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Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 25, 2007 16:22:46 GMT 2
This idea came from a discussion that cropped up from, of all things, Aquaman on another thread. No, I've no idea either - hence the beauty of disussion fo... I'm sorry, I was about to compare this site to any other discussion forum. Blasphemy is neither big nor clever.
Anyway, there's certainly been enough of them (over 75, don't you know.. probably 80 by the time you read this) over the years and I'm sure you Loyal Dwellers will have seen a fair few of them. So let's talk Stephen King movie and TV adaptations. The Good, the Bad and, the, er, Nightflier.
It's easy to say that "The Shining", (Kubricks version) is the hands down winner, but that may be doing a few choice others a dis-service. For one, King himself didn't rate the film (as Kubrick himself didn't exactly rate the book) and then there's the modern classic "Shawshank Redemption", the coming of age brilliance of "Stand By Me" and.. well, I've said too much already - this is a DISCUSSION, not an essay.
So - Stephen King. Discuss.
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on Oct 25, 2007 19:17:48 GMT 2
 Ironically, I was GOING to start THIS EXACT THREAD! Kurbic's THE SHINING took Stephen King's book and did it one better. As much as I LOVE Stephen King books (and this is from someone who has bought some of the books over 3 different times) let's face it...he does suffer from "diarrhea of the word processor" as so noted by one of his early critics. Kurbric trimmed away all the excess and made it an intense movie about a man slowly losing his mind. The TV remake suffers from loads of problems...and the most notable is the fact that no one can play "slowly losing his mind" like Jack did originally. CARRIE is pretty damned good, too! I could go on, but the wife wants to watch either DIE HARD 4.0 or ALPHA DOG. 
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 25, 2007 20:36:42 GMT 2
Tch, I wouldn't mind watching either. Could be worse, Wolfy. I bought the TV remake ages ago and I've still to watch it. I just see the pasty loser that's supposed to be Jack Torrance on the front cover and I put it back on the shelf.  THAT is Jack Torrance.  THAT quite clearly isn't. |
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Post by InvisibleWolfMan on Oct 25, 2007 22:53:52 GMT 2
I watched the TV version when it first premiered (it's bizarre to think of the VHS era!  ) back when I'd record any Stephen King TV movie. I was tortured by it SO much that instead of cutting out all the TV ads I just let it go.  The guy is NOT scary, the kid is a poor man's Macaulay Culkin and the whole story is about as believable as the events in PLAN 9. WHY? Because it's bloated with alot of the bullshit that Kurbric wisely cut out in the first place. Also the brilliant casting choices for Kurbric's version can never be replaced. And let's not forget ANY of those intense hallway scenes involving Danny:  Did you know that Kurbric used only natural light for the film? No oversized lamps to be had!  |
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Post by trashcanman on Oct 25, 2007 23:08:03 GMT 2
On the other hand, this is much better than Shelley Duvall.   Not a better artistic choice, but certainly easier on the eyes. Diss not "The Night Flier", Curmudgeon, for his piss is that of blood and his mouth agape like the very jaws of Hades. Also, the acting in that film is fucking hilarious and that ending kicks all sorts of ass. But when it comes to striking terror into my very soul with just one shot, there is one Stephen King image that comes to mind:  Then, of course there's "They ALL float down here. And when you're down here with me, you'll float too!"  So. fucking. EVIL! People think I'm crazy, but the adaptation that scares me the most top-to-bottom is......"Maximum Overdrive"! Kidding. It's actually  It's the one King horror story that actually seems plausible to me and if you've ever been on a large dog's bad side you know what utterly helpless feels like. |
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 26, 2007 0:47:32 GMT 2
I always remember Rachel from Friends talking about Cujo; "you know, I never thought I'd say this, but I really wanted that dog to DIE." That is one frightening image from Salem's Lot, Trashy - what a good find. When I lived with my parents my bedroom was on the third floor of the house, and I ALWAYS thought of that whenever I looked out the window.. when it was 3am and I was all alone. Yeah, we've all been there. Yeesh. I think a generation of kids grew up with IT as THE film that scared them, even though it was a fairly low-budget TV movie with a shit ending. There was so much shit in that film kids could relate to.. it was one of those films I remember hoping the scary stuff WOULDN'T happen.. On a less chilling note, one of my favourite films growing up just happened to be written by King under his Bachman pseudonym...  "Who loves YOU, and who do YOU love..........?!" Oh yeah - The Running Man. An awesome piece of 80's action, a weird mix of every crappy gameshow and WWE(F) wrestling. |
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Post by The Curmudgeon on Oct 26, 2007 0:55:26 GMT 2
Side note - again about The Shining..  Has there ever been a character that deep down deserved to die more than Shelly Duvall's character? |
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Post by trashcanman on Oct 31, 2007 9:50:19 GMT 2
Silly me, I forgot what has to be the 2nd best Stephen King film in terms of quality.  Sure, John Travolta's acting is truly terrible in it, but this story is one I've related to my entire life. The remake with Angela Bettis (May) didn't fair as well, though it wasn't terrible. |
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Ironically, I was GOING to start THIS EXACT THREAD! .jpeg)
) back when I'd record any Stephen King TV movie. I was tortured by it SO much that instead of cutting out all the TV ads I just let it go. 
The guy is NOT scary, the kid is a poor man's Macaulay Culkin and the whole story is about as believable as the events in PLAN 9. WHY? Because it's bloated with alot of the bullshit that Kurbric wisely cut out in the first place. Also the brilliant casting choices for Kurbric's version can never be replaced.
