Happy birthday, Stevie!

It's Stephen King's birthday! Who is your favorite character from one of his books?

I used to be a heavy-duty Stephen King fan, but I finally swore off after being crushingly disappointed by Tales From a Buick 8. (Interdimensional aliens? Really? Was that the best you could do?! The title character is an awesome classic car, and all it does for most of the book is sit there in a garage and occasionally a few aliens pop out of the trunk. Big yawn.)

But on the whole, I'm a fan. I may not always remember names, but "the guy who did thus and such in whichever book", yeah.

Favorite thing by SK, ever: The novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption from the "Different Seasons" anthology, which was turned into one of my favorite movies EVER. Writer-director Frank Darabont was up for an Oscar for best adaptation to a screenplay, and lost to Forrest-goddamn-Gump, which IMO is a shame and a sin. I'd say that Red and Andy are my favorite SK pairing, whether or not you're wearing slash goggles.

Favorite actual book, The Stand. It's epic, packed with memorable characters like potato chips: I can't pick just one. Frannie! Mother Abigail! Stu! Harold! Trashy! FLAGG! (To name just a few....) I still remember the first time I read it, back around 1984-'85, sneaking into the restroom at my job and gulping down a couple short chapters while my coworkers were sneaking smokes in the restroom proper. The miniseries was decent; it had a helluva cast and didn't let down the original too badly.

Favorite character, though...anybody want to guess? Knowing my penchant for things automotive, maybe you've figured out that I have a warm spot for Arnie Cunningham from Christine. I wasn't long out of high school myself when I first read this one, and I could relate to the misfit who bonds with the villainous vintage vehicle. Granted, I was fat, not pizza-faced, but the song remains the same. The movie was eye-and-ear-candy---tasty cars and a good soundtrack. I liked the guy who played Arnie (Keith Gordon, who, after a few other movie roles, seems to direct exclusively these days), and bonus Harry Dean Stanton as a detective, schlepping around in a trenchcoat looking world-weary. Christine herself...I'll pass. Although the self-healing aspect is tempting....

.

Happy birthday, Stevie!

It's Stephen King's birthday! Who is your favorite character from one of his books?

I used to be a heavy-duty Stephen King fan, but I finally swore off after being crushingly disappointed by Tales From a Buick 8. (Interdimensional aliens? Really? Was that the best you could do?! The title character is an awesome classic car, and all it does for most of the book is sit there in a garage and occasionally a few aliens pop out of the trunk. Big yawn.)

But on the whole, I'm a fan. I may not always remember names, but "the guy who did thus and such in whichever book", yeah.

Favorite thing by SK, ever: The novella Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption from the "Different Seasons" anthology, which was turned into one of my favorite movies EVER. Writer-director Frank Darabont was up for an Oscar for best adaptation to a screenplay, and lost to Forrest-goddamn-Gump, which IMO is a shame and a sin. I'd say that Red and Andy are my favorite SK pairing, whether or not you're wearing slash goggles.

Favorite actual book, The Stand. It's epic, packed with memorable characters like potato chips: I can't pick just one. Frannie! Mother Abigail! Stu! Harold! Trashy! FLAGG! (To name just a few....) I still remember the first time I read it, back around 1984-'85, sneaking into the restroom at my job and gulping down a couple short chapters while my coworkers were sneaking smokes in the restroom proper. The miniseries was decent; it had a helluva cast and didn't let down the original too badly.

Favorite character, though...anybody want to guess? Knowing my penchant for things automotive, maybe you've figured out that I have a warm spot for Arnie Cunningham from Christine. I wasn't long out of high school myself when I first read this one, and I could relate to the misfit who bonds with the villainous vintage vehicle. Granted, I was fat, not pizza-faced, but the song remains the same. The movie was eye-and-ear-candy---tasty cars and a good soundtrack. I liked the guy who played Arnie (Keith Gordon, who, after a few other movie roles, seems to direct exclusively these days), and bonus Harry Dean Stanton as a detective, schlepping around in a trenchcoat looking world-weary. Christine herself...I'll pass. Although the self-healing aspect is tempting....

.