Yes, it was 50 years ago today that President Richard Nixon signed the law that set the national speed limit as being 55 miles per hour. Perhaps this was Nixon’s final revenge on a nation that was making a huge deal out of Watergate. Who knows?
In honor of the occasion, today’s scene that I love is from 2018’s overlooked The Last Movie Star. In this scene, an elderly Burt Reynolds finds himself transported back to the days of Smokey and the Bandit, where he meets his younger self and takes a ride in a famous black sportscar. It turns out that the two Burts do not agree when it comes to observing the posted speed limit.
Once Upon A Time In America (1984, dir by Sergio Leone, DP: Tonino Delli Colli)
Change comes with a new year. That’s just an inevitable fact of life. Sometimes, it’s good chance and sometimes, it’s bad change and sometimes, it’s change that is both good and bad. That’s certainly the case with today’s scene that I love.
In Serigo Leone’s 1984 masterpiece, Once Upon A Time In America, 1933 brings with it the end of prohibition. While the nation celebrates the right to once again legally drink, gangsters like the ones played by James Woods and Robert De Niro mourn the loss of their business and try to figure out a new way to pay their bills.
In this scene, Prohibition — that law that was hated by so many — is given a send-off by the people that it made very rich.
Today the Shattered Lens is happy to wish the great Steven Spielberg a happy birthday!
It’s perhaps impossible to pick just one scene or just four shots to represent the career and the talent of Steven Spielberg. So, in honor of his birthday, I am going to share the moments when Steven Spielberg won his first two competitive Oscars, for directing and producing 1993’s Schindler’s List. His words are even more important today.
Since today is Martin Scorsese’s birthday, it only makes sense that today’s scene that I love comes from one of his best films.
In this scene from 2013’s The Wolf of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort (Leonardo DiCaprio) hosts a meeting with two federal agents on his yacht. Jordan knows that the agents want to put him in prison but that they don’t have enough evidence as of yet. The main agent (played by Kyle Chandler) knows that Jordan’s arrogance is his greatest weakness.
This scene, with its faux friendly banter and it’s iconic shot of Jordan throwing money to the wind, is one of Scorsese’s best “confrontation” scenes. DiCaprio and Chandler perfectly play the two adversaries. Jordan knows that the agent is determined to catch him but Jordan also knows the agent will never be rich and there’s no way Jordan’s not going to remind him of that every chance that he gets. The passive aggressiveness of it all is truly a wonder to watch and, in its way, just as intimidating as the conversations between the gangsters who populate many of Scorsese’s other films.
The British-born actress, Barbara Steele, became a star in Italy in the 60s, working with directors from Riccardo Freda to Mario Bava to Federico Fellini. One of Steele’s defining roles was in Bava’s 1960 film, Black Sunday.
In this scene, Steele’s witch is sentenced to be executed and, since this is a Bava film, it won’t be a quick execution. What makes this scene stand-out is Steele’s defiance. It’s hard not to admire her refusal to give those judging her what they want. You watch this scene and you have no doubt that if you get cursed by Barbara Steele, it’s going to be a curse for life.
Sissy Spacek hasn’t appeared in many horror movies but the one in which she did appear is such a classic and Spacek’s performance was so strong that she qualifies as a horror icon regardless. In 1976, Sissy Space played poor and victimized Carrie White, the shy high school student who ended up burning down the prom. Her performance became one of the few horror performances to be Oscar-nominated and Carrie launched a series of Stephen King adaptations.
In one of the best scene from the film, Carrie is forced to deal with both an insensitive principal and a brat on a bicycle.
The Italian writer/actor passed away earlier this year, on April 23rd. He is missed, both for his wit and charm and for his talent. He was great storyteller and always had the best anecdotes to share about the films in which he appeared, even though he himself often expressed amazement that people were still watching his movies. Giovanni Lombardo Radice was an artist and a gentleman.
I’ve shared this scene before but I’m going to share it again because it’s Giovanni at his best. Giovanni, incidentally, is dancing with his frequent co-star and friend, Lorraine de Selle.
The 80s scream queen who brought an uninhibited attitude and an often underrated wit to countless horror films, Linnea Quigley is a true icon of horror. Unfortunately, it’s difficult to find any scenes of Linnea Quigley that are safe to share on this site. Most of them have been slapped with age restrictions on YouTube, for obvious reasons.
Still, I did find this scene from 1984’s Return of the Living Dead, in which Quigley’s Trash talks about her love of cemeteries. It’s a short scene, have no doubt. But it shows everything that has made Linnea Quigley such a popular figure amongst horror fans. Plus, I used to be the same way about cemeteries!
Donald Pleasence was born in the UK in 1919, the son of a railway station manager. Pleasence briefly tried to follow in his father’s footsteps before, at the age of 20, realizing that he would much rather be a professional actor. With his intense demeanor, Pleasence soon became an in-demand character actor and remained one for the rest of his life, only taking a break from acting when he served in World War II. (A devout Methodist, Pleasence originally registered as a conscientious objector but changed his stance once the Blitz began.) When he was taken prisoners by the Germans and sent to a POW camp, he organized plays among his fellow prisoners as a way to keep everyone’s spirits up as they waited for the war to end.
Pleasence’s experience as a POW led to him being cast in The Great Escape. His ability to play villains led to him being cast as the original Blofeld in You Only Live Twice. He appeared in classic horror films like Death Line and Wake In Fright. In 1978, he was offered the role of Dr. Loomis inHalloween, after it had been turned down by both Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing. Pleasence played Loomis with a righteous intensity that seemed to grow a bit more unhinged with each subsequent sequel. Though he was, by his own admission, not a huge fan of the genre, Pleasence became a horror icon to a whole new generation of film goers.
1998’s Halloween 4 does not have a great reputation but it does have one of my favorite Loomis scenes. In this scene, a hitchhiking Dr. Loomis is picked up by an old man (Carmen Filipi) who is on a mission of his own. It’s hard not to regret that these two didn’t get their own spin-off.
Through the Shattered Lens 