Music Video of the Day: The Dark Side by Muse (2018, dir by Lance Drake)


I’m dedicating this music video to a friend of mine.  Things may seem dark right now but it’s also going to get better.  I promise.  The director of this video, Lance Drake, was interviewed about it and he said that theme was “Keep on driving!”  No matter how rough the road may get or how the scenery may change, keep on driving forward.  That’s advice that I hope will be heard by anyone who needs to hear it.  

Enjoy!

2021 In Review: Lisa Marie’s Picks For The 26 Best Films of 2021


Without further ado, here is the list that we’ve all been waiting for!  Here are my picks for the 26 best films of 2021!  Why 26?  Because Lisa doesn’t do odd numbers!

(Also, be sure to check out my picks for 201020112012201320142015201620172018, 2019, and 2020!  Wow, I’ve been doing this for a while!)


1. Nightmare Alley
2. Licorice Pizza
3. The Tragedy of Macbeth
4. Mass
5. Shiva Baby
6. Belfast
7. CODA
8. The Last Duel
9. The Power of the Dog
10. The French Dispatch
11. The Father
12. West Side Story
13. Pig
14. Dear Comrades
15. Another Round
16. Dune
17. Spider-Man: No Way Home
18. Val
19. Wild Indian
20. Romeo and Juliet
21. East of the Mountains
22. Summit of the Gods
23. A Quiet Place Part II
24. Passing
25. The Lost Daughter
26. Swan Song

Lisa Marie’s 2021 In Review:

  1. 10 Worst Films
  2. 10 Favorite Songs
  3. 10 Top Non-Fiction Books
  4. 10 Top Novels
  5. The Best of Lifetime
  6. 10 Good Things I Saw On Television

2021 In Review: 10 Good Things That I Saw On Television


I probably watched too much television in 2021.  Oh well, such is life!  Here are a few things that I enjoyed:

  1. The third and fourth seasons of Cobra Kai

Who would have guessed that The Karate Kid would eventually inspire one of the best shows on television?  The show’s mix of comedy and drama is nearly perfect and, for that matter, so are the performances of William Zabka, Ralph Macchio, Martin Kove, and Thomas Ian Griffith.

2. WandaVision

The Marvel television series have been pretty hit-and-miss for me but WandaVision was definitely a hit.

3. The Oscars

The Steven Soderbergh-produced ceremony was such a train wreck that it became oddly fascinating to watch.  To be honest, the entire ceremony felt like a wonderful example of hubris.  The ceremony was obviously designed to show the way to the future and, instead, it just made us long for the past.  In many ways, it was the perfect symbol for America in 2021.

4 & 5. Allo Allo and Yes, Minister

Discovering these classic British sitcoms on PBS was definitely one of the highlights of the year for me!

6. America’s Most Wanted

It didn’t last very long but the America’s Most Wanted revival featured some really cool CGI.

7. Gangs of London

This British crime show was complex but always compelling.

8. The Ultimate Surfer

This silly reality show featured a lot of good-looking people getting wet.  What more can you ask for?

9. The final season of The Walking Dead got off to a good start.

Everything has to end sometimes.

10. Dexter: New Blood

Dexter is back!  But for how long?

Lisa Marie’s 2021 In Review:

  1. 10 Worst Films
  2. 10 Favorite Songs
  3. 10 Top Non-Fiction Books
  4. 10 Top Novels
  5. The Best of Lifetime

2021 In Review: Lisa Marie’s 10 Top Novels


Be sure to check out my picks for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011!

