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The Behind the Scenes Pic of the Day is not gonna hurt ya’. It’s just going to bash your brains in!
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here with today’s Behind the Scenes Pic!
The Shining is the gift that keeps on giving as far as BTS images are concerned. There’s just so many iconic moments and amazing imagery that was recorded on the set that it seems like a new, awesome shot crosses my desk every week.
Toy Story 3 director Lee Unkrich is a large reason for that, thanks to his blog dedicated to everything Shining. Not only does he collect rare images published in books and magazines decades ago, but he also has his own private collection of never-before-published images that he updates periodically. There’s some amazing stuff there… in fact, I think I may do the first ever back to back BTS column that features shots from the same movie because there’s another Shining shot I’m giddy to share.
Click here to visit Unkrich’s Overlook Hotel blog, but don’t look too close since I’m poaching from there tomorrow!
Enjoy this amazing shot that I wish I could have about a thousand pixels larger so I could print out and put up on my wall. Click to enlargen!
If you have a behind the scenes shot you’d like to submit to this column, you can email me at quint@aintitcool.com.
Tomorrow’s pic will make you shiver.
-Eric Vespe
”Quint”
quint@aintitcool.com
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Click here to visit the complete compilation of previous Behind the Scenes images, Page Two
Readers Talkback
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Eric,we got have a few beers together!:-) I'll buy!
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April 9, 2012, 5:45 p.m. CST
Pretty sure I saw this in an Empire article a couple years back.
by Clabog592
Such an awesome shot. I don't think Shelley Duvall had to act much with that face coming after her
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if I was trapped alone with Shelly Duval for 4 months I try and kill the annoying bitch.
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April 9, 2012, 5:50 p.m. CST
No beer and no TV make Homer something something....go crazy?....DON'T MIND IF I DO!!!
by Mel
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Nicholson is so amazing, and every second once he goes insane is some of the best acting ever. But Shelly Duvall is so horrible that every time she speaks I hope he bashes in her brains. Unfortunately, she's in it a lot!
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Nice choice, Quint. Any chance you can dig up some Batman stills? I'd love to see Nicholson behind the scenes as the Joker.
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amazing horror movie,simply amazing.Kubrick was the MAN.period.
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It's amazing to see the technical challenges that had to be overcome in the late 70's and early 80's to get a shot as simple as following someone up the stairs.
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April 9, 2012, 6:05 p.m. CST
@shitmenace Just think of the work that it took the Hitch
by DementedCaver
Come on...Hitchcock was doing tracking shots up stairwells and all sorts of other crazy places 30 years before this. Just imagine the crap he had to go through back THEN. Totally awesome movie BTW...even if King hated it because it wildy veered from his original story.
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That was an accident I swear....although I laughed my ass off when I read what I had typed. There is no damned erase option on this great yet horrid talkback board.
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April 9, 2012, 6:09 p.m. CST
and fuck the hate on Shelly Duval,she did a great job in the movie.
by KilliK
most of her criticism comes from people who just recycle the bad reputation which was caused from the quarrels that Kubrick and Duval during the shooting and their alienated relationship that it followed. But if you watch the movie without this prejudice,you will see that Duval does a great job,her performance almost equals that of Nicholson's.
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April 9, 2012, 6:10 p.m. CST
I always found it interesting how good Kubrick's version was,
by gary_buseys_upper_half
how awful the King-approved tv movie version was, and how much King hated the Kubrick version despite its obvious brilliance. I guess it just goes to show how artists usually aren't good interpreters of their own work.
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King only hated how Nicholson was crazy from the get-go, and as an observer, you never saw the slow decline and the descent to madness the way it appears in the book. I love the King TV version, but it's nowhere near as creepy as the Kubrick version. He GOT the isolation and fear of The Shining. In the book, you see a guy's struggle with addiction. The movie depicts a guy showing up crazy and getting crazier with cabin fever.
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King didnt see Kubrick's interpretation from a pure artistic view but from his strictly personal one. You see this story that he wrote was deeply personal for him,it is actually a metaphor for his own troublesome life.he was alcoholic and almost lost his family because of that before he went clean and wrote the story. Then Kubrick came,took the story and turned it into a different beast.No more allegories for a drunk writer who had lost his touch with his family.Enter the psychological/metaphysical horror world of Kubrick's Shining. No wonder King hated it the movie and disapproved it.
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April 9, 2012, 6:19 p.m. CST
Yeah the made for TV version was terrible...but then again, it WAS made for TV.
by Mel
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April 9, 2012, 6:20 p.m. CST
oaser, I think Kubrick's version was a lot more realistic, though
by Mel
Some people are just nuts. In the book, he goes crazy and then becomes good at the end...fuck that, that's now how it goes. People get nuttier and nuttier until everyone dies.
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Homer, the ghouls and I wonderin' when you're gonna kill your family.
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was in the end of the book -- Dick Halloran goes to a shed to get a blanket and the croquet mallet is there. For a moment, the hotel tries to possess Halloran but he shakes it off. That scared the shit out of me, more than anything else. Well that and the topiary coming to life. Scary stuff, Mr. King.
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that i have about the movie. Jack is from the start crazy,we dont see his slow transformation to a lunatic killer. I mean he sits there and from the first page,the first day,he starts typing gibberish in his typewriter. OFC the movie has other flaws,like how the black guy learns that something terrible happens in the hotel through his Shining sense,he flies back to the hotel and when he arrives he gets immediately axed.wtf? And lastly the very sudden ending of the movie but i dont blame Kubrick for that,since they had come out of budget.anyway.
