Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix For Sinbad of the Seven Seas!

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on Twitter and Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and 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, we’ve got an action classic, 1989’s Sinbad Of The Seven Seas!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag! It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

Sinbad of the Seven Seas is available on Prime! See you there!

Scenes That I Love: Paul Morrissey’s Mixed Blood

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 86th birthday to the one and only Paul Morrissey!

Though he may not be as well known as some of his contemporaries, Paul Morrissey is one of the godfathers of independent film. He first came to notice as a collaborator of Andy Warhol’s. Morrisey’s first films were shot at the Factory and starred the members of Warhol’s entourage. At a time when the indie film scene barely even existed, Morrissey was making boldly transgressive films and distributing them largely on his own. In fact, it could probably be argued that, if not for Paul Morrissey, the American independent film scene would never have grown into the impressive artistic and financial force that it is today.

There’s always been some debate over how much influence Warhol had over Morrissey’s films. Morrissey has always said that Warhol had next to nothing to do with the films, beyond occasionally taking a producer’s or a co-director’s credit. Others have disagreed. What can be said for sure is that, even after Warhol retreated from directly involving himself in the cinematic arts, Morrissey continued to make fiercely independent films.

Paul Morrissey made films about outsiders. While other directors were telling stories about the middle and upper classes, Morrissey was making movies about junkies, prostitutes, and people simply trying to make it from one day to another. His films also frequently satirized classic Hollywood genres. In fact, his two best-known films, Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula, not only satirized the old Universal horror films but also the Marxist-themed films being made in Europe. A devout Catholic and a political conservative, Morrissey took a particular delight in tweaking the left-wing assumptions of the counterculture. Who can forget Joe Dallesandro’s gloriously shallow revolutionary in Blood for Dracula?

Today’s scene of the day comes from Paul Morrissey’s 1985 Mixed Blood, a film about a war between a Brazilian gang and a Puerto Rican gang that is fought almost entirely by underage soldiers. (The film compares the street soldiers to the members of the boy band Menudo, in that they are rotated out once they reached the age at which they could be tired as adults.) In this scene, a police officer visits a drug operation that is almost entirely staffed by children.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Terence Fisher Edition

Posted on February 23, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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 celebrate the 120th anniversary of the birth of the great British film director, Terence Fisher. Though Fisher worked in all genres, he is best remembered for the horror films that he directed for Hammer Studios. Along with proving that there was still an audience for horror, he also helped to make stars out of Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee.

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Terence Fisher Films

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)

Horror of Dracula (1958, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)

The Mummy (1959, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Jack Asher)

The Devil Rides Out (1968, dir by Terence Fisher, DP: Arthur Grant)

14 Days of Paranoia #7: No Way Out (dir by Roger Donaldson)

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Trust no one in Washington would seem to be the message of this 1987 thriller.

Kevin Costner plays Lt. Commander Tom Farrell, a Naval Intelligence officer who is hailed as a hero after saving a shipmate who falls overboard. In Washington, Tom is recruited by a friend from college, Scott Pritchard (Will Patton), to work for Secretary of Defense Brice (Gene Hackman). Brice doesn’t trust the head of the CIA (played by future senator, Fred Dalton Thompson) and he wants Tom to serve as his mole within the service. What Brice doesn’t know is that Tom is sleeping with Brice’s mistress, Susan Atwell (Sean Young).

Still, Brice does suspect that the woman with whom he is cheating is also cheating on him. When he confronts her about it, their argument leads to him accidentally pushing Susan over an upstairs railing. Pritchard, who is implied to be in love with Brice, takes charge of the cover-up and decides to push the story that Susan was killed by a possibly mythical Russian agent who is known only by the name “Yuri.”

Tom assists with the investigation of her death, both because he wants to know who killed Susan and also because he knows that there’s evidence in Susan’s apartment that could be manipulated to make him look guilty of the crime. For instance, Susan took a picture of Tom shortly before her death. The picture failed to develop but, through the use of what was undoubtedly cutting edge technology in 1987, Naval Intelligence is slowly unscrambling the picture. For Tom, it’s a race against time to find the actual killer before the picture develops and he’s accused of both killing Susan and being Yuri.

