A thread for discussing all things related to the American author Stephen King, including the film adaptations of his books. My favorite book of his so far is It, which is one of my favorites of all time, but I’m about to start reading The Dark Tower series so maybe that’ll change as I’ve heard great things about that.
The Person in Question
I need to start reading The Stand again. It was so good I tore threw 300+ pages in about a week many years ago, but for whatever reason haven’t touched it since.
I’ve also read the first couple Dark Tower books. They’re pretty good.
Need to read some more.
Yeah I’ve not read The Stand, but it’s on my list. I felt similarly about It when I read that for the first time a while back. It only took a week or two for me to read and It’s massive.
The Person in Question
Since this thread jogged my memory, was King verboten for book reports for anyone else in high school back in the day? I can’t recall what the specific reason given was anymore. Either he was too popular or the English Dept. didn’t like him very much. I think a couple other authors were on the no-no list, but can’t remember who they were.
Non American authors were also curiously not allowed. I got away with a Douglas Adams book anyway. 😛
Where were you in '77?
The Dark Tower, while far from perfect, is one of my favorite book series of all time. I’m so gutted at how they ruined the film adaptation. I’ve read the 2014 draft of the script and, while it wasn’t amazing, I wouldn’t have hated it and it would’ve been an okay foundation for a film series that followed books 2+ more closely.
But no, they cut that script to the bone and butchered both Roland’s motivation and the ending.
Here’s hoping the TV series that’s supposedly still going ahead is, in fact, a complete reboot as has been suggested instead of taking place within the universe of the film…
The Dark Tower, while far from perfect, is one of my favorite book series of all time. I’m so gutted at how they ruined the film adaptation. I’ve read the 2014 draft of the script and, while it wasn’t amazing, I wouldn’t have hated it and it would’ve been an okay foundation for a film series that followed books 2+ more closely.
But no, they cut that script to the bone and butchered both Roland’s motivation and the ending.
Here’s hoping the TV series that’s supposedly still going ahead is, in fact, a complete reboot as has been suggested instead of taking place within the universe of the film…
Has King complained about Dark Tower the way he does about Kubrick’s version of The Shining? 😉
Where were you in '77?
Also, it’s interesting It and The Shining both became Halloween attractions this year.
Where were you in '77?
The Dark Tower, while far from perfect, is one of my favorite book series of all time. I’m so gutted at how they ruined the film adaptation. I’ve read the 2014 draft of the script and, while it wasn’t amazing, I wouldn’t have hated it and it would’ve been an okay foundation for a film series that followed books 2+ more closely.
But no, they cut that script to the bone and butchered both Roland’s motivation and the ending.
Here’s hoping the TV series that’s supposedly still going ahead is, in fact, a complete reboot as has been suggested instead of taking place within the universe of the film…
Has King complained about Dark Tower the way he does about Kubrick’s version of The Shining? 😉
No, he’s cooled off on complaining about adaptations and has become warmer about Kubrick’s film in recent years, too.
Besides, he was hyping up the DT movie during the run-up to its release, so if he does have a problem with it it’ll probably be a while before he’ll open up about it.
I heard he liked the recent It adaptation. I liked it a lot too. It has some problems with scares not hitting their mark, but the tone, atmosphere, and scenarios are beautifully adapted from the novel even though it doesn’t follow it very literally. Basically, I think King cares more about films capturing the heart of his work more than being completely faithful word for word. He feels that the Shining didn’t do that, regardless of how great it was.
The Person in Question
Since this thread jogged my memory, was King verboten for book reports for anyone else in high school back in the day? I can’t recall what the specific reason given was anymore. Either he was too popular or the English Dept. didn’t like him very much. I think a couple other authors were on the no-no list, but can’t remember who they were.
Non American authors were also curiously not allowed. I got away with a Douglas Adams book anyway. 😛
No, nothing was banned from my book reports.
The Person in Question
Since this thread jogged my memory, was King verboten for book reports for anyone else in high school back in the day?
I did a book report on The Dark Half in 9th grade, which would’ve been around 1990 or so.
I don’t recall having a “no” list, but my English teachers were almost always the coolest/my favorites, which probably contributed to my majoring in English in college.
MTFBWY…A
The Dark Tower, while far from perfect, is one of my favorite book series of all time. I’m so gutted at how they ruined the film adaptation. I’ve read the 2014 draft of the script and, while it wasn’t amazing, I wouldn’t have hated it and it would’ve been an okay foundation for a film series that followed books 2+ more closely.
But no, they cut that script to the bone and butchered both Roland’s motivation and the ending.
Here’s hoping the TV series that’s supposedly still going ahead is, in fact, a complete reboot as has been suggested instead of taking place within the universe of the film…
Has King complained about Dark Tower the way he does about Kubrick’s version of The Shining? 😉
No, he’s cooled off on complaining about adaptations and has become warmer about Kubrick’s film in recent years, too.
Besides, he was hyping up the DT movie during the run-up to its release, so if he does have a problem with it it’ll probably be a while before he’ll open up about it.
