So I am JEALOUS! But mostly I am psyched for The Mist, I really believe in this project. Quint's set reports should be DVD extras, they really got me excited about this movie. Not in an "expecting the moon" way, just in a "Damn this sounds cool!" way.

His stuff on the Shield, by contrast, is among his best.

Sorry for that post. By the way, nice review, as always.

I just find it weird that he identifies with depictions of his stories told clumsily in broad strokes.

As a writer, the dude was awesome. He lost me at Tommyknockers and never really won me back, but all the shit before that ranges from good to classic. But as a critic of films of his stuff, he's pretty worthless.

I will definitely see The Mist. I have high hopes.

It's just he really is an icon. He was the first author I really loved. When I was in Jr High and High School I read those short story collections and some of the novels over and over.

I never would have guessed the day would come when I wouldn't know or care when a new book came out. Ah, well. Even the worst haters have to admit he had an amazing run.

By your reasoning, it's either impossible for, say, a black man in America to be a racist or perfectly ok for him to be a racist.

And on King- whoever above said that King lost him with The Tommyknockers is kind of right. He certainly was in decline, but the absolute unforgivable sins are the Last 2 books of The Dark Tower.

He really lost me with the patronisng "constant reader" shite that polluted the end of that deeply anticlimatic bunch of shite. It made Bag of Bones look masterful.

Did Bassy get banned?

It also seems you are confusing extremism and the mainstream. The death threats were issued by a small and vocal minority. A christian point of comparison would be the abortion extremists that threaten clinical staff and are routinely condemned by most church figures. You would not, surely, try to state that the pro-life christian lunatics represent every christian out there, would you?

The Cameron christ discovery is an asinine comparison- there has been plenty of speculation on Jesus the man before. Furthermore, Cameron is white and, presumably, christian. I will bet my bottom dollar though that there are some fundamentalists out there that have condemned him in the strongest possible language.

Sonic, said Complacent- but he meant complicit, and all the examples he listed are historical fact. In his post he said they were either complicit or responsible, and although not responsible for the Holocaust- were complicit. Most religions do not come out well from this period of history.

Picking this example does not actually help your argument as it deflects from you conveniently ignoring the other atrocities (and he didn't even list all of them) that can be directly attributed to christianity.

It is naive to say that the current Holocaust denial conferences are wholly islamic affairs- there are plenty of western holocaust deny-ers. And are you seriously suggesting that there is no political motive for the conference?

All I'm really trying to say is that both islam and christianity have periods of history that they can be ashamed of, and extremists line up on both sides of the aisle.

Believe in god- allah or Mr. Fucking Peanut for all I care, but I wish that people would use reason when sounding, rather than prejudice.

David Khoresh...There you go. One lone 'Christian' nut. He wasn't reading the Koran, but the Bible in his tarpaper and flammable oily rag-based compound in the desert.

Have you listened to Pat Robertson...like EVER? Probably not, because his brain and mouth is like a softly chuckling insanity factory, and most people switch off after his 'faith' causes him to say things like : 'Katrina was God's Wrath against the Homosexuals'.

I can buy a Christian going a little psycho, many of the fundamentalists out there are already waiting with baited breath for the destruction of the planet so they can point to their book filled with millenia old gibberish written by nomads who didn't understand most types of basic science and screech 'TOLD YA SO!!'

Krazy Khristians! LOL! *sigh*

One word as to why NO ONE trusts Stephen King's flicks: Sleepwalkers. That movie smelled like a mustardy mephitic fart of a dying hobo. (Props to the bindle carrying hobos, because y'all STANK.)

Secondly, shut up about listing atrocities- is there a time limit on when something ceases to be an atrocity? so after 25 years "atrocity" is downgraded to "tragedy", after 50 becomes "disgrace" and after 150 becomes "irrelevant". THe fact they happened at al makes them as valid for the argument as those in the last 25 years.

Christ, I was asking for a bit of tolerance and clarity of thought, but that was clearly too much for you.

I loooove the running man. Fat opera dude is hysterical.

Christians invented the Auto da Fe...Um, the Spanish Inquisition, the Church's Blind Eye to the Holocaust, Burning free thinking women for having 'moles', 'consorting with old splitfoot', or 'knowing math' during the Salem Witch Trials (Again, those were extremist Christians behaving like morons.) In fact, based on THAT alone, you could say the most special kind of scapegoating Christian nonsense is WHOLLY American in nature.

Extremists in the Muslim culture are just as whacky, in fact they'll go hog-wild about something as idiotic as a woman being able to drive.

But the argument I thought was: It's 'ridiculous' or 'nonsense' to think Christians could behave this way. Hey, Judas was a Christian, right?

James Cameron's faith escapes me, but, as far as I know big Hollywood Mel Gibson is a 'Christian' who got hammered and sprayed invective about the world-running Jews, yeah? He also kind of painted them as the classic seething hissing bastards of those old timey Passion Plays.

Most Islamic folks I know (I can count them on one hand) don't throw rocks at anyone, and roll their eyes and shake their heads at the weirdos who do that crap. Most Christians I know, my family included, shake their heads in sadness at the weirdos like that dude who pickets gays' funerals and the like.

