Mike Flanagan's version of Gerald's Game was decent but makes the mistake of being _too_ faithful to King (specifically with that godawful ending)
― Number None, Thursday, 17 December 2020 13:38 (three years ago) link
Just caught up with this thread and, wow, even this year I'm not watching this if it doesn't spend at least half its running time on the plague. "People sitting around planning a strategy for a town hall meeting" is a devastatingly accurate way to describe the latter half of the book and why I never ranked it among his greats.
― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:25 (three years ago) link
I don't think those parts of the book are bad - but they kind of require you having been on the journey with teh characters first, so you don't see it as 'just a board meeting', but them looking to restart society.
otherwise, who gives a fuck about them? the plague spreading bits were fascinating in the way they depicted the slow societal breakdown and its impact on the specific characters who would wind up making "The Stand", and the details like the dying family driving into Hap's gas pumps, the government trying to infect Stu with Captain Trips without telling him, Frannie burying her father in their backyard, these were devastating details, really the height of the book.
might as well be 9 hours of the slow descent of a huge hand from the sky
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:34 (three years ago) link
Just scanning through early reviews, I keep seeing 'mess' and 'messy' and then I saw 'Lost-like structure' and...yeah, nope. Just fucken nope.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:38 (three years ago) link
IT'S NOT A GODDAMN MYSTERY TO BE DOLED OUT IN BITE-SIZE CHUNKS AND SLOWLY SOLVED, YOU DUMBSHITS.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:39 (three years ago) link
fuck it, making my own The Stand miniseries.
if you all would like to audition, please have a one-minute monologue prepared - dramatic or comedic/dramatic. No "original" monologues - must be from a produced movie, television show, or play.
Also - no cowboy hats allowed, we will not let you in the door.
Sign-up sheet below:
1)2)3)4)5)6)7)8)9)10)
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:40 (three years ago) link
This is very very otm. Without that first half, I'd have no interest in following through them in the second half. This "restructuring" sounds like a terrible idea.
― soaring skrrrtpeggios (jon /via/ chi 2.0), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:40 (three years ago) link
Neanderthal, might I suggest a bold new reimagining wherein you pick up right after the book ends and never mention or even allude to the events that occurred previously? If so, I'd like to audition for the role of the adult version of Stu and Franny's baby from the multitude of flashforwards your film will contain.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:43 (three years ago) link
This is like making a movie about the mundane life of a boy named Pinocchio as he occasionally reflects upon the wild adventures he had when he was still a puppet.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:53 (three years ago) link
Larry Underwood's 'journey' was one of the most fascinating things of the book for me, and what, now he's just going to be portrayed as an aging rockstar stuck in a municipal center talking about intrastate commerce?
might as well rename him "Sonny Bono"
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 17 December 2020 14:55 (three years ago) link
Kind of wish Jovan Adepo and Marsden has switched roles. Adepo could make Stuart less of a boring leading man role, and Larry Underwood would give Marsden more chance to be funny
― Chuck_Tatum, Thursday, 17 December 2020 15:00 (three years ago) link
I am simultaneously hyped for this AND setting a low bar. Really don't want to know anything about structure, casting, or anything else so I'm not opening this thread again for a while. (Don't tell me, I'll tell you! You believe that happy crappy?) Meet you in the Boulder Free Zone.
― Three Rings for the Elven Bishop (Dan Peterson), Thursday, 17 December 2020 15:14 (three years ago) link
Richard Linklater will 100% make this someday
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Thursday, 17 December 2020 16:31 (three years ago) link
I’m around halfway through the 1st ep and this is pretty much exactly as good as I expected it to be. So far the things that are bad are nothing to do with the things you guys are worried about. like, and the details like the dying family driving into Hap's gas pumps, the government trying to infect Stu with Captain Trips without telling him, Frannie burying her father in their backyard, these were devastating details, really the height of the book. — the entire first episode is basically what’s described here and nothing else! (so far anyway) The non-linearity feels sorta in unnecessary but isn’t much of a hindrance from what I’ve watched, also given everyone’s opinion that the plague stuff is so much stronger than the good v evil material it might even help to have the former spread throughout instead of relegated to the first third of the seriesanyway so far it’s decent king-nostalgia comfort viewing and also plague-schlock that is taking me back to the distant days of lockdown 1 and watching stuff like outbreak — connoisseurs of day players going BIG with the foreboding sneeze will enjoy. Kid who plays Harold is great.
