Stephen King Books to Film Semi-Appreciation Thread

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A little off the beaten path but I love these two King adaptations:



DC1
Dolores Claiborne: This flick features Kathy Bates & Christopher Plummer in an epic battle of will and wit. This movie, to me, showcases Bates depth as an actress much more than her role in Misery did. I probably watch this film 3 or 4 times a year just because I love the witty cat and mouse between Plummer and Bates. Jennifer Jason Lee and David Strathairn star as Dolores' husband and daughter. Both of their performances are electric IMHO in this film as well. Nearly all of the action in this one takes place in the subtexts so you have to pay attention. If you do, you'll be rewarded handsomely!









GS1
Graveyard Shift:
This one is really not much more than a creature feature but it is a really good one. If you do go look it up on IMDB, please ignore the fact that it got 3.8 stars. Some people just don't appreciate a good movie! Anyways, The setup is maybe stereotypical, kid needs money so he gets a job at old mill. The mill boss (played brilliantly by Stephen Macht), decides to make the workers clean out the area underneath the mill. Big mistake, madness ensues. I won't spoil it for you but the treatment of the creature is 'alien'-esque and damn creepy. The bonus of the film though is Brad Dourif as the exterminator. This performance alone is worth the price of the DVD. if you appreciate Dourif's quirkiness at all his 15 minutes or so in this film will NOT disappoint. Check it out, you'll like it.



Not off the beaten path at all there Mr Devil type person. Those both look good to me. I, for whatever reason have never read or seen Dolores Claibourne, I've had the book for like... at least 10 years or so. I have read Graveyard Shift and I honestly didn't know they had made a film from it. Wasn't that a short story from one of his compilation books? I think it was. Anyway, good stuff I says.
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Bright light. Bright light. Uh oh.
It seems pretty weird that IMDb gives both King's Graveyard Shift and a 1987 film with the same title and a different plot both a 3.8. However, IMDb is just weird in general. I remember sending them an e-mail telling them they screwed up their rating of Zelary, a Czech film which eventually was nominated for a Best Foreign Film Oscar. After 25 or so votes, they gave the film an "IMDb-weighted" rating of 3.8, even though the mean and median were both above 8. They wrote me back that it was a completely correct rating because they have "secret information" about the voters. Well, now, Zelary gets a 7.7. If Elmer Gantry tells me that he has "secret information", I'll listen (even if he's not telling the truth), but IMDb lackeys with canned BS responses, I'll never listen to them.
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Registered Creature
The Stephen King movies I've seen:

The Night Flier
The Mist
The Stand (TV mini-series)
Salem's Lot (1979)
Salem's Lot (2004)
Sometimes They Come Back... For More
Storm of the Century (TV mini-series)
Desperation
Christine
The Langoliers
Pet Sematary

Out of those, my favourites were The Night Flier, The Stand, The Mist, Salem's Lot (1979) and Salem's Lot (2004). Still have a way to go.



I, for whatever reason have never read or seen Dolores Claibourne, I've had the book for like... at least 10 years or so.
Do so. Immediately.

I have read Graveyard Shift and I honestly didn't know they had made a film from it. Wasn't that a short story from one of his compilation books? I think it was. Anyway, good stuff I says.
It's very loosely based on the short story "Graveyard Shift" found in King's Night Shift collection. The film adaptation is better than the short story. I'll probably never say that again.

Originally Posted by igor_is_fugly
Let it be known that Stephen King is glorious. He does no wrong. That is all that need be said.
Oh I think he does! To me, Dreamcatcher was awful both as a book and a subsequent film. I think 'The Cell' was a lame and trite zombie story though I did get the tongue in cheek. I just didn't want it. "Maximum Overdrive" represents perhaps the worst footage ever committed to film and should forever rest in some universal **** pile right next to AC/DC's accompanying song.

That said, he does a lot of stuff right. I buy everything he writes and will probably continue to do so even though I find that some of it is disappointing. When he's on he's really on. When he's off it's a disaster.



Let's try to be broad-minded about this
I thought Dreamcatcher was actually underrated. And i looove Dolores Claiborne, it's my second favorite out of all his books i've read...which really aren't that many



North American Scum!
I didn't like Dreamcatcher. I thought the twist was garbage. Another one I disliked was Insomnia. It looks interesting right off the bat but eventually you realize that King is just winging it. Did they ever have an a movie adaption of that book? I saw something with Al Pacino same title in my local video store recently but didn't rent it.

Other than that everything King turns out is usually awesome. I still haven't read classics like the Shining, Carrie, or It but I intend to. I did however get to see the Shining in movie form during film class a while back. Great movie and another reason why Jack Nicholoson deserves a place among the panthenon of great actors. Still the Green Mile rules all both in book and movie form.

