Category Archives: Editorial

In Memoriam: Chris A. Mead (a.k.a. Semtex Skittle)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

We have some sad news to report.

Chris Mead, who blogged for the TSL under the name Semtex Skittle, passed away on January 21st.  Though Chris started out as our video game reviewer, he quickly proved himself to be just as adept at reviewing everything from anime to episodes of Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD to Pierce Brosnan-era James Bond movies. His reviews were distinguished by his intelligence and wit and were always a pleasure to read.  I was always so happy whenever I would see that he was editing a new review.

It’s hard to know what to say after losing someone like Chris.  Speaking for myself, I will always be grateful for the invaluable help that he provided back in 2012 when I decided that, in the days leading up to the release of Skyfall, we, as a group, would review every single film in the James Bond franchise.  Leonard Wilson often refers to the Bond reviews as being our Avengers moment and Chris was definitely our Captain America.

On a personal note, Chris and I once ended a long twitter conversation about gender stereotypes by making an agreement.  He promised to watch the last Twilight film if I would buy, play, and subsequently review the latest Call of Duty game.  I did buy the game and, believe it or not, I even played a good deal of it.  Fortunately, Chis was always available on twitter to explain to me how to do things like … well, like how to actually play the game.

Chris was taken from us far too soon but I know we’re all thankful for the time that we had to get to know him.  He was a Bears fan, a good writer, a good friend, and a good guy.  He will be missed.  Our thoughts and condolences go out to his friends and family.

Chris Mead (a.k.a. Semtex Skittle), R.I.P.

You can read Chris’s reviews by clicking here.

Let’s Say Goodbye to 2014 with Leonardo DiCaprio in The Aviator

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, 2014 is nearly over.

Soon, it will be 2015.

Soon, the present will become the future.

2014 will not go down in history as one of humanity’s finest moments.  Considering all that’s happened over the past year, it’s hard for me to be surprised by the fact that several of my favorite films of the year were films that I would normally describe as being entertaining escapism.

In 2014, we needed to be entertained.  We needed to escape.

Will 2015 be any better?  What will be the way of the future?  It’s a question that Leonardo DiCaprio asked at the end of Martin Scorsese’s 2004 film The Aviator and it’s a question that we’re still asking today.

Song of the Day: Orphans of Doom/The Awakening (by Basil Poledouris)

Posted on by Arleigh

Basil-Pictures-2

We’re closing out another year and it’s always time to reflect back on the events the we all experienced.

Here in Through the Shattered Lens we saw a new writer join the ranks with the arrival and addition of Alexandre Rothier. We also saw more and more of our writers grow in confidence with their writing. This didn’t just translate into more writing from them, but better as well. There’s Dazzling Erin with her constant surprise of finding new artists to share. Then leonth3duke who finally made the jump to truly appreciating horror. Leonard Wilson continued to find his voice with each new review he wrote.

I can’t forget necromoonyeti who continues to be my source of all things music and with each new band written I pick up something new to experience. Semtex Skittle showed the world his appreciation not just for the franchise of Final Fantasy but Sailor Moon as well and to that otaku are grateful. Speaking of otaku there’s the site’s own big bear of one with pantsukudasai56 who always brings in his choice recommendations in anime.

Then there’s Dork Geekus giving us his thoughts on things comic book. We also have trashfilmguru gracious enough to take time to share his unique take on horror, comic books both high and low-brow who also keeps the rest of us from drinking the Marvel Kool-Aid wholesale which makes for a better site.

Finally there’s my co-founder and partner-in-crime Lisa Marie Bowman who upped her game as she literally propped up the site at times with her voluminous, insightful and unique brand of writing. I will be forever grateful for her continued support and for becoming one of my closest friends.

I’ve chosen the latest “Song of the Day” as an analogue to what I saw myself and this site go through this year of 2014. I had just lost my father at the tail end of 2013 (it is a loss still felt even today) and then had fallen deathly ill around the holidays. Through it all I was thankful and proud of the work my fellow writers were able to do in my absence through my grief and sickness.

Basil Poledouris remains an artist I’ve admired from the moment I heard his music transform John Milius’ screen adaptation of Robert E. Howard’s Cimmerian barbarian from just your standard violent sword-and-sorcery matinee piece to something close to a perfect blend of epic fantasy and primal storytelling. Poledouris would go on to make other memorable film scores, but it’s his work in Conan the Barbarian that always remains his most iconic piece of work.

