#it review

[bindingsandspines]

Hey guys! I recently finished It by Stephen King! It was a long process, roughly 28 hours total. I gave it four stars because some parts grossed me out but overall it was a very good book.

[losingitinjersey]

First things first - IT Chapter 2 was everything and more for me.  I’ll put my review under a “read more” line below for anyone who feels like clicking through.  

@zerocarb requested a lipsticked SDS awhile back so here you go!  My movie watching outfit of an olive green shirt paired with a black skirt.  Definitely a fan of this outfit and will be repeating.  Tagging @healthyhappymari, @gainingmomentum and @busylivinnow to share your beautiful faces should you care to.  

I have just one episode left of “The Boys” to watch tonight and I’m already lamenting having no more to watch.  You should have seen my eyes bugger out of my head when I was watching and realized who the guy in the screenshot is.  

Now that I’ve seen IT I am pouring over all the subreddits I’ve been avoiding and bingeing on content, comments and opinions about the film.  Having followed the production of these films for the last 3+ years, it’s definitely been keeping my attention.  Please enjoy this Monday meme that’s on topic :)

Breakfast this morning was greek yogurt with dried cranberries and granola paired with iced decaf coffee.  I had a very busy work day (like they all seem to be lately) but today was the first day with my new CEO.  Thankfully, I’ve known him for the last few years and he’s a really great guy.  I feel very fortunate to have had three kind leaders the last three years.  Looking forward to finding a groove with him.  It’s always slightly challenging at the beginning learning how each other operates.  

At my lunch break today I walked over to the mall to pick up a birthday card for a co-worker, after work I ran by Walgreens to grab something for Kevin then hit up a grocery store to pick up flowers for the birthday tomorrow.  Then I came home and immediately started making dinner so it would be ready when Kevin got home from his meeting.  He’s been doing keto and we had ground beef to cook so I made this casserole dish along with a side of asparagus and onions.  Unfortunately, we should have communicated better because he had already eaten before coming home.  Oh well, at least I don’t have to make dinner tomorrow!  After dinner I cleaned up the kitchen, ran the dishwasher, ran a load of laundry and put clothes away before finally sitting down at 8 p.m.  I feel like such an accomplished working professional!  I can’t imagine doing all of this with a baby.  I feel very fortunate that she’s still inside of me and I don’t have to do all of this plus take care of her.  Five months from now is going to be a very different story.  

Okay, IT review is under the break!  And nope, no spoilers here.  

Personally, Chapter 2 did the book justice and I honestly think was even more enjoyable than Chapter 1 (I know!  How can it be?!  It was just that good).  The film was humorous throughout, never took itself too seriously but also had incredible heart.  The casting was spot on, especially for Richie, Eddie, Ben and Henry Bowers.  Richie and Eddie positively made the movie(s) for me.  Their wit, realistic swearing and constant jabs were so enjoyable to watch.  I was a Bill Hader fan prior to this movie but now I’m even more sold on him.  But truly, I feel like Bill Hader and James Ranscome were simply channeling the sharp performances Finn Wolfhard and Jack Dylan Grazer gave.  

Yes, there were obvious strays from the book but I don’t feel like any of them took away from the story.  The nearly three-hour run time flew by and by the end I was sobbing pretty hard.  Not that it’s an especially sad ending or movie, although I was tearing up throughout it, it’s just that this story means so much to me.  Much more than I realize until I’m confronted with it.  

I can’t wait to see this movie again.  And yes, while it’s technically a horror movie, as someone who doesn’t enjoy horror movies don’t let the genre scare you away from watching these movies about childhood friendships, the feeling of being a kid during summer, shared trauma and coming home again.  

[beckerstanstyrus]

a reflection on IT ch 1

I wrote this for my group chat and it’s pretty stream of consciousness, but enjoy! 

I - and I cannot stress this enough - DO NOT watch horror movies. EVER. I’ve watched about 2.5 in my life and died in a fire each time. I was convinced into watching this film by one of my current favorite tumblr users (@dumb-binch-juice) posting Reddie stuff numerous times. I accidentally became invested. 

