Stephen King's The Mist

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Omphalos
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Stephen King's The Mist

Post by Omphalos »

Anyone planning on seeing this movie? I have an even stronger love/hate thing going on with Stephen King movies than the books, but I think Im going to go see this one.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Hypatia

Post by Hypatia »

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Post by Omphalos »

Didnt you ever watch The Stand miniseries? That is one of my favorite miniseries of all time.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Hypatia

Post by Hypatia »

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Post by Omphalos »

Hyppo wrote:Nope. Any time I want to be scared, I will rewatch Cube. I find that one absolutely scarifying, yet I can't seem to leave it alone.
That one is totally creepy. I'm surprised fake pig blood creeps you out so much you cant watch it but watching some unwitting victim halved by a lowering door passes muster. :P

Did you ever see the sequel? Maybe sequels by now?
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Hypatia

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Post by Omphalos »

See? Cats are evil! :wink:
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Hypatia

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Omphalos
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Post by Omphalos »

Just kidding. Ive had cats before. And some I have even enjoyed and loved.

I had a dog that lived to be over 20 years old. The Fox. There can never be another.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Post by Omphalos »

Hyppo wrote:deleted.
God, how infantile.
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Post by Phaedrus »

Wait, what happened here?

Why did Hyppo delete all her posts?

:?:
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Post by Omphalos »

Phaedrus wrote:Wait, what happened here?

Why did Hyppo delete all her posts?

:?:
She disagreed with my open criticism of her hair-trigger thread-closing over at Arrakeen. Apparently I am not worhty enough to address her such, or to call her to task. This is her attempt at lashing out at me.
Something is about to happen, Hal. Something wonderful!

-James C. Harwood, Science Fiction Writer, Straight (March 5, 1956 - May 25, 2010)



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Post by SandChigger »

I haven't heard anything about this (and haven't googled yet, either), but is this based on his short story "The Mist", about the Army experiment (or something) gone wrong and the Eastern seaboard being transported into another dimension (or something) full of nasty critters (that reading about always makes me think of John Carpenter's "The Thing")?

If so...kewl. :D
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Post by Mandy »

I have loved many of Stephen King's books, but haven't been impressed by movies based on his books. Maybe the internal creepiness of his characters just doesn't translate well on the screen? I probably won't ever see The Mist.. I'm not a big fan of horror movies anyway, they seem to think they only need to make them gory to label them horror.
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Post by Omphalos »

Thats the one, Chig. Very Lovecraftian.
Mandy wrote:I have loved many of Stephen King's books, but haven't been impressed by movies based on his books. Maybe the internal creepiness of his characters just doesn't translate well on the screen? I probably won't ever see The Mist.. I'm not a big fan of horror movies anyway, they seem to think they only need to make them gory to label them horror.
I agree Mandy that his books really lack something big when they are adapted. I think in the beginning it was because King insisted on adapting them himself, and he really had a 1950's outlook on what a horror movie should be. But this one is directed by the director from Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile. I have a hope that it wont suck. But....time will tell, no?
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Post by Mandy »

I always forget about Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile. Those were pretty good movies. In that case I may see the movie.. but I'll wait and see what you have to say about it first :P
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Post by Omphalos »

Mandy wrote:I always forget about Shawshank Redemption and Green Mile. Those were pretty good movies. In that case I may see the movie.. but I'll wait and see what you have to say about it first :P
Right after I put that post up earlier today I went and read some so-so reviews. It seems to have a great cast though. Except for that Punisher guy bonehead. God, that movie sucked.
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Post by Crysknife »

I thought it was one of the better adaptations of King's works. It starts out kinda slow and gets a bit hokey there for a bit, but stick with it, it gets MUCH better.

I really liked it, except I had this damn tard behind me that kept running commentary on every sophomoric line (you know how King gets) in the movie. I hate bitches that can't shut up in a movie. I would've moved but it was pretty crowded and I had my brothers and their girlfriends with me. Damn idiot looked like a gangster and had two huge Tongan friends sitting next to him, or I would have said something. I don't mind telling someone where to stick it, but I don't have death wish or anything. Sucks I remember that more than the movie.
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Post by Robspierre »

Crysknife wrote:I thought it was one of the better adaptations of King's works. It starts out kinda slow and gets a bit hokey there for a bit, but stick with it, it gets MUCH better.

