I've been disappointed in Stephen King movies for as long as I can remember. I intended to see The Dark Tower but passed after all of the bad reviews. I'm hoping that IT is good and the previews look appealing but I've been burned so many times before.

The King movies would not be so bad if the books weren't so good.

I liked The Dark Tower, but I never read the novels. I haven't read any King novels. There've been plenty of good adaptations to go along with all the bad ones.

the best will always be The Shining,
as far as King novels brought to the screen

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
the best will always be The Shining,
as far as King novels brought to the screen

Stand by Me and The Shawshank Redemption were King shorts that were two of my favorite movies.

But the absolute best novel to screen adaptation I ever saw was The Green Mile. Almost every dialogue was perfect and the casting really couldn't have been more spot on. It was like I was reading the book all over again except I was watching it on the screen.

The Mist (2007) was a punisher.

There is no way in hell, any movie is going to do this book justice. They've already tried a couple times haven't they?

It never ends well because reading the book puts you in the characters. It's creepy, you get a tingling sensation, but its not shockingly frightening, which is what the films always try to be. The book isn't written to jump at you like the movie will try to do. It's a slow understanding of whats developing with the creepy feel that wierds you out, not some shock music and quick edit of "surprise I'm an evil clown" jumping at you.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
the best will always be The Shining,
as far as King novels brought to the screen

I loved The Stand (TV movie series). I wish they did that format with The Dark Tower series on HBO. It would have been great after GOT was finished. I hope IT is good. As others said, it's difficult to match his books.

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
the best will always be The Shining,
as far as King novels brought to the screen

First one, or remake?

quote:

Originally posted by f2:
The Mist (2007) was a punisher.

I see what you did there!

Can't believe there's no love for The Langoliers here. I mean, come on... Dean Stockwell, David Morse, Bronson Pinchot... all in a way too long, low budget mini-series with a typically stupid King-esque ending? What could be better?

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by Floyd D. Barber:

quote:

Originally posted by lyman:
the best will always be The Shining,
as far as King novels brought to the screen

First one, or remake?

Kubrick version

saw it yesterday - excellent.

I wanted to really like IT. I really liked the beginning. Well done. But then it got really uneven. Overall, pretty solid. Pennywise was very good, not amazing, but well done.

I was hoping the 80s retro would work better. But it did not. Forced or forgotten.

I read a review that the kid actors did a uniformly great job. But, not so much. I think, in the end, 7 was just too many. The fat kid starts strong, good role, and then disappears. The black kid felt like an after-thought.

I think 5 kids total would have been better. And I'm talking move flow, not sticking with homage to Stephen King's book.

It just became a muddled mess. But again, taking highs with lows, pretty well done.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Batty67,

Are there people - particularly King fans - who sincerely don't like the Shawshank and Green Mile films, or Misery, or The Shining?

I'm an early SK fan. Now, not so much. I even got into his son's books - Joe Hill aka Joe King, and he lets his politics bleed into the pages, and the stories are so good it just pisses me off.

I rate the top 4 movies:

The Shining
It (2017)
Carrie (1976)
The Mist (2007)

Saw IT yesterday and enjoyed it.

It was well done and creepy.

Would have been more creepy if I didn't read the book and know what was coming.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: PR64,

I saw it last night. For me, it didn't quite live up to the hype. It was decent but not great. The same jump scare over and over again, but the clown WAS creepy. The kids' banter was the best part of the movie in a "Stand By Me" kind of way.

No clown is ever going to catch up to the body count stacked up by Ronald McDonald.

I liked it, and I don't generally care for horror movies.

 
I've never read any SK novels, and only seen one movie, but it was a winner: Misery. Oscar and Golden Globe Best Actress for Kathy Bates.