4 Shots From 4 Films: Special 1993 Edition


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!

Today, we pay tribute to the year 1993 with….

4 Shots From 4 1993 Films

Mi Vida Loca (1993, dir by Allison Anders, DP: Rodrigo Garcia)

Short Cuts (1993, dir by Robert Altman, DP: Walt Lloyd)

Sliver (1993, dir by Phillip Noyce, DP: Vilmos Zsigmond)

The Last Action Hero (1993, directed by John McTiernan, DP: Dean Semler)

Live Tweet Alert: Watch Arcade With #ScarySocial!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly live tweets on twitter.  I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday, I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday, and I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, for #ScarySocial, I will be hosting 1993’s Arcade!

If you want to join us on Saturday night, just hop onto twitter, start the film at 9 pm et, and use the #ScarySocial hashtag!  The film is available on Prime!  I’ll be there co-hosting and I imagine some other members of the TSL Crew will be there as well.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy!

 

Scenes That I Love: “I Love The Smell of Napalm in the Morning” from Apocalypse Now (Happy birthday, John Milius!)


Today, the Shattered Lens celebrates the 82nd birthday of the iconic screenwriter and director, John Milius!

While director Francis Ford Coppola definitely put his own stamp on 1979’s Apocalypse Now, the film started life as a script written by John Milius and the film itself is full of dialogue that could only have been written by Milius.  The most famous example is Robert Duvall’s monologue about the smell of napalm in the morning.  Actually, the entire helicopter attack feels like pure Milius.  Reportedly, Duvall’s character was originally named Colonel Kharnage but, by the time the movie was made, his name had become Kilgore.  It’s still not exactly a subtle name but it’s not quite as obvious as Kharnage.

(When James Caan read the script, he loved the role so much that he was offended to not be offered it and, as a result, he turned down offers to play not only Willard but also Kurtz.)

Happy birthday, John Milius!

“Someday, this war is going to end.”

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special John Milius Edition


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!

Today is John Milius’s birthday and you know what?  It should be a national holiday!

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 John Milius Films

Dillinger (1973, dir by John Milius, DP: Jules Brenner)

Big Wednesday (1978, dir by John Milius, DP: Bruce Surtees)

Conan The Barbarian (1982, dir by John Milius, DP: Duke Callaghan)

Red Dawn (1984, dir by John Milius, DP: Ric Waite)

Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for The Terminator!


As some of our regular readers undoubtedly know, I am involved in a few weekly watch parties.  On Twitter, I host #FridayNightFlix every Friday and I co-host #ScarySocial on Saturday.  On Mastodon, I am one of the five hosts of #MondayActionMovie!  Every week, we get together.  We watch a movie.  We tweet our way through it.

Tonight, at 10 pm et, I will be hosting #FridayNightFlix!  The movie?  1984’s The Terminator!

If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, find The Terminator on Prime, start the movie at 10 pm et, and use the #FridayNightFlix hashtag!  I’ll be there happily tweeting.  It’s a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

See you there!

 

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Uli Edel Edition


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!

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy early birthday to German director Uli Edel, who will be turning 79 tomorrow!  It’s time for….

4 Shots from 4 Uli Edel Films

Christiane F. (1981, dir b Uli Edel, DP: Justus Pankau and Jürgen Jürges)

Last Exit to Brooklyn (1989, dir by Uli Edel, DP: Stefan Czapsky)

Body of Evidence (1993, dir by Uli Edel, DP: Douglas Milsome)

The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008, dir by Uli Edel, DP: Rainer Klausmann)

The Eric Roberts Collection: Story of Eva (dir by Tom Woodbeck)


“Jakey, Jakey, big mistakey,” the bad guy says at one point during 2015’s Story of Eva and if that doesn’t tell you everything you need to know about this film, I don’t know what to tell you.

Eva (Nicole Rio) is the mother of teenage Amber (Chelsea London Lloyd).  After Amber is murdered by a serial killer who also works as a human trafficker, Eva decides to get revenge.  First, however, she has to train herself to not only inflict pain but to also handle it.  She finds Amber’s stash and starts smoking it.  She wears a ball gag.  She whips herself.  She learns how to handle pain.  She uses Amber’s college fund to buy a membership at the gym and takes boxing lessons.  And she builds her own little dungeon.  Whenever Eva captures a criminal, she turns into Evil Eva and is even played by a different actress, Shawn Craig.  Eva is one of those vigilantes who can’t punish an evil-doer without delivering an endless monologue.  The script is talky in the way that scripts written by first-timers determined to prove their cleverness often are.