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He's never paternal . . . he just looks hungry for child flesh (not in THAT way). The tone is all wrong, like when Danny's talking about the violence he sees on television, and Nicholson mockingly says, "See! He saw it on TV." He just looks pissed. At no point did I buy that he loved Danny. I only thought he wanted to eat him for lunch.
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April 9, 2012, 6:26 p.m. CST
Such a fantastic flick. Today the part that sticks in my mind is the creepy talk in the washroom
by smudgewhat
With the previous caretaker. It's such a brilliant mind fuck.
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April 9, 2012, 6:29 p.m. CST
@smudgewhat 'i corrected them' just the way he says it, don't know why but it's scarey stuff! lol :O
by cameron
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Someone created a drink based on that scene. When Grady walks into Nicholson, he spills his drink into Jack's drink: Jack Daniels and advocaat. It's called The Jack Torrance.
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crap, wrong jack. damn fine show, though, and helluva website link there, quint...
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While I appreciate Kubrick's intense direction, I found this film to be disappointing in the end. First of all, we have all this build-up with Scatman Crothers, spend quite a bit of film time showing him and his journey back to the hotel, and the minute he steps inside it's an axe to the chest! I was shocked that Kubrick would be so gratuitous. I knew right way that Jack wasn't going to kill Wendy or the brat, otherwise they wouldn't have had to include the gratuitous killing. It was cheap. So was the ending, where Jack just limps around and then decides to sit down and freeze to death. The blood pouring from the elevators was overwrought and overdone. The kid couldn't act, either. I thought he was a very poor choice for the role. Still, much of the imagery was stunning, and some scenes were indeed intense and involving. But the movie didn't hold together for me. I love Kubrick, but this isn't one of his best. Fun photo, though. I really like it.
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The operator said it took 34 takes to get that scene right. However, the Guinness Book Of World Records says it took 127 takes.......you guessed it, a world record. Now imagine being the poor bastards that had to lug that fucking camera up those stairs.
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Seriously I've been watching this film since the age of 10 or 11 and it has never ever gotten boring. It changes as I get older and I found something new all the fucking time. It's a masterwork of the finest order and is one of the only films you can call a cinematic experience.
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The scatman clothiers build up is really funny. You forget that Kubrick has a sick sense of humor that is always evident in his films no matter how serious the films appears.
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Maybe I'm being a fanboy but I think those 3 lines are my favouritest Nicholson line delivery in anything ever.
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April 9, 2012, 6:48 p.m. CST
The blood pouring from the elevators was overwrought and overdone. The kid couldn't act, either. I thought he was a very poor choice for the role.
by MainMan2001
Dude you better check yourself. Blood out of elevator is one of the best images in cinema. No argument. simple. And Danny is fucking brilliant.
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Floyd the bartender owned. He was one of the creepiest guys I've ever seen on the screen.
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April 9, 2012, 6:59 p.m. CST
It's a great movie but I love the book so much that it spoils it for me
by tangcameo
I start going "Wouldn't it have been great if..."
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Hey, I was just expressing my opinion. It is you bitches who decided to take exception in an attack manner. I was merely describing my experience of the film. So very sorry it seems to have assaulted your egos and sense of worth. Does a dissenting opinion from your own always trigger your attack mode? I think we know who the real douchebags are here. Pathetic bunch of bitches. You're so beneath me I don't even know why I'm responding. Guess I'm just bored.
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I've always thought kubrick's version was an allegorical take on the emasculation of the male species in a post-feminist society.
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See the wheels? Garret Brown is having a little chuckle right now. And you were trying to sound so authoritative!
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...horror movies ever made. The Shining is not one of Kubrick's best films. Both these statements are true.
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...you nailed it on King's reaction. I remember something he wrote (maybe in Danse Macabre) about Kubrick calling him up in the middle of the night and telling him he thought the book was very optimistic. King asked him why and Kubrick answered that it was because it was predicated on the existence of an afterlife. Can't agree with you about Duvall, though. I really can't get past that flat, nasal whine. Just not what I pictured at all when I read the book.
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I think Shelly Duvall would have won a Razzie for her "performance", much of the movie is so freakin' overdone and gaudy plus it needs to lose about 30 minutes from the running time. But that said, Nicholson gives one of the greatest performances ever. I actually think the kid is pretty good and most important, creepy. The rest of the cast is quite good too.
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So did you guys see the Easter bunny?
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April 9, 2012, 7:53 p.m. CST
Sorry queefer, but you are WRONG about Danny. He was fantastic.
by vetepalapinga
He wasn't played by a fucking child actor freak who seems like an adult trapped in a child's body.
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Kubrick is my fave, I love this movie and book, have to take them as they are. I love that jack knows he's not even on camera but he's still got the full on death stare, no wonder he and Kubrick got along so well
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Or at least a big part of it. http://tinyurl.com/7j9cmsp Notes for a single shot composition for second unit crew in Mt Hood, Oregon at the Timberline Lodge. Wow.
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In a big, big way. I'll never forget the first time I watched this. And I'll never forget what other people were saying as they walked out. I had just watched a masterpiece and they were saying things like... *That wasn't scary at all.* and *That was stupid.* I was just...... almost infuriated. Even as a little kid.
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Don't sweat it, everyone is entitled to their opinion. I don't agree with it, on any level, but no big deal. I think Scatman's axe to the chest was perfect in the way it destroyed the hope that the character had built up in the audience, adding to the peril and ultimately the horror and hopelessness of it all. Gratuitous to me would have been some teens in a snow plow on their way to drink it up at the old empty hotel getting axed one by one. One of them right as one of the girls gets on top of one of the boys and takes her bra off. The others in the middle of sparking up a joint. Hey, how about that?? We disagreed minus insults.
