30 ms·

The Shining has so many reasons why it "has stakes". While Duvall was definitely an amazing part of that, it seems unfair to deprecate the rest of the creative

The Shining has so many reasons why it "has stakes". While Duvall was definitely an amazing part of that, it seems unfair to deprecate the rest of the creative folks involved in the film.

temporarely 2y ago
Even the opening long shot "has stakes". That's an amazing film packed with talent in all departments.
- shiroiushi 2y ago
  Just don't ask Stephen King for his opinion on it.
  - LtWorf 2y ago
    I tried to read the book and it sucked. They did him a favour really.
    - shiroiushi 2y ago
      I never read the book, but I saw the TV mini-series remake that King was personally involved with and approved, and it was awful. Personally, I think King's stories just don't translate very well to movies, unless (as with Kubrick's "The Shining") huge liberties are taken with the source material. Most adaptations I've seen of his stories were just bad.
      - kbos87 2y ago
        I agree with you with one exception, Dolores Claiborne is a gem of a film.
        batch12 2y ago
        Thanks! One of my favorite books of his. I didn't know that it was made into a movie too. Somehow I've missed it for the last 27 years.
        shiroiushi 2y ago
        I think there's several exceptions. The Shawshank Redemption was fantastic for instance.
        darby_nine 2y ago
        > The Shawshank Redemption was fantastic for instance. Eh it comes off as a corny and flat depiction of people who might otherwise be interesting. Romantic, but not a depiction of believable humans. And the problem certainly ain't the actors.
        sph 2y ago
        I get that it's cool to dislike what's popular, but I don't think we've seen the same Shawshank Redemption film.
        darby_nine 2y ago
        My criticism of Shawshank redemption is indeed particularly in response to it being placed number one on the IMDB list of greatest movies of all time. I believe people ranked it there as a result of emotional catharsis rather than ranking based on whether a movie best realized its potential, and I think my response is validated: the script for Shawshank redemption could have portrayed the characters as more three-dimensional than as recorded. I've never read the book, but perhaps this criticism applies to the book as well. King certainly has a tendency to push fetishized characteristics that take the place of earnest characterization. This is certainly true of the Stand, the Dark Tower series, the Shining, Insomnia, Green Mile, and probably many others of his works. This is not an original take. See one popular opinion here: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/stephen-kings-super-duper-magical-negroes/ http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/stephen-king...
      - Hard_Space 2y ago
        When I heard they were making a movie of Doctor Sleep, knowing that the final 20% of the book is absolutely untranslatable to coherent movie content, I could not understand how they could close it. In the end, they more or less worked around the finale, which is basically a series of psychic battles fought remotely. It's a tolerable movie. One example of a truly unfilmable King/Bachman novel is Thinner, though maybe it could now be done, at great expense, with AI (there was a ridiculous TV version, though). I interviewed him, when I was aged 16, in 1983, and asked him about The Shining. He was in a conciliatory mood on the topic that day, but re-emphasized how little he thought of Kubrick's shot choices for the scene where Danny discovers Wendy reading his manuscript. To that criticism, Kubrick responded over the years that if we had just been jump-scared by Jack suddenly appearing over Wendy's shoulder as she read, we would have felt relief and even started laughing to blow it off, which would have undermined the tension Kubrick was looking to build past this point in the scene.
    - 486sx33 2y ago
      I agree. All of Stephen kings’ drivel runs together in his books.
    - darby_nine 2y ago
      I don't think it sucked but it was told, not sold.
  - temporarely 2y ago
    This always cracks me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98qcNZ8Fz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98qcNZ8Fz0

The Shining has so many reasons why it "has stakes". While Duvall was definitely an amazing part of that, it seems unfair to deprecate the rest of the creative folks involved in the film.

temporarely 2y ago

Even the opening long shot "has stakes". That's an amazing film packed with talent in all departments.

shiroiushi 2y ago
Just don't ask Stephen King for his opinion on it.
- LtWorf 2y ago
  I tried to read the book and it sucked. They did him a favour really.
  - shiroiushi 2y ago
    I never read the book, but I saw the TV mini-series remake that King was personally involved with and approved, and it was awful. Personally, I think King's stories just don't translate very well to movies, unless (as with Kubrick's "The Shining") huge liberties are taken with the source material. Most adaptations I've seen of his stories were just bad.
    - kbos87 2y ago
      I agree with you with one exception, Dolores Claiborne is a gem of a film.
      - batch12 2y ago
        Thanks! One of my favorite books of his. I didn't know that it was made into a movie too. Somehow I've missed it for the last 27 years.
      - shiroiushi 2y ago
        I think there's several exceptions. The Shawshank Redemption was fantastic for instance.
        darby_nine 2y ago
        > The Shawshank Redemption was fantastic for instance. Eh it comes off as a corny and flat depiction of people who might otherwise be interesting. Romantic, but not a depiction of believable humans. And the problem certainly ain't the actors.
        sph 2y ago
        I get that it's cool to dislike what's popular, but I don't think we've seen the same Shawshank Redemption film.
        darby_nine 2y ago
        My criticism of Shawshank redemption is indeed particularly in response to it being placed number one on the IMDB list of greatest movies of all time. I believe people ranked it there as a result of emotional catharsis rather than ranking based on whether a movie best realized its potential, and I think my response is validated: the script for Shawshank redemption could have portrayed the characters as more three-dimensional than as recorded. I've never read the book, but perhaps this criticism applies to the book as well. King certainly has a tendency to push fetishized characteristics that take the place of earnest characterization. This is certainly true of the Stand, the Dark Tower series, the Shining, Insomnia, Green Mile, and probably many others of his works. This is not an original take. See one popular opinion here: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/stephen-kings-super-duper-magical-negroes/ http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/articles/stephen-king...
    - Hard_Space 2y ago
      When I heard they were making a movie of Doctor Sleep, knowing that the final 20% of the book is absolutely untranslatable to coherent movie content, I could not understand how they could close it. In the end, they more or less worked around the finale, which is basically a series of psychic battles fought remotely. It's a tolerable movie. One example of a truly unfilmable King/Bachman novel is Thinner, though maybe it could now be done, at great expense, with AI (there was a ridiculous TV version, though). I interviewed him, when I was aged 16, in 1983, and asked him about The Shining. He was in a conciliatory mood on the topic that day, but re-emphasized how little he thought of Kubrick's shot choices for the scene where Danny discovers Wendy reading his manuscript. To that criticism, Kubrick responded over the years that if we had just been jump-scared by Jack suddenly appearing over Wendy's shoulder as she read, we would have felt relief and even started laughing to blow it off, which would have undermined the tension Kubrick was looking to build past this point in the scene.
  - 486sx33 2y ago
    I agree. All of Stephen kings’ drivel runs together in his books.
  - darby_nine 2y ago
    I don't think it sucked but it was told, not sold.
- temporarely 2y ago
  This always cracks me up: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98qcNZ8Fz0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x98qcNZ8Fz0