Scenes That I Love: The Airport Chase and Shootout From John Woo’s Face/Off


Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 77th birthday to director John Woo, the man who did the most to popularize the idea of the slo mo of doom!

Today’s scene that I love comes from Woo’s 1997 film, Face/Off.  In this scene, John Travolta pursues Nicolas Cage by both car and helicopter.  While Cage’s criminal has the time of his life, Travolta’s no-nonsense federal agent reveals just how obsessed he is with capturing his prey.  No one has switched faces yet but the action is already wonderfully over-the-top.  Cage and Travolta both do what they do best in this scene and so does John Woo.

Guilty Pleasure No. 61: Double Dragon (dir by James Yukich)


The time is …. the future!

The future looks a lot like a cheap music video.  Due to repeated earthquakes, California is now an island and Los Angeles has been left in ruins.  The city has been renamed New Angeles, even though the correct name would have been Nuevos Angeles but whatever.  The important thing is that city is now a mess.  The police allow the gangs to run rampant at night in return for not running rampant during the day.  The nightly news, which is anchored by George Hamilton and Vanna White, is full of stories about the federal government refusing to send any more aid to California, despite the fact that Jerry Brown is the Vice President.  For some reason, Andy Dick plays the weatherman and gives continual updates on the smog and rain.

Despite the fact that the city is the most dangerous place on Earth, Satori Imada (Julia Nickson) still makes the time to drive her teenage sons, Billy (Scott Wolf) and and Jimmy Lee (Mark Dacascos, who was clearly not a teenager when this film was shot) to and from their karate tournaments.  However, that might all end because Sartori possesses half of a magic medallion and the evil Koga Shuko (Robert Patrick, looking oddly like Sugar Ray’s Mark McGrath) has the other half.  Satori gives her half of the medallion to Billy and tells him that he and his brother must keep it out of the hands of Shuko.

That’s not going to be easy because Shuko not only has control of the local gangs but also the police.  Fortunately, rebel leader Marian Delario (Alyssa Milano) is willing to help out the Lee brothers.  It all leads to a lot of fights, a lot of running, some campy humor, and stiffly delivered dialogue.  For whatever reason, the filmmakers decided that the way to make this marital arts film a success would be to push accomplished martial artist Mark Dacascos into the background and instead focus on Scott Wolf, who spends most of the movie looking like he’s either confused by the plot or terrified as to what Double Dragon might do to his career.

Yeah, this movie is pretty stupid and the plot is pretty much impossible to follow.  And yet, it is oddly entertaining in its own weird way.  If you ignore the story and just focus on the visuals, it can actually be kind of fun.  Look at all the bright colors.  Look at Robert Patrick, with his goat-tee and his 90s pop star hair.  Look at Alyssa Milano, who, surprisingly, seems to actually be in on the joke.  Look at all of the Mad Max-inspired fashion choices.  From a purely visual point of view, New Angeles is a huge improvement on Los Angeles.  Along with the film visuals, the film is also worth watching just so one can witness just how over-the-top Robert Patrick goes in his performance.  I don’t normally think of Patrick as being someone who chews the scenery but, in this film, he gives into every cartoonish impulse that he has and it’s actually a lot of fun to watch.  There’s not a moment of subtlety to be found in either his performance or Alyssa Milano’s and thank the Angels for that.  Finally, I have to appreciate the fact that the film’s main message appears to be that the government and all other forms of civil authority are basically useless.  Not even Vice President Jerry Brown can be bothered to help out the people of New Angeles.  That pretty much tells you all that you need to know.

In the end, Double Dragon is not a particularly good film but it’s fun in its own deeply dumb way.

