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Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
Down with the King: Our film critic discusses his lifelong Stephen King fandom
Still from 'The Life of Chuck.' NEON There have been so many movies made from King's work, yet filmmakers haven't scratched the surface of his prolific oeuvre. Even with the numerous miniseries and television movies, there always seems to be more King to consider. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Even King himself has taken a crack at adapting his work, something most authors shouldn't do. See his directorial debut, 'Maximum Overdrive' for a great example as to why. Anyway, King's screenplay for Mary Lambert's 1989 version of 'Pet Sematary' was pretty good, though the film was far less disturbing than what I'd consider his darkest book (and one of his best). As an added bonus, the movie gave us that awesomely absurd Ramones song. Advertisement King's most recent screenplay was for 2016's 'Cell,' an adaptation of the 2006 horror novel set right here in Boston. The movie was the second pairing of Samuel L. Jackson and John Cusack in a King story, after the superb '1408.' Fans of the novel were really mad about the movie's changes, but My affectionate reaction surprised me, as the book served as my reunion with King — I'd given up on him after several disappointments — so it holds a place in my heart. That uber-violent Boston Common opener won me over big time. I've read everything he's written since. Stephen King Photo by Alex Gotfryd/CORBIS via Getty Images While we're on the topic of books, some of my favorite novels include 'Night Shift,' 'The Stand,' 'The Eyes of the Dragon,' 'Different Seasons,' 'Pet Sematary,' and a few others I'll get to shortly. On the flipside, he hasn't written a book worse than 'It.' Here's a list of 10 movie favorites. You should know by now that 'The Shining' isn't going to be here. 'Misery' (1990) My favorite King book of all time became one of the best adaptations of his work. One of the best books about the art of writing and the evil of fandom becomes a showcase for Advertisement Sissy Spacek and Piper Laurie in the 1976 film "Carrie." Photo by FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images/FilmPublicityArchive/United Archives via Getty Images 'Carrie' (1976) Back when I was too young for R-rated movies, my two older cousins would act them out for us after they saw them. This was one of the movies they 'performed.' They were surprisingly thorough — their version of the PG-rated 'Mommie Dearest' deserved Oscars. When my aunt took me to see 'Carrie,' I pretty much knew the entire movie. And I still jumped at the end! I've never heard an audience scream louder in my entire movie-going career. My favorite De Palma, easily. 'Cat's Eye' (1985) and 'Creepshow' (1982) King wrote the screenplays for these short story-based movies that were directed by two of the best helmers of his work, Lewis Teague and George Romero. Romero tackled the better of the two, the gory and fun tribute to EC Comics that gave Ed Harris one of his first roles and had Ted Danson murdered by Leslie Nielsen. That particular tale disturbed me so much that I was almost sorry I snuck into that R-rated movie. Note I said 'almost.' Teague directed Drew Barrymore's second run-in with King (after 1983's 'Firestarter' — sue me, I like that one, too). Tied together by a cute cat, the film gives a shout out to 'Night Shift' by using two of its stories, 'Quitters, Inc' and 'The Ledge.' It's rather brutal at times for animal lovers, but the cat not only survives, it takes its revenge. For a far nastier tale of King kitty cat revenge, try 'Tales from the Darkside: The Movie.' 'Cujo' (1983) Teague also directed this tense, suspenseful adaptation of King's novel about a rabid killer St. Bernard. Dee Wallace and Danny Pintauro are trapped in a car while the rabid dog goes on a tear. Scared the hell out of me as a 13-year old — and I'd read the book! Thankfully, the movie changes King's ending. Advertisement 'Christine' (1985) You can make an argument that this is lesser John Carpenter, but you can't deny it's a damn gorgeous looking piece of widescreen filmmaking. Plus. the titular killer Plymouth Fury is really, really cool. It gets set on fire and still manages to run over its victim. Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, River Phoenix, and Jerry O'Connell in the 1986 film "Stand by Me," directed by Rob Reiner. Columbia Pictures 'Stand by Me' (1986) and 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994) 'Different Seasons,' the four novella book King wrote in 1982, produced two of the top five cinematic adaptations of his work. These two have a companion piece in 'The Life of Chuck,' as they're also not horror films. Before Rob Reiner met Annie Wilkes, he directed this bittersweet, controversially profane tale of four boys who take a trip to see a dead body. All four actors — Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton, Corey Feldman, and the late River Phoenix — give excellent performances, and I haven't met a guy yet who didn't