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Frank Darabont's Stephen King's THE MIST tests! Aaannnnddddd?
Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. The below review fills me with light and sunshine and happiness and wagging puppy dog tails. But it could be from a notorious plant. heh Can't wait to see this! Frank Darabont is the man, The Mist is the shit, so mix them together and... well, that doesn't work, but you know what I am getting at. Enjoy the review... it's fairly spoiler-free, but there are some hints at where this all goes, so be warned!
Greetings Quint, Moriarity and Head Geek! This is Randy of AFTimes (www.aftimes.com/ask.ran.shtml); when last we spoke I sent in an advanced review for 300 around last November (and Quint thought I was a plant!) Thanks to one of the ever-present hawkers of “Would like to see a free movie?” at local movie theaters, I got to see one my most anticipated movies of the year: The Mist. I’ve been following the progress for months now, from casting to the series of behind-the-scenes stores posted by Quint this past spring (nicely done). And it was looking as good as I could’ve hoped. The idea of one of Stephen King’s coolest novellas being turned into a movie by writer/director Frank Darabont just filled me with glee. A good ol’ fashioned monster movie! And since the film is due for release in just about a month (Nov. 21), I figured most of the F/X would be done. I rumble into the AMC Burbank 16 Tuesday night after work and meet with she who is METAMORPHI. Longish line, not too bad of a wait to get in and we’re in the theater. We get the usual “first audience, temp music, unfinished F/X”, thought after watching it, I’d say the film’s around 95% completed, with some finalized digital F/X and possible music changes to be done. It ran around 2 hours with finished credits. Story: After a storm rolls through part of Maine, artist David Drayton (Thomas Jane) and his son Billy (Nathan Campbell) and neighbor Brent Norton (Andrew Braugher) go into town to get supplies at the local supermarket, leaving his wife behind. There at the market they meet with several of the locals including Ollie the meek Asst. Manager (Toby Jones), Jim the mechanic (William Sadler), stern school teacher Irene (Frances Sternhagen) and local “crazy” Mrs. Carmody (Marcia Gay Harden). Together, they are trapped by a strange mist which surrounds them and is filled with abominations of unknown origin. The group struggles to survive not only the monsters outside the store, but the dark fears that are turning the people into “monsters”. It has been years since I’ve read the novella by Stephen King. But I remember it as a fun and fast tale of a last stand in a supermarket, which reminded me of one of my favorites- Dawn of the Dead So I went in expect a good, rollicking sci-fi monster romp. This movie was no romp. The Mist is a hard, dark, apocalyptic tale of ordinary people forced to face creatures without & within and everyone will pay a price to survive. Directed and written for the screen by Frank Darabont, this movie doesn’t pull its punches. Everyone’s in jeopardy, no one is safe no matter age, race or gender and not everyone is making it out of this film alive. It almost comes off as writer/director exercising some demons, forcing the audience to see just what people really are made of when faced with true danger and how far he’ll go to show it. I know the camera work was inspired by his time directing on “The Shield”, but that show’s dark vision has also seeped into this film. Both King’s novella and this adaptation have the fingerprints of Rod Serling and “The Monsters Are Due on Maple Street” but pushed even farther into depravity. While I had fun and whooped at some of the creatures and gore (and there was plenty of gore), there are moments of great, taut tension that stays with you after the films has ended. It drains you by the end. The cast is top-notch and in excellent form, from Thomas Jane all the way to young Nathan Campbell. Everyone gives an air of grounded reality while trying to deal with the shocking realization that the world is now beyond their understanding. Some stand up and others just crumble. But it’s Marcia Gay Harden’s Mrs. Carmody that stands out for me. It would be easy to just slip into a ranting and raving “bible thumper” for this part. But we also see the wild charisma that transforms her from town looney to people’s prophet. This woman’s been waiting all her life for the mist to come. I actually hold out a slim hope that she be nominated for a Best Supporting Actress role next year. I think it would be well deserved. I know the effects weren’t completed, but I still thought they were excellent. There is a great mix of KNB’s practical effects and CafeFX’s digital f/x and it shows that they were working towards the same goals. And while digital effects can do a lot, there’s something so RIGHT about hearing a fantastical bug creatures land on the glass with a slight THOCK and strange reptilian albatrosses knock over shelves of groceries. These are nightmare creatures, some fantastical while others are just creatures from our world made larger and more hideous! Great work done by both companies. Some of the people in the audience thought some of the scenes went on too long, including the bug attack in the supermarket. I disagree and feel things might have been tightened but nothing cut. I would’ve liked a little earlier explanation of Mrs. Carmody’s place in the town “hierarchy” as well as why the Draytons go down in the cellar (I KNOW that it’s a Nor’easter, but others might wonder why thunder and rain would send some scrambling). Also, some of the audience didn’t like Sally the check girl’s sudden attraction to one of the soldiers, a local about to ship out. I can understand