Owen King discusses writing, his father and screen writing at poughkeepsiejournal.com. The article is titled, "Owen King Takes A Different Direction Than His Famous Father." Actually, the focus is not so much on his father! About his "famous father" he says, "My dad is my dad to me. We write very different kinds of things. I love him very much." That's a great response.
Actually, I enjoyed most his discussion of what screen writing is. He says novels are more difficult to write, because novels are detail heavy.
Famous father aside -- would you read Owen King if he was not the son of Stephen King? Well, probably not. But right now I only follow Owen King -- haven't read him yet anyway. But I would be inclined to read him because of his father. Why? Because sometimes it's in the genes. Both Stephen and Tabitha have a gift for writing, they're children have been immersed in what it means to be a writer -- so it seems logical their children would be pretty good writers. What do you all think?
King's Offer To Cover A Third Of Library Renovations
BANGOR, Maine — Authors Stephen and Tabitha King have pledged $3 million toward renovations at Bangor’s century-old public library, as long as the library reaches its goal of raising another $6 million, according to the library’s director.
The Bangor Public Library has kicked off a $9 million fundraising effort in an attempt to modernize its building for the next generation of users and to protect its more than 500,000 volumes, Director Barbara McDade said Tuesday.
The Kings offered to pay one-third of that bill as long as the library figured out how to come up with the rest.
“They have just been wonderful supporters of the library,” McDade said of the Kings.The full article, by By Nick McCrea is at bangordailynews.com
Thanks to Herbert West / Club Stephen King
James Herbert Dies
Herbert managed the rare feat of straddling both genre and mainstream fiction; at the height of his career, he was often spoken of in the same breath as Stephen King,
Metro once asked Herbert if he ever shared ideas with Stephen King, to which Herbert answered, "Oh no, he’s over in the US and I’m here, so we’re not buddy-buddy at all. We’ve never done the same idea, even by coincidence. There’s so much out there." metro.co.uk
TOR.com noted in October 2012, "quiz any literate adult in Britain about horror novels, and the two author names you will hear straight away, and nearly every time too, to this day, are those of Stephen King and James Herbert. The two most enduringly popular horror authors in the Anglosphere."
Stephen King certainly praised Herbert's books, and, according to examiner, Stephen King lost a bet with Hebert over which of them would see a real ghost first. (www.examiner.com/article/stephen-king-loses-bet)
Herbert was the author of:
- The Rats (1974)
- The Fog (1975)
- The Survivor (1976)
- Fluke (1977)
- The Spear (1978)
- Lair (1979)
- The Dark (1980)
- The Jonah (1981)
- Shrine (1983)
- Domain (1984)
- Moon (1985)
- The Magic Cottage (1986)
- Sepulchre (1987)
- Haunted (1988)
- Creed (1990)
- Portent (1992)
- The Ghosts of Sleath (1994)
- '48 (1996)
- Others (1999)
- Once (2001)
- Nobody True (2003)
- The Secret of Crickley Hall (2006)
- Ash (2012)
SOURCE: wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Herbert
BURNETTE: Review Of DOUBLE FEATURE
I haven't read much Owen King yet. In fact, I haven't ventured into Joe Hill yet. Or Tabitha. Why? Same reason I haven't read War and Peace yet -- Because there is so much Stephen King yet to get through!
I rely on my friend Bryant Burnette to keep me up to speed on Owen King and Joe Hill. I really liked his review of Double Feature, which looks awesome! I might have to take a break from The Stand and check this out.
Check out Bryant's blog, thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com. The biggest thing I've learned over there is that Bryant has issues. (You'll understand if you read his blog.)
A Review of "Double Feature"
[by Owen King]
by Bryant Burnette
Owen King's first novel, Double Feature,
will be released this Tuesday (March 19). Yours truly was lucky enough to win a
copy -- a signed copy! -- from The Paranoid
Style on Facebook, so unlike you plebians fine folk, I've
already read it.
How did I manage this, you might ask? Well,
let's not get into it in excruciating detail; suffice it to say that I won a
contest based on my love of the Christopher Cross song "Arthur's Theme (Best That You
Can Do)," which is almost certainly the first time this millennium that
loving that song has paid off for anyone. Anyone, anywhere, in any way. Trust
me, I was just as surprised as you probably are; almost certainly not as
disgusted, though. In any case, it's lucky for me that I don't mind fessing up
to a guilty pleasure every once in a while, because in this instance, it scored
me a signed first edition of an outstanding new novel.
Double Feature, unlike "Arthur's Theme,"
is not a guilty pleasure. Instead, it's a pleasure that won't make you feel
guilty at all, except, perhaps, guilty to be reading a better book than whatever
your friends are reading currently; because odds are pretty decent that whatever
they're reading, it won't be as good as Double Feature.
Here's the setup:
Sam Dolan is a college student who aspires to
make a feature film. Not just any old feature film, either; he aspires to make
Who We Are, a cleverly-structured art film that aims to show the world
"the hard reality of how quickly the days sped up, how suddenly you weren't a
kid anymore." Sam has written the screenplay and is ready to direct the film,
provided he can get financing from somewhere.