identify with one of their characters. (I'm a combination of Wheaton's King stand-in and Feldman's brutalized kid.) Before he directed his almost-as-good take on 'The Mist,' Frank Darabont made the Tim Robbins-Morgan Freeman prison movie that keeps topping the rankings at IMDb. Not bad for a movie that originally flopped at the box office. Freeman should have won that Oscar. Christopher Walken in 'The Dead Zone.'' Paramount Pictures 'The Dead Zone' (1983) My favorite David Cronenberg film gets dismissed by his fans as a mere work for hire, but he gets a career-best performance out of Christopher Walken. Better than any actor, Walken nails the heartbreak of so many King characters possessed with a power they do not want. It's also a perfect movie to watch in today's political climate. Though it's Cronenberg's tamest movie, he still reminds us he's the king of body horror. Those scissors — shudder!! Advertisement 'The Dark Half' (1993) Romero directed Timothy Hutton in a dual role in this adaptation of one of my favorite King books. Both book and movie require a large suspension of disbelief, but once again, King traverses the mind of a writer with fascinating results. Inspired by his Richard Bachman revelation, King gives Romero plenty of gory mayhem to put onscreen. I didn't think the director could pull off the novel's most disgusting moments, but he does. He even outdoes Hitchcock in the murderous birds department. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
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Miami Herald
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Miami Herald
Cat in shelter is more like a dog ‘in all the best ways' — and a ‘bit of a diva'
A cat with a dog-like personality (and a scarily popular name) is looking for a new home that will appreciate her canine ways in Texas. Meet Church — yes, the same name as a famous cat in Stephen King's 'Pet Sematary' — a cat who only cats when it's convenient for this little beauty, and who is itching to be someone's next best friend. 'Church is a gorgeous, fluffy gray girl with a heart full of adventure and a serious love for attention,' the South Plains Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) in Lubbock said in a May 15 Facebook post. 'This spirited feline is anything but ordinary — she's more dog than cat in all the best ways. She loves going on little adventures (on a leash, of course), being carried around like the queen she is, and getting endless pets, scratches, and lap time.' Of course, she still does all the lovable things cats do, which include warming laps and making biscuits, and she hates confinement (she prefers a leash). 'She's also a bit of a diva and wants all your affection to herself, so she'll need to be the only cat in the home. But with a personality as bold and affectionate as hers, she's all the feline you'll need,' the shelter continues. 'If you're looking for a fluffy best friend who acts a little like a dog, loves hard, and explores life with you — Church is your girl.' Currently, Church isn't listed on the shelter's website, so for more updates, check out the shelter's Facebook page.
Yahoo
21-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
'The Monkey': Osgood Perkins says Canadian Tatiana Maslany is the best actor he's had in a movie
What The Monkey (now in theatres) proves is that Osgood Perkins was the perfect person to craft an adaptation of Stephen King's short story, as someone who's not just well-versed in the horror genre, but is able to lean into the intricacies of King's writing, particularly his humour. Starring Theo James, Tatiana Maslany, Elijah Wood, Colin O'Brien and Christian Convery, this film is absolutely outrageous, leaning into the fun to entertain from beginning to end. "From the day that I was given the material, it sort of came with a script that existed that was very serious and I was like, 'This feels totally wrong,'" Perkins told Yahoo Canada. "It's about a toy monkey, look at its face, you can't do a straight movie about that." "I always loved the sort of wry comedy of something like 'Misery' or obviously 'Creepshow' that felt very kind of fun. And the thing about Stephen King is that he popularized horror as entertainment. ... Not horror to make you feel bad, but horror to titillate you, to keep you turning pages, to keep you buying the next book, ... to keep you delighted. And so the delight that comes for me with Stephen King was essential to have running through the picture." The Monkey introduces us to teen twins Hal and Bill (Christian Convery), being raised by their mother Lois (Tatiana Maslany) after their father left them, or "made like an eggs and scrambled," as Lois says in the film. Interested in discovering more about their father, who worked as a pilot, the boys find a toy monkey that belonged to him. As the boys find out, when you wind up the toy and the monkey's drum sticks start banging down, there's a deadly result, which leads to the boys trying to destroy and get rid of the toy forever. Fast forward 25 years, now these boys are adults (both played by Theo James), but estranged. Hal has his own