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The Shining (1980)

Author	Comment
Jojo Lapin X	Re: The Shining	#121	[-]
(07/12/07 5:29 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	*Quote:* So some people don't like Kubrick's movie. That's understandable, but it's still a long way from demonstrating that it lacks "intelligence" other than a specialized definition of the term or that those who do find pleasure or significance in its conception, consideration and execution are nothing but eggheads and phonies. An acquaintance of mine is convinced that nobody actually likes caviar, because he tasted it once and found it nasty. In reality everybody likes a steak with ketchup on it best, at all times. People who say they enjoy caviar are only pretending in order to appear superior to those who do not. It seems it never occurred to him to ask himself why they would choose caviar, specifically, to serve this function. (Incidentally, the same guy dismisses 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY as "boring.")
Arch Stanton	Re: The Shining	#122	[-]
(07/12/07 5:51 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	*Quote:* An acquaintance of mine is convinced that nobody actually likes caviar, because he tasted it once and found it nasty. Wow! That proves...something. Nothing to do with this case, of course. But something.
Drake Ramoray MD	Re: The Shining	#123	[-]
(07/14/07 6:31 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I almost hesitate to post here, but here it comes: For me, any Kubrick movie, and especially 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Shining are the cinematic version of either Ambien or an audiobook read by Ben Stein channeling his econ teacher's persona from Ferris Bueller's Day Off. I'd take being forced to watch Tim Burton's version of Batman, (which I've likened to two hours of my life I'll never get back, and unlike coma victims, I'm not lucky enough to have forgotten those two hours..) over sitting through either of the two films mentioned above again. As far as being "movies that make you think", making your flick all subtext may make you the darling of the art-house and head shop crowds (in the case of 2001: A Space Odyssey), but if you want to tell a story to the audience and entertain, do so. Making a movie that "requires several viewings" to "get it" is a cop out in my opinion. Your mileage may, of course, vary. Joey-"Ross, I've got a science question for you". Ross-"Science. Yes,I've heard of that". Joey-"If the homosapiens are in fact, HOMO-sapiens, is that why they're extinct?" Ross-"Joey, homosapiens are people!" Joey-"Hey, I'm not judgin'."
JimPV		#124	[-]
(11/26/07 6:31 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Drake Ramoray MD wrote: Making a movie that "requires several viewings" to "get it" is a cop out in my opinion. Watched this again this past weekend (via the wonders of the Digital Versatile Disc medium), and really got a lot out of it, more than I'd ever had. It was scary to me, too. Even though I'd seen it... oh, a couple times before, I "got it" in a way I never had before. I don't think a filmmaker sets out to make a movie that takes repeat viewings to "get", but I think some put more into a film than others, so that for many of us (not all) it takes a couple/three viewings before we get the drift of what he's up to. I don't think anyone would argue with the fact that Kubrick put more time and effort into his films than the average director (years of preproduction and 100 + takes in some instances). Also, the last time I watched Kurosawa's Rashomon it was much more rewarding to me than the previous times I'd seen it. And just to prove it's not only "art house" movies with me, James Cameron's films (another notoriously "thorough" director) sometime take a couple watchings before I warm to them. Both Aliens and T2 I liked much better on the second viewing.
Bill Warren		#125	[-]
(11/26/07 8:27 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I think any movie of serious intent that can be fully grokked, so to speak, in one viewing is likely to be shallow and of little lasting interest.
porta		#126	[-]
(12/01/07 1:56 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I agree with Drake. 2001: A Space Odyssey is a pile of toss. IMHO. For all things uncanny (and igloo related), why not pay a visit to my blog - Igloo of the Uncanny! http://igloooftheuncanny.blogspot.com/
Quarterman		#127	[-]
(06/30/08 7:26 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	This film is simply not enjoyable especially when Jack Nicholson looks like he had just rode in from the set of One That Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Jack Torrance is supposed to be a ex-alcoholic getting back on the saddle after (and still) suffering embittered guilt of being a failure both as a family man and as a employee. The Overlook Hotel is considered the perfect opportunity to bounce back gain solace to write a book only it is haunted and becomes the catalyst in pushing Jack over the edge into madness. None of the novels excellent character development and powerful themes are present in Kubrick's The Shining. We dont feel any pity for Jack Torrance or his family as the film descends into a stalk and slash, hatchet killer horror film. Personally I was dulled to my wits and furthermore The Shining isnt frightening.
n0s4a2		#128	[-]
(07/01/08 11:55 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	The Shining expresses well the terror of losing one's mind. I used to have nightmares as a kid and they were like (in atmosphere, not content) the sequence where Jack walks dreamily down a corridor into a supposedly unoccupied hotel room, only to find a beautiful nude woman who, when he embraces her, becomes a hideous diseased hag who laughs at him in a peculiarly malevolent way. I saw a made-for-TV version that had all of Stephen King's flaws as a writer: overwritten dialog, overwrought moralizing, soap-opera level characters and a pandering to those who need everything literally spelled out for them. Kubrick's film may suffer from the mannerisms of his late style, such as static pacing and self-consciously odd editing rhythms, but it has an eerie symmetry that makes it very original.
