Day 227-- new movie round-up
Friday, April 20, 2007
I stopped by Borders at the mall today and--after doing a few housekeeping things--poked the new books in the back that hadn't been shelved yet. Stephen King's recent short story collection Everything's Eventual was just reissued with a new cover, one to highlight the film adaptation of "1408," easily the best story in the bunch. Since I didn't know a movie was coming out based on the story, it was a pleasant surprise.
Don't get me wrong; I realize that King adaptations are usually pretty dreadful (though I liked a the miniseries version of the Shining). And I have a love-hate relationship with King--his book on writing (curiously titled On Writing) is a masterpiece, and he can turn out wonderfully atmospheric short stories once in a while. But he's the fast food of the fiction world, a phrase he even used for himself. And lots of his novels are phoned in.
So I hope 1408--the film--turns out well. It's a very different story for him, but one that could translate well to the screen. But based off of a view of the trailer, they changed a lot. A lot--the story worked because it made you uneasy, never showed anything and ultimately let your imagination get the best of you. The movie could turn out to be anything but.
But since I checked this out, I realize lots of great movies are coming out soon. In addition to the fifth Harry Potter movie and Spider-Man 3, there's some possibly-good movies coming out.
There's Hot Fuzz, of course--the guys from Shaun of the Dead take on buddy-cop movies (buddy cop-meets-Agatha Christie, actually). Then 28 Weeks Later. Then the Coen brothers' adaptation of now-Pulitzer winner Cormac McCarthy's No Country for Old Men. And Sean Penn's film adaptation of Jon Krakauer's mesmerizing book Into the Wild. And Joe Wright's take on Ian McEwan's novel Atonement (Wright did the visually stunning recent version of Pride & Prejudice).
And the Coens' announced their next project, and McCarthy's amazing book the Road has a director...maybe I'll start watching movies again?
posted, with grace and poise, by Jason @ 4/20/2007 01:34:00 PM,
