Today is Oliver Stone’s birthday so, for all conspiracy-loving readers, here is a key scene from Stone’s 1991 film, JFK! In this scene, Kevin Costner’s Jim Garrison meets the mysterious man known as X (played by the much-missed Donald Sutherland). X explains the conspiracy to Garrison.
This scene certainly convinced a lot of people. Personally, I think Oswald acted alone but one cannot deny Stone’s talent as a filmmaker.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the greatest show ever made about my home state of Texas, Mike Judge’s King of the Hill.
Listen as Jeff Boonhaumer explains the Internet!
Today’s scene that I love is one of the greatest television moments of the past ten years. It’s one that I still think about on a nearly daily basis.
Oddly, ever since it went off the air, there’s been an attempt on the part of the media to pretend that Selina Meyer was meant to be some sort of inspiring figure. This scenes reminds us that she wasn’t even supposed to be likable.
(I groaned when the cast of Veep reunited to support Kamala Harris in 2024 because Veep was literally the last show that Harris should have been trying to remind people of.)
My wife and I visited the South Fork Ranch a few years ago to celebrate her fond memories of watching DALLAS with her granny. It was a wonderful visit, and I surprised her for her birthday that year by buying her the entire DALLAS TV series on DVD. Since then we’ve watched every single episode of the original DALLAS television series, all of the DALLAS television movies, and every single episode of the reboot series! By my count that’s a total of 396 TV episodes and 3 TV movies. That’s a lot of hours… and Linda Gray was in most of them. Based on that alone, this beautiful lady seems like a beloved member of the family.
Happy Birthday, Linda! Thanks for all the wonderful memories. Here’s a sample of some of her best scenes on DALLAS!
As I was discovering my love of movies, the first director I ever became obsessed with was Brian De Palma. His BLOW OUT (1981) played frequently on Fox 16 out of Little Rock, and I still consider it one of my favorite films. I consider his version of THE UNTOUCHABLES to almost be a perfect film. To celebrate his 86th birthday, I thought I’d share this scene featuring the Oscar winning performance of Sean Connery, along with Kevin Costner and Andy Garcia. Enjoy, my friends!
Produced by Martin Bregman, directed by Brian De Palma, written by Oliver Stone, and starring Al Pacino, the 1983 remake of Scarface is one of the best-known, most iconic gangster films ever made. It opened to mixed reviews but it’s gone on to be recognized as a classic. Everyone can quote the script: “Say hello to my little friend!” “In this country, you gotta make the money first. Then when you get the money, you get the power. Then when you get the power, then you get the women.” “Say goodnight to the bad guy!”
Scarface starts with one of my favorite opening scenes of all time. Powered by Giorgio Moroder’s score, the opening credits of Scarface play out over footage of the real-life Mariel boatlift. Combined with footage of Fidel Castro ranting that Cuba does not need the Marielitos, this opening gives real-world credibility to everything that follows. We then segue from the actual boatlift to Al Pacino as Tony Montana, answering questions with that shit-eating grin on his face.
Listen to the interrogation scene carefully and you’ll hear both Charles Durning and Dennis Franz, dubbing the lines of the actors who played the immigration agents.
On this date, 112 years ago, filmmaker Robert Wise was born in Winchester, Indiana. He started his career as an editor (and was Oscar-nominated for his work on Citizen Kane) and then eventually branched out into directing. From the mid-forties to the year 2000, Wise directed every genre of film. He won two Oscars for Best Director, one for West Side Story and one for The Sound of Music. He was also the first director to helm a Stark Trek film with 1979’s Stark Trek — The Motion Picture.
Today’s scene that I love comes from Wise’s 1951 masterpiece, The Day The Earth Stood Still. In this scene, America watches as a UFO darts across the sky and eventually lands in Washington D.C. Though it’s a simple scene, it deftly captures the wonder of the moment.
Today the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Adam Sandler!
Here he is in 1996’s Happy Gilmore, learning how to putt and shouting one of the defining lines of the 1990s.
The first meeting between the Enterprise and the Reliant is one of my favorite moments in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, from the first phaser attack to Khan thinking that he has the upper hand to Kirk lowering Khan’s shields. This scene goes from action to comedy (with Kirk delaying by putting on his glasses) to tragedy when Scott shows up with the body of his nephew.
This scene is one of Star Trek’s best space battles and it establishes Khan as being a worthy adversary. For once, the danger is real.
I spent a lot of time helping my brother at his general store, the Hollis Country Store, last fall. We talked a lot in between fixing bologna sandwiches for our customers and other general store kinds of things. One day we got to talking about some of our favorite comedians, and we stumbled upon the fact that we both really enjoy comedian Dusty Slay. I had been seeing a lot of his clips on TikTok, so I was just becoming a fan. We swapped some of our favorite bits we’d heard and had a good time. When Christmas was coming around I noticed that Dusty had a show scheduled at a casino in Pocola, OK, on December 26th. Pocola is just across the state line from Fort Smith, Arkansas, so my wife and I bought him and his wife tickets to the show as a Christmas gift. We went with them and had the best time!
This being Labor Day, I thought it would be fun sharing a clip of Dusty analyzing the country song “Hard Workin’ Man” by Brooks and Dunn. It’s one of my favorites. And as a CPA, I truly appreciate its financial humor. Happy Labor Day, my friends!
Through the Shattered Lens 