Does he succeed? Well, let's just say "yes,"
and leave it at that. (The truth is more like "no," but the ways in which the
answer is more a no than a yes are so catastrophically amusing that you will not
catch me ruining the surprises for anyone. You deserve to discover them for
yourself, and to have the same experience I had: laughing so hard while reading
in your bedroom at two o'clock in the morning that you become afraid you might
wake your neighbors up and have the cops called on you, and end up in jail on
charges of assaultive merriment. Yes, it's true; I laughed so hard during
certain scenes of this novel that I feared incarceration.)
Sam's struggles to film Who
We Are are only a part of the story, though. Sam is undeniably the main
protagonist of the novel, but the most memorable character is probably Booth
Dolan, Sam's father. Booth is a washed-up actor/director who made a career out
of starring in schlocky z-grade horror films. The descriptions of these films
are worth the cover price of Double Feature; I kid you not, if Owen King
produced a monthly pamphlet in which he laid out the plots of half a dozen fake
movies, I'd pay full price for it. This stuff is gold. I won't ruin them for
you, although I'll give you one tantalizing nugget: Plato fighting
werewolves.
A moment ago, I referred to Booth as
"washed-up," but the fact is that he can't be washed-up, because he was never
whatever the opposite of washed-up is to begin with. He started out that way,
so calling him washed up is technically not very accurate. Whatever the status
of his celebrity, Booth's numerous quirks have helped make life a challenge for
Sam. Booth is a hammy, larger-than-life man -- think Orson Welles by way of
Edward D. Wood, Jr. -- whose exuberance and vitality seemingly have resulted in
sending Sam in the opposite direction, toward dourness and gloom. Sam wants to
create art that reveals the realities of life; Booth once starred in a movie
about killer rats in which real rats were filmed on dollhouse-size sets so that
they would seem to be the size of monsters. Naturally, there is a divide
between their philosophies.
King creates an outstanding cast of
characters. Booth is the stand-out, but Sam himself is quirky enough to be way
more than a delivery system for conflicts with Booth (which is what he would
have been in the hands of many authors, I suspect). In addition to Sam and
Booth, here are a few of the other memorable folks you will encounter:
- Brooks, a fellow student of Sam's who is one of the principal investors and who has aspirations to make his own movies
- Polly, a former girlfriend of Sam's who is married, but not necessarily averse to still sleeping with Sam
- Rick Savini, an indie-film actor (think Steve Buscemi) who gets roped into appearing in Who We Are
- Allie, Sam's mother, who is amazingly tolerant of Booth's eccentricities
- Jo-Jo, Polly's husband, a German who used to play -- not particularly well -- for the Yankees
- Mina, Sam's half-sister, an adorably messed-up teenager
- Wesley, Sam's roommate, who has parlayed sloth into a successful career as a blogger
- Tess, a television producer Sam meets at a wedding
- Costas, a Greek immigrant who becomes an unlikely movie star
IF, that is, you fail to remember that you yourself either know or have met or have heard described by someone real people who are infinitely weirder, with quirks that make the ones found between the pages of these books seem not only realistic, but comparatively tame. I've been to Dragon*Con; I know what type of people are out there in the world, just waiting for some writer like King to immortalize their quirks in character form.
[By the way, speaking of Larry McMurtry, he is one of my very favorite writers. In fact, I've got a blog devoted to his work. You can check it out here, but be warned: there's not really much there. It's less a blog than it is a placeholder for a blog to be blogged at a later date.]
Double Feature kinda blew me away, if you want to know the truth. I could complain about a few things: the text has more typos than you typically find in a book from a major publisher; also, certain aspects of the final scene felt a bit too coincidental and tidy. These complaints are minor enough so as to be mostly irrelevant; on the whole, this is a hilarious, engaging read, one that clearly marks King as a writer to be followed.
As I Tweeted not long after finishing: I could happily have kept reading about these people for another 1500 pages or so.
What more can you ask for from a novel than that, really?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
reposted from thetruthinsidethelie.blogspot.com
(Check out my interview with Bryant Burnette,
Stephen King In Conversation With Colin McEnroe
stephenking.com released the following news:
On Thursday, July 18, at 8:00 p.m., Stephen will appear on stage at The Bushnell, 166 Capitol Avenue in downtown Hartford, Connecticut, in conversation with WNPR radio personality Colin McEnroe. Proceeds from the event benefit the continuing educational and preservation activities of The Mark Twain House & Museum.
Tickets will be open for purchase by members of the museum on Monday, March 18. Museum membership is available by calling 860-280-3112, or by going to their membership site here.
Members will be given a special on-sale code for ticket purchasing.
Tickets will become available to the general public on Thursday, March 21. At that time reservations may be made on The Bushnell's site or by calling 860-987-5900.
Stephen King fans are being given a special opportunity to purchase tickets before the general on-sale date, beginning Tuesday, March 19th, by using the promotional code CLEMENS.
Ticket prices range from $25 to $75 (additional service fees apply) with a special VIP ticket for $250, which includes a reception with Stephen King and an autographed book.
THE SHINING a strange cover
Wow! Gabe Habash at Publishers weekly has a fascinating article about a very Strange cover he found on The Shining.
I've posted, with permission, the first bit of the article. Be sure to check the whole thing out at publishersweekly.com.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About a month ago, I was searching for something Stephen King-related to put on this fantastic blog. Scrolling down through rows and rows of Google images for The Shining, most of them screengrabs of Nicholson and the pre-chopped-up girls in the hallway, I saw, in thumbnail size, the above cover for O Iluminado. It looked strikingly similar to an 80s Pantene ad.
