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PA Ram.
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September 10, 2017 at 9:11 am #74000
PA Ram
ParticipantIT
I’m not sure how I really felt about the film. First of all, I read the book shortly after it came out which is like 30 years ago so I only vaguely remember the story. And this is not the WHOLE story–just the kids story. I think it’s a film I would have enjoyed more if I HAD read the book again. I won’t post spoilers but there were some questions I had regarding certain things in the film and I’m sure that the book would have cleared them up. So I had a little confusion with some things.
I am not big on “kid” characters. First of all–films seldom pull that off realistically or effectively. They tend to read better than project better in a film. These characters seem to be kids I would more link to an era like the 50s than the 80s–and I checked wikipedia and the book takes place in the late fifties of their childhood years. Just having kids swear more doesn’t really pull them into the 80s—and the town itself is really a town from the fifties. Maybe it would have been better to just let the story take place in that era. But the kids–each a sort of cliche as an outcast, is okay but feels dated.
I thought the child actors were very well cast and very talented. Adults are only peripheral characters in this story and most of them are dysfunctional in their own right. As the film progressed I sort of got used to the feeling that the characters were from a different era and just bought into the story.
As I said–the story itself would have been clearer to me had I read the book recently. If you have no familiarity with the story you’ll have to satisfy yourself with the conclusion that , “that’s just the way things are or this happens because it just does”.
I never really felt the kids were as scared of Pennywise as they should have been. As an adult–I would run in the other direction as fast as I could to the nearest mental ward. But that would be a lousy story.
Pennywise and the actor who portrayed him, Bill Skarrsgard was great. I thought the film got that right. They also added a bit of humor to the character in just the right amount, walking a fine line between comedy and terror. Some of the horror scenes were very well done. And the film was well paced.
But it’s really the story of the kids.
I read one review where the reviewer called it a sort of Steven Spielberg horror film and I get that. I thought that was a pretty good description. While there are some very dark scenes there is still a soft edge to it.
I really wanted to love this film.
I just liked it instead.
I really wished I had read the book before seeing it. I just have a feeling that anyone who did that would fall more to the “love” it side. You don’t have to read the book. It’s not THAT confusing. But I wish I had.
I think the Stephen King adaptation I loved the most, “The Shining” was one that King himself hated. I think most of his books have not translated particularly well to film. And I love his books.
There is a second film coming–the adult story. And I’ll be in line to see it. And I hope I’ll love it. But I looked at “IT” at a Barnes and Nobles the other day. HUGE book. I probably won’t be reading it before seeing the next film.
This is not a bad film. I don’t think it’s a great film either.
My expectations were probably too high anyway and that’s not usually good when you’re going to see a film.
If you’re a fan of horror I’d say to go check it out. What horror fan doesn’t love scary clowns?
And Pennywise is scary.
I’ll give it 7/10
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
September 10, 2017 at 9:34 am #74004Billy_T
ParticipantPA,
Thanks for the review. I’m not a big horror movie fan. I find life plenty horrific enough and would rather escape into a different kind of movie-world. But I do make exceptions. If a horror film has a really interesting rationale behind, if the intellectual motivations for the horrors are layered, nuanced and creative, include mythic elements, etc. etc. . . . and if it surprises, I can enjoy it. “The Witches” had some of that going on. I actually liked that film.
Last night, I finally watched “Hidden Figures” (on HBO). Very late to that party, but, wow!! Easily one of the best movies I’ve seen in years and years. If I go by your 1-10 scale, it gets a 10. The only thing keeping it from being off the charts, all-time classic, etc. etc. . . . it didn’t really push new boundaries as far as film-making goes. It didn’t have to, of course. The subject matter, acting and direction were great as is.
Based on a true story about black women — focuses on three geniuses — working for NASA in the early 1960s. A still segregated Virginia. Made me so angry to watch the racism in play, but the movie is also big-time uplifting in depicting their battle against all odds.
Highly, highly recommend “Hidden Figures.”
September 10, 2017 at 10:22 am #74008nittany ram
ModeratorI feel the same way about IT. Really wanted to love it, but only liked it.
