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LochNessMonster posted:About 100 pages into The Shining and the alcoholic abusive behaviour of Jack is disturbing me more than any other book I’ve read. To a level where it’s difficult to read even. Through all the cringe and hosed up poo poo, that’s the horror book I wish I could hit reset on and read over and over for the first time. When he finds the magneto for the snowcat and ultimately decides to throw it away I buckled in and finished the whole book.
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Feb 11, 2023 22:44
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LochNessMonster posted:About 100 pages into The Shining and the alcoholic abusive behaviour of Jack is disturbing me more than any other book I’ve read. To a level where it’s difficult to read even. Do you find Book Jack to be an unsympathetic character?
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Feb 11, 2023 23:00
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NikkolasKing posted:Do you find Book Jack to be an unsympathetic character? I’ve only just started but so far I’m seeing an alcoholic child abuser with a temper issue. Haven’t been able to find Oh yeah, I haven’t ever seen the movie either. Basically going in entirely blind besides knowing Jack will go crazy at one point.
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Feb 11, 2023 23:06
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One reason King didn't like the movie was he felt Jack was too unhinged from the beginning. King wrote Jack to be flawed but relatable, the violent alcoholic who abused his child and almost beat another child to death. Stephen King was probably not a great dad or husband in the 70s!
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Feb 12, 2023 03:24
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He was very much an alcoholic and drug addict, but I don't think he has any DV on his record or anything. I don't remember where I read it (On Writing, or maybe one of his forwards?) but King mentioned somewhere that while he did feel a lot of anger toward his kids, it scared him. I think a lot of Jack was King exploring those feelings and using fiction to take them to their worst extremes.
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Feb 12, 2023 04:01
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Baron von Eevl posted:One reason King didn't like the movie was he felt Jack was too unhinged from the beginning. King wrote Jack to be flawed but relatable, the violent alcoholic who abused his child and almost beat another child to death. Stephen King was probably not a great dad or husband in the 70s! I mean, I kinda agree with him, like not that those things are great but more that Jack in the movie is immediately unhinged and off kilter to an extent that’s almost comical. You can at least believe that book Jack isn’t a great guy but he’s trying to turn his life around and be a better person than he used to be. I know that King is well known for not being a big fan because he put a lot of himself at that time into Jack Torrance, but the movie being about as subtle as a battering ram regarding how Jack’s instability always seemed like a weird thing to not get called out for how acclaimed of an adaptation it is.
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Feb 12, 2023 04:04
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Yeah I don't think King actually got physical with his wife or kids, but I do very much believe he was probably kind of a nightmare for a while just due to the drugs he was doing and probably locking himself away for long stretches of time, god only knows what it was like when he came out. I think King's probably a really nice guy now!Last Celebration posted:but the movie being about as subtle as a battering ram regarding how Jack’s instability always seemed like a weird thing to not get called out for how acclaimed of an adaptation it is. I think that was actually one of the biggest criticisms of it when it came out. It wasn't well regarded at the time, and people mainly bristled at things like Nicholson's unhinged performance and skipping over the topiary.
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Feb 12, 2023 04:18
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Making the VW bug the wrong color was a real stick in the eye from Kubrick.
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Feb 12, 2023 04:21
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BiggerBoat posted:I was OK with it. King, as usual, had written himself into a corner where he felt like magic was the only solution but in the case of Rose Madder, I viewed it more as a metaphor and a symbolic description of Rose's and her abuser's deteriorating mental state where The Painting was kind of her sanctuary and a place where she had power and the bull was a symbol of the cop's total metamorphosis and degeneration into a complete, brainless monster. i feel like the only time the magic ever worked was in needful things because it kinda fit with the whole vibe. Baron von Eevl posted:One reason King didn't like the movie was he felt Jack was too unhinged from the beginning. King wrote Jack to be flawed but relatable, the violent alcoholic who abused his child and almost beat another child to death. Stephen King was probably not a great dad or husband in the 70s! yeah, possibly. after rereading the book and watching the movie recently, i kinda walk back a bit as book purists, like yeah i think the movie misses alot of the themes but it also makes the hotel and poo poo way creepier and bleaker and does show a pretty good idea of the horror of the place king was trying to convey. I am mixed on the hotel in the book, on one hand, its plan is incredibly dumb but also it kind works. the hotel is a gestalt spirit of a bunch of sociopathic rich fucks and gangsters and hedonists. it probably doesnt have the best long term planning. i also like that the book heavly implies it caught a kid with a big shine before and did the same thing as its doing now and won but it didnt take or work, so its just trying again and again. the whole scene with "jack" and danny is great because the hotel has exactly one trick it pulls and when its called out on said trick, it just doubles down and mumbles insane poo poo, then gets hosed.
