Avenging Angelo (2002, directed by Martyn Burke)

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

When mob boss Angelo (Anthony Quinn) is assassinated on the orders of the son of a former rival, bodyguard Frankie Delano (Sylvester Stallone) takes it upon himself to protect Angelo’s daughter, Jennifer (Madeleine Stowe). The problem is that Jennifer, who was adopted by a normal couple, doesn’t know that she is the daughter of a mobster. Her life and her marriage are already falling apart even before Frankie reveals the truth to her. All she wants to do is disappear into the pages of a romance novel written by her favorite writer, Marcello (Raoul Bova) but Marello is not quite what he seems.

Sylvester Stallone has had a long career, full of high points (Rocky, First Blood, The Expendables, Creed) and low points (too many to list). Avenging Angelo, made at a time when it was assumed that the aging Stallone would never again play Rocky Balboa or John Rambo, is a moderate low point. It’s no Rocky but it’s still better than Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot! Overall, it’s not very good and a lot of the humor falls flat but Stallone and Madeleine Stowe are both likable and they have a few moments that display what seems like genuine chemistry. It’s still a slow movie that awkwardly mixes comedy and action but it was not the disaster that I was expecting it to be when I first found it on Tubi. It’s more forgettable than bad. If there is anything to really regret when it comes to Avenging Angelo, it’s that Anthony Quinn did not get a more memorable swan song.

Avenging Angelo was Stallone’s second movie to go straight to video. It’s easy to forget not but the conventional wisdom in 2002 really was that Stallone was washed up. There were jokes about whether or not he would follow Schwarzenegger’s lead and go into politics. Stallone, however, proved all the naysayers wrong, proving that he could still throw punches as Rocky Balboa and John Rambo while The Expendables revealed a Stallone who could finally laugh at himself. Avenging Angelo turned out to be not the end of Stallone’s career but instead just a detour. Say what you will about the man and his movies, Sylvester Stallone is an American institution.

4 Shots From 4 Films – Thomas Mitchell Edition!

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Bradley Crain

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.

I noticed that today, July 11th, 2025, is actor Thomas Mitchell’s 133rd birthday in cinema heaven! I can guarantee that I, along with most of you, watch him every year around Christmas time. I also found out today that he worked with my movie hero Charles Bronson on THE O. HENRY PLAYHOUSE TV series back in 1957. That combination of appearances makes Mitchell about as close to a cinematic immortal as a person can get!

Enjoy 4 shots from 4 films, with Thomas Mitchell!

*The O. Henry Playhouse: Two Renegades (1957)*

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Standoff at the Cemetery from THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)!

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Happy Birthday in cinematic heaven to one of the great actors and movie stars, Yul Brynner! Brynner was born on July 11th, 1920, in Vladivostok, Russia. He would win an academy award in his career for his performance as King Mongkut of Siam in THE KING AND I (1956), but I will always appreciate him the most for his part as Chris, the leader of those seven magnificent men on the lookout for justice! In honor of Brynner’s birthday, my scene of the day is from the classic western, THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN!

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Ninja Warlord!

Posted on July 11, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties. On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday. On Mastodon, I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix! The movie? 1973’s Ninja Warlord!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! I’ll be there tweeting, probably while fireworks shake the windows of my office. It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Ninja Warlord is available on Prime and Tubi!

See you there!

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Train of the Living Dead from TRAIN TO BUSAN (2016)

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Korean Actor Gong Yoo was born on July 10th, 1979, in Busan, Korea. He stars in one of my favorite South Korean films, TRAIN TO BUSAN, which also happens to be one of my favorite zombie films. I highly recommend it, and for those interested, it’s currently streaming on Netflix. In honor of Gong Yoo’s birthday, enjoy this graphic and intense scene from TRAIN TO BUSAN.

Nothing In Common (1986, directed by Garry Marshall)

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

Tom Hanks plays David Basner (Tom Hanks), an advertising executive whose immature lifestyle gives him insight into what sells but has also left him totally unprepared to deal with the fallout when his mother (Eva Marie Saint) leaves his father, Max (Jackie Gleason). David, who is struggling to come up with the perfect commercial for a demanding client (Hector Elizondo), has to come to terms with both his father’s bad health and his history of infidelity.

This isn’t my favorite Tom Hanks movie. It comes from that awkward period when Hanks was trying to make the transition from comedy to drama and its attempt to mix the two genres is not always successful. The scenes of Hanks at the ad agency are often so cartoonish that they don’t seem like they belong in a movie where Jackie Gleason loses a foot to diabetes and realizes that he spent his entire marriage emotionally abusing his wife. The movie, though, is worth watching for the teaming of Hanks and Gleason, two comedic actors who eventually proved themselves to equally as skilled at playing it serious. Gleason, especially, gives a strong performance. This was his final film and Garry Marshall convinced him to take it by asking, “Do you really want to go out on Smokey and the Bandit 3?” Gleason would die a little over a year after the release of Nothing In Common and this film, even if it wasn’t perfect, gave the world a chance to see what a good actor he really was.

