Brad takes on THE WHITE BUFFALO (1977), starring Charles Bronson and Will Sampson!

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Bradley Crain

Back in 2023, my family visited the Black Hills of South Dakota. The first thing we did was visit Mount Rushmore. The second thing we did was visit the Mount Moriah Cemetery and the final resting place of Wild Bill Hickok. Situated on the top of a hill overlooking the city of Deadwood, it’s a beautiful place that also includes the graves of Calamity Jane and Sheriff Seth Bullock. I insisted that we see the location for possibly the most superficial reason possible… because Charles Bronson played Hickok in THE WHITE BUFFALO.

Based on a novel by Richard Sale, the story opens with Hickok having a recurring nightmare of a snowy showdown with a giant white “spike.” And if he has pistols handy, he wakes up firing them uncontrollably and you’d better not be nearby. Determined to face his fear, he heads out into the hills with his friend Charlie Zane (Jack Warden), hoping to find the albino buffalo, so he can put him down and end the nightmares. Around the same time, the great beast has stampeded the camp of Crazy Horse (Will Sampson) killing his child in the process. Convinced that the child cannot have peace in the afterlife, Crazy Horse sets out to kill the buffalo so he can wrap his child in its white “robe” and free her spirit. With Hickok a prolific killer of Indians, and Crazy Horse a brave Lakota Oglala warrior, the two men seem to be on a deadly collision course in those snowy hills.

Charles Bronson’s final western, THE WHITE BUFFALO has a lot of the scenes you’d expect. With Bronson playing a famous gunman, we get to see several gunfights as he makes his way through various Wyoming towns, featuring well-known actors like Clint Walker and Ed Lauter. We also get to see him visit various saloons, as well as the widow Schermerhorn, played by Kim Novak. When he really “knew” her, she was a prostitute named Poker Jenny. Along with those I’ve already mentioned, it’s an all-star affair as we see such familiar faces as Stuart Whitman, John Carradine, Slim Pickens, and even a young Martin Kove sprinkled throughout the film. And of course, we get to see Bronson take on the gigantic white buffalo of the title, first in his dreams, and then later in reality! Directed by veteran filmmaker J. Lee Thompson, these scenes are staged and executed well, with Hickok’s nightmares given an especially eerie quality.

While the movie has the expected scenes, it’s the unexpected character moments that sets THE WHITE BUFFALO apart as a uniquely strong entry in Bronson’s filmography. Hickok may be a man haunted by dreams of a monstrous white buffalo, but Bronson plays him in such a way that we can feel his exhaustion and literal sickness from too many years of a dangerous and difficult life. The buffalo is more than just an animal… it’s a symbol of guilt, fear and the coming of death itself. Bronson could always underplay a role better than just about anyone else, but here he’s reflective and haunted in way that I’ve not seen before, and he’s really good.

I also think the movie gets better every time Bronson shares a scene with Will Sampson. Sampson brings dignity and intelligence to Crazy Horse. His mission is more noble than Hickok’s, and an unexpected friendship develops between the two men, despite their vast differences. Ultimately, it’s this relationship that provides the film an emotional weight that sneaks up on you by the end, even if it’s not meant to last.

THE WHITE BUFFALO is not a perfect film. The animatronic buffalo may look a little hokey, and the film may seem a little slow at times for those expecting an action-packed western or monster movie. However, Bronson and Sampson are so good in their myth-making performances that the film eventually becomes something more. It’s the idea of watching two aging warriors, bound together through the bravery of confronting death, that I found to be more interesting and compelling than anything else on display.

THE WHITE BUFFALO is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, PlutoTV, and The Roku Channel.

*Wild Bill Hickok’s gravesite in Mount Moriah Cemetery in Deadwood, South Dakota*

Villain Of The Day: Willie Cicci (The Godfather & The Godfather Part II)

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Willie Cicci. Was he a villain or was he a hero?

It depends on how look at it.

Played by the legendary character actor Joe Spinell, Willie Cicci made his first appearance in The Godfather. For whatever reason, Spinell isn’t credited in The Godfather. In fact, we don’t even learn that name of his character until the sequel. Unlike Tom Rosqui’s Rocco Lampone and Richard Bright’s Al Neri, he spends the majority of the film standing in the background. However, he definitely makes an impression. With his acne-scarred face, his thin mustache, and his menacing stare, Willie Cicci is probably the menacing Corleone soldier not named Luca Brasi.