You know, I challenge you to make your point without calling the person arguing with you names. Try it, you'd garner a LOT more respect from folks who consider themselves 'reasoned' folks.

BTW, simpleton, Swamp Donkey= ugly, whereas from the context you clearly meant stupid. So, plankton, got any more pearls of wisdom for me?

The reason you are struggling with the cameron example is that you, personally, find it offensive. Let me ask you this, can you honestly not see why it is more likely to cause offense for someone outside of your faith to find "evidence" (Geniune or otherwise) that questions one of the founding tenets of your beliefs, than a member of your faith (in name only or whatever) finding the same thing. It looks (even if it isn't) like an assault on your religion by others, and that is why it is more offensive.

I was attempting to clarify things you missed the point on, not start a flame war. Interesting that you have ignored all the clarifications and focused on one aspect that is an irrelevance to the argument.

More to the point, shitbag, you bought up the Cameron "discovery".

As I said before, believe in God, Allah, Budda, or Mr. Fucking Peanut- I couldn't give less of a toss, but come over self righteous. Most, if not all, (I'm not too clued up on shit like Hinduism, so I don't know) religions have aspects that can be considered shameful, so try removing the blinkers.

Rickey, that has to be the coolest thing I've heard in days

http://tinyurl.com/2hrheh- definition of Swamp Donkey.

For an obnoxious, self-righteous twat you sure don't know you're pop- culture references/ slang.

But, I'll say that because I don't believe in that stuff, I can objectively say that believers are a little kooky at times, and behave badly at others, and such behavior is PERFECTLY acceptable as a target for satire, commentary, etc.

I don't feel bad for Christians who get their throats cut in a Muslim country who've basically got a monopoly on who does what where...and they TELL you they'll cut your head off if you do that there, and you do it anyway...very brave, and hopefully worth it to you. I don't feel one way or another for people taking the completely calculated risk of worshipping in nations where said worship could result in your own death.

Do you feel bad for David Padillo? The so-called 'dirty bomber'? He was speaking to Muslims about terrorism, hell, maybe even plotting extremist acts that would have been perfectly acceptable in the nation that slits the throats of Christians, but here, we've pretty much said we will ship your ass out and torture you if you deal in such extremist behavior. Fact is, the guy wasn't charged with anything for a LONG time, and was found innocent of what they did arrest him for. If I'm to be asked to be outraged by Muslims behaving like morons against innocent Christians, I implore YOU to be outraged when our own country behaves that way.

Making this again about me calling you foolish for your beliefs is really not what I wanted to discuss, or even argue about, because nobody wins when you just say that the person's an idiot. I may come off as pompous or snobbish or whatever, but you know what? I'm going to use my vocab words, I'm going to even use critical thinking and reason to determine what's real and what's phony. Jesus, and most of the tall tales in the Holly Bibble are um, outlandish and difficult to believe for me.

You do have a valid point about Muslims as villains recently...However, you may not have seen the second season of 24, I guess. Uh, South Park also made it look like Osama had a one inch dick. (Hilarious, by the way.) Yeah, nobody went and burned down Comedy Central then, either.

I do regret the pwnd thing though (sorry Fred). That was childish, and I hang my head in shame.

Not too bright are you?

Dude, liberal isn't an insult, and I stand on what I said. If the law says, 'We behead Christians' and a Christian waves his dick at them singing 'Jesus Loves Me' at the top of his lungs and gets beheaded, I feel about as bad as I do when I see a dad get whacked in the nuts on America's Funniest Home Videos by his nearsighted Nerf bat wielding son. Oof! Says, I, but hell, we ALL saw it coming.

Try saying a Hindu prayer in Congress, man, you'll get some whackadoo screaming for Jeebus at the top of his lungs, and while I can say 'Shame! Shame on you for your intolerance, Krazy Khristian!' deep down it would be disingenuous because I saw it coming.

Again, to you, calling me a liberal or maligning 'liberal values' or the stereotype is still namecalling. Bring the facts, bro, and stick to your guns...Is the past 'irrelevant'? or is it 'irrelevant when it doesn't fit into this myopic argument'?

First, one doesn't choose to be black, yellow, white, red, or green. One DOES choose to worship the flying spaghetti monster, the multi-armed blue guy, or cows. So, your argument, while volitile and meant to equate religion with race, doesn't. So, BZZZT. Try again.

Second, Freddy, you don't need the word 'equal' if you're going to use the equal sign. Now, who doesn't 'know shit'? I know that. And I didn't intend to equate shouting down that poor Hindi to getting one's throat slit, I was equating doing things a person knows will cause outrage, and then playing pretend that someone rebuffing you is a shock. Both situations? The guy involved should have seen it coming. You didn't, I'll point out, mention the David Padillo case. Good for you, because that does HURT the equation doesn't it?

Is yelling at a guy the same as slitting his throat? Nah, but it is a tad hypocritical to say that we're a nation of 'Freedom of Religion' and we do that kind of thing to fellow whackadoos.

