I know the feeling.
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1976’s Logan’s Run.
Category Archives: Scenes I Love
Happy 78th Birthday, John Kreese (Martin Kove)! In honor of you, I celebrate one of my favorite scenes!
It would be hard to overstate how much I loved THE KARATE KID (1984) when I was growing up. The movie came out when I was 10 years old, and I think it would be fair to say that I wanted to be the karate kid. I was a scrawny little runt, and the whole storyline about getting the better of the big bullies appealed to me. Ralph Macchio and Pat Morita will always be special to me because of their roles as Daniel LaRusso and Mr. Miyagi. It’s also fair to say that my very first movie crush was Elizabeth Shue. I thought she was so beautiful as “Ali with an I,” and I still do!
It was so easy to hate Johnny Lawrence (William Zabka) and his band of bullies. The show, COBRA KAI, has finally helped me get over my anger at them. And then there’s Martin Kove as John Kreese, the head of that snake that was cobra kai. He is such an asshole in the movie! When I saw it was his birthday, I had an excuse to share one of my favorite scenes in cinema!
Happy Birthday, Martin Kove! Enjoy, my friends!
Scenes I Love: Brothers
*spoilers*
The film Brothers, released in 2009, came and went with little fanfare, but it was a film that stuck with me when I saw it a couple years later.
It has definitely made an impression on me after seeing it again while convalescing the summer of 2019. The film deals with PTSD with soldiers coming home from the wars in the Middle East. Yet, it also does a great job of portraying of someone going through severe PTSD after experiencing a major tragedy in their life.
One doesn’t have to have been at work to experience PTSD.
Tobey Maguire does such a great job of acting as the tormented Sam Cahill that one feels discomfort at watching his performance. A performance that shows such unrestrained rage and helplessness in the midst of “drowning” in one’s trauma.
Scenes That I Love: Mardi Gras in Easy Rider
Happy Mardi Gras!
For today’s scene that I love, here is the Mardi Gras sequence from 1969’s Easy Rider. Featuring Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Karen Black, and Toni Basil walking through the streets of New Orleans, this scene was actually filmed during Mardi Gras. Those are real Mardi Gras floats and real Mardi Gras participants staring at the camera. That’s an actual citizen of New Orleans with whom Dennis Hopper appears to have nearly gotten into a fight. Personally, I relate to Toni Basil in this scene. She is having a good time no matter what!
I just love how Toni Basil can’t help but dance, no matter what.
Scene That I Love: Mad Max Meets The Night Rider
Today’s scene of the day comes from the original Mad Max, directed by George Miller and starring Mel Gibson as Australia’s favorite apocalypse survivor. In this scene, Max — who is still trying to be a servant of law and order — chases The Night Rider!
The Night Rider has become a bit of a fan favorite, which is saying something for someone who really isn’t in the film for that long. As Mad Max takes place before the total collapse of civilization, it’s temping to see The Night Rider as a harbinger, letting Max and his other police colleagues know what the future for holds all of them.
Scene that I Love: The Opening Of The Oscar
Today’s scene that I love come from the classic Hollywood melodrama, 1966’s The Oscar!
Behold the glory that was Hollywood!
Actually, this film makes Hollywood look pretty low-rent. Hopefully, though, this will be Frankie Fane’s year.
Scene That I Love: Apollo 13 Has A Problem
Today, we wish a happy birthday to Ron Howard with this classic Howard-directed scene from 1995’s Apollo 13!
Charles Bronson’s badass introduction in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN (1960)! Happy Weekend!
In a movie full of amazing actors, Charles Bronson’s introduction in THE MAGNIFICENT SEVEN is as badass as it gets. He exudes the power and charisma that would make him an international superstar a few years later.
I hope your weekend is just as awesome!! Enjoy this amazing scene with Bronson, Yul Brynner, and Steve McQueen.
Billy Bob Thornton in A SIMPLE PLAN (1998) – The great performances!
Sam Raimi directed A SIMPLE PLAN, a movie about two brothers and a friend who find a crashed plane on a nature reserve that just happens to have a bag of cash containing $4.4 million. What starts out as the potential answer to all of their problems turns out the biggest problem they’ll ever have to deal with.
Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton & Brent Briscoe play the guys who find the money and come up with a plan to keep it. As you can imagine, it all goes to hell, with one thing leading to another thing that leads to another thing, and none of it good. The performances in this film are uniformly excellent, with Thornton as the standout. He completely disappears into his character and received an Oscar nomination for his work. It’s a great film, but it’s not exactly a fun film as we watch these characters’ lives turn into a slowly unfolding bus wreck. I watched it recently for the first time since I saw it in the theaters in 1998. Although I highly recommend it, I’m probably good for another couple of decades.
This scene with Paxton and Thornton is pretty sad and a pretty strong indicator of why money ultimately can never bring true happiness.
Scenes I Love: Reggie Bannister in Phantasm
I read yesterday that Reggie Bannister, one of the most beloved horror character actors out there, isn’t doing too well. He has gone into hospice care. Those words — “hospice care” — will always bring a tear to my eye. My Dad went into hospice care last year and died a month later, which I was told was longer than most people survive in hospice. Being the naive idiot that I was, I have to admit that, up until the end, I was still expecting my Dad to make a full recovery and just magically get out of bed. Sadly, that’s just not the way these things work. Hospice is end-of-life care and any medical professional who doesn’t make that clear while recommending it is doing a disservice to not only their patients but also their families.
Reggie Bannister is best-known for his appearances in the work of Don Coscarelli. He’s one of those actors who just makes you smile whenever he appears on screen. Anyone who has watched Phantasm loves Reggie, with his ice cream truck and his guitar and his whole laid back vibe. Today’s scene that I love is a simple but wonderfully human moment from 1978’s Phantasm, featuring Bill Thornbury and the great Reggie Bannister.
Through the Shattered Lens