#jocelin you won’t see this but I love these

[thisguyatthemovies]

Back to the Overlook

Title: “Doctor Sleep”

Release date: Nov. 8, 2019

Starring: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyleigh Curran, Carl Lumbly, Zahn McClarnon, Emily Alyn Lind, Bruce Greenwood, Jocelin Donahue, Alex Essoe, Cliff Curtis, Jacob Tremblay, Carel Struycken

Directed by: Mike Flanagan

Run time: 2 hours, 31 minutes

Rated: R

What it’s about: Danny Torrance, whose father went mad in 1980’s “The Shining,” is a middle-aged man now battling alcoholism and dealing with his childhood trauma. He meets a teen girl who also has “the shine,” and they cross paths with a gang that preys upon similarly gifted young people and feeds on their shine.

How I saw it: Director/writer Mike Flanagan made many sound decisions when tackling a difficult task – making “Doctor Sleep,” based on the 2013 Stephen King novel which is a follow-up to his 1977 book, “The Shining,” which was turned into the 1980 film of the same name by Stanley Kubrick. He took great liberties with the original book, much to King’s chagrin, but made a film that is now considered a classic.

Flanagan could have made a film much like Kubrick’s, and that would have suited nostalgia-seeking moviegoers just fine. Instead, he set out to make a film that shares storylines, characters and settings with the original book and film, but is its own entity and more closely follows King’s follow-up novel than Kubrick did with the first book. He also decided against bringing back actors from the first film (it was almost 40 years ago, after all), resisted the temptation to digitally add characters from “The Shining,” and when the new film revisits the first, he enlisted actors who sort of look like the original characters and had them capture the essence of those characters instead of impersonations or caricatures. Flanagan set out to make a film that pays homage to the original without repeating it.

Those decisions pay off handsomely in the first three-fourths of “Doctor Sleep.” Even though it is evident from the get-go that the two films are related (we revisit the young Danny), this film has more action and more heart, and it doesn’t lean so heavily on tension. It has a captivating villain, and it plays more like a vampire movie/psychological thriller with a dash of comic-book superhero traits than Kubrick’s slow-burn study of cabin fever and insanity.

And then “Doctor Sleep” goes full-blown “The Shining” revisited in the final act, and though it doesn’t derail an otherwise outstanding movie, it makes for a bumpy ride, one that could have taken us to a better destination. Whether or not this shift bothers you depends on what you expected from “Doctor Sleep.” If you are watching because you want to be reminded of the 1980 film, then you won’t mind. If you were enjoying what “Doctor Sleep” promised for nearly two hours, then the final act’s shift will be noticeable, perhaps a touch disappointing.

Danny Torrance (Ewan McGregor) was a young boy when his father Jack went mad while snowed in at the Overlook Hotel in the first book/movie. “Doctor Sleep” is set more than 30 years later, and Danny, now a middle-aged man, still is trying to overcome his traumatic pass, mostly by drinking it away. He decides to run away from his problems and moves to New Hampshire, where he sets about getting sober. But Danny, who still has telepathic abilities known as “the shine,” is contacted by a teen girl, Abra (Kyliegh Curran), with the same abilities. Eventually she will be pursued by True Knot, a cult whose members kill similarly gifted young people and feed off their shine in an effort to stay immortal, and their leader, Rose the Hat (Rebecca Ferguson). Abra and Danny team up to defeat Rose and her followers, with Abra trying to convince Danny to embrace the shine and use it instead of viewing it as simply a link to the horrors of his youth.

McGregor is solid as current day Danny, but Flanagan does not ask him to carry the movie. At times that falls upon Curran’s Abra, and a scene in which Danny speaks through Abra while she is being abducted is one of the film’s best. But mostly Ferguson steals the show. She vamps it up as Rose and is as alluring as she is evil. Flanagan’s camera clearly loves her, as Ferguson gets many close-ups and delivers a star-making performance. Cliff Curtis is excellent as a kind man who befriends Danny and helps him stay sober.

“Doctor Sleep” isn’t a bloodbath, but it includes several disturbing images and moments. The most unsettling of them is when the True Knot pursues a young baseball player in Iowa, and his abduction (by people in a van while he walks alone on a rural road) is just the beginning of the unpleasantness. The True Knot will get more life from the boy’s shine if his death is as painful as possible, so Rose tortures the boy as he is dying, and then her cult buries him behind an ethanol plant. There’s no way to sugarcoat how difficult the scene is to watch.