why they had a problem but I think there was enough information to justify it as well as why someone would crave affection at that time. Desperate times bring out strange feelings in people. The ending. I can’t talk about the ending. You can’t really talk about the ending in detail without having seen all that came before it. This isn’t something out of nowhere, but built on everything that came before, drawing us inevitability to the last scene. And I won’t be the guy that blows it for you I have two more things to say about the ending and while they aren’t literal spoilers, they might allude or compare to other film more than people want to know (this happened to me when a reviewer compared JACOB’S LADDER to… another film, which completely ruined the plot for me). So you are warned… -eseque. SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE 1-The ending is different from King’s novella; it is in fact MUCH DARKER. We are talking JET BLACK. 2-If you were to put this with a tonally appropriate double feature it would be JOHN CARPENTER’S THE THING. SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE SPOILER-ESQUE A lot of people liked the ending. A lot of people didn’t like the ending, my friend Metamorphi being one of them. But nobody thought it uncalled for and only a few wanted it changed. Also, on the notice, it said that this wasn’t rated but likely a PG-13?!? MY ASS! PLEASE don’t cut it down to make it PG-13. If the MPAA gives it an R, then LEAVE IT THAT WAY! So come this November 21st, be prepared. Frank Darabont’s The Mist is coming… and it wants you, body and soul. I think I’m gonna have a drink now… and see when someone will show an advanced showing of I AM LEGEND. Worth Paying: Evening Prices… especially if you like dark, intelligent and suspenseful horror. Thanks guys, Randy of AFTimes (www.aftimes.com/ask.ran.shtml)
Readers Talkback
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Got nothing to say.
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new first
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till its on tv.
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I like Stephen King´s books.
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http://tinyurl.com/24mrrv
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Stephen King's, 'The Green Mile' (a novel) = Meek negro giant's hellish pen event.
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metamorpho's sister.
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is back. <P> buy the comic.
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bag. there. are you happy somebody responded to your fat, greasy pimply faced ass?
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is still haunting me even 4 years later,so im not sure if im up for another King Big Screen experience just yet.
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Darabont is the goodness.
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even if he directed something and it sucked, it'd still be worth watching. And don't knock King. More often than not, it's the adaptation that is messed up, not the source material.
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But the ending is not like the story? That's disappointing to me. I really wanted to see ginormous monster legs fading into the misty skies. *sigh*
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Oct. 11, 2007, 4:05 a.m. CST
"Longish line, not too bad of a wait to get in and we’re in the
by dacanesta
Thats probably the most uninformative, boring and irrelevant sentence ever. And this film is more intriguing than anything else, coz in general we trust the creative forces behind it but how the hell do they make a bunch of bizarre creatures that are probably CGI believable?!?!?
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there, just finishing off that quote. Here it is again, in case you missed it: "Longish line, not too bad of a wait to get in and we’re in the theater". Blinding stuff there!
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gonna try not and even read this guys review and It took superhuman will power with the help of a shitty video player not to watch all those clips posted a while back so i can enjoy this as spoiler free as possible!
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Everybody who uses the word "novella" is.
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Please Be Good! Please Be Good! Please Be Good! Please Be Good! Please Be Good! Of all the films coming up before the end of the year, The Mist is what i'm looking forward to the most. Years ago on this site when Quint mentioned the short story in passing, I found a copy and read it. It turned out to be my favorite short story by King. So now i'm really anticipating the movie. Thanks Quint for all the coverage and the recommendation!
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Mist puns, you know you love them (except for Moriarty).
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Just joking....good review, I just hope that they dont fuck it over by giving it a PG-13 edit and limited distro.
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Novella! Novella! Novella! So...am I a plant?
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Yes, you are! Well, maybe it's subconscious, you never know...
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If he liked The Mist, which is based on a story by Stephen King, who wrote Carrie, which was made into a film directed by Brian DePalma, who directed Redacted, then he might as well be a terrorist.
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It won't be worth watching. Save your shekels...
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It does sound good, so I will keep my hopes up....
