Doctor Sleep gets high praise from King

[hanselthecaretaker]

Many have read about how much he hated the film adaption of The Shining, but that doesn?t seem to be the case here. [https://mashable.com/article/stephen-king-doctor-sleep-opinion.amp]

"And that was a conversation that we had to have with Stephen King, to kick the whole thing off, and if that conversation hadn?t gone the way it went, we wouldn?t have done the film."

Yeah it should be taken with a big grain of salt being that it?s not out yet, but one can hope when considering he?s typically mum on what he doesn?t like in those cases.

Speaking of, what are your hopes for this ?sequel? to one of the all time horror psycho-horror classics?

I simply hope it honors the source material and doesn?t pull any punches. Given King?s endorsement and the R rating, it?s on the right track at least.

 

[EvilRoy]

I really misunderstood that thread title.

I'm inclined to trust King's opinion on this stuff. As much as I think the movie Shining was better than the book and therefore didn't mind that King hated it, he tends to be extremely honest about the quality of works he's written/is a part of. If he says its good, then its likely to be at least reflective of iis internal monologue.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I always found King's relationship with the Shining movie interesting. People claim that the movie deviates strongly from the book but it doesn't, really. Not in terms of plot at least. Most of the same things happen. The big difference between book and movie is the characterization of the protagonist, Jack Torrence. And even that's more in the performance than in the script. King's Jack Torrence was a much more sympathetic character who eventually gave into violent urges. Kubrick's Jack Torrence plays him, before he even arrives at the hotel, with an intense, barely supressed rage that makes him seem unhinged, well before he's under the influence of any vengeful spirits. I can kinda see why King objects so strongly to that interpretation.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think King's just happy to be relevant again for whatever baffling reason and he's gonna go along with anything for the hell of it.
I always considered him a mediocre if imaginative writer at best who is in dire need of a good editor. The best thing that can happen to him is for an actually good artist to take an interest in his work. Kubrick, De Palma, Reiner, Darabont, etc.

 

[hanselthecaretaker]

I think King's just happy to be relevant again for whatever baffling reason and he's gonna go along with anything for the hell of it.
I always considered him a mediocre if imaginative writer at best who is in dire need of a good editor. The best thing that can happen to him is for an actually good artist to take an interest in his work. Kubrick, De Palma, Reiner, Darabont, etc.

When?s the last time any of the above (that are still alive) have done anything noteworthy though? Reading King?s criticisms [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/doctor-sleep-trailer-stephen-king-hates-stanley-kubricks-shining/] of Kubrick?s work on The Shining makes it seem like he dropped the ball on adding emotional weight to the narrative. And yes, Duvall was pretty terrible. Whenever I watch it I?m reminded that one of the more horrific parts of the movie was just watching her try to act.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

I think King's just happy to be relevant again for whatever baffling reason and he's gonna go along with anything for the hell of it.
I always considered him a mediocre if imaginative writer at best who is in dire need of a good editor. The best thing that can happen to him is for an actually good artist to take an interest in his work. Kubrick, De Palma, Reiner, Darabont, etc.

When?s the last time any of the above (that are still alive) have done anything noteworthy though? Reading King?s criticisms [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/doctor-sleep-trailer-stephen-king-hates-stanley-kubricks-shining/] of Kubrick?s work on The Shining makes it seem like he dropped the ball on adding emotional weight to the narrative. And yes, Duvall was pretty terrible. Whenever I watch it I?m reminded that one of the more horrific parts of the movie was just watching her try to act.

The last good one was The Mist, since you ask.
The Shining, Carrie and Shawshank Redemption are top tier King movies.
I'd rank Misery, The Mist and Stand By Me under those.
Everything else is trash. Either Grand Guignol trash like the old Pet Sematary or the new It, or plain trash like everything else.
And considering King endorsed that shitty miniseries over Kubrick's Shining I don't care about his opinion about movies in general.

 

[jademunky]

Keep in mind that the original novel is kinda sucky. Not terrible but very Stephen King by-the-books: Main char is a recovering alcoholic, villains that seem threatening from far away but become less and less of an apparent threat the longer the story goes culminating in

Spoiler

them getting completely wiped out by a little girl in about 10 seconds by a single telepathic blast

at the end of the book.