man I was all excited when I went to the "books I've read" page n thought you had a review for each of them

It is well worth a read ; I studied in literature, which might explain my overly critical linguistic outlook...

Based on what TDK has written on King and his general leaning on the issue, I would not recommend bothering with Dark Tower.

I read the first 7 and enjoyed them, but I was young. I enjoyed it all enough that I do plan to read the more recent part 8 at some point, but I wouldn't tell a grown adult to read the series. For a 15 year old, sure maybe.

I really am interested but it's just so long and the time it would take to get through it would be substantial. Which I don't mind - if it's fantastic. I would not only recommend the whole Harry Potter series to an adult but I'd say it's essential reading.

I would not call it excellent, but it is pretty darn good... up there, close to excellent... I think it is comparable - yet slightly better, me thinks - than The Talisman, but with more developed themes. The first book is a great western opposing the "spiritual" cowboy on a journey to defeat his nemesis, the man in black. And the third instalment, for example, is a neat sorta sci-fy with the villain being a robotic entity.

edit : from what I read in your reviews, I think you would love it. But then again, I might be wrong...

For me, books are generally a constant side-presence, I wouldn't think of it like "omg I'm going to waste 6 months of my life reading The Dark Tower". I'd be reading a minor 10+ pages every day while pooping, basically.

You can take breaks too; the series was released over what, 30+ years? Feel free to take a week or two on The Gunslinger and then wait a couple of years before continuing.

I have a friend who simply does not read books at all because he feels he needs to tear through them once he starts. I'm literally not sure if he's read anything substantial since the Chronicles of Narnia during a high school summer 20 years ago. You don't have to be like that guy in any way.

Just asking if there was a book thread similar to this one. Turns out there is! Got some catching up to do

I read regularly, but most of my "reading" these days is done via Audible while I'm driving or doing various chores around the house. It's not so much that I don't want to waste a year of my life reading The Dark Tower as it is I feel like I could spend that time reading something else I'm more interested in. For me to partake in a 7- or 8-book series I'd want people to be saying "you absolutely have to read this series" rather than "you might like it." Honestly though, I'll probably take it on.

Book thread:

https://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/6...-tonight-2232/

Saw IT. Stand by Me parts are A+, horror parts are C-. Overall it was ok.

Very excited that early reviews are excellent for Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut Molly's Game. Not only that, but if it really is good, we will finally have an excellent modern movie about poker.

Here is my suggestion.

Read books 1-3, then the beginning of book 4 because my God is the cliffhanger ending of book 3 one of the best I've ever experienced. And the resolution in the beginning of book 4 is so good.

Then read the Wikipedia entries on the rest of the books. The ending really is outstanding and made it all worth it to me, but I don't think it's necessary to read the last books in order to go damn, THAT IS an awesome ending!

Then read the graphic novels, which are crazy good wild west/fantasy stories from Roland's youth. These are based on King's works but are not written by him.

Agreed. I can't believe anyone would think she was anything short of terrific in that movie.

Saw it today. It's really good but it's only marginally about poker and some of the poker stuff is still cringe worthy

I read Molly's Game and thought it was merely okay. I am surprised it's getting such a serious looking adaptation. I thought it would be C-list actress with C-list writing.

Thanks for all the Dark Tower recommendations.

This about sums it right

Yeah, this. Second and third books are among King's best.

Alright, here's my first batch of TIFF reviews.

Papillon - I've never seen the original Steve McQueen/Dustin Hoffman version but my understanding is that this is more a new adaptation of the book than a remake of the first movie. It stars Charlie Hunnam and Rami Malek who are both pretty good here. It's a story about two men who are sent to a prison island in French Guiana in the 1930's with terrible conditions (chain gangs, torture, executions, years long isolation) and plot their escape. Unfortunately the script/direction never really makes me care about them enough to really drive the film through all of the terrible things it puts them through. It's a fine piece to remind everyone of how terrible the prison system was and continues to be but it's not a very good movie. 3/10

I, Tonya - Margot Robbie stars as Tonya Harding in this biopic about Tonya's life leading up to, and in the immediate aftermath of, the attack on Nancy Kerrigan before the 1994 Olympics. Allison Janney completely steals the movie as Tonya's mother. The first half of the film is really good but the second half drags from the incident with Nancy to the conclusion. There are some tone issues in the direction as most of the film is played for laughs but then has brutal domestic violence interspersed between the jokes. Robbie is good in a dark comedy role as is the rest of the cast. Worth seeing for Janney's performance alone. I enjoyed it overall but the movie has some problems. 6/10