Everyone has an agenda in No Way Out, from the ambitious Brice to the fanatical Scott Pritchard to the head of the CIA, who wants Brice to approve funding for a costly submarine. Even the film’s nominal hero has an agenda, which has less to do with finding justice for Susan and everything to do with protecting himself and his future. In fact, as is revealed in the film’s enjoyable if slightly implausible twist ending, some people in Washington have multiple agendas. The film portrays Washington as being a place where, behind the stately facade, everyone is a liar and everyone is ultimately a pawn in someone else’s game. If you have the right connections, you can even get away with murder. Loyalty is rewarded until you’re no longer needed.

It’s an enjoyably twisty thriller, one that makes good use of the contrast between Kevin Costner’s All-American good looks and his somewhat shady screen presence. The film introduces Costner as being a character who, at first glance, seems almost too good to be true and then spend the majority of its running time suggesting that is indeed the case. Gene Hackman is well-cast as the weaselly cabinet secretary, as is Sean Young as the woman who links them all together. In the end, though, the film is stolen by Will Patton, who plays Scott Pritchard as being someone who has unknowingly given his loyalty to a man who is incapable of returning it. As played by Patton, Scott is an outsider who desperately wants to be an insider and who is willing to do just about anything to accomplish that goal. He’s a version of Iago who never turned against Othello but instead devoted all of his devious tricks to trying to cover up the murder of Desdemona.

Even with an over-the-top final twist, No Way Out holds up well as a portrait of how the lust for power both drives and corrupts our political system.

14 Days of Paranoia:

4 Shots From 4 Luis Buñuel Films: Special Luis Bunuel Edition

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is the 124th birthday of the great Spanish surrealist filmmaker, Luis Bunuel! That means that it is now time for….

4 Shots From 4 Luis Buñuel Films

Los Olivados (1950, dir by Luis Bunuel, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)

Viridiana (1961, dir by Luis Bunuel, DP: José F. Aguayo)

The Exterminating Angel (1962, dir by Luis Buñuel, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)

Simon of the Desert (1965, dir by Luis Bunuel, DP: Gabriel Figueroa)

Scene That I Love: Kyle MacLachlan in Dune

Posted on February 22, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Kyle MacLachlan!

Today’s scene that I love comes from MacLachlan’s film debut, 1984’s Dune. MacLachlan played Paul Atriedes in David Lynch’s unfairly maligned film and his otherworldly vibe made him as perfect for the role as he would later be for Agent Dale Cooper in Lynch’s Twin Peaks. As good as Timothee Chalamet was in the more recent adaptations of Frank Herbert’s novel, I still feel that MacLachlan is the superior Paul.

In this scene, Paul confronts the people who have been trying to destroy him and he proves his worth in an armed duel with Sting.

14 Days of Paranoia #6: Lockdown 2025 (dir by Mike Hall)

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

2021’s Lockdown 2025 tells the story of a neighborhood on the edge.

Clarence McGee (Glenn Plummer) has a got a nice house in the suburbs. He has a nice view of the city in the distance and, even though we don’t learn much about what he does for a living, he appears to be very well off. He has a wife named Carmen (Marie-Francoise Theodore) and three children, conspiracy theorist Junior (Marcus T. Paulk), daughter Crystal Marie (Parker McKenna Posey), and youngest Evan (Cristian Fagins).

To the outsider, it might look like Clarence has the perfect life but the reality is far different. As a father, Clarence has been neglectful and, as his own wife points out, Evan is the only one of the kids with whom he seems to have a strong connection. Meanwhile, Crystal is pregnant and, while she’s told her boyfriend Marcos (Stewart Flores), neither one of them is quite sure how they’re going to tell Clarence. And what is one to make of the burly police detective (James Black) who is sitting in his car and watching Clarence’s home?

Clarence is excited because he’s convinced that he’s finally going to win the lottery and become a billionaire. However, just as the lottery numbers are about to be announced, the broadcast is interrupted by the National Alert System. “This is not a test,” a voice says, before going on to explain that the president has declared a national emergency. The country is under martial law. There will be a 24-hour curfew. No one is to leave their houses.

Suddenly, the skies are glowing and lightning bolts are streaking from the sky to the ground. Explosions are heard in the distance. The streets are full of “police soldiers” and anyone caught outside is subject to execution. When Clarence’s neighbor tries to flee his house, he is executed on the spot. Both Marcos and Junior suggest that maybe it’s all because of an online terrorist group known for being “pill-popping, weed-smoking, new age religious fanatics!” Clarence says you can’t believe anything you see on YouTube. For one thing, they let Junior on YouTube!