I saved the cover on my desktop, knowing I wanted to share it with you all in some way, but not sure how. For weeks, I’d open the file and stare into O Iluminado‘s eyes, and then into her smaller set of eyes. I would look at it for so long it would change; I named the mysterious woman Flavia; she became strange to me and then familiar in her strangeness. I had so many questions.
Who is Flavia? In what public place is she on the cover? Why is she also in a little window?
But let us parse why this book cover is either the worst book cover ever or, perhaps, the most brilliant book cover ever.
The tale of this thing’s creation begins in Brazil with Grupo Editorial Record, the largest publishing conglomerate in Latin America, founded in 1940. We’ll fast forward through the dry publishing history, but it’s important to note that Record has published authors like Márquez and Hemingway (and, of course, King), and that it publishes covers that look like this:
The point I’m trying to make here is that Grupo Editorial Record is capable of making covers that, you know, make sense. When I was doing the research on them, trying to find other nonsense covers, I thought maybe I’d find other Record covers with Flavia’s likeness–maybe she was Record’s mascot and maybe different covers had Flavia doing different things, posing in various ways, like how Keebler sticks the leader Keebler elf on different cookie packages in different celebratory positions. But when I found out Record’s other covers were normal, I was, at first, disappointed that there wasn’t some rogue publisher in South America challenging the world to make sense of its covers. But then, because of its singularity, the O Iluminado cover became even more incredible to me.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Okay. . . are you intrigued? I was.
For the rest of the post, head over to PWxyz
(When you read the article be sure to also read the comments section -- there are answers!)
Also check out my article bad-spanish-book-covers and book covers that annoy
MSN: The Best Of King
Check this video out from msnvideo.msn.com titled, "Stephen King's Greatest Books."
The description states:
Is a Best of Stephen King list really complete without The Stand ?
The description states:
He is one of the most popular writers of our time. The legendary Stephen King has captured our minds and, at times, left us awake at night. Here are some of his horrifyingly greatest works.It starts with Pet Sematary, then moves to Misery. Msn notes that Salem's Lot is supposed to be King's favorite novel. The portion on The Shining focuses primarily on the Kubrick adaptation. Finally the short video lists IT as one of King's greatest.
Is a Best of Stephen King list really complete without The Stand ?
Chloe Moretz and Aeropostale
So what's CARRIE star Chloe Moretz doing these days? Well, for one she is the spokesperson for Aeropostale. I learned this thanks to my wife. Of course, the next question is: "So, what's Aeropostale?" She looks at me like I'm nuts. "A clothing store." Oh, of course. A clothing store. "A clothing store for juniors and women," she clarifies.
Check it out at aeropostale.com
King To Speak On Behalf Of TWAIN HOUSE
Are you a Mark Twain fan? I am! courant.com posted this bit of news:
Stephen King, the author of horror books, mystery stories and essays, will engage in a conversation with WNPR radio host a Courant blogger Colin McEnroe, July 18, at The Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts. The event is a benefit for the Mark Twain House.
Twain House members can reserve tickets on March 18. Become a member by calling 860-280-3112 or visiting www.marktwainhouse.org. Annual memberships begin at $35 for ages 39 and younger and $50 for other individuals.If only I lived. . . on the other side of the country!
OFF THE BEATEN PATH
Vampires are more popular than ever, thanks in large part to Stephen King's novel Salem's Lot. A sequel to the novel is a story in Night Shift titled, "One For The Road." Cessnock High School teacher Chris Penglaze and NIDA student Alicia Nolan are adapting the story in a film called Off the Beaten Track.
The Dollar Baby has been "Australianised." What's that mean? It means that instead of a blizzard there's going to be a heat wave. (Just a small change there!)
www.abc.net.au notes, "The movies created must be non-profit and must not use his name above the title to trade on his reputation, but acknowledge him as the source of the material."
The full story is at www.abc.net.au
The Stand Journal 7: The Walking Dead
Reading the Stand again is like driving down a long road you've been over before. The first time you were very focused on getting to the right destination. But when you take the trip again, you see things you previously overlooked. There are stretches of road that are not as interesting because you know them so well. And then there are spots in the road you don't remember at all.
TWISTER!
The journey the major characters take is pretty familiar to me. Larry and Rita, Harold and Fran and even the early parts of Tom and Nick. But then there is a story in the Tom and Nick episode I had completely forgotten. In fact, I wonder if I ever read it at all! I know I read the novel in High School. And read it a couple times abridged. I thumbed through the first edition of The Stand and found that the Twister is not there. It was cut! Or, perhaps King added it brand new to the revised edition. Either way, it is unique to the Complete and Uncut story. It certainly spooks things up!
Soon after Nick meets Tom a Tornado descends and Tom goes running for his life. Nick soon follows, and quickly takes refuge in a storm cellar. Only, they aren't alone. There is a "family" of "rat gnawed corpses" down there. I like this set up, since they can't run away! Usually in a scary story you think, "Just move! Who hands out with a creepy corpse!" (Take Amityville Horror for instance. When the door comes open and a deep voice says, "GET OUT!" You should move. That's the clue that things aren't going to go well.) But Tom and Nick can't get out, because the storm cellar is their only hope of surviving the twister.
But more is down there than just the corpses. It is something they feel. An evil that came out of the twister.
as the time passed, he became convinced that he and Tom were not alone in the storm cellar. (422) . . .Later, Tom acknowledges that he also sensed the evil presence.
