For today’s song of the day, we have the title tune to Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining. The Shining is a classic horror film and one that I look forward to revisiting on this site for our annual October Horrorthon.
For now, enjoy the greatest road trip music ever recorded.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
On this date, 97 years ago, Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City. The rest, as they say, is history.
In honor of one of the world’s greatest directors, here are….
6 Shots From 6 Stanley Kubrick Films
The Killing (1956, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Lucien Ballard)
Paths of Glory (1957, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Georg Kraus)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick, DP: Gilbert Taylor)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)
Barry Lyndon (1975, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
The scene below is, of course, from Stanley Kubrick’s 1980 masterpiece, The Shining.
In this scene, Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) stumbles into the Overlook Hotel’s ballroom, still fuming over having been accused of abusing his son. A recovering alcoholic, Jack sits at the bar and thinks about how he would give up his soul for just one one drink. And, on cue, Lloyd (Joe Turkel) appears.
As I was watching this scene, it occurred to me that, way back in 1980, there probably was some guy named Lloyd who saw this movie in a theater and was probably totally shocked when Jack suddenly stared straight at him and said, “Hey, Lloyd.”
The brilliance of this scene is that we never actually see Lloyd materialize. We see him only after Jack has seen him. So, yes, Lloyd could be a ghost. But he could also just be a figment of Jack’s imagination. Jack very well could just be suffering from cabin fever. Of course, by the end of the movie, we learn the truth.
Everyone always talks about Jack Nicholson’s performance as Jack. Some people love it and some people hate it. (I’m in the first camp.) However, let’s take a minute to appreciate just how totally creepy Joe Turkel is in this scene. Turkel was a veteran character actor and had appeared in two previous Kubrick films, The Killing and Paths of Glory. Two years after appearing in The Shining, Turkel played what may be his best-known role, Dr. Eldon Tyrell in Blade Runner. Today, incidentally, would have been Joe Turkel’s 98th birthday.
From Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining, here’s Jack Nicholson and Joe Turkel:
4 Shots From 4 Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
Today is Jack Nicholson’s 88th birthday!
Though he has pretty much retired from acting, Jack Nicholson remains a screen icon with a filmography that is a cinema lover’s dream. He’s worked with everyone from Roger Corman to Stanley Kubrick to Milos Forman to Martin Scorsese and, along the way, he’s become a symbol of a very American-type of rebel. Though often associated with the counter-culture, his style has always been too aggressive and idiosyncratic for him to be a believable hippie. Instead, he’s one of the last of the beats, an outsider searching for meaning in Americana.
Over the course of his career, Nicholson has won three Oscars and been nominated for a total of 12. He’s the only actor to have been nominated in every decade from the 1960s to the 2000s. He is an actor who epitomizes an era in filmmaking, actually several eras. It’s been 15 years since he last appeared in a movie but Jack Nicholson will never be forgotten.
4 Shots From 4 Jack Nicholson Films
Psych-Out (1968, dir by Richard Rush, DP: Laszlo Kovacs)
Carnal Knowledge (1971, dir by Mike Nichols, DP: Giuseppe Rotunno)
The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
The Departed (2006, dir by Martin Scorsese, DP: Michael Ballhaus)
The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick)
Today would have been the 101st birthday of character actor Philip Stone. While Stone appeared in a lot of films, he’ll probably always be best-remembered for his subtly menacing turn as the ghostly Grady in 1980’s The Shining. Here he is, having a conversation with Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) and letting him know that he’s always been caretaker.
(Fair warning to those who may not have seen this scene before or who perhaps have forgotten about it, Grady does use a racial slur at one point. It’s a moment that’s true to his villainous character, even if it’s a bit jarring to hear today.)
For today’s Halloween edition of Lisa’s Marie Favorite Grindhouse Trailers, I present to you, without comment, the trailers for my 12 favorite horror movies.
Happy Halloween!
2. Suspiria (1977)
3. A Field in England (2013)
4. Night of the Living Dead (1968)
5. Zombi 2 (1979)
6. The Exorcist (1973)
7. Halloween (1978)
8. Two Orphan Vampires (1996)
9. Near Dark (1987)
10. Scream and Scream Again (1970)
11. Horror of Dracula (1958)
12. Messiah of Evil (1973)
Since today’s song of the day came from The Shining, it only seems appropriate that today’s scene should come from the same film.
I’ve always felt that Barry Nelson’s performance as Ullman is one of the best parts of the early part of the film. Whereas Ullman was presented as being a stereotypical jerk in King’s novel, the film presents him as a blandly friendly bureaucrat who can talk about what happened with the previous caretaker and make it sound like the most normal thing in the world. The scene were he interviews Jack Torrance for the caretaker job is wonderfully ominous, even if it’s hard to describe why. I know that Stephen King disliked this scene because it made Jack look unbalanced from the start but, personally, I think it does a wonderful job of setting the mood.
Finally, Ullman’s office reminds me of Ben Horne’s office in Twin Peaks, right down to the somewhat campy name plate on his desk.
For today’s horror song of the day, we have the main title track for 1980’s The Shining. Composed by Wendy Carlos and Rachel Elkind, this music perfectly capture the ominous grandeur of the Overlook Hotel and the snowy mountains that surround it.
It’s also a great song to play at the start of any road trip. Scare the Hell out of your friends. It’s fun!
Today’s actor really needs no introduction. While Jack Nicholson started his career as a part of the Roger Corman stock company and appeared in the original Little Shop of Horrors while also being strongly considered for the role of Guy Woodhouse in Rosemary’s Baby, Nicholson has not appeared in many horror movies.
But the horror movie in which he did appear is such a classic that it’s made Nicholson a horror icon, even if he didn’t appear in as many horror films as a Christopher Lee or a Boris Karloff.
In this scene from 1980’s The Shining, Nicholson’s Jack Torrance has a drink with a ghost. Nicholson does a wonderful job in this scene, especially when he’s playing off the wonderfully sinister Joe Turkel.
4 Or More Shots From 4 Or More Films is just what it says it is, 4 shots from 4 of our favorite films. As opposed to the reviews and recaps that we usually post, 4 Shots From 4 Films lets the visuals do the talking!
On this date, 95 years ago, Stanley Kubrick was born in New York City. The rest, as they say, is history.
In honor of one of the world’s greatest directors, here are….
12 Shots From 12 Stanley Kubrick Films
Fear and Desire (1953, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Stanley Kubrick)
The Killing (1956, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Lucien Ballard)
Paths of Glory (1957, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Georg Kraus)
Spartacus (1960, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Russell Metty)
Lolita (1962, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Oswald Morris)
Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964, dir. Stanley Kubrick, DP: Gilbert Taylor)
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Geoffrey Unsworth)
A Clockwork Orange (1971, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
Barry Lyndon (1975, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
The Shining (1980, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: John Alcott)
Full Metal Jacket (1987, dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Douglas Milsome)
Eyes Wide Shut (1999. dir by Stanley Kubrick, DP: Larry Smith)