Rose, now working alone, eventually tracks Abra and Danny, and they lead her to – where else? – the Overlook Hotel, where Danny hopes to defeat Rose and erase his past. It’s here that Flanagan veers away from King’s follow-up book and toward Kubrick’s film. In the 2013 book, Abra and Danny lead Rose to the former site of the Overlook. But Flanagan builds his final scene around a still standing but long-ago closed Overlook. The setting and characters will seem familiar to anyone who has seen the 1980 film – maybe too familiar, to the point of distraction. “Doctor Sleep” starts feeling like a trip to a museum dedicated to the original film instead of being its own movie, and that takes away some of the steam from what otherwise could have been a great final showdown. To complicate matters, Flanagan uses the ending from King’s original book (an ending that Kubrick sidestepped) to tie up the loose ends to this sequel movie.

Perhaps the heavy emphasis on “The Shining” couldn’t be helped. No doubt any reference Flanagan could make to the first film would help the box-office prospects of “Doctor Sleep.” But he had done such a masterful job of creating a balanced mash-up of books and a film until the final act that the climactic scene, while it doesn’t ruin an otherwise entertaining film, seems more nostalgic side trip than satisfying conclusion.

My score: 77 out of 100

Should you see it? Yes, if you are a fan of horror films that aim higher than just jump-scares and/or you are curious about the connections to “The Shining.” If you are sensitive to disturbing scenes that include young people, proceed with caution.

#movies #movie review #movie recommendation #doctor sleep #the shining #horror #stephen king #ewan mcgregor #rebecca ferguson #overlook hotel

[eorzeaisnotcrash]

(ARR Diary #12) Procrastination Crusaders: Robot Pirate Island

(I didn’t do all these things at once, but I can’t remember which sidequest I did when, so here are the things that stood out the most to me from all the times I stopped by.)

I’m giving the place this name because they are fighting against the Empire, whose fortification contains robots. I have to visit about fifteen times before I quit getting lost. A lot of the citizens are drunk, horny, or looking for a fight... so it really is a city of pirates. There’s also some poor guy getting mugged near the restaurant. The game will not let me help him. An interesting thing about the city is that whoever you are, whether you’re from a beast tribe or a town full of men, you’re welcome to trade as long as you follow the laws and fill out your paperwork. Well, except for Imperials. It’s open season on those guys’ ships. As it should be.

The island is my favorite place to fly over (this happens much later), especially on a clear day! My favorite area to fly over is Costa del Sol. There’s good music all over, but the music in the area nearest the city proper is my favorite.

- A captain has Joceline participate in what he *swears* is a legal venture. I deliver samples of his goods to two customers... and find out the samples are just spices. I feel slightly guilty for assuming what he was up to. (He wants to be a privateer, not a pusher.)

- I help bust a dine-and-dasher. Can’t be messing with people’s money post-Calamity.

- There is a bar called the Missing Member. The owner is captain of an all-female crew, some of who like to Slav-squat on the walkway outside.

- While searching for missing booze, JoJo has a dance-off with some pirates who “liberated” the libations.

- Some overdramatic soul got careless and lost the tools he needs to work with, and has been terrifying the townsfolk since then. After I track down some replacements for him, Jandelaine offers me one free makeover and zero need for reservations in the future. (I asked Mash “is this how people see JJBA fans?” and he said “pretty much.”)

- JoJo rounds up some escaped dodos, and the man who watches them is so happy he asks her to stay and be their mommy for a while. This will be the best proposition I get until I reach Forgotten Springs.

- I also get talked into squishing more ladybugs. Innocent, defenseless ladybugs, as the item description reminds me. Their insides are supposed to help keep aphids away from crops, but even the quest-giver acknowledges that they could just let the ladybugs keep defending the crops. No more ladybug-killing for JoJo.

- A smuggler has been bringing in exotic animals for pirates, AND there’s a coeurl problem in the area. After JoJo gets involved in trying to clean things up, she finds herself responsible for a cute wolf pup and an adorable coeurl kitten. (“Who is this Gaius dude the wolf pup looks up to? Probably nobody important,” I said to myself. It took WAY too long before I made the connection.)

- There’s a paleontologist here! The skeleton he’s studying is called Thalaos.

- JoJo visits a facility where wounded soldiers can recover in the hot springs. There’s also an annoying rich dude who treats the place like his personal resort. I end up having to rub him with salamander oil, and when he passes out I’m made to dump freezing water on him three times in a row. WAKE UP ALREADY! At least I get a nice ring for my trouble when he finally leaves.

- There’s also a FATE involving a Mamool Ja who has been banned from the facility. It’s not because of racism, it’s because he won’t stop flashing everybody there. JoJo drives the classy man away.

- Bloeidin, who is in charge of Camp Overlook, has been gifted a nice fat fish, which he decides to share with some of the guys under his command. JoJo grills the fish and listens to the men’s complaints while they gobble it down anyway.

- One violent sidequest with a wholesome twist has me looting the helmet from a defeated kobold priest. When this particular group of kobolds attacked Camp Overlook, the new guy, who was supposed to be guarding the place that night, got injured so badly he had to go to Camp Bronze Lake. The other pirates-turned-soldiers want him to keep the helmet while he recovers. Awww.

