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Rev. Bleech_ posted:Vegas is people loving on tables more like gyrating near each other in their underwear
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Aug 2, 2022 01:54
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I don't recall too much about Insomnia but, to me, it kind of read like a Dean Koontz novel
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Aug 2, 2022 02:42
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Punkin Spunkin posted:yeah, that's fair, I definitely wasn't old enough. It is important to realize though, that there were better white men in 1990 and he wasn't one of them, but there were plenty worse and his stuff is typical of the era (and like yall said, sometimes even the present), but still...grating as gently caress. Like, there's so much consideration in making the other characters fully-formed human beings and then you get to the black people and a lot of the women and it's like yiiiiikes. Like dude, why not just imagine what you'd write a "normal" white guy as, and just make him black? It wouldn't be truly doing the character justice, but lord knows it would be a billion times better than what we got, it's loaded with racist baggage. IIRC the younger girlfriend in Revival is biracial with a Black mom and they're both portrayed as pretty normal people. So that's some progress. I stopped paying attention to "representation" in media a while back though so there could be others. I guess the cowboy in the Talisman (Parker?) is also a non-stereotypical Black person, at least in his territories persona. Punkin Spunkin posted:p.s. good adaptations of The Stand? What's the go to? the 1994 miniseries? Is the 2020 one any good? The 90s version is great, in a B-movie way. I can't bring myself to watch the new one.
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Aug 2, 2022 02:59
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Did they find some way to work Don't Fear the Reaper into the 2020 show?
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Aug 2, 2022 06:02
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the most insane pop fiction racism i ever encountered was in lucifer’s hammer. king’s weird hip hop youths barely register after that one
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Aug 2, 2022 06:25
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scary ghost dog posted:for sure. if reacher was in chesters mill when the dome came down big jim wouldve been completely hosed. in fact i would really like to read that version of the book that would have been cool
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Aug 2, 2022 06:57
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I'm rewatching the '94 Stand for the first time in years. Maybe it's the nostalgia talking, but it might actually be my favorite King adaptation? It's a six-hour version of a thousand page book, but it doesn't feel rushed or cramped at all. Tons of little details from the book pop up in every shot. Great soundtrack too.
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Aug 2, 2022 14:33
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I’ve always held that ministries in especially high regard - I actually remember being 9 years old and watching it as it aired on TV the first time, it was quite the television event, as I recall. Back when the miniseries only sisters in its first and original name incarnation, and one being made for network TV with real stars and a big budget like that was kind of a big deal! I always thought the casting was really exceptional in that miniseries, with some very small exceptions. Even some of the relatively smaller parts are nailed - Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd for instance, or the guy they got to play Tom Cullen. That’s like a nearly impossible part to cast convincingly and effectively in the way King described him, yet they somehow got someone who really did look simultaneously 20 years and 40 years and matched his described appearance to a T. Crazy.
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Aug 2, 2022 15:51
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What did y’all think about the Rose Red mini series? I really liked it back in the day and it set me back on the path of starting to read more King again.
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Aug 2, 2022 17:51
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kaworu posted:I always thought the casting was really exceptional in that miniseries, with some very small exceptions. Even some of the relatively smaller parts are nailed - Miguel Ferrer as Lloyd for instance, or the guy they got to play Tom Cullen. That’s like a nearly impossible part to cast convincingly and effectively in the way King described him, yet they somehow got someone who really did look simultaneously 20 years and 40 years and matched his described appearance to a T. Crazy. I thought the Tom Cullen casting in the 2020 version was pretty good, even if he looked like Walter Sobchak. Too bad he and Nick were completely pointless characters in that version. I thought the Flagg casting was also pretty great, but.... you know, come to think of it, the casting and Harold were pretty much the only things they got right. The inclusion of "MOTHER?!?!?" guy and "HEY BOBBY TERRY, YOU SCROOOOOWED IT UP" also. The weird thing about '94 is that I didn't know who Gary Sinise was, yet he was a 1:1 match for my mental image of Stu
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Aug 2, 2022 17:57
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Dont tell me MOTHER???! guy isnt in the 94 version 😅 One of my favorite gags so far where King describes the hope in his voice after he hears Lloyd all like "SHUT THE gently caress UP YOU WORTHLESS gently caress!!!"
