Another episode in, and it's pretty clear this is the kind of adaptation that will simply brush over the main points and not look to adapt what actually happens in the book. If you're a purist, that's definitely going to be disappointing to you. As for me, I'm not entirely bothered by the fact that they are changing things, just that some of the changes are really making Jake look like a much worse character, and that's a shame.
It's natural for him to be incredulous about the reality of time travel, but it's not so natural for him to be so ignorant about it and how to behave in the past. Time travel as a concept has existed long enough, and Jake should be able to think logically about these things to act a little more carefully. You sure as hell don't admit to someone that you're a time traveler so quickly, and how the hell did he just leave that newspaper article about Kennedy's death lying around? Of course this is also a dude who took a few days before he abandoned his cell phone too. I guess I'm just going to need to accept that this version of Jake is going to bungle his way through the whole thing rather than properly planning anything. And maybe having Bill Turcotte to help him along they can put their brains together and improve things. I'm okay with that change, by the way. While not exactly logical, they clearly want someone for Jake to interact with while he's spying on Oswald to help keep things more interesting.
Despite my grumbling, I did enjoy the episode for the most part, and while Jake continued to act like a moron while trying to stop Frank Dunning from killing his family, Josh Duhamel did a great portrayal of a man off his gourd enough to eventually make an attempt at killing his family. The scenes in the meat packing plant were truly disturbing, and I whined and squirmed when that poor cow was put in the gate waiting for its head to get bashed in. There was a moment there when I was worried that Jake might cave and do it for the sake of trying to impress his new friends, and I was very glad when he didn't.
I also really enjoyed the scenes with Edna and Arliss Price. While Edna is a pretty standard King character of the devoutly religious, she was fairly subdued compared to some of them. She was also played by Annette O'Toole, who is not just an alum of former King adaptations, but specifically played Beverly Marsh in the IT TV adaptation. This had to be an intentional choice on the part of someone behind the scenes, as the Dunning family is located in Derry, Maine in the books, and Jake runs into a young Beverly and Richie, returning to their young lives not long after their initial defeat of Pennywise in the 1950s. Obviously, that story wasn't going to be included in this mini-series, as not only does it not have any real bearing on the narrative, it's just a wink and a nod to long term King fans that he tends to leave in his books. But including Annette O'Toole allowed them to leave their own wink and nod to those of us who have read the book, and that was a nice touch.
Arliss' speech to Jake initially feels like it comes out of nowhere, but Michael O'Neill's performance soon made me disregard those feelings. He speaks as if he really committed those acts, and it's a great way to warn Jake that his mission is not going to be as easy as he probably thinks it is. Frank Dunning and Oswald may be sick bastards, but killing a man is never an easy thing. While I liked the messy nature of Jake's killing of Frank, and find myself very grateful we don't have to witness the gruesome scene King describes in the book when Jake is initially too late, I have to say I feel like Franco missed the landing yet again. I knew I was supposed to be seeing a Jake who is upset by the blood on his hands and weight of his actions, but I just didn't feel like he was selling it to me. The point where he walks away from the faucet and lets the rain hit him was also such a cliche of writing/direction that it also made the scene lose weight for me.
My main hope at this point is that maybe Franco can impress me a little more as a romantic protagonist rather than an action oriented one. Jake and Sadie's relationship is certainly a highlight of the book and I imagine we have to be getting into that next episode. I'm also interested to see how all the various Oswalds will be portrayed.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Wednesday, February 17, 2016
Castle Rock Companion - 11.22.63 episode 1
After finishing The Dark Tower series, I walked away from King again for awhile. But with the release of the 11.22.63 mini series pending, I picked the book up late last year and read it for the first time. It was definitely a joyous return, as there's nothing quite like coming back to King with a really good one of his books, where it's all comfortable and familiar and yet also totally new. This one is fairly light on horror, and trades in supernatural for the science fiction of time travel. "What if you could go back in time and stop Kennedy's assassination?" is a question King has brought up casually in other books of his before, so it was no surprise to read in the afterword that this was a book he has been planning for a very long time. I'm no expert on the event, and I certainly wasn't alive in the 60s, but the book at least seems like King did his homework and prepared appropriately.
