Dreamcatcher .. What the hell happened?
MSey
monumental waste of my time was Salems' Lot, you know, the TV thing that
starred David Soul. It was so bad I didn't watch it. Mind you, I picked it
up at a video store, on sale, in the nineties. It was made in the seventies
or early eighties (I think).
Dreamcatcher is so bad it's hard for me to know exactly what the problem
with it is. (I cannot believe I'm saying this about anything SK!) There
are some really beautiful images, not all the acting is awful. Morgan
Freeman is incapable of "awful". Michael Moore (is that his name?) gives a
good enough performance. It has all the SK elements that make for a good
tale: kids, a "special" person, adults who've been friends since they were
kids, monsters, good guys, bad guys, powerful guys, animals (Okay, I know
but I liked the bit about all the animals running through the forest
together to get away from ... whatever.), a great save in the end. It's all
there. In fact, it reminded me of "It" if "It" had gone terribly, terribly
wrong.
I can't believe I disliked it as much as I did. And that's how I spent
Halloween. I taped Dreamcatcher to watch on Halloween.
I'm disappointed.
Murielle
Brian
>I'm disappointed.
You should have done what I do on Halloween - rent Fright Night (1985).
You're right though, Dreamcatcher is a pretty unremarkable movie. It's
all over the road. (I haven't read the book yet and probably never
will, to be honest. There's better King stuff available to waste my
time with than that! :)
-B.
warp
"MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:dk97mp$nf9$1...@news.ucalgary.ca...
> The last time I saw a film adaptation of anything SK that was such a
> monumental waste of my time was Salems' Lot, you know, the TV thing that
> starred David Soul. It was so bad I didn't watch it. Mind you, I picked
it
> up at a video store, on sale, in the nineties. It was made in the
seventies
> or early eighties (I think).
>
books. I think I could live with Firestarter but everything else was just
pure crap, topped by the mini series of The Stand and of course
Tommyknockers. I really can't understand how SK could possibly approve them
to make one of the worst movies of all times from one of the best books of
all times (yeah I know, that a lot of you disagree on this point).
> Dreamcatcher is so bad it's hard for me to know exactly what the problem
> with it is. (I cannot believe I'm saying this about anything SK!) There
> are some really beautiful images, not all the acting is awful.
After I saw the first minutes of DC I thought, "Oh my god how long is this
movie?" because at first it was very close to the book. But then it turned
out that they left out, or screwed up the best parts of it.
Morgan
> Freeman is incapable of "awful". Michael Moore (is that his name?) gives
a
> good enough performance.
Morgan Freeman is an excellent actor, there's no doubt about that. But if
there's ever been a miscasting, this has to be it alongside with Gary Sinise
(sp) as Steward Redwood and Molly Ringworm as Francis Goldsmith. Did I got
that wrong or did they even change his characters name from Kurtz to
something like Curtis?
It has all the SK elements that make for a good
> tale: kids, a "special" person, adults who've been friends since they
were
> kids, monsters, good guys, bad guys, powerful guys, animals (Okay, I know
> but I liked the bit about all the animals running through the forest
> together to get away from ... whatever.), a great save in the end. It's
all
> there. In fact, it reminded me of "It" if "It" had gone terribly,
terribly
> wrong.
>
A great saving in the end? I hope you mean only the book and not the movie
where they completely screwed up the end. I think the change of the end was
most disturbing and the other thing was that they left out the subtle humor
of the book. I only say "bacon". :-)
> I can't believe I disliked it as much as I did. And that's how I spent
> Halloween. I taped Dreamcatcher to watch on Halloween.
>
I'm fully with you here. For the better part of the movie I was remembering
the book and could not stop (virtually) shaking my head.
OK, Halloween is not such a big deal over here and I was busy anyway having
Spanish lessons. But I'm sure would have enjoyed the book a good deal more.
I've just started to read the Dark Tower story over completely again. being
in the middle of The Gunslinger.
> I'm disappointed.
>
Aren't we all.?
sigue al conejo blanco...
Steffen
lrn2swim
> >
> Never saw that one, but in general SK movies are pretty bad compared to
his
> books. I think I could live with Firestarter but everything else was just
> pure crap, topped by the mini series of The Stand and of course
> Tommyknockers.
um, Shawshank? The Shining? Stand By Me? The Green Mile? Carrie? there
are alot of great movies based on king's books.