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Darabont does King. Cool as!
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They get into the car, see the creature with the huge ass legs and then get eaten bye it. Or... The ending has the camera panning way, way up to reveal that the Mist has covered the entire world!
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PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE PLANT-ESQUE
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I have been waiting for this to get made now for over 20 years!! That's a long time.
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... should be Broken Wings by MISTer MISTer
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"Frank Darabont is the man, The Mist is the shit, so mix them together and... well, that doesn't work, but you know what I am getting at." Brilliant.
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He is in a bitter struggle with george lucas to be the richest dude who hasnt done anything worthwhile in 25 years....
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Oct. 11, 2007, 8:24 a.m. CST
"It almost comes off as writer/director exercising some demons"
by spacehog
Oh, good, a professional writer. Pretty easy to see why some would think you're a plant, with publicist-ready lines like "The Mist is a hard, dark, apocalyptic tale of ordinary people forced to face creatures without & within and everyone will pay a price to survive" and "Directed and written for the screen by Frank Darabont, this movie doesn’t pull its punches."
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What's the movie that was spoiled by hearing it compared to Jacob's Ladder?
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For the first 30 minutes or so. Once Major Winters started talking to himself in a British accent, I was gone. I really loved the book, but the movie... my god, who thought that changing so much stuff after the first act was a good idea? Maybe it was after the second, I forget. I saw the movie opening night and never again.
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Wasn't she about 80 when She did Misery 17 years ago?
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...and it'll suck ass!
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Yeah, I noticed Darabont's demons were getting a bit flabby. And, when he's done exercising them, he might also want to consider exorcising them.
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Oct. 11, 2007, 9:51 a.m. CST
"Monsters are Due on Maples Street" "Jet Black", right out of Mo
by NoDiggity
See Moriarty's review here (remove any spaces the talkback inserts) <p> http://www.aintitcool.com/node/34092 His review seems to be using Moriarty's review as a guid to how he should think about the movie. Also, in an odd coincidence, the reviewer compares the film tonally to John Carpenter's THE THING, when I had made a snarky post in Moriarty's talkback that I suspected that Carpenter had already done a Mist-type movie much much better than Darabont has with this film. And here comes a review echoing Moriarty's words and claiming that this is as good as THE THING. I suspect a PLANT.
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Oct. 11, 2007, 9:53 a.m. CST
"Monsters are Due on Maple Street" "Jet Black" from Moriarty's r
by NoDiggity
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It's funny, I remember Jacob's Ladder being spoiled for me by a review that said it was like "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge". History does repeat itself, I guess...
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"Monsters are due on Maples street" and "the ending is Jet Black" are right out of Moriarty's review.
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You'd think the studios would teach plants how to, y'know, spell and such. "Exercising" demons? Gahhh.<p> Look, I'm as excited as fuck about a Darabont/King movie, but either this reviewer is a plant or the writer did his senior English Lit paper on the trailer for "Rush Hour 3."
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This line: "Directed and written for the screen by Frank Darabont" is an example of how NOBODY talks (except for those mensa members that compose studio press releases). Idiot.
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Try to emulate some kind of hip common speech . . . "I thought that writer/director Smith ( the dude whose film credits also included cult favorite X) made the right changes to the origignal material, and the result totally rocked!!!!!" It's like reading a weight-loss pill advertisement written by Poochie.
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Oct. 11, 2007, 10:53 a.m. CST
Fuck Shitty Hack King!!! They're filming Indy 4 in my town toda
by rectalscan
They're turning our old Chandler airport into a 50's mexican airport for the next three days. Spielberg and Ford are supposed to be there!!
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Randy "FROM AFTIMES" is a writer. Sorry his review isn't poorly structured and full of wang refrences. Is that what it takes to make you nancies take someone seriously? I trust the man, and can't wait to see this flick. I hope as well that it isn't cut down to PG-13.
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It's that he's writing, perhaps in this case mistakenly, just like a plant would. Being a "writer" these days doesn't mean he has any training or understanding of the English language (see the embarrassing "exercise/exorcise" mistake I and others have pointed out). The fact that many of his sentences seem copied off a press release means he's either a plant or a terrible writer. Take your pick.
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I never finished reading Dreamcatcher - was the ending of the movie anything like the ending to the book? I read up to where they were chasing the guy carrying the dog to the water supply, then put the book down...and never found it again.