Previous Guilty Pleasures

  1. Half-Baked
  2. Save The Last Dance
  3. Every Rose Has Its Thorns
  4. The Jeremy Kyle Show
  5. Invasion USA
  6. The Golden Child
  7. Final Destination 2
  8. Paparazzi
  9. The Principal
  10. The Substitute
  11. Terror In The Family
  12. Pandorum
  13. Lambada
  14. Fear
  15. Cocktail
  16. Keep Off The Grass
  17. Girls, Girls, Girls
  18. Class
  19. Tart
  20. King Kong vs. Godzilla
  21. Hawk the Slayer
  22. Battle Beyond the Stars
  23. Meridian
  24. Walk of Shame
  25. From Justin To Kelly
  26. Project Greenlight
  27. Sex Decoy: Love Stings
  28. Swimfan
  29. On the Line
  30. Wolfen
  31. Hail Caesar!
  32. It’s So Cold In The D
  33. In the Mix
  34. Healed By Grace
  35. Valley of the Dolls
  36. The Legend of Billie Jean
  37. Death Wish
  38. Shipping Wars
  39. Ghost Whisperer
  40. Parking Wars
  41. The Dead Are After Me
  42. Harper’s Island
  43. The Resurrection of Gavin Stone
  44. Paranormal State
  45. Utopia
  46. Bar Rescue
  47. The Powers of Matthew Star
  48. Spiker
  49. Heavenly Bodies
  50. Maid in Manhattan
  51. Rage and Honor
  52. Saved By The Bell 3. 21 “No Hope With Dope”
  53. Happy Gilmore
  54. Solarbabies
  55. The Dawn of Correction
  56. Once You Understand
  57. The Voyeurs 
  58. Robot Jox
  59. Teen Wolf
  60. The Running Man

Music Video of the Day: Maybe Next May by Secrets (2014, dir by ????)


Welcome to the month of May!

May 1st is not only the first day of May but it’s also a day of many holidays.  To some people (mostly British pagans), May Day is a day for celebrating nature.  For others, it’s International Workers Day.  In socialist and communist countries, this is traditionally the day when the army marches down the street and everyone thinks about how lucky they are to live in a society where they are watched 24/7.  In the 50s, in order to provide an alternative to day’s communist and pagan-themed holidays, the United States declared May 1st to be both Loyalty Day and Law Day.  On Loyalty Day, Americans are meant to remember that they would even turn in their best friend if that person said something that could be considered subversive.  On Law Day, Americans are meant to celebrate the American legal system and the way it can be used to toss subversive elements into prison.  I didn’t say these were all necessarily good holidays but they exist, nonetheless.  (Sadly, there is no Don’t Be A Snitch Day.)

That’s not all, though.  In Hawaii, it’s Lei Day.  According to Checkiday, it’s also Phone In Sick Day, which sounds like a lot of fun.  It’s also Global Love Day and Couple Appreciation Day and apparently, for dog owners, it’s National Purebred Dog Day.  It’s also the Feast Day of St. Joseph The Worker.  So, really, no matter what you believe or how you vote (or don’t vote), May 1st has got something for you!  Everyone gets a holiday!  Yay!

As for today’s music video of the day, it’s from a band called Secrets and it’s for a song called Maybe Next May.  Enjoy!

This heart is yours so take it as you please
but if you walk away, remember
I need that heart to breathe

I always try so hard to be her right
and all she does is fight the reasons why
the future always seemed so bright
I don’t know why she fears the light

you always try to hide and cover up the hurt inside
but I see through your lies
you know I’m what you need and I need you to breathe
so wont you take

this heart is yours so take it as you please
but if you walk away, remember
I need that heart to breathe

oh, if you’ve seen what ive seen you should know
you’d know its not a good thing to let go
three years of constant devotion
are gone with our destructive emotions.
our love that once was lays in waste
but i still offer you

this heart is yours so take it as you please
but if you walk away, remember
I need that heart to breathe

I need you now more than you know, why wont you come home?
I need my heart to breathe

there’s a part of me that still cant sleep at night
without you in my side
its getting harder and harder to breathe
the farther and farther you get from me

this heart is yours so take it as you please
but if you walk away, remember
I need that heart to breathe

Lisa Marie’s Week In Review: 4/24/23 — 4/30/23


Rest in Peace, Giovanni Lombardo Radice.

