I Watched Raygun: Breaking Badly (2026, Dir. by Chapman Way and Maclain Way)


In 2024, Rachael Gunn (a.k.a. Raygun) became a celebrity when she represented Australia in Olympic breakdancing.

It wasn’t the good kind of celebrity, though. Instead, she became famous for being ridiculed. She competed in three different battles before getting eliminated, and not a single judge voted her the winner in any of them. In her final Olympic performance, she pretended to be a kangaroo and then a sprinkler. She became an instant internet meme. At first, it was just people laughing. Then, as always happens online, things got worse. She was accused of cheating her way to the Olympics and of having privilege.

Breaking Badly, a new documentary on Netflix, is all about Raygun. It features interviews with her and her husband. They try to explain the logic behind Raygun’s performance and how she was trying to honor Australia. Raygun’s husband comes across as the sweetest guy, and it’s touching to see how much he still believes in both her and her talent. Raygun says she’s made peace with her fame and that she loves that people are still imitating her moves. A few people talk about how bad the performance was, but they all agree she was treated horribly online.

Back in 2024, I felt sorry for her when everyone was making fun of her. The documentary showed some of the worst of what people said about her, and I felt sorry for her all over again. At the same time, she knew the whole world was watching when she went out there and pretended to be a kangaroo. Raygun acts as if she had no idea that social media could be cruel. The documentary doesn’t address the real reason why Raygun started trending on Twitter. It wasn’t that she did the kangaroo and the sprinkler. It was because she was just a really, really bad breakdancer. She was outclassed by the competition, and she clearly didn’t belong among the best breakdancers in the world. The documentary acts as if Raygun was just made fun of because her routine was strange. She could have gotten away with being strange if she wasn’t so stiff and awkward in her movements.

I’m glad the documentary cleared up a few things. Raygun was legitimately picked for the Olympics. (Australia didn’t have many options to choose from when it came to breaking.) Her husband did not rig the selection process, no matter what everyone on TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter claimed. She did her best, and her best just wasn’t very good.

I had totally forgotten about Raygun’s performance until I watched this documentary. I think almost everyone else had forgotten about it too. The documentary ends with a bunch of people talking about how inspiring Raygun is. I don’t know if I believe all that, but I’m glad she seems to be in a better place.

 

I Rewatched A League Of Their Own (1992, Dir. by Penny Marshall)


Last night, I saw that A League of Their Own was on Netflix. I tried to get my sister to watch it with me, but she just told me that she liked the high ones and called me a nag. (It makes sense if you’ve seen the movie.) So I rewatched it by myself and cried all over again.

In case you’re one of the two people who haven’t heard of this movie, A League of Their Own takes place during World War II. With professional baseball players either enlisting or getting drafted, people worry there might not be another season of baseball until the war ends. Candy-bar manufacturer Walter Harvey (played by director Penny Marshall’s brother, Garry) creates the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League, with the requirement that the players not only know how to handle a bat but also look good in the impractical short skirts he expects them to wear while sliding into home. The movie follows the first season of the Rockford Peaches. Geena Davis plays Dottie, the catcher whose husband is serving overseas. Lori Petty plays Kit, the pitcher who struggles to hit high fastballs and who is also Dottie’s sister. Rosie O’Donnell and Madonna play two players from New York. Tom Hanks is Jimmy, the alcoholic former player turned manager who says, “There’s no crying in baseball!”

It may be heresy to admit it, but A League of Their Own is not my favorite baseball movie. (That would be Major League.) Most of the actresses, especially Geena Davis, are convincing as baseball players, and I love that the movie shone a light on the real-life AAGPBL. (Sixty former AAGPBL players appear in the movie.) But as a baseball fan, it’s always bothered me that the movie doesn’t really examine any of their games in depth. We know that Dottie is a good catcher, that Kit is a good pitcher, that Madonna can catch a baseball in her hat, and that Evelyn (Bitty Schram) cries when she gets yelled at, but we don’t learn much about the other players on the team and what they’re good at. The Peaches win games, but I would have liked to see more of how they won.

