Stephen King on Film

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domino harvey
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#101 Post by domino harvey » Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:35 pm

The Narrator Returns wrote:
Wed Dec 11, 2019 2:34 pm
It seems like that won't be happening, but only because Perry is adapting The Dark Half instead.
Kind of can see that playing to his narcissist tendencies, could be a good fit

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cdnchris
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#102 Post by cdnchris » Thu Dec 12, 2019 3:02 pm

I'm assuming I'm the only one that found the Romero one enjoyable. I recall it being trashed pretty hard when it was first released.

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Reverend Drewcifer
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#103 Post by Reverend Drewcifer » Thu Dec 12, 2019 6:03 pm

Romero gets the atmosphere right. Every shot with the sparrows is effective, and his editing in the automatic writing scene, right up to the pencil-in-the-hand is textbook tension-building. There's evidence of budget restrictions, and Timothy Hutton is pushing at the limits of his abilities with the dual roles, but it works overall.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#104 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Sat Feb 01, 2020 1:17 pm

It'll never happen but another go at Under The Dome would be something perfectly ripe for today's America

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colinr0380
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#105 Post by colinr0380 » Sun Feb 02, 2020 7:01 am

Or today's Middle East, which is much the same thing. Perhaps there would be an underground tunnel connecting the two somehow.

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Persona
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#106 Post by Persona » Sun Apr 12, 2020 5:06 pm

I have to say, I really liked the director's cut of Doctor Sleep. A really effective reconciliation of King's books and Kubrick's film, while also in this version getting to flesh out the characters and themes and find a pacing and mood that works better and has more cumulative effect. Flanagan continues to be a gift to modern horror in terms of his intelligence and intuition as a storyteller.

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The Curious Sofa
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#107 Post by The Curious Sofa » Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:56 am

Flanagan brings some nice touches to Doctor Sleep here and there, the problem with the film is that I simply don’t care for the premise of psychic vampires feeding on the supernaturally gifted. There is something universal about the horror of The Shining, even in Kubrick’s more detached treatment of the novel. Especially now, who can not relate to the fear of isolation, as a result being confronted with your innermost demons or a loved one turning into a monster ? Doctor Sleep feels like an overextended post script and conceptually is one of the least frightening horror films I‘ve seen. It taps into no fear of mine I can relate to, apart from maybe the physical tortures implied. Rebecca Ferguson does her best with the role but Rose the Hat is too abstract a villain for whom one has to take on board an awful lot of mythology. I have problems with Nicholson’s interpretation of Jack Torrance but at least he feels like a real threat once turned loose. I enjoyed the return to The Overlook but that novelty has been diminished by Spielberg heading there not long ago.

The film drops the ball when it comes to the ghosts. The make-up on them is Mick Garris levels of awful. In the Kubrick film the woman in room 237 is scary because of the two actresses Kubrick cast. It looks like only little make up was used once she transforms, she doesn’t look like the cliche horror movie ghoul she becomes in Doctor Sleep.

I didn’t think it was a bad film but considering what it follows on from, it feels like a story not worth telling.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#108 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri May 08, 2020 5:08 pm

Mike Flanagan returns to the well for Revival (only adapting the novel at the moment, with an option to direct)

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The Curious Sofa
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#109 Post by The Curious Sofa » Sat May 09, 2020 11:12 am

At least Flanagan is a step up from Mick Garris as the go-to choice for Stephen King adaptations.

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domino harvey
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#110 Post by domino harvey » Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:27 am

Trailer for the Stand, which stars far more nobodies than the 90s version and looks terrible

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#111 Post by therewillbeblus » Sat Oct 10, 2020 1:12 pm

Sure does, this is not the Heather Graham resurgence I was hoping for


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Re: Stephen King on Film

#113 Post by JamesF » Sun Jan 17, 2021 10:50 am

domino harvey wrote:
Sat Oct 10, 2020 11:27 am
Trailer for the Stand, which stars far more nobodies than the 90s version and looks terrible
Is anyone else persevering with the new version of The Stand despite it being a total car crash? Curiosity is keeping me going but what a squandered opportunity, so utterly incurious about the potential of updating the material beyond a superficial diversity makeover (however nobly intended) and the horribly ill-advised non-linear structure which sucks any gravitas out of it. Why is Stu still the lead in spite of being so dull? Why isn’t it more interrogative about who winds up in Boulder vs Vegas? Why is it in such a big damn hurry all the time?

