Blasphemy!
" THE SHINING ( SLIGHTLY OVERRATED, NOT SCARY...BUT STILL AN ENGAGING WATCH ) " WTF !
Consistently voted as the scariest film ever. Nicholsons slow decent into madness, the cinetography, the use of his son to unsettle the audience when he has visions of the evil within the hotel. Nicholsons immersion in the role - you believe he really has gone mad. The isolated location, the weather. I could go on and on. Its not only one of the best horror films ever made, it's one of the best films ever made. Read the book if you haven't ( a classic ) and you'll see how true the film stays to the film, which is very difficult due to a lot of what's going on is in his head.
You are very very wrong on this one.
Stephen King criticised Kubrick's interpretation as being unfaithful and wantonly 'creative'. The TV movie version which came out a decade later was more to King's taste. I haven't seen it myself, and haven't read the book either so can't judge that aspect personally, but generally I believe the director has a right to adapt a book to his own vision. Love me some King stories: his Dark Tower series and The Stand are right up there in favourite books ever.
Kubrick's Shining is a very good 8/10 in my book, just overrated as I see it often voted as
the best horror film. It's just not scary enough to justify that. Agree on Nicholson's epic performance (from all 3 of the cast even) and the beautiful way it's shot. Favourite section was the end-chase in the maze, expertly done. But otherwise I wasn't entirely enthralled: some edits felt a bit off (the famous buckets of blood in the hall) and the pacing sometimes dragged a bit. From Kubrick his 2001, Spartacus & Clockwork Orange all score higher. Haven't seen Dr Strangelove or Paths of Glory yet.
They partly returned to the formula for 4, at least in continuity, although it was odd that they dropped the narrative thread. Rec 3 is one of the worst films I've ever seen.
Rec3 almost crushed me as a person...felt so betrayed, haha lol
I thought Babadook was better than that - a clever concept and genuinely unsettling at times. You're quite right that both this and The Birds play with the PTSD metaphor, though.
I've enjoyed the Paranormal Activity series. 1 & 2 are much better than 3 & 4. Looking forward to seeing the finale this weekend, even though I expect to be disappointed.
I think PA3 is the best from all the sequels. Did you like The Marked Ones? Return to form after PA4, I reckon...proper WTF ending! We're off to the cinema tonight to catch Ghost Dimensions, like you I'm not expecting much...initial user reviews aren't great, but that isn't always reliable (the Paranormal Activity style is an acquired taste, like).
Douglas plays a character very similar to Gordon Gecko in The Game. I always felt it might have worked if it actually was the Gordon Gecko character. GG was supremely self-confident, and the way the plot of The Game plays out could really have worked as GG battled to overcome how little control he has on the situation.
Michael Douglas always sounds the same but his roles have such individual depth still. Proper actor. Also great in Fatal Attraction, Coma and Falling Down.
Ah yes that's it! Used to work with a Japanese guy who would lend me all those kinda films: Audition, The Isle, Old Guy etc, one with Necrophilia in it, some of the stuff was properly weird! Got me into Japanese/Korean film tho, so discoverd things like Infernal Affairs, Ong Bak and more because of it
oh aye, korean films...Oldboy, Save the Green Planet, I'm a Cyborg but that's OK, Tale of two Sisters...Thirst arrived recently, a horror-esque film from the same director as Oldboy. Quite a lot of average police-procedural and romcom types out there too, tho' still eccentric enough to warrant a watch.
