Stephen King Best Adaptations - Hearts in Atlantis (2001)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best.



Hearts in Atlantis (2001)
Hearts in Atlantis on imdb.com
Stars: Anthony Hopkins, Anton Yelchin, Hope Davis,  Mika Boorem, David Morse
Screenplay: William Goldman (adapted from Stephen King's novella 'Low Men in Yellow Coats' in the book "Hearts in Atlantis")
Director: Scott Hicks

In the summer of 1960, young Bobby Garfield (Anton Yelchin) is sharing adventures with his best friends Carol (Mika Boorem) and Sully (Will Rothhaar) when an enigmatic lodger named Ted Brautigan (Anthony Hopkins) rents a room in his family's boarding house. Bobby's self-absorbed, widowed mother Liz (Hope Davis) couldn't care less about her son, so Bobby, who is being tormented by local bullies, quickly befriends the otherworldly Ted, becoming his confidante, and reading the paper to him to save the aging man's failing eyesight. Soon, Bobby learns that Ted possesses supernatural gifts, has a haunted past, and is being pursued by sinister men whose intentions are unclear. 


Stephen King story, adapted into a screenplay by William Goldman (who had given us Misery too) and Anthony Hopkins. An amazing rendition of an amazing story. 


Some quotes from the film:
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Ted: Sometimes when you're young, you have moments of such happiness, you think you're living in someplace magical, like Atlantis must have been? then we grow up and our hearts break into two.

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Bobby: Ted, "my father never bought a drunk a drink". What does that mean exactly?
Ted: It means he was a good man, he was honest, and he never added to the troubles of the world. Okay? Good night. 

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Ted: I wouldn't have missed a single minute of it, Bobby. Not for the whole world. 

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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com

Stephen King Best Adaptations - The Shawshank Redemption (1994)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best....



The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
The Shawshank Redemption on imdb.com
Stars: Tim Robbins, Morgan Freeman, Bob Gunton, William Sadler, Clancy Brown, Gil Bellows, Mark Rolstion, James Whitmore.
Screenplay: Frank Darabont (adapted from Stephen King's novella 'Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption')
Director: Frank Darabont

   
Andy Dufresne is a young and successful banker whose life changes drastically when he is convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of his wife and her lover. Set in the 1940's, the film shows how Andy, with the help of his friend Red, the prison entrepreneur, turns out to be a most unconventional prisoner.


Nothing I can say about this film will do it justice... I've read the novella and I saw the film and all I can say is, its a beautiful story... both King's novella and Darabont's screen-rendition of it. Remarkable performances from Robbins and Freeman, impeccable direction from Darabont. Undoubtedly the film that started a new era in King-adaptation.


My favorite exchange in the movie is almost at the end:
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1967 Parole Hearings Man: Ellis Boyd Redding, your files say you've served 40 years of a life sentence. Do you feel you've been rehabilitated? 
Red: Rehabilitated? Well, now let me see. You know, I don't have any idea what that means.
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, it means that you're ready to rejoin society...
Red: I know what *you* think it means, sonny. To me it's just a made up word. A politician's word, so young fellas like yourself can wear a suit and a tie, and have a job. What do you really want to know? Am I sorry for what I did?
1967 Parole Hearings Man: Well, are you?
Red: There's not a day goes by I don't feel regret. Not because I'm in here, or because you think I should. I look back on the way I was then: a young, stupid kid who committed that terrible crime. I want to talk to him. I want to try and talk some sense to him, tell him the way things are. But I can't. That kid's long gone and this old man is all that's left. I got to live with that. Rehabilitated? It's just a bullshit word. So you go on and stamp your form, sonny, and stop wasting my time. Because to tell you the truth, I don't give a shit. 
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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com

Stephen King Best Adaptations - The Mist (2007)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best.



The Mist (2007)
The Mist on imdb.com
Stars: Thomas Jane, Marcia Gay Harden, Laurie Holden, Andre Braugher, Toby Jones, William Sadler, Jeffrey DeMunn, Alexa Davalos, Frances Sternhagen.
Screenplay: Frank Darabont (adapted from Stephen King's novella 'The Mist')
Director: Frank Darabont

   

David Drayton, his son Billy, and their neighbor Brent Norton head to the local grocery store to replenish supplies following a freak storm. Once there, they and other local citizens are trapped by a strange mist that has enveloped the town and in which strange creatures are lurking. As the mist takes its toll on the nerves of those trapped in the store, a religious zealot, Mrs. Carmody begins to play on their fears to convince them that this is God’s vengeance for their sins and that a sacrifice must be made and two groups—those for and those against—are aligned. When it is realized that staying in the store may prove fatal, a small group including the Draytons, store employee Ollie Weeks, Amanda Dumfries, Irene Reppler, and Dan Miller attempt to make their escape. They find that what’s “out there” may be worse than what they left behind.


