Kevin's Watch

TheFallen wrote: Disliked The Stand intensely - Chockablock with 80s bratpack members.

...you say that like it was a bad thing.

Do not say a negative word about Molly Ringwald anywhere near me. I still watch everything she's in and have all her movies. And I mean all of them, even Fresh Horses and The Pick Up Artist!

TheFallen wrote: Worst two of 'em all?
Schwarzenegger's Running Man and
Maximum Overdrive

WHO LOVES YOU AND WHO DO YOU LOVE?!

You don't like the Running Man? Plus, it's a cool dance move as well!

Maximum Overdrive is awful but that AC/DC soundtrack rocks.

TheFallen wrote:Never read The Dark Tower septology....

I'd like to be flippant and say "don't bother", but the first 3 (arguably 4) books are very, very good. My favorite book is "The Waste Lands"...that's King at his peak. The last 3 (and especially the last 2) books are rush jobs that really lower the bar in terms of quality.

Man, I loved The Langoliers.

All the stuff you didn't like was movies...just do what I do and avoid SK movies. They tend to be awful.

The Dark Tower...You can't read King and not read it. Roland is the awesomest character in fantasy. Book 6 is terrible. Book 7 grew on me. There are terribly disappointing moments, but the whole grew on me.

It's a fine line though...one probably either hates the ending (and a couple of the final story elements) with a passion, or understands it's necessity (and the intent behind (most of) those potentially loathsome elements).

--A

Horrim Carabal wrote:

TheFallen wrote: Disliked The Stand intensely - Chockablock with 80s bratpack members.

...you say that like it was a bad thing.

Do not say a negative word about Molly Ringwald anywhere near me. I still watch everything she's in and have all her movies. And I mean all of them, even Fresh Horses and The Pick Up Artist!

Dude, you're talking with someone who believes The Breakfast Club to be the finest movie ever made (closely followed by Ferris Bueller's Day Off and Risky Business, of course). The Stand mini-series still sucks... it sucks as badly as St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles, in fact

Horrim Carabal wrote:You don't like the Running Man? Plus, it's a cool dance move as well!

Maximum Overdrive is awful but that AC/DC soundtrack rocks.

Even the god-like aural glory that is AC/DC could not save Maximum Overdrive.

Horrim Carabal wrote:I'd like to be flippant and say "don't bother", but the first 3 (arguably 4) books are very, very good. My favorite book is "The Waste Lands"...that's King at his peak. The last 3 (and especially the last 2) books are rush jobs that really lower the bar in terms of quality.

I'm aware that I need to add The Dark Tower series to my bucket list...

Avatar wrote:All the stuff you didn't like was movies...just do what I do and avoid SK movies. They tend to be awful.

...and so miss out on The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me? It's worth suffering sitting through Cujo four times if it means I get to have watched even just one of those beauties....

TheFallen wrote:The Stand mini-series still sucks... it sucks as badly as St. Elmo's Fire, Pretty In Pink and Sixteen Candles, in fact

I agree with you on St. Elmo & Pretty in Pink. But I actually like Sixteen Candles better than Breakfast Club. They're both 9/10 movies though so not much difference.

It's off topic I know but I'd be interested why you love one but hate the other?!

TheFallen wrote:

Avatar wrote:All the stuff you didn't like was movies...just do what I do and avoid SK movies. They tend to be awful.

...and so miss out on The Green Mile, The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me? It's worth suffering sitting through Cujo four times if it means I get to have watched even just one of those beauties....

Green Mile was ok as a movie. Shawshank was good, but they still changed too much stuff. Didn't bother with Cujo...knowing the boy lived at the end of it just ruined it anyway. The Stand mini-series sucked, Misery, they changed too much, Pet Semetary was awful...much worse than the book. I could go on.

--A

I like just about everything he's written. My favorite novel is 'Salems Lot. In my opinion he surpassed Dracula with this masterpiece.

Rabs wrote:I like just about everything he's written. My favorite novel is 'Salems Lot. In my opinion he surpassed Dracula with this masterpiece.

Barlow is a more interesting character to me than Dracula.

I did like Salem's lot. Dunno about Barlow being better...different yes, but Dracula was pretty good, especially if you take the time into account. Now its become almost a cliche, but back then it wasn't.

--A

still read the Mist every couple of years.

Salem's Lot was my first and remains a favorite.

Yeah, I love The Mist. I like quite a few stories outta Skeleton Crew...Also got a couple I hate though.

--A

the Mist movie was really well done. even improved the ending.

would like to see another go for a movie adaptation of Salem's Lot.

Tough one: but I'll say in order; The Shining, Salem's Lot, The Stand, It.

This was my ranked list in the DT thread. Almost all are DT related. I haven't read a lot of his early stuff, like The Shining, Pet Sematary, Christine, Carrie, etc.

1. Insomnia
2. It
3. DT5: The Wolves of the Calla
4. DT2: The Drawing of Three
5. DT4: Wizard and Glass
6. DT3: The Wastelands
7. Bag of Bones
8. Salem's Lot
9. DT6: Song of Susannah
10. Gerald's Game
11. Desperation
12. Dreamcatcher
13. Needful Things
14. The Stand
15. Hearts in Atlantis
16. DT1: The Gunslinger

I forgot to rank DT7: The Dark Tower when I finished. It would be near the bottom.