I really liked it, except I had this damn tard behind me that kept running commentary on every sophomoric line (you know how King gets) in the movie. I hate bitches that can't shut up in a movie. I would've moved but it was pretty crowded and I had my brothers and their girlfriends with me. Damn idiot looked like a gangster and had two huge Tongan friends sitting next to him, or I would have said something. I don't mind telling someone where to stick it, but I don't have death wish or anything. Sucks I remember that more than the movie.

Crysknife, you should of said something to the theatre ,I work at one while I'm going back to school and our policy is one complaint 1 warning after that your ass is out and don't even bothering whining for a refund. Considering most movie goers today act like they are at home putting their feet up on the seats, talking, texting, at least the theatre I work at tries to provide a an environment that the customers can watch and enjoy their movie. Here friday nights are the worse because the parents just drop their kids off with zero supervision. I usually end up kicking out 10 + kids on friday nights. The kids hate it when I'm on duty, they and their parents know I confiscate cell phones and that I enforce the theatres policys. You want to socialize, do it somewhere else.

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Post by Crysknife »

Yeah, I guess I didn't think about that Robs. Seems kind of obvious now though! :lol:

Next time!
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Post by Robspierre »

Some don't care, but my boss is very old school ,he's been running theaters since 1976. When ONE MISSED CALL opened both he and I spent a lot of time just hanging in plain sight in the auditorium so that the non-tweeners would have a decent movie experience.

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Post by SandChigger »

*** WARNING - CONTAINS SPOILERS!!! ***

Finally watched this on DVD this morning.

Enjoyed it well enough until the end. WhyTF did the idiot screenwriter/director (who is this fook again?) have to end it that way?

If I remember correctly, the novella ends with the main character (Drayton?) writing that he's leaving his account of events (the story) in the motel/hotel/whatever where they've spent the night and that they're planning on continuing to head south, hoping to get out of the mist.

What the fuck is wrong with people back here now? Can't we accept open endings anymore? Does everything have to have a happy ending? (Which is how I would classify this one, despite the guy blowing his son and the other three people's brains out; the beasties are being burnt out, the mist is clearing, life goes on...sort of.)

Stupid ending ruined the whole thing for me. If King had anything to do with the writing of that shit, he's really lost it.
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Post by GamePlayer »

The Mist was actually good for a horror flick; certainly above average. The film was more about the characters and human nature than about the mist or the monsters themselves. The story made for a surprisingly effective character analysis.

However, I also felt the film didn't quite work. Perhaps it was some of the performances or the way the film seemed to switch gears at the end. The entire film we're meant to be with the "heroes" of the story as the struggle against all the hurdles, but then at the end it flips the characterisations and the heroes (or "hero" since it was Thomas Jane's character that ultimately fucks up) become as terrible as the people they were fighting against. This ending sabotages the struggle against adversity. The film basically shoots itself in the foot and we feel cheated as an audience.

Perhaps a cynical, fatalistic message is the whole point of the film. That's fine, but it just doesn't work for me. The "heroes" really had no choice against the worst of human nature inside that supermarket. They couldn't stay either way, so the film is damning them for choosing to survive and then the end mocks them for being human. It's basically staunchly anti-self-determinist and I don't respond to that nor believe in that kind of stuff.

I did think the Half-Life inspired visuals and tone of the film was amusing. I kept expecting Gordon Freeman to show up at any moment, crowbar in hand :) :lol:
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Post by Liege-Killer »

Weren't we talking about this movie in some other thread a few months ago? I remember commenting on it.

Anyway, it was a decent movie. But that's about how I feel about most SK movies -- not terrible, not great, but decent.

On the other hand, I positively cannot stand reading SK's books, because I can't stand his dull, droning, over-detailed writing style.
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