In an episode bearing the same name as the series itself, The Stand has finally reached its climax as the “Council of Boulder” faces off in a final stand (for lack of a better term) against the Dark Man himself, Randall Flagg. In the 1994 miniseries, this particular moment was heavily criticized as being too campy, so this penultimate episode had a lot to prove … Continue reading The Stand: “The Stand” Review
With only two episode left in the miniseries, “The Walk” both literally and figuratively advances the plot at a faster pace than we’ve seen thus far. It simultaneously deals with the aftermath of Nadine and Harold’s betrayal, while setting up the ultimate conflict and final titular “stand”, for which the story is named. (Spoilers Ahead – You’ve Been Warned) Just Desert The episode opens with … Continue reading The Stand: “The Walk” Review
Making up for lost time in the first few episodes, the sixth episode of The Stand, “The Vigil” gets a long done with its hour runtime. There’s a lot to unpack in this episode and we’re definitely getting into spoilers, so consider this your warning! Making Use of Two Cities Part of what plagued the earlier episodes was the fact that their A and B … Continue reading The Stand: “The Vigil” Review
Now that the miniseries is halfway over, The Stand is finally ramping up for what hopes to be a much better second half. The aptly titled “Fear and Loathing in New Vegas” deals with dual sets of spies in their prospective cities and the challenges that come with that. It thankfully trades the messed up timeline for actual suspense and tension. Dayna and Tom The … Continue reading The Stand: “Fear and Loathing in New Vegas” Review
After an admittedly weak opening, CBS All Access’ The Stand is finally starting to find its place and gets its narrative going. The fourth episode, titled “The House of the Dead” started to build some tension. And while it didn’t quite use the nonlinear narrative effectively, it wasn’t as clunky as it has been in the first three episodes. Is this false hope, or is … Continue reading The Stand: “The House of the Dead” Review
As The Stand begins to settle in on its long term storyline, this third episode “Blank Pages” features less of the plague that wiped out humanity and more of the impending conflict between those that follow Mother Abigail and Randall Flagg. But once again, it feels more like a series of jumbled up vignettes than a clear and concise narrative. And it all stems from … Continue reading The Stand: “Blank Pages” Review
Following a premiere episode that was okay at best, The Stand really picked things up in the second episode “Pocket Savior”. The nonlinear timeline still seems like an odd choice, but it’s put to much better use here. It also helps that the series has already introduced the Captain Trips virus, so this episode is free to focus more on character, and that’s definitely what … Continue reading The Stand: “Pocket Savior” Review
“The Stand” infamously remains Stephen King’s longest novel and adapting it is no easy task. Mick Garris valiantly attempted a four part TV miniseries back in 1994, and the for the most part, it was very successful and well made (for its time). A modern” retelling isn’t a bad idea in theory, but it could very easily go wrong. So how does CBS All Access’ … Continue reading The Stand: “The End” Review
There’s no shortage of sequels to classic films being released decades later. And while they’re mostly met with apprehension at best and hatred at worst, not all of them have the creator of the original property behind them. Stephen King famously despised the 1980 Stanley Kubrick adaptation of The Shining (and even did his own TV version in 1997), but he shocked the world when … Continue reading “The Shining” vs. “Doctor Sleep”
One of the most iconic images that comes to mind when we think of scary clowns is that of Pennywise from Stephen King’s “It”. At a whopping 1200+ page count, it’s his second longest novel (just behind “The Stand”), and seemed nearly impossible to adapt to film. But in 1990, we saw King’s terrifying story brought to the small screen in a TV movie/miniseries starring … Continue reading 30 Fun Facts About “It” (1990)
Halloween Year-Round 