Wyndham Wyeth at Paste Magazine has put together a list of his favorite 11 Stephen King adaptations. No, I don't know why 11 and not 12.
.Hey, guess what's not on the list: Langoliers, Sleepwalkers (that wasn't based on a book), Cat's Eye, Creepshow (?!), Dark Half, Tommyknockers, none of the Salem's Lot adaptations (aren't we up to 3 now... ?), The Shining miniseries, Graveyard shift, Christine, Dolores Claiborne, Thinner, Cujo, Hearts in Atlantis. (That is not a complete list)
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Here's the list:
11. IT.
10. The Stand
9. The Mist
8. Pet Sematary
7. Nightmares and Dreamscapes
6. Carrie
5. Misery
4. Green Mile
3. Stand By Me
2. The Shawshank Redemption
1. The Shining. (Kubrick)
10. The Stand
9. The Mist
8. Pet Sematary
7. Nightmares and Dreamscapes
6. Carrie
5. Misery
4. Green Mile
3. Stand By Me
2. The Shawshank Redemption
1. The Shining. (Kubrick)
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There is a defense of making Kubrick's The Shining #1, saying it stands as its own movie. Which makes me wonder: Is it really a "screen adaptation" then? And if not, how does it make it to #1 on the chart, and not King's version -- which was great! I agree the view that Kubrick's version is scary and a lot of fun, it's simply not the story King told.
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I wonder if Cujo is easily overlooked in the King cannon. It's a small book and the intensity of the movie is easily forgotten. . . until you see it again. But you feel like, "Oh yeah, it's that dog movie. I've seen it." But you've probably forgotten how good it really is.
I'm a big Kubrick fan, so of course I love "The Shining." But better than "The Shawshank Redemption"...? Not a chance.
ReplyDeleteI've also got issues with "It" being on a best-King-films list. Not a good movie/miniseries, in my opinion. The acting is poor (even Tim Curry); the effects are awful; the screenplay loses virtually all of what makes the novel great. Just not good.
I totally agree about "Cujo," by the way. That's a terrific movie, and one that deserves to be remembered better than it seems to be. I'd say much the same about "The Dead Zone," which also ought to be on this list.
But, of course, best-of lists are silly by their very nature. They are fun, though, in the sense that they almost always provide something to argue with.
www.honkmahfah.blogspot.com
IT...not a good miniseries...poor acting...EVEN TIM CURRY! *cough* :(
ReplyDeleteI absolutely respect your opinion...but don't understand it in the slightest!