For the most part I wish they would have chosen better stories, but they have Battleground (about the toy soldiers coming to life) and Autopsy Room Four (I think that was from Everything’s Eventual).
**So, my questions:
#1) Anyone gonna watch them all?
#2) If you had a choice, which eight (or however many you can think of) SK shorts would YOU have made into a 1 hour tv episode?**
Here’s Mine:
Dolan’s Cadillac
The Long Walk (although I really wanna see this as a feature film… Darabont?!)
The Jaunt
Survivor Type
The Mist
Word-processor of the Gods
I Am The Doorway
The Moving Finger (a close second to The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet)
I am not sure what King short stories I’d like to see made into episodes. I think ‘Word Processor of the Gods’ would be great. I am not sure about ‘Suvivor Type’, I think to really get the desperation of the situation it would need to be a fairly long movie.
‘The Long Walk’ would make a great movie IMHO, though they would probably screw with it so much that it wouldn’t be recognizble. Think ‘The Running Man’.
I also think ‘The Myst’ would be a great full length movie. ‘The Tailsman’, if done well could be great as well.
The Talisman has been stuck in limbo for a couple of years now. But I see now that Spielburg is involved, so maybe that’ll get the project off the ground.
I’ve read this story, and I have NO IDEA how they’re going to portray it. Basically, a man is bit by a snake, paralyzed, and wakes up on the autopsy table just as the ME is getting ready to cut into him. She realizes he’s still alive only when she’s holding his penis aside to look at a scar on his thigh, and he starts to get an erection.
I laughed so hard. Typical Stephen King…grotesque, yet funny.
Word Processor of the Gods was made into an epidose of Tales from the Darkside (for which SK wrote a teleplay for another episode with Sorry, Right Number, which is included in Nightmares & Dreamscapes).
I too was hoping to see “Dolan’s Cadillac,” which is not only a taut revenge tale but is refreshingly free of any supernatural elements or mystical forces. But I’m glad it’s being made into a movie instead… it’s got real characters and pathos, and for the man’s revenge to have maximum satisfaction, you’ve got to fully appreciate the loss of his wife and the long planning & preparation stages for his revenge (IIRC, it took a number of years for the man to figure out his means of revenge, after a lengthy period he had his enemy under some surveillance.) That’s the kind of character background and painstaking plot progression that you can’t do justice to in 48 minutes.
I watched “Battleground” but I gave up on “Crouch End” about 15 minutes ago.
“Battleground” was interesting for the lack of dialogue throughout. But it was TOO DAMN LONG. There was a lot of filler added to the story. Really, it should have been fifteen minutes or *maybe *half an hour long. Stretching it out like they did made it tedious. They should have allowed the story itself to dictate the length.
I liked “Battleground”. Very true to the story. Some nice touches, like the little green Rambo guy who stalks him, and the evil Zuni doll from Trilogy of Terror occupying a place of honor amongst his trophies.
If it’s in any way associated with King, I’ll enjoy it. I’d say after tonight’s episode, I’m more satisfied than disappointed. Just not blown out of the water. But 3 more weeks can make a difference, so we’ll see where it goes.
As long as we’re talking about stories we’d like to see on film, I nominate the 4 unfilmed (unadapted) stories from The Bachman Books.
Based on the storyline, can anyone honestly say they wouldn’t like a movie version of The Long Walk? There is such a feel to the story that would translate well. Rage and Road Work would be pretty cool as well.
‘Rage’ is pretty much guaranteed not to happen. IIRC, at least one kid who shot up a school had a copy of ‘Rage’. King let ‘Rage’ go out of print after Columbine. I highly doubt King would let a movie be made.
I don’t know if ‘Road Work’ would translate well. I like the story but I have a hard time seeing it made into a movie.
I think it’s pretty much guaranteed that Rage will never see the light of day. As I understand, King has refused to allow it to be published any more in light of all of the school shootings, which means he sure as hell wouldn’t be willing to sign off on the movie rights.
I can’t imagine any major studio wanting to film it for fear of being blamed if there are any post-release massacres.
I haven’t watched Battleground yet, but I taped it. Sorely disappointed with Crouch End, and it seems this would have been the easiest of the bunch to get right. This should have been a story of psychological horror, a slow dawning that something isn’t quite right, as King wrote it. Instead it was just boring.
Overall I was really satisfied. I definitely think the first was the better of the two . I’ve heard criticism of William Hurt and his crabby countenance, and I’ve agreed in some instances, but I think his dour expression made him perfect for the part last night. Very good acting, imo. Did it remind anyone of that famous Twilight Zone episode with Agnes Moorhead? Also, big snaps for the shot of the Zuni fetish doll from Trilogy of Terror. That was such a great touch!
The second one could have been much better. I think they were successful in creating a creepy atmosphere, but I hated the lead characters so much that I wanted them to slip through the freakin’ rip in the leather. What the hell is wrong with the chick’s face?
I taped the show last night. I got home in time to watch the end of Battleground, and then Crouch End.
As far as I can tell, they didn’t do Battleground justice. It’s always been one of my favorite stories. I was kind of hoping the toys would look more like the Bucket O’ Soldiers from Toy Story. I also pictured Renfield as more of an ordinary-looking guy, not a big beefy oaf. I was not happy that the action didn’t all take place inside the hotel room, like it did in the story. I also think the ending was handled much better in the story, because Renfield accidentally detonated the bomb himself. It lets you know that those little fellas had not yet begun to fight. They were holding it in reserve!
As for Crouch End, it’s one of those stories that relies a lot more on what it implies than on what actually happens. In other words, it was just about doomed to bring the suck, and it did.