First Blog Post Assignment

Classic Masterpiece vs. Unnecessary Sequel

Mitra's Top and Lowest Rated Films

    Directed by Stanley Kubrick

   1980 ‧ Mystery/Psychological horror ‧ 2h 26m
    
    IMDB           Rotten Tomatoes        My Rating
    8.4/10                  85%                    ✰✰✰✰✰ 


The reason I give this film the highest rating possible is not only because many horror fanatics consider Stanley Kubrick's The Shining to be a horror classic, rather I consider it to be a cinematic masterpiece on almost all criteria possible.

A basic rundown of the plot without revealing the biggest twists and turns this film has to offer could be summarized in just a few sentences: Jack Torrance (played by Jack Nicholson) is offered a job at the sinister Overlook Hotel as the winter caretaker while the hotel is closed for several cold winter months completely isolated in the Colorado mountains. He is accompanied by his wife Wendy(played by Shelley Duvall) and his son Danny (played by Danny Lloyd) as they all begin to experience the isolation and what it does to the family dynamic. Madness begins to ensure and everything spirals out of control while this family is powerless to stop it. This basic summary sets up the stage for the perfect psychological thriller. 

Every element in this film is set to unsettle as much as possible the score, the cinematography, the acting, all of it makes for the perfect blend of tension and unease. The soundtrack with its eerie blend of orchestral music and thumping heart beats increases the unease and discomfort for the viewer in scenes with no dialogue and the cinematography, while it is very aesthetically pleasing, gives these wide shots and camera pans that make you feel like you are the one observing and moving from scene to scene. The acting is nothing less than phenomenal and with a small cast each character has the opportunity to truly shine and allow the isolation of the setting to really seep in. 

This film has a rather long run time but the time is used wisely in order to effectively set up tension in a way where the climax feels increasingly impactful when all of the events line up to give a climax that fills the viewer with anxiety until you are at the very edge of your seat. The film contains such a feeling of mystery that years after its release people are still coming up with theories to understand the film's true meaning and to speculate at some of the hidden themes that may not be visible upon the first viewing. In fact in 2012 a compilation of theories inspired by the film were made into a documentary titled "Room 237" in which many theories speculated at hidden imagery within the scenery, conspiracies around an other worldly being influencing the Overlook Hotel and its effect it had on the Torrance family, and yet all attempts at explaining these hidden themes come up short as the film is different for every viewer and cannot truly be explained. A film that seeps into your psyche and gives each person a different viewing experience is truly a work of art.

Directed by David Yates 

2018 ‧ Drama/Fantasy ‧ 2h 13m

IMDB        Rotten Tomatoes    My Rating 
6.6/10                36%                ☹ 


This film is just another disappointment in a trend of spin-off cash grabs that originated in a previously successful and highly regarded series. But what makes this film more disappointing than other soulless Hollywood spin-off series is that it had a promising start in the first Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them released in 2016 which was a genuinely enjoyable separate movie from the original Harry Potter characters but still appears within the Wizarding cinematic world and expands this universe and introduces new interesting characters. The main character Newt Scamander (played by Eddie Redmayne) is a quirky social outcast fascinated with magical creatures within the Wizarding World and preserving and protecting them much like an environmentalist in the modern world. The plot of the first movie mainly revolves around the different creatures he interacts with which makes for a fun exciting adventure with a simple plot to get you adjusted to the setting within the magical Harry Potter setting. 

This sequel unfortunately dives in with a suddenly complicated plot and lots of unnecessary twists and added characters that even if you viewed this film more than once (if you could stand to) you still wouldn't entirely know what was going on. The main characters introduced in the first film barely have any necessary plot lines while the screen time is taken up by plenty of unnecessary new characters thrown in for no reason at all (biggest example being a young Dumbledore) and it feels like a waste of viewing time especially since the main characters developed in the last movie are instead given weak development and nothing much to do. 

The biggest plot hole and worst addition to the story was the main villain Grindelwald who is featured in the title so you'd assume that the writers knew what they were doing with this character and given him motives to his actions but there appear to be no clear ones present. These "crimes" of Grindelwald are never clear although you expect the movie to wrap it up in the end but this film doesn't give you the satisfaction. Grindelwald is played by Johnny Depp who appears to give a very weak performance and fails to convince the audience of his "evil" motives and then gives the movie little to no stakes for the other protagonists to react to. It is very weak screen writing at best and makes this villain unbearable and uninteresting to watch. 

So what are the "Crimes" of Grindelwald? Just being "evil" because the screen writers say he is? I guess we'll never find out. In conclusion, this film feels like a crime against anyone who previously enjoyed the Harry Potter universe and another shameless cash-grab for J. K. Rowling.