What he felt was the presence of another being, and he became more and more convinced who—or what—it was. It was the dark man, the man who came to life in his dreams, the creature whose spirit he had sensed in the black heart of the cyclone. (422)
“Someone was in there,” Tom said abruptly. . .
. . . “No,” Tom said. “Not just us. Someone else. Someone who cameout of the twister.”That's good! Really good. The scenes with Nick and Tom are some of the best. Nick often picks up on things that seem quite unlikely -- but as a reader I'm willing to give Mr. King a pass on that. Nick seems able to read lips as easily as we might read a book. I'm not sure lip reading is that easy. But, there has to be some means of communication to move the story forward. I give King high marks for daring to use a character who is both deaf and mute.
COACH!
In the Mick Garris miniseries, Tom Cullen is played by Bill Fagerbakke, who was Dauber on Coach. Now it's hard to watch Coach reruns and not see Tom. Of course, he's also Patrick on SpongeBob SquarePants.
Walking Dead:
I also noticed several times that King used the word, "The walking dead" in The Stand. This is a reference of a vision Larry had in the tunnel. Here's one reference:
It was the devil, and he was stalking Larry with a lightless grin frozen on his face. The black man wasn’t the walking dead; he was worse than the walking dead. Larry ran with the slow sludgy panic of bad dreams, tripping over unseen corpses, knowing they were staring at him with the glassy eyes of stuffed trophies from the crypts of their cars, which had stalled inside the frozen traffic even though they had some other place to be, he ran, but what good was running when the black devil man, the black magic man, could see in the dark with eyes like snooperscopes? (439)Check this out from Stephen King's website/message board: "The Walking Dead is in the middle of it's 3rd season. It's my favorite show currently on TV. But I can't escape the thought that it resembles The Stand in more than one way. Society has been wiped out by a flu and the dictator of the evil people, The Governor seems to me to be Randall Flagg lite." (stephenking.com)
CARRIE Musical Headed To Los Angeles
A revised version of the Carrie musical is headed to Los Angeles. The musical will run September 13-November 2.
So what's "revised" about it? carrieinla.com posted: "Outrageous, controversial and completely thrilling, CARRIE comes to LA in a blazing new immersive production sure to be the theatrical event of the year."
Stephen King at THE OFFICE
I've been watching the office a lot lately. Why? Because I have netflix. So I watch a billion episodes of something until the well is dry -- then move on to something else. So Raymond led to Coach led to The Munsters led to Family Ties led to Commander and Chief led to The Office.
Stephen King is mentioned several times in The Office.
For instance, from "The Seminar." Erin is upset that all her date wants to watch are scary movies. "So far I've seen 'The Shining,' 'Rosemary's Baby,' 'The Ring". . . not really my thing. Although I do like the early parts of the movie where they have a perfect family and everything."
Here's another from an episode titled "Lotto." The crew is talking about what they would do if they won the lotto. Jim says he would move to Maine if he won the Lotto.
Jim: "Stop. I'm barista in your fantasy?"My favorite characters are Dwight and Kevin.
Pam: "Well, in your fantasy, we're Stephen King characters."
And this is a really good idea. . .
Room 237 Poster Stirs Memories
Rodney Ascher's poster for room 237 is designed to remind you of Saul Bass' design for Kubrick's The Shining. Russ Fischer at slashfilm.com notes that this is right in step with the teaser, that also mimicked the Kubrick teaser.
Fischer gives this info on the film:
Room 237 will be released on March 29 at IFC Center and Elinor Bunim Monroe Film Center in New York City, followed by a national rollout. The film will simultaneously be available on Cable VOD, iTunes and other digital outlets (Sundance Now, Amazon Streaming, XBOX and more).
6 Great Reasons Hitchcock is Still The Master of Suspense
Today is Alfred Hitchcock Day! (Declared by. . . I dunno. But I'm totally game!)
Hitchcock (2012), the recent film starring Sir Anthony Hopkins, was based on Stephen Rebello’s bestselling book, Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho.
Here is Stephen Rebello's essay, “6 Great Reasons Why Hitchcock Is Still the Master of Suspense.” (Printed with permission)
6 Great Reasons Why Hitchcock Is Still the
Master of Suspense
by Stephen Rebello
Psycho. Vertigo.
North by Northwest. The Birds. If Alfred Hitchcock had directed nothing
more than that astonishing quartet, he’d still be considered the maestro of
creating nail-biting suspense, romantic intrigue, and unforgettable thrills. But
that incredible run of movies, released in theaters from 1958 to 1963,
represents only a drop in the bloody bucket of Hitchcock’s masterworks, which
stretch back to the 1920s and extend into the 1970s. If you need a reminder of
why Hitchcock rules as the all-time master of suspense, and why he is
considered the man who pretty much wrote the book on the genre, here’s your
quick cheat sheet.
1) Hitchcock
Made Us Scream in the Shower
From
Boston to Bangkok, Hitchcock stunned 1960 audiences by doing the unheard-of in Psycho:
brutally killing-off the film’s sympathetic heroine—and biggest star—less than
half way through the action. Taking his cue from the source novel by Robert Bloch,
Hitchcock blasted our notions of safety and privacy by staging the landmark
murder scene in, of all places, the bathroom, that tight, white space where one
feels most relaxed and vulnerable. Or, at least, used to. And not only
did he film Psycho in black and white to help minimize all that
blood-letting, but he and editor George Tomasini also employed
then-revolutionary rapid-fire editing techniques that suggested nudity
and violence. To put the whole thing over the top, he cranked up a shrieking
all-strings musical score by Bernard Herrmann. Voila, Hitchcock, his star Janet Leigh, and his merry band of
gifted collaborators set a standard for heart-stopping terror that has yet to
be topped—but is endlessly imitated.