- Wandering through Bloodshore, I spot somebody fighting a huge crab and head over to help, with other players coming soon after. This FATE is more challenging to me than some boss fights, but it is so worth it. The person I run over to help is a fellow dragoon, and both of us live. Ha! I also get a precious little crab to follow me around. I will call the smallshell Valeria, because reasons.

- JoJo escorts an escort past some killer birds. One of us gives men the little death, and the other gives them the big one.

- I don’t know if I want to live here because of all the crime, but I love the energy and YOOOOOOO, the housing area is flipping gorgeous. I certainly would LOVE to visit, both there and the island as a whole. Good job, Square!

Fun fact of the day: among all the pirates operating out of here, only the Serpent Reavers are crazy enough to worship Leviathan like the Sahagin do.

#playing ARR #exploring #what a cute kitty! #what a cute puppy! #what a cute crab! #I like cute things okay #that FATE was wild #this island is full of life and chaos and I look forward to seeing what else the story has in store for it

[videcstar-blog]

Tag dump!!

GENERIC

📷『 ✖ HC 』 📷『 ✖ FC 』 📷『 ✖ PSA 』 📷『 ✖ Memes/Starters 』 📷『 ✖ Musings 』 📷『 ✖ Likes 』 📷『 ✖ Desires 』 📷『 ✖ Music 』 📷『 ✖ Drabbles 』 📷『✖ Aesthetic 』 📷『✖ Out of Character 』 📷『✖ Promo 』  📷『 they call me an angel; yet I make em want to sin ✖ Joceline 』

TIMELINE/VERSES

📷『 Your mother said to pick the best girl; which I am ✖ Cam Girl 』 📷『 This is the face I wear treading the riptide; Abysmal oceans where good girls go to die ✖ Modern 』 📷『 You believe in something stronger than trust; that’s called Wanderlust  ✖ Fallout 』 📷『 So you're somebody now; but what's a somebody in a nobody town ✖ Bioshock 』

PEOPLE/SHIPS

📷『 I got a question; If I die tonight would you regret it? ✖ Regan 』 📷『 You were too busy trying to find me in someone else; the one you couldn't stand to be with was yourself ✖ Charles/Joceline 』 📷『 My dear I want you here; don’t get too near for there are lions beware ✖ Edwin/Joceline 』 📷『 I am a true romantic; free falling love addict ✖ Edwin 』 📷『Just another boy who lived on Poplar St; Tangled up in lust and her exotic needs ✖ Royce 』 📷『 One night my angel she called collect to me; I don't love you anymore she said and ceased to be ✖ Royce/Joceline 』 📷『 Leftover breakfast & cereal for lunch; he is broken but he's fun ✖ Warin 』 📷『 We drank pork soda with tangled legs; I won’t forget how you looked at me then ✖ Warin/Joceline 』 📷『 Bye bye baby blue; I wish you could see the wicked truth ✖ Rory 』

#📷『 ✖ HC 』 #📷『 ✖ FC 』 #📷『 ✖ PSA 』 #📷『 ✖ Memes/Starters 』 #📷『 ✖ Musings 』 #📷『 ✖ Likes 』 #📷『 ✖ Drabbles 』 #📷『✖ Aesthetic 』 #📷『✖ Out of Character 』 #📷『✖ Promo 』 #📷『 they call me an angel; yet I make em want to sin ✖ Joceline 』 #📷『 Your mother said to pick the best girl; which I am ✖ Cam Girl 』 #📷『 This is the face I wear treading the riptide; Abysmal oceans where good girls go to die ✖ Modern 』 #📷『 You believe in something stronger than trust; that’s called Wanderlust ✖ Fallout 』 #📷『 So you're somebody now; but what's a somebody in a nobody town ✖ Bioshock 』 #📷『 I got a question; If I die tonight would you regret it? ✖ Charles 』 #📷『 You were too busy trying to find me in someone else; the one you couldn't stand to be with was yourself ✖ Charles/Joceline 』 #📷『 Leftover breakfast & cereal for lunch; he is broken but he's fun ✖ Warin 』 #📷『 We drank pork soda with tangled legs; I won’t forget how you looked at me then ✖ Warin/Joceline 』 #📷『 Bye bye baby blue; I wish you could see the wicked truth ✖ Rory 』 #📷『 I am a true romantic; free falling love addict ✖ Edwin 』 #📷『Just another boy who lived on Poplar St; Tangled up in lust and her exotic needs ✖ Royce 』 #📷『 One night my angel she called collect to me; I don't love you anymore she said and ceased to be ✖ Royce/Joceline 』 #📷『 My dear I want you here; don’t get too near for there are lions beware ✖ Edwin/Joceline 』