John Carpenter is not only a great director but he’s also a brilliant composer. Today, in honor of Carpenter’s birthday, our song of the day is his haunting Theme From The Fog.
Tag Archives: Lisa Marie Bowman
Scenes That I Love: John Nada Sees The Truth in They Live
The brilliance of this scene is that it pretty much speaks for itself. It doesn’t need to be overanalyzed. It doesn’t need to be carefully explained. It works because it captures what almost everyone has always suspected, even if they didn’t necessarily have the courage to say so aloud.
From John Carpenter’s 1988 film They Live:
6 Shots From 6 Films: Special John Carpenter 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 78th birthday to one of this site’s favorite filmmakers and a patron saint of the independent spirit, the great John Carpenter!
In honor of the man and his legacy, here are….
6 Shots From 6 John Carpenter Films
Halloween (1978, dir by John Carpenter. DP: Dean Cundey)
The Fog (1980, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)
Escape From New York (1981, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)
The Thing (1982, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)
They Live (1988, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Gary B. Kibbe)
In The Mouth of Madness (1994, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Gary B. Kibbe)
Live Tweet Alert: Join #FridayNightFlix for Jurassic Domination!
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? 2022’s Jurassic Domination!
If you want to join us this Friday, just hop onto twitter, find Jurassic Domination 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!
Music Video of the Day: Distant Dream by John Carpenter (2016, dir by John Carpenter)
Happy birthday to the master of American horror, John Carpenter!
Enjoy!
Scenes That I Love: The Concorde …. Airport ’79
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1979’s The Concorde …. Airport ’79.
Under attack from a drone, George Kennedy does what any responsible pilot would do. He opens up the cockpit window — while in flight! — and fires off a flare gun. Meanwhile, Alain Delon does some Top Gun-style moves with a commercial airliner. No wonder Eddie Albert and Jimmie Walker look so alarmed! Beyond the “don’t try this at home” narrative logic, this scene is definitely worth it for the shots of the passengers reacting.
4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Disaster 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.
Today, we pay honor to one of my favorite genres, the disaster film!
It’s time for….
4 Shots From 4 Disaster Films
The Poseidon Adventure (1972, dir by Ronald Neame, DP: Harold E. Stine)
The Towering Inferno (1974, dir by John Guillermin and Irwin Allen, DP: Fred J. Koenekamp and Joseph Biroc)
Airport 1975 (1974, dir by Jack Smight, DP: Philip H. Lathrop)
The Swarm (1978, dir by Irwin Allen, DP: Fred J. Koenekamp)
Music Video of the Day: Not Today by Kim Gordon (2026, dir by Kate and Laura Mulleavy)
Today’s music video is that latest from Kim Gordon. Whenever I see anything new from Kim Gordon, I’m happy she got away from Thurston Moore.
Enjoy!
Late Night Retro Television Review: 1st & Ten 2.9 “A Family Affair”
Welcome to Late Night Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing 1st and Ten, which aired in syndication from 1984 to 1991. The entire series is streaming on Tubi.
This week, the playoffs continue.
Episode 2.9 “A Family Affair”
(Dir by Burt Brinckerhoff, originally aired on January 13th, 1987)
A playoff game against Denver is approaching. Denver is coached by a former protegee of Denardo’s and Denardo is obsessed with winning. He’s so obsessed that he alienates the players and Coach Grier (Stan Kamber). Grier is tempted to take a job as Houston’s head coach. Denardo says he doesn’t care until Diane reveals that Grier has turned down several other jobs out of loyalty to Denardo.
As for the other assistant coach, T.D. Parker (OJ Simpson) has problems of his own. His youngest son is acting out and the only thing that’s kept him out of juvenile detention is the fact that the cops are all fans of T.D. and the Bulls. T.D. tells his son that he’s not allowed to leave the house. When T.D.’s wife says that she thinks T.D. is being too strict, T.D. tells her to back off. T.D. gets really mad in this episode but none of it is convincing because OJ Simpson was too amiable an actor to really come across as being threatening. That’s something that would prove helpful to OJ in the years to come.
Meanwhile, the players all invest in the stock market. The stock doesn’t do well. The player who recommended the stock is chased out onto the field before the start of the big game against Denver. Ha ha, those players are all broke now. Good luck dealing with life after the game.
This show, I never know what to make of it. Is it a comedy? Is it a drama? Why is it so oddly edited? How many scenes were cut for syndication? Why do storylines start and then just disappear? For that matter, why do characters suddenly vanish? Dr. Death was a huge part of the show during the first half of the second season but I haven’t seen him during the second half. Did he get traded? Did he get injured? Seriously, what’s going on with this show?
I have no idea. Football’s a confusing sport.
Retro Television Review: The Love Boat 7.3 “Bricker’s Boy/Lotions of Love/The Hustlers”
Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past! On Wednesdays, I will be reviewing the original Love Boat, which aired on ABC from 1977 to 1986! The series can be streamed on Paramount Plus!
This week, Doc Bricker gets a surprise!
Episode 7.3 “Bricker’s Boy/Lotions of Love/The Hustlers”
(Dir by Jerome Courtland, originally aired on October 8th, 1983)
Doc Bricker has a son!
Well, actually, it’s more a case of David (Timothy Patrick Murphy) claiming to be Doc’s son. It turns out that David’s mother was one of Doc’s ex-girlfriends. By the end of the cruise, Doc has fully accepted David as his son but then David admits that he’s been lying the whole time. Doc is not his father. However, he wishes that Doc was his father. So, Doc — who has got to be the most understanding guy on the planet — adopts him. Vicki has a crush on the loser and Captain Stubing seems to be okay with that, despite the fact that David is a liar who took a cruise without even bothering to buy a ticket. Seriously, I’m kind of worried about Vickie at this point. She’s so bereft of friends her own age that she falls in love with every teenage boy who boards the ship.
While Vicki is busy making a bad decision, gigolo Gary Thomas (Ted McGinley) is traveling with his employer, Arlene (Vera Miles). Gary falls for Fran (Constance Forslund), who is traveling with her sugar daddy, Roy (Chuck Connors). Luckily, Arlene falls for Roy, which frees Gary up to date Fran. Wow, what a sleazy story! I mean, it’s probably as close to real life as this show ever got but still….
Finally, advertising executive Andy O’Neal (Brodie Greer) works on a perfume campaign and ends up falling in love with his client’s flighty daughter (Lydia Cornell). Good for them!
Yeesh. I usually love The Love Boat but this sure was a bland episode! Not even Ted McGinley pretending to be a gigolo could liven this one up. I will say that Bernie Kopell once again proved himself to be far better than the material that he had to work with. But otherwise, this episode was pretty dull.
How coked up was Julie? Obviously nowhere near enough.
Through the Shattered Lens 