She kindly lent me a website which told me when the jump scares would be so I was able to cover my screen. The movie was dark but I liked it! I struggled with seeing the disgusting, unacceptable sides of humanity (all the abuse) and I hear that gets worse in the second movie. But I liked seeing the characters overcome those things. I liked each of the characters p well. 

In particular I liked that although Ben was tortured by the abusive group of boys for being fat, he was otherwise treated no differently by the Losers Club. He was smart. Notably so. Definitely the most well researched of their group, with Bill coming in second. 

My mom has been saying for years that fat folks are treated as though they’re stupid. The fact that the film didn’t direct the viewer to see him in that way should not have been jarring to me but it was. Which shocks me to my core. It tells me how fatphobic society still is, that I noticed that the chubby boy was given a nuanced personality outside of a trope or a stereotype. It tells me that fat characters are not typically well developed characters. Still. In 2019. I’m simultaneously glad I just realized this so I can be more aware of it and I’m also deeply angry. 

Anyway, Ben aside. 

I watched the movie for the Reddie ship, and ironically you basically get no hint of it in the first movie. Unless you’re INTENT on reading into it. In a sense you could argue it’s there in plain sight, but only in the sense of it being obvious that two people are vibing because they’re teasing & bantering & giving each other shit constantly. (The same dynamic as Jake and Amy from Brooklyn 99, esp in season 1 - the classic “pulling her hair because you like her” trope). 

In other words, most people aren’t paying attention to other folks’ flirty vibes and don’t even notice. And in particular, when that kind of banter is between two girls or two boys - ESP when it’s between two boys - it’s so easily attributed to platonic affection. So it becomes really unclear. And that’s such a safe zone and such a trap for those of us who have gay relationships - we can flirt OPENLY and LOUDLY because it will be interpreted as being platonic. (I’ll never forget when a Chinese girl I had a thing with in Japan when I studied abroad told me, yes China is homophobic, and yes lesbians hold hands in public because no one will ever know they aren’t just friends. Blew me away.)

Anyway so. So that ship could easily fly under the radar, which surprised me. And I haven’t seen It Chapter 2 yet, but my understanding (possible SPOILERS) is that it’s a little dubious, inconclusive, or unsatisfying (to some folks) - and ends in tragedy (yeah I’ve spoiled everything for myself it’s fine). 

And damn if that doesn’t throw me back to a time when ANY gay ship on TV, in movies, anime, books... WAS ALL QUEERBAITING. It didn’t GET to be canon. And my understanding with Reddie is that it’s subtly canon if anything (by the end of Chapter 2), and it’s unclear if it was one sided or two way. It truly reminds me of the queerbaiting from back in the day. And that’s so sad! 

But also it reminds me to be grateful for growth. It makes me realize that although we have so far to go and so many more strides to make in representation (lgbtq+ and otherwise), we have come a long way from a time when all we ever got was hints at best. I mean, I just got to see a deeply romantic, deeply satisfying conclusion to a gay romance ON DISNEY CHANNEL where the two got together & became boyfriends. Reddie is reminding me just how historic something like that is, and how recently that became something that is possible. Even 5 years ago it might not have happened. 

TL;DR as a society we have a long way to go but thank god it’s 2019 and we’re doing better with some things. And I liked the movie IT Chapter 1. The end!

[cinephileweekly]

It Chapter 2 Review

It Chapter 2 was directed by Andy Muschietti, written by Gary Dauberman and Stephen King. Based off the book Stephen King wrote. Starring James McAvoy, Bill Hader, Jessica Chastain, and Bill Skarsgard.  A story about a being terrorizing the city of Derry. And a group of adults who had original brought him down as a group of kids.

As someone who LOVES the original TV Mini Series, and someone who JUST finished the book, I can tell you I was very excited for this movie. It was awesome at first. How it started would’ve made anyone who had read the book happy. They took a literal scene from the book and did it almost word for word to bring it to screen. Promising. After this, the movie and the book divert from one another it was a little difficult for me. I think it was mainly difficult seeing as I had just read the book right before I saw the film...as in I had 50 pages left of the book to finish when I went and saw the movie. 

I have heard from friends who haven’t read the book that they did think that this part of the movie went to long. And I will say that about 40 minutes till the end of the movie I thought we were about 20 minutes away, and then I really had another 20 after I had imagined it would be done. But that didn’t make me upset about anything. I enjoyed the story and the small little nods to those who read the book made me even more appreciative of the film.