“No child should ever suffer!” Eva — in “good” form — announces before then adding, “What kind of God would allow that?”  Thunder rumbles in the background and it’s not for the first or the only time in the movie as Eva views herself as having become a vengeful God.  I have to admit that I appreciated the fact that the film was so shamelessly overwrought and overdone.  Everything about the the move is over-the-top and yet, oddly, it’s still rather dull.  Some of it is that fact that we live in a post-Hostel world.  Torture chambers just don’t carry the same jolt that they once did.

Eric Roberts plays a detective who is investigating all of the murders.  He is named Detective Wood.  His partner (Rico Ross) is named Detective Grind and the fact that there was no one named Detective Bump seems like a missed opportunity.  Roberts appears in a handful of scenes and brings some welcome wit to the role.

Previous Eric Roberts Films That We Have Reviewed:

  1. Paul’s Case (1980)
  2. Star 80 (1983)
  3. Runaway Train (1985)
  4. To Heal A Nation (1988)
  5. Best of the Best (1989)
  6. Blood Red (1989)
  7. The Ambulance (1990)
  8. The Lost Capone (1990)
  9. Best of the Best II (1993)
  10. Love, Cheat, & Steal (1993)
  11. Voyage (1993)
  12. Love Is A Gun (1994)
  13. Sensation (1994)
  14. Dark Angel (1996)
  15. Doctor Who (1996)
  16. Most Wanted (1997)
  17. The Alternate (2000)
  18. Mercy Streets (2000)
  19. Tripfall (2000)
  20. Raptor (2001)
  21. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
  22. Strange Frequency (2001)
  23. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
  24. Border Blues (2004)
  25. Mr. Brightside (2004)
  26. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
  27. We Belong Together (2005)
  28. Hey You (2006)
  29. Cyclops (2008)
  30. Depth Charge (2008)
  31. Amazing Racer (2009)
  32. The Chaos Experiment (2009)
  33. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
  34. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
  35. Enemies Among Us (2010)
  36. The Expendables (2010) 
  37. Groupie (2010)
  38. Sharktopus (2010)
  39. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
  40. The Dead Want Women (2012)
  41. Deadline (2012)
  42. The Mark (2012)
  43. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
  44. The Night Never Sleeps (2012)
  45. Assault on Wall Street (2013)
  46. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
  47. Lovelace (2013)
  48. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
  49. The Perfect Summer (2013)
  50. Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End (2013)
  51. Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire (2013)
  52. Self-Storage (2013)
  53. Sink Hole (2013)
  54. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
  55. This Is Our Time (2013)
  56. Bigfoot vs DB Cooper (2014)
  57. Doc Holliday’s Revenge (2014)
  58. Eternity: The Movie (2014)
  59. Inherent Vice (2014)
  60. Road to the Open (2014)
  61. Rumors of War (2014)
  62. So This Is Christmas (2014)
  63. Amityville Death House (2015)
  64. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
  65. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
  66. Las Vegas Story (2015)
  67. Sorority Slaughterhouse (2015)
  68. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
  69. Enemy Within (2016)
  70. Hunting Season (2016)
  71. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
  72. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
  73. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
  74. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
  75. Dark Image (2017)
  76. The Demonic Dead (2017)
  77. Black Wake (2018)
  78. Frank and Ava (2018)
  79. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
  80. The Wrong Teacher (2018)
  81. Clinton Island (2019)
  82. Monster Island (2019)
  83. The Reliant (2019)
  84. The Savant (2019)
  85. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
  86. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
  87. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
  88. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
  89. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  90. Hard Luck Love Song (2020)
  91. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
  92. Top Gunner (2020)
  93. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
  94. The Elevator (2021)
  95. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
  96. Killer Advice (2021)
  97. Megaboa (2021)
  98. Night Night (2021)
  99. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
  100. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
  101. Red Prophecies (2021)
  102. A Town Called Parable (2021)
  103. The Wrong Mr. Right (2021)
  104. Bleach (2022)
  105. Dawn (2022)
  106. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
  107. 69 Parts (2022)
  108. The Rideshare Killer (2022)
  109. The Wrong High School Sweetheart (2022)
  110. The Company We Keep (2023)
  111. D.C. Down (2023)
  112. If I Can’t Have You (2023)
  113. Megalodon: The Frenzy (2023)
  114. Aftermath (2024)
  115. Bad Substitute (2024)
  116. Devil’s Knight (2024)
  117. Insane Like Me? (2024)
  118. Space Sharks (2024)
  119. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
  120. Broken Church (2025)
  121. Shakey Grounds (2025)
  122. When It Rains In L.A. (2025)