4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Clint Eastwood Edition


Clint Eastwood in Revenge of the Creature (1955)

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 Clint Eastwood’s 90th birthday!

Though Clint famously had to go to Italy to really get his film career going, he’s gone on to become an icon of American film.  While his early films were often criticized as glorifying violence and of being reactionary, his later films have — more often than not — been meditations on aging, moral ambiguity, and what a lifetime of violence does to a person’s soul.  Though Eastwood has fallen out-of-favor with a few critics as a result of the speech he gave at the 2012 Republican Convention (Film Twitter, to the shock of no one, had a particularly over-the-top reaction to it as many of them discovered, I guess for the first time, that not every artist is a Leftist), he’s a filmmaker whose legacy will be rediscovered and probably appreciated in the future.

Here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

For A Few Dollars More (1965, dir by Sergio Leone)

Dirty Harry (1971, dir by Don Siegel)

Unforgiven (1992, dir by Clint Eastwood)

Gran Torino (2008, dir by Clint Eastwood)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Howard Hawks 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is the 124th anniversary of cinematic pioneer Howard Hawks!  Whether it’s gangster film, a western, or a screwball comedy, it’s hard to think of a single cinematic genre that doesn’t owe a debt of gratitude to Howard Hawks!

Here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Scarface (1932, dir by Howard Hawks)

Bringing Up Baby (1938, dir by Howard Hawks)

Red River (1948, dir by Howard Hawks)

Land of the Pharaohs (1955, dir by Howard Hawks)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Josef von Sternberg 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today we celebrate the 126 anniversary of the birth of cinematic pioneer, Josef von Sternberg!  That means that it’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Films

An American Tragedy (1931, dir by Josef von Sternberg)

The Scarlet Empress (1934, dir by Josef von Sternberg)

The Devil is A Woman (1935, dir by Josef von Sternberg)

Jet Pilot (1957, dir by Josef von Sternberg)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Christopher Lee 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

98 years ago today, the greatest actor of all time, Christopher Lee, was born in London!  Today, we honor a legacy of iconic performances, in films that were both good and bad.  Lee worked with everyone from Terence Fisher to Peter Jackson to Martin Scorsese to Laurence Olivier to John Huston to ….. well, if they were an important director, they probably made at least one movie with Christopher Lee!  He was Dracula.  He was Saruman.  He was one of the best Bond villains and it’s been rumored that, during World War II, Lee was a bit of a James Bond himself.

Today, we honor a brilliant career with….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972, dir by Alan Gibson)

The Man With The Golden Gun (1974, dir by Guy Hamilton)

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001, dir by Peter Jackson)

Hugo (2011, dir by Martin Scorsese)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Peter Cushing 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is a very special day for fans of horror cinema.  It’s Peter Cushing’s birthday!  Peter Cushing was born 107 years ago today, in Surrey.  As an actor, Cushing appeared in a wide variety films but he’s probably destined to be forever remembered for playing Baron Frankenstein and Prof. Van Helsing in several Hammer films.  (He also apparently played a villain in an obscure sci-fi film in the 70s.)

By most accounts, Cushing was the kindest of men and quite a contrast to the villains that he often played.  My favorite Peter Cushing performance is his definitive interpretation of Van Helsing in The Horror of Dracula.  Cushing brought so much authority to the role that he not only made you believe in vampires but he also made you believe that he was the only person who could possibly defeat them.

One final nice note: Cushing and Christopher Lee were often at odds on screen but they were the best of friends in real life.  Lee, in fact, often said that he never recovered emotionally from Cushing’s death in 1994.

In honor of Peter Cushing, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Hamlet (1948, dir by Laurence Olivier)

The Curse of Frankenstein (1957, dir by Terence Fisher)

The Horror of Dracula (1958, dir by Terence Fisher)

Scream and Scream Again (1970, dir by Gordon Hessler)

14 Shots From 14 Films: Special Roger Deakins 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Usually, we only do 4 shots from 4 films but today is the birthday of our greatest living cinematographer, Roger Deakins!  And it’s impossible to only pick 4 when it comes to Deakins.

So, it’s time for….

14 Shots From 14 Films

Marquis De Sade’s Justine (1977, dir by Chris Boger, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Nineteen Eighty-Four (1984, dir by Michael Radford, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Barton Fink (1991, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Fargo (1996, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Kundun (1997, dir by Martin Scorsese, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

House of Sand and Fog (2003, dir by Vadim Perelman, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

No Country For Old Men (2007, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

A Serious Man (2009, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Skyfall (2012, dir by Sam Mendes, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Prisoners (2013, dir by Denis Villeneuve, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Sicario (2015, dir by Denis Villeneuve, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Hail Caesar! (2016, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

Blade Runner 2049 (2017, dir by Denis Villeneuve, cinematography by Roger Deakins)

1917 (2019, dir by Sam Mendes. cinematography by Roger Deakins)

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Bill Paxton 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Bill Paxton would have been 65 years old today.  One of the greatest of the modern character actors, Bill Paxton passed away three years ago and the loss is still felt.  Paxton was one of those actors who was often taken for granted but who was capable of bring almost any character to life.  He was an exciting actor to watch, not to mention being one of the best actor to ever come out of Ft. Worth, Texas.  He is definitely missed.

Today, we pay tribute to the great Bill Paxton with….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Near Dark (1987, dir by Kathryn Bigelow)

Pass the Ammo (1988, dir by David Beaird)

A Simple Plan (1998, dir by Sam Raimi)

Frailty (2001, dir by Bill Paxton)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Henry Fonda 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today, we celebrate the birthday of Henry Fonda!  Fonda was born 115 years ago today and, over the course of his long career, he was often cast in role the epitomized everything great about America.  It’s rare to find a Henry Fonda film in which he played an out-and-out villain, though he did just that in Sergio Leone’s Once Upon A Time In The West.  (Leone, in fact, cast Fonda as the evil Frank because he knew audiences would be shocked to see Fonda coldly gunning down settlers and their families.)

In honor Henry Fonda’s legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

My Darling Clementine (1946, dir by John Ford)

Fort Apache (1948, dir by John Ford)

Once Upon A Time In The West (1968, dir by Sergio Leone)

My Name Is Nobody (1973, dir by Tonino Valerii)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Sofia Coppola 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Today is the birthday of one of my favorite American directors, the one and only Sofia Coppola!  In honor of this day, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Lost In Translation (2003, dir by Sofia Coppola)

Maire Antoinette (2006, dir by Sofia Coppola)

Somewhere (2010, dir by Sofia Coppola)

The Beguiled (2017, dir by Sofia Coppola)

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Katharine Hepburn 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 lets the visuals do the talking!

Yesterday was the birthday of one of the most iconic screen legends of all time, the one and only Katharine Hepburn!  In honor of her life, career, and legacy, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

Bringing Up Baby (1938, dir by Howard Hawks)

State of the Union (1948, dir by Frank Capra)

Suddenly, Last Summer (1959, dir by Joseph L. Mankiewicz)

Long Day’s Journey Into Night (1962, dir by Sidney Lumet)