While the look at Oswald and what he's doing and whether it could be prevented, and what would happen if you could are all very interesting and thought out, the real strength of the story is Jake Epping's life that he builds for himself in the past while waiting for the event to occur. Because this isn't some time machine that will bring you exactly when you want to go, but rather a portal in which Jake arrives in 1958 and has to bide his time and prepare for the big day. I could see someone potentially feeling impatient, but for me the stories that unfold while Jake tries to make a friend's life better, then travels to Texas where he falls in love and finds a new group of high school students to inspire make the journey interesting and worthwhile. The way the past is trying to stop him because it doesn't want to be changed helps build a nice amount of tension and urgency throughout. I also think it's nice that it isn't just accidents and disasters that work to stop him from accomplishing his goals, but also his happiness. Another thing that I think is important is that King tempers his rose colored view of the past where everything tastes better and people are more trusting and kind with the harsh reality of the racism that also existed at that time.
When I first heard of the mini-series, my main reservation was related to their choice to cast James Franco as Jake. While I loved Franco on Freaks and Geeks, his roles since have largely been one note. He has a "serious face" and a "wise guy face" that he alternates between, and not only did I see Jake as a bit older, I also imagined him a lot softer than Franco tends to be. The first change I heard they were making is that the portal brings you to 1960 rather than 1958, and that didn't bother me at all. Speeding things up a little is pretty much expected in these adaptations. The book itself jumps ahead fairly rapidly at certain points, so making things happen in two years less time doesn't hurt anything.
The first episode contains some logical changes and some real headscratchers. We see Harry Dunning read aloud his paper about the night his family was murdered by his father, as well as watching him graduate. What doesn't make a whole lot of sense is moving the events of his childhood to Kentucky instead of right there in Maine. His wife shows up with the divorce papers, a good way to provide that background of his relationship with her, but she also drops a line about his father dying recently. This is basically an excuse for him to call his father via payphone when he gets to 1960. I get that they wanted an action packed sequence early on showing what happens when he tries to change the past, but it also makes Jake look really stupid. Yes, let me call my father who doesn't know I exist yet and even refer to myself as his son. This will go well.
One thing that I felt was mostly an editing mistake was the way they had him talk to Al for quite a while, have the two of them argue, and then he changes his mind overnight and comes back to find Al dead. At least I assume he was dead? But on top of that we get cuts of Al giving exposition dumps while he's in 1960. While I agree that cutting up the exposition is good, it also leaves me wondering just how long he was sitting there with Al before he went to bed, and why would Al be giving him so much information when he hadn't even agreed yet to go back and fix everything? It's not a detail that ruins anything, but it is a bit distracting.
Obviously it's hard to judge this completely without knowing where the mini-series is ultimately going, but my main concern at this point is that this may be the only trip Jake takes back to the past. In the book he goes once and botches it so badly that it requires a reboot, but he's done so much by now, having gone to Dallas early and all, that I'm not sure if he's going to do that. At least it would seem to me that if you were going to do a restart, you would do it in the first episode, and not somewhere down the line. It's possible that the incident at the Dunnings will still result in his starting over in the second episode. I hope so, as he's screwing up so badly this time around that it certainly seems like it would require a do over. At the least it's making me a little less sympathetic to him as he just seems like a moron who is stumbling his way through this rather than the educated and clever character he is in the book.
While the look at Oswald and what he's doing and whether it could be prevented, and what would happen if you could are all very interesting and thought out, the real strength of the story is Jake Epping's life that he builds for himself in the past while waiting for the event to occur. Because this isn't some time machine that will bring you exactly when you want to go, but rather a portal in which Jake arrives in 1958 and has to bide his time and prepare for the big day. I could see someone potentially feeling impatient, but for me the stories that unfold while Jake tries to make a friend's life better, then travels to Texas where he falls in love and finds a new group of high school students to inspire make the journey interesting and worthwhile. The way the past is trying to stop him because it doesn't want to be changed helps build a nice amount of tension and urgency throughout. I also think it's nice that it isn't just accidents and disasters that work to stop him from accomplishing his goals, but also his happiness. Another thing that I think is important is that King tempers his rose colored view of the past where everything tastes better and people are more trusting and kind with the harsh reality of the racism that also existed at that time.
