Stephen King's Movie Club

Most are familiar with Stephen King as an author of chilling stories, often adapted into movies. The correlation between his films and their easy adaptability to the big screen is no surprise considering King's own admission:

"My books are the movies I see in my head, that's all. I write them down, and some producer says, 'Hey! This'd make a pretty good movie!' because in a way it already is one." - Stephen King

Of his masses of books and short stories adapted for the big screen I want to discuss King's self proclaimed favorites.

The Shawshank Redemption (1994)
Based on the short story "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" by King published in 1982, The Shawshank Redemption, tells the story of an innocent man, Andy Dufrense, imprisoned for the murder of his wife and her lover. Directed and written by Frank Darabont, it is true to King's original story, adapting an almost entirely internal monologue to a beautiful film.

Interestingly, the narrator of the story is not the main character, Andy, but a man he meets in Shawshank prison, Red. Although most screenwriters would cringe at using a narrator, it works in Shawshank because the source material is so heavy- and because Red is played by Morgan Freeman. Who doesn't want to listen to Morgan Freeman talk? Red calls himself "the only guilty man in Shawshank." This line is straight from King's writing as are many others. Like this one:

Stand By Me (1986)
Based on the short story "The Body" by King, published in 1982, Stand By Me is a tale of childhood and innocence lost. Directed by Rob Reiner, known at the time only for Spinal Tap (1982), who later directed another King flick, , this story isn't the kind of movie to give you nightmares but it does have the contemplative, almost philosophical tone that all Stephen King stories have in one way or another.
The boys - played by River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Cory Feldman, and Jerry O'Connell - embark on a quest to find a dead body. King has an affinity for writing about young people who've lost something while keeping their childlike view of people and the world in tact.
The two main boys, Gordie and Chris are dealing with very adult problems, and throughout the story they are written as complex people who are not only sad but can laugh. Gordie LaChance, played by Wil Wheaton, is dealing with the death of his older brother and being alienated by his parents. Chris, played by River Phoenix, has a bad reputation around town earned by his family, which he is struggling to either live up to or denounce. Despite all four boys personal problems they support each other and still manage to be preteen boys.

Bonus: From youtuber Zefrank's True Facts series, True Facts About Morgan Freeman

The Green Mile

It is never a bad thing when SPIKE is showing an absolute classic on a Friday night. The Green Mile combines some sci-fi elements with Frank Darabont's great ability to tell prison stories. Darabont of course made his imprint on the film world with another prison movie, The Shawshank Redemption. Although The Green Mile takes place in a similar setting, the two movies couldn't be more different. Shawshank tells us a story of how different inmates get themselves through the extremely tough times they face while in prison. Whether the troubles between them and the guards, each other, or just the obvious trails of solitary confinement. And the story finally ends with an elaborate escape by the films main character that you aren't completely expecting. Although The Green Mile touches on many of the same prison struggles, there are other elements that come into play that separate it from Shawshank.

The one scene that only sticks out to me when watching this movie is the scene where Michael Clark Duncan's character seems to transfer little bees from his mouth to the mouth of one of the troubled guards. This is the sic-fi element that I spoke about earlier that really makes this a unique film. We learn that John Coffey (Duncan) actually has all sorts of amazing powers. He has the power to heal others as well as the scene I talked about earlier. Coffey actually purposely attacks the guard so he will in fact attack another prisoner who we find out is actually responsible for the murder that Coffey has been sentenced for. His healing powers come into play a few times in what is a remarkable twist to what appears to be just a typical prison movie in the beginning.

The Green Mile was nominated for four academy awards and somehow didn't win a single win. Michael Clark Duncan was nominated for best supporting actor and despite a performance of a lifetime didn't win the award. The final scene of the movie where we see John Coffey finally being executed on the electric chair somehow makes us actually feel sympathy for someone that supposedly was a rapist and a murderer. That is one constant that Darabont brings over from Shawshank. That sympathy for prisoners that have committed some awful crimes, and yet the audience feels like they don't deserve to be punished like they have.

The Green Mile was an instant classic and a must see for all movie lovers.

Skyfall

Spoiler Alert!

Over break I ended up seeing the new James Bond film, Skyfall, and I loved everything about it. It is one of the best Bond films ever made in my opinion. I thought their locations and production design were amazing. The whole scene with the abandoned island and then Bond's old home were the perfect locations. They showed the desolation that was needed for those scenes. Besides that, the cinematography was great. Roger Deakins is such an experienced cinematographer having shot other films such as No Country for Old Men, True Grit, The Shawshank Redemption, and now Skyfall. The only thing that stopped this film from being perfect I think is one scene towards the beginning when Bond shows up in M's office and Deakins' goes handheld I assume in order to show disarray and confusion, but I really didn't like the way he did it. He tilted off to the side and it didn't look like a standard handheld shot. That is the only flaw that I noticed watching this film. If you guys haven't seen it yet, it's definitely worth a trip to the theater.