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 is Spike Lee’s 63rd birthday and you know what the means. It’s time that we honor one of American cinema’s greatest provocateurs with….
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 wish a happy 81st birthday to one of the most underrated British filmmakers around, Piers Haggard. Though Haggard made few feature films over the course of his career, he is best remembered for his work as television director. Among Haggard’s triumphs: Dennis Potter’s Pennies From Heaven and Nigel Kneale’s Quatermass.
In honor of Piers Haggard’s long career and his birthday, here are:
4 Shots From 4 Films
Blood On Satan’s Claw (1971, directed by Piers Haggard)
Pennies From Heaven (1978, directed by Piers Haggard)
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 wish a happy 69th birthday to the patron saint of all thing that are cool about the movies, the one and only Kurt Russell!
And here to help us do that are:
4 Shots From 4 Films
Used Cars (1980, directed by Robert Zemeckis)
Escape From New York (1981, directed by John Carpenter)
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 wish a happy birthday to one of the greatest Canadian filmmakers of all time, David Cronenberg! Cronenberg is not only one of the best directors to come out of Canada but he’s also a favorite of those of us here at the Shattered Lens as well. Just check out Arleigh’s review of Eastern Promises, for example.
In honor of a great artists’s birthday, here are….
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 is the 87th birthday of the great actor and icon of all things British, Michael Caine!
Caine is famously prolific and, when it comes to picking shots from his films, it’s hard to narrow them down to just four. At a certain point in his career, the big joke about Michael Caine was that he would appear in literally everything. He even missed accepting his first Oscar in person because he was busy filming Jaws: The Revenge. Not surprisingly, it was after Jaws: The Revenge that Caine started to become more discriminating when it came to picking his films.
Despite the fact that he’s now a bit more careful about picking roles that allow him to show off his considerable talent as opposed to just supplying him with an easy paycheck, Caine remains a busy actor. In his autobiography, Blowing the Bloody Doors Off, Caine wrote that he plans to keep acting as long as he is physically and mentally able to do so. I look forward to seeing what future, great performances Michael Caine is going to give us.
For now, here are:
4 Shots From 4 Films
Get Carter (1971, directed by Mike Hodges)
The Man Who Would Be King (1975, directed by John Huston)
A Shock to the System (1990, directed by Jan Egleson)
The Dark Knight Rises (2012, directed by Christopher Nolan)
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 is the 80th birthday of the greatest living American, Chuck Norris! For those who doubt that power of Chuck, consider this: Chuck Norris is a year older than Bernie Sanders and he could still beat him in a fight.
In honor of Chuck’s birthday, here are 4 shots from 4 of his best.
4 Shots From 4 Films
An Eye For An Eye (1981, directed by Steve Carver)
I woke up to the sad news that Max von Sydow, one of the greatest actors of all time, died yesterday. He was 90 years old and he leaves behind a truly amazing filmography. He played saints, sinners, assassins, exorcists, generals, poets, doctors, and even ordinary men who were just trying to make it day-to-day. That he was nominated for only two Academy Awards over a career that lasted 71 years was a major oversight on the Academy’s part. He was an actor who was as capable in arthouse films as he was in the latest installment of a legendary sci-fi franchise.
It’s hard to take a career as long and productive as von Sydow’s and narrow it down to just four shots from four films so I’m not going to try. The shots are below are some of my favorite von Sydow performances but they’re hardly definitive. Max von Sydow gave so many good and memorable performances that it’s hard to know where to start. Below are 4 shots from 4 films from a truly remarkable career.
Max von Sydow, R.I.P.
4 Shots From 4 Films
The Virgin Spring (1960, directed by Ingmar Bergman)
Flash Gordon (1980, directed by Mike Hodges)
Needful Things (1993, directed by Fraser C. Heston)
Shutter Island (2010, directed by Martin Scorsese)
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 pay tribute to director Robert Clouse, who was born 92 years ago today. Best-known for directing Bruce Lee’s biggest hit, Enter The Dragon, Clouse was responsible for some of the most memorable action films of the 70s and the 80s. He was an action auteur who never got the respect that he deserved but we can pay tribute to him today.
4 Shots From 4 Films
Enter The Dragon (1973, directed by Robert Clouse)
Black Belt Jones (1974, directed by Robert Clouse)
The Ultimate Warrior (1975, directed by Robert Clouse)
There’s no particular connection between these films Just a smattering of shots I found interesting in some films I’ve watched recently.
The Concorde… Airport ’79 (1979, dir. David Lowell Rich)
The same year that Ruggero Deodato brought us Concorde Affaire ’79 (1979), the final Airport film came out. It involved pilot George Kennedy having to deal with a reprogrammed drone missile, missiles launched by duped French Air Force officers, and a device designed to decompress the plane by opening the cargo bay door.
This particular shot is from a scene where they fly the plane upside down while George Kennedy fires a flare out of the cockpit as a countermeasure to throw off an incoming missile. Just take that all in.
Shin Godzilla (2016, dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi)
One of the last shots from the film where Godzilla has now become part of the city skyline. If you haven’t seen this Godzilla movie, then I highly recommend you check it out.
The First 9 1/2 Weeks (1998, dir. Alex Wright)
Malcolm McDowell remembering the time he played Caligula (1979) in a knockoff of The Game (1997) which bills itself as prequel to 9 1/2 Weeks (1986). The only connection it has to the first two films is that it tries something like the fridge scene from the original and the shampoo scene from Another 9 1/2 Weeks (1997). However, that’s like Witchcraft 8: Salem’s Ghost (1996) claiming it has a connection to 9 1/2 Weeks because it too features a fridge scene (a disgusting one).
Etoile (1989, dir. Peter Del Monte)
Okay, I’m cheating on this one. I actually watched this film last year when I was finally able to get my hands on two of Jennifer Connelly’s early films–the other being Seven Minutes In Heaven (1985). This was during what I call her mystical period. Another example is Some Girls (1988).
In Etoile (aka Ballet), Jennifer Connelly and some other guy get drawn into a bad movie where Connelly performs in a weird version of Swan Lake. So of course the movie needs to include somebody getting attacked by a giant black swan during a scene a little reminiscent of the time Jessica Harper referenced Dario Argento’s first film while fighting a witch. Yes, I’m well aware that Connelly was also in an Argento film.
As a bonus, here’s what the director thought of the giant black swan.
Today is the birthday of Italian actress Ania Pieroni.
You may not recognize the name but, if you’re a fan of Italian horror, chances are that you’ve seen Ania Pieroni at least once. Even though she only has 11 credits listed on the imdb and apparently made her last film over 30 years ago, Ania Pieroni achieved screen immortality by playing key roles in three of the greatest Italian films ever made.
In Dario Argento’s Inferno, she was the first actress to play the mysterious Mother of Tears.
In Lucio Fulci’s The House By The Cemetery, she played the mysterious housekeeper and nanny who, in one of the film’s most memorable scenes, nonchalantly mops up a huge pool of blood before subsequently losing her head in the house’s basement.
And then, in Argento’s Tenebre, she played the unfortunate shoplifter who pays a steep price for not paying for Peter Neal’s latest novel.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Ania Pieroni with….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento)
The House By The Cemetery (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci)
Through the Shattered Lens 