(Originally written March 6th 2010)

Released: March 26th 2010
Plot: A hapless young Viking who aspires to hunt dragons becomes the unlikely friend of a young dragon himself, and learns there may be more to the creatures than he assumed.

Review: I think there are only 2 things that I’ll get up at 8am for on a Saturday, free food or a free screening. In this case, it’s the latter.  I managed to wake up and schlepped some 15 miles away all for a free IMAX movie. I was grumpy, tired, and SURROUNDED by little kids with lots of energy and parents who couldn’t control them. When the movie started, the first thing we see is a bouncing ball jumping out at us to basically inform the audience that yes, this is indeed in 3D. My eyes hate 3D because I can’t 3D that well and just based off this little graphic, I was sure I was going to hate this movie. But I was very wrong.

The movie jumps right into the action. The Viking village is under attack by dragons and all the Vikings are running around fighting off the dragons and trying to save their food.  Stoick, the head Viking voiced by Gerard Butler, is running around barking orders. People are scrambling, buildings are burning and debris is flying at us causing lots of kids to scream and yell, ”WOAH!” at the screen.  The villagers begin knocking the dragons out of the sky one by one but they’re no match for the most dangerous dragon, Night Furry.

Lots of movies made for kids about scrawny heroes tend to follow a simple layout: Kid is weak. People don’t like kid. Kid needs to prove self. Kid finds way to prove self. It blows up in kids face. Kid had what he needed all along. People like kid. End of movie.  But this is a movie made by DreamWorks Animation. Sure they don’t have the budget or the writing staff of Disney but, they come very close.  DreamWorks Animation has produced hits like Shrek, Madagascar, Kung-Fu Panda, and Monsters vs. Aliens.  Kung-Fu Panda was one of my top 10 movies in 2008. It has a very typical story line about an underdog making it to the top, (remember that layout?) but it wasn’t just the story that held my attention, it was the attention put into making the audience like and relate to the characters.  That’s what DreamWorks Animation tends to do, and that’s what they do in this movie.

Hiccup isn’t a very strong kid but he’s kind and smart. And Jay Baruchel does a great job at voicing his character. He wasn’t annoying or just some random kid, he was Hiccup.  The animators managed to give him and lots of other characters in the movie a personality and personally, that’s something I think every movie should have.  Many film makers believe that kids don’t need character development. They just throw a character on screen and make them do their bidding. DreamWorks adds life to their characters which is why Shrek has become such a huge franchise for them.  You throw in some personality and great voice-over actors and you’ve got a hit. In this case, throw in some 3D IMAX and you’ve got a super hit.

Hiccup later goes to find Night Furry only to discover that he injured him while trying to take him down and that he’s still wrapped in his ropes. He frees him and Night Furry attacks, but doesn’t kill him like he was taught a dragon should do.  He observes him for a few days and helps Night Furry fly again by giving him an artificial tail wing.   It’s during this time that we get to know Night Furry now renamed Toothless by Hiccup because it appears he doesn’t have teeth but they are actually retractable. Toothless is very similar to Stitch from Lilo and Stitch. Both How to Train Your Dragon and Lilo and Stich were directed and written by Dean DeBlois.  Both characters have the same stubborn attitude and both characters look the same; big round eyes, cute big nose, big floppy ears and big smile.  They both are slightly frightening but gentle and cute creatures much like my Landseer Newfound or a bulldog. But, of course, Stitch is an alien and can talk and Toothless is a dragon and does not talk. Instead, he roars and grunts in a very adorable way.  I wouldn’t be surprised if an animated series is in the works for this movie like Lilo and Stitch. In fact, being a huge fan of Lilo and Stitch, I look forward to it.

I was really surprised with the 3D.  I expected spears, knives and daggers to be penetrating the screen every few seconds but it wasn’t like that at all.  The most 3D came during the action scenes.  There were a few moments where a splash of water would jump out at us, but overall it was nothing too distracting.

Every actor was awesome. Craig Ferguson channeled his inner silly Scotsman through his character Gobber and Jonah Hill’s character Snotlout reminded me of a small teenage Jack Black. The animation was great and surpasses Shrek. I would expect it too considering Shrek is 9 years its senior.

