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Gareth von Kallenbach (980 KP) rated The Dark Tower (2017) in Movies
Jun 19, 2019
Adapting Stephen King stories for the screen has long been a difficult problem for Hollywood. For every “Misery” and “The Shawshank Redemption”, there are many others such as “The Mangler”, “Cell”, “and Graveyard Shift” and many more where things did not go as planned.
The big issue is that King often creates detailed characters with complex backstories and puts then in fully developed worlds that despite their supernatural nature, often are easy for readers to relate to.
Also as any reader of his books knows, King is not one to spare the paper and his books can be very lengthy offerings. This is an issue for Hollywood as they are forced to condense a 400-800 page plus story in many cases to fewer than two hours of screen time. The solution has been to try television movies such as “The Langoliers”, “The Tommyknockers”, “The Stand”, and “It”. The problem with this format is that while spreading the story over multiple nights allows more time for the story, they gore and adult content which is often the core of the story has to be greatly watered down.
Which brings us to “The Dark Tower”, an adaptation of King’s largest offering as the series covers seven books and a novella, not to mention a Prequel comic and more. The series rolled out from 1982-2004 with King often saying that he might never finish the series. Fortunately for fans he released three books from 2003-2004 and was able to declare the story told.
The story tells of a world like ours, but different that has “moved on”. It is a dying world where Roland (Idris Elba), is pursuing a wizard named Walter (Matthew McConaughey), who is responsible for laying waste the world and killing all that come into Roland’s life. The books follow his unrelenting chase of The Man in Black over countless years and how he has become a cold and driven individual who thinks nothing of using people to get his revenge.
Roland is the last of the “Gunslingers”, a Knight like group who protected the world and who used guns that were rare in their world to keep the peace. Roland is highly skilled and unlike his now dead companions, is impervious to the magic of Walter which has allowed him to remain alive and continue his quest.
The Man in Black is fixated on destroying the Dark Tower, which protects the many worlds in the universe from the outside evils that look to destroy it. Along with a young boy from Earth named Jake (Tom Taylor), Roland must find a way to save the universe and exact his revenge.
The film keeps the conflict between Roland and The Man in Black but greatly condenses the story as it includes references to things in the first two books but omits much of the backstory and plot of the novels to tell what I would call a story that was inspired by, but not based on the books.
This is at the core the biggest issue with the film. I have read the books and while I wanted an adaptation that was closer to them, I did find myself enjoying the film more than I expected to. The leads were very good and even though they had a very watered down script to work with, they did a good job and the finale does have some nice visuals and action to it.
People I know who have read the books have naturally been very disappointed with the film but those who have not read the books have mentioned that they enjoyed the film and accepted it as a fun bit of escapist adventure.
There has been talk of a television series that would focus more on the third book onward which hopefully would include how Roland gained new followers from our world who were trained to be future Gunslingers. That remains to be seen as the success of the film will likely hold the key. I hope we do get to see it as there are countless stories and characters yet to tell in this universe and I think fans deserve to see them as King wrote them.
http://sknr.net/2017/08/03/the-dark-tower/
The big issue is that King often creates detailed characters with complex backstories and puts then in fully developed worlds that despite their supernatural nature, often are easy for readers to relate to.
Also as any reader of his books knows, King is not one to spare the paper and his books can be very lengthy offerings. This is an issue for Hollywood as they are forced to condense a 400-800 page plus story in many cases to fewer than two hours of screen time. The solution has been to try television movies such as “The Langoliers”, “The Tommyknockers”, “The Stand”, and “It”. The problem with this format is that while spreading the story over multiple nights allows more time for the story, they gore and adult content which is often the core of the story has to be greatly watered down.
Which brings us to “The Dark Tower”, an adaptation of King’s largest offering as the series covers seven books and a novella, not to mention a Prequel comic and more. The series rolled out from 1982-2004 with King often saying that he might never finish the series. Fortunately for fans he released three books from 2003-2004 and was able to declare the story told.
The story tells of a world like ours, but different that has “moved on”. It is a dying world where Roland (Idris Elba), is pursuing a wizard named Walter (Matthew McConaughey), who is responsible for laying waste the world and killing all that come into Roland’s life. The books follow his unrelenting chase of The Man in Black over countless years and how he has become a cold and driven individual who thinks nothing of using people to get his revenge.
Roland is the last of the “Gunslingers”, a Knight like group who protected the world and who used guns that were rare in their world to keep the peace. Roland is highly skilled and unlike his now dead companions, is impervious to the magic of Walter which has allowed him to remain alive and continue his quest.
The Man in Black is fixated on destroying the Dark Tower, which protects the many worlds in the universe from the outside evils that look to destroy it. Along with a young boy from Earth named Jake (Tom Taylor), Roland must find a way to save the universe and exact his revenge.
The film keeps the conflict between Roland and The Man in Black but greatly condenses the story as it includes references to things in the first two books but omits much of the backstory and plot of the novels to tell what I would call a story that was inspired by, but not based on the books.
