Important post regarding the Movie

[dlbpharmd]

A friend is buying the dvd set of Band of Brothers today, actually. We have talking about it the last few days.

I don't think you'll be disappointed. I really think BoB is one of the greatest movies I've ever seen.

[Loredoctor]

Must watch.

[Cybrweez]

I also loved BoB, the book and the series. But I'm a military history buff, so it wasn't that hard for me to enjoy it. The true test is when my wife couldn't wait to rent the next DVD b/c she enjoyed it. She doesn't have a clue about war, and doesn't care to have a clue, but she just loved the series, thought it was really well done. She actually wasn't a fan of Saving Private Ryan.

[Invain]

That post raised my hopes of the movie. I'm still anxious to see the result, though, as filming the Chronicles without destroying it's depth and subtle beauty is a really hard task.

As for the opening scene... I picture it that way - Covenant walking along a street (grey, rainy colours all around, people moving away from him with angry murmurs and whispers). Short retrospections (recurring memories, maybe), followed by the dialogue with the old man, then the car accident. Blackout, title screen. Covenant waking up on Kevin's watch surrounded by the astonishing beauty of the land - the contrast between both worlds visible at the very first glance.

[Guest]

I COMPLETELY agree with the points about Stephen King movies. Tommyknockers was such a let down, but so was the books ending. IT was about the same.

Spoiler

Flying through space passing a giant turtle husk was a little silly, but so is a giant spider thing in the movie.

There are a myriad of other translations of his books which I have mixed reviews on.

Carrie (Sissy Spacek) - Great
Christine - Great
The Shining (Jack Nicolson) - Great adaptation
The Shining (Mini-series) - OK
Tommyknockers - Great until the end
Langoliers - Thought it was a silly story to start
IT - Great until the end
Dreamcatcher - Fair, but only because the book was (kept very true)
Misery - Great
Cujo - Good
What did I miss?

If the members of this project can abapt TCTC in the same way The Shining did, I certainly wouldn't mind since it is afterall, a different media.

I am starting to get excited about this...but I also fear I may be gravely disappointed. I felt the same way about Runes. The jury is still out on whether or not my fears are justified. I trust SRD, but will still take the "withhold judgement until its done" tact. Luckily for the world, things in life don't often take into account whether or not I'll be disappointed!

[Myste]

There are a myriad of other translations of his books which I have mixed reviews on.

Carrie (Sissy Spacek) - Great
Christine - Great
The Shining (Jack Nicolson) - Great adaptation
The Shining (Mini-series) - OK
Tommyknockers - Great until the end
Langoliers - Thought it was a silly story to start
IT - Great until the end
Dreamcatcher - Fair, but only because the book was (kept very true)
Misery - Great
Cujo - Good
What did I miss?

Maximum Overdrive
Shawshank Redemption
Stand by Me
Green Mile
Pet Sematery

There's more, but those are the ones I can think of. Carrie was great, I thought, and Misery. Some of these didn't actually have much in common with the stories they were based on, but are great anyway.

Still, just to get back on topic, I think that anything's possible. I'm betting that the double whammy of Harry Potter & LOTR opened some doors for fantasy movies that couldn't have gotten made ten years ago. Ten years ago, you probably couldn't even get in the door with a treatment that had the word "elves" or "roynish" in it. The fact that the team working on TCTC has street cred is all to the good.

Still, who knows what could happen? The only thing harder than writing a script for the Chrons that works will be convincing a studio to produce a movie about a leperous rapist and his journey through a magical land filled with treasure berries. I for one respect anyone willing to take on the challenge.

[Warmark Jay]

Regarding Kubrick's version of "The Shining" - Stephen King has gone on record as saying he hates that film and feels that it completely deviates from the book. Ironically, most people who've seen it feel that (rightly so) it's one of the best and scariest horror films ever made. Like my post on "Band of Brothers" earlier, this is a great example of how a movie can reinterpret a book, and still work without doing a disservice to the novel or the intent of the writer.

Didn't SRD say on his site that he'd like to see Russell Crowe play Covenant? Or am I drinking too much diamondraught? He'd bring a great intensity to the part (think of Bud in "L.A. Confidential") - but he'd have to drop a few pounds...

[Lord Doom]

How is the shinning a great horror film?

[Warmark Jay]

How is the shinning a great horror film?

Of course there's no way to answer this without being subjective. Horror and humor are probably the most polarizing genres out there; you're either going to find something scary/funny or you're not. IMHO, "The Shining" ultimately works because it appeals to a base fear; being trapped. Part of this is due to Kubrick's camera work; he uses closeups and tracking shots throughout the movie, further heightening that sense of claustrophobia. The ghosts and creepy Jack are just the icing on the cake.

[Lord Doom]

I'll watch it again.

At the time I considered it a thriller, not a horror though.

[Myste]

Elevators full of blood don't count as horror?

[Warmark Jay]

And Shelley Duvall is pretty horrifying herself.

[Myste]

And Shelley Duvall is pretty horrifying herself.

