Watching Cell, adaptation of the Stephen King book

[happybird]

Last edited Sat Nov 11, 2023, 03:21 AM - Edit history (1)

Ugh. Why do they change things so much? The story, as told in the book, would have made a good movie. This was crap. Boring, horrible pacing problems, and I don’t really care about the characters- the total opposite of the book. A few of the cool things I was looking forward to seeing were completely absent (the mourning groan from the other sleeping flock miles away, Mr. Harvard, the phoners slowly getting smarter).

Almost to the end and not looking forward to how that will be handled.

Edit: Ugh. Again. The CGI at the end was laughably bad. It’s amazing how many SK stories get totally fucked up when made into movies.
Thankfully, The Last Waltz is also on Freevee so now I’m letting The Band and friends soothe me.

[genxlib]

1. It has always been a mixed bag with King

I have a theory in general that books are simply too much content for a movie. The inevitable compression and plot changes generally make it hard to completely express what is best about a book.

Oftentimes, short stories make the best movies because they can keep the plot intact and just flesh out the visuals.

King is the best example of this where many of his book movies are not great but his short story movies are some of the most beloved of all time; Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, etc.

There are a few exceptions like the Shining and the Green Mile. But it is probably no accident that I thought the Green Mile book was a lot longer than it needed to be.

It seems like the industry has transformed in recent years and have started using books as the basis for entire seasons. Shows like Mr. Mercedes and 11/22/63. To me this always feels like a better match up of content to video running time.

[happybird]

2. I agree

It seems the only full length novel of his that was completely successful as a film was Misery.

I have mixed feelings about The Shining. The book is fantastic, the movie is wonderful, but they are totally separate in my mind. Almost like the movie is a parallel universe version of what happened to the Torrence family.

One thing I have noticed is a lot of the dialogue in his books sounds great in your head while reading it but sounds cheesy when spoken out loud.

Another director, Mike Flanagan, has taken on The Dark Tower. It is planned to be several tv seasons plus two movies. That’s the right way to do it, imho, the only way it can be done. He’s a die hard fan but I am still anxious about how it will turn out (if it happens, at all- we’ve been down this road many times before)

[genxlib]

3. That sounds interesting

But I have to confess. Even though I am a huge SK fan, I never really cared for the Dark Tower series. I have tried multiple times but just could not get into them. Maybe a well made series will change my view of them.

[happybird]

4. The Gunslinger is a little tough

to get through the first time around. It makes more sense and is less dry if you come back to it after reading the rest of the series. The action starts with the second book, and the 2nd-5th books are some of my favorite he's ever written.