman” Spike Lee
“Cold War” Paweł Pawlikowski
“The Favourite” Yorgos Lanthimos
“Roma” Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice” Adam McKay

Best documentary feature

“Free Solo” Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi, Jimmy Chin, Evan Hayes and Shannon Dill
“Hale County This Morning, This Evening” RaMell Ross, Joslyn Barnes and Su Kim
“Minding the Gap” Bing Liu and Diane Quon
“Of Fathers and Sons” Talal Derki, Ansgar Frerich, Eva Kemme and Tobias N. Siebert
“RBG” Betsy West and Julie Cohen

Best documentary short subject

“Black Sheep” Ed Perkins and Jonathan Chinn
“End Game” Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman
“Lifeboat” Skye Fitzgerald and Bryn Mooser
“A Night at The Garden” Marshall Curry
“Period. End of Sentence.” Rayka Zehtabchi and Melissa Berton

Achievement in film editing

“BlacKkKlansman” Barry Alexander Brown
“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Ottman
“The Favourite” Yorgos Mavropsaridis
“Green Book” Patrick J. Don Vito
“Vice” Hank Corwin

Best foreign language film of the year

“Capernaum” Lebanon
“Cold War” Poland
“Never Look Away” Germany
“Roma” Mexico
“Shoplifters” Japan

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling

“Border” Göran Lundström and Pamela Goldammer
“Mary Queen of Scots” Jenny Shircore, Marc Pilcher and Jessica Brooks
“Vice” Greg Cannom, Kate Biscoe and Patricia DeHaney

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)

“Black Panther” Ludwig Goransson
“BlacKkKlansman” Terence Blanchard
“If Beale Street Could Talk” Nicholas Britell
“Isle of Dogs” Alexandre Desplat
“Mary Poppins Returns” Marc Shaiman

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)

“All The Stars” from “Black Panther”
Music by Mark Spears, Kendrick Lamar Duckworth and Anthony Tiffith; Lyric by Kendrick Lamar Duckworth, Anthony Tiffith and Solana Rowe
“I’ll Fight” from “RBG”
Music and Lyric by Diane Warren
“The Place Where Lost Things Go” from “Mary Poppins Returns”
Music by Marc Shaiman; Lyric by Scott Wittman and Marc Shaiman
“Shallow” from “A Star Is Born”
Music and Lyric by Lady Gaga, Mark Ronson, Anthony Rossomando and Andrew Wyatt
“When A Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”
Music and Lyric by David Rawlings and Gillian Welch

Best motion picture of the year

“Black Panther” Kevin Feige, Producer
“BlacKkKlansman” Sean McKittrick, Jason Blum, Raymond Mansfield, Jordan Peele and Spike Lee, Producers
“Bohemian Rhapsody” Graham King, Producer
“The Favourite” Ceci Dempsey, Ed Guiney, Lee Magiday and Yorgos Lanthimos, Producers
“Green Book” Jim Burke, Charles B. Wessler, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, Producers
“Roma” Gabriela Rodríguez and Alfonso Cuarón, Producers
“A Star Is Born” Bill Gerber, Bradley Cooper and Lynette Howell Taylor, Producers
“Vice” Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Adam McKay and Kevin Messick, Producers

Achievement in production design

“Black Panther” Production Design: Hannah Beachler; Set Decoration: Jay Hart
“The Favourite” Production Design: Fiona Crombie; Set Decoration: Alice Felton
“First Man” Production Design: Nathan Crowley; Set Decoration: Kathy Lucas
“Mary Poppins Returns” Production Design: John Myhre; Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Roma” Production Design: Eugenio Caballero; Set Decoration: Bárbara Enríquez

Best animated short film

“Animal Behaviour” Alison Snowden and David Fine
“Bao” Domee Shi and Becky Neiman-Cobb
“Late Afternoon” Louise Bagnall and Nuria González Blanco
“One Small Step” Andrew Chesworth and Bobby Pontillas
“Weekends” Trevor Jimenez

Best live action short film

“Detainment” Vincent Lambe and Darren Mahon
“Fauve” Jeremy Comte and Maria Gracia Turgeon
“Marguerite” Marianne Farley and Marie-Hélène Panisset
“Mother” Rodrigo Sorogoyen and María del Puy Alvarado
“Skin” Guy Nattiv and Jaime Ray Newman

