Today is a special day here at the Shattered Lens as we celebrate the birthday of Dario Argento!
Now, we’ve got a lot of Argento-related stuff scheduled for October so, for today, I’m just going to share one of the best scenes from one of my favorite Argento films, 1975’s Deep Red. This scene features what is seriously the creepiest puppet that I’ve ever seen.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the surrealistic 1968 musical, Head. It features Davy Jones dancing with the wonderful Toni Basil.
Enjoy and try not to cry because it’s a seriously sad song.
In honor of Werner Herzog’s birthday, today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films. 1972’s Aguirre, The Wrath of God not only established Herzog as a major filmmaker but it also showed that he was the director who could get the best out of the notoriously difficult Klaus Kinski.
In this scene, Kinski plays the mad conquistador, Aguirre. Lost with his men in the Amazon, Aguirre establishes control over the dwindling expedition.
The Caine Mutiny (1954, dir by Edward Dmytryk, DP: Franz Planer)
Today’s scene that I love comes from 1954’s The Caine Mutiny.
In this scene, Captain Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) is cross-examined by Barney Greenwald (Jose Ferrer). The court martial concerns whether or not an officer under Queeg’s command was justified in taking over the ship from Queeg. Greenwald, tasked with defending the head mutineer, knows that the only way to win the case is to expose Queeg himself as a paranoid and unstable officer. Greenwald does his job but he’s not happy about it.
This scene, directed by Edward Dmytryk, features both Bogart and Ferrer at their absolute best.
To go along with Brad’s book review and my tribute to Ron Howard, I really wanted to share a scene of Clint Howard as Mr. Eaglebauer in the 1979 film, Rock ‘n’ Roll High School. Unfortunately, I really couldn’t find any Eaglebauer scenes on YouTube but I did find this upload of the Ramones performing at the end of the film.
If you look closely, you’ll see Clint Howard dancing to the song. His face isn’t visible but you’ll spot the hair easily.
I love this movie!
Today, we wish a happy sixty-first birthday to the one and only Keanu Reeves!
Today’s scene that I love comes from the film that made Keanu an icon for a whole generation of moviegoers who had blocked The Matrix sequels from their collective memories, John Wick. In this scene, Keanu explains that it wasn’t just a dog that he lost.
There’s not a pet owner in the world who doesn’t understand exactly what John Wick is saying here. And it must be said that Keanu, who has definitely grown a good deal as an actor over the years, really sells the emotions in this scene.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to director James Nguyen! Today’s scene that I love comes from Nguyen’s masterpiece, 2010’s Birdemic: Shock and Terror!
Those who claim that Brian De Palma stole too much from Hitchcock obviously never met James Nguyen.
The ultimate Labor Day scene comes from one of my favorite movies, Office Space. If you’ve ever worked in an office, you can relate to this scene. Be sure to sing along!
Happy Labor Day!
The writer Mary Shelley was born on this date in 1797. Shelley, of course, is best-known for writing Frankenstein, a book that some claim is the first science fiction novel. (That’s debatable but it was still a major literary achievement.)
In this scene from 1936’s Bride of Frankenstein, Elsa Lanchester appears as Mary Shelley, continuing her story. (Of course, Lanchester also played the Bride herself.)
Today, the Shattered Lens celebrates what would have been birthday oif the great William Friedkin. As a director, William Friedkin revolutionized both the horror genre and the crime genre. The car chase from 1971’s The French Connection has been much imitated but rarely equaled.
That said, as impressive as the car chase is, the ending of the French Connection is a perfect example of the bleakness of 70s cinema. Between the seemingly crazed Doyle firing his weapon into the void to the end cards that leave us wondering if any of this was worth it, the final minutes of The French Connection still pack an undeniable punch.
Through the Shattered Lens 