Frank Darabont brings to life yet another masterpiece from the King of fiction. The Mist, as a novella, was one of my earliest reads from Stephen King and after reading it, I had been unable to read anything else for days... that taste was in my mouth and would allow nothing else to get my attention. When I heard about the movie coming out not too long ago, and that it was directed by Frank Darabont, I couldn't wait.

Darabont does a very good job yet again, fast paced, suspenseful and does not deviate much from the original story that King penned. Thomas Jane is convincing as Drayton, Toby Jones shines out as Ollie, Gay-Harden is scary as the preachy Mrs. Carmody. The effects are brilliant and so are the camera angles. It is not yet another creature movie or end-of-the-world movie, this has KING/DARABONT stamped all over it... fresh, riveting and nerve-wracking.

Some memorable quotes from the film:
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Amanda Dunfrey: You don't have much faith in humanity, do you? 
Dan Miller: None, whatsoever. 
Amanda Dunfrey: I can't accept that. People are basically good; decent. My god, David, we're a civilized society. 
David Drayton: Sure, as long as the machines are working and you can dial 911. But you take those things away, you throw people in the dark, you scare the shit out of them - no more rules.
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Ollie: I killed her. 
David Drayton: Thank you Ollie. 
Ollie: I killed her. I wouldn't have done that if there had been any other way. 
David Drayton: That's why I said thank you. 
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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com

Stephen King Best Adaptations - The Green Mile (1999)

Even with the first book, Carrie, Stephen King had been translated into movies and so, there are many of his works that have been adapted for the screen... here's looking at some of the best.



The Green Mile (1999)
The Green Mile on imdb.com
Stars: Tom Hanks, Michael Clarke Duncan, David Morse, Bonnie Hunt, James Cromwell, Michael Jeter, Graham Greene, Doug Hutchinson, Sam Rockwell, Barry Pepper, Jeffrey DeMunn, Patricia Clarkson, Harry Dean Stanton... and a mouse called Mr. Jingles.
Screenplay: Frank Darabont (adapted from Stephen King's The Green Mile)
Director: Frank Darabont
      
At Cold Mountain Penitentiary, along the lonely stretch of cells known as the Green Mile, killers as depraved as the psychopathic "Billy the Kid" Wharton and the possessed Eduard Delacroix await death strapped in "Old Sparky". Here guards as decent as Paul Edgecombe and as sadistic as Percy Wetmore watch over them. But good or evil, innocent or guilty, none have ever seen the brutal likes of the new prisoner, John Coffey, sentenced to death for raping and murdering two young girls. Is Coffey a devil in human form? Or is he a far different kind of being?


Having proven his worth at adapting King with the 94 hit 'The Shawshank Redemption", Darabont made this an instant success with him at the helm and Hanks, Morse, Clarke-Duncan, Pepper and Rockwell leading the cast... the film went on to get four Oscar Nominations:
Best Picture
Best Supporting Actor - Michael Clarke Duncan
Best Screenplay (Adapted) - Frank Darabont
Best Sound


Good movie, well paced with excellent direction, impeccable performances from the entire cast (including Mr. Jingles!)... I could watch this movie for the 4578th time without getting bored... Amazing film!


Best exchange of the film:
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Paul Edgecomb: What do you want me to do John? You want me to let you run out of here, see how far you can get?

John Coffey: Why would you do such a foolish thing?
Paul Edgecomb: On the day of my judgment, when I stand before God, and He asks me why did I kill one of his true miracles, what am I gonna say? That it was my job? My job? 
John Coffey: You tell God the Father it was a kindness you done. I know you hurtin' and worryin', I can feel it on you, but you oughta quit on it now. Because I want it over and done. I do. I'm tired, boss. Tired of bein' on the road, lonely as a sparrow in the rain. Tired of not ever having me a buddy to be with, or tell me where we's coming from or going to, or why. Mostly I'm tired of people being ugly to each other. I'm tired of all the pain I feel and hear in the world everyday. There's too much of it. It's like pieces of glass in my head all the time. Can you understand?
Paul Edgecomb: Yes, John. I think I can. 
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Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com

Bag of Bones Miniseries Coming Soon....

