4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films is just what it says it is, 4 (or more) shots from 4 (or more) of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 (or more) Shots From 4 (or more) Films lets the visuals do the talking.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 56th birthday to one of our favorite filmmakers, Darren Aronofsky! When we first started this site, we were eagerly awaiting the release of Black Swan. Now, ten years alter, we’re eagerly awaiting the release of Aronofsky’s next film, whatever it may be.
In honor of the birthday of a true visionary director, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Darren Aronofsky Films
Requiem for a Dream (2000, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
The Wrestler (2008, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Maryse Alberti)
Black Swan (2010, dir by Darren Aronosfky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
mother! (2017, dir by Darren Aronofsky, DP: Matthew Libatique)
I’ve loved Joe Don Baker since I first saw him portray Buford Pusser in WALKING TALL on Fox 16 out of Little Rock when I was a kid. There was something about the way he wields that big piece of lumber that got me excited. As I’ve watched more of his work, I realized just how charismatic he could be in the right roles. And he excelled at being a ruthless bad guy! Today, I share a scene from the excellent film CHARLEY VARRICK (1973), where Baker portrayed the sadistic “Molly.”
Looking for a new hit, television producer Aaron Spelling (Dan Castellanata) comes up with the story of “three little girls who went to the police academy and who were assigned very hazardous duties” but who were taken away from all that by the mysterious Charlie. The show is conceived as a star vehicle for Kate Jackson (Lauren Stamile), with fashion model Jaclyn Smith (Christina Chambers) and actress Farrah Fawcett-Majors (Tricia Helfer) playing her partners in investigating and solving crimes. Kate wants to make a feminist statement. Jaclyn wants to be a good role model to the little girls who sneak out of their room to watch the show. Farrah wants to be a star without losing her possessive husband, Lee Majors (Ben Browder). The critics hate the show. Studio president Fred Silverman (Dan Lauria) and showrunner Barney Rozenweig (Michael Tomlinson) are embarrassed by it. But Spelling has a hit and the actresses become stars. But when Farrah decides she wants to leave after one season, the show’s future is put in doubt.
This was one of NBC’s Behind The Camera films and the only one to take us behind the scenes of a “drama” program. (The other films looked at Diff’Rent Strokes, Mork and Mindy, and Three’s Company.) This is probably the best of them, though “good” and “best” are both relative terms when it comes to these movies. As with all of the films, there’s too many inside jokes about the network execs, with Dan Lauria stepping into the shoes of Brian Dennehy and Saul Rubinek as Fred Silverman. But Dan Castellanata did a surprisingly good job as Aaron Spelling and the three actresses playing the Angels were all convincing, especially Christina Chambers. The film’s main villain is Lee Majors, who is blamed for forcing Farrah to leave the show and who is portrayed as yelling, “Her name is Farrah Fawcett-Majors!” It’s low-budget and doesn’t offer much that isn’t already known but at the cast keeps the story interesting.
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!
Burt Reynolds has his own section in my massive physical media collection. I love the guy. And he was massively popular in his prime. From 1978 – 1982, Reynolds was named the number one box office star in the United States by the Quigley Poll, an annual survey of movie exhibitors. He was a true movie star. Happy Birthday in heaven, Burt! Thanks for all the great entertainment you’ve provided in my life!
Deliverance (1972, directed by John Boorman, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)
“Machines are going to fail!” Lewis Medlock says in Deliverance, delivering a line that feels even more relevant today than it might have in 1972. Lewis is the athlete and self-styled alpha male who drags his friends on a canoeing trip that involves some dangerous rapids. When Lewis suffers a compound fraction, it’s a shocking moment because, up until that point, Lewis seemed invulnerable to harm. Even when they return to civilization and Lewis learns he might lose his leg, he remains defiant.
Lewis was played by the late Burt Reynolds, who born 89 years ago today. In this scene that I love, Lewis explains his philosophy to his best friend and eventual savior, Ed Gentry (Jon Voight).
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, we celebrate the great director Joseph L. Mankiewicz, who was born 116 years ago today. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Joseph L. Mankiewicz Films
All About Eve (1950, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Milton R. Krassner)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Jack Hildyard)
Cleopatra (1963, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz , DP: Leon Shamroy)
A Carol For Another Christmas (1964, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz, DP: Arthur Ornitz)
A nuclear warhead has been stolen and Captain Jim Faith (Powers Boothe) knows just who to recruit to track it down. Former CIA agent MacGruber (Will Forte) agrees to come out of retirement, so he can save the world from Dieter Von Cunth (Val Kilmer), the man who blew up MacGruber’s fiancée (Maya Rudolph) on the day of their wedding.
MacGruber re-assembles his old team. Sure, Vicki St. Elmo (Kristen Wiig) no longer wants to be a part of the adventure and MacGruber refuses work with Lt. Dixon Piper (Ryan Phillippe) but he still brings together a collection of men who look like they eat carburetors for breakfast. And then he accidentally blows them up. MacGruber’s assembling a new team! While mentoring Dixon and falling in love with Vicki, MacGruber seeks his revenge on Cunth. He also makes peace with his past by having sex with his fiancée’s ghost on her tombstone.