Yeah. Jack Nicholson getting all crazy really was completely superfluous. The film was already scary enough.

[Warmark Jay]

Totally - I actually found that Jack was comic relief compared to those two dead girls.

I'm going to throw out an SRD word - visceral. That's the best way to describe a great horror flick - it's scary on a "guts" level. "Blair Witch", for instance, scared the bejusus out of me because I'm an avid backpacker. Being lost and stalked in the woods scares me on a very personal level, because I can completely identify with that kind of fear.

Put another way - a good horror movie makes you jump out of your seat. A great horror movie makes you want to crawl into the seat cushion and hide.

[I'm Murrin]

Still, just to get back on topic, I think that anything's possible. I'm betting that the double whammy of Harry Potter & LOTR opened some doors for fantasy movies that couldn't have gotten made ten years ago.

This is very true - it's interesting what is going on in this area; for example, I'm also keeping up with news on 'Chain of Dogs', a movie being developed by Stephen Erikson and some others based on one of the storylines in 'Deadhouse Gates'. It's very interesting the issues that come up. IMO Chain of Dogs could make an amazing movie if done right.
Making the Chrons would be a very different approach - for one thing, they're adapting the whole story. Chain of Dogs takes one small part of the Malazan saga, and they're still having to cut pieces out to fit it into a screenplay (they're only going to include two of the three major battles).
LotR has opened the way for many different movies - and not just those similar to the epic.

[Warmark Jay]

The first Narnia flick is set for release this Christmas. My brush with greatness story: apparently Brian Cox (Stryker from "X2", and the original Hannibal Lecter in "Manhunter") is set to voice Aslan - I had a chat with him a few years ago when I bumped into him at a Coffee Bean in L.A. Nice guy, and an interesting choice as he is not a big box office name (remember that ghastly Sean Connery dragon movie?). Two interesting things about the treatment of Lewis' books - seems to me that they are taking the LOTR route and not casting major players in the key roles, and they are making the movie for a wider audience - the Narnia books were written for kids, and from what I've seen of the artwork and the script the first movie will be considerably darker. I think the lessons of "Willow" were learned - make fantasy movies epic in scope, write 'em so that "grown-ups" will appreciate them (not a problem with Covenant!) and they'll do well.

[Nav]

Adding one to the film version of great books:

Band of Brothers - Phenomenal

My initial dread is starting to lift due to John Orloff's response. I'm beginning to think this can work, given the enthusiasm he (you if you are reading this) seem to have for the project.

I have an idea about how to incorporate the health sense of the land. During the beginning of the film, the color can be slightly muted and all of the vents in the theaters turned off. Then, when TC awakes on Kevins Watch, oxygen is pumped in and the color grows to full strength! How's that for Sensaround!

So I'm not the only person here who feels that way. SRD said that the people looking to make this film are long-term fans of TCTC, so I think we can assume they will try hard to do the books justice. He also said that the prospective producers are pitching the film to potential studios using the imagery of Revelstone and the land more and the trickier aspects of the book less. This will hopefully enable them to tackle the issues of leprosy, rape and TC's lack of loveability in their own way and not have to drop any of them from the book in order to secure funding. This may well explain the rather ambiguous and confusing snippets that are appearing on movie news at the moment.

It's easy to be cynical about an adaptation of a book you've grown to love, but I for one am prepared to give John Orloff and his colleagues the benefit of the doubt at least until we have something more concrete to base judgement on.

[dlbpharmd]

bump for Seafoam

[Seafoam Understone]

bump for Seafoam

For ME? How come... geez it's appreciated.
I'd be happy to finish my screenplay/adaptation to LFB but life keeps getting in the way and I realize that I'm writing it mainly for myself and sharing tid-bits with ya'll.
The recent news about the movie makes me want to jump forward and start working on the Second Chrons just so it'll be there and ready and all written up.
Thing is how the first Chrons will be treated cinematically remains to be seen... I read the first post here and like many others am feeling better about the approach to the original story and the people involved being LOVERS of the books which will go a long way.
Jackson loved LOTRs and that's why it was treated a hellva lot better than it could've been. Plus the man and other actors were more than willing to shoot extra/extended scenes knowing that fans will be wanting them.
Awesome I think that the Chrons will be handled similar.
Everyone knew that it would be a H-U-G-E project to begin with. LOTR's was no less and had much higher expectations because of the larger fan-base.
Still... we'll see what happens.
If anything we should be supportive of the film and hopefully our feedback here at the Watch may help be a guide.
Certianly the Dissections should be an invaluable guide for the filmmakers.
We'll see eh?

[Guest]

i realize this forum is dated but i couldnt resist. Anyone out there ever hear a little book called THE STAND!!!!??? IT WAS MADE INTO AN EXCELLENT 6 HOUR MINI-SERIES AND PUT MR SINESE ON THE MAP (a great actor).And while you folks were SK bashing did you stop and think that (most times) authors have absolutely no power to influence the way movie versions end.-- that the screenwriters job.