Posted: 9/6/17 at 3:00pm
Official reviews for this are looking pretty solid! I'm thrilled to hear the heart of the novel - the comradery of the Losers' Club - has translated so strongly to this adaptation and that the big scare set pieces are as fun and scary as I hoped they'd be.
Posted: 9/8/17 at 10:16am
Really enjoyed it, had some wonderful scares. I forgot how much of a great coming of age story this was.
Posted: 9/8/17 at 10:47am
I also really, really enjoyed it. Planning on going back multiple times. It was so much fun. I mean, as fun as a movie about child murders can be.
What I loved most was how, yes, the Pennywise set pieces are all elaborately designed and staged to great effect (though I wish there was a bit less CGI), but the real horror comes from the everyday lives of these kids. The things that are real and don't just surface every 27 years. It gives the movie some real pathos to make up for the change in King's plotting and some less-than-stellar pacing problems. The acting - especially the kids - is uniformly excellent. Bill Skarsgard is indeed nightmarish, though he spends most of the movie as a vehicle for some crazy CGI.
I'm curious to see what happens with Chapter Two, as there are a lot of things from Chapter One that will alter the story as written in the novel. This was an excellent adaptation of a Stephen King novel that just will never work on screen as written. But as page-to-screen adaptations go, this really gets to the core of what makes the novel tick.
Posted: 9/8/17 at 11:43am
ACL2006:: "Also, currently the only King book to adapt well to the movies was The Green Mile."
Jay Lerner Z: That's just not true. Misery, Dolores Claiborne, Carrie, Christine...not a fan? I know The Shining is different from the book, but it's still a great movie. I actually think there are more successful adaptations than unsuccessful. I even liked Secret Window, though, so take that for what it's worth..."
True, Jay Lerner Z, yet you somehow left out The Shawshank Redemption, The Dead Zone and Stand by Me. Three great movies.
Few if any writers have had as many successful adaptations to film.
Updated On: 9/8/17 at 11:43 AM
Posted: 9/8/17 at 1:56pm
I only left them off because Mister Matt had already listed them! Well, two of the three anyway. :)
Updated On: 9/8/17 at 01:56 PM
Posted: 9/8/17 at 4:24pm
I think there have been a lot more hits than misses when it comes to Stephen King adaptations. I enjoyed most of the ones already mentioned, and I think Cujo and Apt Pupil are both underrated.
Posted: 9/8/17 at 4:39pm
I have seen the movie yesterday and loved it!
Especially the great scenes between the kids, the friendship, the struggles, it was refreshing to see such good acting and writing in a horrormovie. I really felt for these kids.
Some choices for Pennywise were a bit odd to me, his look didn't strike me as scary enough and the way he used his voice seemed odd to me at times. But not in a scary way, just weird/funny.
Updated On: 9/8/17 at 04:39 PM
Posted: 9/8/17 at 4:53pm
Was there a good percentage of kids of color in the movie?
Posted: 9/8/17 at 5:23pm
I would like to add 1408 as a pretty good adaptation of a Stephen Kings short story.
Posted: 9/8/17 at 5:54pm
FrankieSay said: "Was there a good percentage of kids of color in the movie?"
You should ask others on this board who's focus when rating a movie lies only on that. You can especially find them in the Aladdin thread.
Updated On: 9/8/17 at 05:54 PM
Posted: 9/8/17 at 8:01pm
There is only one child actor who is Black, which is a major plot point in the book but just feels sort of awkward in the movie since Mike (the character) is severely underwritten here in service of a larger narrative.
Posted: 9/9/17 at 3:31am
FrankieSay said: "Was there a good percentage of kids of color in the movie?"
Why I really don't want to feed the troll, why in f*ck does that even matter
Posted: 9/9/17 at 8:41pm
Just got back from watching "It" which is a really, really good Stephen King movie adaptation. The direction, writing, the cast, and everything else were all near top notch and the scary moments are great, even if you do see a pattern with them. 4/5
Posted: 9/9/17 at 11:29pm
I saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. It's a very strong adaptation of a book that could be very unwieldy if they had stayed fully true to it, and the changes work very well for the most part.
I actually want to go see it again so I can focus on it as its own thing now. I spent a bit too much time noticing "this is different" or wondering "with this change how/will they set up this other moment."
