Tag Archives: scene that I love

Scenes That I Love: Richard Linklater’s Monologue from Slacker

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy birthday to the greatest director come out of Texas, Richard Linklater!

Today’s scene that I love comes from Linklater’s 1991 film, Slacker.  Filmed in Austin, this film not only established Linklater as one of the best indie film directors but it also inspired a countless number of other aspiring filmmakers.  How many other director have attempted to make a Slacker?  None have done it as well as Linklater.  Indeed, the film not only helped to define the modern independent film aesthetic but it also continues to shape the way that people view Texas’s idiosyncratic capital city.

In this opening scene, Linklater himself gets the film started, delivering a monologue as he’s driven around Austin.

Scenes I Love: The Sopranos Stage An Intervention

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Perusing the imdb, I saw that today was the birthday of the late Tony Sirico.  Sirico was a former mob associate who, after serving a term in prison, reinvented himself as an actor.  Because of his background, he was often typecast as gangsters but he also proved himself to be an intelligent performer with perfect comedic timing.  For a lot of us, he will always be remembered for playing Paulie on The Sopranos.

Today scene that I love comes from The Sopranos and it features excellent work from the entire cast, especially Tony Sirico.  In this scene from the 2002 episode “The Strong, Silent Type,” the Sopranos and their associates stage an intervention for Christopher Moltisanti and it goes about as well as you might expect.  In just five minutes, this scenes manages to capture everything that The Sopranos was about, as well as giving each member of the cast a chance to shine.  Since this is Sirico’s birthday, I’ll just recommend that viewers especially watch Paulie’s facial expressions while Adriana reads her letter to Christopher.

Scenes That I Love: Hartman Welcomes The Recruits In Full Metal Jacket

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, on what would have been Stanley Kubrick’s birthday, our scene comes from 1987’s Full Metal Jacket.  

By most account, Kubrick was a director who did not regularly encourage improvisation but he apparently made an exception while filming Full Metal Jacket, allowing R. Lee Ermey to come up with his own dialogue for the majority of his scenes as Sgt. Hartman.  At one point, Kubrick apparently even asked Ermey to clarify what some of his more colorful lines were referring to.

In this scene, Hartman meets his latest batch of recruits and lets them know that they are the lowest of the low.  One thing that is often missed about this scene is that Ermey specifically played Hartman as being a drill instructor who was bad at his job, as someone who broke down his recruits but failed to build them back up.  (Being a former drill instructor, Ermey knew what he was talking about.)  It’s a bit ironic that, to many, Ermey’s Hartman is the first character they think of when they think of a drill instructor.

Scenes That I Love: The Car Chase From Bullitt

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

94 years ago today, the English director Peter Yates was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.  Yates would go on to direct films in almost every genre but today, he’s perhaps best-remembered for directing what is considered to be one of the best car chases of all time.  Today scene that I love comes from Peter Yates’s 1968 film Bullitt and yes, that is Steve McQueen doing his own driving through the streets of San Francisco.

Scenes that I Love: Walter Matthau Talks To Robert Shaw in The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

98 years ago, on this date, Joseph Sargent was born in New Jersey.  Sargent would go on to become one of the busiest directors of the 70s, 80s, and 90s, working in both film and television.  Though he would never receive the type of critical attention as some of his contemporaries, Sargent was a skilled director who specialized in making entertaining, no-nonsense films.  Though his reputation was tarnished a bit by the fourth Jaws film, it should be remembered that Sargent was also responsible for films like Colossus: The Forbin Project, Tribes, Nightmares, and The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

1974’s The Taking of Pelham One Two Three has come to be recognized as a genre classic.  It’s certainly one of my favorite films about how New Yorkers will be rude to anyone in any circumstances.  You can see an example of this in today’s scene that I love.  Having hijacked a train, Robert Shaw calls in his last of demands and gets a very New York response.

Scenes That I Love: Harrison Ford Briefs Martin Sheen In Apocalypse Now

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Happy birthday, Harrison Ford!

Today’s scene that I love features Harrison Ford in one of his more unexpected roles.  In Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now, he played one of the three men who ordered Martin Sheen to go upriver and assassinate Marlon Brando.  It’s a small role, especially when one considers that Ford had appeared as Han Solo just two years before.  Given the lengthy shooting of Apocalypse Now, there’s some debate as to whether Ford was actually cast in the role before he was selected for Star Wars.  Giving credence to that theory is that Ford played a similar role for director Francis Ford Coppola in The Conversation.  However, it’s hard not to notice that Ford plays Col. G. Lucas, which would suggest that his casting was a bit of an inside joke.  Speaking of inside jokes, G.D. Spradlin plays General R. Corman, no doubt named for the man who gave Coppola his start in the business.

(Interesting enough, both Spradlin and Corman played U.S. Senators in The Godfather Part II.)

In this scene, Ford shows off the nerdy intensity that was actually kind of his acting trademark before Star Wars changed his screen persona.  This scene, along with his work in The Conversation, serves as a reminder that Harrison Ford is a pretty good character actor along with being one of the last great movie stars.

Scenes That I Love: Dracula Meets Van Helsing

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

143 years ago, on this date in Kentucky, director Tod Browning was born.  Though Browning was a director who was comfortable working in any genre, he is today best remembered for the horror films that he directed for Universal studios.  Today’s scene that I love comes from Tod Browning’s 1931 adaptation of Dracula.

In this scene, Count Dracula (Bela Lugosi) is introduced to Prof. Van Helsing (Edward Van Sloan).  Van Helsing notes something interesting about Dracula’s reflection, namely that he doesn’t have one.  Needless to say, the Count is not amused.

Scenes I Love: The Opening of Shaft

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today is the birthday of Richard Roundtree so, of course, today’s scene that I love could only be the classic opening of 1971’s Shaft.

By doing something as simple as walking down a street in New York, Roundtree shows us exactly who Shaft is and why Shaft does what he does.  This is one of those scenes that’s been parodied so many times that it’s actually surprising to rewatch and see how just defiant and sexy Richard Roundtree’s confident strut actually was.

On another note, I enjoy seeing all of the names of the movies that were playing on 42nd Street when this scene was filmed.

Scene I Love: Tom Cruise Dances In Tropic Thunder

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

Today, the Shattered Lens wishes a happy 61st birthday to one of the last remaining movie stars, Tom Cruise!

While it’s tempting to celebrate this day by sharing a scene from a film like Top Gun: Maverick or one of the Mission Impossible sequels or maybe even something like Magnolia, Jerry Maguire, Edge of Tomorrow, or Risky Business, I am going to go with a clip from 2008’s Tropic Thunder.  There’s a lot talent in this particular scene, with Bill Hader and Matthew McConaughey both giving good performances.  But, of course, the whole thing is dominated by Tom Cruise’s wonderfully demented performance as Les Grossman.

“We do not negotiate with terrorists!”

Scenes I Love: Julie Christie Meets Connie White In Nashville

Posted on by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this scene from Robert Altman’s 1975 masterpiece, Nashville, Julie Christie plays herself as a famous visitor to the city for which the film is named.  She is introduced to Haven Hamilton (Henry Gibson), Haven’s lawyer, Delbert Reese (Ned Beatty), political advance man John Triplette (Michael Murphy), and country music star Connie White (Karen Black).  Julie Christie may be a star in Hollywood but Connie is the star of Nashville.

Karen Black, who was born on this date in 1939, improvised her dismissive line about Julie Christine not even being able to comb her hair.  It was a moment that reportedly shocked the rest of the cast and the crew but it was also a line that perfectly summed up both Connie as a character and Altman’s version of Nashville.