The Shining

RATINGS

IMDB: 8.4

MY RATING: 10

GENERAL INFORMATION

Release Info:  13 June 1980
 Watched for the millionth time 15 Nov 2018

Genre: Drama, Horror
Director: Stanley Kubrick
Writer: Stephen King with edits by Stanley Kubrick
Running Time: 2 Hours and 26 Minutes

Staring: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd

Rating? R

SPOILERS? YES

STORYLINE

A family heads to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil spiritual presence influences the father into violence, where his psychic son sees horrific forebodings from the past and the future.

MY REVIEW

I decided it'd been a while since I'd watched this and well, with nothing really to do and seeing it on Netflix.. why not? I've always been a huge fan of the Shining. It was the first movie that really put a scare into me. It's brilliant. Period.

What I DID LIKE about this movie:

• DIRECTION- It's comedy and horror all in one. I'm not sure if Kubrick directed Jack Nicholson to do everything that he did, but his performance is haunting. Shelley Duvall is underwhelming. I still see her as Popeye's wife and I can't get that out of my head.
• EDITING and CINEMATOGRAPHY- There is something that is intentionally foreboding in the shots that lead you through this movie. It's as though you are being maneuvered through the movie under the spell of a masterful story teller.  I love the long continuous shots that are quiet and dead. It's a delight when  you move rapidly through each scene to see what you might have missed in the first, second of fifty-seventh viewing.  
• WRITING- It is Stephen King, so it's magnificent, however, the book and the movie are not the same. I think that Kubrick took some liberties but it worked for me.
• SET DESIGN- I feel like the isolation should be the main point of the set. They really drive home the idea that they have to drive so far out of the way and they are so far out from help. They are on their own until the frozen tundra defrosts in the spring. The hotel itself is a pretty amazing piece of art. The use of the large empty spaces is genius!
• SCORE- The score truly brings more tension

What I DID NOT LIKE about this movie:

• That the movie had to end. That's all I have.

On a more personal note..... 

Know what I did last night? Well, I went to see one of my most favorite bands in the whole entire world! Blue October played at the Norva last night. I sang every song. I have no voice today.