Originally posted by alasdairm
i watched the shining recently after not having seen it for ages and it was much better than i remembered.
i definitely recommend revisiting it - let us know what you think?
alasdair
ok, did so. strangely enough, i also ended up watching
a clockwork orange (on a massive projector screen no less) in the same week.
my thoughts: like you said,
the shining was *far* better than i recall - i really, really enjoyed it. his use of the massive set to create tension, and his "creeping around the corners" camera-work (especially with danny on his tricycle) was fantastic. conversely, i didn't enjoy
a clockwork orange anywhere near as much, and it's subsequently dropped to one of my least favourites.
in both films we see that kubrick loves his symetrical framing, and in
clockwork it got to be too much for me - that coupled with his intensely ott "future stylings" just kind of revealed that he hadn't added much depth from the book itself. of course, i still enjoyed it, but i certainly don't consider it a classic that i once did.
otoh,
the shining i do consider a classic now (though i was aware of its status as that before, i just figured *i* was wrong

) - nicholson is great, kubrick is great (directorially, obviously), and it's such a great atmospheric film. so there ya go
