Acclaimed Music Forums

HERE'S JOHNNY

I saw this movie when I was in college and short of got but was too young and naive to fully capture it if you can capture such a movie. I bought it on Blu-Ray a few years ago and have watched it several times and I always pick up something that I didn't realize the previous time I watched it. I don't understand the criticism Shelley Duvall's acting gets from this movie because I feel like she is plays the role with fear because of her a crazy husband and has no control over the situation. I feel like she plays the role perfectly for the audience to consume that fear through her character

I am surprised that this made the top 100 on TSPDT because it doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the movies in the top 100 as far as style and genre but then I looked at it's ranking history and it's jumped from 204 to 96 which is equally as surprising. That could be the power of Kubrick or the power of the film or both. I think it is Kubrick's best movie that I've seen and that includes 2001: A Space Odyssey. I think because of the many stories and conspiracy theories that surround the movie that make it so much more fascinating for me. The "documentary" Room 237 make The Shining much more a fascinating watch that it already is form even though Room 237 is full of bullshit.

Great movie and I'm glad that it made it into the top 100.

Probably the biggest time where I disagreed with the critics.

The problems lie not with Kubrick, but with most of the rest of the film. So much of it is filler and a lot of it just isn't scary, aside from a few jump scares. And when they do come, most are exaggerated to the point of being laughable. It's fine if he wants to build stuff up, but so much was focused on buildup, not enough was given to story and character depth.

Jack Nicholson is fine, but his wife and son make me cringe.

While not my least favorite film, it has become the one where I disagree the most with the general consensus.

whuntva wrote:Jack Nicholson is fine, but his wife and son make me cringe.

I agree with you about Shelley Duvall, but I thought Danny Lloyd was excellent in this movie. So much of the movie felt like it was rested on his shoulders and Kubrick is especially notorious for his repeated takes, but the quality of his performance (which was very good to begin with) never faltered.

However, I really do not care for this movie. I mean, Kubrick did a fine job with it and there are a few breathtaking sequences. I love the opening with its sweeping camera pan over the landscapes. (Apparently, outtakes from it were used in Blade Runner.) Yet it's not a movie I would really want to watch again like 2001: A Space Odyssey or Barry Lyndon.