2) Hitchcock
Brought Menace Out into the Open
Dark
alleys? Shifty-eyed villains with twirling moustaches? Graveyards? Rain-slicked
cobblestone streets? Haunted houses, rattling chains, and bats in the belfry?
Hitchcock considered these clichés ripe for parody and, beginning with his
British films of the 1920s, the director shone a bright light on terror and
dark deeds. With Hitchcock, thrills can even erupt during a kid’s birthday
party, as happens in Young and Innocent and The Birds. The
sophisticated, stylish heroes and heroine of The 39 Steps and North
by Northwest get chased by planes in broad daylight and open spaces; in
those same films, and such other movies as Blackmail, Saboteur, and Hitchcock’s
two versions of The Man Who Knew Too Much, dramatic action unfolds against the backdrop of tourist
attractions and national monuments like the United Nations, Mount Rushmore, the
British Museum, the Statue of Liberty, Radio City Music Hall, and the Royal
Albert Hall. When violence erupts in and around shower stalls, ski runs,
telephone booths, attics, and mountain roads, the lesson is simple: There is
nowhere to hide. Chaos and terror will find you, personified by the charming,
attractive, and seductive villains of such Hitchcock thrillers as Shadow of
a Doubt, Notorious,
Stage Fright, Strangers on a Train, Psycho, Topaz, and
Family Plot. Other films, from Charade right up through the Batman
and Mission: Impossible have been following Hitchcock’s lead ever since.
3) Hitchcock
Made Us Walk a Mile in His Heroes’ Shoes
Hitchcock
often bragged to the press about how his films grabbed audiences by “making the
viewer sweat” and “really putting them through it.” One of the most
groundbreaking ways he put us through it was his frequent use of
traveling point-of-view shots—that is, moving the camera in a way that places
the viewer in the same position as the character on-screen. It’s a technique
that makes us uneasy right along with James Stewart when we walk with him down
ominous London streets in The Man Who Knew Too Much or when he
obsessively stalks Kim Novak up and down hilly San Francisco in Vertigo. We’re
jittery when we move slowly up the hill with Vera Miles in Psycho or
when we glide along with her toward old Mrs. Bates sitting in a chair under a
naked light bulb in a basement. And how about when we walk down a dock with
Tippi Hedren, expecting her to be pecked by the birds, or when we hover with her outside the closed door of
a room in which she is about to be engulfed by our feathered fiends? Hitchcock
isn’t content with merely making us spectators. We’re full-on participants.
4) Hitchcock
Tells His Audience More Than His Characters Know
Hitchcock
and his screenwriters created some of the most dazzling moments in movie
history by emphasizing agonizing suspense rather than simple, go-for-the-throat
shock. The innocent little boy in Hitchcock’s ’30s thriller Sabotage thinks
he’s carrying a harmless parcel through London; we know he’s carrying a bomb that
is set to detonate at a certain time. In the Psycho shower scene, the
audience is shown, through the opaque shower curtain, what Janet Leigh doesn’t
see until it’s too late: the approaching shadow of a killer. Grace Kelly
searches the empty apartment of a suspected wife killer in Rear Window
while we, along
with James Stewart, break into cold sweats watching the murderer make his way
back home. The heroine of The Birds waits impatiently on a bench for a
classroom of kids to be let out of school, unaware that flocks of malevolent
birds are amassing slowly and silently behind her.
5) Hitchcock
Kept Surprises As Surprises
It’s
no exaggeration to credit Hitchcock with helping change the way we go to
movies. Psycho was made back when the price of a movie ticket bought you
a double feature, newsreel, short subjects, and trailers, and movie
ticket-buyers tended to pop in and out of theaters whenever they pleased. With Psycho,
Hitchcock wanted to create an event. So, he refused to hold any
pre-release critics’ screenings, let alone a premiere. He forced movie-theater
owners to sign contracts demanding zero tolerance of any moviegoer expecting to
enter the theater once the film started. He launched the film’s release with a
massive publicity campaign that stipulated in newspaper, radio, television ads,
and posters in theater lobbies: “No one . . . but no one . . . will be admitted
to the theater after the start of each performance of Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho.”
He recorded announcements to broadcast
on radio and through loudspeakers at theaters warning Psycho audiences
not to reveal the ending to their friends. The public ate it up. They formed
lines around the block, kept the movie’s secrets to themselves, and turned Psycho
into a worldwide phenomenon. Can you imagine any of this happening in our era
of wall-to-wall social media, instant gratification, and gleeful spoilers? Neither
can we.
