MISERY
Fiona Oceanstar
> It seems as if every popular lead actor in Hollywood will eventually be
>cast as "the good cop" in an action film and every director in Hollywood
>will eventually direct a Stephen King horror film. Maybe it only seems that
>way. But MISERY is certainly Rob Reiner's least remarkable film to date.
On the whole, Mark, I agree with your review, but it seems to imply
that "Misery" is the first Stephen King story Rob Reiner has directed.
Not so at all: he directed "Stand by Me," which was based on King's
short novel "The Body." Reiner is also enough of an SK fan that he named
his production company Castle Rock Productions. Not only is "The
Body" set in Castle Rock, Maine, but this fictional town is to Stephen
King what Yoknapatawpa (sp?) County was to William Faulkner--a source
of recurrent, interlocking stories.
Just a little bit of trivia, from another of SK's "Number One Fans." :-)
--Fiona Oceanstar
Jon Conrad
seen the movie yet. But I have to question one point, if I may:
In article <1990Dec11....@cbnewsj.att.com> lee...@cbnewsj.att.com (mark.r.leeper) writes:
> Capsule review: Rob Reiner had a real coup casting
> unknown Kathy Bates as Annie Wilks in MISERY.
Oughtn't the term "unknown" be reserved for genuinely unknown
performers--people plucked out of nowhere/amateurland/hinterlands with
no previous credits? Kathy Bates has achieved considerable notice for
her stage work, including creating the role of the daughter in 'Night,
Mother; and has done a fair amount of guest starring on tv. In fact, I
remember an argument in this very group earlier this year, with people
getting her and Kathy Baker confused, and plenty of readers seemed to
know who Bates was. In fact this is probably not her first movie though
I can't recall any previous credits offhand.
Or am I out of touch, and does "unknown" in movieland now mean "not
previously given star billing"? Not intended as a personal attack
(hell, maybe you were just writing in a hurry), I would like to know.
Jon Alan Conrad
Cisco's Buddy
} Oughtn't the term "unknown" be reserved for genuinely unknown performers--
} people plucked out of nowhere/amateurland/hinterlands with no previous
} credits? Kathy Bates has achieved considerable notice for her stage work,
} including creating the role of the daughter in 'Night, Mother; and has
} done a fair amount of guest starring on tv. [...] In fact this is
} probably not her first movie though I can't recall any previous credits
} offhand.
SUMMER HEAT (1987), COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN,
and ROE VS. WADE [TV movie] were previous credits of hers.
} Or am I out of touch, and does "unknown" in movieland now mean "not
} previously given star billing"? Not intended as a personal attack
} (hell, maybe you were just writing in a hurry), I would like to know.
"Unknown" has traditionally been used to mean "not well known to the
general public", with all of the intuitiveness that implies. For instance,
SUPERMAN was not Chris Reeve's first film, but few people knew who he was
when he was cast as Superman. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA explicitly says in the
credits "Introducing Peter O'Toole", which leads people to believe it was
his first film, though he'd actually been in two previous films, as well
as having done stage work.
I question Mark's use of the term with respect to Kathy Bates, too, though
to the general public, she probably *is* pretty much an unknown.
Still, I suspect that these days "unknown" has come to mean, "I can't think
of anything else she's been in at the moment". :-)
In article <16...@brahms.udel.edu>, ru...@brahms.udel.edu (Ruth Heckert) writes...
} J Conrad mentions the use of the word "unknown." In his comments he
} mentions that the actress playing Annie Wilkes played the daughter in
} 'ight Mother. Didn't Sissy Spacek play that role? And, I thought Anne
} Bancroft played the mother.
You are correct. Spacek and Bancroft were in the film. However, Jon quite
clearly said:
} Kathy Bates has achieved considerable notice for her stage work,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
} including creating the role of the daughter in 'Night, Mother [...]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
referring to the *stage* production, not the movie.
--
"Evvy little bug got a honey ta hug but me."
--- jayembee (Jerry Boyajian, DEC, "The Mill", Maynard, MA)
UUCP: ...!decwrl!ruby.enet.dec.com!boyajian
ARPA: boyajian%ruby...@DECWRL.DEC.COM
Mark R. Leeper
My goof of calling Bates an unknown has sparked some discussion in
other groups also. Bates has been in:
SUMMER HEAT (1987)
COME BACK TO THE FIVE AND DIME, JIMMY DEAN, JIMMY DEAN,
ROE VS. WADE
stage: 'NIGHT MOTHER
Please don't everybody tie up the net telling me she has been in those
films and play. I don't want my blunder to cause net congestion.
Mark Leeper
...att!mtgzx!leeper
(201)957-5619