How about the actors and actresses then? Well, some are good, some are bad and one is perfect. One of the good ones is Rob Lowe, who does a good job portraying the haunted Ben Mears. And, after all, it’s not his fault that they have screwed up his character’s background. Donald Sutherland and Rutger Hauer do their best, but unfortunately, they don’t reach all the way. Sutherland as Straker is just too much and Hauer as Barlow is just too little.
The perfect one is James Crowell as Father Callahan. If they ever do a movie version of The Dark Tower I hope they will bring him back as Callahan. He is just as I imagined him when I read Wolves of the Calla.
Unfortunately, too many of the actors and actresses are too young. Andre Braugher, Samantha Mathis and most of the co-stars are way too young, if you ask me. The movie itself looks very fresh and that is a good thing, but it seems that they wanted to make the characters fresh as well. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work. The characters in the book aren’t all young and good looking…
Oh, and then they go ahead and let Sandy’s husband blackmail Dr. Cody. It’s a really, really bad change that robs us of one of the strongest scenes from the book (and the original miniseries). Yes, you got it, the-shotgun-in-the-mouth scene.
Part 2
Part two is better than part one. Many more things happen and we get to see all of the vampires. The special effects are well done. What’s not so good is that now the vampires are smart. In the book they are more like zombies, but here they are the same as before they became vampires—they just have longer teeth. Two scenes show this failure in screenwriting very well. One is where Mike Ryerson visits Matt Burke and they start talking to each other about Mike’s scars. What is that all about? The other scene is when Ben is talking to Susan and she tries to convince him that it’s so much better to be a vampire than a living being. These two scenes are perfect examples of how a script should not be written!
Unfortunately, Ben’s past is revealed in its entirety as well. I say “unfortunately” because as I said earlier, they have made changes that don’t add anything to the story in any way and they could have used the one from the book without any problems.
The ending is quite a bit different from the book as well, and personally I can’t see why they would make that change…it’s not bad, but why not follow the book it’s supposed to be based on?
Lilja’s final words about ’Salem’s Lot (remake)
OK, I know that my review has been mostly negative, but I want to say that the reason I feel ’Salem’s Lot isn’t one of the best adaptations isn’t the actors’ faults (at least, not the ones playing the bigger parts); it’s mainly the script’s fault. Its writers have made so many silly and unnecessary changes from the book that it’s ridiculous, and I can’t for the life of me understand why. And even though I definitely recommend you tune in on June 20 to see for yourself, my guess is that you’ll get more out of watching the original.
****
Riding the Bullet
Posted: January 21, 2005
On Sunday (Janunary 23) you can see Riding the Bullet on USA Network. I saw it today and here is what I thought about it:
Prior to the release of Riding the Bullet there was a lot of speculation about if it would work even though Garris had expanded the story and changed it a bit. I, for one, was a bit skeptical, but since I have enjoyed Garris’s other King projects I was hopeful. As it turned out, I wasn’t disappointed. It’s true that the story in the movie has been expanded and changed a bit compared to King’s story, but I think that was necessary if the movie should survive. If you would have followed it one hundred percent it would have been good as an episode in a TV series (like Twilight Zone), but as a feature movie it wouldn’t have been enough. The backbone of the story is still intact and that is crucial. Without that it wouldn’t have worked either.
The feel of the movie is a bit surreal. We get a lot, and I mean a lot, of flashbacks of Alan’s life as he travels to his hometown to be with his mother as she is hospitalized. There are also a lot of Alan’s “this will happen” visions as well as his seeing things that aren’t really there. The mix of all these things makes the movie a bit surreal, as I said, but it’s in a good way. It’s an interesting, fresh way to drive the story of the movie forward though.
One thing I really like is that we get to see Alan’s thoughts in the form of a second Alan. In some scenes he stands and talks to himself and in others the “thought” Alan is sitting behind him, talking and commenting on things Alan or someone else does or say. A brilliant way to make Alan’s thoughts easy to access for the audience.
Alan is very well played by Jonathan Jackson, and George Staub and Jean Parker are played just as well by David Arquette and Barbara Hershey. Besides these, who are the main characters, you can also see Cliff Robertson as the farmer who gives Alan a ride and Erika Christensen as Alan’s girlfriend, Jessica Hadley. They all do a good job bringing their characters to life.
Garris has also put in some hints that this is based on a King story. First, you see a car that looks incredibly like Christine, which turns out to be George Staub’s car. Christine was a 1958 Plymouth Fury and in the movie they use one from 1960, but who’ll notice? Also, Garris himself plays a doctor at the end of the movie and his wife Cynthia (who has been in many of his films including the dead woman in the bath tub in The Shining) plays the nurse called Annie, a tribute to King’s Misery.
Lilja’s final words about Riding the Bullet
So, what do I think about Riding the Bullet? Well, I really liked it! It’s a well-done movie with a lot of surprises in store. I highly recommend that you watch it this upcoming Sunday!