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Seriously. The reason he uses words that sound like they came out of a publicist's mouth is because he's trying to write well. I'm not saying he's succeeding, but obviously, if you're an amateur reviewer, you're going to emulate certain phrases you've heard from marketing or from critics. You try to write a review and you're going to end up doing the same thing. Also, an average joe on the street who really likes a movie is going to try to gloss over any criticism of it, just like if they hate a film, they're not going to try very hard to find the good parts. You can say plant all you want, but chances are he's just a very mediocre writer without a spell check. I think everybody has a slightly inflated sense of importance when they think that every good review that appears on the site is the studio desperately trying to get you to like them.
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We don't need no stinking spoilers!
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Oct. 11, 2007, 12:24 p.m. CST
Cadillac Jones, maybe don't read a spoiler-tagged movie review.
by spacehog
Or get upset that the spoiler-tagged review has spoilery talkback comments. And Freakemovie, I agree--I don't really think he's a plant, just unfortunately writing like one. Although I think you'd be surprised how many positive reviews posted here are from the movie's studio, or how many negatives are from competing studios. There's no ego involved in suspecting that movie studios are "desperately" trying to advertise their product. It's sort of what they have to do to make money.
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I liked King's original story, but was never a fanatic about it like a lot of King fans. I always disliked the ending of the story the most, it seemed to me that King wasn't sure how to end the story so he sort of let it trail off with an open ending. Call me old fashion, but I wanted to know what happened to the survivors. <p> The new ending the reviewer hinted at sounds like a more realistic ending to the story. If I get what he is hinting at and he isn't some plant feeding us a bunch of bullshit to get people interested in seeing this movie just to see the new ending.
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That they get all 'Eight Legged Freaks' on us!
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BUFFYWRESTLING-You won’t be disappointed; DACANESTA-That was a shortened version of waiting to get in. Sorry it didn’t work for you; ANDY WARHOL JR.-I’ve always heard it called a novella; his website calls it a short story. So it’s a short story; VIRTUAL SATYR-Neither one is what I saw; SPACEHOG-I think I smell sarcasm…; MR. FUSION-See tonagon’s entry for the answer; JMPETERSON-Ummm, ok, you got me. Wrong word chosen. Mea culpa; NODIGGITY-Yes, I have read Moriarity’s review. And we both mention Rod Serling and “Monsters Are Due…”, it not as much imitation as realization of what influences the movie is using. I honestly didn’t remember what Moriarity had said the same things, including the “jet black” line. So, I apologize-to Moriarity. Mea culpa; LOST JARV-I actually did put that line through Spell Check and got nothing off of it, so what did I misspell?; BYTOR-Again, sorry for the wrong word choice. It happens. At least I didn’t use all caps, all lower case or no punctuation. And as for saying “Directed and Written for the screen..", that’s how it’s listed on the credits; WEREPLATYPUS-I write how I write. You can look for the other reviews I’ve done that have been posted on this site, including 300, THE DEVIL’S REJECTS and SERENITY to see if my tone matches; WUGMANMAX-I appreciate the love and the backup; FREAKEMOVIE-Umm, thanks for the defense? And SPACEHOG-I say again, I write how I write. I like to be clear in what I’m saying and evocative in what I say. And I wouldn’t doubt that some of it might come off as sound bite-like as I’ve written PR stuff for my website over the years. This is the way I write and it isn’t going to change... even if I exorcise. Thanks for reading.
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that the people who have been following the movie for this or that long, and who've read the "novella" and know this and know that tiny detail about the work in question are always the ones who score these tickets, then they can recall with accuracy so many details of the movie they just saw....hmmm.
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I'm not one to usually make the "PLANT" cry, but that line was a huge red flag the second I read it.
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Just read your post a couple above this one. Regardless of your botanical status, you DO see how that one line about having been "Directed and written for the screen..." is completely unlike the rest of your writing stye in this particular article, right? The "I write how I write" isn't really an acceptable excuse. In fact, despite your insistence that you aren't going to change your writing style, you might just want to consider at least making it more consistent, at least within the same articles. If you're gonna write "all PR-y" then go ahead, but when you mix that in with an extremely "un-formal" (is that even a word?) writing style, it just ends up sounding bad.
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<p>Me make a mistake? Unpossible.</p> <p>By the way, years ago after reading The Mist I bought the audio book and listened to the whole thing on a long road trip to Syracuse in the middle of the night. It wasn't narrated, it was done like an old radio show with sound effects and actors "playing" the different roles. It was completely terrifying. Can't wait for Darabonts flick.</p>
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Me Grimlock like spooky on internet: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pkFWVMyIW9g
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That's good to know. I use the word Novella if the short story is more than 100 pages but less than 140. Does that make me a plant?
