While I have probably written more about King here (the man does have his own category), this post deals with Spielberg, and one of his lost works.

As I write this, on Christmas Eve 2011, Spielberg has two movies coming out to theaters: War Horse and The Adventures of Tin Tin.  (I am looking forward to the former more than the latter.)

After directing the acclaimed TV movie DUEL in 1971 – a thriller which put Spielberg on the map – the man worked a bit more in television before making his theatrical debut with The Sugarland Express in 1973, and, of course, JAWS in 1975.  But what of that TV work?  Spielberg made two more TV films during this period, Something Evil and Savage, neither of which have ever received any kind of home video release.

After wondering about these films for years, I recently watched Something Evil (1972) on YouTube, and I must say I was pretty impressed.  No, it is not as good as DUEL, but it is better than most of the offal that is passed off as telefilms.  The movie stars Sandy Dennis and Darren McGavin as a couple who buy a Pennsylvania farmhouse, and soon discover that the house is haunted by either ghosts, or demons, or … well … something evil.  Johnny Whitaker (Jody from Family Affair) plays their son (ironically named Stevie), who may or may not be influenced by these forces.

For a looooow-budget telefilm made in ‘72, this thing still packs a little wallop.  Especially considering that it was made before The Exorcist.  Also on display here are many deft Spielbergian touches – including a shot of Sandy Dennis (quite good here) as she stares through her kitchen window, and we see what she is staring at reflected in the glass.  Spielberg has used this shot quite a few times in his films, but this could be the first.  A decade later, Spielberg would expand on this story with Poltergeist.

So, in fine, rather than wax cinematic on what this all means, I will simply let you watch the film yourself.  It is posted (in 8 parts) below.  You didn’t think I was gonna write about this and not embed the thing, did ya?  Take a look – it only runs about 73 minutes – and let me know what you think in the comments section when you’re done.

As this novel should be started with as little foreknowledge as possible, this review will be spoiler-free, save for a brief set-up.  You will know no more going in than I did.

Regarding a recently divorced, thirtysomething school teacher named Jake Epping, the plot has this wounded man receiving an urgent call from an old friend, Al Templeton, who owns a local diner.  When Jake visits Al, he is shocked to discover that the man has seemingly aged years over the course of a day.  It seems that Al, whose rapidly-accelerating cancer has given him only hours to live, has a secret to share, and Jake is the only one with whom he trusts it.  Al’s secret is this: in the back pantry of his retro diner, is a time portal to the past.  Each trip delivers the traveler to the same time and place – Lisbon Falls, Maine, September 9th, 1958 – and, no matter how long the traveler stays, if he returns, it is only two minutes later in 2011 time.  Still with me?

The reason Al has aged so much in so little time, other than his cancer, is that he recently spent over four years in the past trying to prevent Lee Harvey Oswald from assassinating John F. Kennedy on 11/22/63.  Due to his illness, Al failed, and returned to 2011 a dying man.  As he tells his tale to Jake (one brief trip to 1958 is all it takes to convince Jake of this impossible story), Jake eventually decides to take on Al’s mission himself (after a trial run or two regarding other lesser matters), knowing full well that messing with such a historically watershed moment might make things worse … much worse … butterfly effect and all.  Especially when the past doesn’t want to be changed.

While one might think that such a story would be full of clichés, predictable scenarios, and political pontificating, this is not the case.  In fact, Jake doesn’t even reach the titular date until page 800.  Most of the book is spent chronicling Jake’s five year stay in the past, where the food tastes better, the music is more innocent, and racism is barely concealed.  While keeping tabs on Oswald to make sure the man acted alone before he makes his move, Jake returns to teaching and falls in love with a tall blonde named Sadie.  Oddly enough (at least to those who only know Uncle Stevie as America’s Boogeyman), the central love story here is the very heart of this novel.

Touching, suspenseful, and damn near unputdownable, 11/22/63 is Stephen King firing on all cylinders, and proving even after four decades that he is still master of his craft.  While some horrific things do occur in this book, this is not a horror novel, and will probably win the man hordes of new fans.  While I, and others, have referred to King as our modern-day Dickens, he is also like a much loved uncle who is returning to spin another fantastical yarn.  One feels like a child reading this book, cuddled up in wide-eyed wonder.  Does praise come any higher than that?  Not from me it doesn't.

GRADE: A

I have started doing some serious promotion on my novel BROODING.  In September I propped up my exhibit tent at the Freedom Harley Davidson End-of-Summer Block Party, where I sold autographed copies of the book, mounted and matted prints of my artwork, and (my latest venture) handmade leather jewelry – bracelets, rings, bangles, chokers, etc., all made out of custom-cut black leather and suede.

In October, I did the same thing at the Oktoberfest event in La Veta, Colorado.  There were 115 other vendors at this massive shindig, and a total of about 4,000 patrons.  This was by far the biggest show I have ever done and, while it was a tremendous success, it was also one of the scariest things I have ever done.  As a writer, especially one with a proclivity for seclusion, putting myself out there on such a grand scale kind of freaked me out a bit, but … I really have no choice but to get out there and hawk this novel of mine.

