Directed by Mike Flanagan While itself a straight down the middle, somewhat delirious horror/fantasy movie, Doctor Sleep is more fascinating for how it interacts with its prequel, Stanley Kubrick's The Shining. Stephen King is widely known to loath that 1980 film for how it deviates from his novel. The character Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) was … Continue reading Doctor Sleep (2019)
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The Pledge (2001)
Directed by Sean Penn Jerry Black (Jack Nicholson) is a retiring police officer who isn't ready to let go. On the night of his retirement party the body of a young girl is discovered in the woods, and it's Jerry who shoulders the emotional burden of first notifying the girl's parents and then promising to … Continue reading The Pledge (2001)
Hal (2018)
Directed by Amy Scott Hal is a wonderful little documentary if only because so much of Hal Ashby's life feels as of yet unearthed. Or maybe that's just my perspective. Hal Ashby (1929-1988) was one of the best directors of the 1970s. A former editor, mythologized for how he would work nonstop, in a cloud … Continue reading Hal (2018)
Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Directed by Monte Hellman Ride in the Whirlwind is one of Monte Hellman's two bleak, sparse westerns made with Jack Nicholson in 1966. The other is an existential little thing called The Shooting. Like that film this one is brief and slow at the same time. They chronicle ever tightening nooses, so to speak, as a … Continue reading Ride in the Whirlwind (1966)
Five Easy Pieces (1970)
Directed by Bob Rafelson Five Easy Pieces is at the forefront of the New Hollywood, at least I think it is. Released at the beginning of the 70s, the film precedes many of the classic movies from the likes of Martin Scorsese, Hal Ashby, Coppola, Lucas, Spielberg, Altman, Bogdanovich, Boorman, De Palma... [deep breath]... Friedkin, … Continue reading Five Easy Pieces (1970)
The Shining (1980)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick The Shining is so famous, so analyzed, so iconographic that it's hard to have an original opinion about it. I assume I like it, because I do, but is that belief really my own or did I know I had to like it going in? This is a chilling horror film, … Continue reading The Shining (1980)
The Shooting (1966)
Directed by Monte Hellman Dread looms over everything in The Shooting. As the sparse story is doled out over 82 minutes the shots become wider, and the music begins to take over for the dialogue, making the character's trek feel like a slow burn, stripping away what makes them human. There isn't much life to begin … Continue reading The Shooting (1966)
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