Haha I just watched Firestarter last week and was startled to realize it is primarily a movie about people being imprisoned in a dumb government facility, and George C. Scott playing this completely bizarre and creepy guy who works there. It was cool whenever she was starting a fire, and decent when the dad guy grimaced and mind-controlled people, but otherwise quite an oddly-structured and sluggish movie.
― ✓ (Doctor Casino), Friday, 28 April 2017 20:56 (seven years ago) link
It's not even a good t dream score for that era
― gimmesomehawnz (Jon not Jon), Friday, 28 April 2017 22:55 (seven years ago) link
The Dark Tower trailer tomorrow, two snippets up:
http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-gunslinger-and-the-man-in-black-reveal-the-first-tw-1794842076
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 May 2017 17:14 (seven years ago) link
idgi They're doing the Dark Tower as a movie rather than as a tv series?
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Tuesday, 2 May 2017 17:56 (seven years ago) link
that's how i feel about IT... even though they wrapped principal photography before Stranger Things dropped, i get the vibe that it's going to be very much that, I know it's rated R but still
― flappy bird, Tuesday, 2 May 2017 17:58 (seven years ago) link
I read IT twice when I was maybe 13/14, and watched the TV miniseries, and that's all I'll ever need of it. (Now the Dark Tower, on the other hand...)
― Let’s just do it and be legends, maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan (Raymond Cummings), Tuesday, 2 May 2017 23:06 (seven years ago) link
They're doing Dark Tower as both a movie AND a TV series. I think the series is going to be set in the past (adapting Wizard and Glass, I believe).
― How many gigabyte is in trilobites (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 2 May 2017 23:18 (seven years ago) link
One of my favorite Stephen King anecdotes was from Dana Gould iirc. He was at a screening of the Descent and noticed that King was also in the audience. Near the end when the hero's hand comes shooting up from out of the earth, Gould said he cringed because it was such a rip-off of the end of Carrie, and King was sitting right there. After the movie he saw King in the lobby and was enthusing to his friend, "And her hand shot out of the ground, just like in Carrie. That was awesome!"
― duped and used by my worst Miss U (President Keyes), Friday, April 28, 2017 5:47 PM (four days ago)
this story is amazing, not least b/c i'm pretty sure that scene from carrie is only in the movie!
― (The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Tuesday, 2 May 2017 23:20 (seven years ago) link
Isn't the TV series vaporware?
― Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 2 May 2017 23:25 (seven years ago) link
I dunno, I thought it was just a forgotten artifact from when Ron Howard was planning to direct, but I read something about it in a recent news item about the movie.
― How many gigabyte is in trilobites (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 2 May 2017 23:38 (seven years ago) link
IT really, really calls for like a ten- or twelve-episode streaming season. Suspect a lot of King would really work in that format since he writes so long that movies tend to boil out so much of what makes them feel King-like, or spend so much time cramming in plot points that actually building up the suspense and creepiness of any given scene, or the sense of wrongness about a bend in the path in the woods or whatever, is just impossible.
Dark Tower is probably unfilmable in any format as written since it just careens around so much in terms of genre and tone, and huge portions of it need a profound rethink (almost everything to do with Susannah IIRC). I mean how do you make a series where the first act is a lone silent Clint Eastwood spooky postapocalyptic western plus succubi, then it becomes a merry group adventure on the road from genre exercise to genre exercise, doubles back to Clint Eastwood for a book-length flashback of the olden days, and then turns abruptly into a barrage of fanservice and shoutouts alternating with the characters saving Stephen King from a car crash, and on and on... I mean you could massage some of that out I guess? It's just, like, barely a 'story,' it's not really about anything, just he told some stories and built up affection for the characters so people wanted to see the journey through.
― ✓ (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 04:03 (seven years ago) link
(That said the idea of doing just a single film that's a reinterpretation or heavily altered retelling of some portion or episode of Dark Tower seems like a totally fine idea, just another parallel narrative intersecting King's sprawling metaverse. Plus I love the casting of Elba as Roland so who am I kidding I'll go and see this for sure.)
― ✓ (Doctor Casino), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 04:04 (seven years ago) link
And here ya go
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GjwfqXTebIY
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 13:32 (seven years ago) link
omg what should the first s king book i read be
― surm, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:42 (seven years ago) link
All of them at once.
― Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:44 (seven years ago) link
! if you had to pick ONE tho
― surm, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:46 (seven years ago) link
xpost Pretty orange & teal-y.
I think I read the first book when it came out but don't remember a thing about it. Is this like "The Neverending Story" with guns?
