I agree wholeheartedly with the sentiment expressed by Pat Clark in his article for the The Modesto Bee titled, "Hoping TV Doesn't Mess Up Under The Dome." YES! (yes yes yes yes yes!!!)
He has a lot of typical complaints about Stephen King adaptations -- some I agree with, some I don't. For instance, he does not seem to like the Kubrick version of The Shining, which I thought was an outstanding movie. But, more on target I think, he blasts Molly Ringwald's performance as Franny in The Stand. And I liked The Stand. . . but not Ringwald.
Clark observes, "As any fan of his books can tell you, one of the main things that makes King king is his talent for creating charac-ters. He pens people you feel like you're friends with, people you feel like you're standing side-by-side with as they weave through their stories. So it's only obvious that casting should be the No. 1 thing to get right when filming his works."
That is absolutely right on! It's all about who plays who! Misery worked first because of right casting. Same is true of Carrie and The Green Mile.
About Under The Dome, Clark writes:
So it's with some trepidation that I look forward to the upcoming TV series this summer based on King's "Under the Dome" on CBS. Reportedly, 13 episodes have been ordered, so far.
On the good news side, Steven Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment is producing the series and King is on board as an executive producer, all this according to a Los Angeles Times story last week.
My only fear with a series is that they will take a leisurely pace getting started -- then get canceled and have to rush the ending without a strong middle story.
Here's a fan made Under The Dome movie trailer.
Cannot agree with you about The Shining. I thought it was a terrible film. Over acting by Nicholson and the Olli Oil woman. Bag of Bones is due on UK screens end of the month and I am looking forward to that.
ReplyDeleteDidn´t know about Under the dome.
Can I suggest that you change your colour on this blog to black on white or lt blue. It kills your eyes to read it as it is.
Thanks for the input Glynis.
ReplyDeleteI'm especially not sure about the idea "It's all about who plays who! Misery worked first because of right casting. Same is true of Carrie and The Green Mile."
For instance, what if you had a number of actor each auditioning for the same role, and each one delivered a competent, solid performance of that role? How would you go about deciding "which is the character", so to speak?
For instance, I've often thought the Stand would make a great TV series, however, I also wondered if maybe this time Gary Sinise could play the role of Flagg!
Or to take another instance, what if a simple change in script had caused Nicholson to give an entirely different performance, one more subtle and nuanced?
Has such a thing ever happened before? As a matter of fact it has with Dominion: Prequel to the Exorcist, which was remade by Rennie Harlin.
The two films feature diametrically opposed performances from the same main actor, one good, the other a torture to watch.
My main point being that the truth is movies and series rise or fall on the strength of the material (i.e. story).
...Uh, sorry if I've gone off tangent, it just reminded me of a debate I've had recently with Bryant Burnett and Bryan McMillan over at Dog Star Omnbibus...Sorry.
ChrisC
My British friends, prepare to be roundly disappointed in Bag of Bones.
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteyou arleady know the matereal is good, becuase you read it.
Glynis,
The Shining was just a movie. Enjoy it. Or. . . don't enjoy it. I liked it. Not like it's Star Wars, though.
My biggest fear is that it will be a hit and the producers will want to keep it going. So, they'll pad the series with subplots that are not in the original story and make a mess of it.
ReplyDelete