Folks, I'm not one who worships at the trough of all things Stanley Kubrick.
I can't tell you how much hate I've endured over the years because of that, but -- at the end of the day -- it is what it is. For example, I didn't (like so many) go absolutely gaga over the director's big screen adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining (1980). While I'll concede that it's a good film, I struggle too often with its laconic pacing -- there are reasonably long stretches where just not all that much happens of interest -- and that just isn't my cup of tea. My two cents has always been this: the longer I have to wait for a payoff, then the bigger than payoff really ought to be. In that respect, the film just doesn't intrigue me the way it does so many others; and it is what it is.
Now, I will confirm that I think its performances are all pretty damn spiffy. Shelley Duvall, in particular, really carries the film for me because she's one of the only folks I can relate to on any conceivable level. As good as Jack Nicholson is, film frights only work when they're paired against someone who's enduring something unimaginable; and I think Duvall mightily conveys the sheer terror of her circumstances once everything spirals out of control.
Of even greater interest to me as one who pontificates about films and film history is the fact that in the same year as The Shining the actress won the hearts of young'uns in the guise of 'Olive Oyl' aboard the somewhat unnecessarily maligned screen adaptation of Popeye The Sailor. Since I'm no fan of musicals on any level, I think turning this one into a song-and-dance affair was a miss; and, yet, I think I was it more than a few times on the silver screen in my youth. Yeah, it was a bit of lunacy here and there, but I honestly loved the late Robin Williams in the lead paired up against this surprisingly versatile actress. Of course, I understand that so many "in the know" pretty much roasted the feature; but it tickled my fancy well enough in its time and place.
Alas -- as I always say -- none of us gets out alive, and word reached the World Wide Web just today of the actress' passing. I've read some accounts that suggest this was owed to complications from diabetes, but as I'm not seeing any specific medical confirmation I'm not entirely certain that's accurate. I mention it only because I've seen it a few times now, so I suspect it may be legitimate.
Our prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Shelley Duvall.
May she rest in peace.
-- EZ
I can't tell you how much hate I've endured over the years because of that, but -- at the end of the day -- it is what it is. For example, I didn't (like so many) go absolutely gaga over the director's big screen adaptation of Stephen King's The Shining (1980). While I'll concede that it's a good film, I struggle too often with its laconic pacing -- there are reasonably long stretches where just not all that much happens of interest -- and that just isn't my cup of tea. My two cents has always been this: the longer I have to wait for a payoff, then the bigger than payoff really ought to be. In that respect, the film just doesn't intrigue me the way it does so many others; and it is what it is.
Now, I will confirm that I think its performances are all pretty damn spiffy. Shelley Duvall, in particular, really carries the film for me because she's one of the only folks I can relate to on any conceivable level. As good as Jack Nicholson is, film frights only work when they're paired against someone who's enduring something unimaginable; and I think Duvall mightily conveys the sheer terror of her circumstances once everything spirals out of control.
Of even greater interest to me as one who pontificates about films and film history is the fact that in the same year as The Shining the actress won the hearts of young'uns in the guise of 'Olive Oyl' aboard the somewhat unnecessarily maligned screen adaptation of Popeye The Sailor. Since I'm no fan of musicals on any level, I think turning this one into a song-and-dance affair was a miss; and, yet, I think I was it more than a few times on the silver screen in my youth. Yeah, it was a bit of lunacy here and there, but I honestly loved the late Robin Williams in the lead paired up against this surprisingly versatile actress. Of course, I understand that so many "in the know" pretty much roasted the feature; but it tickled my fancy well enough in its time and place.
Alas -- as I always say -- none of us gets out alive, and word reached the World Wide Web just today of the actress' passing. I've read some accounts that suggest this was owed to complications from diabetes, but as I'm not seeing any specific medical confirmation I'm not entirely certain that's accurate. I mention it only because I've seen it a few times now, so I suspect it may be legitimate.
Our prayers are extended to the family, friends, and fans of Shelley Duvall.
May she rest in peace.
-- EZ
RSS Feed