Today would have been the 100th birthday of the great character actor, Harry Dean Stanton.
My scene that I love for the day comes from Wim Wenders’s Paris, Texas. This 1984 film gave Stanton a rare starring role as Travis, a man searching for Jane (Nastassja Kinski), the mother of his son. In this scene, physically separated and hidden from Jane by a one-way mirror, Travis talks about their relationship and their son.
It’s hard for me to believe, but THE DEAD POOL was released 38 years ago on July 13th, 1988. Back in those days (and now), a 14 year old Brad was completely obsessed with action movies, especially those starring Charles Bronson and Clint Eastwood. I especially loved Eastwood’s portrayal of tough San Francisco detective Harry Callahan, and you can be sure that we rented this film as soon as it hit the video shelves!
Today, I’m sharing a scene that I’ve always enjoyed. It perfectly encapsulates Harry’s dry wit, his disdain for bureaucrats, and his continual desire to work alone. Happy anniversary DEAD POOL, and enjoy my friends
Today’s scene is the finale of John Carpenter’s In the Mouth of Madness. Sam Neill watches the movie that he’s just starred in and finds it to be hilarious.
In honor of Monte Hellman’s birthday, today’s scene of the day is the conclusion of his enigmatic, 1971 masterpiece, Two-Lane Blacktop.
The film is 1968’s Danger Diabolik! The music is courtesy of Morricone. The direction is courtesy of Mario Bava. Does the scene make any sense? Does it have to? This film is all about pure style and it’s hard to think of any place as stylish (by 1968 standards) as Valmont’s Nightclub.
146 years ago, on July 11th in Kentucky, director Tod Browning was born. Though Browning was a director who was comfortable working in any genre, he is today best remembered for the horror films that he directed for Universal studios. Today’s scene that I love comes from Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula.
In this scene, Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is introduced to Prof. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan). Van Helsing notes something interesting about Dracula’s reflection, namely that he doesn’t have one. Needless to say, the Count is not amused.
Beginning in 2018, I fell in love with the state of West Virginia. It started because I fell in love with my beautiful wife who’s from West Virginia, but we’ve also driven across the state on multiple occasions, and I can easily say it’s one of the most beautiful states in this country.
As a movie lover, I began looking for films set in West Virginia when I came across MATEWAN (1987), which was written and directed by John Sayles. Of course, I knew about the film beforehand, but with my new interest in the state, I decided I would purchase it sight unseen from the Criterion collection and give it a spin. Based on the violent, true story of coal miners attempting to form a union in Mingo County, WV in 1920, I’ll just state here that I consider the film to be a masterpiece. I’ll probably write a full review for the movie at some point.
Chris Cooper plays the lead in the film, and interestingly, this was his film debut. Prior to MATEWAN, Cooper had only appeared in a couple of soap operas. After MATEWAN, he would steadily rise to be the Oscar-winning actor we know today. July 9th, 2026, is his 75th birthday, and I’m paying honor to him by sharing this excellent scene. Heck, I just may have to watch this movie again tonight!
Today would have been the birthday of Richard Roundtree so, of course, today’s scene that I love could only be the classic opening of 1971’s Shaft.
By doing something as simple as walking down a street in New York, Roundtree showed us exactly who Shaft was and why Shaft did what he did. This is one of those scenes that’s been parodied so many times that it’s actually surprising to rewatch and see how just defiant and sexy Richard Roundtree’s confident strut actually was.
On another note, I enjoy seeing all of the names of the movies that were playing on 42nd Street when this scene was filmed.
It’s always a good time to share something from Tony Sirico, who passed away four years ago today.
From The Sopranos, this was one of Sirico’s best performances:
Yesterday was Janet Leigh’s birthday and today is Pat Hitchcock’s birthday so it seems appropriate that today’s scene that I love should feature both of them. From 1960’s Psycho, this scene features Leigh and Hitchcock as office co-workers who meet the very wealthy Mr. Lowry (played by Frank Albertson).
“He was flirting with you. He must have seen my wedding ring,” remains one of the greatest lines ever written.
Through the Shattered Lens 