  1. Once Upon A Time In Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino
  2. Verity by Colleen Hoover
  3. The Final Girl Support Group by Grady Hendrix
  4. Widespread Panic by James Ellroy
  5. Last House on Needless Street by Diane Chamberlain
  6. Back in the Burbs by Avery Flynn and Tracy Wolff
  7. Last Thing He Told Me by Laura Dave
  8. The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
  9. Nothing’s Ever Easy by Amanda Lee Dixon
  10. Red Thorns by Rebel Hart

Lisa Marie’s 2021 In Review:

  1. 10 Worst Films
  2. 10 Favorite Songs
  3. 10 Top Non-Fiction Books

2021 In Review: Lisa Marie’s 10 Top Non-Fiction Books


Be sure to check out my previous picks for 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, and 2013!

  1. Come Fly The World: The Jet-Age Story of the Women of Pan Am by Julia Cooke
  2. The Babysitter: My Summers With A Serial Killer by Liza Rodman and Jennifer Jordan
  3. Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood by Danny Trejo
  4. Brat by Andrew McCarthy
  5. Shooting Midnight Cowboy by Glenn Frankel
  6. Mike Nichols: A Life by Mark Harris
  7. The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt For A Victorian-Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb
  8. Dress Codes: How The Laws of Fashion Made History by Richard Thompson Ford
  9. Hollywood Eden by Joel Selvin
  10. Rock Me on the Water: 1974-The Year Los Angeles Transformed Movies, Music, Television, and Politics by Ronald Brownstein

Lisa Marie’s 2021 In Review:

  1. 10 Worst Films
  2. 10 Favorite Songs

2021 In Review: Lisa Marie’s 10 Favorite Songs of the Year


Every January, I list my favorite songs of the previous year and, every January, I include the same disclaimer.  My favorite songs are not necessarily the favorite songs of any of the other writers here at the Shattered Lens.

With that in mind, here are my favorite songs of 2021!  Also be sure to check out my favorite songs of 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, and 2011!

10) It’s All Happening by Saint Motel

9) U Are My High by DJ Snake x Future

8) Cry About It Later by Katy Perry

7) Traps by Bloc Party

6) It Gets Better by Swedish House Mafia

5) Hypnocurrency by Deadmau5 & REZZ

4) The Darkness That You Fear by The Chemical Brothers

3) Don’t Wait Up by Shakira

2) Slow Clap by Gwen Stefani

1) I Want to Dance by Adi Ulmansky

Lisa Marie’s 2021 In Review:

  1. Lisa Marie’s 10 Worst Films of 2021

Music Video of the Day: Tinoretto, It’s For You by Destroyer (2022, dir by ????)


Today’s music video of the day is the atmospheric video from Destroyer!  This video has a kind of You’ve-Been-Up-For-3-Days-On-Dexedrine feel to it.  I used to very much enjoy wandering around in the middle of the night so this video brought back some memories for me.

Enjoy!

Music Video of the Day: London Boy by Tash (2022, dir by Arasmis Duran)


This is a simple song and a fairly simple video but both of them definitely captured a very specific feeling and moment of one’s life.  I think anyone can relate, whether they’ve had a London boy or not.  I don’t have much else to say about this one but sometimes, it’s not necessary to say a lot.

Enjoy!

Lisa Marie’s Week In Television: 1/23/22 — 1/29/22


Another week in January essentially means another week of allergies and sneezing.  I watched quite a few movies this week but I also catched a few shows.  When you’re feeling under the weather, it’s sometimes more fun to watch something that’s only going to require 30 minutes of your attention as opposed to 132 of them.

Allo Allo (Sunday Night, PBS)

The show started with Rene nearly blowing up the cafe while trying to hide the stolen land mines and it ended with Herr Flick and Von Smallhousen trapped on a British airplane flying high over occupied France.  Along the way, Crabtree tried to speak French and the British airmen hid in a barrel.  It was all good fun.  I laughed.

The Amazing Race (Wednesday, CBS)

I wrote about the latest episode of The Amazing Race here!  Switzerland, as I mentioned in my write up, is a beautiful country.  The scenery is gorgeous and the people understand the value of staying on schedule.

