Stephen King on the big screen

[vtgrad]

I haven't read Dr. Sleep either... and I enjoyed the HELL out of the movie!  Thought is was awesome and loved the nods to DT within the film.

Honestly, I though it was awesome, especially for a King adaptation; easily better, to me, than IT Chapter 2.  It is a direct compliment to Kubrick's movie and catches that atmosphere. 

[ozzy554]

I just saw Doctor sleep. I have read the book and I thought the movie was great.

The first 2/3rds of this movie is one of the most faithful adaptations of a King book I've seen. The last third does it's own thing to tie into the Kubrick film more which I thought it did very well.

Whether you've read the book or not I recommend the movie.

[Phoenix87x]

I rewatched the documentary Room 237 today. Yes its mental and off the rails in a lot of ways, but I've always found it to be an entertaining watch.

[ErHaO]

Saw Doctor Sleep and absolutely loved it.

This is how you should do a sequel, build on elements from the original but go in a different direction that makes sense for the plot to go. I have not read the books, so am talking purely about the films.

And, well, I actually do not enjoy The Shining all that much (compared to it's cultural status), so this came as a surpsise to me.

[Phoenix87x]

Got Doctor Sleep on Blu-Ray. Came with both the Theatrical cut and directors cut with like 25 mins extra.

The Directors cut is worth watching at least once, but that's about it. Its already a long movie and the extra stuff kills the pacing. It adds some flavor, but it was the right choice to cut if from the original.

[Phoenix87x]

Just started the audiobook of The Shining. Wow, this is really good. I regret not ever thinking about reading it before

Now I know why King was so pissed at Kubrick 

I still love the Kubrick movie, but I would love to have a more faithful version that really did the book justice.

[Cool Chris]

I still love the Kubrick movie, but I would love to have a more faithful version that really did the book justice.

This miniseries from the late 90s is quite faithful to the story, and imo, quite good. I believe King had a hand in the script, though to what degree I cannot recall.

[Kotowboy]

It should be law that any Stephen King novel should be directed by Frank Darabont.

Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
The Mist

He was supposed to do a 4th one too but it didn't happen in the end.

[axeman90210]

Which was going to be the fourth?

[Kotowboy]

The Long Walk or something ? Basically the plot of SPEED but it's people on a long walk and whoever stops gets killed or something. I seem to remember that was the broad strokes.

[Cool Chris]

I would never say its "Basically the plot of SPEED" but you got the crux of it right. It was one of King's first stories, about an annual competition between 100 kids to see who can walk the longest without stopping. Those falling below a set MPH get 3 warnings before they are shot. I cannot recall what they win, but it is voluntary so it must be something worthwhile. Since it is basically kids walking and talking the whole time, I cannot imagine how that would translate to film.

[jingle.boy]

I would never say its "Basically the plot of SPEED" but you got the crux of it right. It was one of King's first stories, about an annual competition between 100 kids to see who can walk the longest without stopping. Those falling below a set MPH get 3 warnings before they are shot. I cannot recall what they win, but it is voluntary so it must be something worthwhile. Since it is basically kids walking and talking the whole time, I cannot imagine how that would translate to film.

Anything they want for the rest of their life, iirc.  Wasn't it first published in the Bachman collection?

As for translating to film, there were a lot of sub-plots and stories in there that could be done.  I read it in the late 80s, so I don't remember all of them, but I could see someone making a go of it.

[Kotowboy]

Shawshank, Green Mile and Mist are all fantastic so it's a shame that Darabont never got around to doing another one.

EDIT : I just checked and the dude is only 62. I hope he doesn't end up being one of those directors who made so many classic movies then

either only did TV or dire movies or just stopped altogether. But The MIST was 2007 and it was his last movie directing credit.

[ErHaO]

Finally saw It chapter 2. To my surprise I enjoyed It chapter 2 more than part 1. Perhaps because my expectations of 1 were very high due to the positive reviews and my expectations for 2 were kind of the opposite. Overall I think both films together work very well. It wasn't really scary to me, but I enjoyed the atmosphere very much and all the actors did a great job (both the kids and the adults). I think the length of the films is good, not too long as many are saying, as this way all the characters get their development.

Got Doctor Sleep on Blu-Ray. Came with both the Theatrical cut and directors cut with like 25 mins extra.

The Directors cut is worth watching at least once, but that's about it. Its already a long movie and the extra stuff kills the pacing. It adds some flavor, but it was the right choice to cut if from the original.

I have seen the Directors cut and agree the theatrical version is better. Worth a watch, but if you want to experience the film for the first time, I'd indeed recommend the theatrical release, which has a very good pacing and does not feel sliced up at all.

[ronnibran]

Haven't scoured this entire thread to see if anyone else already mentioned it, but I just finished watching the mini-series of 11/22/63.  It's on hulu, 8 episodes around an hour each.  Much different from the book but still a really good watch.  I believe Stephen King and JJ Abrams were both producers on it.

[Phoenix87x]

I watched The Dead Zone yesterday, and I just want to say that I love that movie oh so much 

[Harmony]

The Dead Zone is a classic.  It is one of the few decent adaptations of a King novel.  The book is worth reading as well.

When the movie first came out I thought no way could someone that evil could rise to power in politics like that and well.....now I wish I were still that naive. 

[Phoenix87x]

Oh for sure, and Martin Sheen's performance was terrifying. It was so utterly spot on.