Showing posts with label Castle Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Castle Rock. Show all posts
June 6, 2018
[I Hate Love Remakes] THE FINAL EPISODE: Carrie
Evie and I are joined by Angie (my current co-host on Schumacast) as we wrap up our thoughts on the series, share our thanks for and memories of guests we had and ones we were set to have were the series to continue. Then we move into the two major adaptations of Stephen King's debut novel, the remake of which didn't initially begin as a remake, but... we get into it. Check it out here.
April 6, 2015
Castle Rock Companion - Rose Red
"Once we get to the second half, that’s where it spirals out of control. Even during the early tour of the house, things begin to feel scattershot and random as we’ll jump between disconnected scenes or characters are acting contradictory to how they just were in scenes prior, with powers and dynamics flopping around inconsistently. This feels harried and rushed, like King wasn’t fully paying attention as he just burned through the rest of the script in fits and starts. There’s no flow to any of it, many builds lack payoffs, scares are random instead of, as I usually expect from King, rooted in the actual characters."
For more, check out our latest post.
For more, check out our latest post.
November 5, 2014
SPECIAL BONUS! Castle Rock Companion Video Review: Big Driver
As I was down south for a visit over Halloween weekend, Angie and I decided to team up for an in-person joint video review of one of King's latest, and I think it turned out great! Check it out here.
October 15, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Storm of the Century
"But it still works for me as this is another of King's tragedies, where even foregone conclusions can't be evaded and all the survivors can do afterward is try to figure out how to live with the choices they've made. I actually love that we get an extended epilogue, showing the fates of many of the main townsfolk as some fall apart and others pull together, and Michael gets as far away from them all as he can, only to run straight into Linoge and a now teenaged Ralphie, already sporting the canine fangs of his adopted wizard."
To read more, check out our latest post.
To read more, check out our latest post.
October 8, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] The X-Files "Chinga"
"It's a very typical King story, with everyday small town affairs and suspicions and people just trying to get by pleasantly enough, all coming to a head as a supernatural item swoops in. The doll is very spookily done for the most part, with some nicely constructed King sequences of people being driven to self harm and suicide. The attack on the teacher is especially straight out of King with the use of 'Hokey Pokey' on the record player, and I like that their use of an actor dressed as the doll is never over-played or shown full on."
To read more, check out our latest post.
To read more, check out our latest post.
October 1, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Sleepwalkers
"And yet, that doesn't bother me all that much, as it's a simple story that, once it tips the hand of what's really going on, doesn't dance around issues any more and just runs with them, going from a son trying to feed his mom to a mom trying to keep her son alive, while everyone else lives long enough to wonder just what in the fuck it is that's suddenly exploded on their lives. Moments are drawn out, but don't feel padded. Characters have distinction, but don't have it spelled out in detail. It all comes in at a lean 91 minutes, and while there isn't a huge amount of depth to the writing, I'll gladly take this over what I usually get from King."
To read more, check out our latest post.
To read more, check out our latest post.
September 24, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Golden Years: episode 7, the DVD cut, and final thoughts
"Ultimately, I don't mind the note we go out on. Was it worth the build? Not really, but at least it gives me some closure, completes character arcs that I enjoyed watching amidst this morass, and ends with a quote from David Bowie. It's really the best I could have hoped for at this point."
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
September 17, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Golden Years, episodes 5-6
"OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD JUST GET ON WITH IT."
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
September 11, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Golden Years, episodes 3-4
"And then we get more Dr. Toddhunter being Toddhunter, and wow, they just keep pushing it. He's fine in the first couple of scenes, playing his crazy more subdued as he studies the only surviving mouse from that fateful day, but then he gets all creepy, shielding the mouse from others as he strokes against the glass, packs up several of its girlfriends with it to smuggle to his home, and then... oh Angie is going to love this scene... he goes to his father's grave, digging up a lunchbox full of broken watches as he goes on and on about his obsession with the limits of the time we each get... then curls up for a nap against his dad's gravestone as he tells his father how much he loves him. Why did we need to go here! Ugh!"
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
September 4, 2014
[Castle Rock Companion] Golden Years, episodes 1-2
I rejoin the project as Angie and I begin looking at Stephen King's original works for film and television.
"For the most part, what kills this show is the pace. It's ridiculously drawn out, not just in King's typically long-winded writing, but the filming of the scenes themselves have no momentum, no drive to keep the narrative moving. At multiple points, I kept thinking we had to be at the final scene of the episode, but it kept going on, and on, and on. And the lingering pace also made it very clear how poor the direction was at times, with awkward blocking where you can see actors shifting over to marks on the floor, like when the agents show up at Gina’s front door and make an instant beeline down a hall around a corner and into another room."