Molly's Game - Aaron Sorkin's directorial debut. The writing is as fantastic as would be expected and Jessica Chastain carries it wonderfully. Idris Elba is great as Molly's lawyer. The movie doesn't incorporate any of the real names that were in the game. Michael Cera plays a character only referred to as Player X who is supposed to be the movie star the game was formed around. It dives into the poker a little bit but only at a fairly high level and more as a beginner's explanation for anyone in the audience who doesn't know poker. It works fine as it's told through Molly's first experiences with poker so the movie learns the game as she learns. But the poker itself is mostly as bad as every other poker movie (someone gets talked into folding the nuts on the river by the movie star, there's a runner-runner 2 outer, there's a betting round on the flop that goes 200k -> 300k -> 500k). But putting that aside, it's a well written story that's beautifully acted and interesting throughout. 8/10

I Loved You, Daddy - Louis C.K. shot a black and white 35mm film on his own and didn't tell anyone about it until it was announced for TIFF a couple of weeks ago. This was the world premiere. As he said during the Q&A "if you don't ask anyone for money then no one gives a **** about what you're doing." The cast is great (Louis, Charlie Day, John Malkovich, Chloe Grace Moretz, Edie Falco). The story is about Louis who plays a divorced successful TV writer and his daughter (Moretz) as he tries to figure out how to parent a 17 year old girl who is a rich, spoiled New York girl who has no plans. Malkovich plays an older famous film writer/director whom Louis greatly admires but is more interested in his 17 year old daughter and is rumoured to be a child molestor. There's also so much more to it than what I've said already. The movie is funny, dark, and uncomfortable as Louis always tries to challenge his audiences. It's more a movie that wants to show you uncomfortable situations and then let the audience decide how to feel on its own. 7/10

The Killing of a Sacred Deer - The new Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster) movie. This is a really dark, challenging film. The opening shot is just a close up of a beating heart during open heart surgery that lasts for much longer than is comfortable to watch and the movie only becomes more uncomfortable from there. I don't know how much of the plot I even want to discuss. If people really want to know maybe I'll make a spoiler post later. Lanthimos is extremely talented and Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman are brilliant. This is even more pitch black with less comedy (although still some very funny lines) than The Lobster. If you loved The Lobster (which I did) and want something even darker and more challenging in that style then you'll want to see this. If you didn't enjoy The Lobster you'll hate this. At times this was too much for me but it's hard to ignore how talented everyone involved is. 6/10

Nice reviews. I really want to see that Louis ck one.

Movie star in Molly's Game was Tobey Maguire and she paints him as a complete and utter tool. I was wondering what Idris Elba's role was. I don't remember her lawyer being a significant part of the book.

I wonder why they don't consult some well known pros when it comes to depicting hands/action.

Elba had a line in the movie that's like "you wrote the book before the best part of the story". Her book was written before the trial I think

I interpret It the novel as if the parts set in 1957 are the unreliable memories of the Losers as adults. When the book begins, none of them even remember anything about what happened in Derry. It's not until they get summoned back that all their repressed memories come flooding back, but as with all memories, they're not completely accurate.

In this interpretation, the gang bang scene didn't actually happen. All the other Losers certainly had a crush on Bev, not just Bill and Ben, and so they all imagined themselves with her and somehow those imaginations got mixed in with their memories of going into the sewer.

Suburbicon - Coen Brother script, Clooney directing, Matt Damon and Julianne Moore starring. This has all of the pieces to be great. Instead it's a clumsy film that falls flat. Suburbicon is a supposedly idyllic 1950's community that is, of course, super racist when the first black family moves in. Obviously they're a perfectly nice family that's a stand-in for every black family in America. But they are such cardboard cutouts of characters that the film never even bothers to tell us any of their first names. Of course the real threat here is the white family, Damon and Moore, who are in the midst of a scheme turned violent. It has some funny moments but it's just a clumsy story that's easy to see why the Coen's passed on making themselves. 4/10.

mflip - your reviews are my favorite part of this thread. Thank you.

Apologies if this has been asked already, but which version of Blade Runner is the one that needs to be watched?

Wow, thanks! Glad people enjoy them because there are ~13 more to go. I find them a bit difficult because spoiling a movie that won't come out for months or longer would be a terrible thing to do. I try to just focus on my feelings on it.

Submergence - A new film by Wim Wenders starring Alicia Vikander and James McAvoy. Vikander is a deep sea bio-mathematician who meets McAvoy, a British spy posing as a water engineer in Kenya, at a small French hotel while they're both on vacation. They spend the week together and fall in love. Vikander then goes on a deep sea expedition while McAvoy goes to Somalia and is captured by a terrorist organization as part of a spy operation. The forced separation leaves them both considering their time together, love, life, and all the associated meanings. The film is beautiful. There are far worse ways to spend two hours than watching Alicia Vikander in close up on a big screen. It's such a quiet, subdued, intelligent performance. Does the plot make sense, eh, not really. We're supposed to believe that 4 days together cause these two highly intelligent professionals to spend months longing for each other with no contact? I usually re-rate everything at the end of TIFF and I wouldn't be surprised if this moved a couple of points in either direction after I've had some more time to think about it. 7/10