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(I thought Kubrick's "The Shining" was terrible, and that the best was "Shawshank Redemption", with close runners up being "Misery", "Stand by Me", and "The Green Mile". Also, although I thought the earlier Spacek version of "Carrie" was hokey, the ending literally made be levitate from my reclining position on my sofa -- one of the best endings EVER!)
Number 1, Kubrick's THE SHINING, is a great mood piece, but I want more out a story than mood. As a story, it's pretty flat. Stephen King's criticisms of it are all correct.
2 - 7 are all correct. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that STAND BY ME is far better than the story on which it is based.
My only big disagreements with the rest of the list is number 35, SILVER BULLET. Yes, it is utterly campy and silly from beginning to end. But it is awesome nonetheless. Anne of Green Gables and her little brother in a hot rod wheel chair team up with Gary Busey to talk down Reverend Werewolf. Sold!
I noticed the list didn't take into account the made-for-TV movies:
BAG OF BONES. Not very good. Which is a shame, since the book is great.
THE SHINING. I liked it quite a lot actually. Haters can hate. I don't care. I like it better than the Kubrick movie.
STORM OF THE CENTURY. This one actually ought to be in the Top 5 of the best Stephen King movies.
IT (TV mini-series from 1990). Not nearly as good as people seem to remember it being. Good cast, yes, but the writing is a mess and the effects more campy than scary.
'SALEM'S LOT has been done for TV twice. Both adaptations had some great scenes, but neither were very good as a whole.
THE STAND. Again, some great moments. For its time, it was great, but it hasn't aged well.
THE DEAD ZONE (TV series) was actually a lot of fun for the first few seasons, but it went on too long.
My only big disagreements with the rest of the list is number 35, SILVER BULLET. Yes, it is utterly campy and silly from beginning to end. But it is awesome nonetheless. Anne of Green Gables and her little brother in a hot rod wheel chair team up with Gary Busey to talk down Reverend Werewolf. Sold!
I dig it, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark S.
'SALEM'S LOT has been done for TV twice. Both adaptations had some great scenes, but neither were very good as a whole.
Now you're just plain wrong here! The first round with David Soul is cool.
(I thought Kubrick's "The Shining" was terrible, and that the best was "Shawshank Redemption", with close runners up being "Misery", "Stand by Me", and "The Green Mile". Also, although I thought the earlier Spacek version of "Carrie" was hokey, the ending literally made be levitate from my reclining position on my sofa -- one of the best endings EVER!)
Holy cow! They rated FirestarterbelowDreamcatcher?!
Now you're just plain wrong here! The first round with David Soul is cool.
It has some very, very good moments. The vampire at the window is even a classic moment. But Barlow himself --- who is so charismatically evil and formidable in the book --- is just an ooga-booga closet monster in the movie. Also major loss of points for not a single scene looking like it was actually in Maine. But the Hollywood backlot was a major feature of all 1970s TV.
I've never understood what people see in Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. At least, not anyone who's read the book. The characters are so far from the Jack and Wendy Torrance in print that it's nearly unrecognizable. Wendy was so bad, I wanted to kill her. Not the strong woman King wrote.
Stand By Me was a great adaptation of The Body. It absolutely did help that truly wonderful child actors were chosen for the roles.
Dolores Claiborne and Creepshow round out my top 3. I love the serious characters and story of Dolores Claiborne, and the campy creepiness of Creepshow.
I've never understood what people see in Kubrick's adaptation of The Shining. At least, not anyone who's read the book. The characters are so far from the Jack and Wendy Torrance in print that it's nearly unrecognizable. Wendy was so bad, I wanted to kill her. Not the strong woman King wrote.
A friend of mine who went to film school sincerely believes Kubrick was a sociopath. He did a great analysis of the Kubrick films to prove his point. Kubrick was a master of film in a lot of ways, but not only did he not seem to have even a basic understanding of human emotion and psyche, he seemed to actually dislike people. Kubrick doesn't have characters in his films. He has pawns for his point.
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