Stephen King Fans... watch the trailer of Stephen King's latest adaptation "Bag of Bones"... looks good.... Pierce Brosnan as Mike Noonan, Melissa George as Mattie Devore ... good choices!

Additional footage from StephenKing.com
Bag of Bones News on StephenKing.com

Cheers,
Javed Afridi
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com
  

Comprehensive List of Stephen King Works

Okay, just for the heck of it, or just because I am the greatest Stephen King fan, below is a list of Stephen King works... which ones are your favorites?

Fiction:
Carrie 1974                              
Salem's Lot 1975                          
The Shining 1977
Rage 1977                                
The Stand 1978                            
The Dead Zone 1979
Firestarter 1980                        
Cujo 1981 novel                            
Christine 1983
Pet Sematary 1983                  
Cycle of the Werewolf 1983          
It 1986
The Eyes of the Dragon 1987    
Misery 1987                                  
The Tommyknockers 1987
The Dark Half 1989                  
The Stand: The Complete & Uncut Edition 1990
Needful Things 1991                
Gerald's Game 1992                    
Dolores Claiborne 1992
Insomnia 1994                          
Rose Madder 1995                        
The Green Mile 1996
Desperation 1996                    
Bag of Bones 1998                        
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon 1999                                          
Hearts in Atlantis 1999
Dreamcatcher 2001                  
From a Buick 8 2002                    
The Colorado Kid 2005
Cell 2006                                
Lisey's Story 2006                          
Duma Key 2008
Under the Dome 2009              
Blockade Billy 2010
Dark Tower Series:
     The Dark Tower: The Gunslinger 1982
     The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three 1987
     The Dark Tower III: The Waste Lands 1991
     The Dark Tower IV: Wizard and Glass 1997
     The Dark Tower V: Wolves of the Calla 2003
     The Dark Tower VI: Song of Susannah 2004
     The Dark Tower VII: The Dark Tower 2004

Collections:

Night Shift 1978
        - Jerusalem's Lot (Short Story)
        - Graveyard Shift (Short Story)
        - Night Surf (Short Story)
        - I Am the Doorway (Short Story)
        - The Mangler (Short Story)
        - The Boogeyman (Short Story)
        - Grey Matter (Short Story)
        - Battleground (Short Story)
        - Trucks (Short Story)
        - Sometimes They Come Back (Short Story)
        - Strawberry Spring (Short Story)
        - The Ledge (Short Story)
        - The Lawnmower Man (Short Story)
        - Quitters Inc. (Short Story)
        - I Know What Your Need  (Short Story)
        - Children of the Corn (Short Story)
        - The Last Rung on the Ladder (Short Story)
        - The Man Who Loved Flowers (Short Story)
        - One for the Road (Short Story)
        - The Woman in the Room (Short Story)

Different Seasons 1982
        - Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption (Novella)
        - Apt Pupil (Novella)
        - The Body (Novella)
        - The Breathing Method (Novella)
Skeleton Crew 1985

        - The Mist (Novella)
        - Here There Be Tygers (Short Story)

        - The Monkey (Short Story)
        - Cain Rose Up (Short Story)

        - Mrs. Todd's Shortcut (Short Story)
        - The Jaunt (Short Story)

        - The Wedding Gig (Short Story)
        - Paranoid: A Chant

        - The Raft (Short Story)
        - Word Processor of the Gods (Short Story)

        - The Man Who Would Not Shake Hands (Short Story)
        - Beachworld (Short Story)
        - The Reaper's Image (Short Story)
        - Nona (Short Story)
        - For Owen
        - Survivor's Type (Short Story)
        - Uncle Otto's Truck (Short Story)
        - Morning Deliveries (Milkman #1) (Short Story)
        - Big Wheels: A Tale of the Laundry Game (Milkman #2) (Short Story)

        - Gramma (Short Story)
        - The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet (Short Story)
        - The Reach (Short Story)
Four Past Midnight 1990
        - The Langoliers (Novella)

        - Secret Window, Secret Garden (Novella)
        - The Library Policeman (Novella)
        - The Sun Dog (Novella)
Nightmares & Dreamscapes 1993
        - Dolan's Cadillac (Short Story)

        - The End of the Whole Mess (Short Story)

