12 Things For Which I Am Thankful This Thanksgiving

Posted on November 27, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Hello there and Happy Thanksgiving! This is the time of year when we gather together, we look over the past few months, and we think about what we are thankful for. A lot of people online have also suggested that Thanksgiving is the perfect time to argue with relatives who hold different political views from you.

And sure — if you want to ruin Thanksgiving for everyone, go ahead and be that person. But for me, I’m just going to list 12 things that make me happy to be alive in 2014!

1) Dancing Groot! Actually, I’m thankful for all of the Guardians of the Galaxy but I’m especially happy that Groot is still around and he’s still dancing!

2) I’m thankful that Adult Swim is showing old Thanksgiving episodes of King of the Hill so that I’ll have an excuse not to watch any football games.

3) I’m thankful for all of The Hunger Games films and I’m thankful for the strength and empowerment that Jennifer Lawrence brings to the role of Katniss Everdeen.

4) I’m thankful that everything is awesome!

5) I’m thankful that this is the year that everyone else finally discovered that Shailene Woodley is one of the best actresses working today.

6) I’m thankful for Chris Pratt. (Who isn’t?)

7) I am especially thankful for sites like Awards Watch and Awards Circuit. These two sites provide some of the best Oscar coverage around and, unlike Awards Daily, they manage to do it while remaining fair, honest, and entertaining.

8) I’m thankful William J. Mann’s excellent book Tinseltown, a wonderful look back at the Hollywood of the 1920s and the unsolved murder of director William Desmond Taylor.

9) I’m thankful for the haunting perfection of True Detective.

10) I’m thankful for the hilarious satire of Veep. Meyer in 2016!

11) I’m thankful that Richard Linklater spent 12 years making Boyhood.

12) And, most importantly, I’m thankful for you! Thank you for visiting this site! Thank you for reading our reviews! Thank you for leaving comments! Thank you for making all of this worthwhile!

And, most of all, here’s hoping you had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Love you!

Horror On TV: Twilight Zone 1.22 “The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street”

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

As Halloween comes to a close, so does both horror month here at the Shattered Lens and our series of televised horrors. What better way to finish out this feature than with one of the best known and most popular episodes of The Twilight Zone?

There’s a lot I could say about The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street but really, all that needs to be acknowledged is that it’s a classic and it features one of the best endings ever. As well, it also contains an important message about paranoia and conformity that remains as relevant today as when the episode was first broadcast.

The Monsters Are Due On Maple Street was written by Rod Serling and directed by Ron Winston. The episode was originally broadcast on March 4th, 1960.

A Blast From The Past: Halloween is Grinch Night

Posted on October 31, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

So, we all know that the Grinch once tried to steal to Christmas and then his heart grew a few sizes but did you know that apparently, the Grinch also tried to steal Halloween?

Until a few days ago, I did not. I was going through YouTube, searching for horror films that I could share here on the Shattered Lens, and guess what I came across?

A TV special from 1977 entitled Halloween is Grinch Night!

Unlike How The Grinch Stole Christmas, Halloween is Grinch Night apparently never became a holiday classic. Perhaps that’s because Halloween is Grinch Night is not exactly the most heart-warming of holiday specials. Whereas How The Grinch Stole Christmas tells us about how the Grinch learned the true meaning of Christmas, Halloween is Grinch Night gives us a Grinch who has no redeeming features. There is no hope for this Grinch. This Grinch will steal your soul and probably drink your blood. This Grinch is pure Grinchy evil.

This is the Grinch of our nightmares.

Check out Halloween is Grinch Night below and hope the Grinch doesn’t capture you this Halloween…

Special Bonus Horror On TV: Baywatch Nights 2.9 “Night Whispers”

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Remember how, in the last episode of Baywatch Nights that we shared, David Hasselhoff was possessed by a demon? Well, in this special bonus edition of Horror on TV, he’s menaced by a vampire. And it’s just as silly as you would probably expect…

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: The Twilight Zone 2.6 “Eye of the Beholder”

Posted on October 30, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

First broadcast on November 11th, 1960, Eye of the Beholder is one of the best known and most acclaimed episodes of The Twilight Zone. Telling the story of a bandaged patient and the shadowy doctors who continually talk about how the patient’s upcoming surgery will be her final chance, this is one of those universal episodes that is probably more relevant today than when it was first broadcast.

Horror on TV: Twilight Zone 2.26 “Shadow Play”

Posted on October 29, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

This is one of my favorite episodes of The Twilight Zone! In Shadow Play, a man (Dennis Weaver) is curiously unconcerned about being on death row. According to him, it’s all just a recurring dream and everyone around him — the other prisoners, the District Attorney, the judge, the jury, and everyone else — is just a part of his dream. As the other characters start to realize that Weaver could be telling the truth, they’re forced to consider what will happen when he either wakes up or starts the dream over…

I love this one. It’s just a lot of fun and not quite as heavy-handed as some of The Twilight Zone‘s other attempts at social commentary.

This was originally broadcast on May 5th, 1961. It was directed by John Brahm and written by Charles Beaumont.

Horror on TV: Night Gallery 3.10 “She’ll Be Company For You”

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of The Night Gallery, Leonard Nimoy plays a widower who is happy to be rid of his invalid wife. However, he then gets a cat who doesn’t seem to like him. And who can turn into a leopard and a tiger at will…

I just like this episode because it features a kitty!

Horror on TV: Night Gallery 2.22 “The Caterpillar/Little Girl Lost”

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

For tonight’s televised horror, we have an episode of Night Gallery that was originally broadcast on March 1st, 1972. This episode tells two stories, one about government manipulation and then another about an earwig. The one about the earwig features a great performance from Laurence Harvey, who was dying of cancer while shooting this episode and who stopped taking his painkillers so that he could better portray his character’s suffering. Along with Harvey’s performance, The Caterpillar also features an absolutely perfect ending.

Enjoy!

Horror on TV: Baywatch Nights 2.19 “The Eighth Seal”

Posted on October 26, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

Did y’all know that there used to be a TV show that featured David Hasselhoff as a paranormal investigator who battled supernatural monsters on the beaches of California?

Well, don’t feel too bad because, up until my boyfriend told me about it last night, I didn’t know either. But apparently, there was and it was called Baywatch Nights!

And here’s an episode of it for tonight’s excursion into the world of televised horror!

The Eighth Seal was originally broadcast on April 26th, 1997 and it features David Hasselhoff getting possessed. So, there’s always that.

Horror on TV: Sabrina The Teenage Witch 6.4 “Murder on The Halloween Express”

Posted on October 25, 2014 by Lisa Marie Bowman

In this episode of Sabrina The Teenage Witch (which was originally broadcast on October 26th, 2001), Sabrina (Melissa Joan Hart) is upset to discover that none of her friends have the proper Halloween spirit. So, Sabrina arranges for all of them to spend Halloween on a Murder Mystery Train. However, it quickly turns out that the train is magical and now, Sabrina and her friends have to solve an actual murder!

Things like that always seemed to happen to Sabrina…

Incidentally, Salem was always my favorite character! Are you surprised?