With the final denouement that follows the climax of the film we have a somber piece titled “Orphans of Doom/The Awakening” closing off the film. I chose this piece to symbolize the year Through the Shattered Lens went through. The piece begins on a somber note with the use of a choir adding a layer of the ethereal, but as the piece continues to it’s conclusion it gradually segues into something triumphant with hope for the future.

This song perfectly encapsulates Through the Shattered Lens circa 2014 and it’s my hope that brighter future awaits me and mine as the new year dawns.

Scenes I Love: Dead Poets Society (dir. by Peter Weir) R.I.P. Robin Williams

Posted on by Arleigh

dead-poets-society-your-verse

With each passing year I get older and part of that process means many of the people I grew up admiring and looking to for inspiration has passed. They’ve all left an indelible mark on me and continue to push and prod me in making my own mark on the world before my own time comes to pass.

So, it was with a sad heart when I found out that Robin Williams passed away today. As to the manner of his passing I won’t dwell on it, but instead on how he has made an impact on my life and on the world. He might have just been a comedian and an actor known to have entertained several generations of people, but he would always be John Keating to me, first and foremost.

I was already a fan of Williams from watching his hit show Mork & Mindy. I’ve even been a fan of his films, but I truly began to admire the man after his performance as English teach John Keating in 1989’s Dead Poets Society. He was able to take his rapid-fire gift for gab but meld it with such a poignant and emotional performance as a teacher in a tradition-bound prep school who really cared about the kids in his charge.

I would say that his performance and this film was instrumental in opening up the world of literature and the joys of the written word to my teenage self. This film and his work in it showed me that literature shouldn’t be something to be endured, but instead something that should nurture and inspire me.

To say that Robin Williams has been an inspiration to me would be an understatement.

Rest in peace, my captain and you’ve certainly left your verse on this world.

Lisa’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For June

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Timothy Spall in Mr Turner

It’s time for me to update my way too early Oscar predictions!  Every month, based on a combination of buzz, reviews, gut feelings, and random guesses, I attempt to predict which films, directors, and performers will receive nominations in 2015!  For the June edition, I look at how my predictions have been effected and changed by the results of the Cannes Film Festival.

Thanks to Cannes, I’m a bit more sure about some of my predictions (in particular, Foxcatcher, Mr. Turner, and Julianne Moore in Map To The Stars).  But at the same time, the majority of these predictions remain the result of instinct and random guessing.

Click on the links to check out my predictions for March, April, and May!

And now, here are June’s predictions!

Best Picture

Birdman

Boyhood

Foxcatcher

The Imitation Game

Interstellar

Mr. Turner

Whiplash

Wild

Based on its reception at Cannes, I’ve added Mr. Turner to the list of nominees.    I’ve also dropped Unbroken from the list, largely because of how aggressively it is currently being hyped by people who have yet to see it.    Traditionally, the more intensely an awards contender is hyped during the first half of the year, the more likely it is that the film itself is going to be end up being ignored once the actual nominations are announced.  (This is known as the Law of The Butler.)

Best Director

Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu for Birdman

Mike Leigh for Mr. Turner

Richard Linklater for Boyhood

Bennett Miller for Foxcatcher

Jean-Marc Vallee for Wild

I’ve dropped Angelina Jolie (Unbroken) and Morten Tyldum (The Imitation Game) and replaced them with Mike Leigh (Mr. Turner) and Bennett Miller (Foxcatcher).  I’m far more confident that Cannes winner Miller will receive a nomination than Leigh.

Best Actor

Steve Carell in Foxcatcher

Benedict Cumberbatch in The Imitation Game

Ralph Fiennes in The Grand Budapest Hotel

Michael Keaton in Birdman

Timothy Spall in Mr. Turner

The big addition here is Timothy Spall, who I am predicting will be nominated for his Cannes-winning performance in Mr. Turner.