Trey and Matt, as you call them, would also be poking fun at a group that's notorious for setting shit ablaze with homemade bombs. Probably best not to go ahead and give them a reason to, eh? That's not 'cowing to terrorism' that's 'recognizing a crazy person with flammable chemicals as dangerous'. But now, Christians, their belief system is based on forgiveness, and trust that God's justice prevails over Man's. Or, isn't that enough? Practice, practice, practice what you preach, preach, preach. I couldn't and so therefore, left the religion foisted on me at a young age. Forgive, Freddy, no?

I've, as I stated above, read the Bible a few times. All the way through. Begat by begat, and found nothing touted as 'God's Will' that couldn't be disputed by simply investigating the context of the single-sentence moral equivalency most Christians endeavor in.

Yawn.

Anything else? My point is: Christians can be whackanuts, and it's okay to portray that in film. Muslim extremists are whackanuts, and it's perfectly fine to mock them, too. All religions are equally strange and arcane ways of controlling thought, no matter what the so-called benefits might be.

"Think for yourself and question authority." - Doctor Timothy Leary

Irony was intended, there.

Also, I have to say its good to see Darabont has done what I expected he would. I hope the guy performs miracles at the box office with this film.... and is given Jackson-esque control over a Dark Tower series of films... with or without Abrams.

One more thing. Anyone who doesn't like Stephen King, totally misses the point of it - and could probably do with reading more of his work.

Better to use examples of Muslims blowing up bookstores in America.

Oh, wait...

The nutbag quotient in Muslim countries is so high because many of the countries themselves are so fucked up and corrupt, where social progress stopped somewhere around the 1600's and then regressed to the Middle Ages. Add to that the double whammy of colonialism followed by a victimization culture where EVERYTHING is blamed on colonialism, and you have a seething pot of ripe radicalization material.

There was actually an article in the New Republic a few years ago where they talked about radical Christian sects in Africa taking over the role Islamists have today over the next century -- and pretty much due to the same factors.

Maybe. Yeah, probably, actually. I might have a slight disassociation streak. But if I'm a Christian in a fundamentalist lunatic Muslim country, I'm hardly 'innocent' at that point. My grandfather on my father's side, his extended family by marriage, fine upstanding German citizens, were found by their neighbors to be half-Jewish or nearly so. They had the good sense to get the fuck out of Germany, because they weren't soldiers, but innkeepers and bread-makers. If they stayed to 'make a point', or to 'make a stand' more power to them, but this would be a situation where they made a sacrifice with their eyes WIDE open, and a decision for themselves. They weren't 'innocent' of the knowledge of the consequences. They were, guilty of nothing, to be sure, but surely not unaware of the danger or the likely result of staying.

If this were like, the first time a religious crackpot attacked another religious person for their beliefs, it would be shocking and garner a response from me a little more than 'Damn, that's some fucked up shit.', and then I get on with my life. But Doc, would you REALLY have me pretend to give a shit about people that I really don't see myself feeling bad for? Talk about hypocrisy on my part. I won't go into the fact that Bloop said 'Gays Choose Gayness', because nothing I say to refute it will be heard, I'm sure. The conversation, if this quacking can even be called that, is about is it okay to portray extreme Christians as villains, or something.

Bloop, you're great, man. Just keep thinking that insults = equal (sic) winning an argument, pal. Your Retard of the Year trophy is...RIGHT BEHIND YOU! LOOK OUT! (Nine bucks says the fucker fell off his chair whipping around to dodge the imaginary trophy.) Bloop, learn to spell, and perhaps learn too the difference between they're, there, and their while you're at it. Until then, adults are speaking, so you should pipe down, pipsqueak.

It's okay to make a Christian whackjob a villain, it's okay to make a Zen Buddhist a villain, it's just fine to make a Muslim cleric or Shintoist a villain, because it's fiction, and not reality, though it may paint an uncomfortable picture for those who watch it.

Reason wins: FATALITY.

Because I said that Christians understand the dangers and die defending their right to worship, and I'm not surprised at that in the least, and neither should they or anyone else be surprised, you think that I think it's okay to kill a gay person in an Islamic country.

Okay, no. It's not okay to kill anyone, nor do I condone killing of gays, again, nice potboiler hot-button argument, but even if I did hate gays, would that change the logic of my argument? No.

If we both used ANY logic, much less my own logic, you'd equate the deaths of OPENLY gay people protesting outside of a Mosque in Iran with me not being wholly surprised, or feeling all that bad for people making a stand and sacrificing themselves because they know the risks.

*sigh* I hope that clarifies it, though I know how you guys love your broad strokes and primary colors. Life is nuanced, purchase a helmet.

For Bloop: Yeah. You're not 'innocent' in the sense that you're just minding your own business, silently worshiping under a bed or in your prayer closet (The way the Christ recommends), they MUST be readily aware that their actions have repercussions. They are innocent in that they have the right to live in whatever way they want, but once they do make that decision (a noble one, to be sure) they definitely understand the risks of living that way when all others intend on killing you. Our own country was founded on the fact that the men who rebelled KNEW that to fail meant death.

What are you trying to get me to say? The indians should have moved? That's for them to decide for themselves. (history says that after a lopsided protracted battle, they decided to move, by the way) Are YOU suggesting we give them the country back? That w