BLOG EVENT - IT (2017) - WHAT OTHER CRITICS ARE SAYING

It (2017)

R-13 | 2h 15min | Drama, Horror | 7 September 2017 (Philippines) 

A group of bullied kids band together when a monster, taking the appearance of a clown, begins hunting children.

Director:

Andy Muschietti

Writers:

Chase Palmer (screenplay), Cary Fukunaga (screenplay) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard

The big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's killer clown tale elicits thrills, chills and universal acclaim from reviewers.

The reviews for the big-screen adaptation of Stephen King's It are in and it appears the killer clown has won over the critics. 

With a 100 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes as of Wednesday morning, the critical consensus seems to be that It delivers on the scares, and as a bonus is a fair-to-decent imitation of King's other coming-of-age story, Stand by Me. The only downside reviewers found was that we've seen it all before, somewhat unsurprisingly as the 1990 TV miniseries still haunts the dreams of many. 

The Hollywood Reporter's John DeFiore summed up It as "satisfying, if not quite terrifying." DeFiore felt the film was "a solid thriller that works best when it is most involved in its adolescent heroes' non-monster-related concerns," but that It "falls well short of the King-derived film it clearly wants to evoke, Stand by Me; and newcomers who were spoiled by the eight richly developed hours of Stranger Things may wonder what the big deal is supposed to be."

Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly was glowing in his praise, particularly about the first half of the film that focuses on the Losers Club and similarly sees echoes of Stand by Me. "It is essentially two movies. The better by far (and it’s very good) is the one that feels like a darker Stand by Me — a nostalgic coming-of-age story about seven likable outcasts riding around on their bikes and facing their fears together," writes Nashawaty. 

USA Today's Brian Truitt gave It a rave, describing the movie as "one of the better Stephen King adaptations." Despite finding the film a little overlong, Truitt said it capture's the source materials "nuanced coming-of-age sentiment rather than being all horror, all the time, capturing the low-key brilliance of King’s writing."

The Guardian's chief film critic Peter Bradshaw was a touch more tempered in his praise for It, describing the film as "often" scary but is perhaps more suited to a TV series with its "anthology" of horrors "which could be shuffled and presented in any order." Bradshaw found the non-clown related scares more compelling. "The film interestingly shows us that non-supernatural violence, bullying and abuse has been normalized in this apparently picturesque town — so a demonic clown is just something else to worry about," he writes. 

Eric Kohn's review for Indiewire was also circumspect, enjoying the film on its merits but unable to shake the feeling we've seen it all before. "At times, the movie excels at portraying the dread of children forced to confront a world indifferent to their concerns," writes Kohn before concluding, "But no matter how many times Pennywise leaps out from unexpected places, it’s impossible to shake the feeling that we’ve been here many times before."

Thanks for reading and have fun watching IT.

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BLOG EVENT - IT - WHAT YOU ALSO NEED TO KNOW

It (2017)

R-13 | 2h 15min | Drama, Horror | 7 September 2017 (Philippines) 

• Season 1 Episode 1: Stephen King's It (1)

• When Bill's mother plays during the first flashback, her hands are clearly mis-synched with the music. Her right hand is in the air when the melody plays, and her left hand doesn't move.
  
  
• When Bill looks at George's photo album, the piece of paper with the word "George" on it has a bend in the right corner when Bill looks at it. But when he sets it down in the next shot, the paper is entirely unbent.
  
  
• When Ben greets the class, Richie is wearing a shirt with vertical stripes. But when Henry is sent to the principal's office, he walks by Richie who is now wearing a shirt with solid colors.
  
  
• When Tom takes the bottle of champagne out of the refrigerator, he is holding it in his right hand. In the next shot the bottle instantly jumps to his left hand.
  
  
• When Beverly walks out on Tom, she is only carrying a suitcase and a coat. However, when she comes out of the apartment, she has an additional bag over her shoulder that she didn't have when she left the apartment.
  
  
• When the Loser's go to Eddie's house, he says that he wishes the summer would never end. However, in the next few scenes, the Losers are seen at school.

• Season 1 Episode 2: Stephen King's It (2)

  
  
• When Beverly goes to her childhood home, the closeup of the doorbell says "Marsh." However, in the next longer shot, it says "MARSH." Also, the red and white wire going into the bottom of the doorbell in the closeup become two white wires in the longer shot, and the position of all four wires, two on top and two on the bottom, change.
  
  
• When Beverly flees from the Marsh house, a truck approaches her and the horn honks. However, the shots of the driver show he has both hands rock-solid on the wheel, which means he can't honk the horn.
  
