Page Index Toggle Pages: [1] 2  Print
Hot Topic (More than 10 Replies) Mist, The (2007) (Read 15,124 times)
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Mist, The (2007)
30. Jun 2008 at 06:38
Print Post  

Tonight I watched The Mist, by hack director Frank Darabont, based on a "novella" by hack novelist Stephen King, and co-starring cute and fairly talented Nathan Gamble.

If anyone wants to create a profile, I'd be more than happy to give it a shitty rating.
« Last Edit: 07. Jul 2008 at 06:30 by Zabladowski »  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
YoungArthur
BA Moderator
*****
Offline


Hagrid's Helper

Posts: 1,914
Joined: 09. May 2003
Gender: Male
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #1 - 30. Jun 2008 at 16:57
Print Post  
What an inviting prospect.  Grin

King seems not to care, or has given up caring about directors. I won't even argue that he isn't a hack novelist. He himself appears to be defiantly comfortable with that status.

In my opinion, the best director of the best film version of King's work was Taylor Hackford and his direction of 'Dolores Claiborne.' I thought it was superbly done. It looks to me as if 'Dolores Claiborne' is as close to literature as King is likely to get.

I'll probly still see 'The Mist,' though just so that I can enjoy young Gamble and the special effects and shake my head at everything else.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #2 - 30. Jun 2008 at 19:29
Print Post  
Actually, the special effects are very bad, especially the CGI in the first scene involving tentacles. The movie was done on a very low budget and it shows. It's made-for-tv-quality bad. (Although the later scenes are a bit better and there's a shot near the very end that was kind of cool, although it looked like it was stolen from the Shadow of the Colossus video game, which I love.)

Regardless of the film's quality, it's impossible not to enjoy Nathan Gamble. I also have to confess that I got sucked into the plot and it got kind of exciting in the second half, in spite of bad dialogue, bad acting, bad special effects, lots of implausible scenes, and characters generally doing stupid things. Given all the flaws, I don't really know where the excitement came from.

Be warned, though, THE ENDING WILL UPSET YOU! I started to suspect what would happen about half an hour before the end, and even thought I saw it coming, I was still angry at the manipulative and disturbing final sequence.



PS: Oh, and another thing that really annoyed me was the way they used my favourite song by Dead Can Dance in the last scenes. It's an extremely powerful and beautiful song called The Host of Seraphim, that gives me chills every time I hear it, and it felt out of place in the movie. It angered me that they were using it to give the film some emotional impact. It felt like they were cheating.
« Last Edit: 30. Jun 2008 at 21:33 by josephk »  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Zabladowski
BA Moderator
*****
Offline


The Wish Meister

Posts: 2,656
Location: USA
Joined: 30. Oct 2001
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #3 - 01. Jul 2008 at 03:48
Print Post  
"If anyone wants to create a profile, I'd be more than happy to give it a shitty rating."

Though I am working on older posts in this forum at present,
your post here makes that likely to happen joseph!  Smiley

Thanks for reminding me this was out on video I've been wanting to see something with Nathan Gamble in it. This will have to do.

P.S. Happy Birthday
  
(You need to Login or Register to view media files and links) mist.jpg (Attachment deleted)
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
YoungArthur
BA Moderator
*****
Offline


Hagrid's Helper

Posts: 1,914
Joined: 09. May 2003
Gender: Male
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #4 - 01. Jul 2008 at 05:48
Print Post  
Yikes. I didn't know Nathan Gamble was THAT cute.

Right, Joseph, I can see from the imdb comments that I will be distressed.

Hey, I see that Jeffrey DeMunn is in it. One of my favorite actors. That's a plus!

A thread on the imdb message board titled "100 Things I learned from The Mist:" is very funny. It is loaded with SPOILERS though.

And a happy birthday from me, too.  Smiley

edit: Oh, thanks Zab, that went right by me. I assumed Joseph had seen it in a theater. I put it on my netflix queue also.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #5 - 01. Jul 2008 at 06:14
Print Post  
Thanks for the birthday wishes. How the hell did you know? Or did I mention it and forget about it?  Shocked It was last week, actually. I turned 30.

Yeah, I rented the DVD. I was going to make a few caps for a gallery, but I didn't have time and had to return the DVD today. Sorry.

Oh, and I read that thread on IMDb too. Pretty funny. (Especially the one about the tentacles and Japanese schoolgirls.)
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #6 - 01. Jul 2008 at 22:16
Print Post  
I just realized you probably meant Canada Day. Heheh. Oh well. Now you know I turned 30 recently.

Thanks anyway. (Shows how "patriotic" I am!)
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Zabladowski
BA Moderator
*****
Offline


The Wish Meister

Posts: 2,656
Location: USA
Joined: 30. Oct 2001
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #7 - 02. Jul 2008 at 05:48
Print Post  
Actually, I was referring to you and not your country joseph.

I wasn't aware of Canada Day until you mentioned it.  Grin

  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: The Mist (2007)
Reply #8 - 02. Jul 2008 at 14:50
Print Post  
Oh, okay. Still doesn't explain how you knew. Maybe I told you a previous year and you remembered? If so, you have a good memory.

In any case, thank you.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
nicolas
Platinum Member
*****
Offline


Toi mon amour, toi qui
a le cœur lourd mon amour

Posts: 1,100
Location: Sur le canapé avec chips/rosé.
Joined: 15. Apr 2006
Gender: Male
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #9 - 29. Jul 2008 at 05:23
Print Post  
It's interesting that Stephen King has young boys in a large portion of his novels and novelettes. 

