Category Archives: Scenes I Love

Poem Of The Day: Tom Cruise Is The Last Barman Poet in Cocktail

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Oh my God, the TSL staff says, are we going to have to start doing a poem a day on top of everything else!?

Only if you want to!  I’m just sharing this poem because it’s Tom Cruise’s birthday and I happen to love Cocktail.  Here he is, reciting The Last Barman Poet.  What I like about this scene is how no one at the bar is upset that drink service has been suspended for like three minutes so that the bartender can recite a poem.  Seriously, this is classic 80s cinema and I can’t help but love it!

I am the last barman poet / I see America drinking the fabulous cocktails I make / Americans getting stinky on something I stir or shake / The sex on the beach / The schnapps made from peach / The velvet hammer / The Alabama slammer. / I make things with juice and froth / The pink squirrel / The three-toed sloth. / I make drinks so sweet and snazzy / The iced tea / The kamakazi / The orgasm / The death spasm / The Singapore sling / The dingaling. / America you’ve just been devoted to every flavor I got / But if you want to got loaded / Why don’t you just order a shot? / Bar is open.

 

Scene I Love: Tom Cruise In Tropic Thunder

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 63rd birthday to one of the last remaining movie stars, Tom Cruise!

While it’s tempting to celebrate this day by sharing a scene from a film like Top Gun: Maverick or one of the Mission Impossible sequels or maybe even something like Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow, or Risky Business, I am going to go with a clip from 2008’s Tropic Thunder.  There’s a lot talent in this particular scene, with Bill Hader and Matthew McConaughey both giving good performances.  But, of course, the whole thing is dominated by Tom Cruise’s wonderfully demented performance as Les Grossman.

“We do not negotiate with terrorists!”

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Yancy Butler and Jean-Claude Van Damme in HARD TARGET (1993)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Any person who’s read much of my work knows that I love the Hong Kong director, John Woo. Way back in 1993, Woo made his American film debut with the action flick, HARD TARGET. It seemed every great Hong Kong director of the 80’s and 90’s would work with Jean-Claude Van Damme in their career, beginning with Woo here, and then moving on to Ringo Lam in MAXIMUM RISK (1996), REPLICANT (2001), and IN HELL (2003), as well as Tsui Hark in DOUBLE TEAM (1997) and KNOCK OFF (1998). It was almost a rite of passage!

With today being the 55th birthday of the beautiful actress, Yancy Butler, who co-starred in HARD TARGET, I get the chance to share a fun, bone-cracking scene from early in Woo’s American debut! Enjoy my friends, and happy birthday, Yancy!

Brad’s Scene of the Day – Andre Braugher in FREQUENCY (2000)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Andre Braugher is one of those actors that just makes everything better. Taken from us way too soon, Braugher passed away back in 2023 at just 61 years of age. You get the feeling that he still had some great work left in him…

Happy Birthday in cinema heaven, Andre! Thanks for all the amazing work! Enjoy this scene between Andre Braugher and Dennis Quaid in one of my all-time favorite movies, FREQUENCY.

Scenes That I Love: Karen Black Performs in Nashville

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

The great actress Karen Black would have been 86 years old today.

Karen Black does not receive a lot of screentime in Nashville but she definitely makes an impression as the driven, self-centered, and oddly likeable Connie White.  (“She can’t even comb her hair” — Connie White on Julie Chrisite.)  Here she is, performing one of the songs that she wrote herself for the film.  The audience was largely made up of actual Nashville residents, who reportedly very much appreciated Black’s performance.

Brad’s Scene of the Day – ARKANSAS (2020)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Clark Duke, from Glenwood, Arkansas, made his directorial debut back in 2020 in a movie that’s appropriately titled ARKANSAS. The film has a hell of cast (Liam Hemsworth, John Malkovich, Vince Vaughn, etc.) and focuses on the southern drug industry. You wouldn’t know it from today’s video, but it’s a color film, and it’s a good film. If you haven’t seen it, I recommend it (and so does Lisa – Arkansas Review)!

Brad’s “Scenes of the Day” – Kathleen Wilhoite insulting Charles Bronson (and everyone else) in MURPHY’S LAW (1986)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Actress Kathleen Wilhoite is 61 years old today. Wilhoite is a talented actress and singer who has over 40 years worth of film and TV credits, including movies like ROAD HOUSE (1989), with Patrick Swayze, and BAD INFLUENCE (1991), with Rob Lowe and James Spader. The movie I’ll always appreciate her the most for is the fun Charles Bronson badass cop movie, MURPHY’S LAW, that was made for the infamous Cannon Studios back in 1986. Handcuffed to Bronson for portions of the film, Wilhoite’s character Arabella McGee has an extremely interesting vocabulary, which mostly consists of cheesy, crude and vulgar insults for almost every person she comes into contact with. I saw this movie when I was 13 years old, and I copied way too many of her zingers for my own personal use over the next few years. Heck, 38 years later, I’m still not above calling the people I love “snot licking, donkey farts!”

Happy Birthday, Kathleen! Enjoy the video below that shares all of those insults from the movie!

Scenes I Love: House of The Devil

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Yesterday, #ScarySocial watched House of the Devil, one of my favorite horror flicks.  Here’s my favorite scene from that film!

I love this scene because I usually do the exact same thing whenever I have the house to myself.

Brad’s “Scene of the Day” – Alessandro Nivola and Nicolas Cage in FACE/OFF (1997)!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

Alessandro Nivola has some good credits in movies like MANSFIELD PARK (1999), AMERICAN HUSTLE (2013), and THE BRUTALIST (2024), but he’ll always be special to me as Pollux Troy, the younger brother of Nicolas Cage’s Castor Troy, in John Woo’s most awesome American film FACE/OFF!

In celebration of Nivola’s 53rd birthday, enjoy this little taste of late-90’s coolness (the link can only be watched on YOUTUBE, and it’s worth it):

Brad’s Town of the Day – Bronson, Missouri!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

My wife Sierra and I have had a lot of stress in our life lately, so I decided to take her on a little getaway this weekend to Branson, MO. This afternoon we’ve got tickets to the Sight and Sound production of “David,” and tonight we’re going to cruise Table Rock Lake on The Branson Belle.

As good as all of this sounds, my dream town would be the place imagined by THE SIMPSONS called Bronson, MO! That has to be the safest town in the world!!