Films I Watched:

  1. Act Your Age (1949)
  2. Are You Popular (1947)
  3. Atlas Shrugged (2011)
  4. Atlas Shrugged Part II (2012)
  5. Atlas Shrugged Part III (2014)
  6. The Baader Meinhof Complex (2008)
  7. Bend It Like Beckham (2002)
  8. Blue Steel (1990)
  9. Breakdown (1997)
  10. Chopper Chicks in Zombie Town (1989)
  11. Dead Ringer (1964)
  12. Detective Knight: Redemption (2022)
  13. Double Dragon (1994)
  14. Face to Face With Communism (1951)
  15. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)
  16. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  17. The Harder They Fall (1956)
  18. Jackson Junior High: The Party’s Over (1976)
  19. The Last Movie (1971)
  20. The Letter (1940)
  21. Men, Women, & Children (2014)
  22. Guyana: Cult of the Damned (1979)
  23. Guyana Tragedy: The Story of Jim Jones (1980)
  24. Make Mine Freedom (1948)
  25. Meet King Joe (1949)
  26. Punishment Park (1971)
  27. Responsibility (1953)
  28. Snap Out Of It! (1951)
  29. Snowbeast (1977)
  30. Strait-Jacket (1964)
  31. Think About This (1999)
  32. Tracks (2005)
  33. Unknown World (1951)
  34. Will You Be Here Tomorrow (1998)

Television Shows I Watched:

  1. Accused
  2. Barry
  3. Beavis and Butthead
  4. Dirty Pair
  5. Farmer Wants A Wife
  6. Law & Order
  7. The Love Boat
  8. Night Court
  9. Night Flight
  10. Survivor
  11. Waco: The Aftermath
  12. Yellowjackets
  13. Yes, Minister

Music To Which I Listened:

  1. Adi Ulmansky
  2. Bob Dylan
  3. Britney Spears
  4. The Chemical Brothers
  5. Christina Aguilera
  6. ELO
  7. Florence + The Machine
  8. Jakalope
  9. Jennifer Lopez
  10. Katy Perry
  11. Lily Allen
  12. Miss Machine
  13. Moby
  14. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
  15. The Prodigy
  16. Robyn
  17. Saint Motel
  18. Taylor Swift
  19. Texas
  20. Wheatus

Live Tweets:

  1. Double Dragon
  2. Blue Steel
  3. Bend It Like Beckham
  4. Breakdown

News From Last Week:

  1. Actor Giovanni Lombardo Radice Dies at 68
  2. Actor Romero Oliveros Dies at 82
  3. Jerry Springer Dies at 78
  4. Actor and Singer Harry Belafonte Dies at 96
  5. Jonathan Majors’ ‘Magazine Dreams’ a No-Show at CinemaCon
  6. CNN insiders say this is the REAL reason Don Lemon was FINALLY squeezed out the door – and it’s no wonder network staff can’t stop celebrating his ousting
  7. Box Office: ‘Super Mario Bros.’ Triumphs Again in Fourth Weekend, ‘Are You There God?’ Debuts to Dispiriting $6.8 Million

Links From Last Week:

  1. Remembering Giovanni Lombardo Radice: A Tribute to the Fearless Horror Actor and Writer
  2. Wait -The Disastrous “Fyre Festival” Is Returning? Wild News Stories Of Cheese Sandwiches, Flooded Tents And “Fyre 2.0”!
  3. Tater’s Week in Review 4/29/23

Links From The Site:

  1. Erin shared Jazz Bum, If Wishes Were Hearses, The Games She Played, Babe Ruth in Babe Ruth Comes Home, Astounding Science Fiction, Mammoth Western, and Teaser!
  2. I reviewed Hang Time, Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, City Guys, Half Nelson, California Dreams, and See The Man Run!
  3. I shared my week in television!
  4. I shared my April Oscar Predictions!
  5. I shared scenes from The Piano, From Here to Eternity, and The Godfather!
  6. I shared music videos from Jennifer Lopez, Lily Allen, The Prodigy, Robyn, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Wheatus, and Miss Machine!
  7. I paid tribute to Giovanni Lombardo Radice, Lars von Trier, Phillip Noyce, Nico Mastorakis, Douglas Sirk, and William Castle!

More From Us:

  1. For Reality TV Chat Blog, I wrote about Survivor!
  2. At her photography site, Erin shared Rest, Limbs, Back, Rain, Purple Flower, Flowers, and Walking!
  3. For my music site, I shared songs from Texas, Katy Perry, Moby, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, Moby (again), and Nancy Sinatra!

