Mel Brooks is 96 years old today! In honor of this special occasion, here he is in 1978’s High Anxiety, getting framed for murder! Fortunately, a truly great visual gag proves that he’s innocent.
Tag Archives: Scenes That I Love
Scene That I Love: Clint Eastwood Tells Off The Motorcycle Cops in Magnum Force
Today, we celebrate the 92nd birthday of screen icon Clint Eastwood.
Of the many characters that Eastwood has played, Inspector “Dirty” Harry Callahan is one of the best-remembered and is still popular to this day. When he first appeared, Dirty Harry was so willing to break the rules to bring the Scorpio Killer to justice that some critics accused 1971’s Dirty Harry as being a “fascist work of art.” Callahan answered those critics in 1973’s Magnum Force, when he faced off against true fascism in the form of a group of vigilante motorcycle cops. The motorcycle cops thought Harry would be happy to join them in their crusade to murder every criminal in San Francisco.
As Harry puts it when he runs into them in a parking garage. “I’m afraid you’ve misjudged me.”
Though Magnum Force never reaches the heights of the first Dirty Harry, the scene below is a classic and the line, “All our heroes are dead,” is one of the most important of the 70s. (And, for that matter, the 2020s as well!)
Happy birthday, Clint Eastwood!
Scenes That I Love: Bo Hopkins and Richard Dreyfuss Flip A Cop Car in American Graffiti
I just read that the veteran actor Bo Hopkins has passed away at the age of 84. The last movie of note that I saw Hopkins in was Hillbilly Elegy, where he had a small role as Glenn Close’s husband. However, if you’re a fan of older films, you will probably recognize Bo Hopkins, even if you don’t know the name. He was a handsome but weathered actor with a Texas accent and a reckless attitude. He was a doomed member of a gang of old west bank robbers in The Wild Bunch. In Midnight Express, he played a mysterious government agent who turned out to be not as benevolent as he originally seemed.
And, in the 1973 classic American Graffiti, he played the leader of the Pharaohs, the local gang of small town James Dean wannabes. Even though Hopkins didn’t get a lot of screentime in American Graffiti, he definitely made an impression as the intimidating but ultimately friendly aspiring delinquent. In the scene below, he and Richard Dreyfuss flip a cop car.
RIP, Bo Hopkins.
Scene That I Love: Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing Play Pool In The Skull
100 years ago, on this date, Christopher Lee was born in London. After serving in the secret service during World War II and reportedly inspiring his cousin, Ian Fleming, to create the character of James Bond, Christopher Lee went on to have a legendary acting career. Though he was best known for playing Dracula, Lee appeared in almost every genre of film and he always gave a good performance. Even when the film was bad, Lee was good.
Yesterday, for Peter Cushing’s birthday, I shared a scene of him and Lee in The Satanic Rites of Dracula. Today, for Lee’s birthday, I’m sharing a scene between him and Cushing in 1965’s The Skull. Though The Skull isn’t one of the strongest films that the pair made for Amicus, it’s worth watching for the performances of Cushing and Lee. Often cast as rivals on screen, the two were, in reality, the best of friends and Lee often said that he never really emotionally recovered from Cushing’s death.
In the scene below, Lee and Cushing are obviously having a ball trying to outact one another while playing simple game of pool and discussing slightly esoteric concerns.
Scenes That I Love: Peter Cushing Confronts Christopher Lee in The Satanic Rites of Dracula
Today is Peter Cushing’s birthday. Tomorrow is Christopher Lee’s.
What better way to celebrate than by sharing a scene that I love that features both of them? 1973’s The Satanic Rites of Dracula was one of Hammer’s final Dracula films and, with the action somewhat awkwardly moved to the modern day, it’s also one of the weaker entries. But it does feature Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing, playing Dracula and the latest Van Helsing, and it’s worth watching for that reason.
Though they often played enemies onscreen, Cushing and Lee were best friends offscreen. Lee often said that he never really recovered from Cushing’s death in 1994. Cushing may have spent his career playing villains and obsessive monster hunters but he was said to actually be a kind and rather shy man, an old-fashioned gentlemen who unexpectedly found his fame in horror. Whereas Lee was a serious student of the esoteric, Cushing preferred to spend his time gardening.