When I first heard of the mini-series, my main reservation was related to their choice to cast James Franco as Jake. While I loved Franco on Freaks and Geeks, his roles since have largely been one note. He has a "serious face" and a "wise guy face" that he alternates between, and not only did I see Jake as a bit older, I also imagined him a lot softer than Franco tends to be. The first change I heard they were making is that the portal brings you to 1960 rather than 1958, and that didn't bother me at all. Speeding things up a little is pretty much expected in these adaptations. The book itself jumps ahead fairly rapidly at certain points, so making things happen in two years less time doesn't hurt anything.
The first episode contains some logical changes and some real headscratchers. We see Harry Dunning read aloud his paper about the night his family was murdered by his father, as well as watching him graduate. What doesn't make a whole lot of sense is moving the events of his childhood to Kentucky instead of right there in Maine. His wife shows up with the divorce papers, a good way to provide that background of his relationship with her, but she also drops a line about his father dying recently. This is basically an excuse for him to call his father via payphone when he gets to 1960. I get that they wanted an action packed sequence early on showing what happens when he tries to change the past, but it also makes Jake look really stupid. Yes, let me call my father who doesn't know I exist yet and even refer to myself as his son. This will go well.
One thing that I felt was mostly an editing mistake was the way they had him talk to Al for quite a while, have the two of them argue, and then he changes his mind overnight and comes back to find Al dead. At least I assume he was dead? But on top of that we get cuts of Al giving exposition dumps while he's in 1960. While I agree that cutting up the exposition is good, it also leaves me wondering just how long he was sitting there with Al before he went to bed, and why would Al be giving him so much information when he hadn't even agreed yet to go back and fix everything? It's not a detail that ruins anything, but it is a bit distracting.
Obviously it's hard to judge this completely without knowing where the mini-series is ultimately going, but my main concern at this point is that this may be the only trip Jake takes back to the past. In the book he goes once and botches it so badly that it requires a reboot, but he's done so much by now, having gone to Dallas early and all, that I'm not sure if he's going to do that. At least it would seem to me that if you were going to do a restart, you would do it in the first episode, and not somewhere down the line. It's possible that the incident at the Dunnings will still result in his starting over in the second episode. I hope so, as he's screwing up so badly this time around that it certainly seems like it would require a do over. At the least it's making me a little less sympathetic to him as he just seems like a moron who is stumbling his way through this rather than the educated and clever character he is in the book.
Wednesday, February 10, 2016
Current Media 2-10-16
Current reading material:
Physical book - Books of Blood Vol 1 -3
Marvel Comics Series:
As if I wasn't already slowing down on this, I found a few concurrently running series that I hadn't added to my reading list before.
Origin (Nov 2001)
Agent X (Sep 2002)
Weapon X (Nov 2002)
X-men Unlimited #40 (Feb 2003)
X-treme X-men #20 (Mar 2003
X-treme X-men Mechanix #6 (Mar 2003)
Soldier X #6 (Feb 2003)
X-Statix #6 (Feb 2003)
Uncanny X-men #417 (Mar 2003)
Exiles #20 (Feb 2003)
Current TV Shows I'm watching:
The Muppets
The Grinder
@Midnight
Lupin III Series 3
Phineas & Ferb
The X-files (current mini-series, may start a re-watch when it's done)
Legends of Tomorrow
Lucifer
Agent Carter
Podcasts I'm listening to fairly regularly:
Nerdist
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men
Serial
Judge John Hodgman
Cracked
StarTalk Radio
This American Life
Video Games I'm playing:
Disney Tsum Tsum
Marvel's Avengers Academy
Suikoden
Stuff I finished since last time:
Mary Poppins - This was the audiobook of the first novel. I had found it for cheap on Audible and having always been curious about the differences since I heard P. L. Travers didn't like the film I picked it up. Her version of Mary Poppins seems to have no redeeming qualities beyond the fact that she's capable of doing magic. She's rude, she's haughty, she's quick tempered, and she's vain. When the children are all depressed that she's leaving, I have a hard time seeing why. Yes, she exposes them to magical adventures, but she's a horrible guide and an even worse nanny. That said, if you've only ever seen the film and are curious, there are quite a few other tales here that you may find amusing. Many of them involve animals, or other creatures that Disney probably felt were too hard to represent in a live action world around that time. Note that I'm not saying that Travers is a bad author, and there's some fun whimsy happening here, I just don't like her character, and think Disney did the right thing in toning down her bad qualities and giving her some genuine warmth. I won't be continuing with the series.