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:46 (seven years ago) link
Read Salem's Lot first, I'd say, or The Dead Zone. Something from the initial star-making run but before he started churning out the verging-on-self-parody material like Christine and Firestarter. Of course, I can't vouch for the last two decades' worth of stuff. I think Dolores Claiborne is the most recent I've read.
― insidious assymetrical weapons (Eric H.), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:49 (seven years ago) link
Salem's Lot!
― surm, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 14:57 (seven years ago) link
Start with Night Shift/short stories.
― Josh in Chicago, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:00 (seven years ago) link
Night Shift is a great place to start. Varies wildly in style, but some of those stories are absolute classics and everything in there is at least super-readable. I'd do Salem's Lot first though since there are two stories related to it in that collection.
― how's life, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:05 (seven years ago) link
MISERY
one of his best, not very supernatural, the one that got me back into him
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:19 (seven years ago) link
this is very exciting. SUMMER OF STEPHEN
― surm, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:25 (seven years ago) link
Easy there cowboy - save your excitement for the first time you read one of his descriptions of breasts.
― how's life, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:35 (seven years ago) link
Night Shift is my automatic go-to recommendation for a King newbie. If you aren't feeling it with that one, you can safely stop there and say you tried.
― How many gigabyte is in trilobites (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 15:35 (seven years ago) link
Salems Lot is a good pick. Gets you into his pulpy style
― Yoni Loves Chocha (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:33 (seven years ago) link
verging-on-self-parody material like Christine
Certainly not his best book, but I totally loved Christine.
― I don't really like any of these albums (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:37 (seven years ago) link
Yeah, I just read it for the first time last year. I dig the movie but the novel had a whole lot more going on.
― Jigsaw Pizzle (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:40 (seven years ago) link
It, hands down
― Evan R, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:43 (seven years ago) link
Nonono, stay the hell away from IT!
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:45 (seven years ago) link
That was my first King and it really soured me on King.
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:46 (seven years ago) link
imo IT is his masterpiece, might as well start there if you have some time on your hands... not that it really takes that long to read, took me a month of leisurely reading
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:50 (seven years ago) link
It taken me eternity
― Robert Adam Gilmour, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:51 (seven years ago) link
You never It.
― Jigsaw Pizzle (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:53 (seven years ago) link
I agree with 'Salem's Lot and Night Shift as the obvious "first King" contenders. My first was Firestarter, which was fine but in retrospect not his best work.
― Rachel Luther Queen (DJP), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:53 (seven years ago) link
that trailer.
peter jackson directing or something?
― s'rong, unstable (darraghmac), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:58 (seven years ago) link
roland deschain is not a fucking power ranger.
That's debatable.
― Jigsaw Pizzle (Old Lunch), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 19:59 (seven years ago) link
i like Elba there but McConaughey looks spot on
― nomar, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:01 (seven years ago) link
how have people not realised Idris Elba (one career-making performance aside) is a terrible actor at this point
― Number None, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:06 (seven years ago) link
I second 'Salem's Lot and Night Shift as the ideal entry points, with the original version of The Stand another solid contender.
― Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr, and Violent J (誤訳侮辱), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:07 (seven years ago) link
he was good in Zootopia xp
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:07 (seven years ago) link
ah hes great i mean i dunno if he acts i dont be looking but hes so fucking cool
but even without the matrix shite there i dunno if hes roland. hes not near wasted enough for starters
― s'rong, unstable (darraghmac), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:08 (seven years ago) link
king entry point.... eye of the dragon, nightmares and dreamscapes
― s'rong, unstable (darraghmac), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:09 (seven years ago) link
i feel like you can kind of start anywhere and if you dig his style, it doesn't matter if the book is a lesser work... like the first thing I read was Dreamcatcher (fwiw I was 10), and i've been a fan ever since.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:11 (seven years ago) link
i will say CUJO is one you absolutely have to check out, not to be overlooked... just finished it last night, it's batshit insane (infamously the novel he doesn't remember writing at all bc of his drug addiction), really fucking dark, the prose is just vicious.
― flappy bird, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:13 (seven years ago) link
It is his best book and although it's on the longer side it goes down really easy and is in a lot of ways his most representative book, so might as well start there.
Salem's Lot was the first one I read and although it was genuinely scary at times, the characters weren't very fun and the writing wasn't all that lively and memorable. Go with It.
― Evan R, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:15 (seven years ago) link
I really enjoyed The Dark Zone, too, which was also one of the first ones I read, but it doesn't have the epic sweep of some of his better books
― Evan R, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:16 (seven years ago) link
Dead Zone? Or Dark Tower?
― I don't really like any of these albums (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:18 (seven years ago) link
or the Dark Half?
― nomar, Wednesday, 3 May 2017 20:19 (seven years ago) link