#MondayMuggers present LAKEVIEW TERRACE (2008) starring Samuel L. Jackson!

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Every Monday night at 9:00 Central Time, my wife Sierra and I host a “Live Movie Tweet” event on X using the hashtag #MondayMuggers. We rotate movie picks each week, and our tastes are quite different. For tonight, Monday March 24th, Sierra has chosen LAKEVIEW TERRACE starring Samuel L. Jackson, Patrick Wilson, Kerry Washington, Jay Hernandez, and Robert Pine.

The story revolves around the interracial couple Chris and Lisa Mattson (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) moving into their new home in a gated community in California. Their neighbor turns out to be the racist, dysfunctional and abusive LAPD Officer, Abel Turner (Samuel L. Jackson). Turner doesn’t want them in his neighborhood and proceeds to make their lives a living hell.

Neil Labute directed LAKEVIEW TERRACE, which is loosely based on real life events, and he knows how to make an audience uncomfortable. Samuel L. Jackson is an incredible actor, so I’m really looking forward to his take on this hideous character. I’m expecting a lot of scenery to be chewed before this one ends.

So, join us tonight for #MondayMuggers and watch LAKEVIEW TERRACE! It’s on Amazon Prime.

Scenes That I Love: Steve McQueen in Bullitt

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In honor of the birthday of actor Steve McQueen, the true epitome of all things cool, here is the famous and trend-setting chase scene from 168’s Bullitt, featuring McQueen behind the wheel and doing his own stunts on the streets of San Francisco.

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Evasive Action!

Posted on March 24, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasion ally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie ! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1998’s Evasive Action!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Evasive Action on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Curtis Hanson Edition

Posted on March 24, 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, in honor the birthday of the late great Curtis Hanson, it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Curtis Hanson Films

The Bedroom Window (1987, directed by Curtis Hanson)

The Bedroom Window (1987, dir by Curtis Hanson, DP: Gilbert Taylor)

L.A. Confidential (1997, directed by Curtis Hanson)

L.A. Confidential (1997, dir by Curtis Hanson, DP: Dante Spinotti)

Wonder Boys (2000, directed by Curtis Hanson)

Wonder Boys (2000, dir by Curtis Hanson, DP: Dante Spinotti)

8 Mile (2002, directed by Curtis Hanson)

8 Mile (2002, dir by Curtis Hanson, DP: Rodrigo Prieto)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Akira Kurosawa Edition

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens honors both the birth and the legacy of the great filmmaker, Akira Kurosawa! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Akira Kurosawa Films

The Hidden Fortress (1958, dir. by Akira Kurosawa, DP: Kazuo Yamasaki)

Yojimbo (1961, dir by Akira Kurosawa, DP: Kazuo Miyagawa)

Ran (1987, dir by Akira Kurosawa, DP: Takao Saito)

Dreams (1990, dir by Akira Kurosawa, DP: Takao Saito)

Today is the great Akira Kurosawa’s Birthday!

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Bradley Crain

Movie star Toshiro Mifune and director Akira Kuroswa on the set of *Seven Samurai.*

I love director Akira Kurosawa. He’s one of the all time greats. His movies RASHOMON (1951), IKIRU (1952), SEVEN SAMURAI (1954), THRONE OF BLOOD (1957), THE BAD SLEEP WELL (1960), and YOJIMBO (1961) are some of the greatest movies ever made. His work has inspired so many great filmmakers, and so many great movies, including THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960), A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964), and STAR WARS (1977) just to name a few.

On Kurosawa’s 115th Birthday, I share one of my favorite scenes, from one of my favorite movies (SANJURO), featuring two of my favorite actors (Toshiro Mifune & Tatsuya Nakadai). Enjoy my friends, and rest in peace, Mr. Kurosawa!

Three Faces West (1940, directed by Bernard Vorhaus)

Posted on March 23, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

When a small farming community in the Dakotas gets hit by an outbreak of the flu, farmer and community leader John Phillips (John Wayne) invites a Dr. Karl Braun (Charles Coburn) to come and be the town’s doctor. A refugee from Austria, Dr. Braun arrives with his daughter, Leni (Sigrid Gurie). At first, Leni is not happy living in the heart of the Dust Bowl but then she falls for John Phillips. However, Leni is still mourning his ex-fiancé (Roland Varno), who Leni and Braun believe sacrificed his life to help them reach America.

