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Quint peeps through THE SECRET WINDOW and craves more Depp!
Hey folks, Harry here with Quint's look at THE SECRET WINDOW, which Quint doesn't hate, but at the same time, he feels that the film is ultimately a disappointment for not living up to the potential sum that talent like Depp, Koepp and Turturro "could" lead one to believe. Ultimately, in many ways he lays the blame at King's feet for writing a story unworthy of this talent to begin with. Well, here's Quint laying it out in more detail...
Ahoy, squirts. Quint here in my hotel room in Venice, CA... the AFM is over and I'm writing this during the commercial breaks for Stephen King's KINGDOM HOSPITAL. This is the second break... the show is pretty good so far, but those damn advance looks at what's coming after the break are totally ruining the suspense and mystery.
Anyway, it's obvious that I'm a huge King freak. I love his work and have read every single thing he has written. I'm also a huge Depp freak. His performance in FEAR AND LOATHING IN LAS VEGAS is one for the ages. It's a great film and he's a great actor. So, you can imagine how much I was looking forward to SECRET WINDOW. Not only was Depp in it, but David Koepp adapted and directed the film. I love Koepp's STIR OF ECHOES. Add into the equation John Turturro in a very POLTERGEIST II scary preacher role and you have something that should have rocked my world.
The story SECRET WINDOW SECRET GARDEN was one of my least favorite stories in FOUR PAST MIDNIGHT, which seems doomed to never get a truly great treatment on TV or the big screen. THE LANGOLIERS was my favorite story from that bunch and you all saw how terrible that turned out.
SECRET WINDOW is nowhere near that level of crappiness, but it is a disappointment, more for wasting a pair of good performances from Johnny Depp and John Turturro than for being a terrible film.
For those that don't know the story, it's about a newly divorced writer who isolates himself in a small cabin in Butt Fuck, Maine. One day he gets a visit from a man accusing him of stealing a story. There's definitely a creepy vibe coming off the guy... like I mentioned above the character is very reminiscent of the scary dead preacher from POLTERGEIST 2.
Unfortunately for the film the story isn't worthy of the talent involved. The film's twist is obvious from 20 minutes into the movie and no matter how good Depp and Turturro are, no matter how pretty the cinematography is... there just isn't any suspense or real interest in the story. I found myself just wishing the obvious twist would just hurry up and happen.
Depp is great in the movie, as usual. Jesus is great in the movie, as usual. Koepp's direction is fine, the cinematography is fine... the story just wasn't worthy and Koepp wasn't able to do anything in the screenwriting process to take it to that next level.
All said and done, SECRET WINDOW isn't a bad movie, just a mediocre film that should have been fantastic. Stephen King's world is a little uneasy at the moment... Darabont has THE MIST, which I have total faith in and the upcoming redux of SALEM'S LOT, which I have high hopes for. Then we have Mick Garris's (THE STAND, SLEEPWALKERS, TV SHINING) take on King's novella RIDING THE BULLET, which I have no idea how it'll turn out and the big question mark: Vadim Perelman's THE TALISMAN. I should have some new info on that project soon, so keep your eyes peeled.
I better get going, squirts. I'll be back soon with the continuation of my AFM coverage. 'Til that day, this is Quint bidding you all a fond farewell and adieu.
-Quint
email: Quint hasn't forgotten the face of his father! Email him here!!!
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you know, when i first saw that no one else had posted, i thought it would be cool to post first, then i realized that it just made me a loser for staying up all night and always checking this site to look for new articles. oh well. at least it was good to see JD get an award for PotC
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As a Koepp fan, I hope you're wrong, Quint. Though I must say I have been suspicious of the pic after seeing Depp's hair and hearing Turturro's awful accent.
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Coming from a small town, I'm so glad I only have to pay 5.50 at the movie theater. This looks like it'll be worth that 5.50. Maybe not much more than that, but definately better than most of the crap thats been coming out so far this year.
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I am a big fan of Stephen King's writing. I read a lot and I don't care what anyone says, his dialogue sucks you in and his ability to create atmosphere and suspense is the best. I think the movie adaptations I have seen are dissapointing sometimes because the film's creators don't respect the source material enough and sometimes because getting the unique feel of his books is just plain difficult to create on film. Having said that, a director with unique vision could do it.
"Hearts in Atlantis" is an obvious example, but wow, what steaming pile of crap. Am I wrong to have wanted that movie to follow the original story? I believe eventually someone who is passionate about King will make the right movie with the right cast. Until then, I still get to read his books and criticize the movies. -
I also love Depp and King, but this movie looks like one of those made-for-TV King adaptations. And after the many awful TV and direct-to-video Stephen King movies, his name isn't the draw it once was. The TV commercials are terrible. They don't look scary and they aren't interesting. If this movie does any box office, it'll be solely on the name of Johnny Depp.