The novel is so deeply rooted in the 1970s and the long hangover from the death of the Sixties dream that to have two screen adaptations make no attempt to properly recontextualise it for their respective eras is such a shame. Let’s see if someone else tries it in a couple of decades. In the meantime, I’ll give the Garris/King miniseries this... it may be tame and cheesy as anything, but at least it doesn’t feel as shallow and hollow as the newest version, which has four extra hours to tell its story but I couldn't tell you what it's actually doing with them as of now.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#114 Post by therewillbeblus » Sun Jan 17, 2021 1:08 pm

I'm not watching it and likely never will, though a client of mine went on a rant about how misinformed the "superficial diversity makeover is". I haven't read the book in ages, but as she tells it, the character they choose to change from white to black (Larry) is the one in the books whose undertones are the most racially problematic, undermining the issue and erasing it with a change in skin-colored actor. There are implicit readings that he is appropriating black music as a white man and passively ignoring racist dialogue around him thus indirectly contributing to the problem of racism in America. I'm sure this wasn't done deliberately to not address the issue, but the way she outlined it, it seems like a sore misjudgment masked as a progressive one.

I hear that Heather Graham's character lasts way longer in the miniseries than in the books, which makes me want to watch it, but I'm trying to tell myself that's just teenage 'me' persuading poor choices

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#115 Post by Big Ben » Sun Jan 17, 2021 2:32 pm

I think James' description of it as a "total car crash" is absolutely correct. The best way I can describe the new Stand series is that everything is amped up with downright cartoonish levels of villainy on display. It's a damn shame because Randall Flagg is in my opinion of King's best villains. The only thing missing is a damsel in distress being tied to train tracks while a villain twirls his mustache.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#116 Post by DarkImbecile » Fri Feb 19, 2021 4:59 pm


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Big Ben
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#117 Post by Big Ben » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:11 pm

Honestly I can see this working out well if Wright is allowed to do what he wants. There's plenty of still applicable satire to pull out of The Running Man. Arguably more so now in 2021.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#118 Post by colinr0380 » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:16 pm

That could certainly do with a more faithful adaptation. I wonder if they will keep the 'countdown' structure, let alone the ending of:
SpoilerShow
a victorious act of terrorism involving a plane versus a building, that has always seemed unadaptable since 9/11
(But I would not be too surprised if it turns out to be a straight remake of the Schwarzenegger film. Which could be fun in its own way)

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#119 Post by dwk » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:19 pm

I was wondering about the ending too. No way they keep that, but the Deadline article mentions they are planning on being more faithful to the novel than the Schwarzenegger film.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#120 Post by knives » Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:36 pm

No way the casting will ever be as good as the original though.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#121 Post by willoneill » Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:20 am

I wonder who Wright will cast as the host, Louie Anderson or Richard Karn? Would be a pretty dark turn for either of them.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#122 Post by beamish14 » Mon Feb 22, 2021 12:48 pm

willoneill wrote:
Mon Feb 22, 2021 9:20 am
I wonder who Wright will cast as the host, Louie Anderson or Richard Karn? Would be a pretty dark turn for either of them.

Somebody on Deadline suggest Steve Harvey, which is kind of brilliant, and actually works because he is black in the novel.

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#123 Post by Feego » Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:05 pm

Wayne Brady?

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therewillbeblus
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Re: Stephen King on Film

#124 Post by therewillbeblus » Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:16 pm

Feego wrote:
Mon Feb 22, 2021 11:05 pm
Wayne Brady?
Probably

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Re: Stephen King on Film

#125 Post by flyonthewall2983 » Wed Feb 24, 2021 11:13 pm

I have a crazy notion that they could do this both as a more faithful adaptation of the book, but also a sequel to the 87 movie with Arnold returning as his character, who is now completely corrupted into hosting the show himself.
knives wrote:
Fri Feb 19, 2021 5:36 pm
No way the casting will ever be as good as the original though.
Or the theme music

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