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I hear ya. Maybe part of what makes it so creepy is how understated it all is. It's so cold and dark. But the menace is so palpable because the awful evil intent is so calmly presented. Kubrick clearly understood what a true manifestation of evil might look like. It would appear almost reasonable, but the agenda would be awful. Powerful shit.
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Love it!
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"The Jack Torrance". I love it. Man how I wish Kubrick could have made just a couple more films. If you haven't seen "Barry Lyndon" and you've got 3 hours to spare it is an under discussed gem.
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You're right on Barry Lyndon. I didn't really appreciate it until seeing it just a few years ago. When I watched it back in the 90s, I thought it dragged and was boring. Last time, I considered it a masterpiece. The film didn't change. I did.
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She plays a character who is not particularly clued in to the true nature of her husband, or even the real threats that exist in the world. In other words, she is decent and simple. That is a compliment. But her instinct to protect her child makes her powerfully heroic. It was a tough role because it could have easily devolved into empty histrionics. But credit Duvall for finding the right balance. Nicholson of course is brilliant. And I thought the child actor was very good. How could that have been noticeably better?
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for this movie needs to. If you love this movie or hate it, the trailer will make you laugh.
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I only saw Barry Lyndon for the first time a couple years ago and I think it would have been less interesting to me as a younger version of myself. Kubrick manages to tell us everything we need to know about a life of appearances, wealth, and pretense and how a charming rogue reinvents himself as a "man of influence." Unfortunately he's not quite up to the role. As with any great historical piece the themes are universal and apply to the presets just as easily. I fucking miss Kubrick!!
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You can come back to it at different points in your life and feel it from your new evolved perspective. And it still rings true. These masterpieces are rare.
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am I alone in my creepy, decades-old desire to fuck the taste out of the mouth of the 30 to 40 year old Shelly Duvall? I'm not sure what it is, but I have always had a bewildering (to others) fascination/attraction to the woman. Same goes for.... yep.... Bonnie Hunt (even now). Bizarre, eh? I remember in the kitchen scene in The Green Mile, when Tom Hanks is trying to get frisky with Ms Hunt.... instant Bonniewood. Uncloseted. lol
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Yeah, I still miss him too. When I watched Eyes Wide Shut, I went up to the screen, kissed my hand and touched it. I said goodbye and it was brutally sad for me because I knew we'd never again see a new Kubrick film. I know it's overly dramatic, and I got weird looks. But I didn't care. And still don't. But I don't want to start up a discussion about Eyes Wide Shut. Too divisive.
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Over Rated
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April 9, 2012, 9:49 p.m. CST
Anyone who says that The Shining is overrated is either five years old or a moron. Or both.
by Rex Carsalot
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WTF is going on with the comments here? I get one sentence and that's it? Maybe I can only reply in one paragraph, so here goes: This movie SUCKED. It was about as scary as an episode of "Night Gallery". No, I'm wrong. It was about as scary as an episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show". "Heeeeeere's Johnny!"? Stooop-pid. I can't decide if people still repeat it today because they think it's classic scary, or classic stupid (I'm in the latter camp). Oh, and the kid? Awful choice and actor. Nicholson? In the book, his character went from a well-meaning guy trying to start over to insanity. The movie: He starts out insane, then gets REALLY insane. Yeah, great character arc there. And hey, if I were stuck in a hotel with someone as whiney as Shelly Duval's character, yeah, I'd understand chasing her around with an axe. Oh, yeah. And then we see two guys who might be having ORAL SEX! They might be HOMOS! SO EVIL!!!! Give me a break. This movie was made by a director who should've known better. Great source material reduced to major donkey-ball-sucking movie. Balls still attached to donkey is your own choice. 100% crap.
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April 9, 2012, 9:50 p.m. CST
Although SD is a hag, she brought it on that stairwell scene. Also, it was the '70s. Women weren't all empowered and shit yet.
by Rex Carsalot
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I'm guessing I'm old enough to be your dad (not that I'd want to be...). But I stand by what I said: overrated. Ain't five years old nor a moron. Just think the movie sucks more than a black hole. And please, do tell, what makes me a 5 year old moron for dissing this POS.
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I mean she clearly had an unconventional appeal that people responded to b/c she had a career. She seems largely unaffected, and lacking in pretense. Those traits add a lot. Also, intelligence.
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Those traits probably have a lot to do with it. Same with Bonnie. Although that talk show she had recently was about as entertaining as a bag of wheat.
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obsessively, until I catch up with the last time I did the same thing. I cannot believe the Steadicam was almost called *The Brown Stabilizer*. Sounds like a weapon to counteract a bowel disruptor.
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She has a MILFy quality. Very hot in an unconventional way. If you like her, you'll love this: <p> http://www.pornhub.com/view_video.php?viewkey=2085890074 Watch this and tell me what you think.
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April 9, 2012, 10:02 p.m. CST
And I've done & said lots of weird things b/c I felt like it
by smudgewhat
So I'm in no position to judge touchng a screen. You felt the loss, it was real to you, and you acted on it. Works for me even if my version would be different. I like weird impulsive behavior. Kubrick was his own kind of weirdo. Because he wouldn't play by the dumb rules that the world lays out for everyone to keep them feeling small an powerless and average. Fuck that shit. Hahaha
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"badassery" is one of the dumbest slang words I've ever read. Like, junior-high level.
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Which is fine. Am curious what you hold up as a great film? Or maybe specifically a horror or psychological thriller like The Shining?
