Stephen King - Page 2

carrie721 · #16 07-09-2006, 03:38 PM

I've actually never read a word the man's written, but my mom almost didn't name me Carrie because of the book and movie!

cliffdweller · #17 07-10-2006, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Josh2003

It's actually just called "Cell"...I read it a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. It's not really about a "murderous cell phone," but some weird "pulse" that turns all cell phone users into weird zombies.

I think he should've just titled this one, "Lame"

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Also, I think his "Dark Tower" series (seven books...definitely not just a trilogy!) is PHENOMENAL. Nothing in my mind will ever top that story.

Oh yeah, I forgot he wrote more to follow the original trilogy. The first three books were phenomenal, I haven't read the others.

DavidMn · #18 07-10-2006, 01:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GODDESS6

holy **** you guys are talking about the book i am readig right now, tho i haven't got to that story yet, shall go on... now i am scared~

Did you know that a mojor part of the Stand took place in Nebraska. Thats where the old black lade lived. I believe the name of the town was Hemingford.

mikeschmike · #19 07-10-2006, 01:51 PM

Misery is one of his creepiest books, only because I could actually imagine that happening. Clowns in a sewer? Not so much...

DavidMn · #20 07-10-2006, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeschmike

Misery is one of his creepiest books, only because I could actually imagine that happening. Clowns in a sewer? Not so much...

Kathy Bates won best actress for her role in the movie I believe.

skcin · #21 07-10-2006, 02:01 PM

I'm hit & miss with trying to read his books. If it's really long, I usually don't bother.

And I stick with older stuff:

Carrie
Christine
Misery
Cujo

Those are the few that stand out in my mind right now.
My sister in law & mother in law read the Dark Tower series.

cliffdweller · #22 07-10-2006, 02:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mikeschmike

Misery is one of his creepiest books, only because I could actually imagine that happening. Clowns in a sewer? Not so much...

Kathy Bates really made that come alive on the big screen. Speaking of Kathy Bates, I also remember really liking Deloris Claiborne--the movie not the book (never read the book).

Stephen King's creepiest book imo is Gerald's Game. I just about had a heart attack while reading that book! That's another plot that could happen in real life :shuddders:.

skcin · #23 07-12-2006, 11:37 AM

In case anyone's interested:

http://www.cnn.com/2006/SHOWBIZ/TV/0....ap/index.html

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'Horror junkie' gets 'Nightmare' job
Steven Weber stars in Stephen King anthology

Wednesday, July 12, 2006; Posted: 9:23 a.m. EDT (13:23 GMT)

Steven Weber's appearance in "Nightmares & Dreamscapes" is one of many for him in King works.
LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- Steven Weber says he's been "a horror genre junkie" since he was a kid watching scary stuff on television between his fingers.

So being cast in "Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King" was a dream job that marks yet another Weber appearances in a King project.

The four-week anthology series, based on eight stories by the prolific writer, premieres 9 p.m. EDT Wednesday on TNT, with an episode titled "Battleground," starring William Hurt as a professional hit man battling toys. (A second episode immediately follows at 10 o'clock; each Wednesday two installments of the series will air. TNT, like CNN, is a unit of Time Warner.)

Weber's episode is the final one, "You Know They Got a Hell of a Band," airing 10 p.m. EDT August 2. He co-stars with Kim Delaney as a couple on a road trip who find themselves in a small town called Rock 'n Roll Heaven where the denizens look and sound eerily familiar.

"I think this particular story has to do with pop culture and people's addiction to it, and how underneath there is something nefarious and something unhealthy about people ingesting pop culture to such a point ... but on the surface it's just another great Stephen King horror ditty," says Weber.

Weber has worked on three previous King dramas. He starred in two miniseries: "The Shining" in 1997 and "Desperation" in May. He adapted, directed and acted in a King short story "Revelations of Becka Paulson" for the "The Outer Limits" series in 1997.

Never inclined to speak seriously about anything for too long, the 45-year-old Weber says he likes the "fun and unexpected" aspect of King's work, the ultimate expression of a kind of storytelling he was drawn to as a child.

He recalls his father giving him a book, "Bad Guys," written by film historian William K. Everson, full of stills of early horror movies that excited his interest in actors such as Lon Chaney Sr., Boris Karloff and Bela Lugosi.

He used an old professional greasepaint kit to "try to be the 'Werewolf of London' like Henry Hull. And I'd use my mother's cold cream to flatten down my hair and make a widow's peak, and I fashioned fangs out of toothpicks. So I was pretty obsessed with that stuff."

Born to showbiz parents, Weber was raised in New York and started acting in commercials as a kid. He now lives in Los Angeles with wife Juliette, an interior designer, and their two sons Jack, 5, and Alfie, 3.