This film is often cited as the the movie that started Hanks on the way to becoming a dramatic actor. Like Punchline, Nothing In Common played a role in Hanks becoming more than just a comedian but I think Big was ultimately the better showcase for Hanks’s ability to mix pathos with laughs. Nothing In Common was directed by Garry Marshall and, as was usually the case with Marshall, he often doesn’t trust the audience to figure things out for themselves. He goes overboard trying to force an emotional response instead of just trusting the material. Tom Hanks still does a good enough job in Nothing In Common. Hanks is as likable as always and you can see the dramatic actor emerging in Hanks’s performance even if Hanks still wasn’t totally comfortable with it.

Nothing In Common is flawed but it was definitely a better swan song for Jackie Gleason than Smokey and the Bandit 3.

Brad’s “Charles Bronson Movie of the Week” – MESSENGER OF DEATH (1988)

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Bradley Crain

*Charles Bronson and Gene Davis, together again 5 years after TEN TO MIDNIGHT (1983)*

A couple of years ago, I decided I would rank my favorite Charles Bronson films. The rules were fairly simple… 1) only starring roles, so movies like THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN and THE GREAT ESCAPE were excluded, 2) no TV movies were included, and 3) my rankings were based on how much I like watching the movies, and not on some BS critical consensus. It was an interesting undertaking, and while I’ve played around with the rankings a little bit, for the most part I’ve kept them the same from that initial ranking. Because I’m obsessed with Charles Bronson, it’s fun for me to write about him and share things about his movies. As such, about once a week or so, I’ll probably share a movie from my list, give my ranking, and talk a little bit about the films. These will not necessarily be reviews, but mostly just some basic thoughts on the films.

My first Bronson movie of the week is MESSENGER OF DEATH (1988), which I rank as 33rd out of 41 Bronson starring roles. What’s interesting is that even though that’s a pretty low ranking, I still enjoy the film for trying to do something different with Bronson at that point in his career in the late ’80s, mainly by casting him as a reporter and not as a cop. He destroys the opposition with superior investigative reporting skills, without having to resort to oversized handguns. Now that his filmography is complete, and has been for over 25 years, I’ve grown to appreciate the times Bronson tried something a little different (with the exception of LOLA). MESSENGER OF DEATH also benefits from a solid cast of veteran actors and actresses, including Trish Van Devere, Laurence Luckinbill, Daniel Benzali, Charles Dierkop, Jeff Corey, John Ireland, and Gene Davis. It’s fun watching these seasoned performers, many of whom have worked with Bronson in the past, do their thing. And last, but not least, with filming locations at the Colorado National Monument and the mountain town of Glenwood Springs, CO, it’s definitely a beautiful film to look at! The older I get the more I appreciate movies that get out of the cities and show us beautiful sights around the country and world. Jeff shared some of his own thoughts on MESSENGER OF DEATH back in 2017!

As of the date of this post, MESSENGER OF DEATH is streaming on Amazon Prime and Tubi if you want to watch it yourself. It’s a film that I’ve enjoyed more with repeat viewings. I’ve also included the trailer below for your viewing pleasure. Feel free to let me know your thoughts on MESSENGER OF DEATH, starring the legendary Charles Bronson!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1971 Edition

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 pays tribute to the year 1971!

4 Shots From 4 1971 Films

The Last Picture Show (1971, dir by Peter Bogdanovich, DP: Bruce Surtees)

The French Connection (1971, dir by William Friedkin, DP: Owen Roizman)

Wake in Fright (1971, dir by Ted Kotcheff, DP: Brian West)

The Last Movie (1971, dir by Dennis Hopper, DP: Laszlo Kovacs)

Brad reviews JACK REED: A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE (1994), starring Brian Dennehy!

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Brian Dennehy directed, co-wrote and starred in this made-for-TV movie about Chicago homicide detective Jack Reed. This is the third TV movie based on Reed’s exploits, following 1992’s DEADLY MATRIMONY, and 1993’s BADGE OF HONOR. In A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE, Jack Reed (Brian Dennehy) investigates the murder of pregnant stripper Lorelei Bradley (Marjorie Monaghan), who also happens to love children, even running a daycare center in the trailer park she lives in. Reed’s investigation quickly identifies the politically connected businessman and strip club owner, Win Carter (Miguel Ferrer), as the prime suspect. As if trying to solve the murder isn’t tough enough, Reed must also deal with corrupt superiors within his own department and train his new boss Charles Silvera (Charles S. Dutton), the latest in a long line of men to be promoted over him. No matter what obstacles Reed encounters, he remains determined to bring the killer to justice!

