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The Shining

The Shining

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: better than the pulp book
Review: king fans seem to thoroughly hate this film for straying from the 'god's ' written word. thankfully, kubrick made wiser artistic choices than king would have had him do.
first up:
in the book, tony (the little boy in danny's mouth who 'shows' him things) turns out to be danny's future self. (god. didn't see that coming!). kubrick judged that 'revelation' to be lame and chose to simply leave tony's identitiy as an unexplained mystery.
next:
kubrick, denying belief in evil as an entity, rejected the hotel being evil and shows that it is jack who is evil (you have always been the caretaker mr. torrence). we hear of jack practically yanking danny's arm out from an earlier incident in life and so the blame is set early in motion.
in the book, jack converts to the good side and saves the day, dying a martyr's death ( just as sacchrine as darth vader turning good in the god awful return of the jedi).
again, kubrick rejects another unwise decision.
he also rejected scatman crothers coming to the rescue. oh,he sets the situation up and then yanks the rug out from underneath us.
shelly duvall is unfairly ignored in the reviews of this film. a lot of people harp on her being whiny, unattractive and therefore; unsympathetic.
quite the contrary, kubrick wants us to look beyond her phyical unattractiveness (much the same way george stevens wanted us to look beyond the superficial unattractiveness of shelly winters in 'place in the sun'). it is as a mother,desperately protecting her beloved child in the snow, that duvall shines beautifully.
the bartok score (superbly recorded by karajan and the berlin philharmonic) enhances the cool toned haunted quality of the film.
kubrick's red and white is again used to superb affect.
an epic horror.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: The Shinning is dull.
Review: I remember hearing a lot about Stanley Kubrick's "The Shinning" while I was growing up. I read the book by Stephen King, and I couldn't wait to see it. I was severly let down. The story is Jack Torrence (Jack Nicholson) and his family are winter care takers of the Overlook Hotel. During the long winter the ghosts of the hotel begin to possess Torrence and convince him to kill his family. What went wrong, I don't know. Maybe the fact that Kubrick dosn't believe in the supernatural clouded his judgement and he tried to make this ghost story too logical? I don't know, probably never will. Jack Nicholson hammed it up gleefully playing the out of control psychopath. Shelley Duvall dosn't do much but whimmper for over two hours. Danny Lloyd says little to nothing. Scatsman Corothers dose ok as Dick Halloran, though his fate's a little different than in the book. A lot of scenes were changed from the book also, andf I think that hurt. There is a few good points to the movie. You got a scense of how huge and empty the hotel is, and how isolated the family is. The two twin girls at the elevadors were really creepy. The people in the ball costumes were also a bit unnerving. Also the woman in room 219 was scary, I may never forget that. But all in all, this could have been a better movie.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: 3 Stars only for the cinematography
Review: Jakc Nicholson was SO over the top in this movie it is embarassing. "HEEERRR'S JOHNNNNY!!!" I mean come ON...please. The little boy moving his finger and saying "Redrum" in that growly voice is also embarassing. Shelly Duvall was so obnoxious and whiny you almost wanted something to happen to her; not sympathetic at all, neither was the little boy. There were fleeting moments of tension and great photography, period. Another, later version, was far better than this, and stuck to King's original story, which needed no guilding/amplifying/re-creating. Nicholson's smarminess, Duvall's crying and whining, and the little boy with his "redrum" were enough to send me screaming fomr the room...not from the horror but from the embarassingly bad peformances, screenplay and direction. Love Kubrick, Dr. Strangelove is a masterpiece, but this one...well, I've already said it. Stephen King is a great writer; bring his stories to the screen as he wrote them! PLEASE! When other people try to change his books, the result is almost always catastrophically bad, case in point.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog!!!!!
Review: Brilliantly made film by Mr Kubrick which gets the viewer in its grip from the opening shot of a little VW bug edging its way up a road on the side of a very large mountainous valley with a stupendous, Wagnerian like intimidating soundtrack of orchestral music. These litttle people, in their little car, are soon occupying, as caretakers over winter, alone, a huge hotel. One them, the husband, goes mad, or perhaps, madder, the child, starts seeing ghosts, and the third has a nervous breakdown. A tour de force for Mr Nicholson who lets fly all his acting skills. Along with Carrie perhaps the best film of a Stephen King original. If you willingly suspend disbelief the film can be remarkably unsettling. One instance is when the wife discovers husband's manuscript he's been working on for some months - it contains just one sentence repeated thousands of times, which Kubrick insisted be typed up by hand for authenticity - the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog HELPPPP!!!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: SHINING?
Review: THIS MOVIE WAS GOOD, I NEVER GET TIRED OF IT..BUT I DONT KNOW IF JACK NICHOLSON WAS ANY SCARIER THAN HIS WIFE IN THIS MOVIE, HER FACE SCARED ME QUITE A BIT..I DONT UNDERSTAND THE TITLE EITHER, BUT THAT ASIDE, THIS MOVIE IS REALLY GOOD, AND IS ONE OF MY FAVORITES. IF YOU LIKE REAL WEIRD AND CREEPY, THIS MOVIE FILLS THE BILL..GET IT, AND ENJOY!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Now This is What a Scary Movie Should Be!
Review: I watch this movie every Halloween. It is my favorite horror movie. Stanley Kuprick's panning shots of the overlook hotel and the mountain that surrounds it, especially in the beginning, really give you a sense of alienation that chills you to the bone. I can't imagine being so isolated for so long. Also, Kuprick's constant close ups of Jack while he is going insane really give you the creeps and the close-ups of Shelley Duvall's terrified face make you as scared as she seems. (No one was better for these roles than Nicholson and Duvall) The only part I found unbelievable was in the beginning when Jack is supposed to be sane. I think this is only because Jack Nicholson's face just looks naturally crazy (which is why I love him!). This no fault of the director, screenplay, or the actor's mannerisms. It's just that face. Jack Nicholson is the scariest actor in the world in my opinion. The young boy who plays Danny in this movie does an excellent job of blanking out of this world and into the world of his visions. He makes this extraordinary power of his seem very believable. The only problem I had with the movie was that it didn't go into enough explanation about some things, like why 237 is haunted and who the guy in the dog costum is, but that might be why it is so scary. The book explains these things better though, if you are curious. Also, I thought showing Jack in the 1920's picture in the hotel at the ending was a nice touch that was not in the book. It makes you think that the Overlook has possessed his spirit, if the movie didn't already give you that idea. This is a classic much watch for any true horror movie fan, not the type that just likes the pointless slasher flicks like Friday the 13th. I know Stephen King was disappointed with this film, but I don't care. It is fantastic!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of the best films ever made
Review: The first time you see The Shining, it scares the crap out of you. The second time, you know what's coming, which takes the edge off of it.