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Aug 2, 2022 18:12
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2020 didn't have Kareem Abdul Jabbar, and that is why it sucked the most
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Aug 2, 2022 18:36
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1994 Stand: Cheesy, corny, some terrible acting, but also some pretty brilliant scenes: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qJk4nzBIJg
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Aug 2, 2022 18:41
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Punkin Spunkin posted:Dont tell me MOTHER???! guy isnt in the 94 version 😅 "YOUR MOTHER'S IN CHARGE OF BLOWJOBS AT A WHOREHOUSE IN rear end in a top hat, INDIANA" is one of those lines that is permanently stuck in my brain, right alongside "You will spend eternity with your phiz in a bowl of soup." It's been a few years since my last re-read, but I'm always disappointed that the whole everything going to poo poo/Starkey getting more obsessed with Frank D Bruce and that soup bowl is always shorter than I remembered.
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Aug 2, 2022 20:32
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Up until now, the only King book I'd read was Cujo. It didn't leave me cold or anything, I just never read any of his other books until now. I started reading The Shining and polished off a third of it in one sitting. I love it. Jack's battle with his alcoholism really reminds me of my own, which is nice after reading so many other stories where alcoholics just "drink to forget" and are cured by the love of a woman or some other cliche.
Pennsylvanian fucked around with this message at 02:59 on Aug 3, 2022 |
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Aug 3, 2022 02:41
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Pennsylvanian posted:Up until now, the only King book I'd read was Cujo. It didn't leave me cold or anything, I just never read any of his other books until now. I started reading The Shining and polished off a third of it in one sitting. I love it. Jack's battle with his alcoholism really reminds me of my own, which is nice after reading so many other stories where alcoholics just "drink to forget" and are cured by the love of a woman or some other cliche.
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Aug 3, 2022 04:38
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Pennsylvanian posted:Up until now, the only King book I'd read was Cujo. It didn't leave me cold or anything, I just never read any of his other books until now. I started reading The Shining and polished off a third of it in one sitting. I love it. Jack's battle with his alcoholism really reminds me of my own, which is nice after reading so many other stories where alcoholics just "drink to forget" and are cured by the love of a woman or some other cliche. Apologies if you know this, but King knows alcoholism personally himself and I think that is truly why he gets so many of those little things "right" that would be difficult for someone who hasn't been there. While the overall story isn't as good (a very high bar), you should check out the sequel, Dr. Sleep. I found the way he handled alcohol as part of that story an interesting twist and there were some interesting themes related to Danny as an adult vs. Jack.
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Aug 3, 2022 05:33
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Dr Sleep has some meandering bits and stuff that doesn’t quite come together, and is almost certainly gonna disappoint people who got suckered into thinking it was an actual sequel, but as a book that explores the post-Overlook life of Danny Torrance it’s pretty great for that.
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Aug 3, 2022 09:00
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Teach posted:I can remember very little about Insomnia - just a few bits that might be spoilers. I certainly can't remember anything like a fraction of its overall length - on a shelf dominated by thick SK hardbacks, Insomnia is a biggie. I started reading Insomnia for the second time since the '90s while I was on trip recently. And boy, it is a real snooze fest. Like I like the stuff with the little doctors and the colored ribbons but overall it can drag. The characters are well fleshed out and fairly compelling to me but the overarching plot seems pretty forgettable. scary ghost dog posted:the most insane pop fiction racism i ever encountered was in lucifer’s hammer. king’s weird hip hop youths barely register after that one I wonder if that was Niven or his co-author. Niven for all his other flaws doesn't seem to even register race as a concept in his other books. But it was set in a contemporary time period and not Known Space so maybe he felt it was a good idea to have awful ethnic cliches. BaldDwarfOnPCP fucked around with this message at 09:56 on Aug 3, 2022 |
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Aug 3, 2022 09:54
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I mean, yes, Jerry Pournelle was racist as hell, but Larry Niven also happily did collab work with him for decades. In conclusion Larry Niven is a land of contrasts.
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Aug 3, 2022 13:55
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Last Celebration posted:Dr Sleep has some meandering bits and stuff that doesn’t quite come together, and is almost certainly gonna disappoint people who got suckered into thinking it was an actual sequel, but as a book that explores the post-Overlook life of Danny Torrance it’s pretty great for that. Dr. Sleep is my go to example if I ever need to talk about a good book, but not a good sequel, y'know what I mean? And I know this is unpopular, but I love Insomnia. It's a book that just works for me. Rose Madder is like that for me, too; my favorite King book is Desperation, though, so I know I'm in an odd minority in some circles.