MSey
"Brian" <theorigina...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:1130903729.7...@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> >And that's how I spent Halloween. I taped Dreamcatcher to watch on
Halloween.
>
> >I'm disappointed.
>
> You should have done what I do on Halloween - rent Fright Night (1985).
I'm really not a horror fan. I'm an SK fan. So, every Halloween I watch
one of my SK tapes or read a book--something SK-y.
> You're right though, Dreamcatcher is a pretty unremarkable movie. It's
> all over the road. (I haven't read the book yet and probably never
> will, to be honest. There's better King stuff available to waste my
> time with than that! :)
>
> -B.
Indeed! I talked about it being like "It" (gone wrong). I've been meaning
to watch "It". Now I wish I had. ;-))
Murielle
MSey
"warp" <wa...@abacho.de> wrote in message news:dka69l$fb7$1...@online.de...
>
> "MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> news:dk97mp$nf9$1...@news.ucalgary.ca...
> > The last time I saw a film adaptation of anything SK that was such a
> > monumental waste of my time was Salems' Lot, you know, the TV thing that
> > starred David Soul. It was so bad I didn't watch it. Mind you, I
picked
> it
> > up at a video store, on sale, in the nineties. It was made in the
> seventies
> > or early eighties (I think).
> >
> Never saw that one, but in general SK movies are pretty bad compared to
his
> books. I think I could live with Firestarter but everything else was just
> pure crap, topped by the mini series of The Stand and of course
> Tommyknockers. I really can't understand how SK could possibly approve
them
> to make one of the worst movies of all times from one of the best books of
> all times (yeah I know, that a lot of you disagree on this point).
I suspect that for most of them he didn't have creative control and the
directors made the films they envisioned. Tommyknockers wasn't one of the
greats, but it did have Jimmy Smitts in it, so it wasn't at all hard to look
at. ;-)
> > Dreamcatcher is so bad it's hard for me to know exactly what the problem
> > with it is. (I cannot believe I'm saying this about anything SK!)
There
> > are some really beautiful images, not all the acting is awful.
>
> After I saw the first minutes of DC I thought, "Oh my god how long is this
> movie?" because at first it was very close to the book. But then it turned
> out that they left out, or screwed up the best parts of it.
I had the same feeling. The acting (especially of the four adult "friends")
was pretty grim. The direction seemed to have lost pace with the script or
the cast or something.
> Morgan
> > Freeman is incapable of "awful". Michael Moore (is that his name?)
gives
> a
> > good enough performance.
>
> Morgan Freeman is an excellent actor, there's no doubt about that. But if
> there's ever been a miscasting, this has to be it alongside with Gary
Sinise
> (sp) as Steward Redwood and Molly Ringworm as Francis Goldsmith. Did I got
> that wrong or did they even change his characters name from Kurtz to
> something like Curtis?
I can't understand why he took the part. He was in one of the best of film
adaptations: The Shawshank Redemption. Perhaps on paper this film looked
that good too?
>
> It has all the SK elements that make for a good
> > tale: kids, a "special" person, adults who've been friends since they
> were
> > kids, monsters, good guys, bad guys, powerful guys, animals (Okay, I
know
> > but I liked the bit about all the animals running through the forest
> > together to get away from ... whatever.), a great save in the end. It's
> all
> > there. In fact, it reminded me of "It" if "It" had gone terribly,
> terribly
> > wrong.
> >
>
> A great saving in the end? I hope you mean only the book and not the movie
> where they completely screwed up the end. I think the change of the end
was
> most disturbing and the other thing was that they left out the subtle
humor
> of the book. I only say "bacon". :-)
I haven't read the book yet. I meant that the elements were there (even for
a great save at the end) but for some reason tptb didn't pull it off.
> > I can't believe I disliked it as much as I did. And that's how I spent
> > Halloween. I taped Dreamcatcher to watch on Halloween.
> >
>
>
> I'm fully with you here. For the better part of the movie I was
remembering
> the book and could not stop (virtually) shaking my head.
Now, I'm going to have to read the book!
