A lot has changed! Im now a graduate from Lincoln University and working as a Games Tester. Same passions still exist though, and Im going to try to write on here more frequently, hopefully to keep myself occupied.
Friday, 27 June 2008
Saturday, 14 June 2008
Frank Darabont's adaptation of Stephen King's The Mist.
Now this is one amazing film. I think this would be a good point to kick off this blog on as I am writing my dissertation next year on adaptations of graphic novels to film. Now I know this isnt a graphic novel, but it is an adaptation of Stephen King's short story titled The Mist, from the book Skeleton Crew. It follows David Drayton, an everyman who, after being in a huge storm which causes a lot of damage to his house and the surrounding area, departs with his son and neighbour to a local supermarket for supplies, due to the lack of power and water following the storm. Soon after their arrival, a thick mist begins to envelop the town and a man runs into the store warning everyone not to go out into the mist, as there is something in it.
Now if you dont want to be spoiled on the book or the film, please DON'T READ ON!!!
The brown stuff really starts to hit the fan as the inhabitants of the supermarket are caught up in a massive earthquake, and the generator breaks down. David, Ollie Weeks, a store clerk, Norm the bag boy and two other locals go into the back to try and fix it, with Norm volunterring to go under the shutter door, unblock the generator's blocked output vent to stop it from overheating and get it started again. Simple on paper. On restarting the generator and opening the door enough for Norm to get out, a large tentacle appears through the mist into the store room and wraps itself around Norm, injuring him from its barbed suckers and trying to drag him away to whatever the tentacles are joined too. David tries in vain to save him and they manage to shut the door, cutting off part of one of the tentacles, and they leave the stinking store room for the shop.
On their return, the most interesting theme of the mist begins to surface. Are the monsters and things in the mist really the true threat, or are the people inside much worse?
David and the others, clearly in shock, return to the shop floor and promise not to tell the rest of the shop's inhabitants yet, as doing so may cause them to panic unnecessarily. David, enraged that the two locals allowed Norm to go out there at all punches Jim, one of the locals, in his rage. Jim and Myron turn to the beer fridge to soothe their grief. Norton, David's neighbour who has until the storm's fallout been estranged, as a bitter property dispute left them not on the best of terms, learns of the happenings in the store room and laughs it off as a joke, yet wont go check the store room for himself. At the end of this scene, David returns to his son Billy with Amanda, Billy's teacher, and after having told the store of the monsters, a divide becomes prominent/
Group 1: Norton and his group of followers, who dont believe in this monster nonsense and think there must be a rational, logical explanation.
Group 2: Mrs Carmody, the town crazy lady and her followers who believe the mist and its contents are a punishment from God, the end of days or the apocalypse, which only prayer and blood sacrifice will soothe.
Group 3: David, Billy, Amanda, Ollie and the rest of the locals who just want to get on with life yet remain wary of the fact that there are things in the mist, which could burst through the glass fronted store at any time.
Norton and his group soon decide to leave the supermarket
The tagline for this film was great. "Fear changes everything". And we can see that it does. After another incident involving giant killer bugs getting into the store and something resembling a skinless pterodactyl similar to the first silent hill game, people are dead and the survivors are distraught. One man is in desperate need of medical attention after being severly burned in the attack, and David and a few others decide to go to the pharmacy next door to the supermarket in order to get some help, much to the dismay of Mrs Carmody, who repeats her warning of the mist is death. The group arrives at the pharmacy without incident, but find the place inhabited by spiders who weave acidic webs. After suffering another casualty the group arrives back at the store with the medicine, only to find that the man has died, and the inhabitants of the market have fallen into Mrs Carmody's preaching.
The group calls for blood sacrifice and "expiation" in order to soothe the wrath of God that has supposedly been cast upon them in the form of the Mist. They lay blame for the plagues on the military men amongst them, who work on something called "The Arrowhead Project" in the mountains around town, and the mob kills one of the last remaining soldier after the other two have committed suicide. The origin of the mist is believed to be from an interdimensional portal opened by the project into the spaces between dimensions, allowing whatever it is that lurks inbetween into our world. Yep, its all these Lovecraftian beasties that have emerged from todash (a key work for dark tower readers) to wreak havoc in our world.
David, Amanda and Billy decide to leave the mall with Ollie, Dan and Irene, but they are met by Mrs Carmody and her mob, who want David's son Billy as the next sacrifice. A fight ensues, ending with Mrs Carmody being killed by Norm, and being spreadeagled in her own blood on the shop floor, in an iconic pose reminiscent of Jesus's crucifixion. The group runs through the parking lot to David's car, with Ollie meeting his end on the way in the webs of the spiders. David takes Ollie's gun and they speed off into the mist away from the supermarket and the hell within.
Soon after, the mist reaches its climax. The passengers of the car run out of petrol with no end to the mist seemingly in sight. The roars and movements of the monsters can be heard all around the car, and they choose another way out rather than consumption at the hand of a monster. Five passengers, but only four bullets. And here the mist hits its high: the incredible ending. David shoots Billy, Amanda, Irene and Dan, choosing another ending for himself. He gets out of the car and breaks down in the middle of the road, demanding that he be killed by whatever is out there. But nothing comes.
Except an army convoy and the clearing of the mist. Civilisation didnt come to a complete standstill and if only they had waited a few minutes more, instead of losing all hope, the car's passengers would have been saved. David is now clearly a broken man, and the credits roll. My description doesn't really do it justice but it is one of the best endings I have ever seen on film. Non cliche, unforced, completely out of the blue and entirely fitting to the seemingly hopeless situation these people found themselves in. Really powerful, explicitly human stuff, which may leave some viewers angry at the difference to the novel or how easily the passengers surrendered to death. But after what they had suffered at the hands of fellow humans already and the unknown creatures in the mist, is it really so hard to believe?