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Aug 3, 2022 15:33
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Pennsylvanian posted:Up until now, the only King book I'd read was Cujo. It didn't leave me cold or anything, I just never read any of his other books until now. I started reading The Shining and polished off a third of it in one sitting. I love it. Jack's battle with his alcoholism really reminds me of my own, which is nice after reading so many other stories where alcoholics just "drink to forget" and are cured by the love of a woman or some other cliche. I don't remember the circumstances but King once said of alcoholics, "We know our own." And to some extent he is correct. I can look at an American white guy my age and can often tell you with some specificity just where they are in the cycle. In that way he affirms my sanity, what is left of it. Because I recognize so much of that particular demon and redemption in my own life.
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Aug 4, 2022 04:22
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Dr. Faustus posted:I've been dry from 25 years of serious abuse for about 19 months now. King has spoken to me about his alcoholism through his works and I kinda love him and forgive him much for that reason. He did an interview I forget where where he talked about his belief in a higher power via 12 step groups. He's not particularly religious but said he definitely has to believe in a something to stay sober. Something like that. In 12 step you definitely are advised to have some concept of a power greater than yourself whether you call it "god" or "HP" or anything else is up to you.
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Aug 4, 2022 06:32
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Best advice I ever got was that if you are struggling with God as a higher power, just imagine that God stands for the Group Of Drunks that are in the room with you that have come together for the common cause of sobriety and how much strength together there is vs by yourself.
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Aug 4, 2022 07:13
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Dr. Faustus posted:I've been dry from 25 years of serious abuse for about 19 months now. King has spoken to me about his alcoholism through his works and I kinda love him and forgive him much for that reason. Yo, just wanted to congratulate you on 19 months of sobriety.
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Aug 4, 2022 07:18
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I read 'Salem's Lot last month and something that really stuck out to me (in a funny way) was how preoccupied all the lovely townsfolk are about gay people potentially invading. King does a really good job of illustrating how that kind of commonly-accepted bigotry pokes out of interactions like that (kind of ironic because he's extremely weird about fat people in the exact same way), a sort of toxic normality, and also showing how it feels for the characters to be comfortable within that framework. I think my favorite example is in Christine, where there's the one gang member who's kinda wishy-washy about the leader's violence, but doesn't speak up because he's scared of him so he just goes along with it, and then gets a pretty frightening moment of regretful inner monologue when Christine kills them all, which wouldn't work if King hadn't been able to make a whole subplot out of being in this guy's head and understanding his position. It's also why I liked Tommyknockers so much. As the other characters turn, you lose access to their inner lives, leaving you just as stranded as the main character.
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Aug 5, 2022 18:40
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I'm hoping Randal Flagg gets more compelling, im like halfway thru the stand but i prefer like, The Kid and the Trashcan Man as "avatars of evil" cuz at least they're like...characters. The whole TWISTED JOKER SATAN'S #1 BEST BOY DARK MAN thing doesnt really work for me. Maybe we'll get more backstory for him ala Mother Abigail but rn the whole "im every bully you ever knew...i was whispering to the KKK and black panthers, student radicals and nazis, both sides did some bad thiiings baybeeeeee" feels so corny I dont care about King's background or that those views were widespread, there were on point white men around and King had poo poo for brains. Im sure it was more compellin 40 years ago or w/e Dont mean to come off like im just repeatedly bashing the book tho. It's a brisk fun read, really just one of those "just one more chapter!!" books, just with its imperfections and poorly aged things. Really missed out not reading it in junior high, gently caress. Punkin Spunkin fucked around with this message at 20:13 on Aug 5, 2022 |
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Aug 5, 2022 20:03
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You can tell The Stand is hell because the only beer anyone seems to have to drink is "warm Coors" Also had to look up whatever the gently caress a "Kraft Cheese Kiss" is Punkin Spunkin fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Aug 9, 2022 |
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Aug 9, 2022 04:20
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Punkin Spunkin posted:You can tell The Stand is hell because the only beer anyone seems to have to drink is "warm Coors" It's worse than that, and I don't think King knew this since he was from Maine, but Coors was unpasteurized at the time of the Stand's writing and publication. The reason it wasn't sold east of the Mississippi during that era, the Stand came out a year after Smokey and the Bandit released in theaters, was because it would go bad much faster than pasteurized beers. So it's not just warm, it also probably went bad relatively soon after stuff shutdown.
