The Mist

[hipnotyq]

Surprised there isn't a thread up for it. Just wanted to know what you guys thought of it?
I never read the novella so I had no idea what I was going to see. I went to a pre-showing last Thursday with a couple of my buddies, one of which read the book and loved it. I heard that the same dude that directed Shawshank and Green Mile (two of my favs) was doing this so I was pretty excited going in.

I gotta say guys... it really wasn't for me. I couldn't find a single character in the whole movie that I really liked or cared about... in fact there were more characters on screen that annoyed me.

The doomsayer/Christian lady.... wow... one of the most annoying characters I have ever seen in a movie, ever. You can have a antagonist that the audience can hate without annoying them over and over. It seemed she had about 30 minutes time where the camera was fixed just on her and every time all she would say is that god was behind the mist, etc etc. I'm not gonna give anything away, but I know for a fact I wasn't the only one who felt this way, as the entire theater clapped and cheered when the shit hit the fan for her.

After seeing No Country For Old Men this movie was pretty hard to sit through. I looked at my buddies and they were giving me the same look of torture that I was expressing. After the movie even my buddy who loved the book hated it, saying that the movie should never have been made, etc.

So No Country For Old Men...best movie I've seen in a while... the Mist? Worst movie I've seen in a while and to see these two in the same week was kind of odd.

Anyway, what do you guys think?

[itsbecca]

I was so uninterested in seeing it I let my boyfriend tell me the ending. Then I said, oh that actually is cool. And now I'm over it.

I've long since decided Stephen King is better read. And even then it can be a little hairy... I think the guy's kind of a pervert. But can't fault him on imagination, he'll die with a thousand stories still floating in that head of his.

[hipnotyq]

I was so uninterested in seeing it I let my boyfriend tell me the ending. Then I said, oh that actually is cool. And now I'm over it.

I've long since decided Stephen King is better read. And even then it can be a little hairy... I think the guy's kind of a pervert. But can't fault him on imagination, he'll die with a thousand stories still floating in that head of his.

I can't say I've ever finished anything by him :( I'm kind of a weak reader so I stick with graphic novels lately, but I did buy Green Mile (just cuz i love that movie) but I couldn't get into that book either...

[hydrocoptic]

first of all i haven't read any of the above posts in case there are spoilers. but my brother just came home from seeing this movie last night and couldn't stop talking about how much he loved it. i value his opinion VERY highly and am really amped to see this movie. i will post again once i have finally seen it. my brother also said that this has some connections with the Stephen King dark tower books(which i haven't read) so that will be interesting. i may read them b4 seeing it. i will say that at this point in time i know almost nothing about this movie. i know that there is mist and a grocery store and thats about all. i can't wait.

[funkygmacman]

I have read the novella probably a dozen times over the past 20 years, and I must say I was very pleased over all with the adaptation. I think a lot of people who went to this movie were disappointed because they were expecting really scary monsters. However, as with most King stories, it's not about the monsters, it's about the people. The ending of a movie is a serious departure from the novella. I was really thrilled with the fact that I wasn't expecting it, and I loved one aspect of it, but hated the other. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so that's all I'm gonna say. However, along with 1408, I think this is the first time I've seen 2 good King adaptations happen in one year.

[kevincollateral]

i got dragged into seeing this movie with my wifes family over thanksgiving. terrible, annoying, frustrating at times, and one jacked up ending. the main character in the final scene was horrific with his crying/screaming. the wacko christian lady was just too much..like it was said before, 30 minutes just on her. people were screaming at her in the theater. i must say she played the party very well..everyone hated her.

having not read the book..i looked up the ending to see if they matched. not at all. should have stayed a book..to let your imagination run. on the screen though...ugh

i cant figure out how its getting the reviews its getting. i never go to the movies, and the times i end up going i see garbage. this is why i stick to tv.

[ngower]

The Geekscape review was pretty good...actually...that whole episode was...

Anyways, I have no desire to see it.