This is at the core the biggest issue with the film. I have read the books and while I wanted an adaptation that was closer to them, I did find myself enjoying the film more than I expected to. The leads were very good and even though they had a very watered down script to work with, they did a good job and the finale does have some nice visuals and action to it.
People I know who have read the books have naturally been very disappointed with the film but those who have not read the books have mentioned that they enjoyed the film and accepted it as a fun bit of escapist adventure.
There has been talk of a television series that would focus more on the third book onward which hopefully would include how Roland gained new followers from our world who were trained to be future Gunslingers. That remains to be seen as the success of the film will likely hold the key. I hope we do get to see it as there are countless stories and characters yet to tell in this universe and I think fans deserve to see them as King wrote them.
http://sknr.net/2017/08/03/the-dark-tower/
Sarah (7798 KP) rated Velvet Buzzsaw (2019) in Movies
Feb 2, 2019 (Updated Feb 3, 2019)
A little confused
A little confused is definitely how I feel about this film. In parts it’s a darkly satirical take on the art world with some horror thrown in, but the rest is just plain old dull with a handful of characters you care little about. Jake Gyllenhaal is great as usual, but I feel the rest of the cast were a let down. Zawe Ashton especially seemed to put in a very deadpan and robot like performance - must have been how her character was intended but it just didn’t work. It also doesn’t help that despite Jake Gyllenhaal, there’s no real main character in this and this is where it falls done, bouncing between a lot of mostly conceited unliveable characters.
This film spends far too much time talking and poking fun at the art world, instead of focusing more on the horror aspect. The story of art killing people is an intriguing one that sounds like it’s been taken straight out of a Stephen King book, it’s just a shame the film didn’t capitalise on this until well over an hour in. Especially as a lot of the horror parts were well done and quite disturbing, although some of the special effects were a bit OTT.
I just find this entire film a little bit meh. It wasn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly memorable either. And whilst I’m sure there’s a message about the fake and judgemental art world, it doesn’t really make for a great film.
This film spends far too much time talking and poking fun at the art world, instead of focusing more on the horror aspect. The story of art killing people is an intriguing one that sounds like it’s been taken straight out of a Stephen King book, it’s just a shame the film didn’t capitalise on this until well over an hour in. Especially as a lot of the horror parts were well done and quite disturbing, although some of the special effects were a bit OTT.
I just find this entire film a little bit meh. It wasn’t terrible, but it’s not particularly memorable either. And whilst I’m sure there’s a message about the fake and judgemental art world, it doesn’t really make for a great film.
Dutch (59 KP) rated The Burning Soul in Books
Feb 22, 2019
What's the worst thing you have ever done?
The worse thing Randall Haight has ever done was killing a 14-year-old girl when he was only a child himself. Now someone seems to have discovered his secret and is tormenting him anonymously, and, to further complicate things a 14-year-old girl has gone missing in the same town that Randall lives in.
Charlie Parker takes on the case against his better judgement as it brings back painful memories of the death of his own daughter and he also finds himself up against a mobster by the name of Tommy Morris, the FBI and a police chief who may have secrets of his own.
As a rule I generally navigate towards horror but in the Charlie Parker series John Connolly has crafted a multi-layered world that mixes in supernatural elements and a superb supporting cast (Louis, Angel, the Collector) as well as great writing, a flawed (but likeable) main character and most importantly stories that draw me in totally. In fact I would put John Connolly up there with Stephen King as one of my favourite authors and I absolutely cannot get enough of the Charlie Parker series. If you have a love for the crime or horror genres there is no excuse for not diving into this series.
The next book in the series is The Wrath of Angels and it marks the return of the Collecter and promises to bring back the more supernatural/horror elements of the series and that is certainly not a bad thing.
Charlie Parker takes on the case against his better judgement as it brings back painful memories of the death of his own daughter and he also finds himself up against a mobster by the name of Tommy Morris, the FBI and a police chief who may have secrets of his own.
As a rule I generally navigate towards horror but in the Charlie Parker series John Connolly has crafted a multi-layered world that mixes in supernatural elements and a superb supporting cast (Louis, Angel, the Collector) as well as great writing, a flawed (but likeable) main character and most importantly stories that draw me in totally. In fact I would put John Connolly up there with Stephen King as one of my favourite authors and I absolutely cannot get enough of the Charlie Parker series. If you have a love for the crime or horror genres there is no excuse for not diving into this series.
The next book in the series is The Wrath of Angels and it marks the return of the Collecter and promises to bring back the more supernatural/horror elements of the series and that is certainly not a bad thing.
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Jack of Spades in Books
Feb 13, 2018
This book was certainly a page turner and a quick read, although I really just wanted it to be over. Andrew J. Rush is a successful mystery author -- married with a wife and three grown children. He also secretly (not even known to his wife and children) writes under the pseudonym Jack of Spades - and these books are dark, violent thrillers.
