HOLY SHIT STEPHEN KING… - Page 2

Quote:

Originally Posted by Andrew Merriweather 

I will defend DUMA KEY til the day I die. It's fatty, but powered by atypical characters and chock full of striking imagery. The friendship between Edgar and Wireman is some of the best stuff King's written in years.

King's use of language is very effective in this book. And I loved the slow burn nature of the thriller aspects. He really sucks you in with the characters and makes you really care about them. By the time things get horrific (and man does he pull out all the stops when that happens), you're very invested emotionally. I thought that was handled with a lot more focus on character than in his other novels. I really think it's one of the best things he's ever done. It would make an unusual and terrific movie if done right. But it's hard to pull off primarily because how the hell are you going to make those paintings? They're described as being these brilliant, eye-popping works unlike anything anyone's ever seen before. Still... The meat of the story is ripe for adaptation and I'm surprised it wasn't attempted.

About that.... While reading it, I couldn't help picturing actors. (I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that)

He's probably a little old for it, but I thought Nicholson would make a great Freemantle. And, for Wireman, I thought Harrison Ford.

Okay...

DUMA KEY = MATCH POINT

I had Tommy Lee Jones and Jeff Bridges. Couldn't get them out of my head for all of Duma Key. They were both awesome in it.

That would be great too. And probably more age appropriate. Bridges would make a terrific Wireman. Seriously, that has Best Supporting Actor written all over it.

I want this movie tomorrow. Your version or mine, it doesn't matter.

.....

In other news, as much as I enjoyed CELL, I couldn't help casting it with TV in mind. For instance, I had George Eads for Clayton Riddell.

Maybe I've been watching too much CSI.

I have such a distinct picture of Wireman in my head, that I don't think there is any actor who could match it. The closest would be Jeff Fahey.

Fahey lacks a certain maturity. He just isn't old enough. (Though I guess I could see him in the TV miniseries version, wherein Alfred Molina plays Freemantle)

But I am seeing a pattern here... Because, before I fixated on Harrison Ford, I had Wireman pegged as Jon Voight.

For some reason I had Wireman as Donal Logue in my head. He's not that old - he's late forties, I think.

That still seems a little young. I pictured both Freemantle and Wireman as being men in their late fifties/early sixties. I could be slightly off, but I got the sense King was pretty much writing about people his own age in that one.

Speaking of senior citizens... Please tell me I wasn't the only one picturing Eastwood back when I first read Insomnia. (If they'd done that movie late 90s, he would have been amazing)

No, I mean Wireman is actually identified as being in his forties in the book.

I stand corrected then. Because I honestly thought he was older.

Quote:

Originally Posted by David Morgan 

It wasnt meh, it had a genuine creepy villian called Mr. Munchin and showed the Breakers from DT, plus more info on King Crimson. 

 

That doesn't make it a worthy sequel to THE TALISMAN. I'm making my way through THE BLACK HOUSE now and so far it pales in comparison to THE TALISMAN, one of my favorite King books. Tone and world feel completely different.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fuzzy dunlop 

and also to see how it fits into the King-verse.  I'm sure Danny crosses paths with Callahan and the low-men or something.

 

I wouldn't mind that at all.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ratty 

What made The Shining so compelling was The Overlook, not Danny.  Taking Danny on a different "adventure" isn't very compelling to me.  Much like taking Jack Sawyer out of The Territories for most of Black House wasn't interesting, either. 

Yep.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Arjen Rudd 

 I would think Pennywise would be a much bigger deal. Speaking of that, by the way, the twenty seven year cycle is about to roll around again. That would be a sequel I could really get behind.

There ya go. Any news on that movie remake?

IT is my favorite King... So, I would be very open to and excited about the idea of him revisiting that world and those characters. Definitely more potential than revisiting Danny Torrance.

As far as the "remake," I haven't heard anything. But I was always pretty disappointed with how it was adapted for TV. The concept really would have worked better as an epic film. The generational scope of the story and the personal nature of those characters made me think of it as very much like The Godfather.

So I hope they do get around to it.

I will say, also, that there is enough material in that book to expand upon if they wanted to go the TV serial route. Now that other shows have paved the way, it could be done. And that could work very well too. With input from King, you could easily transform IT into several seasons of very compelling television.

I'd love the HBO mini of It, a la Mildred Pierce. Best of both worlds, really. 

The only way we'll get a truly epic re-adaptation of It is if David Yates' big budget redo of The Stand is a big hit........................and hopefully it will be.  Same goes for Jonathan Demme's 11/22/63 adaptation.  If those turn out well and make dough, I think we'll be seeing a lot of new King films (theatrical & TV) on the way.  There have been quite a few re-adaptations mentioned over the past few years (It, Christine, Pet Sematary, Carrie, etc.), but none of them have made it off the ground yet.

Thing is, most of those were just fine the first time around. Though I have to admit that, though he did a slick job, Carpenter stripped much of the psychological nuance that made Christine interesting as a novel and just left it as a kind of stupid possessed car story.

Of the ones mentioned, I'd say It is the only one in need of a real overhaul.

I didn't know about Demme and 11/22/63. That sounds interesting. I can't wait to read that book.