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 17 December 2020 19:47 (three years ago) link
(so far)
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 17 December 2020 19:48 (three years ago) link
that's reassuring. ok, I'll give it a whirl!
― Lover of Nixon (or LON for short) (Neanderthal), Thursday, 17 December 2020 20:19 (three years ago) link
Just finished the ep - don’t want to oversell it, it is really ropy in places!
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 17 December 2020 20:24 (three years ago) link
right now my father and I are watching this, and he read the book as well as I, and I suddenly don't care if it sucks. glad we can see this together
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 00:59 (three years ago) link
lot of vomiting in this ep
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 01:32 (three years ago) link
the flu gives people Jabba the Hutt neck too
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 01:38 (three years ago) link
I liked this ep, but there are flaws. a lot of the ep is dedicated to the outbreak, but the time jumps around arbitrarily with no aim or purpose, and would probably have confused me if I didn't know the story.
managed to capture the dread of a society slowly rotting, and a bit of time during the naive period where they thought it was just a bad flu they would outlast.
Presidential address was pretty chilling.
Overreliance on "coughing to make it obvious I'm fatally sick", like Eazy E in Straight OUtta Compton
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 01:57 (three years ago) link
having Harold be totally crazy incel with a manifesto maniac from the start seems like a mistake - it leaves out any room for character development, proper story arc or any tension as to how things will play out? I feel like the original mini series did that storyline fairly well, because Franny did sympathise with him somewhat and the audience could too despite him being a total dork. With the new version we know he's going to try to kill them from episode 1, and we know Franny and Stu will be a couple... just feels weird. Overall despite totally not liking how they're going back and forth in the timeline, which wrecks so much of what makes the book great, I thought it wasn't too bad and i'm curious to see all the characters they left out of Ep 1
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 12:23 (three years ago) link
also they must have spent a shit ton on sync rights for the music on this
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 12:24 (three years ago) link
Yes, those are weird choices that I do not like the sound of.
― You will notice a small sink where your sofa once was. (Old Lunch), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 12:39 (three years ago) link
I’m all in on this Harold. I thought I recognised him from somewhere - same guy who played Patrick hockstetter in crappy It adaptation (talk about a waste!) The more I think about it the more I like this opening ep but worry about how it’s going to play out. I didn’t watch lost but I don’t get the sense they are trying to make a puzzle, felt more like what gerwig did with little women - telling a familiar story non-linearly gives a sense of simultaneity, everything happening all at once, that adds some immediacy (also maybe they’re trying to supply the missing Yeats line). And it is a familiar story, even if you haven’t read it or seen the old series - it’s no work at all to fill in the gaps from everyone is sick —> everyone is dead. Obv it’s less assured than gerwig and I think going forward it may fuck with the momentum a bit but I didn’t mind the structure at all, my main problems were with how some of the scenes themselves were realised (I expected that tho). Not convinced by marsden yet, I know redman is kind of a boring stoic hero type but he didn’t react much at all to the actual end of the world/other scary stuff happening. Supernatural side of things feels like where it could really go off the rails, it may not be possible - or even desirable - to do the dreams in a non-cheesy way (and they certainly haven’t) but the glimpses we have so far are p bad
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Tuesday, 22 December 2020 12:52 (three years ago) link
Second ep much more jarring with the time jumps. Nadine and Joe show up in present day without explanation about how they met Larry. Why not....just show that first?
It was ok. Got bored.
Lloyd Heinreid and Poke appear. As does Rita.
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Thursday, 24 December 2020 15:43 (three years ago) link
lol I’m still waiting to be annoyed by this They attempted a version of the scariest scene in the book (+ one of the most disturbing) and kinda flubbed it but a lot of other big moments from the novel - larrys mum dying, Larry meeting Harold, Lloyd in prison were well done Casting is good, I really like this Lloyd It’s definitely following a modern tv formula - I wouldn’t be surprised if we don’t see too much of mother Abigail and then midway through a whole episode just about her I will feel cheated if we don’t actually get to hear baby can you dig your man
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 24 December 2020 18:54 (three years ago) link
I definitely liked the Lloyd/Flagg scene.
They're showing more of the outbreak times than people feared. In alarming visual detail.
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:02 (three years ago) link
They really went for it with the swollen neck, it’s gross
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:11 (three years ago) link
They attempted a version of the scariest scene in the book (+ one of the most disturbing) and kinda flubbed it
The tunnel?
― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:14 (three years ago) link
Yea although they changed it up and also sorta seemed to combine it with another bit (the zoo) - didn’t really work for me
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:21 (three years ago) link
Honestly don't think that scene can possibly translate to film and have the same impact.
