Tag Archives: scene that I love

Scenes That I Love: Putting On The Ritz From Young Frankenstein (Happy Birthday, Mel Brooks!)

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, Mel Brooks is 99 years old!

Mel Brooks.  What can you say Mel Brooks?  Not only did he help to redefine American comedy but he was also responsible for bringing David Lynch to Hollywood.  Brooks was the one who hired Lynch to direct The Elephant Man.  It can probably be argued that, if not for Brooks, Lynch’s feature film career would have begun and ended with Eraserhead.  Brooks not only hired Lynch but also protected him for studio interference.  When the execs tried to make Lynch remove two surrealistic sequences from The Elephant Man, Brooks stood up to them.  When they requested a more conventional biopic, Brooks defended Lynch’s vision and the result was one of the best films ever made.

Of course, Brooks isn’t listed in the credits of The Elephant Man.  Though he produced the film, he went uncredited because he didn’t want people to assume that the movie was a comedy.  By doing so, Brooks missed out on an Oscar nomination but he also ensured that the film was taken seriously.  It’s hard not to respect someone who was willing to go uncredited to help make the film a success.

Though Brooks, as a producers, was responsible for a number of serious films, there’s a reason why Brooks is associated with comedy.  He’s a very funny man and he directed some very funny films.  In honor of Mel Brooks, here’s a scene that I love from 1974’s Young Frankenstein.

Happy birthday, Mel Brooks!

Scenes That I Love: Freddie and Dodd’s Final Meeting From Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from 2012’s The Master, written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (who celebrated his birthday yesterday).

Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix were never better than they were in Anderson’s enigmatic story of two very different men who become unlikely friends.  Phoenix plays Freddie Quill, a World War II veteran who has never figured out how to adjust to life during peacetime.  Hoffman plays Lancaster Dodd, a writer who claims to have all the answers but who is actually a charlatan.  In this scene, Freddie and Dodd meet for one last time and, though they are both characters about who most viewers will have mixed feelings, there’s something undeniably poignant about their final moments together.  Both of them realize that the time they had is over.  And indeed, watching this scene today is all the more difficult because it reminds us of what a talent we lost when we lost Philip Seymour Hoffman.

From Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master:

Scenes That I Love: Howard Beale says “We’re In A Lot Of Trouble” in Network

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Everyone remembers the “Mad as Hell Speech” from Sidney Lumet’s 1976 satire, Network.

Personally, I think this scene below is just as good.  Replace “tube” with TikTok and AI and you’ll have a pretty good explanation for why the world today is full of so many ignorant people who think they know more than they do.

(Usually, heavy-handed scenes annoy me.  Fortunately, much like David Fincher with Aaron Sorkin’s script for The Social Network, Sidney Lumet knew the right directorial tone to take when translating Paddy Chayefsky’s script to the screen.  One shudders to think of what Network would have been like with a less skilled director behind the camera.)

 

Scenes That I Love: Bob Fosse’s All That Jazz

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from Bob Fosse’s 1979 masterpiece, All That Jazz.  This scene features the legendary Ann Reinking at her best.  Roy Scheider said that he cried after shooting this scene.

Scenes I Love: Bruce Campbell in Army of Darkness

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the one and only Bruce Campbell!

A true American success story, Bruce Campbell first met and befriended Sam Raimi when the two of them were high school students in Michigan.  Campbell first gained attention in Raimi’s Evil Dead films and he’s been a mainstay in Raimi’s films ever since.  He’s also been a favorite of the Coen Brothers, Don Coscarelli, William Lustig, and scores of other director.  Few actors can balance both drama and comedy with the adroitness of Bruce Campbell.

Campbell, of course, is best-known for his performance as Ash Williams, the S-Mart store clerk who lost his hand while spending the weekend at a cabin, spent some time in the past, and later earned the right to tell us all to say “hail to the king, baby.”  Campbell’s ability to do often violent slapstick comedy, along with his ability to deliver the most absurd of dialogue with a straight face, came together to make him into a true pop cultural icon.  Though Campbell has since announced his retirement from playing Ash (saying that, at his age, he can no longer physically spends hours a day getting beaten up), he remains a beloved actor to horror fans everywhere.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1992’s Army of Darkness and it features Bruce Campbell at his best.  All Ash has to do is remember three simple words and say them before taking the Necronomicon from its place.  Of course, Ash being Ash, things don’t quite work out that simply….

Scenes That I Love: Liza Meets Emily in Lucio Fulci’s The Beyond

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today’s scene that I love comes from Lucio Fulci’s 1981 masterpiece, The Beyond.

Liza (Catriona MacColl) meets the mysterious Emily (Cinzia Monreale) on one of Louisiana’s famous bridges to nowhere.  This scene is Fulci at his most dream-like.

Scenes That I Love: The Opening Of A Clockwork Orange

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to actor Malcolm McDowell.

Today’s scene that I love comes from 1971’s A Clockwork Orange, featuring McDowell as Alex.  This opening scene is famous for its music and its production design but what truly makes it work is the intensity of McDowell’s stare and the seductive menace of his half-smile.