Doctor Sleep (The Shining Sequel Film) - November 8th, 2019

We still do not have a movie theater close to me (were destroyed by Hurricane Michael and one is in the process of finally being torn down and replaced, the other sits vacant). Since I will have to wait for this to show up on another platform I do have a question if someone could please answer. Is the actual Stanley Hotel used in the exterior shots for the Overlook? Thanks.

 

Saw Doctor Sleep last night and thought it was entertaining and worth the $5 at the 4:30PM matinee. Two other people were in the theater. Guess it was sold out Monday due to Veteran's Day.

This movie plays out more like a chess game with how the paranormal aspects of the Shining is used against antagonists. I liked the philosophy and dialog that explains how this power works and can be used against dark forces that are aptly described as part of a very dark and "VERY HUNGRY" world.

It's totally as far away from a Kubrick style movie any director could get. But it does play as its own originally thought out movie as a good vs evil retelling without insulting the intelligence of its audience.

 

Ooh, firmly disagree there. Something with shakycam and lots of rapid edits would've been much different from Kubrick than "Sleep"!

I think "Sleep" doesn't overtly emulate Kubrick but it still feels like an apt companion piece...

 

I'm referring to Doctor Sleep's general pace and timing along with the fact it turns the Shining's supernatural components into a battle royal of good against evil like some comic book hero type stuff.

Kubrick's Shining was more psychological in using the quietness and claustrophobic aspect of a haunted and empty hotel to create foreboding and a fear of the mind atmosphere that played with the audience's head similar to the Exorcist in its timing and pacing. There's not a lot of dialog and explaining going on in Kubrick's Shining. Less is more and the "tick tock, tick tock" nature of repetitive scenes like Danny riding his three wheeled "Wild Rider" (as they were called back then) down those halls that looked the same and seemed to get the audience lost similar to the maze outside (repeating patterns) provides a looming hypnotic nature that ratchets up the fear. None of that was in Doctor Sleep.

So, I'll have to disagree with your take on Doctor Sleep being very much like Kubrick's movie.

 

Just wondered how many spotted the grown up Danny Lloyd cameo in Doctor Sleep. I caught him immediately once I saw this posted photo. Lloyd's IMDB entry lists him as a "spectator" in Doctor Sleep.

 

As far as I know, the entire movie was shot in Georgia, which doesn't have snow-covered roads and mountains as depicted in the film. The real-life Stanley Hotel is in Estes Park, CO, which is about 40 miles north of Boulder. They could have shot there, since a lot of the movie was shot in late fall 2018, but I think what we see is a CGI recreation. The interiors are very good, though there's a lot of illogic and "WTF" in that the boiler still works, they still have electricity in the building, none of the roads are blocked, and so on. None of this happens in the novel, which -- while less spectacular than the film -- makes a lot more sense.

I don't think it was that bad, but it was a shock to see <certain characters> make cameos in the new film. Again: not in the novel. Jack Halloran's ghost was in the very final scene, but was surprisingly heroic in the book. Not so in the movie.

 

I thought much the same about the boiler room scene however, the way I took it was that it was the heart of the house in many respects and it was one of those supernatural elements that come into play I.e., it defies logical expectation the. It again it could have been one of those situations where they had to ask the audience to suspend disbelief because anything else would have been more complicated. I’m sure that the hotel would have a back up generator though so why not use that as part of the scenario?

As to the cameos for me it was no different than a film where they have to recast a role in a sequel. You either go with it or don’t. Knowing that it was unlikely that Nicholson and Duvall would have appeared and knowing that any motion capture for those longer dramatic scenes might not have worked all that well and been distracting, I thought it was a good compromise and bringing back the characters worked from a dramatic perspective even if some folks found it distracting at least for me.

Now I’m not going to claim it’s perfect but they did a very good job of adapting a tricky novel and even when all,of the narrative tricks pay off, no but it lately worked for me.

 

It was distracting to me seeing another actor play the original one from Shining. It was like someone wearing someone elses expensively tailored and more sophisticated suit and thinking the audience will just buy in and not notice how off it looks on another person it wasn't designed for.

It was obvious there was some kind of nostalgia element for the original Shining inserted in as an after thought because some of the hotel scenes using different actors wasn't really necessary. Just my opinion.