Eventually realizing that the town cannot prospers in the heart of the Dust Bowl, John suggests that everyone pack up and move to Oregon. Almost everyone agrees and the one person who wants to go to California gets his van driven off the side of the road. But Leni and Dr. Braun still take a detour to San Francisco because it turns out that Leni’s ex is not dead after all. She and her father meet up with him and discover, to their horror, that he has become a fully committed Nazi.

This is an interesting change-of-pace for John Wayne. Though the film is a western (and even features its own version of wagon train), it’s set in what was then contemporary times and it deals with issues like the Great Depression and the rise of Nazism in Germany. The times may be hard but John Wayne isn’t going to let his community fall apart and, even more importantly, he’s not going to give up his beliefs or his ideals. Even though the movie was made at a time when the United States was still officially neutral, the film is strongly anti-Nazi. John Wayne, giving a strong performance, stands in for America while those who would collaborate with or make excuses for the Nazis represented by the weaselly Roland Varno. Leni’s ex-fiancé had no problem selling out his beliefs and embracing Nazism. Naturally, Leni and her father have no problem telling him off and then rejoining John Wayne in Oregon. The United States may have officially been neutral but this movie had no problem letting everyone know where it stood.

Happy Birthday in Heaven to the great M. Emmet Walsh!

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Bradley Crain

One of the great character actors of all time, M. Emmet Walsh, would have been 90 years old today. Walsh lived a good long life, passing away on March 19th, 2024, three days short of what would have been his 89th birthday. The great movie critic Roger Ebert created his own movie rule that featured Walsh. He called it the “Stanton-Walsh” rule, which also honored the great Harry Dean Stanton. The rule went something like “no movie featuring Harry Dean Stanton or M. Emmet Walsh in a supporting role can be altogether bad.” High praise indeed.

When I think of Walsh, I picture his characters in movies like FAST-WALKING (1981), BLADE RUNNER (1982), MISSING IN ACTION (1984), and RAISING ARIZONA (1987). I’ve tried to forget one of his scenes in FAST-WALKING, but I’m afraid it’s a hopeless cause! His characters always stand out. The movie I first saw him in was the Coen Brothers’ BLOOD SIMPLE (1984). Fox 16 out of Little Rock played this often in the 80’s. The advertisements heavily featured Walsh’s amazingly sleazy private detective character, with his cowboy hat and his slimy grin. It’s a truly amazing performance.

On his birthday, I share one of his great scenes from BLOOD SIMPLE. Rest in peace, Mr. Walsh! And enjoy, my friends.

No Safe Haven (1987, directed by Ronnie Rondell Jr.)

Posted on March 22, 2025 by Jedadiah Leland

A group of drug dealers try to pressure football player Buddy Harris (Tom Campitelli) into throwing the big game. Buddy fakes an injury to get out of playing so the dealers murder not only Buddy but also his mother and his younger brother. Big mistake! Buddy’s older brother, Clete (Wings Hauser), is a CIA agent who is working as a listener in Honduras. Clete returns home and, with the help of an arms dealer (Robert Tessier, playing a good guy for change), Clete hunts down and kills everyone who killed his family. Clete not only gets revenge for his family but he also heads down to Bolivia to show the syndicate that, for them, there is no safe haven!

This is one of the ultimate Wings Hauser films, one that he both wrote and starred in. When Clete seeks revenge, he doesn’t mess around. One gunman gets set on fire while standing on his balcony. (He can either burn to death on the balcony or he can jump to a quicker death below. Either way, Clete’s going to take a lot of pictures) Wings chases the villains down with speedboats and helicopters and he does it all with a slight smirk that suggests he’s not only getting revenge but he’s also having the time of his life. This is Wings Hauser at his most demented and he’s playing the hero! Luckily, the villains are even crazier than Wings. I have to make a special mention of Branscombe Richmond, laughing and yelling and killing in a way that you would never expect if you only knew him from Renegade.

This is Wings Hauser at his best, in a movie that’s mean, violent, and never less than compelling. Clete kills a lot of people but it’s okay because, to quote True Lies, they were all bad. Wings throws himself into the role with his trademark intensity and shows why no one’s safe from Clete Harris. I’m going to miss Wings Hauser. Only he could have played Clete Harris. Only he could have made No Safe Haven the B-action classic of 1987.