EarleQaeda Reviews

The Shining (1980)

What Gives?

[4/10 · 13 January 2008]

I will start with the disclaimers: I am a Kubrick fan, total & complete. I also dislike & usually avoid the horror genre which is why it has taken me 26 years to get to The Shining. The latter also implies a distrust of Stephen King as an author.

I enjoyed Stanleys work - the magical use of the camera in particular. I enjoyed Jack Nicholson doing his Jack Nicholson & Shelley Duvallis always a favorite. The kid was damn good too.

But there was a lot I didn't like. The dialog. It seemed so bad throughout the first half of the movie I kept wondering was Kubrick present for those scenes or did he contract them out to another? Or, was the sheer banality of the script & acting actually a device purposely intended.

I watched the whole thing but was left wondering where Jack's breakdown came from. He blamed it on Wendy but we didn't see any practical evidence of her restraining his career, lifestyle or aspirations. Okay he was a madman & I guess we just have to believe that. Oh I suppose that the stereotypical teacher quitting work to write the Great American novel should be indicator enough of a mental crisis. But now Ithink I'm criticizing Mr King's contribution.

I can only imagine how bad this movie would have been if it were undertaken by a standard director & not Stanley Kubrick.

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Eyelids Rapidly Fluttering

[6/10 · 13 January 2008]

Well I liked it more than I anticipated. Tom Cruise surprised me. He was pretty darn good though maybe not totally believable as a doctor. The clinic scenes worked. His general demeanor didn't. To attractive perhaps - a silent shudder of my masculinity as I write that. Still, he carried the drama well. Kidman was a surprise too. I've seen a lot of hype about her over the years. Good to see a bit of substance behind it. Though... I kept wondering if the movie was merely an excuse to spend some time pointing a camera at her butt.

Typical Kubrick masterwork all the same. Loved that two note theme - very 'Jaws' like.

I'll be watching it again sometime. Not just for NK's butt - orgy scene aside, this is really a study of personal relationship & the exploration of ideals, fears & fantasies.

Midnight Cowboy (1969)

Still works on me...

[10/10 · 25 December 2007]

Saw this as a young naive punk when it was first released. Had me snifflin' like a baby as I left the theatre, trying not to let anyone see. So, when I saw it again now in '07, I knew what to expect & the sobs were ready & primed as their required moment approached. Thankfully this time I was at home.

What I hadn't remembered from my youthful viewing- or perhaps hadn't noticed because of it, was the technical brilliance of this movie. The use of flashbacks which tell so much story without resorting to dialogue. The camera work which seemed to place the viewer, together with the characters in the scene. Think of the opening when Joe is crossing the street to the diner, the camera pans behind the woman & child sitting on a bench in the foreground, framing the street scene.

The story itself, & the characters - seedy, sad & brutally real. It is very touching to be drawn so closely into a human drama such as this with people most of us would likely spurn. Then again, Joe & Ratso could be any of us. Must have been '70 when I saw it. I recall that upon leaving the theatre I was impelled to find the company of friends. All these years later, I'm glad I'm not alone tonight. This is one hell of a great movie.