Well, all good things must come to an end and that includes my cinematic trip back to college. Now, just in case you’re feeling that my trip back was a bit too overly critical and snarky, allow me to conclude things with a scene that I truly love. This is a scene that so epitomizes everything that’s great about college. The film takes places in the 60s and was filmed in the 70s but National Lampoon’s Animal House is a truly a timeless film.
And the Toga Party is a timeless scene.
Ever since I first saw it on TCM last year, The Explosive Generation has been a favorite of mine.
This 1961 film deals with sex, peer pressure, censorship, juvenile delinquency, and civil disobedience. The Explosive Generation is one of those films that was made to try to understand the wild and crazy youth of the early 60s, with their crazy rock and roll music, hip way of talking, and their habit of occasionally showing up for high school in a coat and tie. As is typical of low-budget youth films of the period, the film is occasionally clueless and occasionally insightful. In short, it’s a lot of fun and, if you’re a history nerd like I am, it’s a valuable time capsule for the way the world used to be (or, at the very least, the way that people used to think the world was).
Even better, it stars a youngish, intense, and slim William Shatner as an idealistic high school teacher who encourages his students to have a frank and honest discussion about sex. If The Intruder (which was made roughly around the same time) is a film that proves that Shatner was capable of being an intelligent and insightful actor, The Explosive Generation is all about Shatner being Shatner. This performance is everything that you’ve probably come to expect from William Shatner and, as a result, it transcends mundane concepts like good and bad.
Below are two scenes of William Shatner dealing with the Explosive Generation. Be sure to keep an eye out because I’m sure The Explosive Generation will show up on TCM again at some point in the near future!
I can still remember the day that my high school history teacher decided to teach us about World War I by showing my class the final episode of the classic BBC sitcom Blackadder Goes Forth. At first, I was just happy to get a chance to watch television in class but, by the end of the episode, I was simply devastated.
There’s something very appropriate about the fact that one of the best depictions of the futility and destructiveness of war came at the end of a comedy.
And during this Memorial Day weekend, as we pay respect to the men and women who have died in the course of fighting the countless number of wars that have been waged over the course of this country’s history, it seems to me that this final scene is far more eloquent about the costs of war than I could ever hope to be.
One of the best films (at least in this blogger’s honest opinion) of the year also happens to be one of it’s most controversial. It’s Darren Aronofsky’s follow-up to his equally critically-acclaimed and just as controversial Black Swan. I am speaking of his Biblical epic Noah and the story of the Flood.
It’s a film that doesn’t feel religious yet full of spirituality. It’s a film that dares to take a look at text seen as hallowed by billions in a way that doesn’t take a stand on the debate of science versus religion (though some feel that Aronofsky’s atheist background paints the film on the side of science). Noah has a scene in the beginning of it’s third act (one that some have called the dealbreaker for how they thought of the film in the end) that best exemplifies the conjoining of science and religion. It’s the best retelling of the Creation Story that I’ve heard and/or seen.
Courtesy of Protozoa Pictures…The Creation scene from Noah.
This latest scene that I love is for all of you Godzilla fans out there! In this scene from 2004’s Godzilla: Final Wars, the original Japanese Godzilla takes on his American counterpart, Zilla. Needless to say, it’s not an evenly matched battle.
Zilla, of course, starred in Roland Emmerich’s Godzilla, a film that is often cited as being one of the worst of the 90s. Will the upcoming Godzilla film help to erase memories of Zilla? We’ll find out on May 16th!
For now, enjoy the original kicking the imposter’s ass!
It’s just 17 more days til the King of Monsters return to the big-screen. What better way to make a path for his triumphant return than showing you one of my favorite Godzilla scenes ever.
This scene was what got me totally hooked on Godzilla and his monster buddies. While Godzilla vs. Megalon was never one of the brightest stars in the history of the Big Guy’s filmography it definitely showed that Godzilla was more than just kicking and smashing buildings down and burning things with his atomic breath.
Say hello to the Godzilla’s Tail-Slide Double-Kick!
With the trailer for the James Brown biopic now out for people to watch I just thought it would be appropriate I share one of my favorite scenes from the many years of watching Saturday Night Live.
Before he became a mega superstar during the 80’s, Eddie Murphy was just part of the ever-changing cast of comedians for Saturday Night Live. One of the funniest skits had Eddie as James Brown doing the intro to his very own talk show, Celebrity Hot Tub.
First released in 2002, Drumline attempts to do for the marching band what the Bring It On films did for cheerleading. Nick Cannon plays a cocky teenage drummer who, after graduating from high school in New York, attends Atlanta A&T University, a fictional historically black college in Georgia. Cannon is attending school on a band scholarship but, despite his obvious talent, he finds himself in conflict with both the band director (Orlando Jones) and the leader of the drumline (played by Leonard Roberts). All in all, it’s a very predictable but likable film. Cannon, Jones, and Roberts all give good performances and director Charles Stone keeps things moving at such a fast pace that you don’t have time to think about how familiar it all seems.
As you can probably already guess, Drumline ends with a big band competition where Atlanta A&T faces off against their arch rival, Morris Brown College. This is definitely the best scene in Drumline. It’s at this moment that the film manages to transcend both its predictable plot and the fact that I never cared much about the marching band in either college or high school. (In fact, one of my frenemies in high school was in the marching band and oh my God, the way she went on and on about it…but that’s another story.) I can’t really say whether this is a realistic portrait of a band competition but it’s definitely exciting to watch.
It’s also today’s scene that I love!
Always known to be the quirky, eccentric personality, during last night’s broadcast of the 86th Academy Awards, Bill Murray provided a fitting, spontaneous tribute to his long-time friends and collaborator Harold Ramis.
Harold Ramis passed away last week at the age of 69 and Murray’s on-stage tribute to his friend must’ve brought not just smiles and applause from the crowd but some tears as well.
Whatever one thinks of last night’s show this was one moment that made it all worth watching.
Hi everyone! Do you know what today is?
That’s right — it’s Oscar Day!
In order to prepare for my favorite holiday, I figured that I would go on YouTube and look at a few old Oscar production numbers. In doing so, I came across the infamous Rob Lowe/Snow White dance number that opened the 1989 Academy Awards. I was only three years old when this was first broadcast but I still like to think that, as this endless dance number was broadcast live across the world, I was sitting in front of the TV and telling myself that I could have done a better job with the choreography.
Incidentally, Snow White was played by an actress named Mary Ellen Bowman. I have no idea if she’s a relative.
Through the Shattered Lens 