American Horror Story - I technically still have season 5 to see, but since that won't be on Netflix until probably September or so, I'm filing this away for now. This show is really a mixed bag. Most seasons start out seeming genuinely creepy, but then devolving into nothing more than a drama with a splash of blood over it. The characters are always caricatures, never really acting how human beings would act. I found that intolerable in both Glee and Scream Queens (both also created by Ryan Murphy) but I guess the cast and settings here provide me with enough to stick around. There's almost always one character who is so over the top I can't stand them, and I feel like Jessica Lange's character always ends up hogging up way too much story time, particularly about how sexy and amazing she is. But Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Denis O'Hare and Angela Bassett are generally fantastic, and the cast of supporting actors they got for Freakshow were very good and really made me attached to them. As a huge Gaga fan am I very much looking forward to season 5, though I also know it will probably be ridiculous.
Physical book - Books of Blood Vol 1 -3
Marvel Comics Series:
As if I wasn't already slowing down on this, I found a few concurrently running series that I hadn't added to my reading list before.
Origin (Nov 2001)
Agent X (Sep 2002)
Weapon X (Nov 2002)
X-men Unlimited #40 (Feb 2003)
X-treme X-men #20 (Mar 2003
X-treme X-men Mechanix #6 (Mar 2003)
Soldier X #6 (Feb 2003)
X-Statix #6 (Feb 2003)
Uncanny X-men #417 (Mar 2003)
Exiles #20 (Feb 2003)
Current TV Shows I'm watching:
The Muppets
The Grinder
@Midnight
Lupin III Series 3
Phineas & Ferb
The X-files (current mini-series, may start a re-watch when it's done)
Legends of Tomorrow
Lucifer
Agent Carter
Podcasts I'm listening to fairly regularly:
Nerdist
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men
Serial
Judge John Hodgman
Cracked
StarTalk Radio
This American Life
Video Games I'm playing:
Disney Tsum Tsum
Marvel's Avengers Academy
Suikoden
Stuff I finished since last time:
Mary Poppins - This was the audiobook of the first novel. I had found it for cheap on Audible and having always been curious about the differences since I heard P. L. Travers didn't like the film I picked it up. Her version of Mary Poppins seems to have no redeeming qualities beyond the fact that she's capable of doing magic. She's rude, she's haughty, she's quick tempered, and she's vain. When the children are all depressed that she's leaving, I have a hard time seeing why. Yes, she exposes them to magical adventures, but she's a horrible guide and an even worse nanny. That said, if you've only ever seen the film and are curious, there are quite a few other tales here that you may find amusing. Many of them involve animals, or other creatures that Disney probably felt were too hard to represent in a live action world around that time. Note that I'm not saying that Travers is a bad author, and there's some fun whimsy happening here, I just don't like her character, and think Disney did the right thing in toning down her bad qualities and giving her some genuine warmth. I won't be continuing with the series.
American Horror Story - I technically still have season 5 to see, but since that won't be on Netflix until probably September or so, I'm filing this away for now. This show is really a mixed bag. Most seasons start out seeming genuinely creepy, but then devolving into nothing more than a drama with a splash of blood over it. The characters are always caricatures, never really acting how human beings would act. I found that intolerable in both Glee and Scream Queens (both also created by Ryan Murphy) but I guess the cast and settings here provide me with enough to stick around. There's almost always one character who is so over the top I can't stand them, and I feel like Jessica Lange's character always ends up hogging up way too much story time, particularly about how sexy and amazing she is. But Evan Peters, Kathy Bates, Denis O'Hare and Angela Bassett are generally fantastic, and the cast of supporting actors they got for Freakshow were very good and really made me attached to them. As a huge Gaga fan am I very much looking forward to season 5, though I also know it will probably be ridiculous.
