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In Reply to: Re: The Shining? posted by Buckeye on April 14, 2004 at 16:09:21:
It doesn't have to be "great" to be "better". The Shining and The Dead Zone are both above average King, but still operate largely as well spun (and exceedingly enjoyable) yarns. Of course, if you love the novel, you may be disappointed in the movie, as Kubrick chews it up and spits it out as a fresh creation quite different from the book and arguably with much more psychological depth and thematic interest.I think The Dead Zone is a closer call, as neither book nor film particularly stands out. But after both repeated readings and repeated viewings, I find that Cronenberg's understated darkness speaks for itself and is hence much more effective than King's literal ruminations on destiny.
Follow Ups:
I see your point about "better," and agree on Dead Zone: so-so novel, pretty good movie (starring Chris Walken didn't hurt).
However, I thought/think that The Shining was a pretty good book within its genre, and imo Kubrick hosed it up...mostly by chaging the ending, and secondly by casting Shelly D. Even Scatman, who I usually like, doesn't fare well here.
This is the ONLY laserdisc that I've owned and traded in...I just can't are to watch it. Even the suck-up critic Leonard Maltin, who never met a major motion picture he didn't like, gives the Shining a medioccre two star rating.
Ah, well, to each, their own.
All the best,
"Pink and gold are my favorite colors!"
Did you ever slo mo the tour Ullman gives the Torrences and check out all the young women he has obviously had relationships with during the dummer? Subtle but there
but thanks for the tip. We've got the Shining somewhere in our over-long netflix queue. So we'll definitely be watching it sometime within, I don't know, the next year or so.I read something not too long ago about parallelisms between The Shining and 2001. Worth checking out as well, perhaps.
It actually begins when Ullman is welcoming the Torrences near the front door. Watch how he can't take his eyes off the young thing leaving.The (again in slow motion) watch how he is distracted by other young things all through the tour.
x
Rico, et al,Apparantly, there are many fans of The Shining here at the asylum...so i guess, if everybody tells me I'm sick, I'd better go lay down.
I've been thinking about the film, and there are two scenes that really stand out to me:
The "baseball bat" scene ("give me the bat, Wendy")...Jack is great here, and so is the camera work and direction...Shelly, as usual, is not up to the rest of the company.
The "bar" scene ("Lloyd, I'm the kind of man that likes to know who's buying his drinks)...I can't think of the name offhand of the veteran character actor playing the bartender, but he and Jack are really working it here.
Overated scene..."Here's Johnny." (improvised, I believe, by Jack). Funny at the time, but hasn't worn well imo.
Thanks for the tip on the lecherous manager of the Overlook...now I MIGHT have to watch it again.
Regards,
He is also one of the three men condemmed to die in Kubrick's "Paths of Glory" So cool that he's in "The Shining" as a ghost from the Overlook's past.
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