Do you need some help getting the mood for the 4th of July? Just check out these patriotic heroes!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in hosting a few weekly live tweets on twitter and occasionally Mastodon. I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of Mastodon’s #MondayActionMovie! Every week, we get together. We watch a movie. We snark our way through it.
Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1990’s The Rift! Selected and hosted by Bunny Hero, this film stars Jack Scalia and it takes place underwater! So, you know it has to be good!
Following #MondayActionMovie, Brad and Sierra will be hosting the #MondayMuggers live tweet. We will be watching 1981’s Blow Out! The film is on Prime!
It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up The Rift on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! Then, at 10 pm et, switch over to Twitter and Prime, start Blow Out, and use the #MondayMuggers hashtag! The live tweet community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 79th birthday to the legendary Debbie Harry!
Our song of the day is my favorite of Blondie song (and, believe me, there were many to choose from), Atomic! This song, which was subsequently covered for Trainspotting by Sleeper, is one that I often find myself not only quoting but also hearing in my head.
The great actress Karen Black would have been 85 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. 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.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
89 years ago today, Sydney Pollack was born in Indiana. Though Pollack got his start as an actor, he soon moved into directing and was one of the key television directors of the 1960s. He eventually branched out into film, making a name for himself as a director of intelligent and sensitive comedies and dramas. Though he only directed 21 films over the course of his career, his films received a total of 48 Oscar nominations and 11 wins. 1982’s Tootsie and 1985’s Out of Africa were both nominated for Best Picture. Out of Africa won.
Pollack also returned to acting in the 90s, making a name for himself as a skilled character actor. I’ll always remember him from Eyes Wide Shut, intimidating Tom Cruise while playing pool.
When he passed away in 2008, Pollack was remembered as one of the best directors of Hollywood’s second golden age.
In honor of Sydney Pollack, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Sydney Pollack Films
Happy Canada Day!
This month sucked. From starting things off with no power to my Dad being in first a hospital and then a physical rehab facility to me continually getting lost whenever I had to drive out to visit any of his doctors, June is a month that I would rather forget about. I will say that I discovered a lot of emotional strength and maturity that I didn’t realize had but still, I’ve spent June exhausted and suffering from all sorts of aches and pains, the majority of which were and are stress-related.
Luckily, I feel like I’m kind of back to my old self. I’ve learned to adjust to situation. And I’ve learned that I also have to take care of myself and for me, taking care of myself means writing about movies and TV shows and the Oscars and all that good stuff. While family will always come first, I do feel like it’s time to get back to regularly posting here on the Shattered Lens.
Seriously …. BRING ON, JULY!
Here’s my abbreviated week in review:
Movies I Watched:
Television Shows I Watched:
Links From Last Week:
Links From The Site:
This has not been an easy month and I’ve fallen behind in my movie-watching and also my news-reading. So, take the predictions below with many grains of salt. That said, it is the end of the month and it’s time for my monthly Oscar predictions!
What will happen when the nominations are announced in 2025? Who knows? For now, let’s just have fun guessing. You can check out my predictions for April by clicking here. And then check out my predictions for May!
Best Picture
Anora
Blitz
Didi
Dune Part 2
Emilia Perez
The Fire Inside
Gladiator II
Inside Out 2
A Real Pain
Sing Sing
Best Director
Jacques Audiard for Emilia Perez
Sean Baker for Anora
Steve McQueen for Blitz
Rachel Morrison for The Fire Inside
Denis Villeneuve for Dune Part 2
Best Actor
Jesse Eisenberg in A Real Pain
Andre Holland in The Actor
Daniel Craig in Queer
Barry Keoghan in Bird
Jesse Plemons in Kinds of Kindness
Best Actress
Ryan Destiny in The Fire Inside
Cynthia Erivo in Wicked
Angelina Jolie in Maria
Mikey Madison in Anora
Demi Moore In The Substance
Best Supporting Actor
Kieran Culkin in A Real Pain
Brian Tyree Henry in The Fire Inside
Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson
Paul Raci in Sing Sing
Denzel Washington in Gladiator II
Best Supporting Actress
Joan Chen in Didi
Toni Collette in Juror #2
Julianne Moore in The Room Next Door
Saoirse Ronan in Blitz
Zoe Saldana in Emilia Perez