Want to check out last week?  Click here!

Retro Television Reviews: See The Man Run (dir by Corey Allen)


Welcome to Retro Television Reviews, a feature where we review some of our favorite and least favorite shows of the past!  On Sundays, I will be reviewing the made-for-television movies that used to be a primetime mainstay.  Today’s film is 1971’s See The Man Run!  It  can be viewed on YouTube!

Two criminals have kidnapped the 18 year-old daughter of Dr. Thomas Spencer (Eddie Albert).  They call the number that they have for Dr. Spencer and they tell the man that answers that they are going to kill his daughter unless he pays them a large amount of money.

What the criminals don’t know is that Dr. Spencer has recently changed his phone number and his old number was given to a struggling actor named Ben Taylor (Robert Culp).  When the kidnappers call, Ben has just gotten out of bed and he’s still a bit too groggy to explain to them that they have the wrong number.  Though he suspects that the whole thing might be an elaborate prank, he decides to call the real Dr. Spencer and tell him about the phone call.  However, when the doctor answers, Ben does such a bad job of explaining the situation that Dr. Spencer thinks that Ben is the kidnapper.  Begging Ben not to hurt his daughter, Dr. Spencer says that he’ll pay anything and that he won’t even call the police.

This gives Ben and his wife, Joanne (Angie Dickinson), an idea.  When the kidnappers call back, Ben pretends to be Dr. Spencer.  After the kidnappers tell Ben the amount of money that they want, Ben then calls Dr. Spencer and, pretending to be the kidnapper, relays the message but he also adds an extra $50,000 to the ransom demand.  Ben and Joanne’s plan is to collect the ransom from Dr. Spencer, take their cut, and then deliver the ransom to the kidnappers.

It’s a complicated plan and, throughout the course of the day, both Ben and Joanne have their moments of doubt.  But they stick with it, because Joanne wants the money and Ben wants the chance to not only prove himself as an actor but to also show Joanne that he’s not the loser that she insists that he is.  Complicating matters, though, is that Dr. Spencer’s wife (June Allyson) has called the police without telling Dr. Spencer.  Though Dr. Spencer doesn’t know it, the cops are determined to be there when he hands off the ransom to the man who claims to have his daughter.

Clocking in at a briskly-paced 73 minutes, See The Man Run is an enjoyable thriller, one that is full of unexpected twists and which features a fierce performance from Angie Dickinson and a rather poignant one from Robert Culp.  Culp is convincing rather he’s playing a kidnapper, a doctor, or just an out of work actor who doesn’t realize that he’s gotten in over his head.  As smart as he may be, Ben cannot escape from his own insecurities and his fear of being betrayed.  It all leads to a diabolically clever surprise ending, one that proves that you can run only so far before you stumble.

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For April


Here are my Oscar predictions for April!  As always, when it’s this early in the year, I recommend taking all of these with a grain of salt.  At this point, the only thing that anyone knows for sure is that it’s safe to remove Jonathan Majors and Magazine Dreams from any list of predictions.

Check out my predictions for March by clicking here!

Best Picture

The Actor

Barbie

The Color Purple

Dumb Money

Dune: Part Two

Flint Strong

The Holdovers

Killers of the Flower Moon

Oppenheimer

Rustin

Best Director

Blitz Bazawule for The Color Purple

Rachel Morrison for Flint Strong

Christopher Nolan for Oppenheimer

Alexander Payne for The Holdovers

Martin Scorsese for Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Actor

Bradley Cooper in Maestro

Colman Domingo in Rustin

Paul Giamatti in The Holdovers

Andre Holland in The Actor

Anthony Hopkins in Freud’s Last Session

Best Actress

Fantasia Barrino in The Color Purple

Emily Blunt in Pain Brokers

Greta Lee in Past Lives

Margot Robbie in Barbie

Emma Stone in Poor Things

Best Supporting Actor

Willem DaFoe in Poor Things

Matt Damon in Oppenheimer

Brian Tyree Henry in Flint Strong

Samuel L. Jackson in The Piano Lesson

Jesse Plemons in Killers of the Flower Moon

Best Supporting Actress

Viola Davis in Air

Jodie Foster in Nyad

Lily Gladstone in Killers of the Flower Moon

Taraji P. Henson in The Color Purple

Da’Vine Joy Randolph in The Holdovers

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Lars Von Trier 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 67th birthday to cinematic provocateur, Lars Von Trier!