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Feb 12, 2023 06:13
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I really enjoyed both the book and the movie (Shining) What would you guys say is his most underrated movie adaptation? I think Delores Claiborne is pretty great but not too many people ever talk about it. Cujo is a favorite of mine despite a few flaws. Salem's Lot gets a little overlooked too, I think for being a 70's TV movie.
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Feb 12, 2023 13:49
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Serious answer: I may have said it in this thread before, but I unironically love Maximum Overdrive (adapted from the short story "Trucks"). Everything about it is just so completely bonkers, it's great.
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Feb 12, 2023 14:19
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Depends of which sense you mean underrated. If you mean in terms of being better than what the critics say, I'd say silver bullet. Generally panned by critics, I actually quite liked it. If you mean in terms of being ignored by people, I'd say Chapelwaite or Apt Pupil.
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Feb 13, 2023 06:15
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joepinetree posted:Depends of which sense you mean underrated. If Chapelwaite counts I'd put a word in for Castle Rock.
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Feb 13, 2023 06:50
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Why wouldn't it count? Yeah, it adds stuff (like the daughters) to the short story, but all in all relatively faithful as far as king adaptations go. Very different thing from castle rock.
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Feb 13, 2023 07:17
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While I've talked in the past about how I have no real interest in seeing Movie Shining due to how much I loved the book, I will admit one thing. What the hell was up with the roque mallet? Who even head of Roque before that book? I dare say an axe is a bit more intimidating and probably the most sensible change Kubrick made.
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Feb 13, 2023 08:43
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It’s pronounced “roque”
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Feb 13, 2023 17:44
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BiggerBoat posted:I really enjoyed both the book and the movie (Shining) DOLORIES CLAIBORNE suffered for being a somewhat dour, mostly non-supernatural King story but it's actually pretty good. I really dig THE NIGHT FLIER a lot as well which arguably improves on its very slight source material. MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE is indeed a lot of fun... For the first half. Once a lot of the carnage is over and done with it's kind of a slog.
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Feb 14, 2023 15:15
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When the hell is the carnage over in Maximum Overdrive? The credits?
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Feb 14, 2023 16:31
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Pope Corky the IX posted:When the hell is the carnage over in Maximum Overdrive? The credits? Eh wrong word, I just think the fun is over and done with pretty early on.
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Feb 14, 2023 17:00
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I do love that you can tell the exact moment King suddenly realized there were too many characters at the truck stop and brought in a sentient machine gun to get rid of half of them.
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Feb 14, 2023 17:04
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There are too many great deaths to pick a favorite. I think it's probably the soda machine, but steamroller and arcade game are close seconds.
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Feb 14, 2023 17:12
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Fun Fact: Giancarlo Esposito is the guy that gets killed by an arcade machine.
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Feb 14, 2023 17:18
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DrVenkman posted:DOLORIES CLAIBORNE suffered for being a somewhat dour, mostly non-supernatural King story but it's actually pretty good. I really dig THE NIGHT FLIER a lot as well which arguably improves on its very slight source material. I love the Night Flier. Such a terrifying climax especially since King doesn't always stick the landings. I was re-reading Salem's Lot last month and forgot that Callahan had the same curse put on him where he had to drink head vamp blood but not to quite the same awful effect.
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Feb 14, 2023 18:41
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Pope Corky the IX posted:Fun Fact: Giancarlo Esposito is the guy that gets killed by an arcade machine. YO MAMA.