  
• When Mike opens the refrigerator and the balloons pour out, there are four cans of pop in the door. There are three clumped together toward the refrigerator and one separate on the outside. When the camera cuts to a shot of Stan's head inside the refrigerator, all four cans are clumped together.
  
  
• When the wind blows through the library, it blows off most of the books on the top shelf. However, in the next shot they are back in place as the ones on the lower shelves blow off.
  
  
• When Ben goes to Beverly's room to get her shawl, the cloth she picks up is white with blue flowers. However, when Beverly comes in and he gives it to her, it is purple and pink striped.
  
  
• In the sewers, as the paper boat first approaches and then departs from the friends, the shadow of the steadicam following it can be seen on the brick wall to the right.
  
  
• When Audra falls out of the web in It's lair, she is covered in webbing. However, when Bill sets her down all of the webbing instantly disappears.
  
  
• In the movie the words "Beep beep, Richie" are often used. In the novel it is explained that this phrase is meant to get Richie to shut up.

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BLOG EVENT - IT - REVIEW OF THE MOVIE FROM 1990

It 

3h 12min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror | TV Mini-Series (1990)

 

In 1960, seven pre-teen outcasts fight an evil demon who poses as a child-killing clown. Thirty years later, they reunite to stop the demon once and for all when it returns to their hometown.

Stars:

Richard Thomas, Tim Reid, Annette O'Toole 

In 1960, a group of social outcasts who are bullied by a gang of greasers led by Henry Bowers are also tormented by an evil demon who can shape-shift into a clown and feed on children's fears and kill them. After defeating the demonic clown as kids, it resurfaces 30 years later and they must finish it off as adults once again.

Country:

USA | Canada

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 November 1990 (USA) See more »

Also Known As:

It: El Payaso Asesino See more »

Filming Locations:

417 Heatley Ave Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada See more »

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Company Credits

Production Co:

Green/Epstein Productions, Konigsberg/Sanitsky Company, Lorimar Television See more »

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Technical Specs

Runtime:

192 min | 187 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

 A really great horror movie leaves a lasting impression on a person. Jaws, for example, still makes me wary of going in the water (even a pool!), and The Blair Witch Project comes to mind every time someone mentions “camping”. Out of all the great horror movies, though, Stephen Kings It in particular has left a lasting mark on me.

A little back-story: I remember when I was about six years old and my brothers and I were put to bed as usual. As my mother was tucking us in she made a HUGE mistake and warned us not to get out of bed whatever we did because she was watching a movie that she didn’t want us to see. Of course that just made me want to sneak out of bed.

I waited a while and snuck into the living room. Hiding behind the couch where she couldn’t see me I tried to see what the big taboo on TV was. It must have been about a minute later that I was completely horrified by what I saw and ran out of the room screaming.
For years after that I was horrified of clowns, dark places and…… the bathroom! I couldn’t even bring myself to watch It all the way through until I was fourteen, and then I loved it!

The movie Stephen Kings It, which was originally a TV movie released in as a mini-series in 1990, is actually quite subdued by most horror standards. The violence is minimal, and there is little blood, yet tons of scares. It is also quite long (192min!) but keeps your attention, especially the first half.
Stephen Kings It begins when a little girl, while in her yard in the sleepy, rainy town of Derry, Maine, is murdered by a mysterious clown called “Pennywise” who appears literally out of nowhere.
Later, while at the crime scene, the librarian Mike Hanlon (Tim Reid) notices something weird…a picture of his childhood friend’s little brother who was murdered in 1960. Mike immediately calls all of his old friends and tells them the news: “HE’s back”.

From this point the movie jumps between each character’s current life and flashbacks of their own personal childhood encounters with the violent, tormenting spirit Pennywise the Clown (Tim Curry in possibly his best role). The clown spirit uses children’s greatest fears against them by bringing them to reality. Mike convinces each member of the “old gang”(which includes John Ritter, Harry Anderson and Annette O’Toole) to agree reluctantly to come back to Derry to fight Pennywise…except for one. Stan Uris (Richard Masur) decides he would rather end his own lifethan go back to Derry and have to face the demons of his past, leaving the group of friends minus one vital member.

Once back in Derry the gang confirms that Pennywise the clown is indeed up to his old tricks again, and chaos abounds – complete with hallucinations, attacks and near deaths. The group must find out what Pennywise really is, and destroy “It”.
I will admit that while Stephen Kings It is fantastic, the ending is a bit of a letdown. We know that Pennywise is not human from the beginning, but we are not quite sure exactly what he actually is until the end of the movie, and even then it is very confusing no matter how many times you watch It. The history of Pennywise and of Derry itself, when revealed, is truly frightening though. Tim Curry, as the clown Pennywise, is also very frightening and believable in this role of a lifetime.

