1408

[bryantburnette]

You'll certainly get no argument from me on the subject of Sam Jackson. He's great in that movie.

[blunthead]

...I didn't do that with 1408, per se, though. I think that might be because while I like the story, it has never been one of my favorites by King, so when I sat down to watch the movie, I really didn't remember much about it.

i think you hit the nail with your head, and probably have explained the primary difference between my positive response to 1408 while yours is negative. I loved the novel Bag of Bones, so liked the movie despite noticing, I assume, many of the same changes you noticed (though it's been years since I read it).

A possible advantage I have had has been that I didn't become a CR til late in life, long after I had the chance to see many sK movies - including The Shining (which kind of doesn't count), Misery, Dolores Claiborne, Stand By Me, Needful Things - prior to reading the original works or even knowing they were sK. I really loved those movies (and sK had to live up to them. He has, so far - I still haven't read The Body or Dolores Claiborne). My point being the same as yours, bryantburnette, which is being a movie fan is a good thing, being a sK fan is a good thing, and the two don't necessarily have to be directly related in one's realm of artistic appreciation.

[Shasta]

You'll certainly get no argument from me on the subject of Sam Jackson. He's great in that movie.

I'm not sure I've seen a movie he's not great in. He's in a lot of not great movies but he's always fantastic.

[bryantburnette]

I find that I like more of the movies than a lot of King fans, but dislike some -- and I'm referring specifically to the films of one M. Garris -- that a lot of King fans seem to like. There's definitely no reason why you can't live with one leg on either side of that particular fence.

[bryantburnette]

I'm not sure I've seen a movie he's not great in. He's in a lot of not great movies but he's always fantastic.

I think he's one of the great movie stars of the past two decades. As you say, his choice of movies to be in doesn't always result in great movies; but I honestly can't think of a single movie that I didn't think was made better by his presence. MAYBE the first of the Star Wars prequels, but that movie is such a crapfest that nothing could have helped it.

[bryantburnette]

My point being the same as yours, bryantburnette, which is being a movie fan is a good thing, being a sK fan is a good thing, and the two don't necessarily have to be directly related in one's realm of artistic appreciation.

I couldn't agree more.

[nate_watkins]

I liked 1408 well enough, but couldn't agree more about the changes in Bag of Bones. I just didn't get it.

But this day in age, perhaps we should expect changes in film adaptations.

[bryantburnette]

I liked 1408 well enough, but couldn't agree more about the changes in Bag of Bones. I just didn't get it.

But this day in age, perhaps we should expect changes in film adaptations.

I don't mind changes, but when they are as poorly-thought-out as some of the changes made for Bag of Bones, then it has a catastrophic effect on the end product. The age of the little girl in that story is of crucial importance; because she is not very old and is therefore not smart enough to know better than to go for a walk down the middle of the road, it makes sense that that is how Mike and her mother can meet (him keeping her from being hit by a car, her mother being grateful to him). In the movie, she's old enough that for her to be walking down the middle of the road like that means, basically, that she is a deeply stupid child. It feels false, because while the age of the child was changed, the behavior was not.

Changing story is fine, but it's like having surgery for cancer: if you don't remove all the affected tissue, then you've basically done no good at all.

[Milica]

Like it very very much!

[GNTLGNT]

I think he's one of the great movie stars of the past two decades. As you say, his choice of movies to be in doesn't always result in great movies; but I honestly can't think of a single movie that I didn't think was made better by his presence. MAYBE the first of the Star Wars prequels, but that movie is such a crapfest that nothing could have helped it.