6 Shots From 6 Films is just what it says it is, 6 shots from 6 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 6 Shots From 6 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Rest in peace, Stuart Gordon.
6 Shots From 6 Films
Re-Animator (1985, dir by Stuart Gordon)
Castle Freak (1995, dir by Stuart Gordon)
Space Truckers (1996, dir by Stuart Gordon)
Dagon (2001, dir by Stuart Gordon)
Edmond (2005, dir by Stuart Gordon)
Stuck (2007, dir by Stuart Gordon)
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today is Spike Lee’s 63rd birthday and you know what the means. It’s time that we honor one of American cinema’s greatest provocateurs with….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Summer of Sam (1999, dir by Spike Lee)
25th Hour (2002, dir by Spike Lee)
Oldboy (2013, dir by Spike Lee)
Da Sweet Blood of Jesus (2014, dir by Spike Lee)
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today, we wish a happy birthday to one of the greatest Canadian filmmakers of all time, David Cronenberg! Cronenberg is not only one of the best directors to come out of Canada but he’s also a favorite of those of us here at the Shattered Lens as well. Just check out Arleigh’s review of Eastern Promises, for example.
In honor of a great artists’s birthday, here are….
4 Shots From 4 David Cronenberg Films
The Brood (1979, dir by David Cronenberg)
Scanners (1981, dir by David Cronenberg)
Videodrome (1983, dir by David Cronenberg)
existenz (1999, dir by David Cronenberg)
There’s no particular connection between these films Just a smattering of shots I found interesting in some films I’ve watched recently.
The Concorde… Airport ’79 (1979, dir. David Lowell Rich)
The same year that Ruggero Deodato brought us Concorde Affaire ’79 (1979), the final Airport film came out. It involved pilot George Kennedy having to deal with a reprogrammed drone missile, missiles launched by duped French Air Force officers, and a device designed to decompress the plane by opening the cargo bay door.
This particular shot is from a scene where they fly the plane upside down while George Kennedy fires a flare out of the cockpit as a countermeasure to throw off an incoming missile. Just take that all in.
Shin Godzilla (2016, dir. Hideaki Anno & Shinji Higuchi)
One of the last shots from the film where Godzilla has now become part of the city skyline. If you haven’t seen this Godzilla movie, then I highly recommend you check it out.
The First 9 1/2 Weeks (1998, dir. Alex Wright)
Malcolm McDowell remembering the time he played Caligula (1979) in a knockoff of The Game (1997) which bills itself as prequel to 9 1/2 Weeks (1986). The only connection it has to the first two films is that it tries something like the fridge scene from the original and the shampoo scene from Another 9 1/2 Weeks (1997). However, that’s like Witchcraft 8: Salem’s Ghost (1996) claiming it has a connection to 9 1/2 Weeks because it too features a fridge scene (a disgusting one).
Etoile (1989, dir. Peter Del Monte)
Okay, I’m cheating on this one. I actually watched this film last year when I was finally able to get my hands on two of Jennifer Connelly’s early films–the other being Seven Minutes In Heaven (1985). This was during what I call her mystical period. Another example is Some Girls (1988).
In Etoile (aka Ballet), Jennifer Connelly and some other guy get drawn into a bad movie where Connelly performs in a weird version of Swan Lake. So of course the movie needs to include somebody getting attacked by a giant black swan during a scene a little reminiscent of the time Jessica Harper referenced Dario Argento’s first film while fighting a witch. Yes, I’m well aware that Connelly was also in an Argento film.
As a bonus, here’s what the director thought of the giant black swan.
Today is the birthday of Italian actress Ania Pieroni.
You may not recognize the name but, if you’re a fan of Italian horror, chances are that you’ve seen Ania Pieroni at least once. Even though she only has 11 credits listed on the imdb and apparently made her last film over 30 years ago, Ania Pieroni achieved screen immortality by playing key roles in three of the greatest Italian films ever made.
In Dario Argento’s Inferno, she was the first actress to play the mysterious Mother of Tears.
In Lucio Fulci’s The House By The Cemetery, she played the mysterious housekeeper and nanny who, in one of the film’s most memorable scenes, nonchalantly mops up a huge pool of blood before subsequently losing her head in the house’s basement.
