As an admirer of Stanley Kubrick's movies and a constant reader of Stephen King's books, I couldn't be more pleased with Doctor Sleep. It is an amazing adaptation of the book, very faithful except for some shocking deaths that I wasn't expecting. In order to connect more with The Shining, the last third differs from the book and returns to the Overlook Hotel, but what a payoff ! By burning the hotel just like in the original book, Stephen King has earned his revenge on Kubrick. Even though Dan doesn't die in the book, I think the ending fits perfectly the spirit of the movie.
Mike Flanagan did a very good job directing (see also The Haunting of Hill House), and the actors are all exceptional (especially Rebecca Ferguson and Kyliegh Curran). I hope that Mike Flanagan will continue to adapt Stephen King's books, he always does a great job !
Reviews
4 Reviews
Under the Silver Lake
(2018)
A post break-up quest for meaning in an absurb world
11 August 2019
Warning: Spoilers
At some point in the movie, we understand that Sam was dumped by his girlfriend, the actress/model whose eyes were on the billboard. For my opinion, this is the key to understand this film : Sam is a lost, broken-hearted man who tries to seek some meaning in a world that doesn't have any. He's a modern Don Quichotte, fighting against the absurdity of a life without love. That's why he's looking for secret messages in pop songs or cereal boxes ; that's why he has meaningless sex and spends days trying to find a girl he doesn't really know. But at the end, he finally discovers the truth : there is no meaning to all of this. Sam seems in peace on the balcony, because he has accepted the fact that things sometimes happen without a purpose.
Overall very good film, severely underrated. Reminds me a lot about the work of David Lynch (Mulholland Drive) and the writings of Bret Easton Ellis (Less Than Zero).
Lynched again - A Masterpiece
4 September 2017
Warning: Spoilers
Viewers will continue to analyze this episode for a long time. Part 18 changes everything about the meaning of the show. Maybe Twin Peaks is just the dream of Richard, a sad FBI agent who imagines being Dale Cooper. Maybe it's the dream of Laura Palmer, saved by Cooper in Part 17, who goes back in 1989 ; she screams at the end, because she hears her mother waking her up. Maybe it's not a dream, but a new dimension, a different kind of reality, where Dale Cooper still tries to fight against evil. Nothing is resolved, and that is the beauty of it. It is a delicate, melancholic masterpiece; the perfect conclusion for this epic season. I don't think there is one true theory about the ending, but the key to understand the deeper meaning of it must be Audrey's story-line. The last time we saw her, in Part 16, she suddenly woke up in front of a mirror. Did she realize she was dreaming ? Or maybe her mind is separated in two different time-lines ? If you solve what happened to her, and the mystery of the names she talked about, I'm sure the ending will seem easier to understand. What's sure is that "Richard" is half-Coop, half-Mr. C. He's a realistic person, not entirely good nor entirely bad. That can be a clue for the dream theory, just like in Mulholland Dr. We all got lynched one more time, and it feels so good. Thank you very much Mr Lynch for this cinematic dream.
The Nice Guys
(2016)
Stupidity as an Art of Comedy
15 May 2016
The Nice Guys represents the buddy movie genre at its best. Shane Black is a excellent director and a brilliant writer. He knows how to create hilarious characters and how to put them in absurd scenes — absurd in a comic way. The gags are all unexpected; I was constantly asking myself "What the hell is going on?", and then burst into laughter. The plot could seem weird at the beginning, but it's not the main point in this movie, it is only used to create a context to the jokes. People in the theater couldn't stop laughing. There is a new and original joke every two minutes. Russell Crowe plays his part very well, but Ryan Gosling's performance is already cult. All is in the look in his eyes, and that stupid expression on his face. Two stupid and impulsive men in an outrageous world full of porn stars and guns, fighting for...money. And truth, of course. Always the old truth about some kind of conspiracy (the only weakness in the movie). Hopefully, Shane Black doesn't insist too much on that and concentrates himself on the constant jokes. I guarantee you, you will laugh a lot. I know I've just watched an excellent movie when I feel sad during the credits, because it's already over. And then, it's just pure happiness.
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