4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1932 Edition


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

Today, we take a look at a classic cinematic year.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 1932 Films

The Blood of a Poet (1932, dir by Jean Cocteau, DP: Georges Piranal)

Shanghai Express (1932, dir by Josef von Sternberg, DP: Lee Garmes and James Wong Howe)

Trouble In Paradise (1932, dir by Ernst Lubitsch, DP: Victor Milner)

Vampyr (1932, dir by Carl Theodor Dreyer, DP: Rudolph Mate)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Wes Anderson Edition


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

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Texas’s own Wes Anderson!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Wes Anderson Films

Rushmore (1998, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

The French Dispatch (2021, dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

Asteroid City (2023. dir by Wes Anderson, DP: Robert Yeoman)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Lars Von Trier Edition


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

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 69nth birthday to cinematic provocateur, Lars Von Trier!

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Lars Von Trier Films

Europa (1991, directed by Lars Von Trier, DP: Henning Bendtsen,
Edward Kłosiński, Jean-Paul Meurisse.  Released as Zentropa in North America)

Breaking the Waves (1996, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Robby Muller)

Dogville (2002, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Anthony Dod Mantle)

Melancholia (2011, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Manuel Alberto Claro)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Fred Zinnemann Edition


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

118 years ago, on this date, Fred Zinnemann was born in what is now Poland.  Though he originally considered studying to become a lawyer, a teenage Zinnemann instead became fascinated with the relatively new medium of film.  He immigrated to the United States in 1928, hoping to find more opportunities as an aspiring director.  After working as an actor and crew member on several films, Zinnemann made his directorial debut in 1936.

His film career was span 50 years, during which time Zinnemann became known for making films about strong individuals who refused to back down in the face of societal pressure.  In total, his films received 65 Oscar nominations and won 24.  Zinnemann was nominated ten times and won three Oscars.  Two of his films, From Here To Eternity and A Man For All Seasons, won best picture.  While many of his contemporaries were retiring or fading into irrelevance, Zinnemann remained an important director throughout the 70s and early 80s.

Today, we honor the legacy of Fred Zinnemann with….

4 Shots From 4 Fred Zinnemann Films

High Noon (1952, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Floyd Crosby)

From Here To Eternity (1953, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Floyd Crosby and Burnett Guffey)

A Man For All Seasons (1966, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Ted Moore)

The Day of the Jackal (1973, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Jean Tournier)

6 Shots From 6 Films: Special 1996 Edition


6 Shots From 6 Films is just what it says it is, 6 shots from 6 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 6 Shots From 6 Films lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we take a look at a classic cinematic year.  It’s time for….

6 Shots From 6 1996 Films

Breaking the Waves (1996, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Robby Muller)

The Stendhal Syndrome (1996, dir by Dario Argento, DP: Giuseppe Rotunno)

Fargo (1996, dir by the Coen Brothers, DP: Roger Deakins)

Trainspotting (1996, dir by Danny Boyle, DP: Brian Tufano)

Basquiat (1996, dir by Julian Schnabel, DP: Ron Fortunato)

Normal Life (1996, dir by John McNaughton, DP: Jean de Segonzac)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1953 Edition


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

Today, we take a look at a classic cinematic year.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 1953 Films

From Here To Eternity (1953, dir by Fred Zinnemann, DP: Floyd Crosby and Burnett Guffey)

Fear and Desire (1953, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Stanley Kubrick)

Pickup on South Street (1953, dir by Samuel Fuller, DP: Joseph MacDonald)

The War of the Worlds (1953, dir by Byron Haskin, DP: George Barnes)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Douglas Sirk Edition


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

128 years ago, on this date, Douglas Sirk was born in Germany.  He would start out his career as a stage director in Germany before coming to the United States in 1937.  In the U.S., he made his mark as the director of a series of lushly visualized and often over-the-top melodramas.  Never a critical favorite, Sirk was rediscovered and his reputation rehabilitated when film students and critics started to reexamine his work in the late 60s and the 70s.  Once dismissed as the maker of tawdry (if popular) melodramas, Douglas Sirk is now seen as a subversive master of irony, one who used his melodramas to comment on American society.  It’s fair to say that, without the films of Douglas Sirk, there would be no Lifetime today.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Douglas Sirk Films

Magnificent Obsession (1954, dir by Douglas Sirk, DP: Russell Metty)

All That Heaven Allows (1955, dir by Douglas Sirk, DP: Russell Metty)

Written on the Wind (1956, dir by Douglas Sirk, DP: Russell Metty)

Imitation of Life (1959, dir by Douglas Sirk, DP: Russell Metty)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Al Pacino Edition


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

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Al Pacino!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Al Pacino Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

The Godfather Part II (1974, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

The Irishman (2019, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Rodrigo Prieto)

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, dir by Quentin Tarantino, DP: Robert Richardson)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Richard Donner Edition


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

Today would have been the 95th birthday of director Richard Donner.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Richard Donner Films

The Omen (1976, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Gilbert Taylor)

Superman (1978, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)

Lethal Weapon (1987, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Stephen Goldblatt)

Scrooged (1988, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Michael Chapman)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Alien Invasion Edition


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

The aliens are here …. or are they?

4 Shots From 4 Alien Invasion Films

It Came From Outer Space (1953, dir by Jack Arnold, DP: Clifford Stine)

It Conquered The World (1956, dir by Roger Corman, DP: Fred E. West)

Starman (1984, dir by John Carpenter. DP: Donald M. Morgan)

Predator (1987, directed by John McTiernan, DP: Donald McAlpine)