Holidays On The Lens: The Flight Before Christmas (dir by Peter Sullivan)


Today, we present to you 2015’s The Flight Before Christmas!

Mayim Bialik and Ryan McPartin are both on the same Christmas Eve flight.  Bialik plays a woman who has given up on romance.  McPartin plays a man who is flying to Boston to ask his girlfriend to marry him, even though it’s obvious that they’re not right for each other.  At first, our two main characters don’t get along but then their flight is temporarily diverted to the most romantic place on Earth …. Bozeman, Montana!

You can guess what happens.  You’ve probably already guessed that it occurs at a quaint Bed & Breakfast.  But did you guess that Brian Doyle-Murray plays a jolly man named Noel Nichols and that …. oh, you did?  Well, good for you.

It’s a cute movie, nonetheless.  If there is a Santa Claus, I hope he’s played by Brian Doyle-Murray.

4 Shots From 4 Holiday Films: Classic Christmas Edition


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 is all about letting the visuals do the talking.

4 Shots From 4 Holiday Films

Holiday Inn (1942, dir by Mark Sandrich)

Holiday Inn (1942, dir by Mark Sandrich)

It's A Wonderful Life (1946, dir by Frank Capra)

It’s A Wonderful Life (1946, dir by Frank Capra)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947, dir by George Seaton)

Miracle on 34th Street (1947, dir by George Seaton)

White Christmas (1954, dir by Michael Curtiz)

White Christmas (1954, dir by Michael Curtiz)

4 Shots From 4 Christmas Films


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.

Happy holidays!

Let’s get December started with….

4 Shots From 4 Christmas Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

Lethal Weapon (1987, dir by Richard Donner, DP: Stephen Goldblatt)

Die Hard (1988, dir by John McTiernan, DP: Jan de Bont)

Die Hard 2 (1990, dir by Renny Harlin, DP: Oliver Wood)

Celebrate Christmas With Treevenge!


Hi!  We hope you’re having a wonderful holiday!

Here at the Shattered Lens, we have a Christmas tradition, one that was started way back in 2009 by site founder Arleigh Sandoc.  And that tradition is …. TREEVENGE!

Celebrate Christmas with the greatest haunted Christmas tree movie ever!

Enjoy and …. wait, what?  Uh-oh!  The video is age-restricted so you’ll have to click on the watch on YouTube link!

Song of the Day: Hooray for Santa Claus by Milton DeLugg and the Little Eskimos


Did everyone have a good Christmas?  Did everyone get everything that they wanted?

If the answer’s yes, you have one man to thank for that!

Hooray for Santy Claus!

(You might recognize this song from one of our favorite holiday classics, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians!)

From 1939, it’s Lionel Barrymore and Orson Welles in A Christmas Carol!


This radio production of A Christmas Carol was originally broadcast on Christmas Eve, 1939.  It’s not really Christmas unless you experience at least one version of Charles Dickens’s classic holiday tale and this version features not only Orson Welles providing the narration but Lionel Barrymore playing the role of Scrooge!

Other members of the cast included such well-known Welles’s associates as  Everett Sloane (Marley’s ghost), Frank Readick (Bob Cratchit), Erskine Sanford (Fezziwig) and George Coulouris (Ghost of Christmas Present).  Two years after this broadcast, Welles, Sloane, Sanford, and Coulouris would all appear in Citizen Kane.

For your listening pleasure, we offer up this journey to the past….

4 Shots From 4 Classic Christmas Films


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.

It’s Christmas!  Here are 4 Shots from 4 Christmas classics!

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Godfather (1972, dir by Francis Ford Coppola, DP: Gordon Willis)

Die Hard (1988, directed by John McTiernan, DP: Jan de Bont)

Goodfellas (1990, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)

Eyes Wide Shut (1999, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Larry Smith)

Let’s Celebrate Christmas By Watching Santa Claus Conquers The Martians On The Shattered Lens!


Watching the 1964 holiday sci-fi epic, Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, is a Christmas Eve tradition here at the Shattered Lens!  So, sit back, turn on Kid TV, and get ready to sing!

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HOORAY FOR SANTY CLAUS!