Since today is Nicholas Ray’s birthday, it seems appropriate to share a scene from Ray’s best-known film, 1955’s Rebel Without A Cause. In this scene, a group of teens who can barely find happiness or peace on their own planet are asked to consider the wonders of the universe.
In celebration of the August 6th birthday of the beautiful and talented Michelle Yeoh, I thought I would share this specific fight scene between Yeoh and Zhang Ziyi in CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON (2000). It’s incredible, featuring a variety of swords and other assorted weapons. It’s one of the true highlights of the film, and I’m always glad to have any excuse to watch it! The arrival of my favorite living actor (Chow Yun-Fat) at the end of the scene is just the icing on a delicious cake of action! Enjoy, my friends!
The great Robert Mitchum was born, on this date, 107 years ago. Today’s scene that I love comes from one of my favorite Mitchum films, the classic 1947 noir Out of the Past.
In this scene, we are reminded that no one was cooler than Robert Mitchum. And no one threw a better punch.
Today, the Shattered Lens wises director James Gunn a happy 59th birthday!
My favorite James Gunn film remains 2014’s Guardians of the Galaxy. Not coincidentally, that’s also my favorite comic book film. A good deal of that love has to do with the film’s absolutely brilliant introduction of Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord. In the scene below, both the film and Gunn announce that this is a comic book movie that actually has a sense of humor. Let the other franchises specialize in depressed heroes and grim themes. The Guardians of the Galaxy are all about dancing.
Here’s a scene that I love, directed by James Gunn:
Happy 70th birthday to the incredible “hillbilly Olivier,” also known as Billy Bob Thornton. I’ve always been partial to this incredible scene where Thornton and Robert Duvall create a truly powerful moment in Duvall’s film, THE APOSTLE. Enjoy two great actors doing what they do the best!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Greta Gerwig! Let’s do the sambola!
Both the scene and the dance are from 2011’s Damsels in Distress.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Martin Sheen.
In this scene from 1979’s Apocalypse Now, Sheen shows the intensity that not only nearly killed him when he suffered a heart attack during filming but which also served to make Francis Ford Coppola’s Vietnam epic a true classic.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street. Directed by the great Wes Craven, A Nightmare on Elm Street remains a frightening and creepy masterpiece. It’s ability to scare its audience has not been diminished by countless sequels and rip-offs.
In this scene, Nancy (Heather Langenkamp) discovers that she’s not even safe from Freddy (Robert Englund) at school.
In honor of the 111th birthday in cinema heaven of director J. Lee Thompson, I’ve chosen to share a scene from one of his last few movies, the action packed sequel, DEATH WISH 4: THE CRACKDOWN (1987). Actors Charles Bronson and Danny Trejo crossed paths a couple of times in the late 80’s when Bronson was near the end of his legendary career and Trejo was at the very beginning of his. This scene is interesting as it presents Bronson using a wine bottle as a weapon instead of an huge gun! Enjoy my friends!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director Sam Mendes!
Now, it’s true that Sam Mendes won an Oscar for directing American Beauty and he probably came close to winning a second one for his work on 1917. However, my favorite Mendes film remains Skyfall. Skyfall is one of the best of the Bond films and I say this as someone who was never really a fan of Daniel Craig’s mopey interpretation of the character. Based on his previous films, Sam Mendes may not have been the first name that come to mind when people talked about someone who could make a great Bond film but, with Skyfall, he did just that.
Here, in a scene that I love, James Bond pursues Silva (Javier Bardem) through the London Underground. It’s very suspenseful, very droll, and, most importantly, very British.
Through the Shattered Lens 