I do love me some Insomnia. And I enjoyed the hell out of Dreamcatcher. But I hated Gerald's Game (though I haven't read it since it came out).

Zarathustra wrote:
1. Insomnia
2. It
3. DT5: The Wolves of the Calla
4. DT2: The Drawing of Three
5. DT4: Wizard and Glass
6. DT3: The Wastelands
7. Bag of Bones
8. Salem's Lot
9. DT6: Song of Susannah
10. Gerald's Game
11. Desperation
12. Dreamcatcher
13. Needful Things
14. From a Buick 8
15. Christine
16. The Stand
17. Hearts in Atlantis
18. DT1: The Gunslinger
19. Rose Madder
20. DT7: The Dark Tower
21. Eyes of the Dragon

Edited to add Christine, Rose Madder, From a Buick 8, and Eyes of the Dragon. I kind of enjoyed Christine, I just thought it was WAY too long. The first 150 pages had me struggling to continue. I can't believe it took that long to introduce the love interest, Leigh Cabot. But after that it was interesting, and--unlike so many King books--it ended strong. However, this book had only one idea: a haunted car that made a teenager into a dick. How you stretch that into 500 pages is baffling.

I put my thoughts on the others in other threads, won't repeat myself here. I will say that I moved From a Buick 8 up on the list after reading Christine. That book was better than I gave it credit. It was a hell of a lot creepier than his "other car book."

DT 6 is way too high up the list. That was one of my least favourites.

Bag of Bones too.

--A

Isn't DT6 where they meet King? I thought that was a pivotal moment in the series, lots of fun to read. I also liked the faster pace and shorter length. It really felt like we were finally rushing toward the end.

Bag of Bones was one of the earlier books I read in my preparation for DT. It might move down if I'd reread it now. However, I felt it had the right pace, length, characters, and ending to make it a good book. I also liked how it spanned generations. Its historical aspect gave it a depth and mystery that made everything in it feel vital.

Aside from It, I think King has gotten much better with age. His 90s books have better construction and--dare I say it?--sophistication than his 70s-80s work, which were so often a single idea beaten to death.

The last few DT books.... *sigh*

Gerald's Game is not bad. The single most horrifying, depraved, and sadistic maniac in any King book is in there. Raymond Andrew Joubert.

Eyes of the Dragon was my first King book, and IMO it still stands up. Plus Flagg is in there!

It is my fave.

Waste Lands is my fave DT book.

Insomnia is my fave Crimson King book...compare the "Kingfish" in Insomnia to the poor bedraggled old man in DT7. How the mighty have fallen.

Pet Sematary is his most disturbing, actually "scary" book. Everyone likes The Shining because the main character slowly goes insane, but to me me Jack Torrance has a huge "I'm going insane!" sign over his head for much of the book. The main character in Pet Sematary goes equally insane (maybe more so) but it's so insidious that you don't realize he is hopelessly mad until late in the book and then you turn back chapters trying to find the place where he went batshit crazy and you missed it.

Tommyknockers is King's best "I was high" book.

Dead Zone and The Dark Half are the most underrated King books. The Shining and Bag of Bones are the most overrated.

Lisey's Story is the King book I waited the longest to read...almost 10 years from its appearance til when I read it. It was good.

Black House and DT7 are the most disappointing King books for me. Because I loved The Talisman, Black House being a steaming pile hurt more. By DT7 I knew I was going to hate it.

Salem's Lot is the King book that needed to be expanded the most. It's too short. Cycle of the Werewolf is second.

Under The Dome is the King book that needed to be shortened the most. Much too long.

11/22/63 is the best King book of his late period. Joyland and Revival were also good. Doctor Sleep too.

Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and Last Watch were...blah. Why did King waste time writing these?

I have more observations on books like Duma Key, Dolores Claiborne, Desperation, and Rose Madder, if anyone is interested.

I'm interested in Rose Madder and Desperation thoughts! I even have a thread for the former, if you're interested in mine.

I never read the Shining or Pet Sematary, because I'd already seen the movies. I know, the books are better. I'll get around to them. Salem's Lot is the perfect length. A book that leaves you wanting more is a good thing. Much better than a book you force yourself to finish.

I can't believe Black House is worse than Talisman, because I couldn't finish Talisman, it was so bad.

Zarathustra wrote:I'm interested in Rose Madder and Desperation thoughts! I even have a thread for the former, if you're interested in mine.

I never read the Shining or Pet Sematary, because I'd already seen the movies. I know, the books are better. I'll get around to them. Salem's Lot is the perfect length. A book that leaves you wanting more is a good thing. Much better than a book you force yourself to finish.

I can't believe Black House is worse than Talisman, because I couldn't finish Talisman, it was so bad.

Wow you hated The Talisman? Maybe it was the jarring Straub/King mix, where they switched each chapter. That was sort of off-putting for me at first. But I loved the story and the Territories and traveling between them. I did read it when I was young, like Eyes of the Dragon, and that might be why I look back on it (even during re-readings) so fondly.

Even if you hate the Talisman, Black House is worse.

You should really read Pet Sematary. More disturbing than the movie by far. Movie is good, though.