[EDIT] The film that is ;)

[hydrocoptic]

i just got back from seeing this movie and i absolutely love love loved it. since watching the movie i have read the posts on this forum and i can see why someone wouldnt like this movie. for me it just worked. the Christian lady which seems to be everyone's complaint about the movie didnt really bug me all that much. (in that i didnt find her an annoying character just a character that i didnt like) the ending for me reminded me of how i felt after watching Seven or The Green Mile. Horrified yet blown away. There are also a couple cool Dark Tower references in this movie for fans of that series. but i must admit i wouldnt have caught onto them if my brother hadnt pointed them out. i have yet to read any of The Dark Tower but i am getting ready to start. this movie is not your typical horror monster movie with blood and guts and killing happening all the time. like someone stated earlier its more about the people and how they can be more horrific than the monsters that are after them. this being said the moments where you do see the monsters are graphically violent and disturbing.

not a movie for everyone but what it did worked really well for me.

[darknessgp]

Watched it, it's really good. I hadn't heard of the book and so went in expecting nothing more than mist and monsters.

Now Possible Spoilers...


I thought the "christian" lady, I say that as it is clear she follows more Old Testament things (needing sacrifices, Old Testament God, etc.) along with she is crazy. The thing that bothered me most about her, which might have been intended, is when she would say one thing and then contradict herself moments later. i.e. She says that there must be a human sacrifice and they throw the soldier into the Mist. Then the main character and the small group go to leave and she says that they can't go out there because it'd be against God's will. If anything I'd say she came off as more insane than religious. Maybe they were going for that, the idea that people will follow anyone in a crisis. Even still though, it made it harder for me to believe that anyone would follow her when she clearly contradicts herself, even in a time of crisis.

The ending was really good. It's one of those that when you are watching the movie you are really hoping they make it out, but thinking back on it now. I can see that the movie would have left me with completely different thoughts and feelings, and I honestly think it wouldn't have been as good.

[hipnotyq]

I have read the novella probably a dozen times over the past 20 years, and I must say I was very pleased over all with the adaptation. I think a lot of people who went to this movie were disappointed because they were expecting really scary monsters. However, as with most King stories, it's not about the monsters, it's about the people. The ending of a movie is a serious departure from the novella. I was really thrilled with the fact that I wasn't expecting it, and I loved one aspect of it, but hated the other. I don't want to spoil it for anyone, so that's all I'm gonna say. However, along with 1408, I think this is the first time I've seen 2 good King adaptations happen in one year.

not me, i knew what i was getting into with the whole "would you rather be in here with the humans or out there with the monsters" i just found every single character so annoying and cliche that i didn't care about anyone. I did read a horrible review going into the movie tho, which could have shifted my neutrality to pessimism.

This is one thing that REALLY got me, the neighbour's ignorance. You have a tenticle in the back and about 6-8 people (who by the way are covered in blood) testifying that they saw it AFTER that guy ran into the store crazed out of his mind and AFTER the one kid got dragged off. He thinks they're playing a prank??? You have GOT to be kidding me, NOBODY is that stupid. Its unbelievability like this that made me really hate most of the characters. Also the idiot that fell into the bucket of gasoline when hes got a burning torch... I mean c'mon! (this was probably more of an acting problem tho, he just kinda...fell on it lol)

So far it seems this is a movie that ppl are either loving or hating, I thought this was gonna get TERRIBLE reviews but to my amazement its still getting above 7 on IMDB and LOTS of ppl are saying how much they love it, so I guess its just not a movie for me.

[serenity]

This is one thing that REALLY got me, the neighbour's ignorance. You have a tenticle in the back and about 6-8 people (who by the way are covered in blood) testifying that they saw it AFTER that guy ran into the store crazed out of his mind and AFTER the one kid got dragged off. He thinks they're playing a prank??? You have GOT to be kidding me, NOBODY is that stupid. Its unbelievability like this that made me really hate most of the characters.


I haven't seen the film yet but I know the short story. It may have been the actor making this part unbelievable for you because frankly, I would find it much harder to believe that someone accepts a freaking tentacle monster story when we all know there is no such thing (on land, anyway!). It was perfectly understandable to me reading the story that he might deny what was happening. He's scared, trying to look tough and this is throwing off his whole world view.

