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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 6, 2004 9:34:44 GMT -5
If you picked "Other", please tell us which one you liked.
Sure, most of the movies that have been based on Stephen King books haven't been the pinnacle of grand cinema, but most of the books themselves have been great entertainment. I remember reading CUJO as a youngster and it scared the hell out of me. I'd never read anything like it. In fact, I had to put it down several times during this reading.
My favorite, if I had to pick one, is THE STAND. I've read it three times and it never fails to captivate me, even though I know exactly how everything's going to turn out. The movie was pretty good too, for a made for TV mini-series. But again, not as good as the book.
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 6, 2004 10:36:56 GMT -5
Tough choice as I love most of the stuff King wrote! Misery could be my second choice - I love the experimental looks of the book and the tension there - but The Shining wins the poll for me this time: it seems a corny choice, and after seeing the two movies based on it (but not reading the novel itself) many could doubt it's the right one; however, in my fanatic opinion neither of the films came close to the story's real chills that are offered to you by master King on page. On the other hand, there are some off-poll titles that could be used by me: On Writing, Gerald's Game, The Long Walk... King wrote lots of them, you know... Oh, and it seems Heineken wanted to remind me I've yet some good King books to read: The Stand and IT are still unopened, waiting for me to finally want to have a bite of them  |
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Post by Heineken Skywalker on Apr 6, 2004 12:17:44 GMT -5
THE SHINING is a great book and I agree that the book is better than both movie versions.
Just something about King's descriptive way of writing, always gives readers such a strong mental visual that most filmmakers are hard-pressed to even come close when adapting him for the screen.
Bart, I knew you'd be the first to respond to this topic. ;D
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 6, 2004 12:35:13 GMT -5
How could I let anyone be faster on this? ;D
Right now I'm finishing King's The Gunslinger - and though it's a very good book (the 2003 version of it that I'm reading is said to be better than the original 1982 one) it's no competitor for the best horror novels King wrote.
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Post by Sybillness on Apr 8, 2004 12:59:57 GMT -5
My favorite is THE STAND. The first time I read THE STAND, I was only about 10 years old. Scared the shit out of me! I found the book lying around my house (my aunt had been reading it) and picked it up on a Friday and finished it by Monday. I was enthralled and scared at the same time and I couldn't put the book down! My second favorite is SALEM'S LOT. GERALD'S GAME is a damn fine book too! Very, very creepy. I'm about halfway through Misery and I'm loving what I've read so far! Stephen King is one twisted Mofo.
I was a little disappointed that he didn't come out with something truly twisted after his accident. I figured since he was laid up for a while with nothing to do except examine the macabre corners of his psyche, he'd come out with some really mind blowing material...but alas!
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 8, 2004 15:46:46 GMT -5
Ahhh, what a cool aunt to have! ;D
After the accident King wrote On Writing which - though not really macabre - is one of his greatest books, so it's not that bad... Also the new Dark Tower novels are his best for some, but yeah - he's having problems with post-accident horrors. And is still saying he's not going to write any more of them. THAT really is scary for me!
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Apr 11, 2004 13:30:30 GMT -5
"The Stand " is by far my fave King book....actually my favorite ever. I've read it three times & I always picked up something new everytime I read it. And they actually did a pretty good job on the TV miniseries like you said. I just bought it on DVD, since the tape I had of it was almost worn out. ;D My favorite character from the book is Nick. The courage & strength of his character overcoming the obstacles in his life & then ultimately giving his life to save everyone else is awesome & inspiring! I think Rob Lowe did an excellent job capturing his character in the TV movie.
The las King book I read was "From A Buick 8"...pretty good, but I didn't enjoy it as much as his other works. Oh, I also read his last collection of short stories "Everything's Eventual". Pretty good.
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 11, 2004 13:58:04 GMT -5
As you know, The Stand is one of several King's books I haven't read yet - my dark little secret no-one should know about but, courtesy of these wonderful boards, everyone does ;D
Anyway - I hope I like it as much as you guys did! It's the obvious winner of our poll so far. And if I were to say anything about the mini-series: I loved the beginning of it, but then I thought it started losing its way in the thick plot. The actors were good though: not only Rob Lowe (who surprised me quite a lot with his nice performance) but also Gary Sinise - a very cool actor who's so often wasted in average movies (he did a great job cameoing in The Green Mile, however!).
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Apr 11, 2004 14:41:53 GMT -5
OMG!!! You haven't read Stand??  just kidding... you should def. read it! You'd probably enjoy the miniseries more when you read the book. Of course the book has much more plot/character development & subplots that weren't in the movie. And Gary Sinise is an awesome actor,,,one of the best! |
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Apr 14, 2004 13:46:41 GMT -5
I found this on Moviehole.com today: "DreamWorks' “The Talisman”, an adaptation of the 1984 Stephen King/Peter Straub novel, is finally set to start shooting in August. Now the search is on for the crucial lead character, a 12-year-old boy who goes on a quest in this world and in a parallel universe to acquire a mystical talisman that will save the life of his dying mother. "  |
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Post by Bartwald on Apr 14, 2004 14:38:50 GMT -5
That's very good news but the project is long overdue, isn't it? The rumours of it being made re-appears every few years since the novel was published. I hope it's going to get made this time!
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Post by spacer on May 21, 2004 16:45:23 GMT -5
I chose [glow=red,2,300]IT[/glow]
I won't lie to you I haven't read that book ;D
but I've seen the movie and it is on my short list of my most favourite films.
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Post by Fenril on Jun 9, 2004 17:51:13 GMT -5
I have never read "The stand" nor seen the miniseries; I have heard that the book is great, but I'll have to see for myself, I guess.
I voted other, because of the books I've read so far, I thought the greatest were:
1.- Different Seasons (by far his most "literate" work so far, truly impressive nouvelles).
2.- The dead zone.
3.- Needful things.
His scariest as such has to be "Pet Sematary". I didn't really find it that great a book (I dunno... too many plot holes), but it's a damn disturbing story.
They have adapted pretty much everything he's written to the screen, thus ranging from excellent to the worst of the lot. Maybe we should have a different thread about the King movies.
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Post by LivingDeadGirl on Jun 9, 2004 18:58:43 GMT -5
Like I told Bart, you should def. read The Stand! A masterpiece. And they did an excellent job w/ the mini series too.
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Post by Ashqueroso on Aug 5, 2004 17:36:17 GMT -5
THE DARK HALF is my favourite one. I had a lot of fun reading it; I just loved it.
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just kidding... you should def. read it! You'd probably enjoy the miniseries more when you read the book. Of course the book has much more plot/character development & subplots that weren't in the movie. And Gary Sinise is an awesome actor,,,one of the best!