In the scene below, Cushing’s Van Helsing confronts Lee’s Dracula and it’s just fun to watch these two old friends go at each other. One gets the feeling that Cushing and Lee had a few laughs after the cameras stopped rolling.
Scenes that I love: The Boogie Nights Recording Session (Happy Birthday, John C. Reilly)
Via twitter, I was reminded that today is John C. Reilly’s 57th birthday. This provides me with a great reason to share a scene that I love from 1997’s Boogie Nights. After falling out with his director, 70s porn star Dirk Diggler (Mark Wahlberg) attempts to reinvent himself as a rock star. Providing support, both emotionally and musically, is his best friend and frequent co-star, Reed Rothchild (John C. Reilly).
Now, obviously, Wahlberg’s brilliantly tuneless singing usually gets the most attention here but there’s something really touching about Reed’s loyalty in these scenes. It may just be because of the cocaine but you can tell that Reed is perhaps even more convinced of Dirk’s talent than Dirk is.
Enjoy and remember …. YOU GOT THE POWER!
Scenes that I Love: The Roulette Scene From Run, Lola, Run (Happy Birthday, Tom Tykwer!)
Today is the birthday of German filmmaker Tom Tykwer. Tykwer directed one of my favorite films of all time, 1998’s Run, Lola, Run! As such, it only seems appropriate that today’s scene that I love should come from that film.
In this scene, Lola shows us all how to win at roulette. Do not try this in Vegas.
Scenes That I Love: “Now is the winter of our discontent” from Laurence Olivier’s Richard III
115 years ago today, Laurence Olivier was born in Surrey. The son of a clergyman, Olivier would go on to become one of the greatest stage actors of the 20th Century. He would also have a distinguished film career, one that led to him frequently being described as being the world’s greatest living actor.
He is perhaps best-known for his Shakespearean performances. He won multiple Oscars for directing and starring in 1948’s Hamlet. Before his turn in Hamlet, he was similarly nominated for his film version of Henry V. That said, for me, his best cinematic Shakespearean performance was as Richard III in the 1953 film of the same title.
Though acclaimed, Richard III was not quite the Oscar favorite that Olivier’s previous two adaptations of Shakespeare had been. Henry V was released at a time when its portrayal of a determined British ruler could be viewed as a metaphor for the UK’s role in the second world war. Hamlet was released at a time when the world was still rebuilding and trying to adjust to the new atomic age and its dark, noirish style captured those anxieties. Richard III was released in the 50s, at a time when Americans perhaps weren’t as receptive to films that suggested that leaders should not be trusted. As a result, Richard III received only one nomination, for Olivier’s performance in the title role.
Today, in honor of his birthday, here is a scene that I love from 1953’s Richard III:
Scene That I Love: The Run From It’s A Wonderful Life (In Memory of James Stewart)
114 years ago today, James Stewart was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania. In honor of the birth of one of my favorite actors, here is a scene that I love.
From It’s A Wonderful Life:
Scenes I Love: Berkman Goes Boom from Barry
Today’s scene that I love is a fairly recent one.
On Sunday’s episode of HBO’s Barry, hitman-turned-actor Barry Berkman (played by Bill Hader) accepted a contract to blow up a house and the Bolivian gangsters within. He was given a bomb which had been purchased on the Dark Web and which, unfortunately, had been programmed to continually repeat a phrase in Japanese. He was also given the Detonator App (developed by KABOOM), which would allow him to remotely detonate the bomb.
The only problem is that the app didn’t seem to be working and as Barry tried to figure out why, some of the gangsters heard the bomb “speaking” underneath the house. Meanwhile, Fernando — who was not supposed to be in the house when the bomb went off — showed up to talk to his father-in-law. While Fernando discovered that his own secrets were no longer secret, Barry wondered if he would even be able to get the bomb to go off.
Customer service to the rescue!
As I said, I saw this scene on Sunday and, as Monday comes to a close, I’m still laughing about it. It almost makes me want to get a job at Kaboom. This is a wonderfully executed and detailed scene and one of the best that I’ve seen so far this year.
“Alright, sounds like we were successful….”
Through the Shattered Lens 