The Bachelor (Monday Night, ABC)

This week on The Bachelor, the women went to group therapy and Clayton continued to try to understand and replicate human behavior.  Seriously, they should just call him the Claytonbot.  I keep expecting him to ask someone why humans laughs and cry.

Bar Rescue (Monday Morning, Paramount TV)

Jon Taffer rescued a karaoke bar.  Yay!  A world without music is not a world for any of us.

Football Game: Buccaneers vs. Rams (Sunday Evening, NBC)

If only both teams could have won!  Seriously, from what I’ve seen of it, football is the most depressing sport ever because the players on the team that doesn’t win always end up sitting there and crying while the other team is celebrating.  That sucks.  If I was the coach, I would make sure that every game ended in a tie so that everyone could be a winner.

Full House (Sunday Afternoon, MeTV)

God, this was a bad show.  I watched the first four episodes of the show on Sunday afternoon.  I felt kind of bad about not liking it but it was just so painfully cutesy.  The first episode of the series featured John Stamos and the goofy guy moving in with John Stamos.  The second episode featured John Stamos and his band trying to practice while two of Bob Saget’s daughters danced around.  (The band sounded terrible.)  The third episode featured …. I don’t even remember.  I know it was during the third or the fourth episode that the school year started.  Candace Cameron was upset about being put in a gifted class.  John Stamos hit on a teacher.  I can’t remember what the goofy one did.

From what I understand, the first four episodes are apparently the show’s highpoint so I can’t imagine what the rest of the series must have been like.

King of the Hill (Weekday Afternoons, FXX)

I watched three episodes of this classic on Friday.  Things got started with Grillstravaganza, in which Bobby temporarily fell under the influence of Joe Jack.  This was followed by the episode where Mr. Strickland briefly got involved with Luanne’s pool-based bible study group.  And then the final episode I watched featured Hank taking over the middle school’s organic garden.  Anything that featured Hank trying to motivate the apathetic students at the middle school was always funny.  Hank’s work at the organic garden may have been a success but he was still perturbed when he ended up getting added to the mailing list of a hippie food store called Passages.

Open All Hours (Sunday Night, PBS)

Granville discovered that he had a cousin and she used to be able to communicate with the spirit world.  Unfortunately, Granville’s spirit had already been too thoroughly broken for him to take much comfort in that knowledge.

Parking Wars (Monday Morning, A&E)

On Monday morning, as I watched the parking cops go out of their way to harass the citizens of Philadelphia, it occurred to me that most of these episodes were filmed over ten years ago.  I wonder how many of these people still work for the government and how many have retired.  How many are receiving a pension and how many are still walking the sidewalks and saying, “I’m just doing my job here?”  Hopefully, they’re all retired and collecting a pension.  It has to be kind of a sad existence, though.  How does anyone sleep soundly with the knowledge that they were a part of the system?

Seinfeld (Weekdays, Comedy Central)

I watched two episodes on Friday afternoon.  George and Jerry flew out to Hollywood to see Kramer.  kamer, meanwhile, was arrested for being a serial killer.  The real killer was Clint Howard, who was briefly arrested but who escaped police custody after George and Jerry accidentally left the backdoor of a police car unlocked.  It was all kind of dark, to be honest.

Silk Stalkings (Tubi)

On Monday, I got back to binging my favorite 90s show about attractive detectives investigating half-naked criminals.  The first episode featured Chris falling for a duplicitous skip tracer who, it turned out, was actually just a hitwoman.  Oh, Chris!  Everyone knows you and Rita are in love!  The next episode featured Chris and Rita investigating the murder of a vice cop.  They suspected that it may have been a cop-on-cop killing and, of course, it all linked up to Chris’s past.  It was kind of a dull episode, to be honest.  It wasn’t quite trashy enough.  Oh well!

