The best of your adaptations

Stephen King loves recommending. Ask him that he has seen lately, what he has read in recent times, with which series is distracted in his (scarce) free time, and will be delighted to give you a series of titles. Although over time it has become more conservative and less daring, its history discovering and recommends dates back to the first eighties, so you have to respect your enthusiasm. Like the one that demonstrates detailing what is his ten favorite films in history.

Ten movie (and peak). With the next arrival of ‘The Long March’ to the US cinemas (here, for the moment, we will see it in Sitges), the writer has taken advantage of to List your ten favorite films in historyplus four tip that has left out because, well, they are based on his books. Without particular order, they are:

• Damn Load (1977)
• The godfather, part II (1974)
• The escape (1972)
• Cut in time (1993)
• Casablanca (1943)
• The Treasury of Sierra Madre (1948)
• Shark (1975)
• Bad streets (1973)
• Encounters in the Third Phase (1977)
• Perdition (1944)

And to those we must add, as we have commented:

• Misery (1990)
• Perpetual chain (1994)
• Account with me (1986)
• The Green Mile (1999)

What King likes. If we analyze the selection, we can find everything: it is a more or less indisputable list (except in what refers to those based on his work, where King has never demonstrated very good taste, as he demonstrates leaving out ‘Carrie’ or ‘El Gestandor’), and some curious details stand out:

• There are two from Spielberg
• The only one of Scorsese, ‘Mala Calley’, is not one of the director’s most valued (not even of that time: ‘Taxi driver’ is immediately later), but it is a great cult film
• Surprise with the only comedy, ‘caught in time’, already considered a modern classic.
• The classics are indisputable but somewhat manids: nobody can discuss ‘The godfather Part II’, ‘Casablanca’, ‘Perdition’ and ‘The Treasury of Sierra Madre’, but we miss some risk, even within those same genres (NoirWestern …)
• Congratulations, Stephen, to include two cult classics: ‘La escape’ by Peckimpah (instead of ‘wild group’, for example) and the amazing ‘damn load’ of William Friedkin, the most unknown and perhaps best film in the entire list.

Compulsive recommendations. This week the curious ‘law of Jenny Pen’ arrives at the Spanish billboards, which comes with King quality seal: “One of the best films I’ve seen this year,” says the cover. It is just one of the dozens of recommendations you have made: for example, These 50 books They come from various interviews and activity in social networks; During the pandemia recommended Netflix movies; In Goodreads there is a forum only to comment on books of the 700 (!) King has recommended over the years; Here is a selection of 15 horror movies that King has recommended in recent decades; And if you feel more, his ‘Macabra’ Dance test is an essential list of everything that has vertebrate the horror genre throughout its history.

Historical Recommendation. Personally, I remember perfectly that the first things I read of King were, before his books, two of his most famous recommendations: the phrase “The most fierce and original horror movie of the year” that stood out in the Spanish VHS of ‘Infernal possession’; And the legendary “I have seen the future of the genre of terror and his name is Clive Barker” who adorned the covers of all the books of the author of ‘Hellraiser’ for a while. That is, King likes to recommend everything to ask. And although abundance has led to some saturation, it is successful on numerous occasions.

The King effect. King’s aforementioned phrase on ‘Infernal possession’ part of the critic he published in the magazine ‘Twilight Zone’ and that helped find distribution To Raimi’s movie. Since then, a producer and distributors strive to make a King phrase visible on their covers, although he has said passed and is as vague as “one of the best films of the year.” It is never too late to repeat the King effect.

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