****
Desperation
Posted: May 23, 2006
What can I say? Mick Garris has done it again. He has taken a King book, turned it into a movie and done a superb job. Desperation is one of the movies based on King’s books that is probably truest to the book itself. Garris’s version of Desperation is extremely close to the book. Some things are missing or shortened, but still, it’s very close.
Desperation is about a group of people who for different reasons (mostly the sheriff) end up in the small town of Desperation, where the dark force of Tak is present. For a very long time it has been trapped in an old mine, but now it’s out and it’s determined to not let anyone leave Desperation alive…
As early as April last year Garris showed the first fifteen minutes of Desperation at the World Horror Convention in New York. The reports from that showing were very positive, and after seeing it for myself I can only agree. Ron Perlman as Collie Entragian is perfect. He is just as I imagined him to be when I read the book…maybe he’s a bit slimmer than I imagined, but otherwise perfect.
The rest of the cast is also very good. In fact, there isn’t anyone who doesn’t deliver what’s expected of them. The biggest names are Steven Weber (from The Shining miniseries) as Steve, Annabeth Gish (from the X Files) as Mary and Matt Frewer (from Riding the Bullet and The Stand) as Ralph Carver.
The movie is just over two hours ten minutes without commercials, and that feels like a pretty good length for this one. Desperation in itself is sort of a slow book, so if the story had been stretched out it would have probably felt too long. I know that there are some King fans who feel that Garris stretched the story in The Stand or The Shining, and some of you will probably think so here as well, but given the type of story Desperation is I think it’s perfect.
What surprised me the most is that it’s so gory. If it had been done for the big screen or for DVD I wouldn’t have thought about it, but this is for TV and that usually means no gore. So, thank you ABC for not stepping in with the big scissors and instead letting Garris do his thing!
Lilja’s final words about Desperation
So, whatever you do, don’t miss Desperation when it airs tonight! I know it’ll be out on DVD later this summer, but trust me, you don’t want to wait that long.
****
Nightmares & Dreamsca
pes, Episodes 1 & 2
Posted: July 11, 2006
So, the first two episodes of Nightmares & Dreamscapes are set to air this Wednesday. First out are Crouch End and Battleground. Both episodes are very good, but my favorite this week is Battleground, but let’s start with Crouch End since that one is on first.
Episode 1: Crouch End
Here we get to meet Lonnie and Doris (played by Eion Bailey and Claire Forlani), who are in London and by coincidence are set to attend a dinner party at a friend’s house in Crouch End. When they try to get a cab to take them there they find out there is something special and frightening about Crouch End. But, as it often is in horror movies they, despite all the warnings, go there.
As they arrive they discover they have lost the address, and while they phone their friend to get it again they also lose their cab. Stranded, they try to find their way back by foot. As they get more and more lost, stranger and stranger things are starting to happen and before long they find themselves lost in another dimension…
Both Bailey and Forlani do a good job with their parts. Bailey is especially believable as he is getting stranger and stranger. A strong episode that has kept King’s feeling from the written story very well.
Episode 2: Battleground
Battleground is a very good episode…even one of the best in the entire series. Before I saw it I thought to myself that it would either be very good or very bad. This is the kind of story that can’t be done semi-well. Either all the toy soldiers would look pretty silly or they would be awesome. They look awesome!
Battleground tells the story of professional hit man John Renshaw (perfectly played by William Hurt), who after killing a CEO of a toy company receives a strange package. The package contains a complete set of toy soldiers…that’re pissed!
Hurt plays the role extremely well. It couldn’t have been easy to act against nonexistent toy soldiers, but he pulls it off brilliantly.
Another very effective thing about this episode is that there is no dialogue in the entire episode. No one says a word! This may sound like something negative when I say it here, but please believe me when I say that the effect it has on the story is phenomenal!
Lilja’s final words about Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 1 & 2
So, Nightmares & Dreamscapes premiers strong and the first two episodes are very good. If the rest of the series is as good, TNT will have a smash hit on their hands!
****
Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 3 & 4
Posted: July 18, 2006
Like last week, this week’s episodes are very enjoyable to watch. They are both so good it’s actually hard for me to tell which one is the best. So, this week it’s probably a tie between the two episodes. That said, I also want to say that the two episodes are very different.
Episode 3: Umney’s Last Case
Umney’s Last Case tells the story of Clyde Umney, a private eye in the late 1930s. He lives the life we all know from detective novels taking place during that era, filled with bad criminals, easy girls and no problems whatsoever—a very easy and likable life, in other words. Until the day God enters Clyde Umney’s office, that is…
God, in this case, is Sam Landry, a writer from our time. Sam writes detective novels and his most famous character is Clyde Umney.
The episode may seem a bit strange until all the facts are revealed. My guess is that it’s director Rob Bowman’s way of showing that Umney’s life really is nothing more than a fictional world, full of cliché.
Oh, and casting William H. Macy as both Sam and Clyde is brilliant! It makes the effect perfect!