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
"For the most part, what kills this show is the pace. It's ridiculously drawn out, not just in King's typically long-winded writing, but the filming of the scenes themselves have no momentum, no drive to keep the narrative moving. At multiple points, I kept thinking we had to be at the final scene of the episode, but it kept going on, and on, and on. And the lingering pace also made it very clear how poor the direction was at times, with awkward blocking where you can see actors shifting over to marks on the floor, like when the agents show up at Gina’s front door and make an instant beeline down a hall around a corner and into another room."
To read more, check out our latest post.
Castle Rock series index.
November 27, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... A Return to Salem's Lot
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Check out her review of Salem's Lot.
We open in the jungles of South America, where a native tribe is sacrificing a young man (classic image of him stretched out on an altar with his heart being cut out) so as to bless the fertility of the king's newly wed young daughter, while topless women dance about in a circle. Viewing the scene is Joe Webber (Michael Moriarty), an anthropologist who coldly takes over filming when his cameraman wigs out in disgust at the sight. What does this scene have to do with the ensuing film? Jack all! Yes, it establishes Joe as an anthropologist, which is key to the plot, but his callousness at seeing human life ripped away not only doesn't play in the story to follow, but is largely contradicted by it.
We open in the jungles of South America, where a native tribe is sacrificing a young man (classic image of him stretched out on an altar with his heart being cut out) so as to bless the fertility of the king's newly wed young daughter, while topless women dance about in a circle. Viewing the scene is Joe Webber (Michael Moriarty), an anthropologist who coldly takes over filming when his cameraman wigs out in disgust at the sight. What does this scene have to do with the ensuing film? Jack all! Yes, it establishes Joe as an anthropologist, which is key to the plot, but his callousness at seeing human life ripped away not only doesn't play in the story to follow, but is largely contradicted by it.
October 31, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... Creepshow 3
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Check out her reviews of Creepshow and Creepshow 2.
In "Alice", our eponymous, snobbish teenage girl finds herself thrust between alternate realities when her father experiments with a new universal remote. This sets the tone of the piece early, with crisp direction and a good naturalistic flow to the dialogue and performances. It's not a particularly scary short, with the increasingly gory burns Alice suffers as a result of her reality shifts being played more for a gruesome laugh, and more focus is put on the humor, as her father adjusting the color hue throws her in a reality where her family is black, or playing with subtitles makes them Hispanic. Sadly, it just doesn't seem to know where to go beyond that as a few things just randomly happen and the short ends.
In "Alice", our eponymous, snobbish teenage girl finds herself thrust between alternate realities when her father experiments with a new universal remote. This sets the tone of the piece early, with crisp direction and a good naturalistic flow to the dialogue and performances. It's not a particularly scary short, with the increasingly gory burns Alice suffers as a result of her reality shifts being played more for a gruesome laugh, and more focus is put on the humor, as her father adjusting the color hue throws her in a reality where her family is black, or playing with subtitles makes them Hispanic. Sadly, it just doesn't seem to know where to go beyond that as a few things just randomly happen and the short ends.
September 25, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... Firestarter 2: Rekindled
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Her review of Firestarter can be found here.
Documents relating to the Lot 6 experiment have been released to the public thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, but have been quietly tucked away in library archives instead of creating a media scandal. Nonetheless, a class action lawsuit from the experiment's survivors is quickly launched and settled, and the legal firm for which Vincent Sforza (Danny Nucci) works is tasked with tracking down everyone else related to the experiment so the settlement earnings can be properly processed. Following a paper trail to the basement of the late Dr. Wanless (Freddie Jones in the first film), Vincent encounters a secretive young woman named Tommy (Marguerite Moreau), who's also rooting through the files to dig deeper into the actual drugs used in the trials.
Documents relating to the Lot 6 experiment have been released to the public thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, but have been quietly tucked away in library archives instead of creating a media scandal. Nonetheless, a class action lawsuit from the experiment's survivors is quickly launched and settled, and the legal firm for which Vincent Sforza (Danny Nucci) works is tasked with tracking down everyone else related to the experiment so the settlement earnings can be properly processed. Following a paper trail to the basement of the late Dr. Wanless (Freddie Jones in the first film), Vincent encounters a secretive young woman named Tommy (Marguerite Moreau), who's also rooting through the files to dig deeper into the actual drugs used in the trials.
August 15, 2013
July 31, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... Pet Sematary Two
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Her review of Pet Sematary can be found here.