[always-the-dude]

I found The Mist entertaining. Marcia Gay Harden did a great job as the crazy Christian lady-- evidenced by the number of people who hated her. It was also nice to see some genuine reaction to horrible events. No one was ready to accept the creatures right away. It felt like the writing in The Walking Dead. It wasn't the greatest movie of the year but it is a satisfying movie experience.

[serenity]

So I went and saw it today.

*** Slight spoilers ahead, don't blame me if you read past this point ***

I liked it, until the ending came. If I had never read SKs story I would have thought that was a cool ending but it was so different that I think my brain just rejected it.
Everything up until then was pretty faithful to the book (as much as possible, although I have NO idea why they would leave out the "love scene" since you hear Ms. Carmondy call what's her face a whore later and it doesn't make much sense) but the end was such a completely different mood in the movie that it threw me off. Put me off as well. I didn't like it. :(

*** Done with spoilers ***


Basically, I enjoyed it. Wasn't Stephen's best movie (Shawshank, Stand by Me) but I would put it up there with ones I like such as Pet Sematary and Misery.

[stubadub]

I found this film to be a mixed bag, but overall I enjoyed it quite a bit. The parts I had problems with weren't so big that I couldn't get over them and enjoy the film.

Slight spoilers:

Guy running in from street "Go back inside and cower, there's something in the mist!" Everyone goes in and hides, and refuses to help walk a woman home to her kids.

Thomas Jayne "There's something in the mist, I saw a tentacle and the bagboy died!" People laugh and decide to plow into the mist.

There were a few moments like that where I'm just annoyed with how silly the characters are being. After all the shit you've seen, when you are trying to sneak into a building without getting attacked by monsters, are you going to hang around and fight the monsters when you've already got what you are looking for, or are you going to hightail it out of thre for safety? It's just one of those minor things that seems so easy to fix in a film like this. Have the characters try to escape and get cut off by monsters, instead of approaching the monsters that they want to avoid.

I did really enjoy the experience, and I thought for the most part the monsters were satisfying, the group dynamic in the store was great, and I loved the ending.

[stringtheory]

absolutely loved this movie.

such an amazing critique of human behaviour.

[funkygmacman]

not me, i knew what i was getting into with the whole "would you rather be in here with the humans or out there with the monsters" i just found every single character so annoying and cliche that i didn't care about anyone. I did read a horrible review going into the movie tho, which could have shifted my neutrality to pessimism.

This is one thing that REALLY got me, the neighbour's ignorance. You have a tenticle in the back and about 6-8 people (who by the way are covered in blood) testifying that they saw it AFTER that guy ran into the store crazed out of his mind and AFTER the one kid got dragged off. He thinks they're playing a prank??? You have GOT to be kidding me, NOBODY is that stupid. Its unbelievability like this that made me really hate most of the characters. Also the idiot that fell into the bucket of gasoline when hes got a burning torch... I mean c'mon! (this was probably more of an acting problem tho, he just kinda...fell on it lol)

So far it seems this is a movie that ppl are either loving or hating, I thought this was gonna get TERRIBLE reviews but to my amazement its still getting above 7 on IMDB and LOTS of ppl are saying how much they love it, so I guess its just not a movie for me.

I can understand what your saying about Norton thinking the whole thing was a prank. I think *that* was an acting problem...the actor made the character come off like an idiot rather than an intelligent man in denial. The characters are a bit cliche, but really, that's how it needs to be. I mean would what transpires be at all believable if the religious lady wasn't completely over the top? Well, I guess you have your opinion and I have mine. I do admit, I'm a big SK fanboy, so I am biased. ;-)

[hipnotyq]

I can understand what your saying about Norton thinking the whole thing was a prank. I think *that* was an acting problem...the actor made the character come off like an idiot rather than an intelligent man in denial. The characters are a bit cliche, but really, that's how it needs to be. I mean would what transpires be at all believable if the religious lady wasn't completely over the top? Well, I guess you have your opinion and I have mine. I do admit, I'm a big SK fanboy, so I am biased. ;-)

noo don't get me wrong, I've loved SK movies in the past, and yeah it def WAS an acting issue, I just got annoyed at every single character really quick... but i'm def in the minority it seems as most ppl love the movie.