Just looking at King's body of work it's redonkulous (yes I said it ) how massive it is. The man is a writing a fiend and the stories he comes up with just boggle the mind. I would personally love to see the Long Walk adapated to the screen but I don't think it would be possible.

p.s. Koontz?!?
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Celluloid Temptation Facilitator
I've avoided most King books and movies.

I did see and read Salem's Lot (good stuff!) and Cujo (blech, and nightmares just from looking at the cover art. No, seriously I had to turn the book so I couldn't see that demonic looking doggie.)

I've watched Pet Cemetery (m'kay), Carrie (OMG! What a sick little movie!), It (m'kay and I HATE clowns, LOL!), and maybe one about an outbreak of some sort?

Read Gerald's Game (blech!) Darn handcuffs on the cover art! That's what sucked me in! The illustrator did it! The book was terrible IMO.

Koonz gave me nightmares with Hideaway. I vowed never to read him again. However, the Odd series was highly recommended to me and is very good! It doesn't give me nightmares! Yay!
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I didn't like Dreamcatcher. I thought the twist was garbage. Another one I disliked was Insomnia. It looks interesting right off the bat but eventually you realize that King is just winging it. Did they ever have an a movie adaption of that movie? I saw something with Al Pacino same title in my local video store recently but didn't rent it.
You know what's funny about Insomnia? King said that it was one of the few works he's done that he actually did try to plot. Most of the rest of his work, he says, begins with a sentence or two and builds from there with no formal direction. He calls it 'uncovering fossils'. His book "On Writing" goes into how he writes and he did cite one other work as 'plotted' and rates that work (can't remember which it is right now) and Insomnia at the bottom of his body of work.

Anyway, that Pacino, Williams & Swank flick you referenced isn't related at all to the King book (short of having the same title). It is quite good though, you should rent it!



North American Scum!
Anyway, that Pacino, Williams & Swank flick you referenced isn't related at all to the King book (short of having the same title). It is quite good though, you should rent it!
Will do.

And lol at Insomnia being planned...I could have sworn it was off-the-cuff writing. Obviously the best plan for King is to have none...which makes him even more of a genius in my eyes.



The Bib-iest of Nickels
Uh, I have read Desperation, Bag of Bones, Carrie, It, The Green Mile, Rose Madder, Insomnia, Needful Things, The Eyes of the Dragon, and one or two other Stephen King books. As for their movie counterparts, Green Mile was a very good movie, however, I don't believe it was as good as the book. They captured practically everything, except for how I imagined Percy to be. Carrie was damn-near dead-on, but I think I'll lean toward the movie on this occasion, the original movie, not the second or third remake. I think that it merely worked more profoundly on the big-screen.

Both the movie and book for It feel extremely long-winded, one of them is three-hours, (granted, it's a two-part flick) and the other is around one-thousand pages. I think I'll learn toward the book on this one, if only because some of the time, the flick seemed very much like a TV-movie, whereas, the biggest perk about literature is the fact that everybody has the same budget for imagination. Neither of them is a masterpiece, however, and it comes down to Insomnia and Green Mile for which book that I have enjoyed most from him.

I haven't read The Dark Tower series, however, and it is widely considered to be his magnum opus.



Though it may not be a faithful rendering of the book, the film version of THE SHINING is superb, thanks to Kubrick's direction and Nicholson's powerhouse performance. THE SHAWSHANK REDEMPTION is pretty much flawless, as is the original version of CARRIE with Sissy Spacek, as well as DOLORES CLAIBORNE, STAND BY ME, and MISERY. ABC television also did an outstanding job with IT and THE TOMMYKNOCKERS.



Kakarot89: The Infamous Thread Killer
Personally, I think only one director is really good with King's work and that's Frank Darabont. I haven't read many of his books (have read the entire Dark Tower series and am currently reading through 'Salem's Lot) but as a film person from the ones I've seen (It, 'Salem's Lot, Dreamcatcher, Shawshank Redemption, Misery, The Green Mile, Thinner, Sometimes They Come Back, The Mist, Children of the Corn, 1408, Cujo, Tommyknockers, Stand By Me, Pet Sematary, The Dark Half, Christine, The Shining) I think Darabont does King the best (King even liked Darabont's ending to The Mist more than how the story ended). They just seem to be on the same wavelength. I will say with confidence though, that if the Dark Tower gets made without Darabont, it'll be sh*t.



That is a good book, but Stephen King has said in a few interviews that he'd never allow anyone to make a film of it.



Kakarot89: The Infamous Thread Killer
That is a good book, but Stephen King has said in a few interviews that he'd never allow anyone to make a film of it.
Are you talking about the Dark Tower series? He sold the rights to JJ Abrams a few years ago and then Abrams dropped out and then Ron Howard obtained the rights. NBC was going to do a series with Howard but then some stuff happened and the project sort of fell into limbo.