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Aug 9, 2022 13:57
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All supernatural activity in The Stand retroactively revealed to be the effects of massive Coors-poisoning-induced hallucinations by all parties.Punkin Spunkin posted:Also had to look up whatever the gently caress a "Kraft Cheese Kiss" is
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Aug 9, 2022 14:39
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It's great too cuz once you meet the Kid, the biggest psychopath red flag is HOW MUCH HE LOVES WARM COORSDrakyn posted:I haven't looked this up but I'm imagining the very worst Hershey's Kiss to ever exist. 
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Aug 9, 2022 19:40
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Punkin Spunkin posted:You can tell The Stand is hell because the only beer anyone seems to have to drink is "warm Coors" And he should drat well know that beer can go bad because he drank a lot and wrote Gray Matter.
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Aug 10, 2022 00:19
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Punkin Spunkin posted:I looked it up but I still dont (want to) understand. Some kinda sick n twisted 80s snack. Glen Bateman is described as munchin on em. there were Great War survivors with less intense stares EDIT: Jesus, the google results If you donated to NPR in the 70s a young Nina Totenberg gave you one of these personally  not cheese kisses, but love to squeeze cheese out of a sausage bag  I've been to a munch, no corn chips were to be found  Rev. Bleech_ fucked around with this message at 01:14 on Aug 10, 2022 |
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Aug 10, 2022 01:11
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Honestly pissed in The Stand that the bomb took out one of the most interesting characters, Nick, who hadnt been getting many POV chapters ever since they got to Boulder, and left Stu/Fran (i.e. the basic rear end "homespun folksy folk" with their basic rear end warped worldviews and moralities)...I find both of them sooo loving boring as characters and they were already getting the bulk of chapters in Boulder. I really liked Nick as a character, he was far more interesting and multi-dimensional than a lot of the other characters...I remember being real page-turner excited when it came to all his stuff in Shoyo and his travels with Tom. "East Texas" and "Frannie" are just so boring.
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Aug 10, 2022 01:47
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lol that’s probably the point, not that Frannie/Stu are boring/normal compared to Nick but it’s definitely supposed to suck that Nick specifically bites it as opposed to potentially anyone else except Glen/Larry
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Aug 10, 2022 02:13
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yeahhh i just feel like he'd been neglected by the story for a while, so it's even a greater loss
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Aug 10, 2022 02:15
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I have to add that as much as I generally enjoyed the first two thirds of Insomnia, boy oh boy was the last third INSANELY boring and uninteresting in the manner of oh-so-many Stephen King novels, but it’s an especially bad case with this book. It’s really always the same kinda thing that tends to bore me about his longer novels in the final third of the book. He’ll do this amazing, incredible job of world-building and character background and rising action and intriguing hints of future conflict, and I’m generally with him all the way with that stuff. Then in the last third he will introduce some practical threat or conflict or objective for the main characters to achieve, and then spend (what seems to me) like an incredibly overlong and tiresome time playing out this final conflict to an obvious and foreshadowed conclusion that became evident to the reader 200 pages ago. Insomnia definitely suffers from this syndrome as much as any King book I’ve read, I think.
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Aug 10, 2022 05:46
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Frannie starts out pretty interesting but over the book kind of gets more and more boring.
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Aug 11, 2022 13:21
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It's been a hot minute since I read it but I think we just stop getting so much of Frannie's POV. The early chapters where she's frightened, dealing with her parents dying, fending off Harold, her thoughts about the baby etc. are fantastic, then she just sort of turns into a slightly naggy wife figure from Stu's POV.
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Aug 13, 2022 23:54
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Yeah, good point...I finished The Stand, really just zoomed through it. No regrets. Good entertaining read, some uneven stuff and some things I found really corny or aged poorly, but good poo poo. Though I definitely agree with the people who prefer the first half society collapsing stuff. Time to watch the 94 miniseries I reckon. laws yes! M-O-O-N spells GARY SINISE baby
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Aug 14, 2022 00:15
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