> OK, Halloween is not such a big deal over here and I was busy anyway
having
> Spanish lessons. But I'm sure would have enjoyed the book a good deal
more.
> I've just started to read the Dark Tower story over completely again.
being
> in the middle of The Gunslinger.
Good luck with that! Sounds like your plate is pretty full at the moment.
>
> > I'm disappointed.
> >
>
> Aren't we all.?
LOL!
> sigue al conejo blanco...
No comprende? (I have no idea what I'm trying to write. ;-))
> Steffen
Murielle
warp
"lrn2swim" <ame...@fckyeah.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:J4qdnUMYFsi...@comcast.com...
>
> > >
> > Never saw that one, but in general SK movies are pretty bad compared to
> his
> > books. I think I could live with Firestarter but everything else was
just
> > pure crap, topped by the mini series of The Stand and of course
> > Tommyknockers.
>
>
> um, Shawshank?
sorry, really don't know that one
The Shining?
the old one with Jack Nicholson? soso, a little bit worse than Firestarter,
but great..? Nah...! The new two parter? Crap, crap and crap...
Stand By Me?
about the same... rather boring
The Green Mile?
ok, you're right here, great movie... as long as you don't know the book,
but still probably the best SK adaptation and of course with Tom Hanks and
James Chromwell you really can't do much wrong...
Carrie?
Ahhm, sorry no, not exactly crap but not far from it
there are alot of great movies based on king's books.
yeah, like Running Man... ;-)
keep flying...
Steffen
warp
>
> "warp" <wa...@abacho.de> wrote in message news:dka69l$fb7$1...@online.de...
> >
> > "MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> > news:dk97mp$nf9$1...@news.ucalgary.ca...
> > > The last time I saw a film adaptation of anything SK that was such a
> > > monumental waste of my time was Salems' Lot, you know, the TV thing
that
> > > starred David Soul. It was so bad I didn't watch it. Mind you, I
picked
> > it up at a video store, on sale, in the nineties. It was made in the
> > seventies or early eighties (I think).
> > >
> > Never saw that one, but in general SK movies are pretty bad compared to
>> his books. I think I could live with Firestarter but everything else was
just
> > pure crap, topped by the mini series of The Stand and of course
> > Tommyknockers. I really can't understand how SK could possibly approve
> > them to make one of the worst movies of all times from one of the best
books of
> > all times (yeah I know, that a lot of you disagree on this point).
>
> I suspect that for most of them he didn't have creative control and the
> directors made the films they envisioned. Tommyknockers wasn't one of the
> greats, but it did have Jimmy Smitts in it, so it wasn't at all hard to
look
> at. ;-)
>
Mind you, I don't even remenber one actors name of Tommyknocker. I'm still
trying to erase that sector of my brain where the memory of Tommykockers is
located... ;-)
> > After I saw the first minutes of DC I thought, "Oh my god how long is
this
> > movie?" because at first it was very close to the book. But then it
turned
> > out that they left out, or screwed up the best parts of it.
>
> I had the same feeling. The acting (especially of the four adult
"friends")
> was pretty grim. The direction seemed to have lost pace with the script
or
> the cast or something.
>
And you haven't even read the book! They really should have given the movie
a different titel and mention somwhere "Idea based on..."
If one describes the story in three sentences like: "Crashed alien takes
contol over a man to spread his species, good guy tries to prevent that
while being chased by violent military forces" yes, than the story looks the
same. But storytelling-wise it is complete different.
> > Morgan Freeman is an excellent actor, there's no doubt about that. But
if
> > there's ever been a miscasting, this has to be it alongside with Gary
Sinise
> > (sp) as Steward Redwood and Molly Ringworm as Francis Goldsmith. Did I
got
> > that wrong or did they even change his characters name from Kurtz to
> > something like Curtis?
>
> I can't understand why he took the part. He was in one of the best of
film
> adaptations: The Shawshank Redemption. Perhaps on paper this film looked
> that good too?
>
Like I mentioned before I never saw that, but usually Morgan Freeman is at
his best when he's playing "the guy in the background who controls
everything, but that's not obvious". A very forthcoming person like Colonel
Kurtz is just not his style IMHO.