Achievement in sound editing

“Black Panther” Benjamin A. Burtt and Steve Boeddeker
“Bohemian Rhapsody” John Warhurst and Nina Hartstone
“First Man” Ai-Ling Lee and Mildred Iatrou Morgan
“A Quiet Place” Ethan Van der Ryn and Erik Aadahl
“Roma” Sergio Díaz and Skip Lievsay

Achievement in sound mixing

“Black Panther” Steve Boeddeker, Brandon Proctor and Peter Devlin
“Bohemian Rhapsody” Paul Massey, Tim Cavagin and John Casali
“First Man” Jon Taylor, Frank A. Montaño, Ai-Ling Lee and Mary H. Ellis
“Roma” Skip Lievsay, Craig Henighan and José Antonio García
“A Star Is Born” Tom Ozanich, Dean Zupancic, Jason Ruder and Steve Morrow

Achievement in visual effects

“Avengers: Infinity War” Dan DeLeeuw, Kelly Port, Russell Earl and Dan Sudick
“Christopher Robin” Christopher Lawrence, Michael Eames, Theo Jones and Chris Corbould
“First Man” Paul Lambert, Ian Hunter, Tristan Myles and J.D. Schwalm
“Ready Player One” Roger Guyett, Grady Cofer, Matthew E. Butler and David Shirk
“Solo: A Star Wars Story” Rob Bredow, Patrick Tubach, Neal Scanlan and Dominic Tuohy

Adapted screenplay

“The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
“BlacKkKlansman” Written by Charlie Wachtel & David Rabinowitz and Kevin Willmott & Spike Lee
“Can You Ever Forgive Me?” Screenplay by Nicole Holofcener and Jeff Whitty
“If Beale Street Could Talk” Written for the screen by Barry Jenkins
“A Star Is Born” Screenplay by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters

Original screenplay

“The Favourite” Written by Deborah Davis and Tony McNamara
“First Reformed” Written by Paul Schrader
“Green Book” Written by Nick Vallelonga, Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly
“Roma” Written by Alfonso Cuarón
“Vice” Written by Adam McKay

Music Video of the Day: Hollywood Ending by Starcrawler (2019, dir by Gilbert Trejo)

Posted on January 22, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Since today is Oscar nomination day, I decided that today’s music video of the day should be about Hollywood.

Or, at the very least, it should have Hollywood in the title.

This video presents us with a Hollywood that is the exact opposite of Hollywood glitz. It’s a Hollywood of cheap motels, too much makeup, and cigarette haze. However, it’s also a Hollywood where you can actually find a working VHS player and I guess there’s something to be said for that. This video is kind of depressing but kind of fun at the same time. I have a weakness for the film’s combination of trash and satire.

“Marilyn Monroe” makes an appearance, as she certainly should. When you’re reading about the Oscar nominations later today, just remember that Marilyn Monroe is both one of the most iconic Hollywood figures of all time and also someone who was never nominated for an Oscar.

(That said, she did appear in one of the greatest of the best picture winners, All About Eve.)

Enjoy!

What If Lisa Picked The Oscar Nominees: 2018 Edition

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

With the Oscar nominations due to be announced tomorrow, now is the time that the Shattered Lens indulges in a little something called, “What if Lisa had all the power.” Listed below are my personal Oscar nominations. Please note that these are not the films that I necessarily think will be nominated. The fact of the matter is that the many of them will not. Instead, these are the films that would be nominated if I was solely responsible for deciding the nominees this year. Winners are starred and listed in bold.

(You’ll also note that I’ve added four categories, all of which I believe the Academy should adopt — Best Voice-Over Performance, Best Casting, Best Stunt Work, and Best Overall Use Of Music In A Film.)

(Click on the links to see my nominations for 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, and 2010!)