I still love A League of Their Own, though. The bonding between the players gets to me. They’re all from different parts of the country. Some of them are married and some of them are definitely single. But from the minute they’re selected to play in the AAGPBL, they form a family of their own. When one of them reveals that she’s never learned how to read, the players teach her. When Evelyn needs to bring her bratty problem child on the road, the team looks after him. When Jimmy makes Evelyn cry, the team rallies around Evelyn. Everyone remembers Jimmy saying there’s no crying in baseball, but they forget he got kicked out of the game afterward. (Jimmy eventually becomes a better coach.) When one player gets the telegram that her husband has been killed in the war, everyone cries. In the film’s epilogue, Evelyn’s son says that she was never happier than when she was playing for the Peaches, and I can understand why. The heart of the film is the relationship between Dottie and Kit. Even though you can guess from the start that Kit and Dottie are eventually going to end up on different teams and face each other in the big game, it’s still an emotional moment when they find themselves on opposite sides of the plate.

A League of Their Own is on Netflix, so watch it if you haven’t seen it before. Or, if you’re like me, rewatch it and try not to cry all over again when the former players reunite at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Hurry up, though. It’s leaving on September 30th.

 

 

Join #MondayMania For Sinister Sister!


Hi, everyone!  Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania!  Join us for Sinister Sister!

What happens when a woman suspects that her psycho sister-in-law might have a sinister, baby-snatching plan?  Watch to find out!

You can find the movie on Prime and then you can join us on twitter at 9 pm central time!  (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.)  See you then!

Scenes That I Love: The Puppet Scene From Deep Red


Today is a special day here at the Shattered Lens as we celebrate the birthday of Dario Argento!

Now, we’ve got a lot of Argento-related stuff scheduled for October so, for today, I’m just going to share one of the best scenes from one of my favorite Argento films, 1975’s Deep Red.  This scene features what is seriously the creepiest puppet that I’ve ever seen.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Elia Kazan 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!

117 years ago, on this date, Elia Kazan was born Istanbul.  Kazan would go on to become a groundbreaking director, both for the stage and in movies.  He would play a key role in turning both Marlon Brando and James Dean into stars and he made films, like Gentleman’s Agreement and A Face In The Crowd, that challenged the political pieties of the day.  Of course, he also named names in front of HUAC, a decision that continues to be controversial to this day.  Two of Kazan’s films — Gentleman’s Agreement and On The Waterfront — won the Oscar for Best Picture.  A Streetcar Named Desire was widely expected to win before it was upset by An American In Paris.  A Face In The Crowd is often cited as being one of the most prophetic films ever made.  When Kazan was given an honorary Oscar in 1999, many in the auditorium refused to applaud but his influence as a filmmaker cannot be denied.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Elia Kazan Films

A Streetcar Named Desire (1951, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Harry Stradling)

On The Waterfront (1954, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Boris Kaufman)

East of Eden (1955, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Ted D. McCord)

A Face In The Crowd (1957, dir by Elia Kazan, DP: Gayne Rescher and Harry Stradling)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for The Omega Syndrome!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally 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 The Omega Syndrome!

If you want to join this watch party, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up The Omega Syndrome on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

Happy Labor Day From The Shattered Lens


by Erin Nicole

Happy Labor Day from your friends here at the Shattered Lens!

My favorite movie about having a job is Office Space.  In honor of everyone who is having to work on Labor Day, here’s my favorite scene from that movie.  I think this is one of those things that everyone can relate to.  Every Labor Day, when we’re hanging out with our family and everyone’s watching the college football games, Lisa and I sing along to this scene.

Brad’s Song of the Day – “Death Wish” from CHARLES BRONSON – More Than a Vigilante – THE MUSICAL! 🎶 


Michael Winner and Charles Bronson on the set of DEATH WISH (1974)

My wife and I spent some time at the pool at the country club today to celebrate the end of summer. I took Michael Winner’s autobiography, “Winner Takes All,” to read while Stacy worked on her tan. It’s an enjoyable read, and Charles Bronson is featured prominently throughout the book as he starred in 6 films directed by Winner. Of course, their most popular collaborations were the first 3 DEATH WISH films. My friend Henry Brooks wrote “CHARLES BRONSON: More than a Vigilante, THE MUSICAL” a couple of years back. One of his songs is all about Winner, Bronson and their blockbuster collaboration! It seemed appropriate to share that with you today. Enjoy, my friends! And by the way, that’s actor Steven Weber playing Charles Bronson!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Tommy Lee Wallace 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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director Tommy Lee Wallace!

4 Shots From 4 Tommy Lee Wallace Films

Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982, dir by Tommy Lee Wallace)

Fright Night Part 2 (1988, dir by Tommy Lee Wallace)

It (1990, dir by Tommy Lee Wallace)

Vampires: Los Muertos (2002, dir by Tommy Lee Wallace)