Tag Archives: New Year’s Day

Scene That I Love: A New Year Begins In The Godfather Part II

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy New Year!

Well, the clock has now struck midnight on the West Coast and that officially means that it is 2026 in the United States!  What better way to start things off than by sharing a scene that I love from one of the greatest and most important films of all time, 1974’s The Godfather Part II?

The scene below takes place on New Year’s Eve.  The scene starts in 1958 and it ends in 1959.  Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his brother Fredo (John Cazale) are in Havana at the invitation of Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg).  Roth know that Cuba could be a gold mine for the American mob but Michael, from the start, realizes that the country’s corrupt government is on the verge of collapse and that it’s about to be replaced by something even worse.  (Admittedly, that’s my opinion.  Director Francis Ford Coppola had a much higher opinion of Castro and the communists than I did.)   Tragically, it’s also in Havana that Michael realizes that Fredo betrayed him to his enemies.  On December 31st, 1958, as the new year is celebrated in Havana, the rebels ride into the city.  While the President of Cuba prepares to announce that he will be fleeing the country, Michael confronts his brother and tells him that he knows the truth.  Later, as they both attempt to flee the country, Michael and Fredo see each other on the streets.  Fredo runs from Michael, refusing his offer to help.  Though Fredo would eventually return to the family, the film’s ending revealed Fredo’s first instinct was the correct one.

Here’s a scene that I love, featuring great work from both Al Pacino and the brilliant John Cazale:

Happy New Year

Posted on by Dazzling Erin

Happy New Year!

In Happy New Year, Charlie Brown, Charlie Brown started the year by falling asleep while trying to read War and Peace and missing out on talking to the little red-haired girl.  He probably caught pneumonia by falling asleep outside while it was snowing.  Poor Charlie Brown!  His friends should be ashamed of themselves for leaving him out there!

The important thing is that no matter how many times these things happen to him, Charlie Brown never gives up faith.  He’s going to keep trying to talk to the little red-haired girl.  He’s going to keep reading War and Peace.  He’s going to to keep trying to kick that football.  He’s going to try to get a strike with every pitch.  Even if the first day of 2024 isn’t your best, there are 365 more to go!

Happy 2024!

Scenes That I Love: Happy New Year From The Poseidon

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy new year!

With 2023 coming in like a tidal wave, it only seem fitting that the first scene that I love for this year should come from 1972’s The Poseidon Adventure.  Just as how Die Hard has recently been acclaimed as one of the great Christmas films, The Poseidon Adventures is one of the best of the New Year’s Day films.  It’s also perhaps the only film in which Gene Hackman managed to overact more than even Ernest Borgnine.  I mean, don’t get me wrong.  It’s a strong competition between two great actors, neither of whom was known for being particularly subtle when it came to barking out their lines.  But, in the end, Hackman still managed to take the overacting crown for this film.

(That said, what’s New Year’s Day without Borgnine shouting, “Where’s your God now, Preach-ah!?”)

In the scene below, the passengers ring in the new year while Leslie Nielsen faces the tidal wave that will soon turn the boat upside down.  Whatever else you may want to say about this particular film, it does a great job of contrasting the celebrations in the ballroom with the dread on the bridge.  While everyone else is counting down and celebrating and mugging for the camera, Nielsen can only stare in stoic horror as the wave approaches.  He does the only thing that a captain can do.  He sounds the alarm.  He sends out an S.O.S.  Unfortunately, the alarm can barely be hard over the celebrations of the new year and the S.O.S. man is quickly swept away by the crashing of the wave.

The scene goes from celebrating the future to highlighting the type of old-fashioned, nature-fueled destruction that has been wiping out civilizations since the beginning of time.  It doesn’t matter how many plans you’ve made.  It doesn’t matter how rich  you are.  It doesn’t matter how safe you feel or how much you cling to the furniture as the world turns upside down.  Fate, whether it’s in the form of a wave or some other natural disaster, is pitiless.  That’s one reason why disaster movies, as melodramatic as they could often be, so entranced audiences.  Everyone knew that it would just as easily happen to them.  Just as no one expected the tidal wave on New Year’s, no one would be expecting to leave the theater to be confronted by an earthquake or a tornado.  But it could definitely happen.  Life, like society, is a fragile thing.  If not even Gene Hackman, Stella Stevens, Shelley Winters, and Roddy McDowall could make it to the end of the movie, what hope is there for anyone?  Of course, the thing to remember is that they may not have made it but Ernest Borgnine, Red Buttons, Carol Lynley, and a few others did.  They survived, though I imagine they spent the rest of their lives dreading January 1st.

