Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
I had an argument recently while making an appearance on the Film School Rejects podcast (called Reject Radio, click here to listen) where I was shocked to find myself on the defending end regarding Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The usually sane Cole Abaius and Rob Hunter were trying to tell me that the mini-series was a far better film than Kubrick’s.
Note, they didn’t say adaptation, but film. I tried to clarify adaptation, because sure… the TV mini-series is closer to the book than Kubrick’s film, but saying it’s a better made movie is lunacy! Why can’t Kubrick’s film be both a poor adaptation and a great film?
You’ll be hard pressed to find a bigger Stephen King fanatic than I and I don’t begrudge Kubrick’s movie one bit. It’s a masterpiece of sound design, pacing, tone, shot selection and set decoration. He somehow makes Shelly Duvall’s annoying acting work for her character. He layers Jack Nicholson’s insanity, getting the best out of Nicholson at every moment. The Shining is one of my favorite movies and one of my favorite of King’s books. They’re both brilliant in different ways.
So, with all that fresh on my mind I figured I’d dig into the archives and find a Shining shot. This one ain’t the best Shining shot I’ve run (this shot and this shot are my favorites), but it’s still a great moment of movie history as Kubrick and Nicholson, ax in hand, sit together! Enjoy!
Tomorrow’s Behind the Scenes Pic will be… good...
-Quint
quint@aintitcool.com
Follow Me On Twitter
