Get Your Shine On

Rating: 10/10 (9 April 2013)

"Boyyou read my thoughts! You've got the Shinning," says Groundskeeper Willy.
"You mean: 'Shining,'" replies Bart Simpson.
"Shh! You want to get sued?" answers Groundskeeper Willy.
That was 1994. The Simpsons came out with their fifth of twenty-third "Treehouse of Horror" specials. The year, now, is 2013. To this day. I've never forgotten that quote and I remember hearing it live as the fifth "Treehouse of Horror" special aired. Whenever The Shining is brought up in my presence, or whenever I start a conversation about it, I quote those lines. And yes, with the Scottish accent for Willy and never calling the movie by any other name other than "The Shinning."
For those as nostalgic as me, it gathers a few laughs. Mostly from myself. ButI sincerely digress. I'm here to talk about The (real) Shining. And, sadly, I cannot accomplish this without spoilers. So, you are warned.
** If You Have Not Seen The Shining, or even The Shinning, then just know this: I highly recommend this movie. Watch it now. Don't wait, call out sick and get a copy. Watch it and then continue with my review. Press stop now. **
Whew. I truly believe I could write a novel on how fantastic, how awesome, how truly incredible this masterpiece is. Maybe, one day I will, but for now, I will give you my basic, run-of-the-Thesar review.
First, let me start off (again?) with how pleased I am that I bought this on BluRay. I had originally planned on it by setting aside April 2013 as the month to re-watch and finally review a bunch of older movies from my past and I included The Shining. You see, this was one of my first horror movies I ever saw as a kid. And I distinctly remember that I was disappointed because, and yeah, these are my words: "Only two people died. And, one of them was the killer!"
Moving right along, the last time I saw this, after several more viewings, was about 1994, I estimate. So we're talking 19 years since I last saw this and just about the same time that Simpsons episode aired. And back then, I was sadly, and unfortunately influenced by who I saw it with who said: "It's one of those movies (that's so boring) that if you fast-forwarded a bit, you'd be in the same place as you were when you initially hit 'fast-forward.'" Due to my typical disdain for "slow-moving" pictures, I (now, regrettably) believed him.
Fast-forward, once again, to 2013 and I heard about a documentary called: Room 237. I wanted to watch that, but since it's been about 19 years since I've seen the original, why not purchase it on BluRay and revisit the classic. My eyes opened so wide during this viewing, I didn't know if they close.
Any small infraction of my poor feelings about this movie was wiped clean. This isanear PERFECT MOVIE. Mood, cinematography, atmosphere, dialogue, suspense, score, acting, originality, fearit's all here. Generally, I am weary of very long movies, especially long ones that takeitslow. But, this movie never, ever, felt slow. Thanks to Director Kubrick, he moved the film along with rich dialogue, excellent scenes of the ever-so isolated Colorado hotel or score. He accomplished what Hitchcock set out to do and what M. Night Shyamalan could never touch.
Now, there will be some, or possibly, many, who will compare it to the equally masterful book it's based on. I have read that incredible book, and loved every page of it and this movie, well, took themes, characters and settings, but overall, it was fairly far off target. The nice thing about judging a project on its own merit is that you can enjoy both and be honest about it. Not to mention, now you get two alternative universes to enjoy. Much like the original Star Trek legendary films and series and the updated J.J. Abrams vision. So, I like what direction Kubrick took with this story.
I also love what Jack Nicolson did to the role of Jack Torrance. And both Shelley Duvall and Danny Lloyd were also very good, as was Scatman Crothers.
Already "off" Jack takes a job as the caretaker of the gorgeous Colorado hotel for the off-season winter and brings his "special" son and wife in tow. Jack's excited because the job requires little maintenance and care, and he gets to finish the novel he quit his teaching job for. Onlythe isolation/cabin fever is starting to get Jackie boy a little, well, more tense.
Little by little, Jack gets more stressed and agitated. More and more that "special" son of his has visions of past guests who met unfortunate ends there, to say the least. And Mom, well, she's growing further and further concerned.
See? The overall tension builds as the minutes of the film passes for all parties involved. And as more is revealed around them, the very worse things get for the Torrance's.
Hands down, one of the most memorable and scariest movie scenes of my whole life was when (now-GONE) Jack breaks into the bathroom to "teach" his wife a lesson, or final one, at least. I don't recall now, but I believe I couldn't get that image of the axe through the door, or Wendy Torrance striking back, out of my head and possibly dreams for many years. It's still enormously effective today.
I literally could dissect almost every chapter on the disc and fill up volumes of my own chapters. This should be taught in film school. Each scene, each set, each line, each facial expression or, lack thereof, were all so masterfully crafted, it's good that it "appears slow" (even when it's not) so we can sit back, absorb and understand how a real film should be made.
Would I recommend this? Well, you don't need the shinning to figure out if I did.