Needless to say, neither the passage of time nor the wave can be escaped.  As much as we may have things left to do in 2022, it’s too late now. 2023 is here and the world has moved on.

Happy 2022 From All The Writers (and the Cat) at the Shattered Lens!

Posted on by Doc Bowman

It’s a new year.  Meh!

(Meh, by the way, is the way that cats say, “Yay!”)

You did it!

You survived 2021!

Though my expression may remains neutral and unimpressed, please know that I am very proud of you.

2021 was a year when humans everywhere proved that they should just be quiet and let cats run the planet.  Well, 2021 is over now.  It’s 2022 and hopefully, everyone will try to do better over the upcoming 12 months….

Of course, they probably won’t.  I mean, they never do.  I’ve been telling humans to do better for close to 13 years now and it still doesn’t seem to make any difference.  People don’t listen to the cats and that is their loss.  This is going to be a crazy year, because the humans in America are having an election in November and it seems like 60% of them have already climbed up to the top of the tree and decided to try to jump back down to the patio without even bothering to estimate the distance of their fall!  Cats know better, whereas humans always end up with broken bones and sprained ankles.  Not only do the humans have elections to worry about that, but there’s also the risk of runaway inflation, social media drama, bad weather, and the danger of vampire wombats.  Seriously, if you haven’t started to prepare for the vampire wombats, I don’t know what to tell you.  You better get started!

So you know what?

When the outside world gets too insane or annoying or whatever, we want to provide a place for you to escape.  This year, the TSL is 12 years old and the Shattered Lens humans have got a lot planned!  They’re going to make 2022 a great, great year, even with the danger of the vampire wombats.

So, remember — when things get crazy and when everything just seems to be too weird to deal with, TSL is here for you!

Here’s what we have to look forward to in 2022: the Oscars!  New films from some of your favorite human directors!  Even more debate about the the MCU!  Arleigh and Lisa will undoubtedly disagree about Avatar 2!  A thousand streaming services!  More Baby Yoda memes!  Pam and Tommy!  Cyrano!  Cannes!  Sundance!  Theme months!  Vampire wombats!  Embracing the Melodrama!  Back to School!  Shattered Politics!  18 Days of Paranoia!

Welcome to 2022!  Let’s make it great one and, when in doubt, look to the cats for wisdom!  If cats ran the country, there were be no war.  There would be no vampire wombats.  In fact, there would be no government.  In fact, it would probably work better as a sitcom than a reality.  Cats already run the world. You can have your government and your wombats and all the rest.  Just leave the music and the movies and all of the streaming services for the cats. It’s not too much to ask.

Anyway, here’s hoping that all of you have a great 2022!  As the cat likes to say, “Meh.”

Music Video of the Day: The Hustle by Van McCoy (dir by ????)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

“Do the Hustle!”

And may all the scolds go to Hell!

Well, it’s a new year and what better way to ring it in than by dancing and celebrating the Hustle?  Van McCoy’s The Hustle is a song that’s been heard by anyone who has ever watched a movie about the disco era.  It’s pretty much appeared on almost every soundtrack ever compiled.  If it’s a disco film, you’re going to hear The Hustle.  It’s a song that just makes you think about dancing, disco balls, and cocaine.  Lots and lots of a cocaine.  From what I understand, copies of this song were originally sold with their own souvenir coke spoons.  That may or may not be true but you get the idea.

Interestingly enough, the dance came before the song.  Van McCoy was at Adam’s Apple, a New York City nightclub, in 1975 when he saw that the patrons were dancing a new dance that they called The Hustle.  He was so taken with the dance that he wrote a song about it.  He had three lyrics and a beat you could dance to and that was all he needed to create the soundtrack of the late 70s.  The Hustle was a hit and it came to define an era.  Sadly, it was an era that McCoy himself would not survive.  He died of a heart attack in 1979, while in New Jersey.  He was only 39 years old.

The video below was released in 2010 and, as you can tell, it was made up by clips of McCoy performing the song on various shows.  You can debate whether this is a legitimate music video or just a compilation.  That’s fine, though.  We’re all about debate here at the Shattered Lens!  Ultimately, what is truly important is that it’s a good song and it’s a new year!  It’s 2022!  Get out there and dance!  Get out there and do the hustle!  And you know what!?  Don’t be afraid to use exclamation points!  You’ve earned them and you’ve earned the right to use them as much as you want!

