The Shining

Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) is a writer suffering from writer's block. He takes a job as an off-season caretaker at the Overlook Hotel, deep in the Colorado Rockies, where he will stay for five months with just his wife Wendy (Shelley Duvall) and their son, Jake (Danny Lloyd). Whilst at the hotel, all three members of the Torrance family experience otherworldly visions that slowly send Jack insane. Meanwhile, Danny's 'gift' of the shining - the ability to see and hear things that haven't happened yet or that happened a long time ago - grows stronger.

Paths of Glory

Paths of Glory emphasises the differences between the high ranking officers and the lowly privates during the first world war, as after a failed advance, the general in charge demands three soldiers to be made an example of, via a firing squad. The general assumes cowardice on behalf of the men, yet each of the men chosen has a valid reason for retreat, be it finding themselves alone against an insurmountable challenge, being ordered not to by their superior or being knocked unconscious during the advance.

The film is part war, part courtroom drama, as Kirk Douglas attempts to defend the three against their charges. There were some good shots, such as the tracking shots through the trenches, that I feel would have benefited from being single continuous takes, although perhaps budgetary conditions and the technology available at the time limited this. The final scene, as Douglas stands outside watching the troops leer at a female German singer, makes us think who is worse, the generals more than happy to fire upon their own men to make them attack, or the soldiers themselves, reduced to their base urges in the face of death.

Choose film 7/10