Tag Archives: movie

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Luc Besson Edition

Posted on 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, we wish a happy birthday to director Luc Besson.  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Luc Besson Films

Nikita (1990, dir by Luc Besson, DP: Theirry Arbogast)

Leon:  The Professional (1994, dir by Luc Besson, DP: Theirry Arbogast)

The Fifth Element (1997, dir by Luc Besson, DP: Theirry Arbogast)

Angel-A (2005, dir by Luc Besson, DP: Theirry Arbogast)

HARD TIMES ON FILM presents “Soldier,” starring Kurt Russell!

Posted on by Bradley Crain

In honor of Kurt Russell’s birthday, I thought I would share one of my favorite podcasts with you. Most of the time Nick and Ray talk about Charles Bronson, but every so often they go outside of Bronson. Their episode on the Kurt Russell film SOLDIER is excellent. It’s a great way to celebrate one of the most popular actors of my lifetime.

Happy Birthday, Kurt, and enjoy my friends!

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hard-times-on-film-the-films-of-charles-bronson-and-beyond/id1593402485?i=1000670947806

Scenes I Love: The Ending of The Thing

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

From 1982’s The Thing, here is one of the greatest endings in the history of horror.  Kurt Russell and Keith David play two characters who might be the final survivors of the The Thing’s rampage or who might just be one human talking to one alien.  With nothing to do but wait for the inevitable, the two of them share a drink and prepare to freeze.

The scene features great acting from Russell and David and great direction from John Carpenter.  It’s one of those endings that you will never forget.

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Kurt Russell Edition

Posted on 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, we wish a happy birthday to the great Kurt Russell!  Last year, we pretty much reviewed every Kurt Russell films that we could find.  It was a great day.  This year, we cannot let the day pass without offering up….

4 Shots From 4 Kurt Russell Films

Used Cars (1980, dir by Robert Zemeckis, DP: Donald M. Morgan)

Escape From New York (1981, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)

The Thing (1982, dir by John Carpenter, DP: Dean Cundey)

Tombstone (1993, dir by George Pan Cosmatos (and Kurt Russell), DP: William Fraker)

 

4 Shots From 4 Films: Special Bernardo Bertolucci Edition

Posted on 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 celebrates Italian director Bernardo Bertolucci!  It’s time for….

4 Shots From 4 Bernardo Bertolucci Films

The Conformist (1970, dir by Bernardo Bertolucci, DP: Vittorio Storaro)

The Last Emperor (1987, dir by Bernardo Bertolucci, DP: Vittorio Storaro)

The Sheltering Sky (1990, dir by Bernardo Bertolucci, DP: Vittorio Storaro)

Stealing Beauty (1996, dir by Bernardo Bertolucci, DP: Darius Khondji)

Monday Live Tweet Alert: Join Us for Hard Ticket To Hawaii!

Posted on 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 Hard Ticket To Hawaii!

If you want to join this watch party, just hop onto Mastodon, pull up Hard Ticket To Hawaii on YouTube, start the movie at 8 pm et, and use the #MondayActionMovie hashtag!

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Way Too Early Oscar Predictions For March

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Now that the awards for the best of 2025 have been handed out, it’s time to think about what might be nominated next year!

Below are my first set of Oscar predictions for 2026!  What am I basing these predictions on?  Nothing but instinct, wild guesses, and hopeful thinking.  Take them with a grain of salt.  If nothing else, we’ll look back on these a year from now and we’ll laugh.  Or, we’ll be amazed at my cognitive abilities.

Best Picture

Digger

Disclosure Day

Dune Part Three

I Play Rocky

The Invite

Mother Mary

The Odyssey

Queen At Sea

The Social Reckoning

Wild Horse Nine

Best Director

Lance Hammer for Queen At Sea

Martin McDonagh for Wild Horse Nine

Christopher Nolan for The Odyssey

Steven Spielberg for Disclosure Day

Denis Villeneuve for Dune Part Three

Best Actor

Nicolas Cage in Madden

Timothee Chalamet in Dune Part Three

Tom Cruise in Digger

Anthony Ippolito in I Play Rocky

John Malkovivh in Wild Hose Nine

Best Actress

Juliette Binoche in Queen At Sea

Emily Blunt in Disclosure Day

Isabelle Huppert in The Blood Countess

Mikey Madison in The Social Reckoning

Anya Taylor-Joy in Joni Mitchell

Best Supporting Actor

Tom Courtenay in Queen At Sea

Willem DaFoe in Werewulf

Stephan James in I Play Rocky

Edward Norton in The Invite

Jeremy Strong in The Social Reckoning

Best Supporting Actress

Anna Calder-Marshall in Queen At Sea

Michaela Coel in Mother Mary

Penelope Cruz in The Invite

AnnaSophia Robb in I Play Rocky

Meryl Streep in Joni Mitchell

The Eric Roberts Collection: Tripfall (dir by Serge Rodnunsky)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In an effort to save their marriage, Tom (John Ritter) and Gina (Rachel Hunter) take a vacation in California.  However, when they arrive at the home that they’re going to be renting, they are taken hostage by a group of redneck criminals led by Mr. Eddie (Eric Roberts).  Mr. Eddie wants all of Tom’s money and this leads to a rather drawn-out hostage situation as Tom tries to get the better of Mr. Eddie and Mr. Eddie spends a lot of time purring threats in a thick Southern accent.