It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Lars Von Trier Films

Europa (1991, directed by Lars Von Trier, DP: Henning Bendtsen,
Edward Kłosiński, Jean-Paul Meurisse.  Released as Zentropa in North America)

Breaking the Waves (1996, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Robby Muller)

Dogville (2002, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Anthony Dod Mantle)

Melancholia (2011, dir by Lars Von Trier, DP: Manuel Alberto Claro)

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 4/23/23 — 4/29/23


This week, I definitely watched more movies than television.  Here’s a few thoughts on what I did watch!

Accused (Tuesday Night, Fox)

This week’s episode was pretty good.  Adam Bakri, who played Samir, played obsessed well.  Accused is a fairly uneven show, which is to be expected considering that every episode has a different director, writer, and cast.  But this week’s episode did a good job of holding my interest for the entire running time.

Are You Being Served? (Sunday Night, PBS)

This extremely broad British sitcom pops up on PBS occasionally.  I’ve never been that impressed with it, despite the fact that it was made by the same people who made Allo Allo.  To be honest, I kind of resent that my PBS station has replaced Allo Allo with this.  Anyway, this week’s episode featured the tacky employees of a tacky department store trying to stay warm despite the cold weather and the store’s lack of heat.  No one died during the episode so I guess they succeeded.  I honestly didn’t pay much attention.

Barry (Sunday Night, HBO)

Oh my God, it’s Guillermo del Toro!  This was another great episode, though I did feel bad for everyone who got shot at the end of it.  The assassins with the podcast were a good example of what this show does so well.  I also loved the class’s reaction to Sally trying to use Gene’s methods to teach her class.

Beavis and Butt-Head (Paramount Plus)

Okay, seriously, Old Beavis and Old Butt-Head freak me the fuq out!  It’s always so jarring to see a story about them as adults paired up with a story about them as teenagers.  To be honest, it’s kind of depressing.  I mean, it’s not like it’s a shock that they’re going to grow up to be losers but still, Butt-Head is a heart attack waiting to happen and Beavis reminds me of this old guy who always tries to talk to me whenever I find myself near Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas.  Of course, the old guy only has one arm and even less teeth than Beavis but still, they have the same jawline.

Anyway, it was a funny episode this week.  Teenage Beavis and Butt-Head’s utter stupidity and lack of physical ability while trying to egg the house made me laugh.  It’s just sad to realize that they’re peaking in high school.  Throwing an egg in a tree is as good as its ever going to get for the two of them.

Oh well.  At least Smart Beavis and Smart Butt-Head are getting to enjoy the universe.

Beef (Netflix)

I finished watching Beef on Sunday.  You can count me amongst those who suspect that the final episode was actually a dream.  Anyway, it was an excellent show.  I kind of hope that there aren’t any more seasons because I really can’t imagine anything topping what’s already been done.

Dirty Pair (YouTube)

Anime action!  I watched another episode of Dirty Pair on Saturday morning.  I had no idea what was going on but a lot of stuff blew up.

Farmer Wants A Wife (Wednesday Night, Fox)

This show is definitely one of my favorite reality shows right now, even though that’s largely due to it providing an antidote for the ickiness of the previous season of The Bachelor.  That said, I can’t help but notice that the show makes it look like farming is all rodeos and barn dances.  I have farmers in my family and, believe it or not, they go to the movies, they liked to read, and sometimes they just like to stay at home and binge whatever’s on Netflix.  Hopefully, the potential wives understand that not every night is going to involve a barn dance.  Anyway, the farmers still do not have wives.

Half Nelson (YouTube)

You can check out my thoughts on this week’s episode by clicking here.  Only one more episode to go and then I’ll be moving on to Freddy’s Nightmares.

