The Shining

As I've said before -- on this thread -- King doesn't understand his own work at time. Jack Torrance in the novel is a man barely holding it together on p.1. His descent into madness is a very short one.

Torrance is a dude with demons in the book, but in The Shining its amazing they even got to the hotel. I enjoy Kubrick's but I can see why King would feel the meat of the story from his pov had been altered if not eradicated. It's like if Johnny Cash did "Hurt" but lived for another decade and told everyone it was about Jesus.

haha ok that's a horrible comparison but still. While the shining mini-series was weak and tv mini-seriesish, I can see why King would prefer the relative modulation of Steven Weber's performance.

still Jack being nutz (as in, pulling faces) from the start has always bored/irritated me.

King's probably just pissed because they didn't include the evil hedge animals

i've never quite understood the 'jack is crazy from the start' criticism, the character is obv an abusive asshole but nicholson plays him as more a guy struggling to hold on to his temper than a guy who's out-and-out nuts.

i mean, until he actually does go nuts.

Which is exactly how he is in the book! The first words in the book are "Officious little prick," describing Jack's thoughts as he sits through his hotel interview with Ullman, who he would like nothing more than to punch in the face.

Moron.

Pretty sure I linked this upthread, but if you can read this article and still regard The Shining as one of Kubrick's lesser works, then film criticism truly is without point: http://parallax-view.org/2009/10/28/kubricks-shining/

including Kael's 1980 pan, I spose

No.

It's been clear that film criticism truly is without point since the VV poll named Todd Haynes' worst film the best of the '90s.

Someone should've alerted the media.

who can forget that day

Somehow the miniseries doesn't rank at the very bottom of this: http://www.vulture.com/2013/07/all-of-stephen-kings-tv-work-ranked.html

Enh, I haven't seen a lot of those, but mid-pack is about where I'd put TV Shining. I believe I've opined elsewhere, I thought it did an okay job.

http://25.media.tumblr.com/24869854b7e5bc873d6ac7dff4471f2f/tumblr_mqfrpnSI2W1rce5tlo1_500.jpg

Never noticed it before, but love the very UK "Games Room" on the door.

is that UK? i remember hotels having those as a kid. particularly ones with the addams family pinball game.

In my humble country, it was called a "Game Room".

Funny how it's like that and yet, we play sports and UK enjoys sport.

xp, yeah, in Colorado it would certainly have been called a "Game Room."

Saw room 237 last night, wow

do you have maths rooms in the US

Dude, we don't even have math.

bro do you even have lifts?

citizenkaneapplause.gif

http://maudit.tumblr.com/post/22308427007/the-making-of-the-shining-by-vivian-kubrick-x

wau @ jack gettin into character!

http://24.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m3flxetmgE1qiz3j8o5_r1_250.gif

me irl

i love that making-of

Me, too. It was included in a silver anniversary VHS tape I had years ago so I haven't seen it in a long time.

http://jezebel.com/stephen-king-hates-the-shining-because-it-s-misogynisti-1361182451@laurabeck

Another valiant attempt to reclaim his book's reputation away from the movie's fans.

dude, I like your books. LET IT GO ffs.

Breaking: Stephen King Digs Up Kubrick's Corpse & Skull-Fucks It One More Time

that article makes a cogent point though

The wrong one.

You might not be a fan of Stephen King, but if any of his books actually deserves praise for straddling that line between literary and popular fiction, The Shining is definitely it.

Would rank at least four or five of his other books well above The Shining: The Book, but it has been awhile since I've read it.

Conversely, I wouldn't rank a single SK adaptation above Kubrick's film, with the sole possible exception of Carrie.

which one? The one about the movie being terrifying is lol wrong.

xp

i find wendy sympathetic in the movie (and, again, really don't buy the 'jack is crazy from the start' criticism).

king's got every right to voice his opinion -- it was his book, after all -- but it is kind of peculiar that he never seems to bother bashing any of the other 90,000 shitty movies that have been made from his work.

most of which have "stephen king's..." in huge letters before the title.

One glance at the list of his top 10 favorite adaptations from his own work confirms: he loves the shitty movies based on his work.

Worst of Stephen King's 10 favorite adaptations of his own fiction

i know this thread is mostly about the movie but this is a thoughtful review of DOCTOR SLEEP, the sequel to the shining--

http://www.vulture.com/2013/09/book-review-stephen-kings-doctor-sleep.html?mid=twitter_vulture

can't believe he didn't even include 'carrie'! crazy old guy.

Here's hoping King gets forced to deal with Haneke or Von Trier or some other high-profile asshole director for the movie version of Dr. Sleep.

which one? The one about the movie being terrifying is lol wrong.

about the characterisations of jack and wendy. i love the hell out of the movie and don't seek to tear it down, but wendy in particular is nothing like the book wendy (although i wouldn't call her a 'misogynistic character').

i agree with The Shining being his best stab at lit fic tbh

he's always been quite vocal about preferring shitty film adaptations, but he's been a shitty writer since the early-mid 80s so no surp really

http://www.salon.com/2013/10/01/what_stanley_kubrick_got_wrong_about_the_shining/

the faithful tend to incant the words “genius” and “masterpiece” and “great” over and over again, as if those terms constituted the workings of an argument rather than its conclusion.

Any year that didn't see the release of Room 237 and this might've almost passed the smell test.

i think that article is completely wrong, almost line by line, right down to the line about kubrick's supposed "i'm-a-genius stance" (which applies way more to king these days imo).

I wish Salon would just stop.