This movie was really fun, and I’m glad I got to see it in IMAX 3D. Normally I’m anti 3D, but in this case, it was done really well. I never thought I’d be saying that about any type of 3D movie. I’m sure this movie will become a franchise with a silly character like Hiccup and a lovable one like Toothless. The only thing that really bothered me was the fact that all of the adults in the village spoke with these thick Scottish accents while all the teens spoke with American accents. Maybe it’s just a generational thing like when your Scottish grandmother emigrated to the U.S.A and spawned future blood lines.  In that case, it makes sense.

(I should note that I recently saw an Episode of Craig Ferguson and he says shut up about the accent, it’s just a movie.)

9 out of 10

Of all the found footage horror movies released over the past few years, none were met with more success, or divided more audiences, than Paranormal Activity. Its lack of special effects, blood, bodies, and, well, camera angles left some audience members scratching their heads, wondering what all the fuss was about. However, a lot of people seemed to respond to the slow burn nature of the movie, the realistic and tense depiction of Micah and Katie, two twenty-somethings who find themselves being disturbed by an unknown force in the middle of the night. Having missed the first one in theaters, I ended up watching it, impressed, considering the minimal budget and technology involved. However, I could understand why it might not be as effective for anyone watching it in a theater, with audience members comments and the noise of popcorn containers and soda drinkers killing any kind of tension the movie might attempt to build. So, seeing the sequel in a packed house, surrounded by rabid fans of the first movie, on opening night, I wasn’t sure who would be to blame if I was disappointed: the filmmakers or the audience?

Luckily, I wasn’t very disappointed at all, as Paranormal Activity 2 does exactly what every sequel should do: it expands upon everything that made the original so good. The demon here makes itself far more apparent, there are more people in the house being terrorized, and most noticeably, the number of camera angles triple (from two to six). Not only that, but whereas the first movie had a fairly self contained story, the follow up attempts to create a mythology that ties up some of the loose ends from the first movie while also explaining why all of this is happening in the first place. Now, horror movies tend to thrive when surrounding mysterious circumstances, or ideas that cannot fully be explained, and while the answers Paranormal Activity 2 provides are interesting, the act of revealing them at all kind of takes away some of the tension and danger, which ends up being both a blessing and a curse.

One of the challenges many writers surely face when dealing in the found footage sub-genre has to be finding creative and realistic ways to expound story points through the medium the characters are using to record their experience.  Unfortunately, the weakest point of Paranormal Activity 2 has to be the very convenient and almost laughably obvious delivery execution of the film’s story. When someone hears a noise downstairs, has a personal conversation with an emotional spouse, or is chasing the possessed body of their wife down into the basement, their first instinct shouldn’t be to grab the camera, and hold it out in front of them for the audience to see what’s going on. Even though what they find may be informative or scary, the action of doing it sacrifices the illusion the filmmakers are trying to create in making a realistic setting for their story.

Apparently, there are a good number of people out there who are unimpressed by Paranormal Activity and its sequel, often stating that they seem too amateurish, too slow, or just not scary at all. I, on the other hand, liked the first movie quite a lot, and while I don’t think this movie is as original or creative as the original in its storytelling, I do believe it’s still a good time at the movies, and definitely one of the creepier and genuinely scary movies to have come out in the last few years. But, in the end, it all comes down to taste, a quality for which no objective judgments can be made, leaving me to say just this about Paranormal Activity 2: if you liked the first one, odds are you’ll like second one.

7 out of 10.

I fall back on the word “sorry” for a lot of things. For a lot of reasons. Now, this isn’t because I need a way out of an argument or because it’s what the other person wants to hear, or what the doctor ordered, it’s due to the fact that I often think I fucked up. And I say to you, TWJers, I’m sorry, for I think I fucked up. You’ve missed me for this little while, and it’s all my fault. I’ve deprived you of my genius, and again, for this – I apologize.

GET TO THE POINT———->

If I could make a real movie that real people really watched it would have to fit the following criteria in order for it to be a masterpiece in my mind:

1) Must be confusing in nature.
2) Must have a theme song.
3) Must be satirical.
4) Must involve music or musicians as a central motif.
5) Must have nonsensical, unnecessary time title cards.
6) Must have a kid so gay he’s just gotta be a film student.
7) Must have an actor from a turn of the century cult classic, such as DONNIE DARKO.
Must be somewhat meta.

AND FINALLY…..

9) MUST BE SHOT SOLELY ON VHS.

Only ONE film, so far, in existence fits this criteria exactly. It is SCUMROCK. Not punk rock.