I agree with what you say about movies where kids are the primary characters. Their performances never ring true to me. They are too mature, too brave, too wise, etc. 13 year olds are also afraid to be different, so I’m not sure they would be so open with one another or offer up dark secrets they have to each other so readily. I think they would be more guarded, especially kids who are constantly bullied and picked on like these kids are. That said, I like most movies where kids are the primary characters…”Stand by Me”, “Super 8”, the Netflix series “Stranger Things”….”Bullied kids overcome evil and save the day” seems to be a formula that works in horror stories. There are so many of them.
The movie ended with the words “The End, Chapter 1”, so I’m assuming there will be a sequel where the kids come back as adults to take on Pennywise again, as they pledged to do. That’s what happens in the book, anyway.
You’ll recall that IT lies dormant and then awakens to feed every 27 years. 27 years also separates the airing of the original film adaptation starring Richard Thomas, John Ritter and Tim Curry as Pennywise and this latest film. 1990 – 2017. Spooky, right?
September 10, 2017 at 10:44 am #74012wv
ParticipantGood point about kid-characters. I’m tryin to think of the best performances by kids in films. Drawin a blank.
What is it you love about St.King’s books, Pa?
Is it fair to say he ‘avoids the subject of politics’ in his books? How would you describe the general politics in his stories? (seems to me, there’s a kind of…oh…”norman rockwell” quality to his stories. Yes? No?….it annoys me.)
w
vSeptember 10, 2017 at 10:56 am #74014Billy_T
ParticipantGood point about kid-characters. I’m tryin to think of the best performances by kids in films. Drawin a blank.
What is it you love about St.King’s books, Pa?
Is it fair to say he ‘avoids the subject of politics’ in his books? How would you describe the general politics in his stories? (seems to me, there’s a kind of…oh…”norman rockwell” quality to his stories. Yes? No?….it annoys me.)
w
vWV,
The most extraordinary film I’ve ever seen regarding kids is “Ponette.” I saw it only once, and would love to watch it again, but while watching it, I just couldn’t tell if the director let the kids freelance or if they were actually “acting.” It was too real. The actress playing Ponette seemed like she was from another world. An angel, with a profoundly old soul.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ponette
Ponette is a 1996 French film directed by Jacques Doillon. The film centers on four-year-old Ponette (Victoire Thivisol), who is coming to terms with the death of her mother. The film received acclaim for Thivisol’s performance, who was only four at the time of filming.
September 10, 2017 at 1:06 pm #74027PA Ram
ParticipantGood point about kid-characters. I’m tryin to think of the best performances by kids in films. Drawin a blank.
What is it you love about St.King’s books, Pa?
Is it fair to say he ‘avoids the subject of politics’ in his books? How would you describe the general politics in his stories? (seems to me, there’s a kind of…oh…”norman rockwell” quality to his stories. Yes? No?….it annoys me.)
w
vI grew up on horror stories. My mom was a HUGE horror fan. We always watched them on television and went to the movie theaters and drive-ins to see all kinds–even at a young age. She used to buy me stacks of comics and I really didn’t buy a lot of superhero ones. I bought, Sad Sack, The Archies, Richie Rich and horror stories. They had these sort of Weird Tales comics and such.
When I got older I started reading horror paperbacks and one day I went into the store and saw “Salem’s Lot.” I absolutely loved it. The “horror” element of the vampire was fantastic and the characters were very much alive to me. I became hooked. After that it was what I consider his classics: “The Shining” , “The Dead Zone”, “The Stand”, I went back to read “Carrie” after seeing thew film–and perhaps my personal favorite: “Night Shift” –his collection of short stories. Later I read, “Christine”, and “It” and “Firestarter” and “Misery” and “Skeleton Crew”(another collection of shorts) and “Different Seasons”(which has the Shawshank Redemption in it) but my favorites were his first four or five novels and that remains to this day.
I believe he’s actually a better short story writer than he is a novelist. I love his stories which he keeps short.
I also grew up on “The Twilight Zone: and “Night Gallery” and I love short stories with clever twists. King is a genius at that.
And yes–some of his stories are very much “Norman Rockwell” and I don’t personally relate to that very much and the ones that steer hard toward that aren’t my favorites(“Needful Things” comes immediately to mind)but he does have a knack for disturbing things and situations. I even liked what he did with “Cujo”. I thought he really milked the horror from that situation in a gripping way.