 

I would have preferred non Shining original film inserts, that was crass and a insult to Kubrick’s memory.

 

Loved the book but I don't know if I'd like the changes made in movie.

 

It wasn’t intended to be that way nor did I feel it disrespected Kubrick in any way. It was done tastefully and it was essential to the story elements particularly around Danny becoming an alcoholic like his father. It also helped set things up early on reminding us that the various characters from the past were very much ghosts in Danny’s present.

They weren’t (as I recall) in the novel Doctor Sleep but they did add a sense of history for those who might not have seen the original film. If Nicholson had come out of retirement for this film, it might have helped but it was, for me, like en echo of the past. I’m confused here because these were non-Shining shots as nothing was taken from the original film.

As to the references to the original film some folks at Warner evidently thought that the references in advertisement would help sell,this film but it didn’t — the original film was 39 years ago. While it does sometimes work, even in those instances like the Star Wars films, there had been films more recently that build (or some would argue detract) on the legacy. Either way, Star Wars via TV showings, DVD, Blu-Ray and toys seems much more timeless than the original film.

That said, this was an advertising decision that Warner made that damaged it in theaters along with the timing (why this would premiere after Halloween doesn’t make sense to me). If you add in the lack of star power (great actors just no major movie star), all of this crippled the film at the box office which is too bad because it is a terrific thriller and very different than Kubrick’s film but an apt companion piece in telling us what happened to Danny. I would rather have recasting than using a CGI motion capture of a dead actor for the role.

 

I think the changes worked for the movie and made sense from a narrative POV but YMMV

 

A back-up generator that's still working after 38 years? I once had a brand-new car where if I did not start it in a 30-day period, it would die and the battery would have to be jumped.

 

The more I think about it the more I wished they would have followed the storyline from the novel Dr. Sleep. The fact that the John Dalton character was completely written out of the script (the doctor who lost his watch) is where it goes off the rails.
Let me just say that Dr Sleep saves the day without having to blow up a hotel.
Plus his dad is not a mean bartender either.

I would have presented the movie as Dr Sleep not used the Shining as a plot or marketing ploy. The novel holds up on its own.

 

Good to know!

 

Sounds like I'll watch this sitting in my recliner at home, and that OK with me.

 

The exterior shots of the Overlook in The Shining were filmed at the Timberline Lodge, in Oregon. They also built a replica of part of the exterior in England, for shots that included the actors.

The Stanley Hotel was where Stephen King got the inspiration for the novel, and the 1997 miniseries was filmed there.

 

I chose to accept the hotel's generator, boiler, etc. still working as part of Danny "lighting it up" with his powers.

 

I guess I’m going to have to read the book to find out how the movie should have ended. The more I think about it the more disappointed I am that after a good start, the last 1/4 of the movie devolved into fan service; there really was no reason to go back to the Overlook.

 

I,was,thinking along the lines of a gas back up generator and they could have had a brief throw away line where Danny states they brought something to help with starting it up. Why not use some of his shine (if it operates that Way)? Anyhow, there could have been some narrative choices that would have worked but by that point, in for a penny in for a pound.

 

Oh I was ok with it. The logic made sense and Danny had the bulk of those spirits inside him.

 

In the movie it's imperative to go back to the Overlook as it acts as the winning chess move between the evil antagonists vs good guys which I thought was a really cool and clever way to win.

Remember there is a lot of dark evil out in the world that has the Shining and they are VERY HUNGRY...and well connected. The hotel was at full occupancy in this regard. Hopes that's not a spoiler. The idea, writing and dialog is the main thing I liked about Doctor Sleep.

 

In the book, the traveling vampire caravan had made their camp in part of the ruins of the Overlook Hotel, so that was a big reason why Jack had to go back there. Several characters in the movie who die there did not die in the book.

 

Interesting, I always thought the exteriors were shot at The Stanley (which is named "Stanley" from the Stanley Steamer Company). In my mind when I think about The Shining I see the Stanley but when I search for Timberline it is indeed the one used. What a beautiful hotel:



Another interesting tidbit is that The Timberline hosts Shining events, read and see pics here Timberline Lodge: Party at the Shining Hotel and another interesting read here: What the hotel from The Shining looks like today

 

Whoops, make that why Danny had to go back there. (Jack also makes an appearance, but only as a ghost.)