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They're called "stand by me" and "The shawshank redemption". I can't really think of any others, I heard Pet Semetary is good, but I've never seen it. The shining is a classic, but I attribute that to Kubrick. Look at how the mini-series version turned out. Kind and movies = sometimes. King and TV = never.
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Stand By Me and Shawshank are great. I blanked earlier. Both movies capture the tone of the books as well as having a great cast and script.
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I thought Stephen King wrote The Green Mile. Is that not considered a good screenplay adaptation/movie anymore? It's hard to keep up with what you hipsters think is cool.
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I knew this was going to kind of be bad when i saw Turturro appear on screen and talk, looking and sounding like he belonged in Kingpin.
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On the whole, I think the adaptations of King's stories have far surpassed the source material since the screenwriters can finish the movie whereas King's main weakness is his inability to end a story (that is in his novels - his short stories and novellas are fantastic pieces of fiction that I modelled my own style on). That's the primary reason I haven't touched the Dark Tower series yet, I want to hear how people appreciate the end before I go in for that sort of commitment with the characters only for him to kill half of them off when he can't think what to do (a la The Stand). I haven't read a King book to completion that I have enjoyed and there have been plenty I couldn't finish when King lost the plot completely and failed to maintain any sense of character progression or consistency. === Good adaptations include: Stand By Me, Apt Pupil, Misery, Dolores Claiborne, The Shawshank Redemption, The Green Mile, It (tv movie), The Shining (tv movie as opposed to the brilliant but nonsensical movie) and Creepshow. ---- Bad adaptations (or movies that should simply NOT have been made): Cujo, Langloliers, Hearts in Atlantis, Pet Cemetery and many more besides. === I'm interested in this piece because although it wasn't a great short story, Depp is one of my favourite actors. And they're making a movie on Riding the Bullet ... wtf? A whole movie in a car, or a story created around it?
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Misery, The Stand, The Shining, Stand By Me, Shawshank Redemption, Green Mile, Hearts in Atlantis, Carrie, Dead Zone, The Stand (was NOT bad, no matter what people say), Something Wicked this way Comes....not a bad compilation. Name another writer who has that many quality films based on their work. Even Grisham pales in comparison. So there.
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Mar 04, 2004 11:12:39 AM CST
The film's "twist" couldn't be more obvious from the TV ads.
by osmosis jones
Let's see, Depp shot in Kubrick-style, low-angle shot looking *very* angry... Somewhere, Donald Kaufman is smiling. Dammit, someone should kidnap a member of Frank Darabont's family and threaten to do unspeakably horrible things to him/her if Darabont doesn't get cracking on The Mist. DO IT!
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A few corrections. First, "Something Wicked This Way Comes" was written by Ray Bradbury, not Stephen King. I think Bradbury's rare horror stories are great. Second, the TV version of "The Shining" that was supposed to fix the damage King felt Kubrick did to his story, was simply PAINFUL. Kubrick's movie had an underlying sense of menace that has rarely been achieved since.
King is one of those authors who has great ideas, but sometime sloppy execution. He knows what's scary, but is rarely able to carry the ideas through. When he's good, he's great. But just look at when he's had more creative control ("Maximum Overdrive", TV "Shining", "Rose Red", etc.). I respect him, but he simply writes too much to be good all the time. -
This does look like that, though. I never knew "Secret Window" had Steven's involvement or was based on any story he did really. None of the ads say it, nor have I read about it. It puzzles me, oh and "Kingdom Hospital" was awful, just miserably awful. I felt like I was on drugs during the first hour, the man being hit made me nautious. Seriously, FUCK ABC, they put this 13 episode peice of shit on instead of "Karen Sisco." That's what is really messed up. I think King wrote "Kingdom" while heavily medicated, his shit has gone downhill very bad.
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This clown has a place in his heart for that silly thing. Also, let's not forget "Christine". Crazy Jason Melon was pure gold.
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This clown has a place in his heart for that silly thing. Also, let's not forget "Christine". Crazy Jason Melon was pure gold.
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King is a sentimental writer, no secret that he
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Secret Windows looks good...but I can't wait for the next book in the Dark Tower series.
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...so, obviously, the movie has to suffer. Not too surprising, but I'll catch it anyway. And, yes, dammit! Bring on "The Mist!" It'll be "Jurassic Park from Mars!"
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Stephen King writes decent to outstanding books. He does NOT have a clue about screenplays, however. He needs a translator or something. Neither "The Shining" was good. The remake blew chunks while Kubrick's "Olive Oyl as Wendy" was the worst casting decision ever made. That version is unwatchable for me because of her whining take on the character. "The Green Mile" is by far my favorite to date but the book's ending should have stayed intact and using a different actor for "old" Tom Hanks was just stupid and jarring. Kingdom Hospital is unwatchable and Secret Window doesn't look to be much to rave about either. Hearts in Atlantis was just raped and killed for a buck.