Episode 4: The End of the Whole Mess
In The End of the Whole Mess we meet up with filmmaker Howie Fornoy (played by Ron Livingstone) who, with one hour left to live, will tell us about his brother Bobby (played by Henry Thomas) and how he found a way to wipe out all hate, violence and war on Earth. Unfortunately, he didn’t stop to think about the side effects…
The episode is done so it’s like Howie speaks to us through his camera, combined with flashbacks as he tells the story. This is a very effective way to tell the story. It’s also the way King told the story on paper.
Both Livingston and Thomas do a very good job in this episode and it’s very true to King’s story.
Lilja’s final words about Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 3 & 4
I’m going to say as I said last week: don’t miss this week’s episodes. Like last week, they are very good! After seeing half of the series I must say that it’s now obvious to me (I hope the ratings prove me right) that TNT has a hit on their hands!
****
Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 5 & 6
Posted: July 26, 2006
The third week of Nightmares & Dreamscapes is here. Today’s episodes are, like last week’s, pretty different. And unfortunately, the second episode for this week, The Fifth Quarter, is the weakest episode so far…
Episode 5: The Road Virus Heads North
The Road Virus Heads North is the story which has changed the most from the written one. Everything (almost) from the story is there, but they have also added some, the biggest thing being that Kinnell’s ex-wife now gets a much bigger part in the story. I don’t mind, but it really doesn’t add much to the story either. Its purpose though (I guess) is to make the episode a bit longer so that it will fill the entire hour it’s scheduled for. And it works.
Another thing is that they have added a reason as to why Kinnell might imagine what happens…if it’s not really happening, that is…
First, I had some reservations about Tom Berenger playing Richard Kinnell. I thought he might be a little too old (compared to how I imagined Kinnell when I read the story), but he pulls it off very well. He is very good in the role of a tormented author.
Aunt Trudy is also very nicely portrayed by Marsha Mason, and the painting that is the center of the whole story is very cool! I personally wouldn’t mind having it hanging over my bed…
Episode 6: The Fifth Quarter
The Fifth Quarter is a pretty unusual story for King, and it was originally published under the name John Swithen. It tells the story of Willie (Jeremy Sisto), who after being released from prison finds out from his dying friend that the friend has been involved in a robbery which resulted in one million dollars. The only problem is that the map to where the money is hidden is divided into four parts and distributed to all four people who participated in the robbery. Willie sets out to get the other parts of the map and also to get revenge on the people who killed his friend.
The reason this one is the weakest so far is probably because it’s pretty slow, which is probably a result of the fact that The Fifth Quarter is a story that is very hard to bring from the pages in a book to the TV screen.
It’s still very viewable though, and both Sisto and Samantha Mathis do a good job…but maybe this one was a bit too hard to translate.
Lilja’s final words about Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 5 & 6
So, after three weeks, I still think that TNT has a hit on their hands even though this week wasn’t as exciting as the previous two. What really surprises me is how all of the episodes really feel like they are part of a series…even though they are done by different directors and are quite different in themselves.
This week you should keep your eye out for a King book, The Tommyknockers, that makes some trouble for the main character…
****
Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 7 & 8
Posted: August 1, 2006
The last week of Nightmares & Dreamscapes is here. We have seen six episodes, and this time it’s the last two (Autopsy Room Four and You Know They Got a Hell of a Band) we’re going to take a closer look at. This is a pretty special week, if you ask me. One of the episodes has two of my favorite actors and the other is based on one of my favorite King stories. So here we go…
Episode 7: Autopsy Room Four
Autopsy Room Four is one of my favorite stor
ies by King, so I was a bit nervous to see what they had done with this one…
Since this is one of my favorites by King I must admit I was a bit disappointed. I thought it was a little too kind compared to the book. Maybe it’s because it’s on TV, but the entire “stroking back to life” part was very toned down, and in one scene Howard’s eyelid flinched. I don’t know if that was meant as a sign that he really was alive, but since he was supposed to be totally incapable of moving it looked more like a mistake by the filmmakers.
So, even though Autopsy Room Four is a favorite in written format, the movie version is a mediocre version of it. It’s enjoyable, but not the masterpiece it could have been.
Oh, and I really, really didn’t like the hysterical wife who ran around in the hospital!
Episode 8: You Know They Got a Hell of a Band
In You Know They Got a Hell of a Band we meet Clark and Mary Willingham (played by Steven Weber and Kim Delaney), who are lost and happen to stumble on a town called Rock and Roll Heaven, Oregon. The town isn’t on any maps, but they have a free concert every night, every day…
After some convincing, Mary reluctantly agrees to take a look at the town, something that proves to be the biggest mistake of her life.
Well, what can I say about You Know They Got a Hell of a Band? It’s very hard to go wrong with actors like Steven and Kim. They do their job perfectly, and with a good script it can only get better. If there is something I’d like to change it’s that the famous people should look a bit more like the originals. You see how it is, but you don’t quite believe it’s them…if you know what I mean. Still, it’s a very good episode.
Lilja’s final words about Nightmares & Dreamscapes, Episodes 7 & 8
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