I hope he feels the same way about it that I do. A straight adaptation would have been a disaster. Take the base elements of the universe and make a movie out of it, not an adaptation of the books.
Star Wars Revisited Wordpress
Star Wars Visual Comparisons WordPress
What’s the consensus on Carrie? I read it a long time ago and liked it a lot. I also really enjoyed both of the film adaptations of Carrie. The Brian DePalma one was better than the 2013 one of course, but the remake was a rare example of a pretty solid modern-day retelling of a classic story.
The Person in Question
The Dark Tower, while far from perfect, is one of my favorite book series of all time. I’m so gutted at how they ruined the film adaptation. I’ve read the 2014 draft of the script and, while it wasn’t amazing, I wouldn’t have hated it and it would’ve been an okay foundation for a film series that followed books 2+ more closely.
But no, they cut that script to the bone and butchered both Roland’s motivation and the ending.
Here’s hoping the TV series that’s supposedly still going ahead is, in fact, a complete reboot as has been suggested instead of taking place within the universe of the film…
Has King complained about Dark Tower the way he does about Kubrick’s version of The Shining? 😉
No, he’s cooled off on complaining about adaptations and has become warmer about Kubrick’s film in recent years, too.
Besides, he was hyping up the DT movie during the run-up to its release, so if he does have a problem with it it’ll probably be a while before he’ll open up about it.
I hope he feels the same way about it that I do. A straight adaptation would have been a disaster. Take the base elements of the universe and make a movie out of it, not an adaptation of the books.
That’s pretty much what the 2014 draft of the script was. Then they cut the budget and hacked it to bits and made a giant pile of dogshit that showed zero respect to the source material.
I didn’t even see it. I sounded like so much of a disaster that I didn’t bother. I also hadn’t read the book.
The Person in Question
Ha, I didn’t pay for it. Bought a ticket to something else (can’t remember what) and went to see DT instead. Figured if it turned out to be somewhat acceptable I’d come back later and buy a ticket to support the movie, but if it was as awful as I expected I didn’t want to support it at all.
It was as awful as I expected.
You would’ve been the only person to have bought a ticket had you paid for a DT ticket.
The Person in Question
Hell yeah, Uncle Stevie is my favorite author.
Top 10 Novels:
All film/mini-series adaptations ranked: https://letterboxd.com/neglify19/list/stephen-king-ranked/
Bottom 5 novels:
Don’t do drugs, unless you’re with me.
I haven’t read Under the Dome yet. The first season of the show was good but it kind of went downhill after that. I’ve heard great things about the book.
The Person in Question
Recently finished the extended version of The Stand. Loved it.
Also, I love the movie The Mist. The only instance where I like the movie more than the source!
Hell yeah, Uncle Stevie is my favorite author.
Top 10 Novels:
- It
- The Dark Tower (all volumes)
- The Stand
- The Regulators
- Under The Dome
- Misery
- The Long Walk
- The Colorado Kid
- 11/22/63
- Mr. Mercedes
All film/mini-series adaptations ranked: https://letterboxd.com/neglify19/list/stephen-king-ranked/
Bottom 5 novels:
- Rage
- Firestarter
- Dreamcatcher
- Cell
- Bag of Bones
Ah, I love The Long Walk! Nice to see it mentioned as it’s rarely talked about.
I haven’t read Under the Dome yet. The first season of the show was good but it kind of went downhill after that. I’ve heard great things about the book.
OMG that show is the worst. It had some potential in season 1, despite the terrible dialogue and acting. It got so ridiculous by S3 I stopped watching, then it got canceled.
Hell yeah, Uncle Stevie is my favorite author.
Top 10 Novels:
- It
- The Dark Tower (all volumes)
- The Stand
- The Regulators
- Under The Dome
- Misery
- The Long Walk
- The Colorado Kid
- 11/22/63
- Mr. Mercedes
All film/mini-series adaptations ranked: https://letterboxd.com/neglify19/list/stephen-king-ranked/
Bottom 5 novels:
- Rage
- Firestarter
- Dreamcatcher
- Cell
- Bag of Bones
Ah, I love The Long Walk! Nice to see it mentioned as it’s rarely talked about.
Frank Darabont has been threatening to make an adaptation of this one for about 10 years now.
Don’t do drugs, unless you’re with me.
I consider King one of my favourite authors, though I haven’t read most of his novels; I pretty much became a fan through his short story collections.
Here are the King novels I’ve read:
Of those twenty novels, I liked The Shining, Rage, The Long Walk, Dark Tower I, Pet Sematary, and Misery the most. The others … well, I suppose Dark Tower II-IV and Eyes of the Dragon were decent, but the rest were meh to bad.
I’ve read:
The Green Mile
IT (re-reading now.)
The Shining
Tommyknockers
Thinner
Carrie
11/22/63
Dreamcatcher
Four Seasons
One of the other anthologies and perhaps a few others.
I love Cujo. Interesting no one has mentioned it yet; it’s classic Stephen King.
The Person in Question