Best Picture

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Blindspotting

*Eighth Grade

The Favourite

Leave No Trace

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

A Simple Favor

Support the Girls

Best Director

*Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade

The Coen Brothers for The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Alfonso Cuaron for Roma

Debra Granik for Leave No Trace

Yorgos Lanthimos for The Favourite

Orson Welles for The Other Side of the Wind

Best Actor

John Cho in Searching

Jason Clarke in Chappaquiddick

Bradley Cooper in A Star is Born

Daveed Diggs in Blindspotting

*Ethan Hawke in First Reformed

Joaquin Phoenix in You Were Never Really Here

Best Actress

Yalitza Aparicio in Roma

Elsie Fisher in Eighth Grade

Lady Gaga in A Star is Born

*Regina Hall in Support the Girls

Anna Kendrick in A Simple Favor

Thomason McKenzie in Leave No Trace

Best Supporting Actor

Peter Bogdonavich in The Other Side of the Wind

*Ben Foster in Leave No Trace

Michael B. Jordan in Black Panther

Josh Hamilton in Eighth Grade

Tim Blake Nelson in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Michael Palin in The Death of Stalin

Best Supporting Actress

Emily Blunt in A Quiet Place

*Olivia Colman in The Favourite

Zoe Kazan in The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Blake Lively in A Simple Favor

Emma Stone in The Favourite

Rachel Weisz in The Favourite

Best Voice Over or Motion-Capture Performance

*Josh Brolin in Avengers: Infinity War

Jake Johnson in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Holly Hunter in The Incredibles 2

Shamiek Moore in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

John C. Reilly in Ralph Breaks The Internet

Ben Whishaw in Paddington 2

Best Original Screenplay

Blindspotting

The Death of Stalin

*Eighth Grade

The Favourite

Game Night

Support the Girls

Best Adapted Screenplay

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

If Beale Street Could Talk

Leave No Trace

*A Simple Favor

A Star is Born

Best Animated Feature

Early Man

Have A Nice Day

The Incredibles 2

Isle of Dogs

Ralph Breaks the Internet

*Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Best Documentary Feature

Avicii: True Stories

Recovery Boys

Shirkers

They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead

*Three Identical Strangers

Won’t You Be My Neighbor?

Best Foreign Language Film

Battle

Gun City

Happy as Lazzaro

Have A Nice Day

The Most Assassinated Woman In The World

*Roma

Best Casting

Blindspotting

Eighth Grade

Mandy

Mid90s

Roma

*Support the Girls

Best Cinematography

Aquaman

Avengers: Infinity Wars

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

Black Panther

*Mandy

Roma

Best Costume Design

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

*Black Panther

The Favourite

Lizzie

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Simple Favor

Best Film Editing

Avengers: Infinity Wars

Eighth Grade

Mission Impossible: Fallout

*The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

Searching

Best Makeup and Hair Styling

*The Favourite

Lizzie

Mandy

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Simple Favor

Support the Girls

Best Original Score

Avengers: Infinity War

The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

The Death of Stalin

If Beale Street Could Talk

*Mandy

The Other Side of the Wind

Best Original Song

*“When a Cowboy Trades His Spurs For Wings” from The Ballad of Buster Scruggs

“All the Stars” from Black Panther

“Limitless” from Second Act

“I’ll Never Love Again” from A Star is Born

“Is that Alright” from A Star is Born

“Shallow” from A Star is Born

Best Overall Use of Music

Bohemian Rhapsody

Eighth Grade

Mamma Mia: Here We Go Again

Mid90s

*A Star is Born

Three Identical Strangers

Best Production Design

Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

The Commuter

*The Favourite

Mary, Queen of Scots

A Quiet Place

Best Sound Editing

Annihilation

*Avengers: Infinity War

Mission Impossible: Fallout

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

12 Strong

Best Sound Mixing

Annihilation

Avengers: Infinity War

Mission Impossible: Fallout

The Other Side of the Wind

Roma

*A Star is Born

Best Stuntwork

Avengers: Infinity War

Beirut

Black Panther

*Mission Impossible: Fallout

12 Strong

Upgrade

Best Visual Effects

Annihilation

Ant-Man and the Wasp

Aquaman

*Avengers: Infinity War

Black Panther

First Man

Films Listed By Number of Nominations:

11 Nominations – Avengers: Infinity War

9 Nominations – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, The Favourite, Roma

8 Nominations – Eighth Grade, A Star is Born

7 Nominations – Black Panther, The Other Side of the Wind

6 Nominations – A Simple Favor

5 Nominations – Leave No Trace, Support the Girls

4 Nominations – Blindspotting, Mandy, Mission Impossible: Fallout

3 Nominations – Annihilation, The Death of Stalin, Mary Queen of Scots, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

