DSL's Movie/TV Reviews and Discussion

[Cody_Russell]

DOCTOR SLEEP (2019)
d. Mike Flanagan
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis, Zahn McClarnon, Carl Lumbly

I'm a big fan of The Shining both Stephen King's original book and the Kubrick film so last weekend I said to myself, "oh yeah. I still haven't seen the sequel" and finally watched it.

It's pretty hard to talk about the plot at all without spoiling the movie too much so I won't bother. All the trailers spoil too much also. It IS based upon Stephen King's own sequel but there are major differences. There were major differences in the original adaptation too (more on that below). All I'll say is that the surface plot mostly revolves around a Manson family-like cult of "psychic vampires" who hunt for, torture, and kill people with the 'shining' to extend their own lives.

I would say that I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's NOT the classic the first film is.

SPOILER I didn't find it very scary. But the content is almost more disturbing than the first film? One of the themes of the first movie was child abuse and that's definitely a theme here too. A lot of scenes really draw my respect for the amount of work that went into duplicating sets and actors from the original movie, which could have been accomplished with CGI, but these were built with hard work and eye for detail. Ewan McGregor did a great job as a grown-up Danny Torrance and I really liked Cliff Curtis as his friend and AA sponsor. A couple of the actors they found to play characters from the first movie (no CGI Peter Cushings here!) were GREAT. Alex Essoe as Wendy Torrance doesn't really LOOK like Shelley Duvall but man, she captured the essence of that character really well I thought.

How much you enjoy this might depend on what you'd like to see out a Shining sequel made almost 40 years later. If you want a lot of nods, references, and "tributes" to the original movie, you'll probably enjoy half the movie. If you want a brand new story about Danny Torrance set decades after the events of The Shining, you'll probably enjoy half the movie. If you're open to both you'll enjoy it more probably.

So to talk a bit more about the original book/movie and then the respective sequels...if you're familiar you know that the original Kubrick film and novel are very different. Stephen King hated the adaptation and hated the casting of Jack Nicholson. And I sort of agree with him on that. I re-watched The Shining over the weekend too cuz it'd been a while and Nicholson seems crazy from the start. Jack Torrance was supposed to be more of an 'everyman' character. With some serious problems, yeah, but not a hateful lunatic. I love the movie but it's hard to say at any point Nicholson is a sympathetic character. Anyway the ending of the book is very different from the movie. The hotel burns down. But that also means that in the new movie they had options that Stephen King didn't for his sequel novel.

This movie kind of came and went without much fanfare and deserves a bit better than that. If you're any kind of fan of the originals you should check this out.

In lieu of a trailer here's a neat British promo that ran years ago for "Kubrick season"

Saw "Doctor Sleep" a few days ago and really enjoy it.
Had no idea that a sequel to "The Shining" came out and had hardly any expectations for this film because usually prequels/ sequels are bad. A sequel to "The Shining" that comes out 40 years later seemed suspicious.

Definitely a good movie. "The Shining" is on another level, but I thought "Doctor Sleep" did a nice job following up. Compelling plot. Great acting by Rebecca Ferguson, Ewan McGregor, and the child actress. Characters were developed with interesting villains. Perhaps it goes overboard on "The Shining" references during the third act, but at the same time, that was satisfying as a fan of Kubrick.

It's on HBO Max if anyone wants to see "Doctor Sleep."

[Hannibal]

I found Dr Sleep to be pretty meh.

[Dr. Strangelove]

Already said my piece on it but I'd prob give it a B+?

The one reference to the original I didn't need was the "blood elevator". I always thought that was a vision personal to Danny and not some sort of apparition that anyone might happen to see walking past that set of elevators. Or maybe he conjured it? I dunno, but unnecessary. And her reaction was weird.

[Dr. Strangelove]

So after a fast start (and a slow finish) I finally made it through the DIRTY HARRY film series. I had never seen any of these and was only really familiar with the plot of the original movie.