Based on the SNL skit that was itself based on a one-joke premise, MacGruber is a surprisingly entertaining action comedy, mixing frequently crude humor with heartfelt pathos. MacGruber works because, even while it makes fun of action movies, it still respects the rules of the genre. The jokes and the bullets fly with equal power. MacGruber is an idiot but he’s also the only man who can save Washington from Cunth’s plot and Will Forte does an admirable job of delivering every bizarre line of dialogue with a fully committed straight face.. Val Kilmer plays Cunth as being a classic action villain, right down to his dismissive attitude and his long-winded speeches. Kristen Wiig is both sexy and adorably awkward as the love interest. And Ryan Phillippe does a surprisingly good job as the the one person who seems to understand how crazy MacGruber really is. Every good comedy needs a good straight man and Ryan Phillippe proves himself to be more than up to the task.
MacGruber is full of quotable lines and scenes that are so out-there that you might need to rewind and confirm that you actually saw what you just did. There have been a lot of bad Saturday Night Live movies. MacGruber is one of the good ones.
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. Tonight, Monday February 10th, we’re watching KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS starring Charles Bronson!
Back when I was a teenager, I would always get the entertainment section out of dad’s Sunday paper so I could check out the movie listings and see if there was a new movie I wanted to see. I would also look for information about my favorite movie star, Charles Bronson. Nowadays, we know about new movies months, even years, in advance, but back then I would first learn about them from the entertainment section of dad’s paper. I remember one Sunday in early 1989, seeing an advertisement for a new Charles Bronson film called KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS. It was the first time I had ever heard of the film. I knew I wasn’t going to get to see it at the movies because it was only playing in Little Rock, and it was rated R, but I was excited anyway because I knew it would be on its way to video pretty soon!
In KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS, Charles Bronson plays police lieutenant Crowe. He deals with the sleaziest criminals in Los Angeles on a daily basis and it’s starting to take a toll on his personal life. He’s currently personally invested in bringing down an underage prostitution ring led by Duke (Juan Fernandez) and Lavonne (Sy Richardson). When a Japanese businessman’s young daughter is kidnapped by Duke, Crowe decides he must do everything in his power to get her back to her family.
Here is some interesting trivia about the film:
Beginning with DEATH WISH II (1982) Charles Bronson made 8 films for the infamous Cannon Group. KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS was the last of those films. The others are 10 TO MIDNIGHT (1983), DEATH WISH 3 (1985), MURPHY’S LAW (1986), ASSASSINATION (1987), DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987), and MESSENGER OF DEATH (1988).
Director J. Lee Thompson directed Charles Bronson in 9 different films, with KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS being the final film he ever directed. Charles Bronson loved working with the same directors once he got comfortable with them. Thompson, who directed classics like THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (1961) and CAPE FEAR (1962), always made sure Bronson’s low budget Cannon films were filmed in a competent and professional manner.
Nicole Eggert plays a teen prostitute in this film and Amy Hathaway plays Charles Bronson’s daughter. Both were appearing in popular sitcoms at the time. Eggert was starring in CHARLES IN CHARGE and Hathaway was in MY TWO DADS.
The bad guy in the film is played by Juan Fernandez. He’s played some great villains in his day. Actor James Woods told me this about Juan, “The irony is that Juan Fernandez is one of the nicest actors I’ve ever worked with, and yet one of the most truly frightening villains. His work in SALVADOR was superb. A lovely, talented man.”
Perry Lopez, who plays Bronson’s partner in the film had worked with Bronson twice before. He appeared with Bronson in the excellent 1954 western DRUM BEAT, and also in 1987’s DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN.
So join us tonight to for #MondayMuggers and watch KINJITE: FORBIDDEN SUBJECTS! It’s on Amazon Prime.
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 Top Of The World!
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 Top of the World on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!
On this date, 115 years ago, Lon Chaney, Jr. was born in Oklahoma City. At the time, Oklahoma wasn’t even a state. His father was the actor Lon Chaney Sr.
Originally named Creighton Chaney, Lon Jr. followed in his father’s footsteps. Like many sons of famous men, he often struggled to escape his father’s shadow. While he would never be mistaken for a man of a thousand faces, Lon Chaney, Jr. did make a name for himself, first as Lenny in the Oscar-nominated 1939 film version of Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men and then as Larry Talbot, the unfortunate man who found himself cursed to turn into the Wolf Man whenever the moon was full. Chaney spent the majority of his career appearing in horror films and, later, westerns. Not only did he play The Wolf Man but he was also one of the many actors to take a shot at playing both Frankenstein’s Monster and Dracula. Later, he would appear in a series of low budget horror films that were often a far cry from his best-known films. In his later years, he was a favorite of producer/director Stanley Kramer, who cast him in both High Noon and The Defiant Ones and who once said that Chaney was one of the finest character actors in Hollywood. His deep voice and craggily face made an undeniable impression in those later films. Looking at him, you could see had lived a tough life but he had the heart of a survivor.
In today’s scene that I love, Larry Talbot learns the facts about being a werewolf. From 1941’s The Wolf Man, here is Lon Chaney, Jr in his signature role.
Through the Shattered Lens 