Today’s scene that I love features Sean Connery, born on this day 95 years ago. In this scene from 1964’s Goldfinger, Connery needs only one simple line — “I must be dreaming,” — to create an iconic moment.
Daniel Craig could never have pulled this off. Indeed, Craig probably would have found the whole thing beneath him. Only Sean Connery could have made this scene unforgettable and that’s why Sean Connery will continue to be the Bond to which all others should be compared.
Today is the birthday of actor Steve Guttenberg!
Here he is in 1984’s Police Academy, showing the type of impulsive behavior that would eventually lead to him becoming his city’s best cop.
In honor of Gene Kelly’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from the 1952 classic, Singin’ In The Rain. In this scene, Debbie Reynolds performs the song Good Mornin’ with Gene Kelly and Donald O’Connor.
“Put on your Sunday best, kids. We’re going to Sears.”
Ah, the 70s. Or actually the 90s. All I know is that the Sears that was located near our house closed in 2014 and the empty parking lot briefly became a flea market before the police showed up and told everyone to go home.
Today’s scene that I love is from 1995’s The Brady Bunch Movie.
Happy Birthday to Alicia Witt! Born on August 21st, 1975, I mainly know Alicia because my wife loves to watch Hallmark Christmas movies, and she was a mainstay on the channel for years. I’ll be honest, I love some of her Hallmark movies. Back in 2024, we went to the movie theater and watched her in the horror film LONGLEGS. I thought she was one of the best things about the movie.
In honor of her 51st birthday, I thought it might be fun to share this clip from LONGLEGS. It’s about as far from Hallmark as it gets!
Today’s scene that I love comes from Peter Weir’s 1985 film, Witness. In this scene, the Amish come together and raise a barn. This scene celebrates community and also gives Harrison Ford a chance to show off his real-life carpentry skills.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to my fellow redhead, Amy Adams!
Amy gave one of the best performances to not be nominated for an Oscar in 2016’s Arrival. Today, my scene that I love is the poignant and thought-provoking ending of that film.
Today would have been L.Q. Jones’s birthday. Jones was one of the great character actors and a pretty good director as well. A favorite of Sam Peckinpah’s, Jones often played dangerous outlaws who teamed up with Strother Martin to keep the west wild.
In this scene from Peckinpah’s The Wild Bunch, Jones and Martin play two greedy bounty hunters who arrive in a town after the Wild Bunch have already shot the place up. While their boss, Robert Ryan, watches in disgust, Jones and Martin loot the dead and argue over who gets what.
Today would have been Patrick Swayze’s 74th birthday. This scene that I love comes from Swayze’s greatest film, 1989’s Road House.
Here, Swayze explains how to be a bouncer.
When I was a teenager growing up in Toad Suck, Arkansas, we only had 5 TV channels. My favorite of those channels was Fox 16 out of Little Rock, because they showed a lot of movies. Many of my favorite movies to this day are the movies that showed on Fox 16 in the mid-80’s. One of those movies that they played frequently was TIGHTROPE. This being the TV edit of the movie, I was too young and naive to realize just how different of a character Wes Block was for Clint Eastwood. Sure, he was a badass cop, but he also indulged in somewhat perverse sexual activities with the ladies of the night in New Orleans. It’s actually an incredible performance and the type that helps separate Eastwood from so many of his contemporaries.
TIGHTROPE was released 42 years ago to the date on August 17th, 1984. Let’s celebrate by watching this interesting clip from the movie. It’s definitely tame compared to many others in film, but I love the payoff !
Through the Shattered Lens 