I don’t much like his newer novels and short stories. I haven’t read a lot of his new stuff. What I have read has left me disappointed. But I love his classic stuff.
As for his politics—he is politically very much on the left.
I don’t think he puts much of that in his stories–at least not in any memorable way for me.
I will say that he hates bullies of all stripes. That’s evident in his stories–and yes–he HATES Trump.
I also never got into “The Dark Tower” series(he writes so much) but years ago I inquired about the book–which I saw in his credits of “Firestarter” or some such thing and he wrote back a letter which had the letter head of his home in Maine and he signed. I still have it.
So yes–I’m a fan and yes–he has flaws(sometimes he doesn’t know when to end something)but I will always be a big fan.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
September 10, 2017 at 1:37 pm #74031Billy_T
ParticipantPA,
I loved Twilight Zone and his follow up with the Night Gallery. Kafka and Poe were major influences for Serling.
Have you seen Black Mirror? It’s on Netflix. Really, really well done.
https://www.netflix.com/title/70264888
Also, on horror stories: What’s your take on villains being sentient. It’s a must for me. I really can’t stand zombie stories, TV, movies, etc. etc. because there’s nothing behind the eyes. I want my suspense, thriller and horror stories to be about knowable conflicts, with at least human-like perceptions, with actual rationales for why villains and heroes do what they do. Motivations, etc. etc.
Just could never get into monster stories if they can’t “think.”
September 11, 2017 at 1:01 am #74120PA Ram
ParticipantAlso, on horror stories: What’s your take on villains being sentient. It’s a must for me. I really can’t stand zombie stories, TV, movies, etc. etc. because there’s nothing behind the eyes. I want my suspense, thriller and horror stories to be about knowable conflicts, with at least human-like perceptions, with actual rationales for why villains and heroes do what they do. Motivations, etc. etc.
Just could never get into monster stories if they can’t “think.”
I don’t have to have genius villains to appreciate the story if they seem a legitimate threat(I don’t want them to be threatening simply because the protagonist is dumb). I’m not a huge zombie fan although I did think that some of the Romero zombies were fun in a sick kind of way. Obviously the monster can’t be invincible but it can’t be too easy to kill either. I mean–in a sense Dracula is invincible but not necessarily. He may come back–but may not as well.
For a particular story he can be “killed”. I’m good with that.
Stories should be consistent by the rules they set. If a vampire has to be invited into a house before he can enter but in another scene just appears in a different house without invitation to shock the doomed victim simply as a way to surprise the audience–it’s not fair.
I actually enjoy the “Final Destination” series which has an invisible villain. But you can sense that invisible thing(death)thinking. I think there is a place in horror for mindless creatures that pose threats, I suppose–if the threat is horrifying enough it works. The protagonist is the one who has to solve this puzzle one way or the other. if it’s an interesting puzzle, it won’t matter.
My favorite horror villain of all time?
The demon inside Linda Blair in “The Exorcist”. I saw it when I was ten years old. The film still bothers me.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
September 11, 2017 at 6:57 am #74128TSRF
ParticipantPA, I disagree that you may have loved the movie more if you had reread the book before seeing it.
I finished reading “The Dead Zone” like a week before I went and saw the movie. I hated it! So much was missing. This character didn’t behave like he did in the book, his wife was supposed to have huge boobs, etc, etc.
Then, about 5 years ago, I watched the movie again. By that point, I didn’t remember shit about the book. I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit (Big Chris Walken fan).
Just my take.
September 11, 2017 at 11:07 am #74136PA Ram
ParticipantPA, I disagree that you may have loved the movie more if you had reread the book before seeing it.
I finished reading “The Dead Zone” like a week before I went and saw the movie. I hated it! So much was missing. This character didn’t behave like he did in the book, his wife was supposed to have huge boobs, etc, etc.
Then, about 5 years ago, I watched the movie again. By that point, I didn’t remember shit about the book. I actually enjoyed the movie quite a bit (Big Chris Walken fan).
Just my take.
That could well be. I think the best film from a novel I’ve read was “Silence of the Lambs” and it isn’t close.
So yes–I could get more picky about things. But I meant more from the point of having some questions about things that were going on. I don’t want to get into spoilers but I had some questions about things I didn’t think the film explained.
"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick
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