The Stanley Hotel- Estes Park, CO

This past summer I spent some time in Colorado visiting family. During my time there, we took a trip up to Estes Park, Colorado, home of the famous Stanley Hotel.

The Stanley Hotel, in Estes Park, CO. Taken this past July.

The hotel was built in 1909 by Freelan Oscar Stanley, of the same family who built the famous Stanley Steamer. While this hotel is historically significant, I mention it today because of our recent discussion of Stephen King's The Shining.

While the Stanley is well-known as a historically significant landmark, it is also famous for its part in the creation of the 1980 film, The Shining.

Inspired by the haunted history of the hotel, Stephen King wrote the novel, The Shining on which the film was based after his stay at the hotel, in 1977.

The film was actually shot mostly in Oregon, at a hotel called the Timberline Lodge, however a few scenes from Kubrik's film, as well as the entire mini-series (also called The Shining, and yes, it is confusing) were shot on location at the Stanley.

While in Estes Park, my family and I took a tour of the haunted hotel, visiting infamous rooms, such as room 217. It is said that every room in the hotel is haunted, with supernatural events occurring everywhere. Things such as strange noises, moving objects, footsteps, and more have been reported.
In addition to being the birth place of The Shining, other films have been shot in the picturesque Estes Park, such as Dumb and Dumber and multiple episodes of Ghost Hunters. 

Overall it was a really cool experience to visit such a historic hotel. Learning about the history of both the hotel and the area was really interesting. 
Here are some pictures I took on my trip. Some were on a DSLR, and some were taken on my iPhone, but I hope you like them! See you next week... 

An aerial shot of Estes Park, CO

Room 217

Signed photo of Shelly Duval from The Shining at the Stanley hotel

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

I can honestly say my favorite movie of all time is Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. At first, the movie can seem very confusing but once you understand what it’s about it is a masterpiece. The screenwriter Charlie Kaufman also wrote Being John Malkovich another one of my all time favorites, so you can see what kind of movie this is. The film is about Joel and Clementine, a couple who decides to erase each other from their minds. Once Joel finds out Clementine did it, he decides to get the procedure done as well. Unfortunately halfway through these memories he realizes he wants to keep them, and doesn’t want to forget all the history they had together. 

Most of the film is the memories that he wants to keep. The movie travels back in time to the present, with Joel unconscious getting the procedure done. This movie takes time and space to the next level since he's essentially in his own mind back in time.  It can be very confusing what dimension they are in but the cinematography helps this confusion.

The camera work plays a major role in deciphering what is a memory and what is reality. The memory scenes are usually shot in hand held, and the faces become distorted and blurry. We’re also able to tell what time period it is by the color of Clementine’s hair, which she changes frequently. Although it seems to not be a big part of the plot, it plays a major role in deciphering what’s a memory and how far back into the relationship they are.

The big plot twist in the movie (spolier alert) is that the beginning of the film is actually in end the of the film. After watching it a few times, you start to understand. The beginning seems to be them meeting for the first time but it it is actually them meeting for a second time post memory deletion. This plays into one of the many themes, fate.  Another important factor for being able to tell what is just a memory is the soundtrack used. During some of the memory scenes, the music was fuzzy and sounded like it was broken or rewinding. During reality, normal music was played. I could watch this movie everyday, and still find it just as fascinating as the day before. 

Yes Man

Yes Man, directed by Peyton Reed, is about a man named Carl Allen (Jim Carrey), who is down on his luck, when he decides to go to a self-improvement seminar. The lecture is about different opportunities that present themselves to different people and the exercise requires that no matter what options are available, good or bad, the response should be “yes”. After going to the seminar he challenges himself to say "yes" to everything. Carl's world is turned upside down by the power of "yes" he finally sees that things are changing when he meets a girl named Allison (Zooey Deschanel) who has a lot of hobbies including photography while running, singing in Munchausen by Proxy, to name a few. The word yes seems to be making Carl's life go in the right directing until Allison finds out about it and that’s when things get interesting. You'll just have to go out and watch this film to and see what happens next.


References:
Billy Jack (1971), Alien (1979), Body Heat (1981), "G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero" (1983), The Goonies (1985), The Witches of Eastwick (1987), Interview with the Vampire: The Vampire Chronicles (1994), Mortal Kombat (1995), The Cable Guy (1996), Space Jam (1996), Michael (1996), Titanic (1997), Lost in Space (1998), Deep Impact (1998), The Matrix (1999), Dogma (1999), Gladiator (2000), Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001), May (2002), Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (2002), The Core (2003), The Cat in the Hat (2003), Saw (2004), The Day After Tomorrow (2004), Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (2004),
AVP: Alien vs. Predator (2004), The Matador (2005), Alone in the Dark (2005), Kiss Kiss Bang Bang (2005), Batman Begins (2005), Flightplan (2005), Doom (2005), Saw II (2005), King Kong (2005), Superman Returns (2006), Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006), Perfect Stranger (2007), Spider-Man 3 (2007), 1408 (2007), Transformers (2007), I Am Legend (2007), Rambo (2008)