2 Nominations – Aquaman, Have A Nice Day, If Beale Street Could Talk, The Incredibles 2, Lizzie, Mid90s, A Quiet Place, Ralph Breaks the Internet, Searching, Three Identical Strangers, 12 Strong

1 Nomination – Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avicii: True Stories, Battle, Beirut, Bohemian Rhapsody, Chappaquiddick, The Commuter, Early Man, First Man, First Reformed, Game Night, Gun City, Happy as Lazzaro, Isle of Dogs, Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, The Most Assassinated Woman In The World, Paddington 2, Recovery Boys, Second Act, Shirkers, They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead, Upgrade, Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, You Were Never Really Here

Films Listed By Number of Oscars Won:

3 Oscars – Eighth Grade, The Favourite

2 Oscars – Mandy, A Star is Born, Support the Girls

1 Oscar – The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, Black Panther, First Reformed, Leave No Trace, Mission Impossible: Fallout, The Other Side of the Wind, Roma, Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Three Identical Strangers

As for the real nominations, they’ll be announced on Tuesday morning!

Music Video of the Day: Suspicious Minds, covered by Computer Magic (2019, dir by Danz)

Posted on January 21, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

I was actually planning on featuring another Britney Spears video for today’s music video of the day but then I came across this cover of Suspicious Minds.

Let’s just start with the obvious. I absolutely love this video. According to video’s description on YouTube, this was shot on an iPhone. The video has this wonderful sort of dream-like feel. Some of that’s due to the song itself. Some of that’s due to the fact that the majority of the video takes place in Las Vegas, which is like the most surreal city in America. (There’s a reason why David Lynch set so much of Twin Peaks: The Return in Vegas.) It all comes together to create a wonderfully hypnotic video, one that is both inviting and ominous at the same time.

The song itself is best-known as an Elvis song but it was actually originally written and performed by a songwriter named Mark James. In 1969, after James’s version failed to chart, the song was handed over to Elvis and it quickly become on his signature hits. Of course, you really can’t do anything Vegas-related without including a reference to Elvis. I can’t remember if there were any Elvis impersonators on Twin Peaks but I do remember that you can spot a few in Saved By The Bell: Wedding in Las Vegas.

(And, of course, this bring us all back to Britney Spears, who will launching her second Vegas show on February 13th. Everyone ends up in Vegas, where they get to hang out with my friends Jennifer and Xander. Lucky them!)

Anyway, enjoy!

Lisa’s Week In Review — 1/14/19 — 1/20/19

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

There’s a freaking eclipse going on right now, y’all!

While the rest of America is debating football and Alexandre Rothier is making fun of us for not being soccer fans, Erin and I have been shivering out in the backyard and watching as the moon slowly disappears. It’s like 36 degrees out there and neither one of was exactly dressed warmly but hey, it’s the first eclipse of the year! It’s called a Bloodmoon, which I assume has something to do with Twilight.

For me, this week was all about getting caught up with the films of 2018. For once, I actually managed to accomplish what I wanted to do. I watched a lot of movies. I posted my picks for the best and the worst of the year. Now that I’m finished with 2018, I can actually focus on 2019. For me, it was a good week and it just seem fitting to end it with an eclipse!

This upcoming week should be wild! Oscar nominations of Tuesday. Celebrity Big Brother starts on Monday. Sundance starts on the 24th. But, before we get started with all of that, here’s what I did last week:

Movies I Watched

Avicii: True Stories (2018)
Battle (2018)
Blindspotting (2018)
The Cutting Edge (1992)
Death of a Nation (2018)
The Favourite (2018)
Ghost of Dragstrip Hollow (1959)
Green Book (2018)
Gun City (2018)
Happy As Lazzaro (2018)
The Hurricane Heist (2018)
If Beale Street Could Talk (2018)
The Karate Kid (1984)
Like A Country Song (2012)
Mary, Queen of Scots (2018)
Mid90s (2018)
The Miseducation of Cameron Post (2018)
Mission Impossible: Fall-Out (2018)
The Most Assassinated Woman In The World (2018)
Porndemic (2016)
Recovery Boys (2018)
Roma (2018)
St. Paul (2000)
Shirkers (2018)
A Simple Favor (2018)
Spider-Man (2002)
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse (2018)
Support the Girls (2018)
They’ll Love Me When I’m Dead (2018)
Upgrade (2018)
White Boy Rick (2018)

