Tag Archives: Scene I Love

Scenes That I Love: The Alien Arrives in Robert Wise’s The Day The Earth Stood Still

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

On this date, 112 years ago, filmmaker Robert Wise was born in Winchester, Indiana.  He started his career as an editor (and was Oscar-nominated for his work on Citizen Kane) and then eventually branched out into directing.  From the mid-forties to the year 2000, Wise directed every genre of film.  He won two Oscars for Best Director, one for West Side Story and one for The Sound of Music.  He was also the first director to helm a Stark Trek film with 1979’s Stark Trek — The Motion Picture.

Today’s scene that I love comes from Wise’s 1951 masterpiece, The Day The Earth Stood Still.  In this scene, America watches as a UFO darts across the sky and eventually lands in Washington D.C.  Though it’s a simple scene, it deftly captures the wonder of the moment.

Scenes That I Love: The Puppet Scene From Deep Red

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Scenes That I Love: Aguirre Declares Himself To Be The Wrath of God

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Scene That I Love: Queeg Cracks in The Caine Mutiny

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Scenes That I Love: Oppenheimer

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer.  In this scene, the very first nuclear bomb is detonated and history is changed forever.  Nolan captures the mix of pride and outright horror as the most deadly weapon of all is tested for the very first time.  In much the same way that some of us cannot resist the chance to stare directly at a solar eclipse, Cillian Murphy’s Oppenheimer cannot help but stare directly at what he has helped to create.

Scenes I Love: The Birds Attack in Birdemic: Shock and Terror

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

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.

Scenes That I Love: Cleopatra

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

1963’s Cleopatra is a guilty pleasure of mine.

On the one hand, it’s a historically inaccurate portrayal of the events leading to the transformation of the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire.  The pace is often slow.  Some of the performances are regretful.  It’s a film that was first envisioned as being a cheap B-picture but ended up nearly bankrupting 20th Century Fox.  Of all of the movies released in 1963, it sold the most tickets and yet, because of the films huge production costs, it still lost money.

On the other hand, it’s a truly gigantic film, one that recreates the perhaps imagined splendor of the ancient world and which does it without the use of CGI.  The film may not exactly embrace historical accuracy but it does embrace the melodrama.  And, finally, you have scenes like the one below, in which it was obvious that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton couldn’t wait for the cameras to stop rolling so they could toss off the costumes and make some history of their own.