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I enjoy King's novels, although I haven't read them all, but am I the ONLY ONE HERE who sees how predictable and over-the-top this movie seems? I could be gravely mistaken, which I admit would be a wonderful surprise, but just like The Village, The Invasion, The Fog, even The Crucible... what with the cult fanaticism, fantasy-esque creature-horror, and the retro 80's f/x, sorry guys but I don't buy it for one minute, and I'm surprised that any self-respecting movie fan of a certain standard would consider this... then again, maybe I'm being too harsh.
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Oct. 11, 2007, 2:26 p.m. CST
NASTURTIUM!!!! ROOIBOS!!!! IVY!!!! ROSEBUSH!!!! EGG...er...pl
by BenjaminElial
I find it fairly depressing that every time someone shows up with a decent review from a pre-screening, they get shouts of 'plant' from at least a quarter of you wankers. Suddenly not wanting to sound like an illiterate, basement-dwelling, paste eater makes them a tool for the studios? I can tell you this: most 'plants' in Hollywood are early twenty-something interns who are sent ahead by producers to sit in with a test audience and skew the paper review after the screening (a big no-no but it happens anyway). People who come back and write something nice on AICN usually just saw something cool and want to share. And any so called AICN plants would also be interns or office pa's or low level marketing folks also in their early 20's. My point: they're not 'trying' to sound hip any more than than the people accusing them.
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Using the word "novella" does NOT make you a plant. It just makes you kind of lame. I mean, you don't actually check how many pages are in the books you read just so you can identify them correctly when discussing them, do you?
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Anybody remember King's fine online novella about a studio intern whose spoilerific dispatches eventually sprouted a carnivorous plant with a taste for bull semen?
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I don't think it's about the MPAA. It's about what "tests" better. Studios would release whatever cut they wanted to if they think it will get them the most money. It's just business for them, art be damned.
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He was brilliant in ROSE RED as "the pizza delivery guy." Maybe he could reprise the role in THE MIST and all subsequent adaptations of his movies.
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Oct. 11, 2007, 8:38 p.m. CST
So big spiderthing eats car w/people in it, then steps on market
by KongMonkey
Sounds dark enough for me. If its merely a cheesy closing space shot of the planet earth totally covered in the mist then it ain't dark.
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Haven't read it since Skeleton Crew was first published, but I remember it being bleak, and ...bleak. Mean and claustrophobic. I loved the glimpse of the huge creature at the end -- reminded me of Fritz Leiber's brilliant A Bit of the Dark World. I wish they'd adapt more Leiber.
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I really do.
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Were they similar enough to spoil each other? Also, just because the guy can actually write coherent sentences is no reason to call him a plant. If they change the ending, I bet Jane gets his guts fondled by one of the big ol' roaches, and the final scene is the kid left in the Jeep or whatever they were driving, all by himself, with the mist outside, completely surrounding him.
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the book has been out for what, 25 years for shit's sake?
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plant me river bitch, but im gonna see the mist whether you enjoyed it at your lil preview or not...more than likely ill be seeing it when its for rent at blockbuster, but ill see it none the less!
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It was Occurance At Owl Creek Bridge. Shit.
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probably fat and greasy, too. <P> get tom jane's comic
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Which was the last great horror writer? Granted, neither have done anything worth a shit in 10 years, 15 for King. King has suffered from allowing a long string of his material to be butchered on-screen. How many of us have waited for The Talisman to be made, only to wince at the thought of the shit being forced on us when King's stiff is made into a movie? And by the way, The Dark Tower stuff started out so good, only to take a left turn with the last two books. Who the fuck ever heard of an author appearing in his own fucking book? TDT is documentation of King's slip into shitty dementia.
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Yeah, Jack has never learned when to turn it off, or even when to turn it down. After he is gone, people will realize he is not the great actor he is thought to be now. Can you imagine the convoluted mess that will be the Dark Tower if it ever sees the big screen? It is so massive at this point, that it will be relegated to being a TV mini-series, which means toned-down, tepid slop instead of full-force King. Add to that a cast of characters almost as big as the fucking Star Wars universe, and it promises to be a confusing pile of shit. King needs to produce his own Talisman, then retire on top.
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Watch About Schmidt.
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can't wait for this.
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