> >
> > A great saving in the end? I hope you mean only the book and not the
movie
> > where they completely screwed up the end. I think the change of the end
>> was most disturbing and the other thing was that they left out the subtle
humor
> > of the book. I only say "bacon". :-)
>
> I haven't read the book yet. I meant that the elements were there (even
for
> a great save at the end) but for some reason tptb didn't pull it off.
>
I don't know what tptb means, so I can't comment on that statement.
> > I'm fully with you here. For the better part of the movie I was
>> remembering the book and could not stop (virtually) shaking my head.
>
> Now, I'm going to have to read the book!
>
At least you should give it a try, IMHO it really picks up momentum while
the story develops.
> > OK, Halloween is not such a big deal over here and I was busy anyway
>> having Spanish lessons. But I'm sure would have enjoyed the book a good
deal
>> more.
> > I've just started to read the Dark Tower story over completely again.
>> being in the middle of The Gunslinger.
>
> Good luck with that! Sounds like your plate is pretty full at the moment.
>
Thanks, I was reading a few German books in the recent past, so I thought it
might be a good idea to start reading English again with something that I've
read before.
> > sigue al conejo blanco...
>
> No comprende? (I have no idea what I'm trying to write. ;-))
>
Hehe, ;-) That's "follow the white rabbit..." I just saw Matrix in Spanish
to improve my verbal understandig and this was one of the few phrases that I
really got. :-)
keep flying...
Steffen
BTR1701
> "MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
> > I suspect that for most of them he didn't have creative control and the
> > directors made the films they envisioned. Tommyknockers wasn't one of the
> > greats, but it did have Jimmy Smitts in it, so it wasn't at all hard to look
> > at. ;-)
> Mind you, I don't even remenber one actors name of Tommyknocker.
Oh, I do. Traci Lords was burned into my adolescent brain.
warp
"BTR1701" <btr...@ix.netcom.com> schrieb im Newsbeitrag
news:btr1702-03165F...@news.giganews.com...
After I looked her up at imdb.com I'm asking myself if there is maybe a very
special "Tracy Lords version" of Tommyknockers... most probably
"Tommyf*ckers"... ;-)
keep flying...
Steffen
Doug Cunningly
good adapation....
"MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> wrote in news:dkc0ht$r57$1...@news.ucalgary.ca:
Doug Cunningly
o...@comcast.com:
You left out Lawnmower Man.
MSey
"Doug Cunningly" <lo...@valhalla.org> wrote in message
news:Xns9703A8C1A3D2...@207.217.125.201...
> Funny, I thought the book was all over the road. So maybe it was a pretty
> good adapation....
Oh no! Don't say that, please. I was looking forward to reading the book
and getting the "real" story. ;-)
Murielle
MSey
You thought Lawnmower Man was good? Really? So, what did you think of the
one about the cat people--can't even remember the name of it.
Murielle
MSey
"warp" <wa...@abacho.de> wrote in message news:dkcrmq$glj$1...@online.de...
Jimmy Smitts, Marg Helgenburger (sp) and Traci Lords, Joanna Cassidy ...
that's all I can remember.
> > > After I saw the first minutes of DC I thought, "Oh my god how long is
> this
> > > movie?" because at first it was very close to the book. But then it
> turned
> > > out that they left out, or screwed up the best parts of it.
> >
> > I had the same feeling. The acting (especially of the four adult
> "friends")
> > was pretty grim. The direction seemed to have lost pace with the script
> or
> > the cast or something.
> >
>
> And you haven't even read the book! They really should have given the
movie
> a different titel and mention somwhere "Idea based on..."
> If one describes the story in three sentences like: "Crashed alien takes
> contol over a man to spread his species, good guy tries to prevent that
> while being chased by violent military forces" yes, than the story looks
the
> same. But storytelling-wise it is complete different.
That's a relief. I do have the book and I will get around to reading it
someday.
tptb = The powers that be
> > > I'm fully with you here. For the better part of the movie I was
> >> remembering the book and could not stop (virtually) shaking my head.
> >
> > Now, I'm going to have to read the book!
> >
>
> At least you should give it a try, IMHO it really picks up momentum while
> the story develops.
