Reviews for Stephen King Goes to the Movies

The average rating for Stephen King Goes to the Movies based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2021-01-25 00:00:00 Zachary Boult I read this book for two reasons. (A) So I can one day say I have read all of the works of Stephen King and (B) because I very rarely re-read due to my massive TBR, I could use this as an excuse to re-read five of Stephen's best short stories. The five stories in this book have all been published before and are all still readily accessible in the earlier books. They are; 1408 The Mangler Low Men In Yellow Raincoats Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption Children of the Corn A quirky collection of five short stories that have been made into movies. 1408, The Mangler and Children of the Corn are all very brief reads but possibly the scariest three contained. Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, known simply as the Shawshank Redemption in the movie title, arguably the best Stephen King book to movie adaptation held together amazingly by the great parts played by Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman. There was quite a lot added to the movie that wasn't directly from the book but it worked so well. Low Men in Yellow Raincoats, more commonly known as Hearts In Atlantis again opens the reader up to elements of The Dark Tower series. Speaking of The Dark Tower, the number nineteen which is prevalent throughout the series makes a distinct return in Children of the Corn. Read this book for one of the two reasons I stated at the start, or maybe both. Don't read this book if you want more than reprints of the actual stories, each is proceeded by a short one or two-page introduction by King that really doesn't give you anything to go on. The last chapter is called "my 10 favorite adaptions" and it is just a one-page list of SK's top ten. The Stand and IT don't make it (but I think they would now after remakes) and The Shining doesn't either (I know many of us to love the crazy Jack Nicholson movie but SK hates it with a passion). At least he is not egotistical enough to include Maximum Overdrive, his own personally directed disaster that was saved only by an awesome AC/DC soundtrack, but he was in the middle of his strongest coke years).

Review # 2 was written on 2009-04-03 00:00:00 Kathy Wallace I was really excited when I first heard that Stephen King was compiling a book about his favorite short stories that have been turned into films. I hoped and prayed for something that was a cross between On Writing and the ever so classic and insightful Danse Macabre -- but alas, what King fans get is a reprinting of five previously published stories. Once I got over my initial (crushing) disappointment, I realized that the old stories are at least introduced by King, and these short intros are new. So at least that's something. Furthermore, the five stories he has selected are oldies but goodies, as the saying goes. Readers unfamiliar with King's shorter works now have a chance to see that not everything the master writes is of door-stop length. When he has a mind to, King can embrace shorter but sweeter and do a fine job. Anyone who hasn't read Rita Hayworth & the Shawshank Redemption is in for a real treat. If you haven't seen Frank Darabont's adaptation starring Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins rent it tonight! You won't regret it. It's wonderful, and not horror, but dramatic and sad and beautiful and hopeful.