Television Shows I Watched:

60 Days In
The Bachelor 23
Friends
Ghost Whisperer
Gordon Ramsay’s 24 Hours To Hell and Back
Hell’s Kitchen
King of the Hill
The Orville
Seinfeld
True Detective
Undercover Boss

Books I Read:

The Egyptian Gods and Goddesses (1992) by Clive Barrett
Lost Atlantis (1969) by J.V. Luce
The Mad Ones (2008) by Tom Folsom

Music To Which I Listened:

Alkaline Trio
Avicii
Avril Lavigne,
Britney Spears
David Guetta
Grey
Jai Wolf
Nouveau Lounge
Saint Motel
Sevenn
Tiesto
Trentemøller

Links From Last Week

On my music site, I shared songs from Saint Motel, Britney Spears, Avril Lavigne, Jia Wolf, Britney Spears again, Alkaline Trio, and Tiesto and Sevenn.
Over at SyFy Designs, I wrote The Shallow Hotness of Beto and January 18th 2019 — Early Morning Thoughts.
On her photography site, Erin shared: Mushroom, Back Yard, Red Sky At Night, Dark Places, Watchers, Fountain, and Dorothy In The Haunted Forest.
Sorry, but ‘This Is Us’ is totally overrated — here’s why you can skip it
On The Trail: The Resplendent Prose Stylings of 2020 Frontrunner Beto O’Rourke
Dario Argento claims Luca Guadagnino’s ‘Suspiria’ remake ‘betrayed’ his original version
Netflix Reboots “Unsolved Mysteries”

Links From The Site

Case reviewed IO and The Meg!
Erin profiled George Erickson and shared the following artwork: Lament for Four Virgins, Leg-Art Virgin, Her Soul Went First, Portrait of a Mobster, Finders Keepers, Detective Fiction Weekly, and the Golden Touch!
Gary reviewed The Westerner, Bowery at Midnight, and The Woman in the Window!
Ryan reviewed Migraine, Hobo Mom, and Things Go Wrong and he shared his weekly reading list!
Arleigh shared the trailer for the new Spider-Man film and a song called Paradise Lost!
I finally completed my look back at 2018 with: The Ten Worst Movies Of The Year, The Best of Lifetime, The Best of SyFy, My Ten Favorite Novels, My 12 Favorite Non-Fiction Books, My Top Ten Songs, Ten Good Things that I saw on Television, and My 26 Top Films Of 2018! I also reviewed White Boy Rick and shared the trailers for Ghostbusters 3 and John Wick 3! Finally, I shared music videos from Grey and Nouveau Lounge, along with the following from Britney Spears: Sometimes, Oops …. I Did it Again, From the Bottom of My Broken Heart, Lucky, and Stronger!

Want to see what I did last week? Click here!

Stay supple, everyone!

Music Video of the Day: Want You Back by Grey featuring Leon (2019, dir by Matt Komo)

Posted on January 20, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, this video last for about three minutes and I have to admit that I spent the first 2 and a half minutes feeling fairly skeptical about the whole thing.

I was like:

“Oh, they’re so in love.”

“Oh, now they’re fighting.”

“Oh, now, they’re looking at old pictures.”

“Oh now, they’re acting like kids again and everything’s okay.”

“Oh now, they’re driving together.”

“Oh now …. OH MY GOD!”

Yes, st the end of this video, the tragedy smashes into you like a freight train and I’m totally supportive of that. The best short films — and that’s what a music video is — are always either extremely funny or extremely depressing. Attempting to go for moderately amusing or thought-provoking doesn’t work. A short film needs tragedy!

And that’s what we get here. Suddenly, we understand why his old sweater is so important to her and maybe we feel a little bit guilty for rolling our eyes just a few seconds earlier. As always, your mileage may vary. Just remember to keep your eyes on the road.

Whenever I see a video like this, I always want to know what they’re fighting about. These falling in and out of love montages always seem to have a scene where the couple suddenly starts yelling at each other in the kitchen and I always wonder what the exact details of the fight are about. Is it that one of them wants to eat out while the other insists on cooking? Is it because someone forgot to get Parmesan cheese the last time they went to the grocery store? Whatever it is, they always seem to make up, which is a good thing.

