DR. SLEEP – Mike and I have wanted to see this film since it first opened in theatres. We were both fans of Stephen King’s book along with a few other peeps in our group. We finally had an opportunity under the coronavirus shelter-at-home orders. The film was proceeding fairly well until the end. Intended as a sequel to The Shining where Danny Torrance is now an adult and very much following in the footsteps of his tormented father, the film should have provided the same redemptive resolution found in the book. In fact, that was my favorite part of the book, and I was very much looking forward to seeing it portrayed on screen. Dan Torrance is forced to return to the Overlook Hotel, face his demons once and for all, employ them to fight the current evil force he encounters in this story, and then the coup de grace…he’s failing until his father’s spirit assists him with the final push necessary to overcome the evil energies and redeem them both. Instead, the film’s ending became a cheesy remake of the original Shining movie (with a lot of corny nods to its predecessor). Dan perishes the same way as his father, overtaken by the malevolent hotel ghosts and the exploding boiler. I would love to know what Stephen King thinks of this drastic change to his great story. I hated it. So did Mike. The film also lacked a proper depiction of the steam people. Scenes and events are pieced together quickly and disjointedly in an already very long film. It’s surprising since the film is directed by Mike Flanagan who usually churns out good stuff – most recently The Haunting of Hill House on NewFlix (although I have to say I wasn’t a fan of the ending of that one either, despite the topnotch quality of the series overall.) The actors in Dr. Sleep did a great job in spite of these major flaws. And kudos to the casting of actors who strongly resemble characters from the original film. I’m going to take this opportunity to also voice my opinion of the original Stanley Kubrick film with Jack Nicholson. I think I was the only one who completely disliked this film. I definitely was the only one of folks I know. There was a remake of it with Stephen Weber and Rebecca De Mornay delivered as a mini-series over several nights some 20 years ago. That one, which few people know about, stuck completely to the original story. It was filmed at the Stanley hotel in Colorado where King wrote the book and was the basis for the Overlook. I cared about Jack & Wendy Torrance, I believed they loved Danny and each other, I was rooting for them all they way. I love this remake and continue to watch it on dvd. In the original, Jack was a nasty jerk, Wendy was a screeching nag and I wanted the hotel to consume them both. So, zero toasts and boyfriends for Dr. Sleep (except for the cat which was beautiful), zero toasts and boyfriends to the original Shining film, and two toasts and one boyfriend in the remake. Cheers!