No complaints, mind you.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #10 - 29. Jul 2008 at 06:27
Print Post  
I think there are two reasons why there are a lot of children in his stories: 1. A lot of his writing is imbued (not to say infested) with a feeling of nostalgia, so it makes sense that he would write about childhood (something a lot of people are nostalgic about); and 2. he tends to lazily rely on children to represent "innocence," which he can then pin against whatever "evil" he happens to be writing about. Children make great victims for lazy horror writers with no talent.

Sorry, I hate Stephen King's writing.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Andreas_N
Gold Member
****
Offline


BA Member

Posts: 283
Location: Klagenfurt, Austria
Joined: 02. Nov 2005
Gender: Male
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #11 - 02. Aug 2008 at 10:43
Print Post  
The amount of boy-characters in King's novels is really amazing. Some of his best novels featuring boy-heroes have not yet been adapted to the big screen, like "The Talisman", which is in my opinion one of the finest boy-adventure-fantasy-stories I've ever read. And there's his character Jake in the Dark Tower series, a boy you can't help but fall in love with.
The novel Desperation also features a great boy-character in the leading role (a role which would have deserved a better adaptation than the new TV movie, but Shane Haboucha did a decent job).
Stand By Me (River and Whil) and It (Jonathan Brandis) have touched my heart and soul and range among my all time favorite boy movies - both stories, joseph, are absolutely brilliant to read.
Anton Yelchin in Hearts in Atlantis also made me cry.
And of course, one of King's finest novels, Salem's Lot, features a smart young boy in the co-starring role as well (Dan Byrd in the new movie adaptation with Rob Lowe, James Cromwell and Rutgar Hauer). Now that was a great novel to read!
The flashback moments in Dreamcatcher were also quite nicely taken into the 2003 movie.
Don't forget the original Shining novel - the one which was perverted by Kubrick and nicely adapted as a TV-series in 1997. The boy in the original novel was a great character.

I remember a recent interview with Stephen King after the release of "The Mist" in which he was asked about why boy characters keep re-appearing in his writing. He answered something like, "I wrote these stories when my own kids were at that age". Something which definitely doesn't apply to the majority of his novels.

Joseph, I agree with you that some Stephen King novels and films are utter crap. I've come across some novels of his that are trash. Then again, he has produced some stuff that is absolutely brilliant and eternal.


I also liked The Mist. Here's my short review.


A great boy performance by Nathan Gamble! He is very emotional and absolutely brilliant as the terrified son of Thomas Jane. A typical Stephen King flick - you can actually spot a considerable number of actors who have appeared in previous King adaptations. Andre Braugher, the black lawyer, co-starred in Salem's Lot; Jeffrey DeMunn, who was one of the last survivors in the truck, had a significant role in Storm of the Century; William Sadler, the guy who turned into one of the religious manics, has worked with Darabont before and appeared in the famous Shawshank Redemption (which many don't even associate with King), and Frances Sternhagen, the old woman who was also in the truck with the last group of survivors, appeared in Stephen King's Misery (1990) and his 1991 series Golden Years. But the ultimate cookie for die-hard King fans is to be found in the opening scene, when Thomas Jane sits in his atelier and paints a picture of Roland and the Dark Tower! Wow! A brilliant extra xD


I thought the movie was a classic King story, with clear-cut characters and a situation in which a small group of people, composed of different individuals, finds itself in in a life-threatening scenario that reveals the dynamics of group paranoia and the effects such situations have on people who are cut off from society. A Lord of the Flies variation in a post-modern context. The suspense was always kept at a very high level. The visuals were just fine. Overall, one of the better King adaptations, a Darabont-King gem like its predecessors Shawshank Redemption and The Green Mile.

  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
josephk
Platinum Member
*****
Offline



Posts: 3,981
Location: Canada
Joined: 01. Apr 2002
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #12 - 03. Aug 2008 at 04:13
Print Post  
Andreas, I don't think I've ever met anyone whose tastes and opinions about cinema came as close to being diametrically opposed to mine as you.
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Andreas_N
Gold Member
****
Offline


BA Member

Posts: 283
Location: Klagenfurt, Austria
Joined: 02. Nov 2005
Gender: Male
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #13 - 03. Aug 2008 at 09:20
Print Post  
I take this as a compliment Smiley

However, let's see if I can find some movies we both like / hate... a challenging task indeed, but I'm sure there have to be some  Roll Eyes
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Andreas_N
Gold Member
****
Offline


BA Member

Posts: 283
Location: Klagenfurt, Austria
Joined: 02. Nov 2005
Gender: Male
Re: Mist, The (2007)
Reply #14 - 03. Aug 2008 at 10:10
Print Post  
Hey joseph,

I just realized that we have the exact same number of ratings  Shocked

328...

Browsing through our ratings, I can see the "diametric opposition" you referred to Tongue... some of your 10 votes range among my lowest rankings... I still need to see Son of Rambow and Seigneur du Chateau, movies I expect to like... I have almost all of your 1 and 2 votes ranked way higher.

I guess we have a closer concurrence with our 8 and 7 votes. Undecided
  
Back to top
 
IP Logged
 
Page Index Toggle Pages: [1] 2 
Print