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April 9, 2012, 10:36 p.m. CST
@oaser: thought there was a good Jack Joker BTSPOD in a previous column.
by Aaron
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Hmmm... Good question. The first title that comes to mind is "The Birds". Which I know a lot of other people think sucks. Which is why all films, no matter what the basis, are subjective. I'm sure a lot of people out there think "The Birds" is idiotic. I like it, and it still scares the hell out of me. "The Shining" does not. I find it tepid, stupid, and a waste of time. But I understand that others feel differently. I just wanted to put my two cents in. Because I felt this movie has gotten too much underserved adulation.
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April 9, 2012, 10:56 p.m. CST
I haven't actually seen "The Birds" but obviously it's regarded as a classic
by smudgewhat
Certainly Hitchcock was another unique filmmaker. I'm trying to remember that one murder mystery that was all one or two shots. A nearly live film. I remember that being pretty great. Especially people talking offscreen. Unconventional.
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And you haven't seen this movie if you haven't seen it on the big screen. A completely different film that comes alive on the big screen. Duvall's character really becomes a great comedic work. The greatest movie going experience of my life was seeing this film on the big screen. PERIOD!!!
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the same clothes worn by Danny's toy Goofy seen on the shelf when he is being interviewed by the psychiatrist. Red sweater over blue with yellow shoes. I doubt this is an accident.
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And The Birds is a very strong visual thriller because there is not a single note of music is played in the film. So reliance on cheap musical scares. Filmmakers who make thrillers learned a lot from this film. Spielberg was strongly influenced by it when making Jaws.
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I think that's a silly notion. I watch horror movies and never feel "scared." I like watching well crafted horror films, but since turning about 16 I never get scared. It sucks too, cause it was a great feeling. Gamer said "The Shining" wasn't scary, but "The Birds" was. I don't think either one was scary, but I loved them both!!!
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How did you like that video?
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One, who the fuck cares? Two - uh, no. Not unless you're well into your 70s. Your opinion is valid if you just don't like the movie, but to say it's overrated? That's just foolish.
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That was a cool flick. It had a particular FEELING to it. A specific world. Same with Kubrick. And David Lynch. Certain Bergmans. And Fellini in a much more playful way.
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I didn't catch that. Wow. The immediate meaning isn't striking me unless to suggest Duvall's character is childishly naive perhaps?
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Nice answer. While I love many of Kubrick's other films, I was very disappointed by "The Shining". Likewise, I love Hitchcock, and think "The Birds" is one of the most terrifying films (Jessica Tandy seeing her "man friend" dead in his bedroom, with his eyes pecked out), he also had some clunkers. I'm just of the opinion that "The Shining" is over rated (IMO). Loved the book; hated the movie.
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April 9, 2012, 11:39 p.m. CST
I'm also fascinated by, among other things, Kubrick's decision to make the ghosts "real"
by smudgewhat
The fact that they let Jack out of the food locker makes their actual existence unambiguous in the film. Lots of films play on whether the protagonist is imagining dark spirits. But in this case, they act in the physical world. They welcome Jack back and assist him.
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Well, I'm 50. So if that's too young to be your father, then I think your comment that I must be 5 years old or stupid or both is not someone of my age should say. In my comments about "The Shining", I never said no one had right to like it. I was simply stating my opinion of the movie: It sucks. I have no problem with people liking it; I do, however, feel it is over praised. And those, such as I, who think it's awful, are often sussed into not speaking our opinion.
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The stair shots were a combination of dolly and Steadicam........I got it confused with the actual Steadicam that was used pretty liberally throughout the film. Kubrick himself was responsible for the low bracket Steadicam rig (before, the cam was only waist high and above) because he needed low shots for the Danny perspectives in the movie and had Garrett Brown make a custom (back then) low slung Steadicam to get the shots needed. e.g. the hallway scenes and the maze scenes were done with a low bracket Steadicam. They also said they used the Steadicam for some of the stair shots so that's why I made the mistake of calling the photo for the Steadicam........So I apologize. They constantly used different cameras and angles throughout the shoot, so that with Kubrick's own shooting obsessions combined for some of those record retakes of scenes. He actually had Scatman Crothers in tears during one particular set of shots, he begged Kubrick to show him what exactly he wanted for the scene after about 45 re-takes.
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One of my all time favorite horror films. It also makes a great winter horror film double feature with The Thing (1982).
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And Jacks chewing up the scenery doesn't help. Kubrick had no business making a horror film.
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and yours just exploded diarrhea.
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April 10, 2012, 12:38 a.m. CST
For those who want to know more about THE SHINING and THE BIRDS
by Monroville
Check out Roger Ager's analysis vids on youtube (his website - http://www.collativelearning.com/FILMS%20reviews%20BY%20ROB%20AGER.html - has much longer written versions): THE SHINING in-depth analysis by Rob Ager (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lEulbcXkgjo) And here is a really good analysis of THE BIRDS: The Birds: Explained! Cinema de Merde (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNGDa6Xpu_0)
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April 10, 2012, 12:39 a.m. CST
Shelly Duval attractive? Ye gods. Now THAT is a horror movie!
by DanielnocharismaCraig
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April 10, 2012, 12:40 a.m. CST
Anyone know of the bloody head with worms pouring out of it?
by Monroville
I believe there is a brief glimpse in the BTS documentary on THE SHINING dvd and blu-ray.
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She played her role perfectly and Special K terrorized her on the set, and it shows and the scene and the film and the pic are great, thanks to all the Fates that got us here!
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April 10, 2012, 1:16 a.m. CST
SHINING = CLASSIC - LET'S GET SOME FUCKING DELETED SCENES ON A FUTURE RELEASE!
by fat_rancor_keeper
I'd love to see the deleted scenes but I think they either no longer exist or the Kubrick estate has no interest digging them out of vaults.
