I just read through this thread so I haven't had time to think these through. This is just a stream of consciousness list in no particular order:

Ghost Busters
Fletch
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Star Trek (new)
Star Trek Into Darkness
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Raider's of the Lost Ark
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Outlaw Josey Wales
It's A Wonderful Life
Die Hard
A Clockwork Orange
Saw
Contact
Caddyshack
Swordfish
The Green Mile
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles



I noticed that a couple of you had The Shinning on your list. I'm going to guess you never read the book. I liked the movie until I read the book. The two have little in common.

There are so many movies that I like but just aren't that good. Some of you probably think there are some on my list already. Maybe we should start a thread with movies or TV shows we watch but would never admit to in public.

Your lists are all wrong because none of them contain both of the all time greatest movies, "The Man With One Red Shoe" and "Stripes".

stlblues1226 wrote:I noticed that a couple of you had The Shinning on your list. I'm going to guess you never read the book. I liked the movie until I read the book. The two have little in common.

I actually read the book first-and that is kind of why I like the movie, is that it is so different (especially the ending). Kubrick could have ruined the movie trying to make it exactly the same, or tried to make it close and people would have complained at what got left out, so I like that he made it a his own with King's general plot as more of a guide I guess.

Another great King adaptation (IMO) is Misery. I could go on and on about King books-there are only a few I haven't read.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:I could go on and on about King books

definition of irony.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:

stlblues1226 wrote:I noticed that a couple of you had The Shinning on your list. I'm going to guess you never read the book. I liked the movie until I read the book. The two have little in common.

I actually read the book first-and that is kind of why I like the movie, is that it is so different (especially the ending). Kubrick could have ruined the movie trying to make it exactly the same, or tried to make it close and people would have complained at what got left out, so I like that he made it a his own with King's general plot as more of a guide I guess.

Another great King adaptation (IMO) is Misery. I could go on and on about King books-there are only a few I haven't read.

Christine is the best of the Stephen King movies, it is also a John Carpenter movie. I watched the other day and it is a great movie, great pacing, freaky characters, and the car. Arty transforming from nerd to killer plays well on screen.

Recently watch Maximum Overdrive, it was so bad I almost liked it.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:

stlblues1226 wrote:I noticed that a couple of you had The Shinning on your list. I'm going to guess you never read the book. I liked the movie until I read the book. The two have little in common.

I actually read the book first-and that is kind of why I like the movie, is that it is so different (especially the ending). Kubrick could have ruined the movie trying to make it exactly the same, or tried to make it close and people would have complained at what got left out, so I like that he made it a his own with King's general plot as more of a guide I guess.

Another great King adaptation (IMO) is Misery. I could go on and on about King books-there are only a few I haven't read.

If you haven't seen the miniseries that was done of The Shining, I highly recommend it. I read an interview with King and he said Kubrick just didn't have the imagination to do the movie right, but is was so early in King's career that he really couldn't do anything about it.

Misery was really good. Kathy Bates was scary good in that role.

I gave up on King after he was almost killed. It seemed his writing also got wrecked. Maybe I should pick one up again. I could also discuss King books at length, but instead I'll just say this; The Stand is the best book written since the Bible.

holy shit, did someone really just recommend the wings guy's version of the shining, with the bushes that come alive, over the kubrick take on the source material? what fucking planet is this?

yes, i'm aware it was more true to the source material, which is why it was shit. "true to source" doesn't always mean "better". books and movies are different media. king needs someone like kubrick to edit/focus him, or he'll go on for 10 pages describing a spider web. the only readable book of his to me was the stand, which i read both versions twice.

T.C. wrote:holy shit, did someone really just recommend the wings guy's version of the shining, with the bushes that come alive, over the kubrick take on the source material? what fucking planet is this?

yes, i'm aware it was more true to the source material, which is why it was shit. "true to source" doesn't always mean "better". books and movies are different media. king needs someone like kubrick to edit/focus him, or he'll go on for 10 pages describing a spider web. the only readable book of his to me was the stand, which i read both versions twice.

Guilty as charged. I'm one of those people that think the movie should make some attempt to follow the book. No maze in the book, but there were hedge animals that attacked. The wings guy's version actors also fit the description of the characters in the book. Nicholson was phenomenal in the Kubrick version, but that wasn't the character that was in the book.