And then, in Argento’s Tenebre, she played the unfortunate shoplifter who pays a steep price for not paying for Peter Neal’s latest novel.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to Ania Pieroni with….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Inferno (1980, dir by Dario Argento)
The House By The Cemetery (1981, dir by Lucio Fulci)
Tenebre (1982, dir by Dario Argento)
Fracchia vs Dracula (1985, dir by Neri Parenti)
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today is the birthday of one of the greatest films stars ever, Elizabeth Taylor! And you know what that means. It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Elizabeth Taylor Films
A Place in the Sun (1951, dir by George Stevens)
Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Boom! (1968, dir by Joseph Losey)
Night Watch (1973, dir by Brian G. Hutton)
Happy Twin Peaks Day!
It was on this date in 1989 that Dale Cooper first arrived in the small town of Twin Peaks, Washington to help the authorities with their investigation into the death of Laura Palmer. Here at the Shattered Lens, we’re all big fans of Twin Peaks. Back in 2017, this site was literally a Twin Peaks fan site for a good couple of months. As such, today is a big holiday around these parts and what better way to celebrate than with a special edition of 4 Shots From 4 Films?
So, in honor of Twin Peaks, here are….
4 Shots From 4 Films
Twin Peaks: The Pilot (1990, dir by David Lynch)
Twin Peaks 2.22 “Beyond Life and Death” (1991, dir by David Lynch)
Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992, dir by David Lynch)
Twin Peaks: The Return Part 18 (2017, dir by David Lynch)
Happy Twin Peaks Day!
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 82nd birthday to the one and only Paul Morrissey!
Though he may not be as well known as some of his contemporaries, Paul Morrissey is one of the godfathers of independent film. He first came to notice as a collaborator of Andy Warhol’s. Morrisey’s first films were shot at the Factory and starred the members of Warhol’s entourage. At a time when the indie film scene barely even existed, Morrissey was making boldly transgressive films and distributing them largely on his own. In fact, it could probably be argued that, if not for Paul Morrissey, the American independent film scene would never have grown into the impressive artistic and financial force that it is today.
There’s always been some debate over how much influence Warhol had over Morrissey’s films. Morrissey has always said that Warhol had next to nothing to do with the films, beyond occasionally taking a producer’s or a co-director’s credit. Others have disagreed. What can be said for sure is that, even after Warhol retreated from directly involving himself in the cinematic arts, Morrissey continued to make fiercely independent films.
Paul Morrissey made films about outsiders. While other directors were telling stories about the middle and upper classes, Morrissey was making movies about junkies, prostitutes, and people simply trying to make it from one day to another. His films also frequently satirized classic Hollywood genres. In fact, his two best-known films, Flesh for Frankenstein and Blood for Dracula, not only satirized the old Universal horror films but also the Marxist-themed films being made in Europe. A devout Catholic and a political conservative, Morrissey took a particular delight in tweaking the left-wing assumptions of the counterculture. Who can forget Joe Dallesandro’s gloriously shallow revolutionary in Blood for Dracula?
Here are….
4 Shots From 4 Paul Morrissey Films
Chelsea Girls (1966, dir by Paul Morrissey and Andy Warhol)
Trash (1970, dir by Paul Morrissey)
Blood For Dracula (1974, dir by Paul Morrissey)
Mixed Blood (1984, dir by Paul Morrissey)
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today is the 120th birthday of the great Spanish surrealist filmmaker, Luis Bunuel! Continuing the tradition that we’ve just started here at the Shattered Lens, that means that it is now time for….
4 Shots From 4 Luis Buñuel Films
(This post, I should add, was a true pleasure to put together because Luis Buñuel is truly one of the most visually inspiring directors of all time. If you haven’t seen a Luis Buñuel film, 2020 is the perfect year to discover him!)
Illusion Travels By Streetcar (1954, dir by Luis Buñuel)
The Exterminating Angel (1962, dir by Luis Buñuel)
Simon of the Desert (1965, dir by Luis Buñuel)
Belle de Jour (1967, dir by Luis Buñuel)
4 Shots From 4 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!
Today’s edition of 4 Shots from 4 Films is dedicated to four of the best films that I’ve ever seen about Hollywood! I mean, it is Oscar Sunday after all!
4 Shots From 4 Films About Hollywood
The Bad and the Beautiful (1952, dir by Vincente Minnelli)
The Stunt Man (1980, dir by Richard Rush)
Mulholland Drive (2000, dir by David Lynch)
Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019, dir by Quentin Tarantino)
Through the Shattered Lens 