        - Suffer the Little Children (Short Story)

        - The Night Flier (Short Story)

        - Popsy (Short Story)

        - It Grows on You (Short Story)

        - Chattery Teeth (Short Story)

        - Dedication (Short Story)

        - The Moving Finger (Short Story)

        - Sneakers (Short Story)

        - You Know They Got a Hell of a Band (Short Story)

        - Home Delivery (Short Story)

        - Rainy Season (Short Story)

        - My Pretty Pony (Short Story)

        - Sorry, Right Number (Short Story)

        - The Ten O'Clock People (Short Story)

        - Crouch End (Short Story)

        - The House on Maple Street (Short Story)

        - The Fifth Quarter (Short Story)

        - The Doctor's Case (Short Story)

        - Umney's Last Case (Short Story)

        - Head Down (Short Story)

        - Brooklyn August (Short Story)

        - The Beggar and the Diamond (Short Story)

Secret Windows 2000 (Non fiction)

        - Introduction by Peter Straub
        - Dave's Rag
             *Jumper
             *Rush Call
        - The Horror Market Writer and the Ten Bears: A True Story
        - Foreword to Night Shift
        - On Becoming a Brand Name
        - Horror Fiction
        - An Evening at the Billerica (Massachusetts) Library
        - The Ballad of the Flexible Bullet
        - How 'It' Happened
        - Banned Books and Other Concerns: The Virginia Beach Lecture
        - Turning the Thumbscrew on the Reader

        - "Ever Eat Raw Meat?" and Other Weird Questions
        - A New Introduction to John Fowles' The Collector
        - What Stephen King Does for Love

        - Two Past Midnight - A Note on Secret Window, Secret Garden

        - Introduction to Jack Ketchum's The Girl Next Door
        - Great Hookers I Have Known

        - A Night at the Royal Festival Hall: Muriel Gray Interviews Stephen King

        - An Evening with Stephen King
        - In the Deathroom
Everything's Eventual 2002
        - Autopsy Room Four

        - The Man in the Black Suit

        - All That You Love Will Be Carried Away

        - The Death of Jack Hamilton

        - In the Deathroom

        - The Little Sisters of Eluria

        - Everything's Eventual

        - L.T.'s Theory of Pets

        - The Road Virus Heads North

        - Lunch at the Gotham Cafe

        - The Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is In French

        - 1408

        - Riding the Bullet

        - Luckey Quarter
Just After Sunset 2008

        - Willa

        - The Gingerbread Girl

        - Harvey's Dream

        - Rest Stop

        - Stationary Bike

        - The Things They Left behind

        - Graduation Afternoon

        - N

        - The Cat from Hell

        - The New York Times at Special Bargain Rates

        - Mute

       - Ayana

       - A Very Tight Place

Full Dark, No Stars 2010

       - 1922 (Novella)

       - Big Driver (Novella)
       - Fair Extension (Novella)
       - A Good Marriage (Novella)
Writing as Richard Bachman

The Long Walk 1979
Roadwork 1981
The Running Man 1982
Thinner 1984
The Regulators 1996
Blaze 2007
Writing with Peter Straub:
The Talisman 1984

Black House 2001
Screenplays:
Sleepwalkers 1992

Storm of the Century 1999
Rose Red 2002

Non Fiction:
Danse Macabre 1981
On Writing 2000

Nightmares in the Sky 1988

Tell me if I missed something

Cheers!!!!
Javed Afridi.
http://javedafridiblog.blogspot.com/
 

Attempting to put together new authors with readers they want to target...

Okay, so you are an author and have worked hard to put up an eBook of your work on the net somewhere, now you want to market it and do not have the financial resources to acquire the heftily priced marketing packages of the publisher (or any marketing institution, for that matter)... so what do you do?

And now, lets say you are a reader and you read books from famous authors... but what's wrong with giving a new author a try? How would you select a book from an author you do not know? How would you spare your hard-earned dollars for someone you have never read before, dont know what he writes about?

Here, lets try bringing together the demanders and suppliers. Authors, new and old, feel free to advertise your work (and do not repeat yourself). Readers, check and choose what you would like to read.

This is for authors and readers of all genre, except kinky sexual experiences, BDSM, bondages, chick-lit and whatever is more sex-oriented than story-oriented... this means Thrillers, Sci-fi, Fantasy, History, Romance (the decent kind) and so on and so forth...

Okay... author-bots, let's roll....

Love,
Javed Afridi