Apologies for the details missed from this summary, I was skimming over some of the details.
Now if you dont want to be spoiled on the book or the film, please DON'T READ ON!!!
The brown stuff really starts to hit the fan as the inhabitants of the supermarket are caught up in a massive earthquake, and the generator breaks down. David, Ollie Weeks, a store clerk, Norm the bag boy and two other locals go into the back to try and fix it, with Norm volunterring to go under the shutter door, unblock the generator's blocked output vent to stop it from overheating and get it started again. Simple on paper. On restarting the generator and opening the door enough for Norm to get out, a large tentacle appears through the mist into the store room and wraps itself around Norm, injuring him from its barbed suckers and trying to drag him away to whatever the tentacles are joined too. David tries in vain to save him and they manage to shut the door, cutting off part of one of the tentacles, and they leave the stinking store room for the shop.
On their return, the most interesting theme of the mist begins to surface. Are the monsters and things in the mist really the true threat, or are the people inside much worse?
David and the others, clearly in shock, return to the shop floor and promise not to tell the rest of the shop's inhabitants yet, as doing so may cause them to panic unnecessarily. David, enraged that the two locals allowed Norm to go out there at all punches Jim, one of the locals, in his rage. Jim and Myron turn to the beer fridge to soothe their grief. Norton, David's neighbour who has until the storm's fallout been estranged, as a bitter property dispute left them not on the best of terms, learns of the happenings in the store room and laughs it off as a joke, yet wont go check the store room for himself. At the end of this scene, David returns to his son Billy with Amanda, Billy's teacher, and after having told the store of the monsters, a divide becomes prominent/
Group 1: Norton and his group of followers, who dont believe in this monster nonsense and think there must be a rational, logical explanation.
Group 2: Mrs Carmody, the town crazy lady and her followers who believe the mist and its contents are a punishment from God, the end of days or the apocalypse, which only prayer and blood sacrifice will soothe.
Group 3: David, Billy, Amanda, Ollie and the rest of the locals who just want to get on with life yet remain wary of the fact that there are things in the mist, which could burst through the glass fronted store at any time.
Norton and his group soon decide to leave the supermarket
The tagline for this film was great. "Fear changes everything". And we can see that it does. After another incident involving giant killer bugs getting into the store and something resembling a skinless pterodactyl similar to the first silent hill game, people are dead and the survivors are distraught. One man is in desperate need of medical attention after being severly burned in the attack, and David and a few others decide to go to the pharmacy next door to the supermarket in order to get some help, much to the dismay of Mrs Carmody, who repeats her warning of the mist is death. The group arrives at the pharmacy without incident, but find the place inhabited by spiders who weave acidic webs. After suffering another casualty the group arrives back at the store with the medicine, only to find that the man has died, and the inhabitants of the market have fallen into Mrs Carmody's preaching.
The group calls for blood sacrifice and "expiation" in order to soothe the wrath of God that has supposedly been cast upon them in the form of the Mist. They lay blame for the plagues on the military men amongst them, who work on something called "The Arrowhead Project" in the mountains around town, and the mob kills one of the last remaining soldier after the other two have committed suicide. The origin of the mist is believed to be from an interdimensional portal opened by the project into the spaces between dimensions, allowing whatever it is that lurks inbetween into our world. Yep, its all these Lovecraftian beasties that have emerged from todash (a key work for dark tower readers) to wreak havoc in our world.
David, Amanda and Billy decide to leave the mall with Ollie, Dan and Irene, but they are met by Mrs Carmody and her mob, who want David's son Billy as the next sacrifice. A fight ensues, ending with Mrs Carmody being killed by Norm, and being spreadeagled in her own blood on the shop floor, in an iconic pose reminiscent of Jesus's crucifixion. The group runs through the parking lot to David's car, with Ollie meeting his end on the way in the webs of the spiders. David takes Ollie's gun and they speed off into the mist away from the supermarket and the hell within.
Soon after, the mist reaches its climax. The passengers of the car run out of petrol with no end to the mist seemingly in sight. The roars and movements of the monsters can be heard all around the car, and they choose another way out rather than consumption at the hand of a monster. Five passengers, but only four bullets. And here the mist hits its high: the incredible ending. David shoots Billy, Amanda, Irene and Dan, choosing another ending for himself. He gets out of the car and breaks down in the middle of the road, demanding that he be killed by whatever is out there. But nothing comes.
Except an army convoy and the clearing of the mist. Civilisation didnt come to a complete standstill and if only they had waited a few minutes more, instead of losing all hope, the car's passengers would have been saved. David is now clearly a broken man, and the credits roll. My description doesn't really do it justice but it is one of the best endings I have ever seen on film. Non cliche, unforced, completely out of the blue and entirely fitting to the seemingly hopeless situation these people found themselves in. Really powerful, explicitly human stuff, which may leave some viewers angry at the difference to the novel or how easily the passengers surrendered to death. But after what they had suffered at the hands of fellow humans already and the unknown creatures in the mist, is it really so hard to believe?
Apologies for the details missed from this summary, I was skimming over some of the details.
First post!
So basically I decided to write a blog about everything I see or hear from the media industries. Ive just finished my second year of a Media, Culture and Communications course and Im very interested in specifically film and video games and the criticisms or praise they receive in the media and from the individual. As Im doing a joint degree with Journalism its interesting to look at what Im taught on both courses and relate it to all the media I consume, as anyone who knows me longer than ten minutes can see Im really into films and games. This blog is really just to vent about anything I observe in either industry, theres no real point to it but its something to do!
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