In 2006, during the initial years of YouTube’s expanding popularity, this mash-up of The Shining went viral. By recasting the tone of Stanley Kubrick’s canonized 1980 horror film as a romantic comedy, complete with a Peter Gabriel song, the video’s act of both subverting and highlighting genre conventions made an incredibly effective case for how audiences can actively rework, rethink, or even contradict some of Hollywood’s most sacred texts. It’s this particular web 2.0-enabled democratic approach – not only to The Shining, but to movies in general – that lays the groundwork for Rodney Asher’s Room 237, a “subjective documentary” that investigates theories around the most notorious adaptation of any of Stephen King’s novels. Room 237 lends a microphone to five select uber-fans of The Shining. We never see these fans, and we only peripherally come to understand a bit about them (one is a history professor, another a father who sees his relationship with his son as similar to the one shared between Jack and Danny (!)). Instead, Room 237 devotes its entire running time to letting these individuals expound on their diverse theories about The Shining, while the film’s visual portion exercises these theories through visiting, revisiting, slowing down, and reversing clips from The Shining and Kubrick’s other works, filling out the gaps with clips from other films, both famous and obscure.

Do we define ourselves by the art we love? Why do we get so defensive when it’s attacked? To answer that, I invite critic Eric D. Snider (who recently received a death threat for his fake, negative review of The Dark Knight Rises) to ask if he can empathize with the kind of passion that leads someone to get angry with a stranger on the internet who disagrees. Download Episode #142

Just yesterday it was rumored that Karl Urban was offered to play Judge Dredd and I can confirm that that’s true. When I confronted Urban at the end of Red press conference and asked him about this, he didn’t seem surprised at all. First he gave a big laugh as he was expecting the question, but then, surprisingly, he actually talked a bit about it. To hear exactly what the actor/Judge Dredd fan had to say about possibly taking the role, click after the jump. 

Some days I lament moving away from Austin. On those days, I normally go eat at Whataburger and In-n-Out since Tucson has both, and I laugh and laugh. Still, this is a mild concession compared to missing out on the Alamo Drafthouse, the Highball, or Saturday Afternoon Jello Wrestling Hosted By Neil Miller at Reject HQ. However, it’s in Austin that a man has launched a protest against the constant stream of remakes coming out of Hollywood. Take that, Karate Kid!

Devin Faraci is worried that the modern movie geek is ailing. Apparently the internet is overrun with pretenders, infiltrating movies websites and leaving mean comments. Does this mean the era of the geek is over? Are there far too many posers? Take heart, friends. I’ve run some tests, and I’m pleased to announce that his/her health is better than ever.

What happens when Twilight fans attack? Apparently, a whole range of things can happen…