6) Hitchcock
Revealed More by Showing Less
Hitchcock
may be known best for cinematic suspense and thrills, but he was equally superb
at finding suspense and thrills in eroticism. That long, long, long nuzzle and
kiss between Cary Grant and Ingrid Bergman in the ’40s spy thriller Notorious
sizzles over six decades later. When gorgeous adventuress Grace Kelly slyly
offers retired jewel thief Cary Grant his choice of leg or breast during a
picnic above the French Riviera in To Catch a Thief, she’s offering a bit more than cold
chicken. Sexy spy lady Eva Marie Saint seduces fugitive Cary Grant aboard a
posh train, purring, “It’s going to be a long night . . . and I don’t
particularly like the book I’ve started. You know what I mean?” Yeah, we do. And,
without a bit of nudity or tawdry grappling, doesn’t Janet Leigh’s long lunch
break tryst in a cheap hotel with boyfriend John Gavin in Psycho reek of
backstreet eroticism? And the chilling spin Anthony Perkins as Psycho’s
own Norman Bates puts on the line, “My mother and I were more than happy
. . . ” tells you more than you need to know about that relationship.
Stephen King Jeopardy: THE ANSWERS
Here are the answers from the first round of Jeopardy on Thursday, March 5. The questions were categorized around the theme Stephen King.
Firestarter
$200: It is not known whether Mrs. O’Leary’s cow started Chicago’s great fire, but it did start in one of these structures. (What is a barn)
400: After 2/3 of Rome burned in 64 A.D., Nero blamed this obscure new religious sect. (What is Christianity)
$600: In 1917 a fire on a TNT-Laden ship in this Nova Scotia capital led to the biggest pre-atomic man-made explosion. (What is Halifax)
$800: Shockingly, a 2002 fire that blackened 200 square miles near Denver was started by an employee of this federal service. (What is What is the Forest Service)
$1,000: After London’s Great Fire of 1666 started, this diarist said he buried a “Parmazan cheese as well as my wine.” (Who is Samuel Peeps)
Needful Things
$200: To break in this piece of baseball equipment, you’ll need some good oil, rubber bands & patience. (What is a mitt or glove)
$400: On June 27, 1915 residents of this state needed sunscreen when it saw 100 degree temps; July usually tops out at 59 degrees in-lands (What is Alaska)
$600: To make goulash like aunt Gyongyi did, you’ll need this Hungarian red pepper condiment. (What is paprika)
$800: Latin term for the minimum number of members needed by parliamentary law to conduct business. (What is a quorum)
$1,000: About seven inches long, this pinkish gland produces 2 hormones needed to regulate the body’s sugar balance. (What is the pancreas)
IT
$200: A Tantrum. (What is a fit)
$400: An unpleasant taste or a type of ale. (What is bitter)
$600: 4-Letter verb meaning to move about with rapidity. (What is flit)
$800: Silvery reflective decorative material that comes in tiny bits – work it, sister! (Glitter)
$1,000: A public prayer, or catalog of events. (Litany)
Carrie
$200: In 2009 she hit the charts with “Cowboy Casanova.” (Who is Carrie Underwood)
$400: Debbie Reynolds is the mom of this Actress & Writer. (Who is Carrie Fisher)
$600: She’s played the manola blahnik-shod Carrie Bradshow on TV & in film. (Who is Sarah Jessica Parker)
$800: “Hollywood Arms”, a play by this comedienne; her daughter Carrie Hamilton, opened soon after Carrie died in 2002. (Who is Carol Burnette)
$1,000: She played trinity in the “Matrix” films. (Who is Carrie Anne Moss)
The Shining:
$200: This word for illicit whisky comes from its being made at night. (What is moonshine.)
$400: Some frogs eat so many of these, sometimes called lightening bugs that they glow. (What are Fireflies)
$600: A mini-studio that’s part of Fox is named for this item that beams above the 20th Century Fox logo. (What is searchlight)
$800: The folks who make Kiwi shoe polish instruct once the shoe polish has dried, do this to bring it to a shine. (What is buff)
$1,000: This “Sphere” the visible surface of the sun, is only 300 miles thick, a tiny fraction of the sun’s 430,000-mile radius. (What is the photosphere.)
Stephen King
$200: Many of Stephen King’s stories and novels are set in this state, his birth place. (What is Maine)
$400: Beware of dog, specifically the St. Bernard gone berserk in this bestseller. (Who is Cujo)
$600: This nickname for death row at Cold Mountain peitentiary is also the title of a serial novel by King. (What is The Green Mile)
$800: Be careful if you mess with teen misfit Carrie White, who has this ability to move things with her mind. (What is Telekinesis)
$1,000:(Daily Double), Arnie Cunningham owns the Jealous & Deadly Christine, a Plymouth of this appropriate model. (What is a Plymouth Fury)
THE SHINING 2013
I LOVE THIS! What would The Shining be like if the doomed family had headed to the overlook in 2013 instead of the late 1970's?
Posted with permission from formalsweatpants.com. (Thanks Josh!)
Matt Petronzio at mashable.com put it this way:
"All work and no Wi-Fi makes Jack a dull boy." It doesn't have quite the same ring to it, but it's an adage fit for most members of the connected generation.So. . . we can trust netflix to lower our rage, bring families together and save little Danny from an angry father. On the other hand, that would mean no Doctor Sleep!
King in Southport
WECT posted a picture of Stephen King with Stephan Fleet, vido effects supervisor for Under The Dome.
The article quotes Fleet as saying the crew has "enjoyed being in Southport, and the project has gone well so far." And, "Fleet added that crews will be working in Southport for a few more weeks."
The full article is at southbrunswick.wect.com
Jeopardy Board
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| Image Credit: Jeopardy Productions, Inc |
Hillary Busis at EW posted this picture of the Jeopardy board. popwatch.ew.com
She writes,
Why did the show’s writers honor King? Simple: They’ve been waiting decades for an opportunity to just name a category “It.”