Law & Order (Thursday Night, NBC)

To be honest, I nearly turned off this week’s episode when it opened with a congresswoman talking about how she had to go to a “freedom caucus” meeting because the Law & Order reboot has always been at its worse whenever its tried to deal with politics.  In general, anyone who is to the right of Bernie Sanders is usually portrayed as being pure evil on Law & Order and that was certainly what happened this week as the token Republican congresswoman repeatedly complained that her husband’s murder was bad for her career.  That said, the case itself was actually an interesting one and, for once, the episode was willing to admit that people can genuinely disagree with each other without having nefarious motives for doing so.  This week’s trial dilemma had no easy answers.

Price and Maroun continue to be two of the most inconsistently-written characters on television.  When the reboot started, Maroun was unquestionably loyal to Price and her devotion actually came across as being a bit creepy.  One got the feeling that she would murder someone if Price told her to.  Over the last few episodes, though, Maroun has been disagreeing with Price on everything and essentially suggesting that he’s just not very good at his job.  Personally, I prefer the perpetually annoyed Maroun to the meek Maroun of the past.  Price, meanwhile, abruptly went from being a self-righteous liberal to being a self-righteous pragmatist.

This week’s episode deserves some credit for ending with Price having to cut a deal to get a conviction.  Far too often, Law & Order has portrayed Price as being “Super Lawyer,” with his superpower being the ability to get a conviction despite having a ludicrous weak case.  Infallible Price was almost as annoying as Meek Maroun.  Talented but still flawed Price, on the other hand, has the potential to be a far more interesting character.

The Love Boat (Paramount Plus)

I wrote about The Love Boat here.

Night Court (Tuesday Night, NBC)

*Yawn*  From what I understand, this show is doing well in the ratings but I have to imagine that’s entirely due to Melissa Rauch and John Larroquette.  Whenever an episode spends a good deal of time with any of the other characters, like this week’s did with Neil reuniting with his high school crush, it’s torturously dull.  At this point, it’s pretty obvious that Abbi is going to break up with Rand at the end of the season and season 2 will find her newly single.

Night Flight (Night Flight Plus)

The episode that I watched on Friday night was about African music of the 80s.  It was an interesting history lesson.

The Old Guys (Sunday Night, PBS)

PBS is showing The Old Guys again.  This week’s episode featured the old guys going out on what turned out to be a triple date.  The jokes were obvious but the cast was likable.

Survivor (Wednesday Night, CBS)

I was sorry to see Kane voted out this week but I was even more sorry that apparently, not a single fake idol is going to be used this season!  Seriously, this season had three fake immunity idols and now, they’re all out of the game without anyone trying to play even one of them!  I know I seem to say this every week but I really miss old school Survivor, where Jeff Probst openly ridiculed the players and we didn’t learn anything about their lives back on the mainland.  Now, everyone has a sob story and Probst is all “Up with people!”  It just feels weird.  You can read more of my thoughts on this week’s episode here!

Waco: The Aftermath (Sunday Night, Showtime)

This episode featured great work from Michael Shannon as the FBI agent who still feels guilty for his part in creating the monster that he’s now having to fight.  Elohim City, by the way, is a real place and it still exists.  This is an interesting series and one that deserves a bit more attention than it’s been getting.

Yellowjackets (Sunday Night, Showtime)

Last night, in the 90s, Misty killed the most annoying of the survivors.  In the present, Taissa went to the home of the 2nd-most annoying of the survivors so, if nothing else, we know that Van’s going to be around for a while.  Speaking of annoying, Callie finally figured out that her new boyfriend is cop so she lied and said that Shauna had been having an affair with Randy Walsh.  You kind of have to wonder what Randy thinks about some of the things he’s been put through over the past few days.

Yes, Minister (Monday Morning, PBS)

Oh well!  Even if PBS is no longer showing Allo Allo, at least they brought back Yes, Minster.  This week’s episode was the one in which Hacker’s daughter planned a protest to save a colony of badgers and Sir Humphrey had to make plans to save Hacker from embarrassment.  This was also the episode in which Hacker decided that he was tired of the civil servants keeping secrets and tasks from him, just to then discover how much pointless minutia truly goes into being a member of the government.  It was very British and it was very funny.