son, Petey (Colin O'Brien), who he only sees once a year. When the father-son duo set off on their scheduled time together, Hal and Petey are faced with the threat of the monkey. In addition to the fun and the gore, the elements of the story about parenthood were particularly important for Perkins. "I'm a father of three. It's something that really matters to me. It's something that I've dedicated a lot of my life and energy and focus and heart towards, and also felt like it was something that resonates through King's work all the time," Perkins said. "And in wanting to honour the guy, the man, the master, ... it felt important to kind of be in the vibe more than more than to hold the page open with one hand and type with the other." "It became more about being inspired by him and kind of reflecting back to him as the impact he's had. ... 'Pet Sematary' is in such a horrible, horrible, horrible book, in the best way, ... because it's about this sort of awful thing about being a parent and how you deal in the most ghastly way. So I wanted to foreground that. It felt like it was the most respectful I could be of him, was to kind of pick up on what seems important to him." While the movie is filled with great performances, Maslany stands out, both for the audience and with Perkins himself. "At the risk of other actors that I know and have worked with, she's the best actor that I've had the privilege of having in a movie," Perkins said. "We had slipped this weird movie Keeper, that comes out in October, ... in between Longlegs and The Monkey, ... and realized, oh man, this is a person who can do anything." "She's like a radio dial. ... You can either tune it way to the other side or way to this side, or just a little bit to get it clear, or fuzzy. And she's kind of limitless in what she's able to do. And such a good energy and so focused, but also ridiculous. She's a star player, that's for sure." And when it comes to the twins in the story, particular as adults, it's an example of the interesting way The Monkey shifts horror movie tropes to service this story, and also to give the movie its comedic edge. "A lot of what I'm doing in these movies is kind of referring to the horror genre ... from a distance," Perkins said. "We did it in Longlegs, ... it's kind of like a pop serial killer movie, and then in this one was kind of like, how can we populate this world with things that feel like horror things." "And one of them is twins, ... but then kind of like regular Joe guy twins is not always seen. And it felt like fresh territory." But one change from King's work that was quickly notice by fans was the fact the the monkey has a drum, not cymbals like the book. While Perkins has stated that it had to do with Disney owning the rights to cymbals, it's a change he ultimately liked for his film. "In the world of being a creative person, or an artist, ... limitations are such a benefit," Perkins said. "When you're told it can't be this thing, it really sort of reprograms your mind in the best way. It opens up so many different windows and doors and ways of seeing things." "And from the get go, when I was told it can't be the cymbals, we sort of had a moment like, ... everyone's going to expect it to be the cymbals. But then you realize, oh the drum is percussive, it's rhythmic. ... It's a drum roll, it's all of these things that are going to be so much better for pace and for energy and for sound. ... Thanks Disney, you can keep your cymbals."
Yahoo
19-02-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
A24's ‘Bring Her Back' Trailer Teams ‘Talk to Me' Filmmakers With Sally Hawkins
'Bring Her Back' is almost here. The sophomore feature from YouTube creators-turned-filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou arrives in theaters this summer courtesy of A24. And the brothers' follow-up to 2023's 'Talk to Me' looks every bit as blood curdling as their debut. Watch the brand-new trailer below. The official synopsis reads, simply, 'A brother and sister uncover a terrifying ritual at the secluded home of their new foster mother.' The brother and sister are played by Billy Barratt and Sora Wong, with the foster mother played by the one and only Sally Hawkins. Other cast members include Jonah Wren Phillips, Sally-Anne Upton, Stephen Phillips and Mischa Heywood. 'Bring Her Back' was written by Danny Philippou and Bill Hinzman and produced by Samantha Jennings and Kristina Ceyton. It seems to capture all of the things that made 'Talk to Me' so special – the mixture of modernity and ancient evil, from the fresh point-of-view of young people (made by actual young people, so the characters in the movie don't feel hopelessly out-of-touch from the real world). That final shot of one of the characters in a circle that wouldn't be out of place in 'Pet Sematary,' really sets the mood. In addition to 'Bring Her Back,' the Philippou brothers are also working on a 'Talk to Me' sequel for A24. A24 will release 'Bring Her Back' exclusively to theaters this summer. The post A24's 'Bring Her Back' Trailer Teams 'Talk to Me' Filmmakers With Sally Hawkins appeared first on TheWrap.