Personally, I think the attitudes of the 1920 and the 1970s are about to make a comeback.  (Actually, the comeback has already started but only a few people are willing to acknowledge it.  That will change soon.)  After the past few years, people want to have a good time.  They want to dance.  They want to move to wherever the music takes them.  The past few years have been dominated by people demanding that everyone else be as miserable as they are.  You may not know it from reading twitter.  You may not know it from watching the news.  But most people want to enjoy themselves.  Most people want to pursue their own pleasures and their own happiness in their own way.  The 2020s are going to have a lot more in common with the 1920s and the 1970s than there are with the 1960s and the 2010s.  Old Joe and Young Greta and the moralistic social media scolds can wag their fingers all they want.  People are ready to do the hustle.

Enjoy!

Scene That I Love: A New Year In Cuba From The Godfather, Part II

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy New Year!

Well, the clock has now struck midnight on the West Coast and that officially means that it is 2022 in the United States!  It’s a new year, which means that we have another chance to get things right or, at the very least, not repeat the mistakes of the previous year.

I’m looking forward to 2022 for a number of reasons.  We’ve got a lot planned here at Through the Shattered Lens.  So, what better way to start things off than by sharing a scene that I love from one of the greatest and most important films of all time, 1974’s The Godfather Part II?

The scene below takes place on New Year’s Eve.  The scene starts in 1958 and it ends in 1959.  Michael Corleone (Al Pacino) and his brother Fredo (John Cazale) are in Havana at the invitation of Hyman Roth (Lee Strasberg).  Roth know that Cuba could be a gold mine for the American mob but Michael, from the start, realizes that the country’s corrupt government is on the verge of collapse.  Tragically, it’s also in Havana that Michael realizes that Fredo betrayed him to his enemies.

On December 31st, 1958, as the corrupt and wealthy celebrate a new year in Havana, the communist rebels ride into the city.  While the President of Cuba prepares to announce that he will be fleeing the country, Michael confronts his brother and tells him that he knows the truth.  Later, as they both attempt to flee the country, Michael and Fredo see each other on the streets.  Fredo runs from Michael, refusing his offer to help.  Though Fredo would eventually return to the family, the film’s ending revealed Fredo’s first instinct was the correct one.

Much of the scene below is based on fact.  The Cuban government did fall on New Year’s Eve and Fidel Castro and his rebels did triumphantly ride into Havana on January 1st.  Before Castro came to power, the Mafia did have a major stake in Cuba and reportedly quite a few mobsters were in Havana when Castro took over.  Meyer Lansky (on whom the film’s Hyman Roth was based) was one of the many mob officials who were rumored to have caught the last flight off of the island.  Seeking to be the only mob boss in his country, Castro did force the Mafia out of Cuba, which led to an alliance between organized crime and the CIA to try to overthrow Castro.  At the time that The Godfather Part II was released, the details of the CIA and the Mafia’s attempts to assassinate Castro were just starting to be revealed to the public.  As powerful as the scene below is today, it probably resonated even more with audiences in 1974.  In 1974, this was all still recent history and it undoubtedly brought to mind the still-fresh national trauma of the assassination of the Kennedy brothers.

Beyond the historical significance of the scene below, it also features brilliant work from two actors who will forever be linked together, Al Pacino and the late John Cazale.  Cazale and Pacino first met while they were both working off-Broadway, years before Mario Puzo even started writing the novel that would become The Godfather.  They were close friends and, along with co-starring in The Godfather films, they also played bank-robbing partners in Dog Day Afternoon.  Tragically, John Cazale died of cancer at the age of 42.  He only appeared in five films, every one of which was nominated for Best Picture and one could argue that the Academy’s failure to nominate Cazale for either Dog Day Afternoon or Godfather Part II is one of the most unforgivable oversights in Oscar history.

That said, it’s a new year.  Save the arguing for later.  Here’s a scene that I love:

The Shattered Lens Live Tweets The First Day of 2021

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy 2021, everyone!  However you chose to welcome the new year, I hope you’ve managed to recover.

Today was the first day of the New Year and, for me, it was also a day to start a new list of films.  It’s something I and a lot of people do every year.  We keep a list of every film that we watch and, of course, the idea is to see as many possible.  In 2020, I watched 820 films at least once.  (Some films, like It’s A Wonderful Life, I watched several times but, for list purposes, I only counted the first time.)  This year, I’m hoping to watch at least 1,000.

I watched Thank God It’s Friday as a part of #FridayNightFlix, which is a weekly live tweet that I host.  Every Friday, at 10 pm et, we watch a movie.  So far, we’ve watched Starcrash, Ator, Split Image, Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny, Robot Monster, and now Thank God It’s Friday.  If you’re reading this and you’re on twitter, consider yourself invited to next Friday’s film.

As always, the work here at the TSL Bunker is never done.