See SCUMROCK if you enjoy PUTNEY SWOPE, BEHIND THE MASK, SCARY MOVIE, TALADEGA NIGHTS, MY GIRL 2, MY COUSIN VINNY, MILK or anything else with a plot resembling a horse.

kcormucs

boom

When it comes to the term “torture porn”, it’s usually meant to refer to a modern horror movie that emphasizes, and even fetishises, the deaths of its victims, usually taking it slowly, presenting it in an almost sexual manner. However, in A Serbian Film, we see the term used literally, as we follow a retired porn star who takes on one incredibly well paying job, where the only condition is he can’t know the details of the film he’s working on. The most notable quality A Serbian Film possesses, at least on the surface, has to be the reputation it’s gained after going through the festival circuit this past year, mainly for its shocking and realistic depiction of several violent and sexual acts. So naturally, anyone who feels they have been desensitized to these supposedly shocking movies are desperately seeking it out to see if it fulfills the depraved and disgusting experience it promises to be. And, as one of these people, I can assure you, it’s definitely one of the crazier, sickening movies I have ever seen.

Now, usually one will hear about a movie like Serbian Film, and some of the things that are depicted in it, and decide that there cannot possibly be a reason that such a movie should exist, aside from just being another example of the decline of our civilization. And while this is true of many movies that boast scenes of great depravity and gore, there are many great examples of movies that also feature these scenes in order to make a point or support an idea that requires their shocking nature to get it across. A Serbian Film attempts to make statements about the purpose and reality of pornography, the need for it and the demand for it, as well as exploring the more general themes of society, sex, violence, and film. There’s a lot going on here, and while it may be hard to watch sometimes, in the end, it’s apparent there was a purpose to it all.

As we follow Milos (“The Filthy Stud”), a man living comfortably but driven by greed to do take this one last role, we start to see how far a human who has resigned himself to what is considered one of the lowest forms of employment will go for that extra money in his pocket. This struggle between morality and pride, and Milos’ sense of obligation to his family ends up making the whole affair feel like a Greek tragedy, especially in the incredibly appalling and miserable conclusion. It’s a simple story, classic even, but the specifics have been changed to make an impact with modern audiences who might not be affected with anything less than the absolutely grotesque.

Of course, there will always be the people who are unwilling to believe that there’s something out there that can shock them, that can disgust them. After all, these are the same people that have seen such shock-horror movies as Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. But while we’re all used to the blood and gore of those franchises, the unexpected shock of each new surprising deviant act Milos’ employers ask him to undertake are so depraved in their inception, and so realistically rendered and presented, it’s hard for even the most experienced horror veterans to honestly say that they weren’t left a little disturbed by the events that unfold in A Serbian Film.

8 out of 10.

Do you ever wonder if there’s an afterlife? If there’s some place where all of your loved ones are kind of just standing around, waiting to be contacted? And if there’s a way to talk to them, you know, so they can say they’re sorry and you’ve got to move on and stuff? Well, apparently, there’s scientific research and proof that will ease your mind, and Hereafter will present it in a way that’s impossible not to believe.

On the surface, Hereafter doesn’t seem like such a bad movie, just a painfully average one. But as it continues to drag on and on, feeling like twice its running time, the constant plot conveniences and completely obvious themes and metaphors become maddening. With the annoying and amateurish story structure, which flits between a woman in Paris, a psychic in San Francisco, and a young boy in London (in that order for the entire movie) who have all been or are affected by death in some way or another, every event and revelation is extremely predictable, making the whole thing seem like a waste of time. When you have Matt Damon proclaim that his ability to speak to the dead is “not a gift, but a curse” twice, it’s time to do some revisions.

Now, it’s not a complete waste. As often as Clint Eastwood’s movies tend to get preachy and sappy, he knows how to make them at least look nice. Though at times it suffers from a little too much florescent glow, the opening set piece gets everything off to an incredible start as we’re thrown in the middle of a tsunami on the coast of Indonesia. Somehow seamlessly mixing live action with the very realistic tsunami effects, the whole sequence seems almost impossible. Unfortunately, starting the movie off with such a bang only makes everything that follows it seem that much more boring and repetitive. Most of the performances are fine, although the twins playing the British boy who loses his twin brother in a car accident seem to be reading their lines with as little emotion as possible, making everything from an expression of anguish to ordering porridge at a restaurant sound the same. And whoever decided the perfect score for every emotional or poignant scene needed to be someone soloing on their jazz guitar should be given an award for getting as far as they did without understanding what mood and tone are in the context of a film’s soundtrack.