JACK REED: A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE, is my first “Jack Reed” film, and I enjoyed it. The character of Jack Reed is based on real life Cook County, Illinois Sheriff John “Jack” Reed, with each of the different movies loosely based on cases that Reed investigated throughout his career. As you might imagine, Brian Dennehy is excellent in the lead role as the tough, principled cop who will stop at nothing to catch criminals. The Chicago backdrop adds a nice wrinkle to the proceedings with its strong reputation for corruption, something that plays strongly into this installment and makes Reed’s job that much harder. I also really like Charles S. Dutton’s character, Lieutenant Charles Silvera. Initially promoted due to the color of his skin, and as a way to stick it to Reed, Silvera turns out to be an incorruptible lawman who develops a great working relationship with Reed. I’ve always been a fan of Dutton as an actor, mainly because of his ability to project decency and integrity on screen, and I’m looking forward to seeing them work together in future installments. Miguel Ferrer is also a good villain. He doesn’t go over the top here, rather he plays the part as low key, politically connected, amoral, and ultimately, very dangerous. It’s a good choice.

The fact that JACK REED: A SEARCH FOR JUSTICE is based on real life cases helps bring a little more realism than you might get in most TV movie cop movies of the time. As an example, our cops are more concerned about putting together solid evidence and getting a conviction over anything else. There is some action, but after watching this installment, I realize that these movies are just as likely to end with lawyers cutting a deal than with a big shootout. On the flip side, there are elements of the story that don’t seem realistic at all, such as Reed’s wife Arlene (Susan Ruttan) doing her own undercover work at one point, and our victim’s unlikely dual life as a stripper and daycare operator. What can I say, it’s not a perfect movie, but if you enjoy 90’s TV cop dramas like I do, you should enjoy this film and this series. The cast is good, and the characters are men of integrity trying to bring justice to a corrupt world. That’s a recipe for enjoyment as far as I’m concerned, and I’m looking forward to watching the rest of the film series!

That Thing You Do! (1996, directed by Tom Hanks)

Posted on July 9, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

That Thing You Do! is the story of a one-hit wonder.

In 1964, an aspiring Jazz drummer named Guy (Tom Everett Scott) is a last minute addition to the a local band called the Oneders. (It’s meant to sound like Wonders but almost everyone mispronounces it as O-Needers.) The band’s egotistical leader, James (Jonathon Schaech) has written a slow ballad called That Thing You Do! but when Guy’s drumming causes the band to perform the song at a faster tempo, they end up with a local hit on their hands. That local hit becomes a national hit when The Oneders are signed by Play-Tone Records. First, Mr. White (Tom Hanks), their new manager, officially changes the name to The Wonders. Secondly, he makes sure that every teen in America is dancing to That Thing You Do! Third, he tells Guy to always wear sunglasses. Fourth, he tells James that he will record and perform what Play-Tone tells him to. Guitarist Lenny (Steven Zahn) and the unnamed Bass Player (Ethan Embry) are happy to be along for the ride but James chafes at his lack of artistic freedom. Guy, meanwhile, falls for James’s girlfriend (Liv Tyler, at her loveliest) and dreams of meeting his idol, jazzman Del Paxton (Bill Cobbs).

That Thing You Do! was Tom Hanks’s directorial debut and, with its careful recreation of a bygone era and its collection of authentic sounding early 60s rock on the soundtrack, it was obviously a labor of love. Considering the number of times that the song is played in the movie, it helps that it is a very good song. That Thing You Do! is a catchy tune, one that you can’t help but tap your feet to. At the same time, it also sounds like a one hit wonder. It’s good but not so great as to make you expect much else from The Wonders.

Not surprisingly, Tom Hanks gets great performances from the entire ensemble cast. Johnathon Schaech and Tom Everett Scott have never been better. Liv Tyler is lovely and vulnerable as James’s unappreciated girlfriend. Familiar faces like Peter Scolari, Kevin Pollak, Chris Isaak, and Clint Howard make welcome appearances. Hanks himself is surprisingly intimidating as Mr. White. When he says that the band will cover something the Play-Tone catalogue, it’s obvious that he’s not making a request.

The film is a tribute to being young and to loving music bit it’s also a study in the disillusionment of discovering that everything is ultimately a business. James is frequently an arrogant jerk and he treats his girlfriend terribly but it’s hard not to sympathize with him when he says that he wants to do more than just cover songs from the Play-Tone catalogue. To James and Guy, the Wonders are about self-expression and their love of music. To Mr. White, the Wonders are just another band that came up with one catchy tune and who probably aren’t ever going to be heard from again. That Thing You Do! pays tribute to all of the one-hit wonders out there, the bands who you forget about until you just happen to hear that one song on the radio or in a movie and suddenly, all the memories come flooding back.