My next two shows will be at the Buffalo Rose in Golden, Colorado.  The first of which will be on Saturday, November 5th, in the main dance/concert room.  If you want to come down and pick up a signed copy of BROODING (or some artwork or handmade leather jewelry), this is a good chance to do it.

Till next time, don't let your meat loaf, don't let your dingle dangle …

Oh yeah, and don't take any shit from anybody!

Mick Garris, who has directed many Stephen King adaptations over the years (notably the TV versions of The Stand and The Shining), also helms this two-parter.  I watched The Stand recently and, sadly, though I at one time loved that 1994 production, time has not been kind to it (… here's hoping that feature film trilogy stays green lit).  If this promo is any indication, Garris has honed his craft in recent years.  This looks scary as hell.

Check it out.

TWO STEPHENS: COLBERT AND KING – this picture just cracks me up.

King was also at George Mason University in Virginia last week to receive their annual Mason Award.  While there, he regaled the audience with stories and anecdotes (amusingly, every time King would drop the name of one of his novels – The Dead Zone, The Shining, IT – the crowd would cheer and applaud as if he were a rock star giving snippets of his Greatest Hits).  The first two videos below feature these stories.

The third, well …

Years ago, Stephen King once joked that he wondered what would happen if little Danny Torrance from The Shining and young Charlie McGee from Firestarter, grew up, met, fell in love, got married, and had kids.  That there might be a novel in there somewhere.  Well, while King has not taken that route, he HAS been writing a follow up to The Shining that catches up with Danny some 35 years after the tragic events at The Overlook Hotel.  The book is entitled Doctor Sleep.  Danny Torrance is now a hospice worker who uses his shining abilities to help terminal patients pass on as painlessly as possible.  Things turn ugly, when Danny discovers a group of “psychic vampires” who feed not on blood, but on human energy … or something like that.

King is almost done with the book and, in the third video, reads an excerpt from Doctor Sleep:

For a nice contrast to King's 2011 public speaking style, check out a 90-minute lecture from Uncle Stevie given in March of 1982 at the University of Dayton.  King is younger and beefier than in the previous videos – with his infamous black lumberjack beard, that has yet to sprout any gray – but is just as entertaining.  He repeats a few of his anecdotal stories, and it is interesting to see how those stories have changed a bit over the decades.  King also reads a short story called The Reach, featured in the 1985 collection, Skeleton Crew.  I read along with him from my own copy, and realized that he had tweaked this story from its 1981 premiere in Yankee Magazine.  This video can be found at Lilja's Library, one of the best King reference sites on the web.  Check it out …

Also, cop a gander at my extensive profile of Stephen King on Examiner.com.

As I stated in that profile, Bill Bixby was one of my childhood heroes and, as I recently found The Incredible Hulk: The Complete Series at Amazon.com for only $28.99, I’ve been seriously going down memory lane … with that haunting “Lonely Man Theme” stuck in my head.

Anyway, if you’re here because you followed the Examiner link: welcome.
If you’re a frequent visitor: welcome back.

Here’s Bill’s story.

The last Audrey Hepburn portrait I did begat a commission for another.  Which I think turned out even better than the first.  Elegant even.  Agree?  Disagree?  Tell me in the comment section.

High quality prints are now available at a reasonable price – contact me for more info.

Yeah, yeah, you know of my fondness for Alfred Hitchcock’s PSYCHO – I won’t bore you with more words about it here.  But … as I am starting to do a Hitchcock series of drawings, why not start with a classic?  These were not the perfect images of Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh that I was looking for, but I still think it turned out pretty well.  What say you?  Let me know in the comment section below.

The Birds and Vertigo coming right up.

High quality prints are now available at a reasonable price – contact me for more info.

Don’t know the term “Dollar Baby”?

Stephen King has had a long-running policy of offering the rights to his short stories to budding film students for $1.00.  These short films have come to be called Dollar Babies.  One of the very first was Frank Darabont’s The Woman in the Room – the last story from 1978’s Night Shift collection, and seemingly one that was the not only the least cinematic, but wasn’t even really a horror story as it dealt with a man struggling with what to do about his pain-ridden, terminally-ill mother.

In 1980, 20-year-old Darabont contacted Mr. King about adapting The Woman in the Room.  King agreed … and forgot about it.  Three long years later Darabont sent a copy of his finally-finished film to King, who was very surprised to see that the 30 minute short was far better than he had any right to expect it to be.  Years later, when Darabont came looking for the rights to The Shawshank Redemption, King let the novella go based on the strength of The Woman in the Room.

Frank Darabont talked at length about this project to Lilja’s Library (an excellent online King resource) and that interview can be found HERE.

Is this short film as good as Darabont’s later work?  Of course not.  It was shot on a shoestring by a kid and his friends.  Brian Libby, who plays the prisoner, would go on to appear in ALL of Darabont’s later King adaptations.  The film is slow in parts, and maybe even a bit corny, but it certainly did a good job of displaying the talent of the budding filmmaker.

Never seen it?  Good, cause I’ve got it for you below.

Bon appétit.