Interesting article on the lasting legacy of Kubrick's The Shining:

[Tommy]

Two years plus and I am still thinking. HA!

[Tommy]

OK, I will post more about that later this week, Off today and going to try and enjoy it while it lasts!

Promise I haven't forgotten about this but life is suddenly in the way. Also, it really is hard trying to organize my thoughts about something I love so much and have viewed so many times....

[Tommy]

You're not rambling at all...I'd love to hear more about how you feel the movie changes or falls apart upon repeated viewings.

OK, I will post more about that later this week, Off today and going to try and enjoy it while it lasts!

[dannyboy121070]

I adore Kubrick. He's my second favorite director behind Hitchcock. The only film of his I did not care for was Full Metal Jacket. All the others, I've seen multiple times and I am one of those weird people that have watched The Shining dozens of times to try and figure it out. I could go into a long discussion about how extremely weird it is and how it "changes" or rather "falls apart" more and more each time I watch it but in a really cool way. I can understand how audiences back in the day that only saw it once in the theater were left with a "Huh?" feeling but the joy is in multiple viewings. I see something or think of some new theory every time I've watched it.

And not for nothing but it has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Just listening to it without watching it can be a scary experience. Enough rambling for now, sorry.

You're not rambling at all...I'd love to hear more about how you feel the movie changes or falls apart upon repeated viewings.

[Tommy]

I adore Kubrick. He's my second favorite director behind Hitchcock. The only film of his I did not care for was Full Metal Jacket. All the others, I've seen multiple times and I am one of those weird people that have watched The Shining dozens of times to try and figure it out. I could go into a long discussion about how extremely weird it is and how it "changes" or rather "falls apart" more and more each time I watch it but in a really cool way. I can understand how audiences back in the day that only saw it once in the theater were left with a "Huh?" feeling but the joy is in multiple viewings. I see something or think of some new theory every time I've watched it.

And not for nothing but it has one of the greatest soundtracks of all time. Just listening to it without watching it can be a scary experience. Enough rambling for now, sorry.

[dannyboy121070]

Much of his work holds no interest for me (2001, Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange.) The movies I like (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) still have some strangeness that just does not work for me.

I like FULL METAL JACKET, but it is a weird-ass movie. Again, ice-cold and detached, and extremely disturbing, plus it looks like it was made by a man who had no idea what Viet Nam actually looked like. But that's what you get when you try to pass the British countryside off as Saigon.

[dannyboy121070]

If he had reacted that way then but moderated his opinions over the years that would make sense. The fact that he has held strong to his views on this makes me believe there is something behind that we do not know about.

Yeah, I put that off to a lingering resentment about his first brush with Hollywood not giving a fuck about his opinion. After The Shining, he maybe mentally distanced himself from film adaptations. "As God is my witness, I'll never let them hurt me that way again!"

[Martin]

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with Kubrick films.

Much of his work holds no interest for me (2001, Dr. Strangelove, Clockwork Orange.) The movies I like (The Shining, Full Metal Jacket, Eyes Wide Shut) still have some strangeness that just does not work for me.

[Martin]

I wonder if that's because it was so early in King's career, and The Shining was probably his first experience with a Director being less than reverential with the source material...?

If he had reacted that way then but moderated his opinions over the years that would make sense. The fact that he has held strong to his views on this makes me beslive there is something behind that we do not know about.

[Brian861]

I do enjoy the movie but understand the arguments against it. In the end you are getting a Kubrick movie and they have a specific tone. I am a bit puzzled by Mr. Kings reaction. He generally encourages movie makers to impart their vision into a story rather than just presenting his. Yet with this book he appears to take particular enjoyment out of pointing out that he did not like this one.

I definitely have a love/hate relationship with Kubrick films.

[dannyboy121070]

I do enjoy the movie but understand the arguments against it. In the end you are getting a Kubrick movie and they have a specific tone. I am a bit puzzled by Mr. Kings reaction. He generally encourages movie makers to impart their vision into a story rather than just presenting his. Yet with this book he appears to take particular enjoyment out of pointing out that he did not like this one.

I wonder if that's because it was so early in King's career, and The Shining was probably his first experience with a Director being less than reverential with the source material...?

[Martin]

I do enjoy the movie but understand the arguments against it. In the end you are getting a Kubrick movie and they have a specific tone. I am a bit puzzled by Mr. Kings reaction. He generally encourages movie makers to impart their vision into a story rather than just presenting his. Yet with this book he appears to take particular enjoyment out of pointing out that he did not like this one.

[Brian861]

I've never been a fan of this movie. (This should probably go in the "Controversial movie opinions" thread...) I read THE SHINING when I was...10? 11...?, and the film was such a letdown when I saw it on TV. Shelly Duvall and that kid are as annoying as fuck, Nicholson is weird from the get-go, so he has no character arc, he just goes from creepy and strange to homicidal in a flash, there's no closure at the end, there are no characters to empathize with, except Scatman Crothers, who basically travels across the country to die like a bitch....Kubrick makes nice-looking films, but they're all ice-cold and devoid of human emotion. (Ducks and runs away.)

Agree on all points. I can't separate the movie from the book like some can. I feel for the folks that think the movie is what The Shining is if they've never read the book. Plus, the movie is just boring.

I like the Mist, despite it's wild departure from the book. Lots of underlying themes.

Enjoyed the movie but the mini-series sure did suck.

[mhatchett]

I like the Mist, despite it's wild departure from the book. Lots of underlying themes.

[Sock Monkey]

I've never been a fan of this movie. (This should probably go in the "Controversial movie opinions" thread...) I read THE SHINING when I was...10? 11...?, and the film was such a letdown when I saw it on TV. Shelly Duvall and that kid are as annoying as fuck, Nicholson is weird from the get-go, so he has no character arc, he just goes from creepy and strange to homicidal in a flash, there's no closure at the end, there are no characters to empathize with, except Scatman Crothers, who basically travels across the country to die like a bitch....Kubrick makes nice-looking films, but they're all ice-cold and devoid of human emotion. (Ducks and runs away.)

You’re not alone. I’m not a fan of the movie either. I’ve planned to revisit it—maybe double-feature it with Flanagan’s Doctor Sleep—but keep putting it off. Kubrick is a masterful director but, as you said, very cold and clinical. Similar to Cronenberg in that way, but I find Cronenberg’s ideas so much more interesting. It’s this detachment that makes it hard to invest in The Shining, where as, conversely, the humanistic approach is what makes Darabont’s adaptations so successful, in my opinion. Even as bleak as The Mist ultimately becomes, it’s rooted in humanity. That’s what makes King’s work so accessible to readers and the one thing that Hollywood tends to miss.