That’s plot of 2000’s TripFall.  Don’t ask my why it’s called TripFall.  It seems like a bit of a redundant title because a trip and a fall are pretty much the same thing.  In fact, don’t even ask me what the point of the film is because there’s really not that much action or suspense.  It’s mostly just Eric Roberts and the gang driving John Ritter from one location to another.  I’m not a big fan of films about people being held hostage because they always seem to feature the same scene played over and over again.  The hostage refuses to do something.  The person holding him hostage gives a long monologue.  It gets boring after a while.

TripFall is not a career highpoint for either Roberts or Ritter.  It’s an action film in which there is very little action.  Watching the film, I found myself thinking that it would have been more interesting if Ritter and Roberts had switched roles.  Roberts could have played the likable family man for once and maybe the film could have explored the darkness behind Ritter’s goofy persona.  (Comedic actors sometimes make the best villains.)

That said, it’s difficult to resist the oddness of John Ritter and Eric Roberts starring in the same movie.  If there are two actors who feel as if they literally come from different planets, it’s Ritter and Roberts.  Ritter is his typical goofy self, even when he’s trying to play up the drama of the situation.  Roberts hisses his lines as Mr. Eddie and appears to be acting in a totally different movie from Ritter.  They’re so mismatched that they become rather fascinating (if not exactly memorable) to watch.

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. Raptor (2001)
  20. Rough Air: Danger on Flight 534 (2001)
  21. Strange Frequency (2001)
  22. Wolves of Wall Street (2002)
  23. Border Blues (2004)
  24. Mr. Brightside (2004)
  25. Six: The Mark Unleased (2004)
  26. We Belong Together (2005)
  27. Hey You (2006)
  28. Depth Charge (2008)
  29. Amazing Racer (2009)
  30. The Chaos Experiment (2009)
  31. In The Blink of an Eye (2009)
  32. Bed & Breakfast (2010)
  33. Enemies Among Us (2010)
  34. The Expendables (2010) 
  35. Sharktopus (2010)
  36. Beyond The Trophy (2012)
  37. The Dead Want Women (2012)
  38. Deadline (2012)
  39. The Mark (2012)
  40. Miss Atomic Bomb (2012)
  41. Assault on Wall Street (2013)
  42. Bonnie And Clyde: Justified (2013)
  43. Lovelace (2013)
  44. The Mark: Redemption (2013)
  45. The Perfect Summer (2013)
  46. Revelation Road: The Beginning of the End (2013)
  47. Revelation Road 2: The Sea of Glass and Fire (2013)
  48. Self-Storage (2013)
  49. Sink Hole (2013)
  50. A Talking Cat!?! (2013)
  51. This Is Our Time (2013)
  52. Bigfoot vs DB Cooper (2014)
  53. Doc Holliday’s Revenge (2014)
  54. Inherent Vice (2014)
  55. Road to the Open (2014)
  56. Rumors of War (2014)
  57. So This Is Christmas (2014)
  58. Amityville Death House (2015)
  59. Deadly Sanctuary (2015)
  60. A Fatal Obsession (2015)
  61. Las Vegas Story (2015)
  62. Sorority Slaughterhouse (2015)
  63. Stalked By My Doctor (2015)
  64. Enemy Within (2016)
  65. Hunting Season (2016)
  66. Joker’s Poltergeist (2016)
  67. Prayer Never Fails (2016)
  68. Stalked By My Doctor: The Return (2016)
  69. The Wrong Roommate (2016)
  70. Dark Image (2017)
  71. The Demonic Dead (2017)
  72. Black Wake (2018)
  73. Frank and Ava (2018)
  74. Stalked By My Doctor: Patient’s Revenge (2018)
  75. Clinton Island (2019)
  76. Monster Island (2019)
  77. The Reliant (2019)
  78. The Savant (2019)
  79. Seven Deadly Sins (2019)
  80. Stalked By My Doctor: A Sleepwalker’s Nightmare (2019)
  81. The Wrong Mommy (2019)
  82. Exodus of a Prodigal Son (2020)
  83. Free Lunch Express (2020)
  84. Her Deadly Groom (2020)
  85. Top Gunner (2020)
  86. Deadly Nightshade (2021)
  87. The Elevator (2021)
  88. Just What The Doctor Ordered (2021)
  89. Killer Advice (2021)
  90. Megaboa (2021)
  91. Night Night (2021)
  92. The Poltergeist Diaries (2021)
  93. The Rebels of PT-218 (2021)
  94. Red Prophecies (2021)
  95. A Town Called Parable (2021)
  96. Bleach (2022)
  97. Dawn (2022)
  98. My Dinner With Eric (2022)
  99. 69 Parts (2022)
  100. The Rideshare Killer (2022)
  101. The Company We Keep (2023)
  102. D.C. Down (2023)
  103. Aftermath (2024)
  104. Bad Substitute (2024)
  105. Devil’s Knight (2024)
  106. Insane Like Me? (2024)
  107. Space Sharks (2024)
  108. The Wrong Life Coach (2024)
  109. Broken Church (2025)
  110. When It Rains In L.A. (2025)