Meanwhile, a countdown clock appears on the television and starts to slowly tick down, from 80:00 to zero. What happens the clock hits zero? That’s what everyone is wondering.

As you can probably guess, things don’t go well for the McGees. Being stuck in the house together not only makes them paranoid but it also leads to them revealing all of their deep, dark family secrets. Soon, Clarence is loading a rifle. When the detective finally enters the house and reveals his own secret, it leads to a violent confrontation. Have you ever wondered how many people can accidentally get shot by two men firing guns at each other in a small enclosed space? This film will tell you!

The plot description probably makes all of this sound more intriguing than it is. Sadly, It’s not a very good movie, one that is marked by bad acting and bad special effects. Not even the talented Glenn Plummer can do much with his role. The initial apocalypse scenes are actually effective but soon, the Birdemic-style visuals kick in. Worst of all, the film’s ending is the type of cheat that makes you feel stupid for getting in any way invested in the story. An ending like this might have worked for a 15-minute short film but not for a film that drags on for 90 minutes.

This film was apparently produced by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and one of the final images is of a chastised, former doubter letting two Jehovah’s Witnesses into his home. (Seriously, on the rare occasion that any of them are in my neighborhood, I hide in my room and don’t make a sound.) I doubt this inspired anyone to pick up a copy of The Watch Tower.

14 Days of Paranoia:

Smokey And The Good Time Outlaws (1978, directed by Alexander Grasshoff)

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jedadiah Leland

After meeting a talent agent while spending a night in jail, aspiring singer J.D. (Jesse Turner) and his best friend, The Salt Flat Kid (Dennis Fimple), decide to leave Texas for Nashville. J.D. wants to be a star and the Salt Flat Kid is a ventriloquist who doesn’t go anywhere without his dummy.

On the way to the Grand Old Opry, they pick up two women (Dianne Sherrill and Marcia Barkin), one of whom was engaged to marry the idiot nephew (Gailard Sartain) of Nashville’s Sheriff Leddy (Slim Pickens). The sheriff sets out after the two men, planning on sending them back to Texas.

Despite the title and the subplot about the sheriff searching for his nephew’s former future wife, Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws doesn’t have much in common with Smokey and the Bandit. J.D. has a Burt Reynolds-style mustache but he’s not a bandit. He is just someone who wants to be a star and most of the movie is about him and the Salt Flat Kid tying to make their way onto the stage of the Grand Old Opry. Helping them out is an eccentric woman named Marcie (who is played by Hope Summers, who older viewers will immediately recognize as having been Clara Edwards on The Andy Griffith Show). When J.D. can’t get an audition, it occurs to him to just rush out on stage and start performing.

This film was a dream project for Jesse Turner, who was a real-life country musician. He co-wrote and produced the film, as well as starred in it. Jesse Turner wasn’t much of an actor but he’s surrounded by a good supporting cast. Slim Pickens steals the show as a more menacing version of Buford T. Justice but he’s not in the film nearly enough. Dennis Fimple is likable but appears to be too old to be known as “the Kid.” You can tell this is a movie because no one is creeped out by the Kid’s ventriloquist dummy.

Smokey and the Good Time Outlaws was made for the Southern drive-in circuit and it is good-natured, even if the story is never that interesting. Country music fans of a certain age will appreciate it.

4 Shots From 4 Sam Peckinpah Films

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Jedadiah Leland

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 would have been Sam Peckinpah’s 99th birthday. During his time, there was no greater hellraiser in Hollywood so here are 4 shots from 4 of my favorite Peckinpah films.

4 Shots From 4 Sam Peckinpah Films

Ride the High Country (1962, directed by Sam Peckinpah, Cinematography by Lucien Ballard)

The Wild Bunch (1969, directed by Sam Peckinpah, Cinematography by Lucien Ballard)

Straw Dogs (1971, directed by Sam Peckinpah, Cinematography by John Coquillon)

Pat Garrett and Billy The Kid (1973, directed by Sam Peckinpah, cinematograph by John Coquillon)

Scenes That I Love: Kelsey Grammer in Money Plane

Posted on February 21, 2024 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is Kesley Grammer’s 69th birthday. In order to celebrate this event, here are three scenes from one of my favorite films, 2020’s Money Plane!

All of these scenes are short. They only last a handful of seconds. But all of them also feature Kelsey Grammer bringing the film to life as only he can.