Today’s scene that I love comes from 1994’s Pulp Fiction.
There aren’t many happy endings to be found in Pulp Fiction. Vince ends up gunned down in Butch’s bathroom. Jules leaves to wander the Earth. Mia is still married to Marcellus. Marcellus may get his briefcase but he’s still going to be traumatized for life. However, Bruce Willis’s aging boxer, Butch, gets a happy ending. And good for him!
Zed’s dead, baby. Zed’s dead.
The Kennedy files were just released a few hours ago. There’s supposedly either 8,000 or 80,000 of them, depending on which source you trust. It’ll take a while for people to go through them and, to be honest, I’ll be surprised if anything new is discovered. I’m pretty much a natural born skeptic when it comes to conspiracy theories, even though I love reading about them.
Today’s scene that I love comes from one of the first conspiracy-themed films to be made about the Kennedy assassination, 1973’s Executive Action. In this scene, the infamous photograph of Lee Harvey Oswald holding his rifle is created.
Used Cars (1980, directed by Robert Zemeckis)
Today is not only St. Patrick’s Day! It’s also Kurt Russell’s birthday!
Today’s scene that I love comes from one of my favorite Kurt Russell movies, the wonderful 1980 comedy, Used Cars! In this scene, Kurt’s ambitious used car salesman promotes his senate candidacy and gets some important advice from his mentor (Jack Warden). This scene features both Russell and Warden at their considerable best. Needless to say, if you haven’t watched this film, you need to!
(Watch it with Fargo and have yourself a car salesman double feature!)
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Erik Estrada!
Here he is in 1990’s Guns, blowing stuff up with style.
Beware the Ides of March!
The scene below is from the 1953 film, Julius Caesar. This Oscar-nominated Shakespearean adaptation had a cast that was full of distinguished actors. James Mason played Brutus. The great John Gielgud played Cassius. Louis Calhern was Caesar while other roles were filled by Deborah Kerr, Greer Garson, Edmond O’Brien, George Macready, John Hoyt, Edmund Purdom. and a host of other distinguished thespians. And yet, the best performance in the film came from an actor who, at the time, no one considered to be a Shakespearean. Marlon Brando brought his method intensity to the role of Mark Antony and the result was a performance that is still electrifying today.
On YouTube, someone referred to this as being “the world’s greatest speech delivered by the world’s greatest actor.” Sounds good to me!
Here is Marlon Brando in Julius Caesar:
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 92nd birthday to Sir Michael Caine.
With 177 acting credits listed on the imdb, Michael Caine started his regular acting career in 1956 and only recently retired. (He actually made his acting debut, at the age of 10, in a made-for-TV movie in 1946.) There are many great Michael Caine performances and scenes to choose from but, for today, I decided to go for a scene from 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises.
Caine was 79 when he played Alfred in this film and he showed that, after decades of work, he hadn’t lost a step as a performer. As well, he also showed his ability to take a character who could have been ridiculous — the loyal butler of a superhero — and instead make him surprisingly poignant. With this scene, Caine proved himself to be the heart of Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy.
Happy birthday to one of the greatest actors of our age or any age for that matter.
Fargo (1996, dir by the Coen Brothers, cinematography by Roger Deakins)
Today, we wish a happy birthday to one of the great character actors, William H. Macy.
Today’s scene that I love comes from the film that I feel features Macy’s greatest performance, 1996’s Fargo. In this scene, hapless car salesman-turned-wannabe-criminal mastermind Jerry Lundegaard (played by Macy) discovers that his get rich quick scheme has one major flaw. Absolutely no one, not even his fearsome father-in-law, wants to give Jerry a dime of money. In this scene, you can’t help but feel sorry for Jerry, even though most of his problems are his own fault.
Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Liza Minnelli. Here she is, in today’s scene that I love, performing Money with Joel Grey in 1972’s Cabaret.
Since today is Raoul Walsh’s birthday, it only makes sense that our scene that I love should come from one of Walsh’s best films.
In 1948’s White Heat, James Cagney plays Cody Jarrett, a gangster who loves his mother and goes out like a raging inferno. Here, for those who don’t mind a spoiler or two, is the end of Raoul Walsh’s White Heat.
Today is Chuck Norris’s birthday and to celebrate, today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films. In this sequence from 1985’s The Delta Force, Chuck shows that even his motorcycle is a force to be reckoned with.
Through the Shattered Lens 