Towards the end of the film, as Michael settles all accounts, it falls on Willie Cicci to assassinate one of the heads of the rival families. Cicci traps the man in a revolving door and then guns his helpless victim down. In a finale that is notable for its violence, Cicci’s sadism leaves the viewer shaken. It’s all in the eyes. Other soldiers kill as a part of the job. Cicci seems to enjoy his work.

Later, Willie is among the soldier who stands in the background while Tom Hagen informs Tessio that he can’t get him out of trouble for old time’s sake. Willie doesn’t necessarily look happy about taking Tessio on a final ride but one gets the feeling that it’s still not going to keep him up at night.

And yet, Willie Cicci is not quite a villain in The Godfather, mostly because he works for the Corleones. By the end of the first film, it’s impossible not to cheer a little when the Corleones get their revenge. As savage as it is, they’re taking out people who tried to take them out. The Corleones may have been bad but Barzini, Cuneo, Stracci, and Tattaglia were far worse.

Willie Cicci really doesn’t achieve true villain status until The Godfather, Part II. That’s when, having been arrested after the attempt by the Rosato brothers to kill Frankie Pentangeli, Willie Cicci resurfaces as a witness at the congressional hearings on organized crime. Cicci, obviously enjoying the attention, testified about the Family’s activities. “Yeah,” he says, with a laugh, “the family had lots of buffers.”

That’s the moment that Willie truly becomes a villain. In a gangster movie, you can do a lot of bad things and still be a hero. But the minute you turn rat, it’s over.

Willie Cicci doesn’t get a lot of screentime in either Godfather movie. In The Godfather Part II, he’s even spared Michael’s vengeance. While Hyman Roth, Frankie, and Fredo Corleone all die on-screen, we never see what happened to Willie. It’s as if Michael doesn’t even consider Willie worth worrying about. For viewers, though, Willie Cicci is one of the many unforgettable characters to show up over the course of the film. A lot of Willie’s unexpected popularity is due to the memorably unhinged performance of Joe Spinell. If one was not familiar with Spinell’s other films, one might be forgiven for assuming that he was an actual mob associate who just happened to be hanging out on the set.

Willie Cicci was originally slated to appear in the third film. By this point, his character would have been one of New York’s most feared mob bosses. (I guess the whole testifying before Congress thing wasn’t held against him.) However, Spinell died before shooting began and Willie Cicci was replaced by Joey Zasa, the debonair mobster played by Joe Mantegna.

Personally, I’ll never forget Willie Cicci. He’s one of the unforgettable characters who makes The Godfather special.

Villain of the Day

Anton Chigurh (No Country for Old Men)

Scenes That I Love: The Opening of Top Gun

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On this date, 40 years ago, Top Gun was released and the movie changed forever.

From the opening shot, Top Gun captured the attention of audiences who understood that, though the film’s script may have been full of cliches and though the movie was basically just a remake of the old service moves of the late 30s and 40s, it didn’t matter because jets are freaking cool.

And that opening scene is today’s scene that I love!

Happy Top Gun Day!

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Harvey Keitel Edition

Posted on May 13, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 87th birthday to the legendary actor, Harvey Keitel! It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Harvey Keitel Films

Mean Streets (1973, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Kent L. Wakeford)

Taxi Driver (1976, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Chapman)

Reservoir Dogs (1992, dir by Quentin Tarantino, DP: Andrzej Sekuła)

Bad Lieutenant (1992, dir by Abel Ferrara, DP: Ken Kelsch)

Brad revisits A BETTER TOMORROW II (1987), starring Chow Yun-Fat & directed by John Woo!

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Bradley Crain

John Woo’s A BETTER TOMORROW was such a gigantic hit in Hong Kong cinemas when it came out in 1986 that you had to know that a sequel would soon follow. A BETTER TOMORROW II would open a year later, bringing back all the stars from the original. This film would go even bigger with both the action and the melodrama, with varying levels of success, but we’ll get to that in a little bit.