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April 10, 2012, 1:16 a.m. CST
Let's try this again (stupid AICN talkback dating back to 1990s.. grumble, grumble)
by Monroville
- Reportedly, Halloran's death scene as filmed is not the one we actually see. The one filmed depicts a much longer, much more graphic death. In its entirety, the scene lasts almost seventy seconds, and is full of gore. Rather then just run up and hit him as seen in the released version, Jack instead runs up, hits him in the back of the head. Halloran screams. Jack pulls the ax back, and then slams the spike on the back of the ax into the base of Halloran's spine. Halloran screams and recoils, and then Jack slams the ax into his back and he falls down. Halloran rolls onto his back and is looking up, and Jack starts to beat him with the ax before he "hears" something and leaves (Halloran rolling onto his back before Jack beat him is why in the uncut version we see Halloran on his back with blood when Wendy finds him, rather then on his face like we see him fall). - "The Making of the Shining" depicts an item not seen anywhere in the film: A woman's bloody, scarred, severed head. This may be from a scene never shot, or a scene that was in fact shot and never released. - Director Stanley Kubrick edited the ending on the third day after release, removing about 10 minutes at the end: starting after the closeup of 'frozen Jack in daylight' it goes to a pullback shot with part of a state troopers car and the legs of troopers walking around in the foreground with Jack in the background, then cuts to the hotel manager (Barry Nelson) Stuart Ullman walking down a hospital hallway to the nurse's station to inquire about Danny and Wendy, he's told they're both doing well and proceeds to Wendy's (Shelley Duvall) room, where after some gentle conversation he tells Wendy that searchers have been unable to locate any evidence of the apparitions she saw. Then it cuts to the camera silently roaming the halls of the Overlook hotel for about a minute until it comes up to the wall with the photographs, where it [back to the ending as it is now known] finally closes in on the photo of Jack in the 1921 picture Check out some more ideas here: http://www.visual-memory.co.uk/amk/doc/0052.html
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...and it has really stirred my interest in The Shining once more. i've seen the movie countless times and read the book when i was very young (along with all the other Kings thence published). in recent years, after having seen and re-visited all the Kubrick films several times, i've come to the unpopular conclusion that The Shining is his worst film. I used to think King was crazy for calling it "a beautiful car with no engine," but now I see exactly where he was coming from. Kubrick was not above pulp, as his early adaptations can attest. He had a collaboration with Jim Thompson that lasted several years, though he dicked him out of writing credit and the relationship was apparently strained. but i think noir pulp came more naturally to Kubrick, having grown up in New York in the 40s. it was his milieu. he lived and documented noir with his street photography when he was just in his teens. but i don't think Kurick had any passion for the horror genre. i think it was just an exercise for him. the craft of the film is impeccable as always, but there's no heart and soul in the film. re-reading King's novel, i see a lot of unfulfilled potential. King constantly reinforces the isolation, the dreaded familiarity of close quarters. he exploits Jack's alcoholic past to much greater effect (perhaps because he was writing from personal experience). in fact, this may be the central reason why The Shining stands as one of King's best works, and one of Kubrick's worst -- because of the amount of each author's personal voice that's invested in each. despite many criticisms, Kubrick did make personal, empathetic films, but all i feel when I watch The Shining is a photographic genius playing with his toys: the steadicam, and a magnificent set around which he stages brilliant shots. the script really feels like a misfire. it lacks all of the ambiguity Kubrick claimed to be going for, of whether or not Jack is merely cracking up, or whether paranormal phenomena are actually occurring. From frame 1, Jack Torrance seems crazy (Jack N should have scaled back the fancy eyebrow work), and we are given none of the complex background that fleshes out his character in the novel and makes him seem more human (and corruptible). one of the most disappointing exclusions of the film however, is the idea that King taps into of the hotel as a kind of metaphor for the dark underbelly of American history. some Shining obsessives (documented in Room 237) have tapped into the Native American genocide theme, keying in on the visual motifs in the hotel (that were actually inspired by Yosemite's Ahwahnee Lodge), but King provides a detailed history of the hotel as place that attracted the most powerful and least virtuous elements of society for decades on end, all leaving behind the residue of their murders, suicides, orgies - like a psychic stain. it's a powerful image, not unlike David Lynch's usual terrain of the dark side of that which appears the most wholesome: the murder upon which is built a great American institution. I would have thought this theme would appeal to Kubrick, but I find it mostly absent from the film.
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http://bit.ly/kjx9Jl
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I've seen a few photos from the original ending - very tantalising - but my guess is that we'll never see the footage. Kubrick's been dead for over a decade and Warners show no signs of releasing any cut scenes, if they even exist. I wonder if Kubrick had an air-tight contract with Warners forbidding any tampering even in the event of his death? Maybe we'll get really lucky and someone kept a copy somewhere Stanley wouldn't find it, but I'm not optimistic.
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that would have made a fantastic Joker. He was too old and tubby by the time of Burton's Batman.
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I sympathise with King's problems that lead and influenced his writing of THE SHINING as an exorcism of his own personal demons. However, Kubrick's version of the tale is superior. King's book starts very well, but as things head for the climax, the book becames worst and worst to the point it become unsufferable melodrama disguised as a ghost story. Kubrick's movie, thankfully, suffers no such problems. I have always said that Kubrick with his movie elevated King's story to a level it hadn't. Kubrick's movie is so much better. King is a brillant analist of the mechanisms of horror and he has great insight to the genre, but sometime she can be pretty clueless or blind, specially if it hits too close to home. As in the case of THE SHINING. Fortunatly for him it seems he made peace with the film adaptation in recent years.
