The Dark Tower

So the trailer for The Dark Tower is out. They've been trying to make Stephen King's fantasy epic into a film series for years, but they haven't been able to pull it off. With this new trailer, it looks like they are jettisoning the idea of a direct adaptation and taking the characters into new territory. Normally when film makers do this it's a complete disaster (i.e. World War Z, The Lawnmower Man). But considering King's books are very convoluted and all over the place thematically with too many characters, the route they are taking with this new movie seems spot on to me. I'm really looking forward to this.

I seriously doubt anyone could load a revolver that way.

I've read on the Nerdist that this movie is a sequel to the books. Those who've read them will understand that. However, the trailer doesn't seem to indicate that at all.

Looks interesting.

Has McConaughey ever played a villain before?

And is this planned to be a movie series?

I wonder if the Crimson King will show up at some point.

I know nothing of the books, but this looks pretty good.

Second trailer.

I think MM is going to be really good in this.

Reviews are in, and it's not good.
They range from "meh", to "steeeenkeee!!".


Also, the studio didn't let critics see it until today, the day before release, which is always a red flag.

Rocking a 17% positive among top critics on RottenTomatoes.

Pass.

I really hoped this would be good.

Meh, I'll see it anyway.
I saw fuckin' "Transcendence".

Reviews are bad.

That's too bad. I was looking forward to this.

Maybe I'll catch Atomic Blonde instead.

Reviews for that aren't good either.

Yeah. 75% at RT. But it still looks like a fun movie.

Not expecting much out of the story but I hear the action scenes are really good.

Anyway I think Dark Tower works better as a television miniseries. Why try to cram the ideas from an 8 book series into a two hour movie?

Game Of Thrones was adapted from a seven book series into about 70-75 hours of television and they still had to cut out a lot of stuff.

Seems like some of the better Steven King movies do better on the small screen.

Indeed. It's how his books work. Some may be grand in scope but usually they're quite intimate.

http://dickynoo.blogspot.com/2017/08/big-summer-movies-part-5-part-7.html

No love for Apes?

Taken on it's own merits, the movie is said to be a decent YA film whose focus was switched from Roland to Jake.

It's been known for quite a while it wasn't going to be a film that book purists were going to love.

I've never read any of the books, but my understanding is that it starts strong then gets exponentially worse as it drags on.

actually...

http://io9.gizmodo.com/the-dark-tower-tv-show-now-has-a-showrunner-1797506492

I like the first two, but I don't love 'em.
I heard the new one isn't as good as two, but still good.
I can wait.

I really don't get the hate this is getting.
I mean, I REALLY don't get it!

Most times, if I like a movie that everyone else hates, or the critics hate, but my inner-circle still likes, I can understand.

Ghostbusters: Answer The Call? I get it. You don't like remakes, you hold the old one sacred, you don't like Paul Feig's style of humor, you didn't like the casting, whatever, I get it.
I thought it was out of proportion, but I do at least understand the roots of it.

Human Centipede? I totally get it. It's torture porn, it's black comedy, it's poop fear, I totally get it.

Batman v Superman? I get it. You don't like Zack Snyder's style, you didn't like "Man Of Steel ", going into it, again, totally get it.

Dark Tower?
I'm lost.
I can understand it being a letdown cause it's not the "Lord Of The Rings", sized behemoth it deserves to be.
But HATING it?
I don't get that.
What's there is good.
The effects, the battles, the acting, the cast, it all works.
It doesn't suck, it's not boring, I truly don't get the hate.

Sss, ouch, 20 million opening weekend on a 60 million budget.

I'm behind on a few moves, so I might just do a marathon and catch up. Apes takes priority though.

I tried to read the first book. Couldn't get half way through before I got bored.

I had the thought too that Roland was just shy of being a pedo with the kid in tow.

Just watched it on the plane.

Shoulda stayed with "pass."

Very meh.

I tried watching it, key word being tried.... it's one of two or three movies total that I couldn't watch all the way through.

One critic called it "flavorless." I kinda agree. Since all sorts of myths converge in this world, it feels like a hodge-podge of themes. It's a western, sci-fi, and mystical film all at the same time, but these elements fit together clunkily.

It also looked cheap in places, more like a TV show. But I see the budget was only $60 million, so not too surprising. Methinks better to spend $200 million on a more epic--and longer--film.

That's another thing: the length. It's only 90 minutes, and the one thing that's absolutely necessary for this film to work--the relationship between Roland and Jake--does not get enough time to develop.

Did appreciate the connections to other Stephen King works: I chuckled when I saw a photo of the Overlook Hotel from The Shining.

King appears to be interested in getting Amazon to do a reboot. https://twitter.com/StephenKing/status/1664661980613955585