The plot seems familiar at first, as ex-gangster Ho (Ti Lung) is let out of prison to work with the police to dig up dirt on his old friend Lung (Dean Shek), a former criminal who’s trying to run a legitimate business down at the shipyard. The main reason he agrees to help though, is because his younger brother / undercover cop Kit (Leslie Cheung) is working on the case and Ho wants to protect him. After a series of double-crosses and betrayals, it seems that we’re in for the same type of story that we got in the first film. Key differences emerge when Lung is framed for murder and escapes to New York City. There we meet Ken Gor (Chow Yun-Fat), the conveniently discovered twin brother of tragic hero Mark Gor. Ken tries to help Lung, who has fallen into a state of catatonic shock upon learning that his daughter has been killed. When death squads come after him in New York, Ken shows his badass cred and saves his ass. Lung eventually snaps out of it and the two head back to Hong Kong together. There they team up with Ho and Kit to exact bloody vengeance on all who have gotten in the way of their efforts at personal reform!

The first thing I’ll say about A BETTER TOMORROW II is that the film has some incredible action sequences, some of the best you’ll ever see, and some of Woo’s best work. The finale where the trio of Ken, Ho and Lung storm the bad guy’s mansion is a masterpiece of extended and creative bloody violence. I 100% recommend the film for the action.

The second thing I’ll say about A BETTER TOMORROW II is that it has some of the most over the top melodrama that you’ll ever see. My comment is mainly aimed at the section of the film where Ken tries to get Lung to snap out of his shock. I really don’t enjoy these scenes, with my least favorite being the scene where Chow Yun-Fat tries to force a completely zoned out Dean Shek to eat. There is a lot of good-looking food wasted in that scene, and I cringe every time I watch it!

I’ve read that the film was a troubled production, and that John Woo and producer Tsui Hark had very different ideas on the type of movie that each wanted to make. Both tried to produce different edits of the film, and with too many cooks in the kitchen, we ended up with this glorious Frankenstein. When the dust settled, John Woo mostly disowned the film except for that majestic, crimson-stained finale. Tsui Hark would take over the series and turn out A BETTER TOMORROW III a couple of years later, while Woo would move on to THE KILLER.

There are interesting ideas here, and the film almost wants to turn into a comic book. For example, the scene that first introduces us to Ken Gor, Mark’s twin brother, features an old man who’s devoted his life to drawing storyboard illustrations of the adventures of Mark, Ho and Kit. He even has Mark’s trademark sunglasses and blood-stained, bullet-riddled coat, which you know Ken will put on at some point. This seems appropriate to many of the shenanigans that go on, but then the film will switch its focus to extended scenes of a depressed Kit or a drooling Lung, and it seems like we’re in a different movie. There are parts of this film that I love and there are parts that I just want to be over.

At the end of the day, if you’ve come to A BETTER TOMORROW II for the promise of John Woo’s awesome action, you will get your fill. You’ll get to see Chow Yun-Fat at his charismatic best, wearing his long coat and sunglasses, and wielding twin barettas as he takes out hordes of henchmen. You’ll get to see Ti Lung swinging a sword that might bring back images of his Shaw Brothers heydays! Just be prepared to watch Dean Shek spill milk, eat through an orange (peel and all), and gnaw on a piece of frozen meat along the way.

A BETTER TOMORROW II is currently streaming on Amazon Prime, Tubi, and Plex.

Scenes That I Love: Katharine Hepburn and James Stewart in The Philadelphia Story

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

On this date, 119 years ago, Katharine Hepburn was born in Hartford, Connecticut. She would go one to become a cultural icon, a performer who survived being labeled box office to poison to eventually become one of our most acclaimed actresses. Hepburn was a total of four acting Oscars over the course of her career, a record that has yet to be topped.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1940’s The Philadelphia Story and it features Katharine Hepburn acting opposite another one of my favorite performers, the great James Stewart.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Jess Franco Edition

Posted on May 12, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is the 96th anniversary of the birth of Jesus Franco! One of the most prolific filmmakers of all time, Franco made movies that …. well, they’re not easy to describe. Jess Franco was responsible for some of the most visually striking and narratively incoherent films ever made. He made films that you either loved or you hated but there was no mistaking his work for being the work of someone else.

Today, in honor of his birthday, here are….

4 Shots From 4 Films

The Awful Dr. Orloff (1962, dir by Jess Franco, DP: Godofredo Pacheco)

Nightmares Come At Night (1970, dir by Jess Franco)

She Killed In Ecstasy (1970, dir by Jess Franco, DP: Manuel Merino)

Female Vampire (1973, dir by Jess Franco, DP: Jess Franco)

Brad reviews SMOKE SIGNALS (1998), starring Adam Beach!