Still, for the most part, the first day of 2021 was a rather mellow and peaceful one and, after 2020, I don’t think anyone can complain about that.  One thing about almost everything being on hold right now is that it gives us a chance to reflect and think about both the past and the future.  For instance, I spent a good deal of today staring at my film collection and realizing that I need to spend this entire year watching every piece of physical media that I own, if just to make sure that they all still work.  So, you can consider that one of my resolutions for 2021.  I will sit down and watch all of the movies that I own.  And maybe I’ll even review them!

I wasn’t the only one making resolutions around here, of course.  Patrick also set himself up for a challenge:

That was pretty much it for today.  I watched some movies.  I listened to some music.  And I made some last-minute resolutions for the new year.  It was a quiet day but it was a good day.  I can’t complain about that.  Instead, we can all sing along:

Have a good year everyone.  Keep reading.  Keep listening to music.  And as always, keep watching, talking, debating, discussing, and making your opinions known!  Let’s make 2021 a year to be remembered!

 

Happy 2021, I Guess!

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Well, it’s finally 2021!

Did everyone have a good New Year’s?  For those of us who spent New Year’s eve at the Texas Offices of Through the Shattered Lens, it was a very, very rainy holiday.  The rain, of course, didn’t stop a few people around here from trying to make a lot of noise.  When I got home from welcoming the arrival of the new year, my neighbor was outside in his front yard, trying to set off firecrackers.  He just couldn’t seem to understand why they weren’t going off.  I was just like, “Hey, dumbass …. it’ been raining for 48 hours straight!”  I didn’t actually say that, of course.  One of my resolutions for the new year is to be nicer and more positive.  So, instead, I just said happy new year.  Later today, I may stick a few pins in a voodoo doll.  I’ll deal with my annoyance in my own way.

Last year, on this date, I made a lot of promises about what we were going to do on this site over the upcoming 12 months.  I would say that we were probably able to keep 70% of those promises.  Unfortunately, the pandemic changed a lot of our plans.  For instance, I was planning on doing a whole new series of Back to School reviews but it just didn’t feel appropriate with so many schools not reopening due to the lockdowns.  By that same token, my plan to review a batch of political movies in the summer became a bit less appealing as the presidential election kicked into full swing.  Once I saw that 2020 was going to be like, “You have to pick either Trump or Biden,” I no longer felt like writing about anything political.

Still, I think we did a lot of good work in 2020 and we’re going to do even more good work in 2021.  What do we have planned for 2021?  If 2020 taught us anything, it’s that life is unpredictable.  I’m hoping to finally do another round of Back to School and Shattered Politics reviews.  I’m also hoping to do another Embracing the Melodrama blogathan.  For this month, I’m planning on catching up with whatever 2020 films I still need to see and review.  I’m also going to be sharing my “best of” and “worst of” lists.  Mostly, though, I’m just planning to review whatever catches my attention.

I hope you’ll join me and the rest of the TSL crew as we explore 2021.  Personally, I still think that the upcoming decade is going to eventually be more like the 70s than the 60s.  People can only be scolded for so long before they say, “Screw this, I’m going to have a good time no matter what.”  But we’ll see.  Who knows what the future holds?  Whatever it is, we’ll discover it together.

Happy 2021, everyone!  Let’s not mess it up.

Happy 2020 From All The Writers (and the Cat) at the Shattered Lens!

Posted on by Doc Bowman

(Photo by Erin Nicole)

You did it!

You survived 2019!

2019 was a year when humans everywhere proved that they should just be quiet and let cats run the planet.  Well, 2019 is over now.  It’s 2020 and hopefully, everyone will try to do better over the upcoming 12 months….

Of course, they probably won’t.  This is going to be a crazy year, because the humans in America are having an election in November and it seems like 60% of them have already climbed up to the top of the tree and decided to try to jump back down to the patio without even bothering to estimate the distance of their fall!

So you know what?

When the outside world gets too insane or annoying or whatever, we want to provide a place for you to escape.  This year, the TSL is 10 years old and the Shattered Lens humans have got a lot planned!  They’re going to make 2020 a great, great year!

So, remember — when things get crazy and when everything just seems to be too weird to deal with, TSL is here for you!

Here’s what we have to look forward to in 2020: the Oscars!  New films from Christopher Nolan, Ridley Scott, Edgar Wright, and Paul Greengrass!  The next stage of the MCU!  A thousand streaming services!  Baby Yoda!  The Many Saints of Newark!  Cannes!  Sundance!  Theme months!  Embracing the Melodrama!  Back to School!  Shattered Politics!  18 Days of Paranoia!

Welcome to 2020!  Let’s make it great one and, when in doubt, look to the cats for wisdom!

(Photo by Erin Nicole)