The book starts with Rush receiving a court summons that a woman in nearby locale is accusing him of stealing - basically plagiarism. He feels threatened and slowly, the unbidden Jack of Spades within Rush starts coming out.
The book is peppered with Stephen King references and I don't typically read King's more dark novels, so I can't say if there's a comparison here. Overall, I didn't find the book scary, or even that psychologically interesting, but a bit stupid. While a character in a novel like this shouldn't be likeable, per se, you should have some sort of admiration for their cunning. Instead, I just found Rush annoying and stupid.
Oates provides us with a back-story that is supposed to explain Rush's pathology, but it seems thinly constructed. The whole premise just seems off. I can't imagine someone not picking up on this guy and his behavior, his wife not just walking out, his kids not just taking their mother away, etc. It was just not my cup of tea.
(Note: I received an advance ebook copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)
The book starts with Rush receiving a court summons that a woman in nearby locale is accusing him of stealing - basically plagiarism. He feels threatened and slowly, the unbidden Jack of Spades within Rush starts coming out.
The book is peppered with Stephen King references and I don't typically read King's more dark novels, so I can't say if there's a comparison here. Overall, I didn't find the book scary, or even that psychologically interesting, but a bit stupid. While a character in a novel like this shouldn't be likeable, per se, you should have some sort of admiration for their cunning. Instead, I just found Rush annoying and stupid.
Oates provides us with a back-story that is supposed to explain Rush's pathology, but it seems thinly constructed. The whole premise just seems off. I can't imagine someone not picking up on this guy and his behavior, his wife not just walking out, his kids not just taking their mother away, etc. It was just not my cup of tea.
(Note: I received an advance ebook copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.)
The nerdy birdie (67 KP) rated Loot Time Podcast in Podcasts
Oct 17, 2018 (Updated Oct 17, 2018)
Listened to episode 27
I listened to episode 27 all about curses, which I thought was a perfect theme for October and Halloween! For some reason when it comes to anything scary I am all ears, any time of the year ! I try to attend any haunted attraction that I can. The two guys Steven and Kevin discuss two highly popular movies Evil Dead and Gremlins. First and foremost, they mention Stephen King which is my main man when it comes to authors! I can’t wait until the second part of the movie “It”is released. Thriller and horror books are my jam! Secondly, they bring up Beetlejuice which is another fave. Beetlejuice, Gremlins and evil dead are all similar types of the genre comedy meets horror. I have heard of loot crate before because of all of my booktuber friends that subscribe to the box. I love watching the unboxings and would really appreciate the opportunity to receive one and review it! I plan on being a booktuber in 2019. I would put the different themed Items in the box with my beetlejuice and gremlins funko pops because that was the episode that helped me win!! I even have gizmo on my keychain ! I also like how the guys bring in a brother , Rob, to interview as well. Makes me wonder what future guests they will have. A third opinion brings a whole new element to the podcast. Great job! Ps-loved Idle Hands too!
Scott Tostik (389 KP) rated 1408 (2007) in Movies
Jan 20, 2020
The original story (1 more)
John Cusack is a fucking God
John.... Sam.... Stephen.... What could go wrong??
Ladies and Gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages... Well... Not all... Kids should definitely not watch this one.
John Cusack stars as a writer who specializes in debunking alleged haunted locations.
He heads into the city to stay at the famed Dolphin Hotel. One room has had more deaths in it since the place cracked its doors nearly 100 years before.
The writer heads in with a skeptics attitude. But within minutes his attitude changes. And so does the viewers.
Sam Jackson is phenomenal as the manager of the hotel... All but climbs inside Cusacks head and fills him full of personal doubt and failure.
What follows is one helluva roller coaster ride that takes you from the past to the present to all points in between.
And just when you think you have it figured out... The room turns on you and tries to swallow your soul whole.
King left an easy road map to follow for a successful film. And the crew took the ball and ran through the defense for the easy score.
A good little film that leaves you impressed and amazed... All be it a little bored during the second act. But the climax is worth the payoff.
Talk about your mind fucking psychology damaging portions of the ending.
Good job ladies and gentlemen... You left me sasified
John Cusack stars as a writer who specializes in debunking alleged haunted locations.
He heads into the city to stay at the famed Dolphin Hotel. One room has had more deaths in it since the place cracked its doors nearly 100 years before.
The writer heads in with a skeptics attitude. But within minutes his attitude changes. And so does the viewers.
Sam Jackson is phenomenal as the manager of the hotel... All but climbs inside Cusacks head and fills him full of personal doubt and failure.
What follows is one helluva roller coaster ride that takes you from the past to the present to all points in between.
And just when you think you have it figured out... The room turns on you and tries to swallow your soul whole.
King left an easy road map to follow for a successful film. And the crew took the ball and ran through the defense for the easy score.
A good little film that leaves you impressed and amazed... All be it a little bored during the second act. But the climax is worth the payoff.
Talk about your mind fucking psychology damaging portions of the ending.
Good job ladies and gentlemen... You left me sasified
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