The only couple of things that I really did find fault with: I agree with many others who said that Mike was underwritten, and a major aspect of his character from the book was reassigned to one of the other kids. I also wish that they hadn't made Pennywise so obviously creepy in his standard look. What made Curry's performance so great was that he did look like a normal clown for the most part. I think Skarsgaard gave a good performance, but his look would have sent any normal kid running from the start, and Pennywise is supposed to be the lure to the children It preys upon, not necessarily the form of the ultimate fear.
Posted: 9/10/17 at 7:11am
AEA AGMA SM said: "I also wish that they hadn't made Pennywise so obviously creepy in his standard look. What made Curry's performance so great was that he did look like a normal clown for the most part. I think Skarsgaard gave a good performance, but his look would have sent any normal kid running from the start, and Pennywise is supposed to be the lure to the children It preys upon, not necessarily the form of the ultimate fear."
This is interesting. I thought Pennywise did not look scary at all in the new version. I just saw a babyfaced boy putting on faces that he thought would make him look angry or scary.
Curry, even when "acting friendly" scared the **** out of me. He looked like a complete psychopath.
I feel they hired the wrong actor for the role. Playing the standard scary is not scary in the end. You need someone with this subtle form of threat, even when acting friendly.
Skarsgard: https://goo.gl/images/BdsvXb
Curry: https://goo.gl/images/dgzznh
Also, the fact that he sounded like a mix of Bart Simpson's mom and Scooby Doo did not help.
Updated On: 9/10/17 at 07:11 AM
Posted: 9/10/17 at 6:53pm
I thought Skarsgard was the best thing about the movie. The kids, not so much. It's hard to find kids who can act, I guess.
Posted: 9/10/17 at 6:55pm
Xavier Dolan tweeted that IT is his favorite movie of this century, so I'm even more excited now.
Posted: 9/10/17 at 7:14pm
Jay Lerner-Z said: "Xavier Dolan tweeted that IT is his favorite movie of this century, so I'm even more excited now."
That's just weird.
Posted: 9/10/17 at 8:33pm
I heard that Tilda Swinton was up for the part of Pennywise. I liked Skarsgard, but I can't help but wonder what Swinton would have done with the part.
Posted: 9/13/17 at 6:34pm
AEA AGMA SM said: "I saw it tonight and really enjoyed it. It's a very strong adaptation of a book that could be very unwieldy if they had stayed fully true to it, and the changes work very well for the most part.
I actually want to go see it again so I can focus on it as its own thing now. I spent a bit too much time noticing "this is different" or wondering "with this change how/will they set up this other moment."
The only couple of things that I really did find fault with: I agree with many others who said that Mike was underwritten, and a major aspect of his character from the book was reassigned to one of the other kids. I also wish that they hadn't made Pennywise so obviously creepy in his standard look. What made Curry's performance so great was that he did look like a normal clown for the most part. I think Skarsgaard gave a good performance, but his look would have sent any normal kid running from the start, and Pennywise is supposed to be the lure to the children It preys upon, not necessarily the form of the ultimate fear."
I agree with everything you've written, AEA.
With all the caveats you've stated, it's a terrific movie and the direction is otherwise outstanding.
Posted: 9/13/17 at 7:41pm
So I saw this on Saturday, and I'm not really good horror films and boy was this not an exception. Every time IT came up on the screen I was SHAKING and my brother had to hold my hands so I wouldn't cover my eyes. It was absolutely terrifying. On the other hand, I was just in love with the kids and the jokes coming from the one from Stranger Things.
Posted: 9/13/17 at 9:25pm
By far, this is my favorite film of the year so far. I think it's an almost perfect film and I'm so excited to hopefully soon get an announcement about the adult casting for part 2.
Posted: 9/14/17 at 1:03am
I loved this film! Extremely well-done, and I think the things they excised from the novel wouldn't have translated well on screen or in this day and age (all of the kids having to lose their virginity to Bev, for starters). The kids were all EXTREMELY well-cast, which is never an easy thing to do. I loved them all, but the kid from Stranger Things was my favorite.
It's significantly scarier, and the pacing is much better, than the plodding mini-series, which really drags in spots.
One of my favorite horror movies in quite awhile. I can't wait to go back.
Posted: 9/14/17 at 2:40pm
I've seen this now 4 times since it was released last week and it really holds up every time. I maintain that I wish there was less CGI vs. practical effects and the score has the tendency to insist a moment is terrifying instead of going quiter and letting the moment speak for itself. But DAMN is this an effective movie. Can't wait to own it in a few months.
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