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Bradley Crain

There’s a scene early in SMOKE SIGNALS where Victor Joseph, played by Adam Beach, tries to teach Thomas Builds-the-Fire (Evan Adams) how to be a real Indian. He ends the scene with “This ain’t Dances-with-Salmon you know?!” It’s a funny exchange, but it also clues the audience in on the fact that this isn’t going to be your typical Hollywood movie about Indians. Directed by Chris Eyre and written by Sherman Alexie, it’s the first feature-length film written, directed, and produced by Native Americans to reach a wide audience both in the United States and beyond. As such, we get a story that feels fresh while tackling a variety of difficult subjects with humor and optimism.

The story focuses on Victor as he travels from the Coeur d’Alene Indian Reservation in Idaho to Phoenix, Arizona to retrieve his father’s possessions after learning that he’s passed away. His father abandoned him and his mother when he was just a boy, and he’s clearly been scarred by the situation. Along for the ride, mainly because he can afford to pay their bus fare, is Thomas Builds-the-Fire, his nerdy and talkative friend. From this point, the film becomes a road trip, and we follow along as they make it to Arizona and back. While there is funny stuff along the way, the movie is mostly interested in observing Victor as he comes to terms with the trauma and pain left behind when his dad went away.

I’ve always liked Adam Beach, and he’s very good here as Victor. His character spends a lot of the movie angry at the world, but from time to time, he’ll flash this big, wonderful smile. It’s a nice inside-out performance as he seems to be simmering on the inside and just trying not to explode. And then there’s Evan Adams, whose Thomas is awkward and optimistic, and who loves to tell big stories about Victor’s dad. For example, they have this awesome exchange where Thomas tells Victor that his dad looks like Charles Bronson. As Bronson’s biggest fan, I can tell you that Victor’s dad, played by Gary Farmer, looks nothing like Charles Bronson. The scene has a nice punchline as Thomas tells him that he doesn’t mean the Charles Bronson from the first DEATH WISH, but more like the Charles Bronson of DEATH WISH 5! The movie has several unexpected scenes like this, and the genuine chemistry between these two guys is what makes the movie work for me. I believe it when their characters begin to understand and appreciate each other, and it’s their emotional connection that gives the film some staying power even after the credits roll.

There are some additional performances that I enjoyed. I mentioned Gary Farmer, who plays Victor’s dad. His Arnold Joseph is not the most sympathetic character in the world, as he chooses to run away from a guilt that he can never deal with. Somehow, by the end, we have some understanding of his actions. And then there’s Irene Bedard as Suzy Song, the young lady who befriends Victor’s dad and calls his mom when he passes away. Best known for being the voice of Pocahontas in the Disney animated classic, she conveys kindness and compassion in her relatively small role. Tantoo Cardinal is good as Victor’s mom, and Tom Skerritt even shows up in a cameo as a police chief in Arizona. Sherman Alexie’s screenplay, based on his book “The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven,” is simple, yet full of depth, and it’s brought to life by an excellent cast.

Even though SMOKE SIGNALS was made almost thirty years ago, it’s still a very relevant film to this day. It’s funny, it tackles difficult subjects that are universal to all of us, and it’s told from a Native American perspective that we seldom see. In other words, it feels like we’re dealing with real people, not the romantic caricatures or noble victims that Hollywood still tries to push on us in movies about Indians. It’s not a flashy film in any way, and that’s okay. It’s one of those movies that understands its characters and trusts the audience enough to just hang out and observe them. Anchored by an excellent performance from Adam Beach, it’s a perfect example of how movies can be a lot better when Hollywood gets out of the way and let’s genuine, talented people tell their stories.

I watched SMOKE SIGNALS on the Paramount Plus streaming service.

Join #MondayMania For The Wrong Man

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hi, everyone! Tonight, on twitter, I will be hosting one of my favorite films for #MondayMania! Join us for 2017’s The Wrong Man!

You can find the movie on Prime and then you can join us on twitter at 9 pm central time! (That’s 10 pm for you folks on the East Coast.) See you then!

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us For The Sword and the Sorcerer!

Posted on May 11, 2026 by Lisa Marie Bowman

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

Tonight, for #MondayActionMovie, the film will be 1982’s The Sword and the Sorcerer!

It should make for a night of fun viewing and I invite all of you to join in. If you want to join the live tweets, just hop onto Mastodon, find the movie on YouTube and hit play at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag! The watch party community is a friendly group and welcoming of newcomers so don’t be shy.

See you soon!