Enjoy!

2018 in Review: Lisa’s Top 26 Films of 2018

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

And now, without further ado, I conclude my look back at 2018 with my 26 favorite films of the years. Why 26? Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!

Eighth Grade
A Simple Favor
Leave No Trace
Support the Girls
The Favourite
Roma
The Ballad of Buster Scruggs
Blindspotting
Avengers: Infinity War
The Other Side of the Wind
The Death of Stalin
Mission Impossible: Fallout
Mandy
Searching
A Star is Born
Chappaquiddick
A Quiet Place
Black Panther
Annihilation
Paddington 2
Game Night
American Animals
If Beale Street Could Talk
Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse
Three Identical Strangers
Mid90s

And there you have it. Some of these films, I’ve reviewed here on the site. Some of them — far too many of them — I have not. My hope is that I’ll be able to fix that over the upcoming week. But, whether I manage to write a 100 reviews or only three, I encourage everyone to see these 26 films, along with every other films that they can get their hands on.

2018 was an okay year for movies. We had some really good ones. We also had some really bad ones. For the most part, though, this was pretty much of a middle-of-the-road year. Personally, I can’t wait to see what 2019 has waiting for us!

Thank you everyone for reading. And now, let’s great ready to make 2019 the best year since 2015!

Lisa Looks Back At 2018

2018 in Review: 10 Good Things That I Saw On Television

Posted on January 19, 2019 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Moving right along with my look back at 2018, here are 10 good things that I saw on television.

Please note, I did not say that these were the ten “best” things on television in 2018. Instead, these are ten things that I enjoyed enough that, in January of 2019, they still pop to my mind whenever I ask myself, “What did I enjoy last year?” As always, this is just my opinion and you’re free to agree or disagree.

Got it? Okay, let’s go!

Showtime reran Twin Peaks: The Return

Okay, so maybe I’m cheating a little here. Twin Peaks: The Return originally aired in 2017. You may remember that, for about 6 months, the Shattered Lens essentially became a Twin Peaks fan site. Still, I can’t begin to describe how excited I was to discover that, over the course of a weekend, Showtime would be reairing the entire series. I binged every episode and I discovered that, even with the benefit of hindsight, it’s still one of the greatest shows of all time. Unfortunately, the Emmy voters did not agree. Bastards.

2. The Alienist

It took me a little while to really get into The Alienist but, once I did, I found myself growing obsessed with not only the sets and the costumes but the mystery as well! Daniel Bruhl, Luke Evans, and Dakota Fanning all did excellent work and I can’t wait for the sequel!

3. Jesus Christ Superstar Live

I was skeptical. I had my doubts. I thought I’d spend the entire two and a half hours rolling my eyes. Jesus Christ Superstar proved me wrong.

4. The Americans

One of the best shows on television went out on a high note.

5. Barry

Barry premiered on HBO and it quickly became a favorite of mine. While I agree that Bill Hader and Henry Winkler deserve all of the attention that they’ve received, I’d also say that Stephen Root continues to prove himself to be one of our greatest character actors.

6. Big Brother

The reality show that so many love to hate finally had another good season. Since I get paid to write about the show for another site, that made me happy. Seriously, some of the previous seasons were painful to watch so Big Brother 20 was a huge relief. (Plus, BB 20 inspired everyone’s favorite twitter game: “Will Julie Chen Moonves show up tonight?”)

7. Maniac

As much fun as it is to complain about Netflix, occasionally they justify the price of their existence by giving us something like Maniac.

8. You

Sometimes, I loved this show. Sometimes, I absolutely hated it. However, I was always intrigued and never bored. I can’t wait to see what happens during season 2.

9. Trust

For all the attention that was given to The Assassination of Gianni Versace, Trust was the best FX true crime series of 2018. Along with an intriguing story, it also featured great performances from Donald Sutherland, Hillary Swank, and Brendan Fraser. (Yes, Brendan Fraser.)

10. Westworld

I know a lot of people didn’t care much for the latest season of Westworld. I loved it and, in the end, isn’t that what really matters?

That’s it for television! Coming up next, it’s the entry in Lisa’s look back at 2018 that we’ve all been waiting for, my picks for the best 26 films of the year!