THE SHINING PREQUEL still a possibility
Stephen King gave us something of a prequel in Wizard and Glass, since he jumped out of the present narrative to discuss in detail events that preceded his chasing the man in black.
Matt Mueller at onmilwaukee.com has an article I enjoyed titled, "Five terrible movie prequels that could actually exist."
Muller's list includes:
- "Raging Bull"
- "The Godfather"
- "Blade Runner"
- "Pulp Fiction"
AND. . . The Shining. I had almost forgotten that was on the table. King is ready to release the sequel to The Shining, which already has some fans griping.
My three reasons why The Shining prequel is a DUMB and DUMBER-ER idea if it focuses on the Torrance family:
1. No Overlook. It's the Overlook that brought the spooks out. King starts the story where the intereting stuff happens! Why go back before the interesting part? Like, "Hey, let's do a prequel to -- Under The Dome." Or The Stand. Problem is -- nothing worth noting happens!
2. We already know the back story to The Shining -- we don't need a movie to tell us that particular part of the tale. It becomes nothing more than a story of drinking and abuse. Hurt without conclusion.
3. Danny would be really little, and unaware of his power.
Actually, the prequel would probably focus on the hotel itself. Now, having read King's original introduction to The Shining, which were several short stories from the hotel -- I have to say, that's scary stuff! I might actually be interested in that. (talkstephenking Before The Play)
Muller writes:
I love "The Shining." When people ask me what I believe is the scariest movie in film history, I say Stanley Kubrick's haunting, mesmerizing 1980 Stephen King adaptation every time. Kubrick was such a unique director, and he possessed such an understanding for what compositions, images, ideas and sounds would rattle his viewers to their core. "The Shining" also has mysteries stacked on top of mysteries – both in its story and from its creation – that make it live on like very few other horror films (a new documentary, "Room 237," has even attempted to unravel the multiple theories and conspiracies embedded in the project).
Of course, Warner Bros. didn't feel like leaving greatness alone. Last summer, the Los Angeles Times revealed that the studio was "quietly exploring" the prospects of a prequel to "The Shining" that would likely answer all of the film's fascinating mysteries and weird moments in a complete misunderstanding of what makes "The Shining" brilliant. Hint: It's not explaining things. Hopefully, this particularly inane prequel idea will make like Jack Torrance and die before it can mindlessly take a bloody axe to something unique and special.
I can't agree with Muller more -- hopefully this idea will die! Almost like: "Shhh -- Nobody even talk about it, maybe Warner Brothers will forget."
Mick Garris Enters The Dead Zone
Do you like Mick Garris? I love his work -- with the exception of one movie, Sleepwalkers. Garris has been releasing a series of really fun commentaries called "Trailers From Hell."
I think Garris is dead on when he says:
I think Garris is dead on when he says:
"The lousy King movies are the ones that think it's just about the monster in the closet. To me the good ones realize it's about the people who live in the house with the monsters in the closet. King's appeal, like that of Charles Dickens in another era, is that he lives in the world of his audience. He isn't telling a story, but living it with you. His people have a rich emotional core."There's a lot of these at youtube.
Garris Interview For European Film Festival
Here is a neat interview with Mick Garris for the 5th edition of the Strasbourg European Fantastic Film Festival.
Garris points out that he's written five books. This means that he is deeply moved my the words -- the language itself. "Story telling is story telling," Garris says. Sometimes there are different formats for the story -- but at the heart is good writing. The interview really focuses on writing and story telling.
Garris directed Psycho 4, and there is some discussion about Psycho and Hitchcock.
When asked why we feel some empathy for the bad guys, the killers, in Garris' work, he points out that humans are complex. "One of the things that is so great about Stephen King is how human his characters are. That has always drawn me to what he does, and why we work together so much. Complexity in the human character is what story telling is all about. Not just what they do, but why they do it."
About Bag of Bones, Garris says that he loved it from the beginning. It was originally bought by Bruce Willis. It was supposed to be a movie, but because it was not a horror movie for teens it was hard to find a "home" for the work.
Garris lists as some of his influences as Ray Bradbury, Richard Matheson and Stephen King.
Stephen King Catagory On JEOPARDY
Stephen King's newsletter has released word that tonight's episode of Jeopardy will feature a complete board of questions related to Stephen and his body of work
geeksofdoom.com offers this interesting info:
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| image credit: www.geeksofdoom.com |
Either way, it should be a fun half hour for all as you’ll get to test your Stephen King acumen. A small treat is also in store for King fans, which we need to keep hush hush here, but it will be revealed on the program Tuesday, so tune in to Jeopardy! to find out. Check your local stations for air times.
Let's play along. Post your scores here!
THANKS TO Angie Godsey at goodreads.com Stephen King Fans
This Week In Horror: MICK GARRIS
Hey, welcome to Mick Garris week! I enjoyed this interview with Mick Garris. It is on This Week In Horror #15.
It is interesting that they note that Garris has made more Stephen King adaptations than anyone else. "You have to trust the story," Garris says, noting that you have to first find what makes the story work. He says that reading is an "active" process while watching is a passive process. (That's really good)
"The closer you stay to the King source material the better the movie," Garris says.