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Feb 14, 2023 20:04
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I got the Night Flier and Storm of the Century mixed up and I watched the entirety of Storm waiting for the loving vampires to show up. I don't think there was any formal announcement or anything, but I heard on one of the Stephen King podcasts that Bryan Fuller's Christine is dead in the water, which is loving BULLSHIT ruddiger fucked around with this message at 22:04 on Feb 14, 2023 |
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Feb 14, 2023 20:08
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ruddiger posted:I got the Night Flier and Storm of the Century mixed up and I watched the entirety of Storm waiting for the loving vampires to show up. That's a shame. I thought it was odd he didn't mention it on his last Kingcast appearance. Chances are that like Glen Mazzara did for THE DARK TOWER, Fuller will come in and explain what his film was going to be.
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Feb 14, 2023 23:04
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I figured that was the case when the got the green light for the friday the 13th prequel. While I am sure that there have been cases of people doing tv and a movie at the same time, the fact that he was announced as both the showrunner and lead writer means that he'll likely be pretty busy in the next couple of years.
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Feb 15, 2023 19:50
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Last Celebration posted:I mean, I kinda agree with him, like not that those things are great but more that Jack in the movie is immediately unhinged and off kilter to an extent that’s almost comical. They cast Jack Nicholson in the role, yes.
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Feb 16, 2023 18:36
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3D Megadoodoo posted:They cast Jack Nicholson in the role, yes. You say that like he didn’t literally play a character who was pretending to be insane and mostly just came across as a bro though.
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Feb 16, 2023 19:14
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Last Celebration posted:You say that like he didn’t literally play a character who was pretending to be insane and mostly just came across as a bro though. IDK, he comes across as unhinged 24/7, working or not. Doesn't even have to say or do anything.
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Feb 16, 2023 19:30
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3D Megadoodoo posted:IDK, he comes across as unhinged 24/7, working or not. Doesn't even have to say or do anything. Even the interview that Kubrick's daughter did for the 'making of' did not cast him in a sane light.
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Feb 16, 2023 22:28
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From what I can tell from the behind the scenes film, Kubrick didn't do rehearsals for scenes. He just gave the actors the material and started shooting. They shot hundreds of takes and the actors would try all kinds of performances until Kubrick was satisfied. There's probably hours of unused takes of Jack acting like a plausible human being.
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Feb 17, 2023 09:06
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Reading Cujo for the first time after knowing the fundamental story stuff through cultural osmosis/references in other King works, and I don’t think I was ready to have this story have interludes going through the thought process of this good doggo slowly being driven insane by rabies. 
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Feb 17, 2023 18:40
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I started reading Later on the bus, thinking it was going to be a crime novel, but noo, it's loving Aliens from the Internet again right from the get-go jesus gently caress.
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Feb 17, 2023 19:31
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3D Megadoodoo posted:I started reading Later on the bus, thinking it was going to be a crime novel, but noo, it's loving Aliens from the Internet again right from the get-go jesus gently caress. What? Where was that?
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Feb 18, 2023 00:11
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oldpainless posted:What? Where was that? OK maybe not AftI (that was End of Watch) but preternatural poo poo, anyway. I wasn't expecting that from Hard Case Crime.
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Feb 18, 2023 00:17
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Last Celebration posted:Reading Cujo for the first time after knowing the fundamental story stuff through cultural osmosis/references in other King works, and I don’t think I was ready to have this story have interludes going through the thought process of this good doggo slowly being driven insane by rabies. I think that's one of the things that make the book better than the film, even though I enjoyed both. A lot of King's work is tough to translate to the screen because so much of the narrative is driven by people's thoughts and internal monologues. Cujo is a great example. I don't know how one would go about showing that on screen beyond a lot of POV shots and even some of the same things that they actually tried. I guess in a hypothetical remake they could add some filters and harsh sound effects from the dog's point of view. Also get ready for an even more depressing ending if you've seen the movie.
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Feb 18, 2023 01:10
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Started reading The Gunslinger and it's great so far. I am having some trouble picturing the world, especially the flashbacks. Roland had a nightmare about someone and it didn't make much sense. That gunfight scene from the first town is the highlight so far.
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Feb 23, 2023 07:22
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You're in for a great read. The world will become much more fleshed out with time. The Gunslinger definitely starts out sparse with details.
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Feb 23, 2023 17:56
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Yeah, the world mostly coalesces by the third book. Effectively it's "what if Arthurian legend but they're cowboys and also mescaline" but then there's also a nice vibe of "there are bits of our world scattered around like the beach after a shipwreck."
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Feb 23, 2023 19:00
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