While not acceptable for all ages, I highly recommend Stephen Kings It, especially if you want a good horror movie to watch on a rainy afternoon or night. Or for an even bigger scare, read the book on a rainy afternoon or night, because although the movie is scary, the book will keep you up at night.

 7/10 genre

5/10 overall

Thanks for reading and have fun watching IT.

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BLOG EVENT - IT (2017) - ALL HD TRAILER + BIO OF PENNYWISE

It (2017)

R-13 | 2h 15min | Drama, Horror | 7 September 2017 (Philippines) 

ALL HD TRAILER

 

In theaters September 7.

Director:

Andy Muschietti

Writers:

Chase Palmer (screenplay), Cary Fukunaga (screenplay) | 2 more credits »

Stars:

Bill Skarsgård, Jaeden Lieberher, Finn Wolfhard

In the Town of Derry, the local kids are disappearing one by one, leaving behind bloody remains. In a place known as 'The Barrens', a group of seven kids are united by their horrifying and strange encounters with an evil clown and their determination to kill It. But what the story behind IT and the clown called Pennywise?

Pennywise is a shapeshifting being, that originated in a mysterious void containing and surrounding the Universe. His other powers and abilities are illusions, partial invisibility, regeneration, telepathy and many more. Pennywise's real name has never been known. Although, it claims its true name to be Robert Gray - and is named "It" by the group of children who later decided to confront the creature. Pennywise finally got killed in 1985 by the group of children that tried to kill him back in the 50s.

Although Bill Skarsgård was on set for the majority of production, he didn't actually begin filming his scenes until more than half of shooting was complete. The time before he actually started filming was spent working with Andrés Muschietti and the producers in order to perfect his mannerisms as Pennywise, as Skarsgård stated that he felt an immense amount of pressure to play the role perfectly due to Tim Curry's well-regarded performance in It (1990). 

27 is a number that often becomes associated with this story. This movie is set to be released 27 years after the original television release. In the book, it is mentioned that "It" returns to Derry approximately every 27 years. Jonathan Brandis, who played young Bill in the original film, died at 27 years old. This movie released one month after Bill Skarsgard (Pennywise) 27th birthday.

The new films will feature the more disturbing aspects of the novel that the original TV film wasn't able to touch upon. Some of these include the more extreme acts of violence committed by Pennywise and the bullies as well as the dark sexual undertones present throughout the novel (Eddie Kaspbrak's encounter with the Leper, the relationship between Henry Bowers and Patrick Hockstetter, etc). However it is very unlikely that the infamous child orgy scene from the novel will be included as not only would it earn the film an NC-17 rating, but it would also be severely traumatizing for the child actors to film as well. 

When Andy Muschietti initially signed on to direct, the studio had wanted him to use exactly the same script that Cary Fukunaga had planned on using, with the only edits being the omission of the more controversial scenes that would've earned the film an NC-17 rating (such as Henry Bowers having sex with a sheep and ejaculating on a birthday cake, or Beverly's father attempting to rape her). Muschietti loved the structure and human drama of Fukunaga's version, but requested that he be allowed to slightly edit the script to make it more faithful to the novel, which the studio chose to allow. These changes included putting in the Leper and Bill's stutter, elements from the novel which Fukunaga had cut, as well as changing names back to their original novel forms (Will to Bill, Travis to Henry, Snatch to Belch, etc.) and changing the firework fight back to the "Apocalyptic Rock Fight." Muschietti also planned on including the "Smokehole" scene in which Richie and Mike use a Native American tradition to have a vision which details how It arrived on Earth millions of years ago. Due to the extensive CGI needed for this scene, it was deemed too expensive for the film and Muschietti was forced to cut it from the script.

The trailer for this film enraged real-life professional clowns, who stated that the Pennywise character will encourage people to think of clowns as scary and murderous (though the filmmakers and actors have said, clearly, that Pennywise is not a clown at all, but a representation of IT's pure evil, who takes on the form out of a mix of sadism and childishness). Rallies to defend the good name in general of clowns in the U.S. are planned for October 2017, the month after IT is released in theatres. 

The end of the novel leaves the fate of Pennywise ambiguous, and even the first line of the story hints that he may still be alive. However, Stephen King has sworn to never write about Pennywise again, as King claims that the character is too scary, even for him.

Let's see how the character is doing in the newest version of IT, coming in September 7/8, 2017.

Thanks for reading and have fun watching IT.

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