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April 10, 2012, 3:53 a.m. CST
i really love this movie. have so since the first time i saw it.
by AsimovLives
Sadly, i didn't saw it in the theaters, i was too young. so, i have only seen it in VHS and DVD. And it still kicks my ass epically. This movie is epic! For me, it's to horror what 2001: A SPACE ODDYSSEY is to SF. Not only a great movie in the genre, but also works as a statement on the genre, and it shows what it can be done in the genre and elevate it to unusual heights. And thanks to this movie, nowdays i have a hard time listening to old 1920s songs and not think "hauted scary shit". The Shining and Carnivale made great use of those innocent old 1920s pop tunes and turn them into the stuff nightmares are made of. Cool shit. Some filmmakes, so obviously influenced by Kubrick's work in THE SHINING, have made movies which can be called SONS OF SHINING. Of those, one i really like is Brad Anderson's SESSION 9. It's a real keeper, and the ending is both memorable and haunting like hell.
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April 10, 2012, 3:56 a.m. CST
raptor_jesus, Kubrick only made one horror movie. And he made a masterpiece of the genre.
by AsimovLives
Kubrick showed more insight into the genre and produced a superior product to many so-called experts of the genre. Thank goodness that Kubrick though he could make a horror movie and made one to prove it. And the horror genre has never been the same since.
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April 10, 2012, 4:03 a.m. CST
Another horror movie made at about the same time of THE SHINING which is also a superior example of the genre: THE CHANGELING.
by AsimovLives
I'm talking about the horror movie made in 1980 starring George C. Scott, not the more recent Clint Eastwood movie. But you hardcore horror fans wouldn't need that clarification. It's a fantastic movie. Peter Medak, who directed it, has recently shown his quality as director by working steadly for HBO's best shows. Medak makes a great comentary on THE CHANGELING DVD. Very insightful and intelligent. Good fun.
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Wow! Was not sure if I should get hard or check her blood sugar for her for a minute. But then.... I'll spare you the details. Thanks.
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April 10, 2012, 5:15 a.m. CST
Even though I'm a big fan of the book, and to some extent sympathise with King's criticism - I still love this fucking movie. Cinema died with Kubrick.
by ChickenStu
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Your analysis was a great read, and really made me want to go back and read King's book. Especially the *psychic stain* quote. I can just hear King's voice saying that, and having just finished his 11/22/63, I have the King bug again. I do not, however, think The Shining is his worst work. I cannot name one though. Perhaps Eyes Wide Shut, but only in the way you might quietly name a favorite or least favorite son to a close friend, making him swear to never repeat it. In other words, while I might find it his weakest work, I do so with so much love for the film that I might as well not even name it. I have now re-watched the film again and I cannot agree that Jack Nicholson plays him crazy front to back. Nervous, maybe even a little shifty, but not the violent confidence of the character we see at the end. Not even remotely. I think some of us, as viewers, are projecting the deeply entrenched, publicly defined Nicholson persona on to that performance. Maybe unfairly. Maybe on some level, he did it to himself later on in his career, gradually. Just not in The Shining. Watch the interview scene again and tell me that's the spitting, grinning, flaming nutbag beast at the end of the film. I don't see it. He seems odd, but not crazy. Great post though.
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You MUST find a way to see The Shining on the big screen. You are being robbed of one of the most immersive film experiences of all time. And I agree with you about King, and the book getting gradually worse as it progressed. I think his latest book, 11/23/63 (is it really his latest? he works so fast, maybe 2 or 3 more have come out since) , could have suffered the same fate but did not. I later found out that his son helped him change the ending of the book and he felt that it was a much better ending. I loved the ending of it as well, and thought it was one of the best King endings in MANY many years. I think his endings are usually his weakness. But I reiterate ... you MUST see The Shining on a big screen. MUST! Harry, add it to the next BNAT and I'll pay a quarter of his round trip ticket. No joke. (but you have to invite me too LOL)
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King's book describes Wendy as stunning and she's a strong presence in the story - it would have been all too easy for Kubrick to have cast a more conventionally attractive lead. But making her 'weak', 'whiny' and 'plain' (sorry Shelly) is a stroke of genius. It puts you straight on Jack's side. His "I never laid a hand on them" speech to Lloyd is absolutely vile, but having seen Wendy through Jack's eyes for the whole movie, having her undermining him and turning Danny against his Dad (from his POV); it gives Jack's rampage some justification.
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April 10, 2012, 6:58 a.m. CST
My wife doesn't "get" Kubrick. She had the fucking nerve to say "Dr Strangelove" was pants...
by ChickenStu
She also said "2001" would've been a better movie WITHOUT the monoliths! I mean, WTF?!?!? I can understand and forgive her for "A Clockwork Orange" not being her cup of tea... and "Barry Lyndon" can grate a little if you ain't in the mood for it - but other than that the shit she said about the others was unforgivable. She went to bed halfway through "Full Metal Jacket" dismissing it as BORING. She wouldn't even watch "The Shining"... Looks like I'm watching "Eyes Wide Shut" by myself.
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April 10, 2012, 6:59 a.m. CST
hanyoyo, yeah it is funny in a weird way. Mind you, I was the only person in the cinema who laughed at the elevator head-stomp in "Drive"...
by ChickenStu
got a few dirty looks for that I can tell you.
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I like his stuff. Though I am disappointed at how he's let death get in the way of his output. He should maybe talk with Tupac and figure out how to overcome that sort of thing.
