1408

[Elihunt]

This is one of my favorite Stephen King movies!

[GNTLGNT]

....not bad a'tall...

[bryantburnette]

I didn't get much out of it, personally. It's got good acting, but it's not even vaguely scary, which it probably ought to have been.

[gniknehpets]

Scared me! But then, I scare pretty easy.

[bryantburnette]

Scared me! But then, I scare pretty easy.

I do, too, typically! And to be fair, I've got friends who thought it was terrifying.

Ah, well; I'm in the minority on this one, it seems. (But I don't think it's a bad movie; just nothing special, in my eyes. I hope I'll enjoy Cusack's Cell more!)

[Shasta]

I do, too, typically! And to be fair, I've got friends who thought it was terrifying.

Ah, well; I'm in the minority on this one, it seems. (But I don't think it's a bad movie; just nothing special, in my eyes. I hope I'll enjoy Cusack's Cell more!)

Nope, I'm with you. I liked the story a lot better. But then, I usually do.

[bryantburnette]

I do my best to try to judge a movie strictly as its own thing, and forget the story/book/comic/whatever as much as possible. Sometimes that's easier than other times.

My problem with the movie version of 1408 is that it simply did not scare me once Enslin got in the hotel room. Radios turning themselves on suddenly? Not scary to me. Ghosts who look like overlit television images? Not scary to me. Not even creepy.

But what is or isn't scary is one of THE most subjective things in cinematic terms, so I can't criticize anyone else for finding the movie to be scary, the same way I can't criticize someone who isn't at all scared by a movie that terrifies me. And I've heard from waaaaaay more people who loved 1408 than from people who, like me (and Shasta) were left unmoved by it.

[Shasta]

I do my best to try to judge a movie strictly as its own thing, and forget the story/book/comic/whatever as much as possible. Sometimes that's easier than other times.

My problem with the movie version of 1408 is that it simply did not scare me once Enslin got in the hotel room. Radios turning themselves on suddenly? Not scary to me. Ghosts who look like overlit television images? Not scary to me. Not even creepy.

But what is or isn't scary is one of THE most subjective things in cinematic terms, so I can't criticize anyone else for finding the movie to be scary, the same way I can't criticize someone who isn't at all scared by a movie that terrifies me. And I've heard from waaaaaay more people who loved 1408 than from people who, like me (and Shasta) were left unmoved by it.

I wish I could separate the movie and book but I can't. But in this case, I agree. My scared-bone just wasn't tickled.

[bryantburnette]

It's weird. There are times when I can very easily separate book and movie, and times when I can't. I didn't mind any of the changes to The Lord of the Rings, for example, or in Kubrick's version of The Shining. But the various changes that were made to the tv version of Bag of Bones drove me nuts.

I think what it amounts to is this: if a movie captures me emotionally -- regardless of what the emotions are -- then I will roll with it. If it doesn't, then I become extremely critical. And I find that what tends to work on me emotionally in cinematic terms is when the cinematic elements are strong. Good acting, good music, good cinematography, good editing, etc. Preferably all of the above. If a movie has those things, then I can take the story on its own terms and forget the source material. If it doesn't (coughbagofbonescough), then I'll spend the entire time focusing on why this was changed, or why that was changed.

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.

[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.