Quarterman		#129	[-]
(07/02/08 7:00 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	n0s4a2 wrote: The Shining expresses well the terror of losing one's mind. I used to have nightmares as a kid and they were like (in atmosphere, not content) the sequence where Jack walks dreamily down a corridor into a supposedly unoccupied hotel room, only to find a beautiful nude woman who, when he embraces her, becomes a hideous diseased hag who laughs at him in a peculiarly malevolent way. Kubrick's film may suffer from the mannerisms of his late style, such as static pacing and self-consciously odd editing rhythms, but it has an eerie symmetry that makes it very original. But do these scenes still have the ability to give any adult nightmares? No. I would argue, this film was ripe for a rich horror themed character study, instead we are fed a host of parlour scares (murder scenes, corridors flooding with blood, twin apparitions haunting the halls) and an overabundance of misplaced pieces of mood jacking black comedy, taglines straight from late nite talkshows, that dilute and destroy the film's integrity as a serious horror film. The film operates too self consciously for its own good.
happydude33		#130	[-]
(07/02/08 9:15 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Well, its difficult to sympathize with Jack since, as many have said, he's acting a little craziish from the get-go. But I do totally sympathize with everybody else. As pure cinema, the whole thing has a solidly get-under-your-skin creepiness and a sort of fever-dream kind of feel. The same kind I get when watching Psycho. Plus, the cut to the hatchet murders in the hallway completely freaks me out and has since I was a kid. But I get that its not everybody's cup of tea. I live in Los Angeles and we're gifted to have an organization called Cinespia here that shows pristine prints of old films on the side of a mausoleum in the Hollywood Forever Cemetary on Summer weekends. (Its not the mess it sounds like- everyone picnics quietly with their drink of choice and is actually really respectful, but I digress.) I saw this there as well as The Exorcist- two films that I was convinced would terrify my girlfriend. The Shining did the job and once the breakdown/last hour began EVERYone was dead silent. Strangely, they laughed during much of The Exorcist, which was unfortunately the producer's cut with its dated refrences to ritalin that are impossible to take seriously. I digressed again.
Rick		#131	[-]
(07/02/08 11:45 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Well, its difficult to sympathize with Jack since, as many have said, he's acting a little craziish from the get-go. Yeah, none of us here are the first to say it, but Jack's obvious tendency toward derangement from the first was the single worst flaw of this film. But I do totally sympathize with everybody else. I don't entirely agree with this. One of my favorite reviews of THE SHINING from its initial release noted that Jack didn't need a haunted hotel. Anyone locked up with Shelley Duvall for a couple of months could be expected to go crazy.
happydude33		#132	[-]
(07/03/08 7:37 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I appreciate the perspective, Rick, but I gotta admit: I love Shelley Duvall. She brings the crazy pretty hard in that movie but she also plays someone desperately trying to hold onto her self-deceptions really well.
Rick		#133	[-]
(07/03/08 8:57 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	I too love Shelley Duvall. In the Altman films, in ROXANNE, on FAIRY TALE THEATRE. But in THE SHINING, I find her pretty darn obnoxious. Her forte was always playing slightly askew, even funny, maybe not-too-bright, and generally goofy girls. Put-upon housewife--not her thing. Oh, POPEYE! Terrible movie, but she was Olive Oyl in the (very spare) flesh.
happydude33		#134	[-]
(07/04/08 11:34 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Agreed on Popeye. She's inherently watchable, but the rest of that movie is a mess. And '3 women' is insanely good.
Rick		#135	[-]
(07/04/08 4:38 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Yes, yes, and yes. Your opinions make me happy, dude.
davlghry		#136	[-]
(07/05/08 2:52 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	One anomaly in THE SHINING that always stands out for me are the twin girls whose English accents are noticeable when they say, "Come and play with us, Danny."
happydude33		#137	[-]
(07/06/08 2:06 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Were they not supposed to be English? Their father has an English accent in the restroom scene when he's cleaning up Nicholson. And thanks for the support, Rick.
davlghry		#138	[-]
(07/06/08 11:07 AM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Good point. Delbert Grady is certainly played by an English actor and sounds English.
Rapfred		#139	[-]
(07/06/08 12:54 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	Same bloke who played Alex's dad in A CLOCKWORK ORANGE.
happydude33		#140	[-]
(07/06/08 2:24 PM) Reply Quote More My Recent Posts Message Me Connection Blocking Invite	AND Captain Bloombert (sp?) in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom.

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