The Shining Trailer: Recut

This is a spoof on The Shinig that uses all original footage from the movie. I thought it was great because if you haven't seen the movie, this trailer is very believeable. If you read my last post, you can watch the orignal Shining trailer which I think is much better. But that is just because I have seen the movie and I don't think that the original trailer could have been done any other way because it fits the movie so perfectly.

Sometimes I Crave A Good Movie

Sometimes I crave a good movie. Its one of those things that every now and then I just want to sit down and watch a movie that when I walk away, I’m pleased. I’m pleased because it made me laugh, or it made me sad, or it made me sit on the edge of my seat with my heart racing. But most of all it has to make me think. Not think about how much of a waste of time it was or how it could have been completely different, which would have made it better. I want to think about the people in the movie. I say people because I want to feel that the characters are real humans, not some fabricated segment of somebody’s mind. I want to think about the decisions that these people made, I want to think about how they could have affected the outcome. Movies that leave me with different emotions and thoughts are good movies. I know then that I did not waste my time.

Sometimes I crave a good movie. I might be sitting in Spanish class thinking about nothing in particular and then the thought about wasting my time runs across my mind. I think about all the ways that I could possible be wasting my time: watching TV, reading, cleaning my room, the rest of the day at school, watching a movie…

When the thought of watching a movie wanders through, I pause, and think about some of the movies that I have just thought “why am I watching this?” But I also think about the movies that have not been a waste of my time. I think about Little Miss Sunshine, about Donny Darko, about Memento, about Son of Rambow, and about many more. I think about ways that I could possible sneak out of Spanish and get into some comfortable clothes and sit in my basement and watch these movies the rest of the day. If only.

Sometimes I crave a good movie. But sometimes all I have is 45 minutes. So sometimes I settle with the Nothing But Trailers show. This show is non-stop movie trailers and I love it almost as much as I love movies. I love it because I see new movies that aren’t out yet, and I also get to see trailers of movies that are classics and movies I have already seen. This was where I saw the original trailer for The Shining. It creeped me out so much, I couldn’t not watch the movie. I can say that I was pleased because The Shining made me think.

My Relaxing Weekend

This past weekend was a nice relaxing weekend for me. I’m going to enjoy it while I can because basketball starts in a week, consuming everyday with almost no time to breath. Fun right?

I brought up this because on my nice relaxing weekends I have nothing better to do then to watch movies. I think that I watch a lot of movies, and most of that movie watching comes on weekends. My dad says how I need to be “movie educated” and watch all of the good old ones. I agree. I think that to understand and enjoy a good movie, you have to know what you are looking for.

Last weekend I watched The Shining (it was close enough to Halloween). The classic horror movie with Jack Nicholson and Shelly Duval in which Jack becomes the caretaker of some far off hotel for the 5 month winter and goes crazy. The original trailer for this movie is the elevator doors with the blood running through them. That’s all. After I saw this trailer, I couldn’t not see the movie, I was intrigued. I could not have pictured anybody but Jack Nicholson in that role; he plays the best crazy person, just watch One Flew Over the Coo Coo’s Nest. It is hard to explain why, but some parts are just plain creepy and make you never want to be with JUST your family again. There is just one last think I need to say about this movie, “all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy” was running through my mind, like it was running through the typewriter, for the at least week.

The movie that I saw this weekend was Apocalypse Now. Martin Sheen in the Vietnam War going up a river to kill an American officer gone crazy. It has many famous actors around Sheen, including Marlon Brando, Robert Duval, Dennis Hopper, and a 17-year-old Lawrence (“Larry”) Fishburne. I have seen my share of war movies, and I think this does one of the best jobs of showing the thought process going though soldier’s minds during the war. Insane. That’s all. It shows how war basically makes men go crazy. Robert Duval, as a commander early on in the movie, who wants to surf while an attack is taking place, and Lawrence Fishburne opening fire on a woman who just wants to save her puppy. These are small instances of insanity, but they are evident as you watch the movie, we see the characters go through the transformation from sane to crazy. There are two acts to the movie, and I liked the first act better. I think it was because there was more action going on, and the second act was just weird, it was when the craziness really showed its true colors. But the movie was really good overall, and it left me thinking, which is what I look for in a movie.