When it comes to the movie not following the book, there is only one King movie that was worse than The Shining and that was Children of the Corn, IMHO. Once King gained notoriety, the movies of his books got better.

King can get a little long winded for sure, but one of the shortest chapters in The Stand was him describing how Captain Trips spread from that gas station across the country. Probably the most frightening chapters in any book I've ever read. I think it's because that really is how easy it would be to kill 99.98% of the US on accident.

Maybe the book is better....Kubricks film is great and creepy as hell. Stephen King directed Maximum Over Drive and he clearly has no clue about film making.

Pet Cemetary is a good movie....fairly faithful adaptation
Needful Things is a fun movie.

Typically I hate when unnecessary changes are made on film adaptations. I get leaving stuff out, as the medium of film requires a different focus and sometimes things are cut due to this. For example; in Lord of the Rings, Tom Bombadil would totally have killed the vibe and pacing of the 1st movie and I agree with leaving it out. What I despise is when the director/writer/producers of a film/TV show add in a bunch of unnecessary shit to an adaptation that kills the feeling/spirit of the original story. The Hobbit trilogy was horribly guilty of this. Splitting that story into three films was just a shameless money grab. The Hobbit should have been two 120ish minute films. They added so much unnecessary crap and much of it was contrary to the established Tolkien lore.

That being said, (and getting back on topic) The Shining was such a good film, that despite its massive departure from the book, I loved it and it was very effective in evoking the same sort of terror that the novel did.

stlblues1226 wrote:I just read through this thread so I haven't had time to think these through. This is just a stream of consciousness list in no particular order:

Ghost Busters
Fletch
Batman Begins
The Dark Knight
Star Trek (new)
Star Trek Into Darkness
Schindler's List
Saving Private Ryan
Raider's of the Lost Ark
Nightmare on Elm Street
The Outlaw Josey Wales
It's A Wonderful Life
Die Hard
A Clockwork Orange
Saw
Contact
Caddyshack
Swordfish
The Green Mile
Young Frankenstein
Blazing Saddles



I noticed that a couple of you had The Shinning on your list. I'm going to guess you never read the book. I liked the movie until I read the book. The two have little in common.

There are so many movies that I like but just aren't that good. Some of you probably think there are some on my list already. Maybe we should start a thread with movies or TV shows we watch but would never admit to in public.

Oh I love a ton of movies that people wold consider to be terrible. Especially in the horror/sci-fi genres.

Space Truckers
Basket Case
Toxic Avenger
The Beastmaster
The Howling 1 & 2 (The Howling 2 was so bad poor Christopher Lee apparently was seen with his head in his hands in between takes just completely frustrated with his co-stars lack of ability to deliver even the most basic of lines)
The Gate (A very young Stephen Dorff "stars" in a strange mid 80s Lovecraftian horror flick)
Motel Hell
Ace Ventura 1 & 2 (these movies are widely panned these days but I still love em both).
The Legend of Boggy Creek
Them! (50s era and giant ants? Yes please!)
Seven Voyages of Sinbad
Jason and the Argonauts
Clash of the Titans (Original. I love, love, love Ray Harryhausen's stop-motion animation. CGI still doesn't impress quite as much as practical effects)
Nothing But Trouble (Admittedly terrible movie but damn me and my buddy used to watch it a ton on HBO as kids and we loved making fun of it so much it kinda became a favorite).
There's many, many more on top of all this crap too.

ratonmono wrote:Typically I hate when unnecessary changes are made on film adaptations. I get leaving stuff out, as the medium of film requires a different focus and sometimes things are cut due to this. For example; in Lord of the Rings, Tom Bombadil would totally have killed the vibe and pacing of the 1st movie and I agree with leaving it out. What I despise is when the director/writer/producers of a film/TV show add in a bunch of unnecessary shit to an adaptation that kills the feeling/spirit of the original story. The Hobbit trilogy was horribly guilty of this. Splitting that story into three films was just a shameless money grab. The Hobbit should have been two 120ish minute films. They added so much unnecessary crap and much of it was contrary to the established Tolkien lore.

That being said, (and getting back on topic) The Shining was such a good film, that despite its massive departure from the book, I loved it and it was very effective in evoking the same sort of terror that the novel did.

The Hobbit adaptation was a crime against the fans, the third movie had no story. I don't care about changes as long as it is something entertaining. I have no problem dealing with contrasting versions of a story....make it part of the story though and make it interesting.