But the second time you see it, you get to take in each scene and see how Kubrick filmed it. You notice a lot of structural ideas --- the way things are set up for maximum effect. For example, when Jack meets the former caretaker in the bathroom, their entire bodies fill the screen and they stare at each other. You wonder if they are going to punch each other or just talk. The room is silent and cold and clean.

Every scene has that kind of special structure. It keeps you slightly off-balance for the entire film. On DVD, you can watch each scene over and over, pick them apart, and see the details under the surface.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: One of Jack Nicholson's Best Movies!
Review: I read the Shining when I was about 14 years old and thought The book by Stephen King was excellent, a very scary book that I couldn't put down until I finished reading it. A real page turner and I liked it so much that when they released this movie based on the book when I was about 15 years old I went to the theater and watched it and yes the movie is different than the book and made changes and left things out but I still liked it, mainly because Jack Nicholson was so good and the rest of the castwas good too. I don't have this movie on DVD but I own the remake on DVD and I would like to have this on DVD too. I liked the book this movie and the mini-series remake and I recommend them all! BTW: I know there are some complaints that this movie is only available on DVD in fullscreen and not widescreen but I read somewhere that fullscreen is what Stanley Kubrick intended for this movie so in this case fullscreen is the only way were going to get to view this movie on DVD and VHS video!

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: REDRUM-MURDER
Review: I really liked Stanley Kubrick's version of Stephen king's novel. I think Jack Nicholson was perfect guy for the lead role. Shelly Duvall, however, was one of the most annoying actresses ever cast in a horror movie. Yikes! Rebecca De Mornay put forth a much better performance in the T.V. remake. Little Danny was great. I guess the Kubrick and T.V. versions both had their strong points.

The old lady in the bathtub scene was, and is, one of the creepiest horror scenes ever filmed. It made me cringe! And that slow-pounding heartbeat resonating throughout the movie was more creepy than walking through a morgue in the dark. Jack Nicholson's uncanny ability to bring out the lunatic in his character, with those devilish facial expressions, is an absolute treat to the fans of horror.

Still very scary to this day, The Shining is one of my all-time favorite horror movies. They really knew how to make them back in those days.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Great Suspense Thriller!!!
Review: Not Bad.
Story: A guy, his wife, and his kid are going up to a hotel to live in it for a while. When they get there strange things start to happen!!! The guy goes crazy and goes after his wife and kid!!! I will let you watch it for yourself!!!


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