{"id":6619,"date":"2024-10-25T23:08:06","date_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/?p=6619"},"modified":"2024-10-25T23:08:06","modified_gmt":"2024-10-26T03:08:06","slug":"the-shining","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/2024\/10\/25\/the-shining\/","title":{"rendered":"The Shining"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"The Shining <\/strong>(1980)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 144 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, language, graphic nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Stanley Kubrick\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: John Alcott\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 23, 1980 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, Tony Burton, Lisa and Louise Burns.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Box Office: $44.4M (US)<\/p>\n

Rating<\/strong>: ****<\/p>\n

\u00a0The tagline on the poster for The Shining<\/strong> reads \u201cA Masterpiece of Modern Horror\u201d. For once, it\u2019s NOT an exaggeration. It\u2019s FREAKING AWESOME! It\u2019s my favorite all-time horror movie; I\u2019m talking A-1, top of the list favorite. I\u2019d even call it epic in that it brings together three incredible talents, titans in their respective fields.<\/p>\n

\u00a0It\u2019s directed by Stanley Kubrick, the man behind Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange. It\u2019s based on the best-selling novel by Stephen King whose impressive bibliography includes Salem\u2019s Lot, Carrie and The Stand. It stars Jack Nicholson (Five Easy Pieces, Chinatown and One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest) who delivers a classic crazed performance. I\u2019d even go so far as to describe it as tour de force<\/em> due to its pure Jack-ness. Excuse me for sounding like a fanboy but I really, really LOVE The Shining<\/strong>. It\u2019s not just an effective scary movie; it\u2019s a beautiful piece of art. Visually rich, it\u2019s proof that Kubrick was fluent in the language of cinema.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Nicholson plays Jack Torrance, a teacher-turned-writer who accepts a position as winter caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, a grand palace-like hotel in the Colorado Rockies. Due to road inaccessibility during the winter months, it\u2019s closed from November to May. Jack plans to use this period of extended isolation to write. \u00a0He learns during his initial interview that a former caretaker went crazy and murdered his family- wife and twin daughters- with an axe. It doesn\u2019t faze him at all. He returns on closing day with his wife Wendy (Duvall, 3 Women) and young son Danny (Lloyd) in tow. Danny is an unusual boy. He has conversations with his imaginary friend Tony, a manifestation of his psychic gifts. He has premonitions and the ability to telepathically communicate with others who possess \u201cthe shining\u201d like the hotel\u2019s cook Dick Halloran (Crothers, One Flew Over the Cuckoo\u2019s Nest).<\/p>\n

\u00a0At first, things are generally peaceful. Jack writes while Wendy entertains Danny. It isn\u2019t long before Jack starts behaving strangely. He becomes short-tempered with Wendy. He can\u2019t sleep. He starts having conversations with a ghostly bartender named Lloyd (Turkel, Blade Runner). Before you know it, he\u2019s chasing his wife through the hotel with an axe. All the while, Danny has visions of the violence that occurred at the Overlook years earlier. He keeps seeing the twin girls (Lisa and Louise Burns) who were murdered. He\u2019s attacked by a ghost that lives in Room 237. He finds himself fleeing his insane father in the hotel\u2019s hedge maze.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Initial reactions to The Shining<\/strong> at the time of its release were mixed with the consensus regarding it as a great disappointment. Of course, it was completely out of bounds for 12YO Movie Guy. I do remember being freaked out by the commercial on late-night TV. The images combined with a section of Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind\u2019s theme, an electronic variation on \u201cDies Irae\u201d, made quite an impression on my preteen psyche. The teaser trailer is still my favorite movie trailer. It\u2019s on YouTube, check it out.<\/p>\n