I didn’t return to the show until Thursday.  The first episode I watched opened with the brutal murder of a wealthy married couple.  At first, Chris and Rita thought that the murders had been committed by the couple’s twin sons but eventually, it was discovered that it was actually the work of the maid and a hitman.  That episode was enjoyably sordid.  The episode that followed was a bit less interesting.  Chris and Rita investigated a gang of jewel thieves, one of whom was played by a youngish Tobin Bell.  It was all a bit bland but the chemistry between Rob Estes and Mitzi Kapture kept things fun.

The TSL’s Grindhouse: Bolero (dir by John Derek)


The 1984 film, Bolero, tells the story of  Ayre “Mac” MacGillvary (Bo Derek) and her best friend, Catalina (Anna Obregon).  They’re young, they’re rich, they’ve just graduated from college, and, despite the fact that they both appears to be in their early 40s, they’re determined to lose their virginities to the most perfect lovers that they can find.

Because the film is taking place in the 1920, Mac and Catalina first travel to the Middle East in hope of finding a Rudolph Valentino-style sheik.  Accompanying them is Mac’s chauffeur and protector, Cotton (a clearly embarrassed George Kennedy).  Though Mac does manage to find a sheik (played by Greg Benson), her efforts to lose her virginity to him prove to be a failure.  Though the Sheik is willing, he indulges a bit too much with his hookah and ends up passing out right before the consummating the act.

Well, if a sheik can’t do it, how about a bullfighter?  Mac and Catalina leave the Middle East for Spain and it’s there that Mac catches the eyes of Angel (Andrea Occhipinti), a celebrated bullfighter.  Mac decides that Angel will be the one to take her virginity but it turns out that, once again, nothing as is easy as it should be.  It turns out that Angel already has a lover and he’s been with her since she was a teenager.  And a 14 year-old Gypsy named Paloma (played by Olivia d’Abo) has already decided that she is going to be Angel’s next lover, which is incredibly icky even before the film makes it even ickier,  

While Mac is trying to seduce Angel, Catalina is trying to seduce a Scottish attorney named Robert Stewart (Ian Cochrane).  “What do you wear under your skirt?” Catalina asks.  “It’s a kilt!” Stewart yells because he’s Scottish.  Anyway, Catalina eventually does get an answer to her question so yay Catalina!

As for Mac, she does eventually manage to win Angel’s attention but then …. OUCH!  Angel gets gored by a bull and yes, he gets wounded exactly where you think that he gets wounded.  Suddenly, Angel can no longer get it up but fear not.  “We’re going to make that thing work,” Mac says, before she then takes up bullfighting herself.  It all eventually leads to a scene that makes heavy use of dry ice and a neon light that misspells the word ecstasy. 

Bolero is one of those sex-obsessed films that tries so hard to be erotic that it actually goes in the opposite direction and becomes so firmly anti-erotic that one gets the feeling it could be used as a torture device in a George Orwell novel.  “The Anti-Sex League sentences you to watch Bolero!”  A huge part of the problem is that, even though everyone in the film is certainly attractive, there’s still next to no chemistry between Bo Derek and any of her potential lovers.  The film was directed by Bo’s then-husband, John Derek and, somewhat perversely, John continually films her in the least flattering ways possible.  John also tries to introduce some humor into the film — at one point, it turns into a silent film, complete with title cards — but it all falls flat.  Finally, the gored bullfighter is played by a very handsome Italian actor named Andrea Occhipinti who I immediately recognized as being the same actor who played the killer in Lucio Fulci’s The New York Ripper.  Though it was a bit unfair to Occhipinti (whose likable blandness was exactly what made him such a subversive choice to play the killer in Fulci’s film), I was worried every moment that Mac was left alone with him.  (Occhipinti is now one of Italy’s most respected film producers.) 

Produced by Cannon Films, Bolero was apparently a huge flop when it was released.  Bolero was considered to be so bad that it led to MGM announcing that they would no longer help to distribute any other Cannon Films.  I can’t really blame MGM.  Even when viewed decades later, Bolero is a dull romp that’s fit only for the Anti-Sex League.