Best Actress

Amy Adams in Big Eyes

Jessica Chastain in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby

Rosamund Pike in Gone Girl

Reese Whitherspoon in Wild

Shailene Woodley in The Fault In Our Stars

Based on the charming but slight trailer for Magic In The Moonlight, I have removed Emma Stone from this list.  I was tempted to replace her with Hillary Swank but even the positive reviews of The Homesman were curiously muted.  So, I ended up going with Jessica Chastain’s performance in The Disappearance of Eleanor Rigby.  I also replaced Michelle Williams with Shailene Woodley who, much like Jennifer Lawrence over the past two years, is currently starring in both a commercially successful franchise film and a critically and commercially acclaimed drama.  That said, The Fault In Our Stars may have opened too early in the year to be a legitimate contender.

Best Supporting Actor

James Franco in True Story

Ethan Hawke in Boyhood

Mark Ruffalo in Foxcatcher

Martin Sheen in Trash

J.K. Simmons in Whiplash

I’ve moved Ralph Fiennes back up to Best Actor and I’ve replaced him with James Franco for True Story.  That might be wishful thinking on my part because everyone knows that I have a huge crush on James Franco.  However, the role — that of a real-life murderer who steals a reporter’s identity — sounds like both a chance of pace for Franco and the type of role that often leads to Oscar recognition.  (Just ask Steve Carell…)

Speaking of Steve Carell, he’s not the only actor getting awards-buzz for his performance in Foxcatcher.  Channing Tatum has been getting the best reviews of his career.  If he’s promoted for a supporting nod, Tatum is probably guaranteed a nomination (and, in all probability, that would doom the chances of Mark Ruffalo).  However, Tatum is apparently going to be promoted for best actor and his chances might be a bit more iffy in that race.

Best Supporting Actress

Patricia Arquette in Boyhood

Julianne Moore in Map To The Stars

Vanessa Redgrave in Foxcatcher

Kristen Scott Thomas in Suite francaise

Kristen Stewart in The Clouds of Sils Maria

Unlike a lot of film bloggers, I am not expecting Into the Woods to be a major Oscar contender.  (See The Law of The Butler above.)  While I was originally predicting that this film would manage to get Meryl Streep her annual nomination, I am now going to go out on a limb and predict that Meryl Streep will not be nominated for anything (other than maybe a Nobel Peace Prize) in 2015.  I’m also dropping both Viola Davis and Marcia Gay Harden from my list of predicted nominees and I’m replacing them with three actresses who received a lot of acclaim at Cannes: Julianne Moore for Map To The Stars, Vanessa Redgrave for Foxcatcher, and Kristen Stewart for The Clouds of Sils Maria.

Yes, I know what you’re saying — “Kristen Stewart!?”  Personally, if she’s as good as her reviews for The Clouds of Sils Maria seem to indicate, I think she will definitely be nominated.  I think it will actually help her case that she’s not exactly an acclaimed actress.  Look at it this way — people take it for granted that Meryl Streep is going to give a great performance, so much so that they’ll even make excuses for Meryl’s shrill turn in August: Osage County.  When someone like Kristen Stewart shows that she’s capable of more than Twilight, people notice and remember.  It’s those performances that inspire people to go, “Oh yeah, she actually can act!” that often lead to Oscar momentum.

And those are my predictions for June.  Agree?  Disagree?  Let me know in the comments section below!

Kristen Stewart

The Eternally Frustrating Nicolas Cage

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

actor-nicolas-cage-discusses-his-2014-movie-left-behind

Just put yourself in my 4 inch heels for a moment.

You’re a film blogger who, though her tastes may be quirky, can usually defend her opinions fairly well.  You make an effort to see films that others may have missed and you pride yourself on your willingness to take and defend unpopular positions.

And let’s say that you’ve defied the conventional wisdom of so many of your fellow bloggers by declaring that Nicolas Cage is still a good actor and he still has something to offer the film world, beyond bad movies and weird performances.  You’ve even reviewed a film called Joe and triumphantly declared that this film proves that Nicolas Cage is a “great actor.”

And maybe, when certain people on Facebook laughed at you for using the terms “great” and “Nicolas Cage” in the same sentence, you argued that Cage is about to make a Matthew McConaughey-style comeback.  How?  By playing challenging roles in intelligent indie films.  You might have even said, “McConaughey had his Killer Joe and Nicolas Cage has Joe.”

And then this trailer for an upcoming film is released:

Nic, I still believe in you but, oh my God, you do test me sometimes.