He became known as the witty, irreverent, indolent pilot Brian Hackett in the 1990-97 TV sitcom "Wings." He subsequently starred in two short-lived series, the sitcom "Cursed" (renamed "The Weber Show") and the drama "The D.A."

Recent theater work includes starring at London's Old Vic with Kevin Spacey in "National Anthems" and on Broadway in the musical "The Producers." In 2001 he wrote the Showtime TV movie "Club Land," co-starring with Alan Alda in a tale about father-and-son showbiz agents.

He performs the late Danny Kaye's tongue-twisting patter at charity events and would like to develop a full-scale production about the musical comedian.

'Every kind of idiot American male'
Weber will portray a TV network chairman in "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip," a new fall NBC series (created by Aaron Sorkin of "The West Wing") that exposes the behind-the-scenes drama of a fictional TV variety show.

"During a scene in the pilot I had to walk though a lot of background actors and they were either directed to be afraid of me, or they just were. Because it was like the seas parted and they were flinching. It was really empowering," Weber says, laughing, noting it's a change for him to play an authoritarian figure.

Clark Willingham, the character in King's story, isn't in charge, even when he thinks he is.

"To me he represents every kind of idiot American male," Weber says with a grin. "He doesn't question his own judgment, which is questionable. He doesn't question his need for a map to find out where he is going. He fights with his wife, who probably knows better anyhow, and then he kind of blindly accepts his fate."

Weber would like to see more anthology series like "Nightmares & Dreamscapes."

"This has always been a great form to try things out, to talk about things that maybe more mainstream television dare not discuss, things of a political nature, things of a psychological nature," he says, citing such successful past anthologies with horror, sci-fi and mind-bending twists such as "Alfred Hitchcock Presents" and the original "The Twilight Zone."

Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

macfanken · #24 07-12-2006, 12:01 PM

I haven't read very many of King's books, but "The Shining" is my favorite.

GODDESS6 · #25 07-12-2006, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DavidMn

Did you know that a mojor part of the Stand took place in Nebraska. Thats where the old black lade lived. I believe the name of the town was Hemingford.

no i didn't, i know 1 of the stories from "everything's eventual" takes place like 50 miles from me~

goldustsongbird · #26 10-17-2006, 10:59 PM

Okay, I'm bumping this back up for... no reason at all.

Anyone read Needful Things or Gerald's Game? I read them both about a month ago. Both were pretty unfulfilling. I finished them just for the sake of getting them finished... I think I kept hoping some astounding plot turn would take place and make the story great.

Needful Things had an interesting premise, but I noticed at the end that it was written between 1988 and 1991, which meant he was still on drugs for most of the book. That explains a lot. It had its moments, but mostly, I was skimming and only half reading certain pages. Overall = pretty ****ty.

Gerald's Game was a little bit better. It only took me about a day or two to get through. Slightly more riveting... but damn, what happened to his penchant for developing strong characters? That's what bugged me about NT and this one. The characters were so one dimensional. Boring.

DrummerDeanna · #27 10-17-2006, 11:16 PM

I've only read Pet Cemetary and some of the stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I liked what I read but generally I don't do the horror genre.

I do read his column in Entertainment Weekly -and I usually enjoy that!

goldustsongbird · #28 10-17-2006, 11:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DrummerDeanna

I've only read Pet Cemetary and some of the stories in Nightmares and Dreamscapes. I liked what I read but generally I don't do the horror genre.

I do read his column in Entertainment Weekly -and I usually enjoy that!

Pet Sematary was good! I found myself re-reading it while my bird was sick... which was not good, because I ended up freaking myself and worrying unnecessarily.

You should watch the movie; it's bloody hilarious. Almost none of his books transfer well to screen, except for The Shining and Misery. Oh, and The Green Mile. I need to see that again.

DrummerDeanna · #29 10-17-2006, 11:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by goldustsongbird

Pet Sematary was good! I found myself re-reading it while my bird was sick... which was not good, because I ended up freaking myself and worrying unnecessarily.

You should watch the movie; it's bloody hilarious. Almost none of his books transfer well to screen, except for The Shining and Misery. Oh, and The Green Mile. I need to see that again.

I did see the movie - right after I read the book

I did not like it.

Speaking of Steven King books made into movies - I remember watching Sleepwalkers when I was young...and even then thought it was the dumbest movie ever.

Sugar · #30 10-18-2006, 08:27 AM

I think he's hit or miss. I enjoyed The Shining and the Bachman Books collection, but he's a little long-winded for my tastes. I abandoned The Stand after about 200 pages because I just could NOT get into it.

But I also wanted to mention his non-fiction book On Writing, which I thought was very good. He is very funny and there are lots of funny little anecdotes throughout the book, but it also has some of the most concise advice on writing I've come across.