>
> > > OK, Halloween is not such a big deal over here and I was busy anyway
> >> having Spanish lessons. But I'm sure would have enjoyed the book a good
> deal
> >> more.
> > > I've just started to read the Dark Tower story over completely again.
> >> being in the middle of The Gunslinger.
> >
> > Good luck with that! Sounds like your plate is pretty full at the
moment.
> >
>
> Thanks, I was reading a few German books in the recent past, so I thought
it
> might be a good idea to start reading English again with something that
I've
> read before.
>
> > > sigue al conejo blanco...
> >
> > No comprende? (I have no idea what I'm trying to write. ;-))
> >
>
> Hehe, ;-) That's "follow the white rabbit..." I just saw Matrix in Spanish
> to improve my verbal understandig and this was one of the few phrases that
I
> really got. :-)
There's a white rabbit in Matrix? I must have missed that bit. To be
honest, the first film was so fast paced and "out there" I could barely
follow it. What a ride!
> keep flying...
I'll try.
> Steffen
Murielle
>
MSey
"Snowman" <sir...@suomi24.fi> wrote in message
news:opgnm1tvbii2ldngc...@4ax.com...
> >There's a white rabbit in Matrix?
>
> "Follow the white rabbit" said the screen abt first minute.
> And Mr. Anderson did ...
Yes! Now I remember. It was on Neo's computer! Wait, is that Neo or Nemo?
Murielle
> &y
> (with all of the series)
>
> (sirandy at HotPOP dot com)
> --
> When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?
MSey
> On Fri, 4 Nov 2005 23:11:48 -0700, "MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> sneaked in
> and said:
>
> >> >There's a white rabbit in Matrix?
>
> >> Don't you remember?
> >> "Follow the white rabbit" said the screen abt first minute.
> >> And Mr. Anderson did ...
>
> >Yes! Now I remember. It was on Neo's computer! Wait, is that Neo or
Nemo?
>
>
> &y
Thanks, Andy.
Murielle
> (sirandy at HotPOP dot com)
> --
> The easiest way to refold a road map is differently.
Tigers692
what I am gonna say: I like Stephen King, have read all of his stories,
and I have watched the movies.
But yep dreamcatcher was bad! Both the book and the movie. I don't know
why....but I watched the movie thinking it was going to be better then
the book. First off, anything were the monster is a crap weasle.....not
gonna be good. Sorry, but that's the truth. I think the book was done
when Stephen was not doing so good, he had just been run over and as
you can tell he has writen that into all of his recent projects:
Kingdom hospital, dreamcatcher, and DT. I am not the world's most
imaginative person.....otherwise I would be receiving this kind of
review and typing it....but I imagine all of the cogs up in Stephen's
head went a bit hay wire after the accident. I mean he quickly wrapped
up DT and stopped writing for quite a while!
MSey
"Tigers692" <tige...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1132518585.7...@f14g2000cwb.googlegroups.com...
I'll buy that! I hadn't realized it was written in the same time-frame.
Murielle
skhwoody
many parts that while reading i could see would make excellent parts in a
movie, especially the IT reference to the Losers club, where the standpipe
used to be, the film was something else, absolutley diabolical, so much of
the story sacrificed it should have been called something else, i think the
director split the book into good parts and bad and picked up the wrong
pile....
"MSey" <ML...@calcna.ab.ca> wrote in message
news:dlupl9$f8g$1...@news.ucalgary.ca...
MSey
concur. ;-))
Murielle
"skhwoody" <skgw...@supanet.com> wrote in message
news:Dcghf.65969$375....@fe3.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
mystmass
It was also done well.
MSey
"mystmass" <myst...@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:wrRif.2954$Ly3.1033@trndny07...
I agree. I've loved The Stand since the very first time I saw it and I've
watched it since so many times I cannot count. And I was happy with all the
performances. Although Molly Ringwald was not how I envisioned her
character I think she did an admirable job. The two characters I was most
worried about were Stu and Larry. I didn't know who Gary Sinise was and
when I found a picture of him on line I couldn't really "see" him as Stu,
but he did a marvelous job. So did the actor who played Larry.
You know, it's been a while since I watched it. I think I might spend some
time this weekend checking out ol' Captain Trips and the good folks from
Colorado. ;-))
Murielle