There’s not much to say about Hereafter that you probably can’t gather from the trailers and commercials. It’s a movie about the mysteries and realities of death, but it offers no new or real thoughts on the subject. It’s obvious that its characters are meant to connect at some point, but all of their connecting comes far too late to have any emotional impact, and comes off as anti-climactic instead of fulfilling. There seem to be dozens of missed opportunities in both what the story and movie could’ve been and what it could’ve said, but all in all, Hereafter ends up really having nothing to offer but one cool disaster scene, and then a steadily declining series of average, empty events.

4 out of 10.

It’s usually apparent when any high profile filmmaker or celebrity wants to become more respected in their profession by their peers in Hollywood. Usually this will cause a writer or director to craft a smaller film based on characters and themes instead of explosions and money-shots. The actor will play an unlikeable asshole with a heart of gold, a homosexual with a disease, or someone who is mentally retarded. And the actress? Well, they usually just get naked.

A great, topical example of this would be Milla Jovovich, star of a multitude of sub-par science-fiction and horror movies (except The Fifth Element, which rules), appearing in Stone as prisoner Ed Norton’s crazy wife, trying to seduce Robert DeNiro’s prison social worker in order to help along the release of her husband. Jovovich is not a bad actress, especially when it comes to kicking undead ass and backflipping her way through an underground Umbrella Corps. Heardquarters, but it seems this was not good enough for her. So, here she straps on her dramatic boots, strips down, and bares all for, of all things, a scene in which she talks to Robert DeNiro’s answering machine. This desperate attempt to make a seemingly ordinary scene into something more by adding a silly gimmick like nudity seems like a good metaphor for the movie as a whole.

Somewhere, buried deep underneath Stone’s bloated final product, there’s a nice, simple movie that follows the dilemma of a man who doesn’t know if he’s being conned by a prisoner who may be a sociopath. However, someone took this story and padded on layers and jackets and blankets of religious nonsense and over-the-top drama that seems to have been designed to shove as much forced meaning and awards worthy passion down its audience’s throat as possible. Entire monologues are devoted to Norton’s convict describing the spiritual exercises that he uses to connect with his inner conflict, in order to better prove that he’s repented for his crimes, which he admits to having atoned for at the beginning of the movie, making the addition of religion seem like an afterthought. This, along with the constant yammering of religious and conservative talk radio that plays seemingly over the whole movie on Robert DeNiro’s car radio, leaves the audience without a single moment that isn’t being used to push the ideals and importance of spirituality and religion.

It’s understandable how a movie of such magnificently annoying and obvious symbolism and themes attracted such a high-caliber cast, as this kind of nonsense is what’s expected to win awards come the January. People see a script with seemingly subtle religious themes and characters conflicted with being both evil and religious, and they start to see Oscars. Fortunately, it seems audiences are growing more and more tired of these below-average movies that strive for greatness just by rehashing the same message and characters that have been successful for other movies, and now they are recognizing them as the nonsense they are. The basic idea of Stone, by itself, wouldn’t be so offensive, but there are too many stupid gimmicks and hollow attempts at depth here to let it go without pointing out just how truly awful it really is.

3 out of 10.

Other reviews in  this series: Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part 2, Friday the 13th Part III, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan, Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday

Part Ten- Jason X (2001)

I am a hypocrite. I am about to review Jason X and contradict my complaints about the previous two F13 movies. I was highly dissatisfied with Jason Takes Manhattan and Jason Goes to Hell because of their removal of Jason from his element into some ridiculous contradictory environment just to create some sort of story. In this movie, not only is Jason taken out of his element… he is launched into space… in the future. And I like it.

Jason Goes to Hell is irrelevant. We start with Jason chained and unconscious in a laboratory. Apparently scientists have discovered that Jason is unable to be killed. One lady wants to freeze him and send him to the future, but the corporate scientists want to do further tests to see what is keeping Jason alive. Jason escapes  and opens some whoop ass on the scientist and his guards. Then he chases the girl scientist into the cryogenic room where both of them are frozen forever. Or until a group of young scientists in the distant future uncover the bodies in their search of the now deserted planet Earth. They bring them aboard their ship, thaw them out, and Jason again does the whoop ass thing. Ultimately, the crew decides to reprogram their cyborg friend into a martial arts killing machine. She returns the whoop ass to Jason, reducing him to an armless, legless, half-headed body. Sadly, the body lands on a rejuvenation machine and turns Jason into Uber-Jason: a more powerful metallic monster. Et cetera.