\u00a0ANYWAY, I was NOT disappointed by The Shining<\/strong> the first time I saw it on cable in \u201885. In fact, it helped me gain a true appreciation for Kubrick. I saw A Clockwork Orange the year before on Cinemax and LOVED it (much to my parents\u2019 dismay). In the nearly 35 years since it came out, the tide changed and The Shining<\/strong> is now considered one of greatest and most influential horror films of all time. I agree with that assessment. I\u2019ve watched it several times over the years and still find it fascinating. In my not-at-all humble opinion, I think it\u2019s absolutely perfect.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The cinematography by John Alcott (A Clockwork Orange), which includes Steadicam work by Garrett Brown, is gorgeous. Kubrick is positively meticulous when it comes to scene composition. His use of empty space in The Shining<\/strong> shows the divide that exists between Jack and his family. It\u2019s clear early on they\u2019re not the happiest or closest of families. You can tell by the way they\u2019re typically positioned in different parts of the Overlook. Even when they\u2019re in the same room, it\u2019s a big enough space that they can maintain distance. The Steadicam shots following the characters through the labyrinthine halls and corridors imbue The Shining<\/strong> with a strong sense of anxiety about what lies around the next corner. The Overlook is a character itself. Halloran explains to Danny that places, like people, can also \u201cshine\u201d. Bad memories linger like ghosts. It\u2019s a place haunted by a horrific tragedy. The score, which mainly consists of pieces and fragments by Bela Bartok, Krzysztof Penderecki and Ray Noble & His Orchestra (\u201cMidnight, The Stars and You\u201d), is suitably haunting.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Jack Nicholson is my favorite actor (next to Clint Eastwood) and The Shining<\/strong> is one of his very best roles. He\u2019s also the main reason Kubrick and co-writer Diane Johnson\u2019s screenplay deviates from the book. When he signed on, character adjustments had to be made in order to accommodate his famous persona. This is why his Jack is so JACK. Who doesn\u2019t love the scene where he says \u201cHere\u2019s Johnny!\u201d after chopping through a door? He has so many great lines. When he hams it up, he does so with equal parts mustard and relish.<\/p>\n

\u00a0As for Duvall, there\u2019s something a little off about her performance. Although not expressly stated, one gets the impression her character is slightly unhinged as well. This is possibly because of her need to naively convince herself that all is fine with her family when it\u2019s really not. Her husband\u2019s history of alcoholism and abuse has lasting effects on all three of them. That\u2019s my take-away anyway. Lloyd, in his sole feature film, is great as Danny, a kid terrified by his gift and the horrors it reveals to him.<\/p>\n

\u00a0I can\u2019t praise The Shining<\/strong> highly enough. It is an outstanding horror film and a true masterpiece. It\u2019s extremely suspenseful. I love the slow build-up to Nicholson going full tilt boogie crazy. In fact, I love everything about The Shining<\/strong>. If I had the money and resources, I would hold a special showing for teenagers raised on today\u2019s tepid PG-13 scare-free scary movies in order to show them what a real horror film is like. It is true mind-blowing greatness.<\/p>\n

SPECIAL NOTE: Although tempted to talk about the different interpretations and deeper meanings of The Shining<\/strong>, I believe I will refer you instead to the wonderful documentary Room 237. Watch both films as a double bill; you won\u2019t be sorry.\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shining (1980)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Warner Bros.\/Horror\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 RT: 144 minutes\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Rated R (violence, language, graphic nudity)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Director: Stanley Kubrick\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Screenplay: Stanley Kubrick and Diane Johnson\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Music: Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cinematography: John Alcott\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Release date: May 23, 1980 (US)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Cast: Jack Nicholson, Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd, Scatman Crothers, Barry Nelson, Philip Stone, Joe Turkel, Anne Jackson, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":7494,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31,25],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6619","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-these-are-some-classic-flicks","category-horror"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/10\/The-Shining-PIC.jpg?fit=620%2C348&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6619","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6619"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6619\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7496,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6619\/revisions\/7496"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6619"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6619"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/movieguy247.com\/MovieGuy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6619"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}