Monday, February 1, 2016
Current Media - 2/1/16
Current reading material:
Audiobook - Mary Poppins
E-book - The Man in the High Castle (though I'm putting this aside as reading at work is too hard lately. Will pick it up after I finish the below book)
Physical book - Books of Blood Vol 1 -3
Marvel Comics Series: (Yeah, haven't found much time for comics lately either. Hoping to improve that this week)
Current issue date: Jan - Mar 2003
X-treme X-men
X-treme X-men Mechanix
Soldier X
X-Statix
Uncanny X-men
Exiles
Current TV Shows I'm watching:
The Muppets
The Grinder
@Midnight
Lupin III Series 3
Key & Peele
American Horror Story (about halfway through S4)
Phineas & Ferb
The X-files (current mini-series, may start a re-watch when it's done)
Legends of Tomorrow
Lucifer
Agent Carter
Podcasts I'm listening to fairly regularly:
Nerdist
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men
Serial
Judge John Hodgman
Cracked
StarTalk Radio
Video Games I'm playing:
Disney Tsum Tsum
Rock Band 4 (trying to play at least once a week to practice singing)
Suikoden
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Stuff I finished since last time:
The Confidence Gap - Probably one of the most realistic self help books I've ever read, and therefore amazingly helpful. No fooling you into thinking you're going to eliminate all negative thinking, or that the work you need to do to improve yourself is going to be easy. Just straight talk, a change of perspective, and a reminder to live in the moment rather than focusing on the thoughts in your head. Highly recommended.
Deep Web - A documentary that I first heard about because it was directed by Alex Winter, and he has his friend Keanu do the narration as well. But regardless it's an interesting look at anonymity on the internet focused around the Silk Road site and the arrest and trial of Ross Ulbricht in relation to it. Recommended if privacy and anonymity are things you're interested in.
Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) - Finally broke down and gave this a listen and I am in love. The hip hop blends well with the classic musical stylings to make it something interesting to listen to and super catchy, and the story is fascinating. Brings your understanding of Alexander Hamilton from "$10 bill guy shot by Aaron Burr" to so much more. I first listened on Friday, and have come back to it in pieces every day since, frequently singing bits of it to myself in between. I am frequently resistant to things getting a super amount of hype but in this case I feel the hype is very much deserved. Highly recommended to at least give it a chance. If you don't like it, it's okay, we can still be friends.
Audiobook - Mary Poppins
E-book - The Man in the High Castle (though I'm putting this aside as reading at work is too hard lately. Will pick it up after I finish the below book)
Physical book - Books of Blood Vol 1 -3
Marvel Comics Series: (Yeah, haven't found much time for comics lately either. Hoping to improve that this week)
Current issue date: Jan - Mar 2003
X-treme X-men
X-treme X-men Mechanix
Soldier X
X-Statix
Uncanny X-men
Exiles
Current TV Shows I'm watching:
The Muppets
The Grinder
@Midnight
Lupin III Series 3
Key & Peele
American Horror Story (about halfway through S4)
Phineas & Ferb
The X-files (current mini-series, may start a re-watch when it's done)
Legends of Tomorrow
Lucifer
Agent Carter
Podcasts I'm listening to fairly regularly:
Nerdist
Gilbert Gottfried's Amazing Colossal Podcast
Jay & Miles X-plain the X-men
Serial
Judge John Hodgman
Cracked
StarTalk Radio
Video Games I'm playing:
Disney Tsum Tsum
Rock Band 4 (trying to play at least once a week to practice singing)
Suikoden
Final Fantasy Record Keeper
Stuff I finished since last time:
The Confidence Gap - Probably one of the most realistic self help books I've ever read, and therefore amazingly helpful. No fooling you into thinking you're going to eliminate all negative thinking, or that the work you need to do to improve yourself is going to be easy. Just straight talk, a change of perspective, and a reminder to live in the moment rather than focusing on the thoughts in your head. Highly recommended.
Deep Web - A documentary that I first heard about because it was directed by Alex Winter, and he has his friend Keanu do the narration as well. But regardless it's an interesting look at anonymity on the internet focused around the Silk Road site and the arrest and trial of Ross Ulbricht in relation to it. Recommended if privacy and anonymity are things you're interested in.
Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording) - Finally broke down and gave this a listen and I am in love. The hip hop blends well with the classic musical stylings to make it something interesting to listen to and super catchy, and the story is fascinating. Brings your understanding of Alexander Hamilton from "$10 bill guy shot by Aaron Burr" to so much more. I first listened on Friday, and have come back to it in pieces every day since, frequently singing bits of it to myself in between. I am frequently resistant to things getting a super amount of hype but in this case I feel the hype is very much deserved. Highly recommended to at least give it a chance. If you don't like it, it's okay, we can still be friends.
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