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Someone above asked what other writer had so many good films made from their works. How about...William Shakespeare? Charles Dickens? E.M. Forester? Graham Greene? Ian Fleming has a better slate, for chrissakes. The key is that these guys are long past (and British, coincidentally), while King writes now almost as if he's waiting for Hollywood to cash in. It's perhaps easier to adapt a film when the author isn't hovering in the background, even when they aren't connected directly with the production. You also get sycophants like Frank Darabont treating The Green Mile as if it were the Bible and turning out an overlong, gooey mess. The only thing I like about King adaptions is when auteurs take major liberties and keep their personal style intact--it's why I enjoyed The Shining, Carrie, The Dead Zone, and yes, even Hearts in Atlantis (which was very much a Scott Hicks film) more than the others. The fact that so many King novels get picked up for the screen isn't some testament to how great a writer he is. He comes up with good concepts, but the follow through isn't something that's necessarily going to stand the test of time. Clive Barker's work has proved very difficult to adapt to successfully, and I'd argue he's a much more imaginative and skilled writer. Didn't King even say so at one point?
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No one has mentioned Misery yet, that I noticed anyway, I thought that one was really good. The worst was probably Graveyard Shift.
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one film for each book.
with kiefer sutherland or a grizzled depp as Roland, Christian Bale or Cillian Murphy as Eddie Dean, and Naomi Harris (28 days Later) as susannah.
Oh and that creepy kid from the Ring and Texas Chainsaw Massacre, I think his name is Martin Henderson as Jake!
And Malcolm Macdowell as Pere Callahan. -
sometimes dead is better! This was an awesome flick, don't be hatin! Probably his best book too!
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And we won't have to watch. It were all a dream, right?
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If you love/hate this King adaptation, just wait, there'll be another one in a few months. The guy's like the weather in San Francisco. This one lost me when John Turturro shows up and says, "You shtole mah shtory." Scoop up the cheese and serve it on your hamburger, folks.
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Stephen King film adaptations usually fall into three categories. (1) The ones that have minimal or no supernatural elements (Stand by Me, Misery, The Green Mile, Shawshank) and are usually good or VERY good. (2) Files by directors with a their own personal style and vision (Carrie, Salem's Lot, The Shining, The Dead Zone). All four are pretty damn good films (OK, Salem was made for TV but there WAS a movie version, in Europe at least). Finally (3) Films that are directed by workmanlike hacks (usually TVM's). The LONG list includes The Langoliers, The Tommyknockers (the ending was totally reversed from the book), The TVM Shining, The Running Man, The Dark Half. I love King's books but they're a bugger to translate to the big/small screen.
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Darabont shouldve adapted instead because hes a genius, right? Fuck him and everything hes been responsible for. As for this movie, its look on-par with DREAMCATCHER and wow, someone even thought to throw in a twist for fun. Some of you need to read Eberts review of FEAR & LOATHING IN VEGAS.
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GEEZ, you're making me sober...CHEERS Amigos!
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ALthough, watching the trailer for this movie made me feel like I have been there before.
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Mar 04, 2004 7:21:24 PM CST
"Some of you should read Ebert's review of FEAR & LOATHING IN LA
by illegit
Ugh, why? To enlighten us? I have read it. And it didn't illuminate anything for me other than that the film doesn't connect with MANY, MANY viewers, and Ebert's one of them, especially on first viewing. Doesn't change it's status as classic and genius.
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No one's impressed with how obvious it seems to you. No more snarky references to Donald Kaufman or "The Dark Half," please, people don't read movie reviews to look at the size of your dick.
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Is Turturro playing the same character he played in O Brother Where Art Thou...? That's all I think of when I see this trailer.
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Can anyone tell me why they thought this was so awful? Kubrick's was a masterpiece of surreal horror but at least the TV movie made sense and gave explanations for things like the rotting bathtub woman. The boiler in the background of the TVM provided a tension also, and I liked the backstory of the character - knowing he was an abusive drunkard made his transition into madness more acceptable than in Kubrick's. ===== Although the following quote is one of my favourites EVAR: "Darling! Light, of my life. I'm not gonna hurt ya. You didn't let me finish my sentence. I said, I'm not gonna hurt ya. I'm just gonna bash your brains in. I'm gonna bash 'em right the fuck in! Ha, ha!" ====== Great stuff.
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Bradbury has written some excellent horror tales, which is understandable seeing that virtually everything he writes is wonderful. Just pick up a copy of 'The October Country'. It features the very creepy 'The Small Assassin'. We need more movies about killer babies, or maybe a remake of Larry Cohen's 'It's Alive'. I'm done.
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