The Shining ( 1980 )

4 stars

if this movie came out today it would be an absolute joke …

but the sheer amount of memes it generated and the influence it had on cinematography in general and horror in particular makes it well worth the watch !

i was actually thinking of how “The Shining” ( 1980 ) compares to “Hereditary” ( 2018 ) …

“Hereditary” is easily 10 times better … yet the impact it had or will have will be at best a fraction of the impact “the Shining” had because it came almost 40 years later …

it would be like comparing a good car from 2018 to the best car from 1980 … there would be no contest at all … and yet the best car from 1980 will always be remembered and a good car from 2018 will be forgotten pretty quick …

when you watch a classic like “The Shining” you aren’t watching it for the film itself, but for the impact it had - just like when you buy a classic car you aren’t doing it because you want something that is efficient, safe or reliable … you know the classic car will not come close to being any of those things but you also know you would be very proud of owning it - same with a movie like “The Shining”

there are certain elements of the movie which feel ahead of its time - others that look very dated - and others that are unintentionally funny when they were supposed to be scary - but it’s all good when you approach it with the mindset of an art critic rather than just a movie goer.

to me “The Shining” isn’t a movie - it’s an extremely interesting artifact of its time.

i absolutely recommend it but you have to watch it either alone or with other people who understand what it actually is. you can’t watch it with average low brows - they will just think it’s retarded.

Kubrick and Nicholson are / were both geniuses / way ahead of the game.

The girl has funny looking teeth but otherwise very pretty. She couldn’t act worth a shit in any of the normal scenes but in the scenes in which she was either crying or horrified she did quite well.

i do wonder why a lot of girls in movies of that time looked that way but none do today - what happened ?

The kid couldn’t really act - I guess that’s why out of the 3 of them he is the one who didn’t make it into the memes.

But in those days even adults couldn’t act let alone children, so it wasn’t his fault really.

overall definitely a must watch but only for movie buffs, not for general audience.

I have watched the Shining…haven’t seen Hereditary…but The Shining is amazing.

Of course, now, it isn’t frightening…but the construction of that film beats most films ever made.

Stephen King wasn’t happy with it as it changed his novel.
But it is superior to the book.

As for the kid, his detachment is deliberate.
The film implies he was being abused.

The actress complained that Kubrick was being cruel to her but as a viewer it was worth it.
Of course, there are far better actresses today.

i do wonder why a lot of girls in movies of that time looked that way but none do today - what happened ?

Better cheaper dentistry.

haha, no that’s not what i meant.

i meant tall, thin, gaunt with huge eyes bulging out of the head, mostly expressionless face …

it seems a lot of girls in movies used to look this way but do not anymore …

sometimes i like to watch older or foreign movies because women look different in them - in modern American movies they all sort of look the same …

as far as “Hereditary” now that i think of it there is definitely some inspiration from “The Shining” in it … as well as it being derivative in other ways … but overall it has this clean modern look similar to “Midsommar” ( from same director ). It’s a proper serious art film up to the end where it turns into a batshit insane horror movie. by contrast “The Shining” looks like a parody of a horror movie rather than a horror movie … but that’s actually a compliment because it inspired all those horror movies and that’s why it looks like a parody of them !

I think Brigitte Bardot was a big influence on the “look” of these actresses.

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today they wouldn’t even let a woman hold a flower in a picture …

that might make people assume the gender and all …