It is interesting that they note that Garris has made more Stephen King adaptations than anyone else. "You have to trust the story," Garris says, noting that you have to first find what makes the story work. He says that reading is an "active" process while watching is a passive process. (That's really good)
"The closer you stay to the King source material the better the movie," Garris says.
Mick Garris Week
Why Mick Garris week? Because I think Mick Garris is awesome! Like any artist, I don't jump at everything he's done -- but I have enjoyed most of his King related work. I'll state up front that Sleepwalkers didn't work for me. So there, that's out of the way.
Stephen King adaptations by Mick Garris:
- Sleepwalkers (1992)
- The Stand (1994)
- The Shining (1997)
- Riding The Bullet (2004)
- Desperation (2006)
- Bag of Bones (2011)
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| Garris holding Lee Gambin's book "Massacred by Mother Nature" |
What Garris is good at is staying faithful to King's original work. He's doesn't pull any Kubrick's on us. In fact, fans might notice minor changes in the story and think it's a big deal -- such as the way Mike's wife dies in Bag of Bones. However, it's that more minor details are the big deal that really points out just how faithful he usually is to King's work.
I think the strongest of his King movies are The Stand and The Shining. I was surprised to see at Wikipedia that he is an atheist, yet The Stand breaths with faith. This is again a nod to his ability to stay true to the King source over personal conviction. (If wikipedia is right.)
In his introduction to Garris' book A Life In Cinema, Stephen King discusses a couple of problems he had with directors looking to film his work. King says, "The big deal in both cases was that the director didn't want to make the story I wrote."
King also calls Garris his best friend in the business. And then King gives Garris this rare compliment, "This man can write!" Not bad, considering King is not always easy to please. Just get him started on the writing in Twilight!
King Posts Picture Of Big Jims Car Lot
Stephen King's facbook page posted a picture of Big Jim Rennie's used car lot from the March 1, 2013 filming in North Carolina. The caption asks, "Where's the Hummer?"
Cover For Doctor Sleep
I spotted this first at my favorite website, www.liljas-library.com. What do you think of the cover for Doctor Sleep?
Margaret White Was Right -- Can You Deal With That?
Check out the Dread Central interview with Julianne Moore at dreadcentral.com. I love this interview!
Moore says that what she really appreciates about Carrie is that "we were revisiting Stephen's (King) novel instead of trying to remake the original movie."
And with that, she makes the observation that there is a lot more character development taking place in the novel than made it into the original film. I think that's very interesting as Carrie is a very short book. Yet is is deeply character driven, something that would become a hallmark of King's work for years to come. She points out that King based Carrie on two bullied girls, and that the themes in Carrie are "timeless."
Moore points something out that's almost so obvious you could miss it! Though White is "a bit psychotic," she is actually working to protect her daughter because she loves her. That's good! Wait, there's more. . .
if you think about it- she's right. Margaret White was absolutely right- she said the world was going to laugh at Carrie, and that's what they did. They tormented that young girl, and had she listened to her mother, it wouldn't have happened so there is a sense of truth to some of the things she does say even if they seem crazy or their cruel or they're awful to hear. (dreadcentral.com)I never thought about this until now -- but Carrie is as much about parenting as it is about bullies. I have not gone there because it would require I try to see things from Margaret White's point of view -- something I'm not excited about. Yet, parenting does make you a bit crazy! And people who start out crazy become really nutty parents! But still, they love their kids. (Most of them)
The Stand Journal 6: Obituaries by Richard Bachman
Reading The Stand and loving it. Chapter 38 is unique and worth comment. It really opens the novel up even further, giving the story a sense of realism. It's just a series of short stories about people who died after the plague. Not people who died because of the plague, but people who survived the super-flu but died of other causes. These are like short stories set inside the world of The Stand.
I would call this portion of The Stand the "Obituaries." King starts out by telling us that after the Superflu, there was a second epidemic that struck the United States in particular, taking another 16% down to the grave.
This part might have been written by Mr. Bachman.
Here is a short list:
Sam Tauber, a five year old who is the only survivor in his town. He wanders the streets horrified, and finally dies by falling in a well.
Irma Fayette of Lodi California. She is so scared of being raped that she does herself in at the first sight of a man. King concludes he story with the line, "No great loss." This little section is very well written, and keeps the reader in suspense until the last lines.
George McDougall of Nyack, NY, takes up running as a hobby. Only, he runs himself to death.
Then there is Mrs. Eileen Drummond of Clewiston, FL. She gets herself quite stoned and falls asleep with a cigarette in her hand. She burns her house down -- and herself. King again notes, "No great loss."
Arthur Stimson in Reno, NV, stepped on a rusty nail. The result of a gangrenous wound. He tries to cut his own foot off, but passes out and dies. (I told you Bachman would like this)
My favorite is Judy Horton from Milltown, KY. A beautiful self absorbed girl is thrilled when everyone dies -- especially her husband family and child. She does mourn for a couple days for her child, but not really! As the only one alive, she finds herself unable not to gloat about it. She puts the bodies of her dead family down in the meat freezer. Sh then visits the meat freezer up to four times a day. "She told herself she was just checking. What else could it be? Surely it wasn't gloating?" Well, guess who got herself locked in the meat freezer with her dead family! There's something very Poe-ish about this.
There's the man who electrocuted himself trying to start his generator, and the Junkie who snorted pure heroin.
None of these do anything for the characters in the novel itself. This chapter serves the purpose of simply broadening the story. It's also super morbid.
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