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April 10, 2012, 7:28 a.m. CST
thats not kubrick..he had a big beard during this time
by FleshMachine
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April 10, 2012, 7:30 a.m. CST
genius film. my only critism is that Jack starts off crazy
by FleshMachine
the house had nothing to do with it really. but maybe thats the point..an unstable man gets put over the edge. i love this movie.
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the book was a good read, but it didnt have anywhere neat the impact the film did for me. most of kings books are much better then the adaptations...i actually think thats not the case here. the novel was a haunted house tale...the film seemed much more than that.
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April 10, 2012, 7:34 a.m. CST
and for god's sake can someone get shelly a sandwich?!
by FleshMachine
thanks.
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really fly on the wall.
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I think the problem is that Nicholson was mis-cast. He can't not act crazy. But there's nothing in the dialog or direction that suggests that he's crazy right out of the gate. I do agree that his decent into madness could have been a little more subtle but it was only a 2+ hour movie. The one scene where he tells Danny that he would never hurt him was enough to convey that he wasn't really a psycho right out of the gate. I thought it was a brilliant movie and I'm actually surprised at all the negativity. Eyes Wide Shut, THAT was a pointless fucking movie. Except for all the tits.
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April 10, 2012, 7:42 a.m. CST
It seems like the people who like the movie the least are the ones who also read the book
by smudgewhat
Which actually makes sense, especially if you read the book first and loved it. A movie version is nearly always "reductive" somehow. But I've still never read the book for this one so I don't have that conflict. I like the fact that Kubrick shows Jack was always fucked up. The movie is about him discovering his true nature, which is selfish and manipulative. Once he decides that his wife is the enemy he's fully given way to "the dark side." And the house wants him that way for its sick amusement. The history of the house is debauchery. It is infested and it wants and gets Jack back.
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that the Hotel Lobby is a set, stunning.
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It was at Elstree, at the same time The Empire Strikes Back was being filmed, and the sets for Echo Base, Dagobah and Cloud City were awesome too.
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Stephen King wrote The Shining as a metaphor for alcoholism--namely, his own alcoholism. I read that in an interview from around the time of the miniseries remake. Think about the scenes with the ghostly bartender--and isn't the bartender the one who lets him out of the cooler? I'm not sure how that metaphor could have been translated to a movie that was already 2+ hours long. The miniseries did it, but we know how that turned out. Also, Danny's imaginary friend also "existed" and had a purpose in the book, rather than being his own twitching finger and croaky voice. It's tempting to say Kubrick erred by changing that, but how would Danny's psychically time-traveling older self have translated to the screen? Adaptations are a tricky business.
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Yes, how could I forget that the house is the playground of the wealthy and powerful. Kubrick covers this angle in the scene where Jack & Wendy initally tour the house. That's as much as Kubrick felt was needed as exposition. Then he shows some of the previous occupants at play (like the animal suit blowjob glimpsed in the bedroom). I felt the idea of the house as a debauched playground for the powerful was covered. Kubrick returned to that idea in "Eyes Wide Shut" with the creepy ritualistic orgy house. (I wish "Eyes Wide Shut" was a bit better on the whole.) I love j_difool's idea of the house being blasted with bad psychic energy and it just stains the walls. It wants to corrupt anyone who goes there. It focuses on Jack b/c he is already vulnerable. I think that Kubrick understood that many of the rich (still true today) see the world as their little playground for fucked up psychological games that usually involve humiliation and often much worse. It's a warning to those who embrace power for its own sake. The power corrupts them and destroys them. And maybe even dooms them to an afterlife in a house of historical horrors.
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Both still creep me out, no matter how many times I read/watch them.
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Was a brilliant choice. Remember seeing this as a kid and that scene really amped up the WTF, there is really no hope, and everyone is in real serious danger. The suddenness of that death after all the build up, was an awesome choice. Oh and I agree, you must see the Shining on the big screen to appreciate it. I was fortunate enough to catch it in a Drive-in theater. Let me assure you, having to leave your car and travel to the snack bar for popcorn, in the dark,I the middle of this film, is the scariest experience ever.
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April 10, 2012, 8:28 a.m. CST
Re: humor in Jack's performance (and Yeah I'm commenting a lot, but what the hell)
by smudgewhat
I guess I love this movie. Yeah, there is definitely sick humor in Jack's performance. I am certain it is intentional. For some reason I don't find it hammy though that line is easy to cross. Jack is ultimately more frightening than amusing. Now I'm thinking about that awful smirky I'm gonna fuck this hot bitch real good look on his face in the bathroom before that naked bitch turns into decomposed granny. Creepy! Fuck! Hahahahah
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April 10, 2012, 8:43 a.m. CST
Spielberg said Jack's performance on this movie was Kabuki theater
by Ricardo
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Because I was just thinking of the scene in Twister where The Shining was playing at a drive in theater. Hey, anyone notice that the BTS threads have the least trolling assholes and the most actual discussion about film?
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EXACTLY! That's when all hope is lost. I didn't think it was gratuitous at all, as was suggested here earlier. It was needed at that point. It really set the tone going forward.