Apparently Carpenter and the producers shied away from the Roland LeBay stuff do to the fact that An American Werewolf In London had already covered the whole "talking to a dead guy" bit recently at the time...............so they basically streamlined it into a killer car movie.

I would definitely like to see a new version of IT get off the ground.............preferably at Universal, for obvious reasons.  Pet Sematary will likely happen no matter what, as the studio that owns it seems dead-set on remaking it within the next couple years.  The script is apparently completed and supposedly Alexandre Aja is circling it at the moment.  I honestly see no point in redoing Carrie.

I would also love to see a nice theatrical adaptation of Salem's Lot.  While I really dig Hooper's old miniseries and its strong Hammer-vibe, I'd love to see a more faithful version that isn't a piece of shit (the 2004 miniseries, which really isn't all that faithful either).  I also wouldn't mind a new adaptation of Firestarter and I'd love to see Frank Darabont get The Long Walk off the ground sometime in the near future.  I'm also surprised that Cell has yet to get off the ground, considering the still-ongoing zombie craze in Hollywood.

I also forgot that Under The Dome is on the way as a miniseries..............I believe targeted for something like Showtime or HBO.

It wasn't so much the Roland LeBay stuff that I felt was lacking. It was that the whole thing ultimately felt a little toothless. And, by streamlining the movie, they also short-changed the relationships that gave the story its heart. Keith Gordon does a very good job with a character that is pretty underwritten, but we never really feel his descent into absolute madness nor how it destroys his family. Maybe that was deemed extraneous at the time, in favor of really focusing on the story's blood and guts thriller aspects first and foremost. But the movie feels empty and silly as a result. In some ways, I guess it's in keeping with much of Carpenter's 80s work, tonally (outside of The Thing, he didn't make much room for psychological complexity) but it's still disappointing.

Carrie was already adapted as an aborted pilot for what might have been an okay series. I didn't hate that TV movie.

(I could see them trying to turn Firestarter into a TV series too.)

Pet Sematary was done so well and faithfully the first time around, I don't really see what a new version could bring to the table. The movie is even darker than the book.

Cell is a fun, lean novel that I had a great time reading. I think it would make a very entertaining movie. I hope they don't change the ending one bit.

For what it's worth, Carpenter doesn't seem to be very proud of Christine and most certainly views it as a lesser work of his.......................mainly because it was straight-up a "work for hire" job for him after The Thing bombed.  He was actually supposed to follow up The Thing with Firestarter, both for Universal, but Uni booted him from the latter when the former tanked.  I'm not sure whether or not the same screenplay was used for the Mark Lester version, but I do know that he had earmarked Darwin Joston (Assault on Precinct 13, The Fog) for Rainbird.

Anyway, I love Christine..........but then again I haven't read the book.  I'm a bit bias though (obviously), as I view Carpenter's run from 1976-1988 to be excellent overall.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erix 

 

Cell is a fun, lean novel that I had a great time reading. I think it would make a very entertaining movie. I hope they don't change the ending one bit.

Wasn't Eli Roth attached to this a while back?  What ever happened with that?  

I heard about that too... Eli Roth eventually decided to back out of it, I think because they wouldn't let him make certain changes (including the ending).

Then I heard Stephen King had heard so many "complaints" about the ending that he himself decided to change it for the screenplay.

Yeah, Roth backed out of that and the Baywatch movie he was attached to around the same time.  I think they had another director lined up at one point, but nothing ever really came of it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Erix 

 

King's use of language is very effective in this book. And I loved the slow burn nature of the thriller aspects. He really sucks you in with the characters and makes you really care about them. By the time things get horrific (and man does he pull out all the stops when that happens), you're very invested emotionally. I thought that was handled with a lot more focus on character than in his other novels. I really think it's one of the best things he's ever done. It would make an unusual and terrific movie if done right. But it's hard to pull off primarily because how the hell are you going to make those paintings? They're described as being these brilliant, eye-popping works unlike anything anyone's ever seen before. Still... The meat of the story is ripe for adaptation and I'm surprised it wasn't attempted.

 

About that.... While reading it, I couldn't help picturing actors. (I'm sure I'm not the only one who does that)

 

He's probably a little old for it, but I thought Nicholson would make a great Freemantle. And, for Wireman, I thought Harrison Ford.

 

Okay...

 

DUMA KEY = MATCH POINT

Overall I agree with you about Duma Key, except that Wireman's constant "Spanish Dropping" was annoying as hell. "what would you like with your HUERVOS, MUCHACO?" . He did because HE LOVED HIS WIFE WHO WAS MEXICAN AND SPOKE SPANISH AND IS NOW DEAD AND HE REALLY REALLY REALLY LOVED HER!

I concede that the Spanish got a little silly. In my case, it was the inconsistency that bothered me. If his wife was Mexican, it doesn't seem normal that he would exclaim: COJUDO DE MIERDA!

Cojudo - the Latin American equivalent of "dickhead" - is not an expression Mexicans would use.

Not to mention that it would be weird for him to refer to an evil monster as a "cojudo" in any context.

There are other flaws of that nature. But that was the one that really annoyed me for some reason.

"Get your hands off my daughters you... BAD nigger!"

-Duma Key's best line.