I have thoughts on each but this is how I would rank them:

Dirty Harry (1971)
Sudden Impact (1983)
Magnum Force (1973)
The Dead Pool (1988)
The Enforcer (1976)

It's pretty hard to not go with the first film, which pretty much set the mold for the "loose cannon cop" who "doesn't play by the rules" sort of film. It also has the best villain of the series, the serial killer psychopath 'Scorpio', played by Andy Robinson, who would many years later play Garak on Star Trek: Deep Space 9. Incidentally, Harry's partner in this one (he has a different partner every movie and they all end up wounded or dead), would play the character "Poppy" on Seinfeld in the 90's.

But I digress.

I assume most people have seen Dirty Harry and don't really need the plot recapped but basically Detective Harry Callahan must try to stop the insane killer known only as "Scorpio" (an obvious reference to the then-contemporary Zodiac Killer) all while also navigating the liberal bullshit coming from his superiors to "play nice" with the crooks. Yeah, the first 3 movies of the series have a lot of politics in them; you're obviously meant to sympathize with Harry and not his pencil-pushing, San Francisco liberal bosses and politicians. He gets results, dammit. The final 2 movies almost drop the politics completely.

And boy, Scorpio is wonderfully nasty. He kills women, kids, priests, doesn't care. These movies don't shy away from violence and nudity although...again...the final two movies do tone down the nudity (although RAPE RAPE RAPE is the focal point of Movie 4).

There are some great set pieces in this movie. Scorpio making Harry run all over San Francisco answering pay phones. The confrontation at Kezar Stadium. The school bus finale. Having watched all five movies in about a month, the series makes nice use of San Francisco locations.

So yeah, this is the first and best of the bunch and not a close call for me.

[AlabamAlum]

Watched the Netflix drama called “Queen’s Gambit”. It’s about a fictional female chessplayer named Beth Harmon who discovers she is a chess prodigy in an orphanage. She has demons (drugs and alcohol) and her adoptive family is dysfunctional. It’s okay as a drama, but as a chessplayer, the tournaments and chess action are kinda hard to watch - the positions are generally okay, but the action and etiquette are a big miss - which will hurt the suspension of disbelief with any real chessplayer (which is disappointing considering Bruce Pandofilini and Garry Kasparov helped as content experts. No doubt their roles were limited). Nonetheless, worth a watch.

[iam416]

Ok as a drama; not realistic as far as chess goes. Worth the watch.

Welcome to AlabamAlum's Low Bar Cafe. Come for the Bud Light, stay for 47th best wings in Jasper.

[AlabamAlum]

I guess that was sass? That one paragraph have too many words? Or am I misreading that?

[Cody_Russell]

Will possibly check out "The Queen's Gambit" at some point. Looks interesting... chess was my best sport growing up.

Couple other TV series thoughts:
- "The Boys." Mentioned it in another thread... I finally bought into the hype and started this series a few days ago. Very entertaining midway through season 1. It's basically comparable to the film "Deadpool", but as a TV series. Comedy drama involving superheroes that twists them in dark and funny ways. I can definitely see how Seth Rogen is a producer. AND LOL, Karl Urban is hilarious in it.
- "The Leftovers." Wow, think I discovered a gem... HBO original series that flew under the radar a few years ago. Absolutely love this series. Drama with incredible acting, directing, composing (Max Richter is so good), and character development. It's a very sad series too, but hey... that fits 2020. HIGHLY recommend this.

[AlabamAlum]

For those of you at home, the greatest and most accurate historical movie ever made is on: Braveheart.

It is in IFC (a free by channel that doesn’t edit our adult content).

[Hannibal]

For those of you at home, the greatest and most accurate historical movie ever made...

Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978)

[THE_WIZARD_]

For those of you at home, the greatest and most accurate historical movie ever made is on: Braveheart.

It is in IFC (a free by channel that doesn’t edit our adult content).

AA have you seen any of the Outlander series on Netflix and Starz?

[AlabamAlum]

I have. Not a fan of time travel stuff - love story stuff.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Thought you might enjoy the Scottish history part of it...

[iam416]

Outlander is about as factual as Braveheart.

[THE_WIZARD_]

Don't burst AA's Scottish bubble...