Posts Tagged ‘The Shining’
Film Review – Bad Things
Writer/director Stewart Thorndike makes explicit the influences that pervade Bad Things (2023). A spooky hotel and the violent events that happen inside of it will undoubtably call to mind Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece, The Shining (1980). Thorndike makes several visual and thematic callbacks to that film, and keen observers will have a running…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Long Night
Grace (Scout Taylor-Compton) and Jack (Nolan Gerard Funk) are a couple living in New York. The two head toward the southern end of the country in hopes of finding Grace’s missing parents. Their search leads them to an old plantation home settled in the middle…
READ MOREFilm Review – Fear Street Part 1: 1994
Based on the R.L. Stine books, Fear Street (2021) is an ambitious horror trilogy telling an interweaving story through three different time periods. Fear Street Part 1: 1994 combines such influences as A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984), Scream (1996), The Shining (1980), and its Netflix counterpart, Stranger Things. That last comparison is apt since several…
READ MOREEpisode 26 – Doctor Sleep
In this episode of the podcast, we bring on actor, comedian, and friend Josh Hurley to help us review the latest Stephen King adaptation, Doctor Sleep. We also discuss what roles he and Keith would want to play in a selection of ensemble films, and…
READ MOREFilm Review – Doctor Sleep
Nearly 40 years after Stanley Kubrick scarred a nation with his loose interpretation of Stephen King‘s The Shining, director Mike Flanagan picks up the story in an overall pretty good adaptation of King’s own 2013 published sequel, Doctor Sleep.
READ MOREFilm Review – The Intruder
Dennis Quaid is having a ball playing the villain of The Intruder (2019). It’s been said that the antagonist is sometimes more interesting than the hero, and because of that actors tend to play their characters far looser and with more creativity. A lot of…
READ MOREFilm Review – Squirrel
First feature films can be a tricky endeavor for those with small budgets but an avid love for the art of film. Many firsts for screenwriters and directors end up being films with a decent budget that gain a cult following and strong word-of-mouth, but others…
READ MOREFilm Review – The Purge: Election Year
Man I wish these movies were better. This series is a repeating exercise in frustration. There is potential here for making a trenchant, biting, incisive commentary on American society. And there are germs of good ideas in The Purge series. But they are so underutilized…
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