This movie is actually really awesome. The concept is silly and stupid, but the action is amazing. The Jason X theme song was “Let the Bodies Hit the Floor”, and the movie is just that. Constant death. Jason goes on a full-force killing spree with original and creative deaths. The body count is through the roof, and the movie shows no shame. The future storyline is lame. It is used mostly to provide for a cool set for Jason to do his thing. I would also like to mention that Jason is so awesome in this movie that he is responsible for the death of an entire planet full of people. As far as brutality and cool murders go, this may be at the very top of the list. And isn’t that what Jason is all about? Good old wholesome people slaughtering.

Poor story, excellent death scenes. 7 out of 10

There’s an interesting feeling one might get during the closing credits of Jackass 3D, which consists of alternative footage from some of the stunts, scenes from some of the first episodes of the TV series, and home videos and pictures of the main cast. There’s a great sense of finality to them, as well as throughout the whole movie, as the guys revisit old stunts, and are constantly reminding the audience of their age, be it through their unwillingness to go all the way with certain stunts, or self aware statements that make reference to the fact that some of these guys have been doing this stuff for more than a decade. And for anyone who’s grown up with these guys, seeing Lance Bangs throw up, Steve-O getting covered in dog shit, and Bam being an asshole is nothing surprising, but there’s something familiar and comforting about it, like watching some old friends having a good time.

Jackass, along with the Twilight Saga and most Dreamworks animated movies, is critic proof. Everyone who wants to see it is going to, and everyone who doesn’t is not, or they’ll get dragged there by someone who does. It’s that simple, and it doesn’t matter what you hear about it, this isn’t the kind of movie people go to because of the rave reviews. There’s a primal fulfillment in watching someone harm themselves for out amusement, and these guys have made a career out of it. Most of their stunts are derivative of other things they’ve done in the past, but they almost always hit their mark, even it’s not the most original they’ve ever been. Actually, the one big surprise with Jackass 3D is probably the pretty incredible technical achievement by director Jeff Tremaine, who utilizes the 3D and slow-motion technology at least as well as Zack Snyder or James Cameron have, and, yes, I’m being totally serious. There are points during the always elaborate and impressive opening and closing sequences, and even during some of the regular stunts, where you’ll find yourself wondering, “How the hell did they film that?”

Now, even though many of the stunts are impressive acts of human durability and courage, and the camerawork is pretty creative, after a television series and three movies of this kind of stuff, it can get kind of predictable. It’s apparent what’s going to happen even before the name of the segment pops up, and you can tell just how thrilled the participants are by the look on their faces. And maybe it’s because they’ve exhausted their ideas, or their limited willingness to do certain things, but the range of stunts here seems to be less, I don’t know, wide than in the other movies. Johnny Knoxville in old age makeup making people uncomfortable for the twentieth time just isn’t very funny anymore, not that it was that funny to begin with.

But, again, for every joke and stunt that doesn’t work, there’s one that kills, and it’s always at least interesting to see where these guys will go next. There’s always going to be people who call Jackass “stupid garbage for stupid people”, but statements like that make me think less of those people saying it, than it makes me think less of these movies. Aside from the haters, if this is indeed the end of the Jackass series and franchise, as the credits make it out to be, then I’d call it a satisfactory one. I can only hope that these guys can rest comfortably in their bathtubs full of gold doubloons, knowing they made millions of fratboys and tubby movie fans like myself happy with their self-mutilating, inventive and hilarious antics.

7 out of 10.

Other reviews in this series: Friday the 13th, Friday the 13th Part 2, Friday the 13th Part III, Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter, Friday the 13th: A New Beginning, Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI, Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood, Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan

Part Nine- Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993)

Here is an interesting addition to the series. It is, in fact, not “The Final Friday” as there are a couple more reviews to come. I just want to start by saying that the representation of Jason given to us in this movie is awesome! The overall design is easily the most gruesome and frightening yet. His mask has essentially grown into his face, making his entire head one, giant warped mess on top of a massive body. The problem with Jason in this movie is… he is barely in it! They spent time creating the best Jason yet and then make a movie about his spirit. Didn’t they already make the mistake of excluding Jason from a F13 movie? Yeah, it was called A New Beginning, and it is trash. The fact is the rights to the franchise were purchased from Paramount by New Line. I guess the New Line producers didn’t watch Part Five to see what a massive piece of crap a non-Jason, Jason movie is.

He is so cool!