Take Star Trek into Darkness....no story...a bunch of stuff happens, then the studio gets its money shot...someone yelling Khan....because everyone knows that is why Star Trek II was so successful...not because of the interesting story and characters.

Escape from NY and LA are great. I'm a big John Carpenter fan.

Anton in No Country is one of the best villains, IMO.

For war movies I'd have to include the Hurt Locker.

As for comedy I really like Hot Fuzz.

The Deadlands is a cool movie that I recently watched on netflix if you're looking for an action movie.

Those are just a few that came to mind.

I, Robot
Super Troopers
This Is Spinal Tap

Big John Carpenter fan as well:
Really liked Escape From New York. (See story below)
Escape From LA was ok.
Big Trouble in Little China
Halloween
Prince of Darkness (one of my favorite horror flicks, also has Alice Cooper)

None of those are considered top notch, but are some of my favorites.

Now for the Escape From New York story:
Almost all of the move was filmed in downtown St. Louis. Similar brick architecture to NY and a hell of a lot cheaper to film in than NY. Armory was where the fight scene with pro wrestler Ox Baker was shot. Snake met Cabbie in The Fabulous Fox prior to its rehab (obviously). The train was at Union Station, again, before rehab.

The plane crash scene was filmed a block or two from where my mom worked. She came home one day and was all wierded out because she thought a plane had crashed downtown and she didn't hear any sirens or anything. My dad and I went downtown to see what she was going on about (both of us thinking she had finally gone off the deep end). We get down there and there is a small 'crash site' that had a jet with the US flag on the tail section, but it was obviously too small to be Air Force One. There were a bunch of burned out cars on the sidewalk around the 'crash site' that seemed a little too organized. Then we saw a trailer near by that had something on it that made me remember hearing a movie was being filmed in town. That night on the news they actually mentioned the filming because people were calling the TV station thinking Air Force One crashed downtown.

Not to thrilling, but that's the story.

There is a Thank You to PT's Centerville in the end credits of Escape From New York.

Escape from LA is entertaining. Seems like a Snake Pliskin Netflix series would be a great way to take that character on one last wild ride and end up with a great property for syndication. Someone call John Carpenter.

I second the opinions in here on The Stand-that was actually the first King book I ever read and remains my favorite.

Rattonmono me and you are saying the same thing about The Shining. Very different but still good. As for The Hobbit, I'm a huge Tolkein fan and I didn't even watch the third film because I was already so disappointed by the first two.

UMSLBlues12 wrote:I second the opinions in here on The Stand-that was actually the first King book I ever read and remains my favorite.

Rattonmono me and you are saying the same thing about The Shining. Very different but still good. As for The Hobbit, I'm a huge Tolkein fan and I didn't even watch the third film because I was already so disappointed by the first two.

I enjoyed the first hobbit movie and I think had they stuck with the two movie adaptation it would have been much better. It was clear midway through the second that the movie had gone off the rails with crap added in because the studio just haaaad to have a third film. And the third film was a real sweaty turd. Felt nothing like the tone of the other movies or The Lord of the rings films. Studio meddling at it's finest.

They made three Hobbit movies because of some MGM bankruptcy bullshit...why make two billion when you can make three billion...and we gave it to them.

Doug Glatt wrote:Escape from NY and LA are great.

first time in history both of those films have been mentioned in the same sentence on equal footing.

LA is an abomination, buscemi notwithstanding.

Escape from LA is fun...Stacy Keach...Ensign Ro...it has everything.

CaptSMRT wrote:Escape from LA is fun...Stacy Keach...Ensign Ro...it has everything.

Escape from LA is a fun movie. Killer soundtrack as well.

Watched the end of Gravity before bed last night...and I still jump when she opens the door on the two space stations. I love a movie that takes a simple concept and makes it bigger, and that is what you get....nail gripping action in the loneliest place on Earth.

T.C. wrote:

Doug Glatt wrote:Escape from NY and LA are great.

first time in history both of those films have been mentioned in the same sentence on equal footing.

LA is an abomination, buscemi notwithstanding.

Lol.

Abominations can be great in their own way. Sometimes bad can be sooooo good.

Side note: Ghosts of Mars was actually written to be the third movie of that series.

Aliens vs Predator vs Snake Pliskin...set it on the Moon, which has been turned into a prison.