I have just recently realized how much I love Bill Hader. He is one of the best actors I’ve seen in a while. He’s great in comedies, he’s great as a voice actor in cartoons, and he’s amazing in It. Not to mention Bill Skarsgard. as Pennywise. I learned that he can make his eyes go in separate directions and that immediately made me know that he was meant to play Pennywise. He gives you chills from the second you see him bite into his first victim.

As a lover of horror, this was definitely one to watch. I say, give it a shot. You might be happily surprised.

[katseesmovies]

It: Chapter 2

This review will contain some plot related spoilers, if you’re familiar with the book none of this will be too surprising for you. General lite spoilers. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya! 

I liked the initial IT film that came out way back in 2017. With a good mix of characters, humor and some gut turning horror IT was a delightful reminder of the aspects of Stephen King’s work that I love. Unfortunately, Chapter Two falls somewhat short of its predecessor. Despite its stellar casting (Bill Hader runs away with the whole film), amazing creature design (there are some pants shittingly terrifying monsters/kills in this film) and scary set ups there were many moments in this film that went on just a skosh too long. And all those skoshes add up a film that is almost three hours long - twenty minutes longer than it really needed to be. 

All of the kids and their adult counterparts are made for each other. Many flashbacks are used to show us moments our characters had forgotten once they left Derry. These flashbacks were often reincorporated to the characters fearscapes later in the film. There are also some touching moments, including a kill that made the whole audience gasp. (There were a couple but one in particular caused the air to leave the room)(It’s the little girl).

Stanley’s reintroduction was graphic and pulled no punches which I honestly admired. It was upsetting, yes, but showed us a small window into his reminder of his time in Derry and the decision he finally decides to make. Mike’s obsession with Derry is starting to curdle at times and watching him try to convince the rest of the losers to stay is slightly menacing at times in a way that created an awesome dynamic. All of the character’s reintroductions are excellent, and there are some jokes that are established in the beginning that carry throughout the rest of Chapter 2. Our main man Pennywise has just as impressive of a reintroduction. He also clearly has gotten a better balloon supplier as he has enough to fill a f*cking gorge. 

This film plays fast and loose with weaving reality and hallucination together which makes keeping track of things challenging at times. It seems over reliant on flashbacks at times, but I enjoyed all the flashbacks so I can’t be too upset. 

This film also relies heavily on strobe lights at times and I was getting a headache by the end of two sequences. Bill’s plot moments seemed a little long at the time. He was clearly given “leader” plot line and he did his best to run with it but it was the most stereotypical leader plot line. Even though the pacing was slow at times there was enough scenery for everyone to chew and I do think that largely made up for it. The music at times was heavy handed, though not bad. 

There were lots of other clever touches throughout the film as well, including during the bit where Bill is drugged by Mike seeing Pennywise take the form of a Wendigo while terrorizing the Native American tribe that used to reside in Derry. (A Wendigo is what many native tribes believed humans would turn into if they ate other humans). The movie was clearly made with care, but sometimes you have to kill your darling (moments) for the sake of the whole film. 

TL/DR:  A skosh too long but overall pants-shittingly scary fun. Great performances all round. Pee first.

BIG ASS SPOILERS 

Can we appreciate that they defeated Pennywise by destroying his self esteem. Jesus losers club, I see you. 

[delayedcritique]

IT CHAPTER TWO REVIEW

“Be thankful that this second part wasn’t split into two additional movies.”

BY COLLIN DELADE

The number one criticism in all the reviews for IT CHAPTER TWO is its nearly three-hour runtime. This second, and final, chapter in this popular Stephen King adaptation runs thirty-five minutes longer than its critically praised predecessor. While I will get into my thoughts on how IT CHAPTER TWO works as a three-hour movie, I consider this as a big win for the book-to-film adaptation genre.

For almost a decade now, Hollywood has a history with squeezing the stories of original source material to make as much money as possible when translating into a movie franchise. This trend started with splitting HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS into two parts, and it continued on with every highly popular book-to-film franchises. As audiences grew tired of this trend, splitting the finale of popular stories into two parts began to lead to smaller box office results. Therefore, IT CHAPTER TWO being a three-hour movie represents Hollywood’s surrender in this greedy trend. 

