02-08-2005

108) The Story of G.I. Joe. I don't know how many liberties were taken with actual events, but knowing that the script was based on columns from a newsman who was actually there makes it all the more affecting. It's a war picture, but really more about the men who fought in the war than the war itself. The action scenes were few and far between and served more to take us from one character driven sequence to the next instead of being the sole focus of the movie. Very well done, especially for it's time. I thought about Band of Brothers a lot while I was watching it.

109) Secret Window. I'm usually not too keen on King adaptations. His stuff usually doesn't really translate well, mostly because his stories are all about the details and it takes too long to tell them properly, so an hour and a half to two hours doesn't usually do them justice. The It and The Stand mini-series were pretty good, but even all the extra time afforded them with the mini-series format still managed to leave a lot out. Firestarter is the only one I think included all of the pertinent details and succesfully told the story the way it ought to be told. I was convinced that I had read this story before I started watching the movie but just couldn't really remember what happened, and after watching about half of it I was pretty sure I hadn't. I knew I had read Four Past Midnight so I pulled out my copy and, lo and behold, the very first page of Secret Window, Secret Garden had it's corner turned down. So I somehow managed to read the other three stories but just skipped over that one. So that all being said, I have no idea how well this one holds up against the book, but I really hope the book is better. I mean, what a cop out! I know King was kind of coasting at the time this was published, but even a coasting King should have written something better than this. I also couldn't quit thinking "get a haircut, Depp."

109 down, 891 to go.

This is quite possibly the worst thing that could ever happen to me.