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Fascinating! I wonder. Do you think that Kubrick hired Jack hoping to get *crazy Jack* or *Manic Jack* and instead found himself with an actor at a point in his career when he wanted to explore subtlety... so his only way of extracting what he wanted from the man was to slowly drive him toward the more mania-and-crazy aspects of his acting tool-set? Probably the more realistic take on it was that he was searching for perfection, or even something magical. When you really think about it, actors are really putting themselves into much more vulnerable positions than I've ever considered. Look at what Malick did on The Thin Red Line... with Billy Bob Thornton, Martin Sheen, Gary Oldman, Bill Pullman, Lukas Haas, Viggo Mortensen and Mickey Rourke completely cut from the final film and Adrian Brody's LEAD turned into not much more than a cameo. It also makes me wonder if in half of Nicolas Cage's films (the bad ones), there's not a cut where he doesn't do things like scream *NOT THE BEES* or punch girls. *Okay, Nic... for this take I want you to think along the lines of..... hmmm... DARING CHOICE!... and ...GO!*
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I've noticed that too. It's why I usually don't post in them unless I think I have something to really say about the film being discussed that might add something to the discussion. In other TB's I might just throw my 2 cents in for the hell of it. Or comment on someone's assholery.
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April 10, 2012, 9:10 a.m. CST
Nicholson in this era was always my ideal real-life Wolvo, Sherrrrrr-nikt.
by steve lee
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April 10, 2012, 9:15 a.m. CST
re: "I'm sure a lot of people out there think "The Birds" is idiotic."
by buggerbugger
Oddly enough, I like 'The Birds' up until the moment when the birds start doing their thing.
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He had his booze problem, but he also seemed like a guy trying to get it together and then loses it once he gets to the Hotel. A better version than the book, I think, which goes off on too many tangents; the bushes turning into animals and moving around... The best part besides Nicholson is the kid, the creepy girly twins and the old lady in the bathtub.....ugh... Love this flick!
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April 10, 2012, 9:25 a.m. CST
Horror movies do not scare anymore...I do get creeped out.
by ZodNotGod
but I can get creeped out, even uncomfortable and admire the craft and skill it takes to scare others. This is one of those that does it long time... Danny doesn't scare me, but the kid is creepy talking to his finger "TONY," and of course the twins and the old lady. Kubrick's editing is crisp too. He's known for his long, staid shot,s but he keeps this one relativley tight and moving.
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There's something about his work that is super acquired taste. I'm thinking to myself whether my mom could ever make it through 2001 and I bet she'd just think it was dark and slow. But to me it's genius. But I gotta be in the right frame of mind too. It's the wrong pick for 'comedy night', that's for sure.
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Still can't watch it. That and the "operation" scene from fire in the sky, the only 2 scenes in movies where i, as an adult, have to cover my eyes.
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April 10, 2012, 10:56 a.m. CST
Love how Kubrick got Duvall to stay scared and crying by slapping her around and calling her a useless twot.
by UltraTron
Just when she'd had enough and was going to call the cops- Roll Camera!
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April 10, 2012, 11 a.m. CST
This movie scared a date so bad she had to have sex immediately to ward off the images
by UltraTron
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April 10, 2012, 11:04 a.m. CST
Let's credit Quint for his taste in flicks that allows these TBs to take place
by smudgewhat
Thanks Quint. Good on ya. Keep em coming.
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April 10, 2012, 11:10 a.m. CST
Well ultraton I'd say thats mission accomplished.
by Kill List Hammertime
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That scene in the hospital with the nurse and the shears scared the living shit out of me. I really enjoyed that film. The old lady crawling around on the ceiling while not jarringly scary, was a nice creepy addition. And, George C Scott was great in it. As noted above in this talkback; the Changeling was another great creepy movie; elevated a lot by Scott's performance.
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I think she gives a tremendous performance, and is in many ways the unsung hero of the movie. She had to be in hysterics for the better part of a year to play the role, with Kubrick berating her most of the time. Tough work, but it paid off. And it's got to be tough for any actress to be deliberately made up and presented in such an unappealing, asexual way. This, of course, was crucial to Kubrick's thesis, and is a marked departure from the book--King's Wendy, as I recall, was a voluptuous blonde. But Kubrick's vision is that of a man bored with and resentful of his domestic obligations, so giving him a hot wife would have run counter to that. So hats off to Shelley.
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April 10, 2012, 2:26 p.m. CST
Yeah, I doubt Kubrick even rolled during those scenes where he was trying to get a reaction out of Duvall
by Mugato5150
I mean why bother? You know you're not going to use them. And still no one will explain the point of Eyes Wide Shut? I know it's somewhat ancillary to the topic but still.
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April 10, 2012, 2:32 p.m. CST
i'm putting "The Changeling" and "The Birds" into my movie queue
by smudgewhat
so thanks for those suggestions
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April 10, 2012, 2:51 p.m. CST
No. Once again. Here is the horror aspect of The Shining.
by DanielnocharismaCraig
That people actually consider Shelly Duvall to be attractive. Forget the comparison between literary and film as a display medium. I wanna know what the hell those people are thinking that Shelly Duvall is attractive??????????? I mean, are these the same ones who find Maya Rudolph sexy? Must be.
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April 10, 2012, 4:36 p.m. CST
Kubrick movies make me sad now. Cause I know that when Kubrick died, movies died too. That loss will never be replaced.
by ChickenStu
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April 10, 2012, 10:29 p.m. CST
Sorry. All movies, like any type of art, of subjective...
by gamerawangi
And in my opinion, this movie sucks. And, yes, I saw it on the big screen when it came out. And, yes, I realize that many movies, based on books, cannot translate those books to the screen. But there's barely anything in this movie that resembles the book. Kubrick took the basic premise, and made his own movie with the title "The Shining". Interesting that Vladimir Nabokov ("Lolita") AND Stephen King had the same reaction to Kubrick's adaption of their novels. Both basically said, "Mr. Kubrick made a nice movie. But it is not my book." Then they put King under a contract agreement that he would not comment the film until he was able to make a TV mini-series out of it. Never saw it. to tell the truth. Doubt anyone, even with today's technology, could do justice to the book.
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