As for the quality of IT CHAPTER TWO itself, the most significant strengths come from the fantastic cast of the teen to adult Losers and the return of Bill Skarsgard as Pennywise. If there was an award for Best Casting, the team behind IT CHAPTER TWO deserves it! The adult cast both looks and behaves perfectly as the grown-up versions of the teen actors. There is not a single weak link, as every one is cast perfectly and performs the part on point. 

There’s no IT without Pennywise, as Skarsgard returns to the role with his over-the-top setpieces and more screentime to scare his prey. As with any sequel to a surprise smash hit, Pennywise is thrown a more substantial amount of scary setpieces and plays more into his goofy theatric side along with his scares. While CHAPTER ONE uses Pennywise sparingly to make his appearance more frightening, Skarsgard felt restricted from going all out into the role. This time around, Skarsgard is let loose to really define the role as his own. 

The perfect word to describe IT CHAPTER TWO is unrestricted. For better or worse, there is no holding back when it comes to its creative horror ideas and cramming the film with as content as possible. As far as an IT adaptation goes, CHAPTER TWO reflects the weirdness and twisted tone of the novel. While the stranger elements are toned down to please the more general audience, CHAPTER TWO definitely has the upper hand against CHAPTER ONE when it comes to its strangeness.

For viewers looking for a fun time at the movies, IT CHAPTER TWO is wildly entertaining. There are plenty of disturbing moments that will keep you up at night along with a surprising amount of humor that’s genuinely funny. Criticisms aside, CHAPTER TWO is a worthy follow up and a great companion piece to CHAPTER ONE. However, there is one significant drawback to IT CHAPTER TWO that will affect its rewatchability: the runtime. 

Judging how long a movie should run relies entirely on how long it takes to tell the story. The pacing in IT CHAPTER TWO is nearly identical to how the story is told in AVENGERS: ENDGAME. A grand epic like AVENGERS: ENDGAME with an expansive plotline and multiple characters to follow worked with a three-hour runtime thanks to its good pacing.  Some may say the story and characters in IT fit the same description; I personally disagree. With all the praises I gave to the cast and creative setpieces, there’s only so long I can last before I start to get drained. 

The entire saga of IT CHAPTER ONE and TWO would have worked best as a two-season Netflix series. Ironically, the original distribution of the 1990’s IT as a multi-part series would have been perfect for this remake with the advances of streaming services today. Even at a three-hour runtime, it feels like there are still some missing parts to really make the overarching story between the two films shine.

From its over-the-top scares to its laugh-out-loud humor, IT CHAPTER TWO is a lot of fun. The characters were great, the scares were consistent, and the humor was surprisingly strong. The extended runtime is a bit of an issue due to the repetitive middle act, which does make it less re-watchable than CHAPTER ONE. While there’s plenty to raise concerns on, I found IT CHAPTER TWO to be a satisfying movie to see on the big screen. 

8.5/10

[jamiesshelves]

Book: It Series: Standalone Author: Stephen King Pages: 1116 Rating: ★★★☆☆ (3.5/5) Favorite Quote: “Politics always change. Stories never do.“ Recommendation: If you like non linear stories, monsters, books that are heavy on information

Synopsis:

Welcome to Derry, Maine ... It’s a small city, a place as hauntingly familiar as your own hometown. Only in Derry the haunting is real ... They were seven teenagers when they first stumbled upon the horror. Now they are grown-up men and women who have gone out into the big world to gain success and happiness. But none of them can withstand the force that has drawn them back to Derry to face the nightmare without an end, and the evil without a name.

My Opinion:

This is the crudest book I’ve ever read. I curse, a lot, but the language in this book was so fowl and disgusting that it was actually disturbing at times. The new movie was rated G compared to this book

The plot is very interesting and there is A LOT (obviously considering the length) that didn’t make it in either version of the film

This story is told in a non linear formation and in many different POVs and it could be extremely confusing at times

I’m confused about a lot of things, for example: the turtle

This was so long, but I am happy that I finally read this book! Now I’m excited to rewatch both versions and see what was the same and what was different

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