Stranger Things

Flamencology said:
Not as obvious when you consider that there are a bunch of movies based on King that are better than the source material.

The Shawshank Redemption, Stand By Me, The Green Mile, Misery.... Possibly Carrie.
Click to expand...

Opinion is all relative, of course, but the only ones of those that approach the book/story IMHO are Carrie and The Green Mile. Which is not to say that I dislike the films, I love them all, but I read the stories/books of every one of them before seeing the adaptation. If I'd seen the films first, I might feel differently.
 
Flamencology said:
Yes, but King novels have a tendency to be extremely bloated (he's no Melville, he can't pull off tangents) and in dire need of a ruthless editor, so there's a nice balance.

His son's writing has begun to suffer the same fate, sadly.
Click to expand...

Exactly!

I find King's novels to almost always be about 100 pages too long, and they NEVER end the way I think they should, lol.....

Tom Clancy was another author whose books were about 100 pages too long. I don't need to know how the J-Star spy satellite works, I just need to know what it does. :wink:

I've never read any of King's son's stuff, but I give him kudos for at least writing under a pen-name and not riding on his father's coattails.

But anyway, back to Stranger Things.

Now that everybody's seen it (or at least are far along), I thought it had too much teenage sex in it (I found it kind of creepy in a NOT good way), and as I pointed out in a earlier post, if you're going to call it Demogorgon, at least make it LOOK like Demogorgon. Overall C+/B-. I'll watch a second season if/when it comes out though. They did a pretty fantastic job of capturing the '80's. Still don't understand the significance of the Clash song being used, though.
 
Coralkong said:
I've never read any of King's son's stuff, but I give him kudos for at least writing under a pen-name and not riding on his father's coattails.
Click to expand...

You should, if you're a King fan. Skip Horns, Horns is shit. But reading Heart-Shaped Box is like reading King at his best.

Now that everybody's seen it (or at least are far along), I thought it had too much teenage sex in it (I found it kind of creepy in a NOT good way)
Click to expand...

WTF?
 
Coralkong said:
Now that everybody's seen it (or at least are far along), I thought it had too much teenage sex in it (I found it kind of creepy in a NOT good way)
Click to expand...

There weren't any actual sex scenes in it (it was just suggested the one time) and, I mean, do you recall being a teenager? Because I was just about the age of Mike's older brother Jonathan in 1983 and what they portrayed was actually very tame stuff compared to the stuff that went on back then.
 
GDSmithTX said:
There weren't any actual sex scenes in it (it was just suggested the one time) and, I mean, do you recall being a teenager? Because I was just about the age of Mike's older brother Jonathan in 1983 and what they portrayed was actually very tame stuff compared to the stuff that went on back then.
Click to expand...

I just didn't think it was necessary, that's all.
 
Can't read this thread til I finish the series. So fucking entertaining though. Hits the right 80's vibe buttons just right so far.

Definitely derivative from a lot of things but entertaining nonetheless.

The best part is, we're staying in a beach house that probably hasn't been redecorated since 1983. I'm the only one up, binge watching, and the vibe of this house plus the show is pleasantly freaking me the fuck out.

Some flavors that come to mind so far:
The Explorers
Akira
Goonies
War Games (sans computers thank god)
V
Twin Peaks a little
Silver Bullet
Poltergeist
ET
Tool videos
 
Last edited:
BlockInlay said:
Can't read this thread til I finish the series. So fucking entertaining though. Hits the right 80's vibe buttons just right so far.

Definitely derivative from a lot of things but entertaining nonetheless.

The best part is, we're staying in a beach house that probably hasn't been redecorated since 1983. I'm the only one up, binge watching, and the vibe of this house plus the show is pleasantly freaking me the fuck out.

Some flavors that come to mind so far:
The Explorers
Akira
Goonies
War Games (sans computers thank god)
V
Twin Peaks a little
Silver Bullet
Poltergeist
ET
Tool videos
Click to expand...
I LOVED the "V" miniseries when I was a kid! Good, cheesy 80's tv!!
 
Flooding all over the city so gigs were canceled. The good news is we got to watch Stanger Things!

One thing that I was surprised not to see mentioned was what was said in the last episode when they finish the game. Paraphrasing "It was only 10 hours and doesn't make sense. What about the proud princess, lost knight, and weird flowers in the cave."

I think this statement sets up the next season. I'm thinking the weird flowers are the vines growing everywhere in the underside. The lost Knight is El as evidenced by the waffles in the end. I'm not sure if the proud princess is Winona Ryder or the teenage girl. Thoughts?
 
rhino said:
Flooding all over the city so gigs were canceled. The good news is we got to watch Stanger Things!

One thing that I was surprised not to see mentioned was what was said in the last episode when they finish the game. Paraphrasing "It was only 10 hours and doesn't make sense. What about the proud princess, lost knight, and weird flowers in the cave."

I think this statement sets up the next season. I'm thinking the weird flowers are the vines growing everywhere in the underside. The lost Knight is El as evidenced by the waffles in the end. I'm not sure if the proud princess is Winona Ryder or the teenage girl. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Oh, yeah! That totally didn't register with me, but it's keeping in line with the symmetry of the game from the first episode paralleling the first season's arc.
 
Poparad said:
Oh, yeah! That totally didn't register with me, but it's keeping in line with the symmetry of the game from the first episode paralleling the first season's arc.
Click to expand...

Checking online there are a few different variations of what this could mean. They all make sense. Good writing.
 
So i finally finished. Great series.














Spoiler below:













































Spoiler:
Did they say if El is Hopper's or not? I already forget.
 
BlockInlay said:
So i finally finished. Great series.














Spoiler below:













































Spoiler:
Did they say if El is Hopper's or not? I already forget.
Click to expand...

Spoiler answer:
she is not, she is the crazy lady who won't talk's daughter. Unless something really changes in the last 2 episodes. I thought for sure she was going to be.
 
Guitar Heel said:
I finished this last night. And I enjoyed it.

but...

It's the most derivative show I've seen, in my life, save for possibly Kill Bill 1 (and of course Tarantino was very open by noting that the film was simply a mashup of many of his favorite films). So many scenes were taken (almost directly) from so many other shows and films. If this is an homage, and it was put forth as such, then that's awesome. But I did not see a single "new" idea in the series. Not one. All of this has been done before.

but...

I thought it was entertaining for sure. I enjoyed all of the 80's references. And I will watch Season 2.

and yes...

I know that there's not a lot of new content out there. I get that. As Barn Stormers know, 2 of my favorite films, Wrath of Khan and Jaws, are based upon the same book. And yes, Star Wars, and the Hero's Journey. I know. I'm probably being too harsh.

Click to expand...


I think it's ok when a show/movie doesn't have anything new as long as it is well done and interesting, which this is. The problem with most of the rehashing is the newer stuff sucks and it just rides on the shoulders of what came before. El is a fantastic actress and the kid who plays Dustin is awesome.
 
Chad said:
I think it's ok when a show/movie doesn't have anything new as long as it is well done and interesting, which this is. The problem with most of the rehashing is the newer stuff sucks and it just rides on the shoulders of what came before. El is a fantastic actress and the kid who plays Dustin is awesome.
Click to expand...

Dustin rocks!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top