I enjoy Mick Garris' movies/mini-series quite a bit. I am referring to his King work, as I am not familiar with other movies he directed. (Really, there's a movie called "Fuzz Bucket" !)
Here is a chronological listing of King movies Garris has directed:
1992, Sleepwalkers
1994, The Stand
1997, The Shining
2004, Riding The Bullet
2006, Desperation
2011, Bag Of Bones
Faithful: I think Garris' work is very true to King's writing. He doesn't go rogue! He at least attempts to capture the characters, tone and plot of the story as King did. I actually think writing this stuff might be easier than trying to capture it on film. Garris is not the first to struggle at points with adapting Stephen King.
Sometimes it's nice when a movie maker is inspired by King, and then goes their own direction. Hence the Kubrick version of The Shining. King is right, it's not "His" book on screen; but it is a version of his book. It's the Shining as inspired by Stephen King. Sometimes that works even better than the faithful adaptations. But as a King reader, I enjoy the movies that hold tight to the books.
My favorite of the bunch is The Stand. Garris has directed all of the recent King mini-series, and I think done well with the format. The Stand was given the room it needed to breathe. Of course, some characters got squashed together and subplots were lost -- but in general the story remained intact. You wouldn't read the novel having read the book and think, "Wow, this is a totally different story." You would know the flow of events and the characters remained true to their on page persona.
Now, dare we discuss Sleepwalkers? It was terrible! For one thing, the main idea of the movie is never explained. Thus the viewer is left wondering, "What happened?" It would be like making The Shining, and never letting you in on the fact that Danny has special powers. You're left wondering: Is this an incest movie? What's up with these characters? Thus, from the get go, the viewer is left in the dark and grasping throughout.
I spotted the Bag Of Bones mini-series on Netflix last night, but resisted the urge to watch all four hours. For some reason, though I was very excited about it when it first aired, I cannot muster the energy to watch it again. Simply put, while the movie engaged me at the time, knowing the end take away some of the excitement. It's not that knowing how a movie concludes messes up the "mystery" for me. Not at all! I enjoy watching a second time with the ending in mind. But, I do not think the end of Bag of Bones was a strong, and thus I am not propelled through the four hours toward it. Or, maybe, ya'all have been talking it down so much you (you know who you are) finally got me to see things in a new light.
I welcome your thoughts and insights. Go ahead, list out your favorites and least favorites.