For the first time, writers attempted to give Jason a true, solid backstory. The events of Jason Takes Manhattan are completely ignored as the movie begins with a woman entering a log cabin, becoming naked and being chased through the woods by Mr. Voorhees. But surprise! The woman is actually a cop, and she leads Jason into a massive police set-up where about a hundred police officers unload their weapons into the monster, reducing him to smithereens. Finally, Jason is dead. The parts are sent to the coroner’s office. The coroner sifts through them and as he does, Jason’s heart begins to beat. The coroner becomes hypnotized and eats the heart which somehow causes his soul to be inhabited by Jason. The rest of the movie consists of Jason’s soul going from one body to another, and his use of the bodies to kill teenagers. Also, it turns out Jason has a sister and niece (Halloween, much?) who he must also kill for some reason. Then there is a guy hunting Jason who carries a mystical dagger that can send him to hell once and for all. All of this is very stupid.

The studio was trying to milk the Jason thing for every last drop it could produce. Perhaps people were growing tired of the same old Jason in the woods routine, and the studio thought that they deserved a real, solid story. Also, since New Line already had the rights to the A Nightmare on Elm Street series, they wanted to create a crossover, which meant that Jason had to end up with Freddy Krueger… in hell. As much of a crapfest that Jason Takes Manhattan is, I think that Jason Goes to Hell might be just a little bit worse. This movie is completely unappealing, and the fact that they built the coolest Jason yet just to kill him immediately only piles on the frustration. The deaths were lame and cheap. In searching for photos for this review, I came across many stills displaying the crappy, pre-cut body molds as weapons went through them. Honestly, of all of the F13 movies, bad and good, this is the only one I would recommend that you don’t even bother with. Other than the very last shot (seen below), there is not one reason I can give you to see this.

Most likely the worst Friday the 13th movie. Nice try, New Line. 2 out of 10.

There are a dozen reasons I shouldn’t like The Shining. From the laughably amateurish opening titles, scrolling up the screen like the end credits of a long-forgotten sitcom, the over explanation of the main location’s detailed history that takes up the first half-hour, to Shelley Duvall’s stupid face contorting itself into all kind of crazy shapes, which isn’t fun for anyone. But, for some reason, instead of being just another forgettable horror movie in the hundreds I’ve seen, The Shining might have to be my favorite, or at least in the top two or three.

There’s just something about Kubrick, you know? While I may one day also write one of these columns about 2001: A Space Odyssey and A Clockwork Orange, to me, The Shining is just one more reason to love the man. It’s full of all of his trademarks: the long tracking shots down corridors and hallways, following characters as they walk (and tricycle) through the large, empty rooms and lobbies of the hotel, static closeups (often the result of a long zoom) on the emotive faces of the various characters, and Jack Nicholson’s crazed glare at the camera as he slowly loses his sanity.

And while the axe really hits the cook in the last half hour of the movie, the preceding two hours are full of enough interesting, entertaining and iconic moments that the audience is never bored. Nicholson alone, in my favorite performance of his right alongside that of Warren Schmidt, makes each line quotable, turning them all into sarcastic terms of deranged endearment. It seems obvious while watching the final product that the story of Jack Torrence, a hopeless, hateful man who is pushed to murder his family by malevolent ghosts, would be just another Amityville Horror or other countless horror movie, if not for the involvement of Nicholson and Kubrick.

It’s incredible to think that upon its release, The Shining was met with critical disdain and even a few Razzie nominations, if you take into account the classic it’s considered to be today. As stated above, I can understand why people found this movie to be so, well, wrong. And I would agree with them too, that there’s too much foreshadowing and information, some of the performances could be considered over the top, and so on, but I don’t care. I can recognize these things and embrace them, instead of dismiss this intense, and unforgettable movie. I think everything here was done for a reason, and even if it was an accident, it’s too awesome for me to think about as anything but correct. It’s taken me four days of coming back to this half-written examination of why I love The Shining so much for me to realize that there is no logical reason for it. It’s just great.

This might be the shortest article I’ve written in my few months here on That Was Junk, but there’s nothing left to say that I haven’t already struggled to explain. The Shining is and will continue to be one of those movies I will defend and reference for as long as I can talk about movies, and I plan on watching it several more times this Halloween season, not only to see how many little details and effects I haven’t noticed before, but so it can hopefully inspire me to make a movie that’s anywhere near as tense, creepy, and memorable as it is.

Seriously, wtf?

And that is why The Shining is one of my favorite movies.