While in the midst of shooting her latest film (a horror movie, of course), Hollywood starlet Renee Hallow (Darlanne Fluegel) is electrocuted to death as a result of somebody forgetting to say "Hey, we probably shouldn't put all of the power sockets right where a hose is puddling the floor of the set." Screaming from the wings is her teenage son, Jeff Matthews (Edward Furlong), who now goes to live with his recently estranged father, Chase (Anthony Edwards). Chase is a veterinarian, and after the paparazzi swarm of Renee's funeral settles, he decides to shift his business to the small town where she kept a summer home... the small town of course being Ludlow, Maine.
While in the midst of shooting her latest film (a horror movie, of course), Hollywood starlet Renee Hallow (Darlanne Fluegel) is electrocuted to death as a result of somebody forgetting to say "Hey, we probably shouldn't put all of the power sockets right where a hose is puddling the floor of the set." Screaming from the wings is her teenage son, Jeff Matthews (Edward Furlong), who now goes to live with his recently estranged father, Chase (Anthony Edwards). Chase is a veterinarian, and after the paparazzi swarm of Renee's funeral settles, he decides to shift his business to the small town where she kept a summer home... the small town of course being Ludlow, Maine.
July 24, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... The Mangler Reborn
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Her review of The Mangler can be found here.
Local handyman Hadley Watson is in a bit of a slump. He hasn't had a paid service come in for days, his wife finally snaps and chews him out for being a worthless nobody, and the machine he's renovating in his workshop snips him in the hand. Well, it just so happens that this machine is the core of the original Mangler, which caught Hadley's eye at an antique sale as something to occupy his time. Now that he's spilled blood on it, the device is eager for more, so takes control of the body of poor Hadley as he first feeds it his wife, then vulnerable young women in the neighborhood who call him for household repairs.
Local handyman Hadley Watson is in a bit of a slump. He hasn't had a paid service come in for days, his wife finally snaps and chews him out for being a worthless nobody, and the machine he's renovating in his workshop snips him in the hand. Well, it just so happens that this machine is the core of the original Mangler, which caught Hadley's eye at an antique sale as something to occupy his time. Now that he's spilled blood on it, the device is eager for more, so takes control of the body of poor Hadley as he first feeds it his wife, then vulnerable young women in the neighborhood who call him for household repairs.
July 3, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... The Mangler 2
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Her review of The Mangler can be found here.
The Royal Collegiate College is a top-of-the-line institution that caters to the pampered youth and bountiful wallets of high society. Due to the wealth of their parents, and the often rebellious and entitled attitude of the kids, the gruff, no-nonsense Headmaster Bradeen (Lance Henriksen) has installed a military-grade surveillance system with an A.I. that not only keeps the largely automated facility running smooth, but monitors all students and teachers to keep their activity appropriate and in line.
The Royal Collegiate College is a top-of-the-line institution that caters to the pampered youth and bountiful wallets of high society. Due to the wealth of their parents, and the often rebellious and entitled attitude of the kids, the gruff, no-nonsense Headmaster Bradeen (Lance Henriksen) has installed a military-grade surveillance system with an A.I. that not only keeps the largely automated facility running smooth, but monitors all students and teachers to keep their activity appropriate and in line.
June 26, 2013
Castle Rock Cash-In presents... Lawnmower Man 2: Jobe's War
This is a tie-in to Angelle Tusa's Castle Rock Companion series, which explores the cinematic adaptations of the works of Stephen King. Her review of Lawnmower Man (with a special guest) can be found here.
Benjamin Trace (Patrick Bergen), one of the founders of virtual reality technology, has invented the Chyron Chip, which allows for the universal connectivity of all digital information networks. But when he holds back on finishing it over fears of how technology is interacting with society, he's taken to court by his financier, Jonathan Walker (Kevin Conway), who manages to win control of the patent. The chip, though, is security locked and useless, and with Trace withdrawing from society at large, Walker pulls Jobe (now Matt Frewer) out of the wreckage of the last film and tasks him with rebuilding the chip.
Benjamin Trace (Patrick Bergen), one of the founders of virtual reality technology, has invented the Chyron Chip, which allows for the universal connectivity of all digital information networks. But when he holds back on finishing it over fears of how technology is interacting with society, he's taken to court by his financier, Jonathan Walker (Kevin Conway), who manages to win control of the patent. The chip, though, is security locked and useless, and with Trace withdrawing from society at large, Walker pulls Jobe (now Matt Frewer) out of the wreckage of the last film and tasks him with rebuilding the chip.
March 15, 2013
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