― On average, this critic grades 8.3 points lower than other critics (Eric H.), Thursday, 24 December 2020 19:28 (three years ago) link
The Baby Can You Dig Your Man in this series sounds way more like what i expected in the book
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Friday, 1 January 2021 17:35 (three years ago) link
From the 12 seconds i heard
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Friday, 1 January 2021 17:36 (three years ago) link
Guess I’ll retype this here: I am still enjoying this! It is often silly (like the book) but incredibly well cast. Glen & stu broing out over a post apocalypse cold one is the most Stephen king scene ever - unlike stu glen went to college which you can tell cause he is listening to “so what” by miles lol Tom Cullen is still 😬😬😬😬 that spells 😒 tho I like this actor (coover from justified s2!) I am enjoying all the actors. This nick is dreamy. Skarsgård is looking more like his dad than I remember. Between Owen Teague and some latter J Gylenhaal performances I’m seeing a bit of a re-mainstreaming of crispin glover’s vibe
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Friday, 1 January 2021 19:29 (three years ago) link
I did like this episode as well.
Lol i commented on Miles Davis too.
I like who they got for Andros
― Looking for Cape Penis house (Neanderthal), Friday, 1 January 2021 21:03 (three years ago) link
xp should I bother watching this, or is it just “good for a Stephen King adaptation”?
― scampish inquisition (gyac), Friday, 1 January 2021 21:05 (three years ago) link
Worth it for Harold alone imo Maybe my expectations have been worn down by how bad this “prestige king” era has been but I am enjoying it way more than I expected to! I think most of the decisions being made are otm
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Friday, 1 January 2021 21:17 (three years ago) link
glen: would you like to come back to mine for some caviarstu: (extremely good ol boy voice) cavi-what?But lol if this line isn’t from the book I can guarantee you Stephen’s idiot son wrote it
― Cheese flavoured Momus (wins), Friday, 1 January 2021 21:19 (three years ago) link
That doesn't read like an SK original to me, but I am fully ready to be corrected if I'm wrong about this.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Friday, 1 January 2021 21:48 (three years ago) link
Hmm i'm 5 long hours into this now (not really had the enthusiasm to keep up to date week by week) and feel like I know/like all these characters far less than I did in the 6 hour miniseries... I just don't know how they managed to make this so long given so far they've missed tons of things I would have expected them to include? Especially when the new additions have been pretty unnecessary. Almost all of the Vegas/lloyd stuff from episode 5 was tonally just terrible, particularly the acting. It's quite something when Cyclops is one of the most charismatic cast members in your show. not a fan of new Harold either, the guy is totally unable to seem even in a tiny bit normal, and again his tone just contrasts so heavily from the (yes slightly boring) naturalism of everyone else in boulder that the idea they seem not to really notice is just laughable.
meh.
― Hmmmmm (jamiesummerz), Wednesday, 27 January 2021 23:57 (three years ago) link
the fact that nobody else posted for 3 weeks maybe means others are also unimpressed?
I don't hate it, I don't love it, I appreciate it, but I get frustrated with the time jumps, which I think is part of why it feels like it's missing so much.
I decided to watch The Expanse instead, I'll come back to it eventually
― if Spaghetti-Os had whammy bars (Neanderthal), Wednesday, 27 January 2021 23:59 (three years ago) link
just finished thisoof
― jammy mcnullity (wins), Thursday, 11 February 2021 18:09 (three years ago) link
this (1994 version anyway) is on Horror Channel UK at 1 tomorrow afternoon, boxing day, for ~8 hours
― koogs, Saturday, 25 December 2021 22:44 (two years ago) link
When the 2020 series came out I signed up for a trial Paramount subscription, watched two episodes and didn’t care for them. Currently have access again so I finished the series. I really didn’t end up liking this much.
Some of the casting didn’t work as we well for me as the old TV version. Didn’t like Whoopi as Mother A, and Harold was okay but too one-note psycho as noted above. Hard to know what to do with Tom Cullen, but that wasn’t it. Others were bland and uninteresting.
Agree that the non-linear storyline in the first episodes hinders way more than it helps. Also disliked Vegas; Lloyd, Julie Lawry and Ratwoman were hammy and horrible. New epilogue was pretty meh.
Overall I give it C-.
― Large, Complex, Detailed but Irrefutable POST (Dan Peterson), Wednesday, 17 January 2024 20:54 (four months ago) link