 

Song of the Day: Entre Dos Aguas (by Paco de Lucia – R.I.P)

Posted on by Arleigh

paco-de-lucia

One of the great guitarists ever passed away (some would say he’s one of the greatest, if not the best there ever was) in the last 24 hours.

Paco de Lucia has passed on into legend as one of history’s greatest guitarist. He joins such fellow luminaries as Django Reinhardt, Jimi Hendrix, Andres Segovia, Stevie Ray Vaughan and Robert Johnson to just name a few now playing their guitars in the next life.

Paco came from a family of flamenco singers and guitarists. His musical upbringing was molded by his father Antonio Sanchez. He would take classic flamenco guitar playing and incorporate other musical genres such as jazz, classical and bossa nova. While flamenco traditionalists heaped criticisms at Paco de Lucia for incorporating the many different styles of guitar playing with flamenco the movement to create a new flamenco sound which still adhered to classic flamenco playing but with some added new sound to appeal to a new generation that was beginning to listen to a variety of musical styles.

While many young people would scratch their heads as to who this Spaniard was to be considered one of the greatest guitarist of all-time (I would remind such individuals that not all guitarists were playing rock or metal), I would suggest they listen to his most popular song and just marvel at the talent and legend that was Paco de Lucia.

Saying Goodbye To Three Cinematic Legends

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

 

We lost three legends this week.

joan-fontaine-rebecca

As I’ve mentioned on this site, I love the old Hollywood of the 30s and the 40s.  It’s a period of time that I love both for the films that were made and for the unapologetic glamour of the people who made them.  To me, the 30s and the 40s will always be the Golden Age of film because that was a time when actors and actresses felt no shame in looking good and living lives that literally seemed to be larger-than-life.

Joan Fontaine was one of the most beautiful actresses of the Golden Age, as well as one of the most talented.  She was also one of my personal favorites.  Whether she was playing the second Mrs. de Winter in Rebecca or a frightened wife in Suspicion, Joan Fontaine was a vibrant force on-screen.  Off-screen, she was best known for a long-running feud with her older sister, Olivia De Havilland.

Joan Fontaine passed away on December 15th, at the age of 96.  She was one of the last remaining stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age.

tom-laughlin-billyjack121

Tom Laughlin was an actor who wasn’t happy with the roles he was getting in mainstream films.  He was a filmmaker who wasn’t happy with the way that the Hollywood establishment treated his films.  The same can be said about a lot of filmmakers and a lot of actors over the years.  The difference between them and Tom Laughlin is that Laughlin actually did something about it.

In 1971, Tom Laughlin produced, wrote, directed, and starred in a film called Billy Jack.  Laughlin played Billy Jack, an American Navajo who is also a former Green Beret, a veteran of the Viet Nam War, a master of the martial arts, and the self-appointed defender of the Freedom School.  When small town bigots and other assorted fascists try to destroy the Freedom School, Billy responds by kicking ass and reciting platitudes.

When the mainstream studios showed that they had no idea what to do with an anti-establishment film like Billy Jack, Laughlin released (and subsequently) re-released it himself.  Billy Jack ended up making more than 40 million dollars and changed the film industry forever.

Laughlin went on to produce, direct, and write two sequels and an unrelated film called The Master Gunfighter.  He also ran for President a few times but was never elected.  (However, he did get to play a Senator in Billy Jack Goes To Washington.)

He died at the age of 82 on December 12th.

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And finally, Peter O’Toole.  How does one sum up Peter O’Toole in just a few sentences?  As an actor, he appeared in everything from Lawrence of Arabia to Caligula to For Greater Glory.  He was great in good films and good in bad films and he had a unique screen presence that no other actor will ever be able to duplicate.   While it’s true that O’Toole had retired from acting in 2012 (and he was obviously frail in films like For Greater Glory and Venus), it’s still hard to believe that such a bigger-than-life character has passed away.

While there’s so much that can be written about Peter O’Toole’s life, career, and hell-raising reputation, I’m going to instead suggest that you watch Becket and The Lion In Winter and then wonder how Peter O’Toole could end his career with 8 Oscar nominations but no wins.

Peter O’Toole died on December 14th after a long illness.  He was 81 years old.

To Peter, Tom, Joan — rest in peace.  And thank you for the movies and the memories.