Red Mosquito

durdencommatyler wrote:

ABNorman wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I haven't read any of the books.

I burned through the first two on audio during commutes. Haven't got round to the rest.

Seriously, Norm, they get better. Books 3, 4 & 5 are stellar. Just brilliant.

Sounds like a large time commitment. I have Fallout to play damnit.

Monkey_Driven wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

ABNorman wrote:

Monkey_Driven wrote:I haven't read any of the books.

I burned through the first two on audio during commutes. Haven't got round to the rest.

Seriously, Norm, they get better. Books 3, 4 & 5 are stellar. Just brilliant.

Sounds like a large time commitment. I have Fallout to play damnit.

cutuphalfdead wrote:You have a problem with the black guy not being the villain? Fucking racist.

Just Will Smith. He's one of the good ones.

durdencommatyler wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

The series, in all fairness, is uneven. But it lands on the plus side on balance. It's an incredible journey and well worth your time if you're a fan of King at all.

Yes on balance it's very good. Just some story threads end in an unsatisfying manner. I expect several things will change in the movies.

bada wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

The series, in all fairness, is uneven. But it lands on the plus side on balance. It's an incredible journey and well worth your time if you're a fan of King at all.

Yes on balance it's very good. Just some story threads end in an unsatisfying manner. I expect several things will change in the movies.

Yeah, they'll change a lot for the film, I'm sure.

Let me say though that I don't actually find anything about the series unsatisfying. But I know most others do.

durdencommatyler wrote:

bada wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

The series, in all fairness, is uneven. But it lands on the plus side on balance. It's an incredible journey and well worth your time if you're a fan of King at all.

Yes on balance it's very good. Just some story threads end in an unsatisfying manner. I expect several things will change in the movies.

Yeah, they'll change a lot for the film, I'm sure.

Let me say though that I don't actually find anything about the series unsatisfying. But I know most others do.

I found the

Spoiler: show

deaths of the three big bads to be very anticlimactic especially Flag considering his presence in the Kingverse

.

bada wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

bada wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

The series, in all fairness, is uneven. But it lands on the plus side on balance. It's an incredible journey and well worth your time if you're a fan of King at all.

Yes on balance it's very good. Just some story threads end in an unsatisfying manner. I expect several things will change in the movies.

Yeah, they'll change a lot for the film, I'm sure.

Let me say though that I don't actually find anything about the series unsatisfying. But I know most others do.

I found the

Spoiler: show

deaths of the three big bads to be very anticlimactic especially Flag considering his presence in the Kingverse

.

Spoiler: show

Yeah, that's fair. The other deaths didn't bug me. But Flagg's death did feel anticlimactic. Until the Coda. Then it's kinda brilliant.

Agreed the ending was perfect.

ABNorman wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

I feel pretty mixed about what I've read so far - a great movie adaptation is entirely possible, though, depending on how things comes together.

No. Some good ideas but the whole story is way too meta in uninteresting ways. There is a stripped down story worth telling, but the series is hideously self-indulgent

stip wrote:

ABNorman wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

I feel pretty mixed about what I've read so far - a great movie adaptation is entirely possible, though, depending on how things comes together.

No. Some good ideas but the whole story is way too meta in uninteresting ways. There is a stripped down story worth telling, but the series is hideously self-indulgent

Shut up, LV.

durdencommatyler wrote:

stip wrote:

ABNorman wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

I feel pretty mixed about what I've read so far - a great movie adaptation is entirely possible, though, depending on how things comes together.

No. Some good ideas but the whole story is way too meta in uninteresting ways. There is a stripped down story worth telling, but the series is hideously self-indulgent

Shut up, LV.

Don't you fucking do that

I really had no idea -- for YEARS, had no idea -- how genuinely divisive the series is. Especially the more meta elements. Man, do some people just really hate that shit.

I thought it was all pretty brilliant. And certainly not the point. The meta stuff is so endearing and powerful, but none of it is strictly necessary. They could cut all of that stuff and the story/journey would still be gripping and worth my time.

LoathedVermin72 wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:

stip wrote:

ABNorman wrote:

BurtReynolds wrote:Are the books any good? I've heard mixed things, and the stuff I know about sounds horrendous.

I feel pretty mixed about what I've read so far - a great movie adaptation is entirely possible, though, depending on how things comes together.

No. Some good ideas but the whole story is way too meta in uninteresting ways. There is a stripped down story worth telling, but the series is hideously self-indulgent

Shut up, LV.

Don't you fucking do that

You're right. That was a low blow. My apologies.

Stip's dismissal of the source material makes me want to hate The Force Awakens on principle.

durdencommatyler wrote:I really had no idea -- for YEARS, had no idea -- how genuinely divisive the series is. Especially the more meta elements. Man, do some people just really hate that shit.

I thought it was all pretty brilliant. And certainly not the point. The meta stuff is so endearing and powerful, but none of it is strictly necessary. They could cut all of that stuff and the story/journey would still be gripping and worth my time.

Are you a Stephen King fan? This is the only thing of his I've ever read

I really like the ultimate ending. After the build up to what the dark tower is it was the only choice to make that would not have underwhelmed

durdencommatyler wrote:Stip's dismissal of the source material makes me want to hate The Force Awakens on principle.

Yeah but you'd break strat's heart

stip wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:Stip's dismissal of the source material makes me want to hate The Force Awakens on principle.

Yeah but you'd break strat's heart

And I could never break his heart like that. Never ever. He's the Luke to RM's Vader.

Aren't most of the movies made from full King books (as opposed to short stories) generally horseshit? Why would you guys have faith in this?

stip wrote:

durdencommatyler wrote:I really had no idea -- for YEARS, had no idea -- how genuinely divisive the series is. Especially the more meta elements. Man, do some people just really hate that shit.

I thought it was all pretty brilliant. And certainly not the point. The meta stuff is so endearing and powerful, but none of it is strictly necessary. They could cut all of that stuff and the story/journey would still be gripping and worth my time.

Are you a Stephen King fan? This is the only thing of his I've ever read

I really like the ultimate ending. After the build up to what the dark tower is it was the only choice to make that would not have underwhelmed

I am, yeah. Though, I'd only read a handful of things by him before tackling TDT.

The Dark Tower series makes all of Stephen King's work better, I think. The whole thing is so smart and effective. I don't know. It's hardly flawless and it's a little too bloated overall (as most King is, when you get right down to it). But it's so much fun and so full of imagination and insight. I love it.

Outside of the Harry Potter series, I'd say it's my favorite fantasy book series. I think it far surpasses its inspirations (like Lord of the Rings, for example).

turned2black wrote:Aren't most of the movies made from full King books (as opposed to short stories) generally horseshit? Why would you guys have faith in this?

Yeah, some are terrible. But the ones that work, really work (Carrie, Misery, The Green Mile).

But I have faith in this only because this has taken so long to come to fruition. It seems like there is a need, a desire, almost a compulsion to get it right. And it doesn't rely on the horror or the gross out like so many of the things they've decided to turn into movies. And also because I just really want it to be great. The books deserve great visual translations.